Amaya didn’t like being the centre of attention among ordinary people but having high nobility, an archmage, a devil and some of the greatest knights of the kingdom staring at her made her freeze in place. In particular, having the lord darkness looking at her with an increasingly curious expression put her deeply at unease. Her magic, which had always been uncontrollable and wild, withered under those violet eyes.

“A new disciple? Since when did Avalyn willingly give people to Erebus.” Emile said as he walked up to Amaya

Elise stepped behind Amaya and reassuringly put a hand on her back. “Well, usually the orthodox lords and archmages would stop all court proceedings and prefer any other alternative. However, this case is an exceptional case and the usual methods are not available.”

“You mean suppressing people’s inherent magic and making them a lesser version of themselves.” Emile’s expression hardened as he turned his attention to Elise.

“I know it’s not the best method, but the orthodoxy influenced the public perception too much for that to change soon. The other problem is that the proportion of dark mages that turn evil or go crazy is much higher than any other element.”

“So a person’s individual freedom should be sacrificed so that the public can sleep better. We both know that dark magic is not more evil than any other element. Many of those cases stem from abuse and marginalization by ignorant people that made those people monsters.”

“I didn’t say that.” Elise’s tone was calm and even, as she didn’t want to get into the same argument that she and her brother had hundreds of times before.

“The council and leaders of the academies have learned from previous mistakes and have put great efforts to change the teaching and treatment of dark mages. But we had to make a concession to reassure the orthodoxy and the public, which is the limiter.”

Emile was silent for a moment but decided to drop the issue, it wasn’t the time. He turned his attention back to Amaya. “So what is the unusual situation with her? Why is she so malnourished.”

Amaya bristled as she didn’t like it when people talked like she wasn’t there in the room with them.

Emile noticed this. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have done. Let’s restart this properly.”

Emile put his hand over his heart and bowed slightly.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, my name is Emile Amelia Altalia. I’m the Lord of Stygian Castle and the Island of Erebus. Technically, I’m a Duke of Avalyn also but most people either don’t know or pretend to forget. Oh, I’m also the younger twin brother of Her Majesty here.” He said gesturing with his hand.

Amaya gaped at him, she thought he was some powerful dark mage but she never thought that he was the brother of Her Majesty. She was so deep in thought that she didn’t realise that both Emile and Elise were silent and waiting for her. After a few minutes, she realised to her horror that they were waiting for her to speak.

In a small, timid voice she said, “Hello, my name is Amaya Duncan. I come from a small town near Tulip in the south. I lived with my parents and sister and my pet dog. My parents own a bakery and my sister is a senior in the Gryphon Academy ”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Emile gave a kind smile as Amaya started to ramble, but after a bit, he frowned. “Amaya, sorry if this is rude but was your family poor? You said they own a bakery but you look malnourished. Also Elise, why haven’t you fed and healed her? I know the kitchen staff at royal palace has magical food that can a near-dead person fully healthy.”

“We’ve tried that but neither that food nor any healer can cure here.” Elise had a sad expression as she brushed some hair off Amaya’s face. “The problem is also the reson why she is here.”

Elise pointed to the book that Amaya was holding, “She unfortunately came in contact and bonded with Amon’s 6th grimoire.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“How the hell did one of the most powerful grimoires from the last Age get into the hands of a teen girl,” Emile said in disbelief. “Also if I remember correctly, the 6th grimoire has not been seen in this Age and since Amon’s death.”

“That is what we are wondering as well, Amaya said that the book came out of a portal after her magic awakened.”

“Our best hypothesis is that the book gained sentience and hid in the dark dimension. For some reason, Amaya’s magic is greatly compatible with it.”

“It’s been hundreds of thousands since Amon’s death, how can a book survive in the dark dimension for so long.” Emile still wasn’t buying it.

“The book is severely depleted of magic and looks damaged, so either it has been dormant for the whole time and finally found a compatible host or it was living in the dark dimension and got damaged there.”

“But the problem now is that it absorbs all the energy that goes into Amaya’s body and spirit, leaving her barely standing on her feet.”

“Is that so?” Emile mused. “And you haven’t been able to fix it.”

“We can find her enough energy but that’s a temporary fix. Normally, we would remove the link between her and the book but you know how tricky Amon’s grimoires are to deal with.”

“Yes, Amon might have been a bastard but his mastery of magic was great. It is said that he imbued magic that manipulates fate into his greatest works. I’ve heard from my master that it is impossible to separate the grimoires from the master.”

“The only solution would be to kill the wielder, but if the wielder’s karma is good then the backlash is huge.”

“You are right, and Amaya has lived a simple and good life before her magic awakened. So since I was going to come here anyway, I thought it would be worth a shot to see if you could help her. The alternatives are very expensive and difficult to obtain.”

Emile thought for a moment and gave a nod. “Okay, let me have a look.”

He turned to look at Amaya and his eyes seemed to light up and the violet colour became more intense.

As Amaya gazed into his eyes, she felt herself become lost in them and more sleepy. Before she knew it she had lost consciousness, and when she came to she woke up in a grey stoney plane with no vegetation or life.

Both the sky and ground were grey and the entire world seemed dead and desolate like a lifeless planet. Only two things were different from the monotone grey colour. The first thing was a set of dark pillars that went from ground to sky and disappeared into a black hole. The pillars radiated an ominous light that pulsed with a rhythm like a heart. Amaya felt sick as she looked at those pillars like they were unnatural.

The second different thing was a giant black snake curled up near the pillars. The snake seemed worse for wear. Its black scales were dulled and chipped along. The snake itself seemed exhausted and stared at the pillars with pure venom.

Before Amaya could wonder where she was, Emile blinked into existing next to her.

“Hi Amaya, welcome to the inner world of your spirit. This is the representation of the strength and complexity of your spirit. Usually you wouldn’t see this for a long time, until you mastered the basics.”

“Usually when someone hasn’t developed their inner world then the inner world is a reflection of places they are familiar. That is usually their home and the city they live in.”

“That is how yours should look like, but it doesn’t because of that,” Emile said as he pointed towards the black pillars.