Leo and Heidi

Black Forest, Germany

‘Old does not do it justice. It is ancient,’ Leo thought as they climbed out of the truck to survey the area. Meanwhile, Sebastian explained how and when he found the cabin, not heeding his advice to be quiet. Leo looked at the old shack and noted all the things he could see besides the beautiful meadow right before the cabin where they got out of the truck.

The front of the cabin had a terrace with old, brown, wet floorboards. The windows still had glass, but they were stained beyond recognition. The roof matched the floor in color and looked like it not only leaked but had lost all its purpose altogether. The boards on the outer walls seemingly melted with the landscape of hundred-year-old maple trees, making it a miracle in Leo’s opinion that the old Seb found the dwelling in the first place.

Turning around and taking the book with him, Leo made his way to the cabin, not waiting around for the reunion between uncle Seb and Heidi to end. Going up to the front door proved more straightforward than Leo thought, the floorboards holding his weight easily and not making a sound, holding firm below his feet.

Opening the door, Leo walked inside and was baffled by what he saw. The whole gloomy and old feeling the place had given him from the outside went away as a crackling fireplace greeted him next to which two old armchairs sat, covered in blankets.

In the corner, he could see a bed, not made, presumably because Seb went straight from sleep to get them early in the church. A small bedside table decorated the wall beside the bed while an old kitchen stood proudly not too far from the door. Leo walked in, leaving the dining table in the center of the room.

Leo could see a staircase at the back wall that went up and, by the looks of it, to the cabin's second floor.

‘How could I not see the light coming out,’ Leo thought as he went inside and closed the door behind him. He sat at the dining table, removing rags from the book he was carrying.

Leo opened the book again without knowing what to do to have a more detailed look. Uncle Seb had mentioned that he would be able to read the book, at least partially, so Leo hoped that he could find something intriguing this time after being reassured so much of his heritage.

The second he turned the cover, something fell on the floor. Leo frowned, not remembering something on the table, before sitting on the chair and looking down at the floor.

There he saw a small purple gem had fallen out from the book. Reaching down, Leo picked the gem up and examined it in more detail, noting that it had similar runes to the ones he saw in Heidi’s mansion. The only difference was that these runes were more refined and were made in gold rather than silver. The change in the material of the runes seemed to also affect how mana moved through them, as Leo could not glimpse at the mana flow.

The second he thought of the gem and mana moving in it, it drew on his half-formed core and blazed with golden light, pulsing from his hand to all around him. The light went from his palm in one giant wave into the floor and walls. Leo saw that more runes were carved around him in the cabin, and they seemed to recognize the gem, glowing in the same golden light as it did.

Leo paused and marveled at the sight around him as the walls seemed to regain life and color, the gem unlocking something in the cabin he did not know was there. He was interrupted by Seb, who threw the door open and ran in, yelling, “What the hell did you do, boy?”

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Leo fumbled and dropped the gem on the table, startled, and turned around to respond, “Dammit! You scared me, Seb! I do not know what happened. I opened the book to have another look, and this gem fell out,” Leo said, pointing at the table. “I picked it up, and everything was glowing golden the next thing I knew. You saw that from the outside?”

It was Heidi’s turn to respond, having walked in calmly behind Sebastian, “Yes, I think the whole forest saw it, Leo. Weird that we could not see any light in the windows, though.”

“Right?” Leo asked, smiling.

“It is a common concealment enchantment the cabin has. It was there when I found it. Boy, tell me, did you do something particular with the gem?” Sebastian asked.

“Not really. I just touched it and thought the golden runes on it looked similar to the array back at Heidi’s mansion. It lit up after that and felt like taking something from above my navel.”

“Seems it reacted to the mana inside you, like a signature. Interesting,” Sebastian mused out loud and looked around the cabin to see if something had changed with the pulse, noticing a trap door at the back of the room next to the staircase. He walked over and crouched down to look closer, “That was not here before.”

Seb took the handle of the trapdoor and pulled on it slightly. The door did not move an inch for him. Frowning, he put more strength into his pull, but it did not change anything. “Thought so,” he said. “Boy, come over. Try to open this door.”

“Uncle, you give Leo too much credit. Sure, he looks like he lifted some weights at the gym but barely made it out of the mansion with me.”

“Hey,” Leo said, embarrassed. “What do you mean, barely made it out? I went over that wall with ease! Been checking me out?” he asked, teasing. Heidi blushed but did not answer as Leo reached the door. He bent down, sat on one knee, put his hand on the trapdoor handle, and pulled. The door opened quickly, and Leo fell over on his back.

“Children,” Sebastian sighed, offering his hand to Leo. “You go first, boy. It seems that the whole cabin does not want anyone to uncover its secrets,” Sebastian said, giving him a flashlight.

Leo nodded and moved toward the hole in the floor, turning the flashlight on to see how deep it went. To his surprise, the staircase was only around three meters from where they stood. The walls around it were covered in dirt, while the floor looked like it was made from stone, which was surprising as the cabin was in the middle of a forest, and the hole was not that deep.

Leo made his way down carefully, avoiding slipping and ensuring the wooden staircase would not break. He cast the light before him to see what he was walking into. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Sebastian asked loudly from the top, “Well, what do you see?”

“Nothing much, just stone,” Leo responded. “It looks like there is a small room down here. Wait. I see a corridor up ahead. Come down here, guys.”

Excitement filled Leo. As he did not want to wait for Seb and Heidi to get down, he moved to the corridor.

As he took his first step, Leo frowned, remembering all those Indiana Jones movies, ‘What if there are some traps? Dammit.’ Looking around at the smooth stone floor, he ignored his warning and slowly went ahead.

The corridor was short but dark. To Leo’s surprise, the air was fresh and not damp, as you would expect it to be in a hidden basement. After walking to what seemed to be less than twenty meters, Leo arrived in a large open room.

Casting the light from his flashlight around, he saw that the room was approximately forty by forty meters filled with crates and stacks of books. The shelves were filled with figures, boxes, and other items he did not recognize.

Leo took a step inside to look closer as Heidi and Sebastian caught up and grabbed him by the shoulder, stopping him. “Hold your horses, boy,” Sebastian said, casting his flashlight around the room. “Butter my butt and call me a biscuit. Look at all of this!” Seb exclaimed, moving the light across the room, illuminating the hundreds of boxes and creates.

“Do you know what all of this is, uncle?” Heidi asked, casting a glance past both of them.

“I have no idea. But if it was hidden, under lock and key, that could be opened by a free mage your boy here is going to be, it must be damn important, I would wager,” Sebastian said and went inside the room to examine the various tomes on the shelves.