The tower smells like furniture. Not Ikea furniture, but the kind that mothballs in grandma’s attic: that chest of drawers that no one uses anymore, and the crooked rocking chair that no one ever sat in. It’s a comforting smell, or at least it is to me. I like old things.

I looked down once, about twenty steps back, and don’t look down anymore. These steps are wide, and there are handrails, so there’s no danger of falling. But still.

I pass by platforms and hallways as I ascend. I’m curious about them of course. Part me wants to pause to explore this whole place, like a kid on a treasure hunt.

Then I see the first skeletons.

There’s not much left of them, but I can tell. They’re little piles sometimes, or just pieces of bones, like stray crumbs left over from a meal. I gulp.

I didn’t plan on entering a graveyard.

It makes sense though. The great war of the Magi. The humans won and stripped the other races of their magic. They couldn’t be trusted with it.

But can humans? Can anyone?

The bones accumulate at higher altitudes and even the air grows chillier as the tower starts feeling less like grandma’s attic and more like…

A cemetery.

At the last step I stop and take a breath. I feel the air not just in my lungs, but also against my face, like there is wind blowing through the tower. Then I realize it is wind. Part of the roof is blown off.

I look up and see the dark sky above.

It must be night now.

My own light is still shining. I’m not sure if magic has a battery or what have you but so far my flashlight still burns bright.

I point my rays at the walls and see the still visible scars of the battle long ago. The forest has worked to heal and cover the wounds left from combat but even nature has limits apparently.

I continue onwards into what can only be the remnants of the great chamber of magi. Here they would gather together for the formal ceremonies of the tower such as advancement in rank, the welcoming of new students, the graduation into the world, entertaining important visitors, or what have you.

To the left is the directress's quarters and I know that my guess has proved correct. This level has proved an exact copy of the human one from my vision.

“The question,” I say aloud, “is what do I do now?”

“You could start by talking with me,” a voice comes in response and I just about bolt out of my socks.

Before me is an elf, and not just any elf but a beautiful eleven magi with long porang hair and brilliant eyes of the pale white. She wears the robes of a magic and her whole body shimmers in an ethereal fashion. Like she’s not really present in this world.

Likely because she’s not.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“I am Shylvanna, the last of the elven magi to fall in the War of the Magi, and the strongest elf to ever wield the Maker’s magic. Who are you?”

“Me?” I thought she would already know the answer.

Shylvanna looks at the light from my hand and scrunches her brows. “You are a man yet you have the gift. And you are speaking with me though I have died. That must mean…”

“That I’m the Hero of Astria,” I finish the sentence for her.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“Come to save the world from the Dark Lord himself.”

The whole world from the Dark Lord? I feel like there is some scope creep in my responsibilities here.

“I’m here to stop the sorceress,” I clarify.

“The sorceress is but a servant. The Hero would not come if the Dark Lord did not mean to return.”

I gulp. “Return? Like the devil walking the Earth kind of thing.”

The magi tilts her head. “I know nothing of this Earth or devil but the Dark one will come. He has many servants who serve him, even if they do not know it. What of the other magi?”

“Other magi?” This elf has clearly been out of the loop for a bit. “There are no other magi. At least that I know of. The human tower has been destroyed. And I assume you know that the others –”

“Were destroyed in the war,” Shylvanna interrupts. “Of course.” Her face becomes sad and she looks at me with compassion. “You will need whatever help you can get then so that you are not crushed when you face the sorceress.”

I nod vigorously. “Yes. Please. I completely agree. Anything you can do. Like teach me how to cast a lightning bolt or something.”

I mean if Zeus could do it…

The elf shakes her head. “That’s not how magic works, or at least not how the Maker designed it. Like everything else it can be twisted, but if you want to travel the path set out for you there is no avoiding the long walk.”

“I see,” I say, not really sure if I do.

“Magic, or Light Magic, as it is sometimes called, is a spectrum of abilities, just as goodness contains many virtues. The elves only channel white light. It is that which sheds light to the darkness which you are doing now.”

“So it just helps me see in the dark,” I say, with some disappointment.

Shylvanna smiles. “You say that as if it’s a small thing. But where would you be without the suns and the light they provide?”

I shuffle uncomfortably. “I mean I guess that’s true and all, but I guess I was helping for something a little more, ugh, offensive.”

The elf chuckles and pushes her orange hair back. “Cannot the suns burn you? Cannot the light blind you? It is good for more than sight.”

“Hmm, I suppose.” I think back to the deadly black ribbons. “But it sort of seems like the dark magic is more aggressive doesn’t it?”

Shylvanna’s smile collapses, and her face goes ashen. “What do you know of dark magic?”

The air feels suddenly colder and I feel very alone. Within me something stirs and I know what it is: that coldness, that pit that is always with me.

The elf steps toward me. “Even in the war of the magi we did not tap the darkness. We misused our light for the wrong purpose. Indeed that is how we lost. Despite are greater numbers – elves, goblins, and dwarves – we still lost because our powers dwindled when we misused them. But, despite our many faults, we never tapped the darkness.”

I lick my lips, uncertain how much I should say and how much she even knows. They say the Maker knows all, but these ghosts? If that’s what she even is. Who the hell knows.

“Look,” I start, trying to keep my voice level. “The onyx shattered alright. When I hit it with my sword the stone shattered and some of the shards lodged in my skin.”

I open my mouth to continue, but decided that’s enough for now, and shut it again.

The elf looks at me for a while then turns away and rests her hands on her hips. “So the onyx has been found. Yes, that makes sense I guess.” She turns back to me. “But the darkness in you was not according to the prophecy.”

I shrug. “Yes, well I have a number of issues with this prophecy if we’re going down that road.”

Shyvanna’s face is unchanged “Listen to me. Do not tap the darkness. It grows the more you use it and becomes hard to control. Until, eventually, it will control you. Which means the dark one will control you.”

I put up my palms. “Ok. Ok. I’ll steer clear from possession.”

“This is no joke. You must needle away at the darkness. You can reshape it, redeem it if you will, by your actions and by cultivating the light within you. And you have must growth to do before you are capable of defeating the sorceress.”

“Now, that I believe.”

“White light will not be enough alone. You must unlock more colors within you.”

I tilt my head. “And you can help with that, I assume?”

“No.”

Crap.

“You must journey to the other towers. The goblins, the elves, and the humans. Once you have the colors together you can defeat the sorceress.”

My shoulders sag. “Oh, is that all?”

The ghost comes beside me, so close I could touch her, if she could be touched at all that is. “Listen, I know this isn’t easy, but take it from someone who once chose the easy path to power. This path is far easier than living with the consequences of the other route.”

I look over to her and for the first time I see the pain behind those magnetic eyes. “What happened to you?” I ask. “After you died.”

She smiles sweetly. “I was told that I had penance to do for my crimes.”

“And what was that exactly?”

“Helping you, Ethan. Now go.”