In the center of the land of Rathe lies a golden city, and at the center of that city lies the Solarium. Everything comes in eights here, eight city gates, eight city sectors, and eight giant walkways that converge at the giant citadel of the Solarium.

The Solarium is everything to the people of the city of Solana, a shining jewel to the might of their god, Sol, and her Heralds. People from other lands might expect that this great citadel of Sol, was an exclusive place, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, every Solanian went to the citadel at least once, once was enough to help you choose your fate for life.

Today was that day for Pierce, he was a scrawny boy, fair-skinned with light-blonde hair, a sharp nose, and bright blue eyes. He was eight, more than this, it was his eighth birthday today!

His parents had woken him up with a small raisin-based cake, as was traditional, and a small wooden carved animal. It was an amazing creature that had a long trunk and huge tusks, apparently, the person who carved them was always interviewing soldiers coming back from distant lands about what new animals they had seen. This was called an Elephant, which was a weird name, but what did he know, he’d never even left the city.

Even though it was a happy day, there was nervous tension in the house. His father had taken him aside just after breakfast and had a serious word with him.

Pierce’s father, Damon, matched his son in looks, he was also thin, also sharp-featured, though his eyes were brown – Pierce had his mother’s eyes. These eyes were filled with anxiousness that even Pierce could pick up on as he knelt down to talk to his son.

“Pierce, you know how old you are today?”

“ Course, I’m eight!” replied Pierce quickly, thinking that his father better not have forgotten his age.

“Absolutely right, and what does that mean?”

“Ummm, I get cake?”

“No it means something more than that, do you not remember?” Pierce grinned, how could he forget something like that?

“Course I do father, it’s Awakening Day!”. Every child in Solana dreamed of their Awakening Day. On your eighth birthday, one of the Archons – soldiers in gleaming gold armor that served in the Citadel – came to knock on your family’s door. It didn’t matter if you were rich or poor, immigrants or native Solanians. If you had a child and they turned eight, you’d be getting a knock on the door. Some parents were even surprised that they had not made any records or notified anyone of their child’s age which had spawned the whispered rumors that there must be some powerful artifact in the citadel tracking all the children of Solana. Pierce thought this was possible, everyone knew there were incredibly powerful artifacts in the citadel.

“Absolutely, so we need to get you ready, your mother is waiting upstairs”. Everyone made an effort on Awakening Day, though in truth it really wasn’t about money, it was about showing faith and doing your best.

But for the faithful this was it, it might be the only time in his life he crossed the threshold of the Citadel and entered the most sacred of halls. They had been to the church of course, but the Citadel was a step above and people didn’t just go there without reason. Today he had a reason, and he was super excited.

He ran up the stairs to his room where his mother was waiting with brand-new clothes and even new shoes. He was quickly dressed and his blonde wavy hair was brushed into something resembling order. Just when he thought he was done his mother went into her room and came back with something in a box.

“We got you this, your grandparents helped a bit too, its a family tradition for Awakening Day, I hope you like it.”

Inside the box was a Sol pendant – a metal ring to represent the sun and 8 rays coming out of it to represent the heralds of Solana. Pierce was amazed, he had never owned jewelry before, and his family wasn’t the most wealthy. His parents ran a bakery together, and his grandfather was a farrier, this must have been a big investment.

“It’s amazing, thank you so much.” Piece found himself holding back little tears of joy, it was glorious and perfect for the day. His mother helped him put the pendant around his neck and they let the symbol hang outside his robes.

Then they all went downstairs to wait, and in no time at all there was a gauntleted fist knocking loudly on the door. His father answered it quickly, and an Archon was standing there in gleaming ceremonial armor.

“Good morning, is this the De Vale residence?”, his father nodded and offered to shake his hand, which the Archon took.

“Yes yes, that’s us, good morning!”

“Good morning Sir!” Said the Archon with a smile. “And this must be young Pierce?”

“Yes! That’s me!”

“Excellent! Glad to see you so excited, many children get quite nervous, but there is nothing to be scared about. This is a happy day, and a holy day”, he gestured approvingly to the pendant Pierce now wore with pride.

Together they left their house, the bakery was attached and had a sign saying they were gone for his awakening, even regular customers who relied on them for breakfast wouldn’t get annoyed at that. After all, unlike other public holidays, it did only happen once per child.

