“Welcome to the Archives, traveler. What is the purpose of your visit to our sanctuary?”

“I’m here to pray to Arcana.”

As he’d predicted, the base of the Archivists of Arcana resembled a massive library. In fact, it was so large, that there was no logical way that it could have fit within the main campus building. Just from his position at the entrance, the huge shelves, easily twenty feet high, stretched far out of sight. And then there were staircases leading up and down to other floors, hidden from view. Some magic was in place, allowing the area to be much larger than physically allowed.

They had been greeted at the door to the Archives by a short, slender woman in dark blue robes. Her robes, in fact, were nearly identical to Samuel Bragg’s, just missing the silver hawk that was the noble’s personal crest. The unlidded eye, symbol of Arcana, was stitched in silver on the shoulders, back, and over the heart of the woman’s robe. Her hair was almost completely white, and her skin was pale to the point of almost being see-through. She must spend a lot of her time indoors, he thought.

“Certainly,” she said, offering him a slight bow. “Please, follow me to the shrine.”

She turned and started pacing further into the room without waiting for a reply. Almost at once, another figure, a broad-shouldered man with long brown hair, stepped out from behind a desk to take her place at the door. Eric and Emma followed the female Archivist as she wound her way through bookshelves, and down one set of stairs. Everything in the Archives was simple, yet beautiful in design. Light gray walls and dark wood seemed to be the dominant color scheme.

Despite the distance they covered, they seemed to arrive at the shrine in less than a minute. It seemed that, on top of the magic expanding the space, there was also magic that allowed it to be traveled quickly. Eric wasn’t winded in the slightest, but he would have had to sprint his hardest to get here in the same amount of time alone. The Archivist noticed his obvious confusion, and smiled.

“I take it this is your first time in the Archives?” She asked politely. When he nodded silently, she nodded as well. “It takes some time to grow accustomed to the Travel magic that is so prominent here. Here is the shrine.”

Eric looked around in slight confusion, not sure what the girl meant. He’d seen more than a few shrines in his travels around the city. They were either made of gold or some other precious material, they were massive, heavy structures, easy to spot from a distance. But no such item was within sight. All that Eric could see was the tall shelves around them, a few soft chairs for comfortable reading, and a small desk pushed against one wall. There wasn’t even a window by the desk, which meant very poor light.

“Where is it?” He asked.

Emma let out a soft chuckle from behind him, and he turned to stare at her. Doing her best to stifle the noise, she pointed with one hand. Following the line of her finger, Eric’s eyes fell upon the desk once more. There was a small notebook there, open to a blank page, and a quill resting beside it. There wasn’t even any ink.

“It’s obviously your first time praying to Arcana, as well,” the Archivist said quietly. “Arcana does not have a precious shrine like most gods. He is master of knowledge and learning. What better place to learn than at a desk?”

Frowning slightly, not entirely sure the two women weren’t pulling his leg, Eric took a hesitant step toward the desk. Then, when he wasn’t interrupted or corrected, he crossed the remaining distance in three long strides, pulled out the wooden chair, and sat down. He felt very foolish for a moment, staring at a blank gray wall, and closed his eyes in annoyance. Then he opened them again and gave a cry of shock.

He was back in his bedroom. Not the room that he’d rented out in the Heron Tavern, but his actual bedroom, in Fairbanks Alaska. His computer was on, showing his desktop. It wasn’t the image he’d had loaded with Wallpaper Engine, though. It was a small glowing white orb, suspended on a black background. All the icons were missing. This, he told himself, was too strange.

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“Are you Arcana?” He asked the orb, feeling more foolish than a few seconds ago. “Why did you summon me to Ahya?”

There was a long moment of silence, not long enough for him to become irritated, but long enough for that old belief to surface. Maybe it was all a dream, after all, and he’d just woken up in front of his computer. Maybe he’d changed his background himself, and forgotten about it. Then he blinked, and the moment had passed.

“My champion summoned you to Ahya,” a voice behind him said calmly, “because I deemed the presence of an outsider necessary.”

Eric whirled around. What was it with legendary figures in Ahya and appearing behind him? Facing him now was a normal-looking guy. No, not normal, he corrected himself. He was downright average. Average height, with light brown hair and brown eyes. The only two interesting things about him was the bright white robe he wore, and the fact that he was hovering in place, his bare toes barely an inch away from the gray carpet of the floor.

“And why is my presence here necessary?” Eric asked, completely ignoring the fact that the man was floating. “Is this some epic story where I have to become the hero and save the world from a terrible fate?”

Arcana smiled faintly. “No, nothing so droll as that. But I cannot tell you exactly why you are here. To do so would unstabilize you, and result in your untimely demise. This is not an outcome I wish to achieve. That would be quite troublesome, both for you and Ahya.”

“Well, what am I supposed to do to prepare?” Eric asked, feeling that faint swell of impatience once again. “Should I find myself an old wise master, and learn the skills I’ll need?”

Arcana shrugged his shoulders. “If you wish. You can become a soldier, merchant, hermit, or anything else you wish. You are free to choose your own destiny, until the time comes.”

“Free,” Eric repeated, with a dull laugh. “Except that I’m not really free. I’m stuck here until you’ve finished using me.”

There was no sign of anger in Arcana’s brown eyes. He didn’t even look sad. His face was entirely devoid of emotions, save for a strong curiosity. Even though the space was of his own choosing, he still studied his surroundings with a look of interest, as if he wanted to learn everything he could from the room in the short time he had. But he forced himself to focus once more on Eric and shook his head slightly.

“I will admit that you cannot leave Ahya,” he said solemnly. “But it is an extraordinary world, and you can experience many great things. So yes, it is a prison. But it is a magnificent one.”

“The quality of my cell doesn’t matter,” Eric retorted. “I’m still trapped. I have things to attend to in my own world.”

“But you do not.”

“What?”

“You have nothing holding you to your world. It is one of the criteria that I set for Samuel, when I asked him to summon an outsider. I wanted one who had no obligations, no connections, to be the one he called. He chose you, and I am quite certain he did not overlook any details about your life.”

“I have a job!” Eric exclaimed. “I need to pay rent!”

Arcana gave a dismissive wave with one of his hands. “That is of no consequence. Should you complete your role in Ahya, you will be rewarded. Wealth and success are easy for me to give you. You will return as one of the best of your world.”

Well, crap, Eric thought. There went his best argument and hope for ducking out of his predicament. What Arcana said was true; he had nothing to go back to. Sure, he could have made a claim that his books were his life, but he could easily remember what he’d written, and just as easily write them in Ahya, or keep them in mind until he returned. If Arcana was to be believed, he would definitely return. Once he’d completed his ‘role’, that is.

“But I know nothing about Ahya,” he protested, remembering his reason for praying to Arcana. “How am I supposed to settle in this world, let alone help you, if I don’t know anything?”

“That is easily remedied,” Arcana said with another dismissive wave. “Take these.”

Without realizing he’d done it, Eric stretched out his hands to catch the books that appeared out of thin air. They were heavy, and he staggered under their weight before he steadied himself. He counted nine books. The first was bound in leather and was easily the thickest. However, he had no chance to read the title, before his old room began to fade around him. Rather, a thick mist seemed to fill the space out of nowhere, and all he was aware of was Arcana’s voice, following him as he too faded away.

This is the beginning of your story in Ahya, Eric Breeden. This is the beginning of A New World.