They threaded their way through the 7th district where Pierce’s family had their bakery to the main thoroughfare that marked the road from the 7th Gate straight to the heart of Solana. Pierce had always found it funny that if you lifted Solana up and put it on its side, it would make a pretty good wheel for a bicycle.

He held both his parent’s hands as they walked, staying close behind the Archon, but none of them were in a rush. As they joined the thoroughfare they saw other Archon’s leading other families.

Most of the families looked like his, his parents even recognized a few customers that Pierce didn’t know. The Archons were also leading some children by themselves, some were dressed in oversized clothes, maybe from an orphanage, and others were in rags and looked like they had been sleeping until the Archons had found them. Pierce remembered the lesson that he had been taught, all children came, it didn’t matter who you were. Yes, people like his, good devout families did all that they could, and the rich put on a show of the whole thing, but money didn’t matter. You did your best as a point of pride, even if you turned up in rags the church would still take you in.

They all formed together into a broad stream, heading down the central concourse of the city. As they did the rest of the city moved around them, after all, it was only a few people’s eight birthdays at any one time. Still, although people working along this road must have seen regular processions many still called out to wish the children good luck. Some also called out to the parents.

“Buy a bracelet for the little one, best Solanian gold. No? How about a treat for the little master on his special day”.

One couple did stop to talk to the seller, and the Archon waited with them. Again this was a day of celebration, if they wanted to spoil their child a bit, then that was okay. Everyone just had to get to the citadel by noon, and they had plenty of time.

Pierce was nervous but excited and it seemed the streets blurred together after a while, he was just so keen to get there and for the ceremony to begin. He had his wish, and soon enough they were standing in the central square at the foot of the Citadel, as a priest stood on a Dias addressing all that were gathered there.

“Welcome, welcome everyone, gather around and make sure you can hear me! Praise be to Sol, that you have all been blessed to live in this city and receive her gifts. Let me especially welcome the children out there, and wish you a very happy eighth birthday. As you know, you are here for the Awakening Ceremony, some of you may have heard rumors of it, or stories from elder siblings trying to scare you. Let me make it very clear, there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. The ceremony is simple, you will be anointed with this holy oil,” he held up a small glass bottle, “and then you will go into the awakening room. Inside the room, there are a series of artifacts, gifted to the church of Sol by some of the most blessed of craftsmen. It is not just swords and weapons, there are also baking trays, and blacksmith hammers, there are sickles and scythes, and there are books and musical instruments too. All that is going to happen, is that you will stand in the middle of that room, and see what glows. If it glows then Sol is telling you that she thinks that’s the job for you!.”

Now he paused and looked around the room, Pierce felt he could read the nervous energy of the children very well, what if Sol got it wrong? Pierce was a believer himself, he didn’t think Sol could get it wrong, but there were stories. He could handle being a baker like his family or a blacksmith or a farrier like his grandfather, but a farmer? In the fields all day with a scythe, no thank you.

The old priest smiled and waggled a finger at the audience then, “I am sure I know what many of you are probably thinking, I thought the same when I was eight and I would wager so did many of your parents. What if nothing lights up for me, or what if Sol makes a mistake? I suspect you think I’ll tell you that it will all be fine, but no, listen to me. There are plenty of people whom nothing lights up for, and that is normal, it means your future is undecided and you are still free to choose. There is no bad judgment against anyone for failing to find a spark in that room. Also, we accept that you might not agree with Sol’s decision, and think it is a mistake. You might be right, sometimes things are a good fit but not the right decision, and sometimes it is you who are wrong and Sol was right all along. That is why all we ask from you, those who light calls to a specific job is for a year and a day. If after a year and a day, as an apprentice in the field, you think that Sol made the wrong choice for you, then you can walk away. No shame, no regrets! With all that said, good luck to all of you, and may the blessing of Sol bring light to your darkest nights. Please wait for your name to be called and then go up the stairs.”

And with that, he was done, and an Archon went up on the stage and started calling out last names, starting with A, getting people to line up in an orderly queue around the square.

Once they were in a line they marched up the steps to the Citadel in single file, and then onwards into the entry hall of the Citadel. In this wide eight-sided stone room, light poured down from a central window, he had heard rumors that it was enchanted to always shine a light down, even when it was cloudy. Pierce’s breath was stolen away as he saw the fine stained glass in the windows high above him, there were 8 windows, one for each of the Heralds of Sol. The eight windows were positioned so that the light from them all shone down on the central seal of Sol on the floor of the chamber. This is where the parents would wait, the entrance to the Awakening room itself was down a corridor and crowded enough already.

Pierce gave his parent’s hand one more squeeze and they wished him good luck as he split away into the Children’s queue. The children were taken down a corridor on the side. He had never been to the citadel before and had to struggle to avoid getting distracted by every corridor, statue, or painting that he saw. Several children were not so lucky and had to be reminded to keep up by their Archon guides to keep up. Any that were called out quickly rejoined the name with embarrassment clear on their faces.

It wasn’t long before they were there and waiting for the first Child to come out of the room. The children were still in their alphabetical line and Pierce found himself positioned between a young boy and a young girl. Both were dressed better than he was, in fact, the young girl had many pieces of jewelry on and likely came from a wealthy family. Pierce smiled at her but she sniffed and turned away from him. Thankfully the boy in front of him turned around at the sound and frowned at her reaction.

“Well, never mind that we are all Solanians here! I’m Mattias.” With that he stuck out his hand for Pierce to shake. If Pierce had thought the girl behind him was wealthy, he expected there was as much of a gap between Pierce and her as there was between her and the boy in front of him. He was especially satisfied when he heard her gasp as Pierce grabbed Mattias’ hand and shook it.

“Pierce, nice to meet you!”

“Great, this is exciting isn’t it, any idea what you want to be, I’m going to be a great warrior!”

Pierce looked at his feet a bit “No not really, I could be a baker or something like that, that would be good.”

Mattias laughed at that, and Pierced blushed thinking the other boy was mocking him, but Mattias quickly explained. “Nothing wrong with that, baker’s are good and always in demand, but you can be anything after this ceremony. What would you be if you could be anything?” Pierce shrugged, he really didn’t know.

“Wait a minute, did your parents ever tell you the legend of the Warriors of Light?”

Pierce nodded, of course, they had, every Solanian child knew that story. His parents had read it to him, there was Marcus Ironsong, the great swordsman, Thaddius the Mage, Baelin the Hammer, and 5 other heroes from the legend who had stood together and died fighting a mighty demon invasion.

“Well then,” Mattias pressed on, “If you could be one of those legends what would you be?”

Pierce had to think then, everyone respected the swordspeople of the citadel, the holy clerics, and the other warriors and guardians, but he had always thought that the power of magic was more amazing than mere steel.

“Thaddius for sure, can you imagine being able to call down lightning and fire in a battle? Think of how useful that would be!”

“Not just useful, but also really really cool. That settles it, I’m going to be a swordsman and you’re going to be a mage.” Pierce nodded still unsure, but he thought he saw what might really be going on here. Mattias was just as nervous as him but covered it up by putting on a brave face. It lasted until the first child came out of the room in tears.

“Its okay, plenty of people don’t get chosen, you’ll still find your calling, I promise.” said the Archon standing outside the door. Then he raised his voice and said to the rest of them “I mean it! I’ve been an Archon for 40 years, and I am a captain of the watch and I didn’t even get a flicker on my Awakening Day.”

“My parents wouldn’t be happy though”, Mattias whispered to Pierce. “They keep talking about what I should do, and what I need to do, but he is right even if I don’t get ‘chosen’ they will just pay for a teacher.”

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“Must be nice,” said Pierce a bit more subdued, “if I don’t get something here I imagine I will just go and become a baker like my parents”. He had been perfectly fine with that notion only 5 minutes ago, why had he let Mattias put ideas of magic into his head?

They didn’t have much longer to linger. The queue had gone down rapidly while they were talking, as children went inside for only a minute and then came out either happy or sad. The ones that were chosen all seemed to be carrying a little golden pin that marked them towards a specific profession, hammer, sword, staff, book, or some sort of smoke thing that Mattias didn’t recognize. Unless he thought to himself that was for the Illusionists, he knew they were an exclusive branch but they had to recruit new students same as everyone else.

Then it was their turn. Mattias went into the room next and was inside for what felt like only a second before he was coming out with a big grin on his face. In his hands, he held a sword-shaped pin and he gave Pierce a pat on the shoulder and wished him luck. Then it was his turn.

Pierce went inside and saw a cleric sitting along the wall of the room with a huge book filled with lines and names in front of him. The man beckoned him into the center of the room and he gasped as he looked around and saw the walls. This was a stone room, again with eight sides, which he knew was a theme in the architecture of this building. The ceiling was very high though, almost three meters, and the walls were crammed with instruments, tools, and weapons.The priest at the welcoming ceremony hadn’t been joking, there were enough tools here that Sol could instruct you to be almost anything under her sun.

“Now now, come into the room please, don’t stand in the middle just yet, but be ready to step in when I say.” Pierce nodded, his throat dry now. “It’s very simple, you stand in the middle, we see if anything lights up. If we think we see something faint, my friend here,” and he gestured to an Archon Pierce hadn’t noticed who stood by one of the walls with a long pole with a hook on the end, “will get the item down and we will hold it close to you and see if it glows brighter when its close. Again let me remind you, not being chosen is fine, hundreds of children come to this room every year, some years half get chosen, sometimes more, sometimes less.” He smiled kindly at this. “Now step into the center and let’s see what happens”.

Pierce’s knees were shaking as he took a slow step forwards, and then another, and then he was standing in the centre of the room. He realised he had closed his eyes, he didn’t want to look, but he opened them when he heard a gasp from the Cleric.

“Look, look, boy, open your eyes and see!”.

Pierce cracked his eyes open and almost had to close them again, the room was filled with a torrent of brilliant light shining down on him. It was shining down from a large wooden staff on the wall. He blinked again, had he fallen asleep in the corridor, or wait, no, he was still at home in bed, still seven years old, not yet eight and dreaming of his Awakening. Yet as he thought that, he realised the cleric was scribbling his name down in the book, and also writing details down on a piece of paper.

The holy man was muttering to himself. “Amazing, amazing, haven’t seen an awakening like that in 20 years, not since Dori… nevermind, nevermind.” He finished writing and turned and beamed down at Pierce. “Fantastic, well young Man, you have been chosen, Sol’s light shines strongly within you. You’re going to be a mage, and if Solana has made her wishes known probably one of our brightest. Don’t worry, you won’t be expected to do anything without some teaching, but we will make sure you get it. Here take this, and also take this letter to give to the Archon waiting with your parents. Also take this as well, wear it proudly, you are a chosen of Sol now.”

With that he handed Pierce a pin with a staff on, and the letter and looked at him again and the light just to confirm he wasn’t seeing things before gesturing for the child to leave the room.

When Pierce stepped out of the circle the light died, and the room felt dark. He heard a sigh from the corner, from the Archon who was watching, almost a happy sigh but one that was tinged with sadness as the light had gone out. Pierce was half blinded, having been staring into the light, but he quickly adjusted and stepped out into the corridor.

The stunned look on his face must have shocked the children waiting for him, especially the posh girl that had been behind him in the queue as they all took a step back when he came out.

The archon watching took one look at him and laughed. “Oh I see, blinded by the light were you? We get one every now and then! What did Sol choose for you?” Pierce couldn’t speak but just held up the pin. “A mage, excellent, we can always use good mages, we’ll I expect I’ll see you soon!” With that he gestured for Pierce to keep moving, and called to the next child to head into the room.

Pierce stumbled back, stopping only once to get his breath back before reaching the room where the parents were waiting. Some had already left, their children not having been chosen this year, but the ones whose children were now proudly clutching pins were still there. Pierce’s parents saw the expression on his face and must have thought he was devastated instead of stunned because they rushed to him until he held up the pin and grinned. Then they stopped and fell to their knees and began to pray.

“Thank you Sol for this blessing. Many nights have we wished for a good life for our child and now you have offered him that.” In many places in the world this might have been a strange sight, but this was Solana, Pierce actually walked over and kneeled beside them, joining in their prayer.

“Thank you, Sol, for this opportunity, I promise not to let you down.”. After a few moments, they all stood up. Some parents in the room looked at them nervously, as if they were still waiting for their children. Some – the less devout – looked a little contemptuous, but most understood the sentiment, especially those from similar backgrounds who knew that this was a great opportunity for their children to rise ahead.

The Archon on watch had kept a respectful distance during the prayer but came forward now with a big smile on his face.

“Congratulations young man, and do you have a letter for me?” Pierce had almost forgotten but he handed it over now. The Archon took it, opened it and his eyes went wide with light shock, then he read it again and smiled even more broadly.

“Excellent news,” he said raising his voice, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new light-touched in Solana!”. There were a few more gasps at this, and a few more shocked faces, some also didn’t seem to understand but Pierce’s parents gazed at him in amazement.

“Our son, really? Is he?”

“Yes, absolutely, the Cleric of the Record said that he hadn’t seen as strong an emanation in almost two decades. Sol wants your child to serve, he was born to be a mage and a servant of the light.”

His parents were stunned, he didn’t really get the significance of it himself, so he had to ask.

“Sorry, I don’t understand, doesn’t everyone get a light like that?”

“No no no,” the archon shook his head as he replied, “Did you see my colleague with the pole, most people get a trickle or a glow, they have to take the instrument down and put it in the child’s hands before it gives out a proper glow. The cleric said that as you stepped into the circle the whole room was filled with light. This is amazing! We will be expecting great things from you!”

And with that, he took Pierce and his parents aside and explained what would come next. Pierce would have to move into the school attached to the Great Library. He would receive 6 days of training with every 7th day free to visit his parents. If after a year and a day, he decided he didn’t want to do it, though the guard implied he thought this wasn’t that likely, he could say and he wouldn’t have to anymore. If he chose to keep going his studies would be fully paid for in exchange for service to the city, if he chose to stop he could make his way.

And that was that Pierce was set on his course to become a great mage of Solana, blessed by the light itself and fated to do great things in the name of Sol.

—

A year and a day had gone so fast. Pierce had stayed, of course he had, Sol had absolutely been right. He was gifted, but not just that, he adored magic, he breathed magic. He learned spells and techniques and theorems like they were simple addition and subtraction. That had gotten him into some fights with jealous classmates, especially the wealthier ones who quickly found out that money couldn’t buy talent.

Yet he was never alone, in every scrape, in every fight there was a constant figure at his side, Mattias was a squire and growing into quite the knight of Solana. He wasn’t quite as dedicated as Pierce though and was often trying to entice the studious boy into mischief. He often succeeded, but he always pulled Pierce out the other side.

Years flew by like that, and they both graduated from education into service, and they fought together. Pierce the mage became Pierce the Mage of Solana, and Mattias the Squire because Mattias the Knight-Protector, sworn guardian of the Mage of Solana. Solana used their bond, their friendship and sent them out together as a team. They fought in the Savage Lands and Mattias kept the brutish locals away from Pierce as he shocked them unconscious with thunder and lightning. They crushed a small demonic incursion fighting alongside Dorinthea and Boltyn, those light warriors with their own legends.

They grew together, until they were 25 and at home from their latest deployment, a small border Skirmish with the Empire of Volcor. One of the problems Solana had was that being in the center of Rathe meant that they theoretically bordered everyone.

While at home, Pierce took the time to study, and Mattias took the time to drink. Pierce did join him every now and then, but Mattias knew that sometimes he needed to leave Pierce to his books and sometimes the Librarians needed him to come and take Pierce outside, much like a book that needs airing out a little, not just for the smell but for its own good.

That day, Pierce was in the basement of The Great Library. He was at the top of a ladder, reaching for a heavy tome on the highest shelf of a tall bookcase. He was quite out of the way, in the very back of the library in a dark corner that not many people went to. Mages weren’t that common in Solana, as the city seemed to produce more clerics who specialised in Holy Magic rather than the arcane, so not all the magical sections were maintained as well. He heard that in Volcor the arcane library was much better maintained, but then they were known for their command of the aether.

So here he was, on a ladder in a dusty corner of a back room, on top of a rickety ladder, trying to haul down a tome which he was sure had the arcane theory he was looking for. Well the last seven books he had tried didn’t have it, but he was sure that this one would.

But it was heavy, and he couldn’t get a good grip on it. Just as he thought he did it, slipped out of his hands. It was at that point he heard a familiar whistling, honestly, who whistled in a Library, coming towards him down the hallway. He wished sometimes that the Librarian’s disliked Mattias, or banned him because of the whistling, but it seemed that they had fallen for his roguish grin and probably appreciated the fact that he came to pull the “Goblin of the Stacks” as they had once jokingly called Pierce, out of the Library.

“Hold up, I’m coming down”, he called out.

“Good, I met two lovely merchant’s daughters who cannot wait to meet the great mage, the hero of the sundered valley, the defender of the fort of Calin, you know and all the other titles you won’t accept.”

“Oh no, what nonsense have you been telling them now?”

“No nonsense, the truth, just because you don’t see yourself as a hero, you can’t stop others from doing it, and you can’t stop me reaping the benefits. Besides, you never know you might like one, isn’t that an order from Sol to you faith-heads, be fruitful, try multiplying?”

“Oh shut it, I’ll be right down, and we can see how long you keep me from my studies this time!”

“You study too much, you need to have some fun.”

“You weren’t objecting when my studies saved your life, and then did it again!”

“Well yes, that is why you are the hero”.

Pierce grinned, he did like to study, but he didn’t mind being dragged away, as long as the ratio was right. Besides, if he didn’t go now, Mattias would start with the pranks, and the Librarians had told him that he was responsible for any glue that his friend brought into this Library.

He made another grab for the book and got his hands on it, and then tried to lever it up, but it was stuck, so he tried to push it loose by levering the ladder a bit, but all he did was push the ladder away. He rebalanced and the ladder hit the wall with a thud. The book moved a bit, coming slightly unstuck so he tried again.

That time the book came clear, and the ladder smacked into the bookshelf again. But before he could lift the book and carry it down in triumph, he heard a loud creaking.

“Oh no, that doesn’t sound good”, and then the book case he was leaning the ladder against collapsed and the ladder went tipping forwards. Pierce found himself tumbling forwards, until he landed with a crash on a solid stone floor.

He groaned as he stood up, but nothing was broken and he had worse injuries on the battlefield, it was dark but a simple Light spell fixed that. He was at the top of a dusty dark staircase. There were no footprints in the dust, no one had been here in a long time.

“Pierce, Pierce!” came the cry through the hole he had made.

“I’m fine,” Pierce yelled back, and then coughed on the dust. He looked at the entrance. The bookcase he was leaning against had been concealing this large passage, but the books and the wood had all fallen down and blocked him from any mechanism that might have opened it.

He could clear it but it might not be the fastest way out, after all, all corridors went somewhere. He also wouldn’t deny the fact that he was curious where this led. There were tales of abandoned rooms below the citadel, and this was likely one of those. Most were empty, but maybe there were some forgotten magical tomes in here, he was in the magical section of the Library.

“Look I can’t get back,” he yelled, “its all broken up back here, I’m going to push ahead and see if there is another way out. You get the Librarians and see if they know how to open this bookcase.”

“Yes, okay, but be careful.” came the response from Mattias.

I’m in the Great Library of Solana at the heart of the city of Solana, what danger can I possibly be in, was what Pierce thought. This is going to be some boring empty corridor, and then I’m going to turn around. That is what he thought, and what he believed, but part of him also hoped that it wasn’t true.

He headed down the corridor, his light spell glowing in front of him, kicking up dust with every step. It got so bad he had to cover his mouth with the sleeve of his robe to filter the dust, this place really had been abandoned for a long time.

At the bottom of the stairs was a door, it was solid wood with a metal bar across the bottom, and he thought he might struggle to open it. However, as he grew closer, the light from his spell hit the metal and began to reveal glowing yellow runes. Someone had sealed this door with light magic!

Reaffirmed in his desire to explore this area, after all, he was the greatest of his generation of mages in Solana, so surely whatever was in here should be for him to see? So he stepped closer. As the light spell hit the runes on the door he heard a clicking and a whirling, as locks and bolts moved and the door started to swing open. He had to kick it a bit, there was likely a big load of dust built up behind it as well. It did move though, and then he was standing in an open door facing a dark, eight sided chamber.

Looking through the gloom, he saw there was a pedestal in the middle of the room with a box on it. He was a bit more wary now, after all some one, some powerful mage had sealed this away from non-magic users. That meant that he was probably safe but you never knew.

Loads of stories started with a mage being confident in their own safety before they ended up missing a head. So he crept in slowly, looking for danger in the dark room. Though the room didn’t stay dark for long, much like the door, when the light hit the floor of the room it began to absorb it and spread. Runes like those on the door began to reflect the light of his spell and spread it throughout the room.

Pierce backed out, fearing some trap, but the light merely spread to the room and illuminated the entire room with a bright glow. He had seen similar spells in some of the other chambers in the Citadel so this was likely just a simple light spell.

He stepped inside the room again, slowly, but no traps came. Clearly this had been left sealed away as a gift for some user of the arcane and then maybe forgotten about before the secret could be passed on. Solana was often fighting so its not unlikely that some mage had died with a secret and not told anymore.

So he approached the box in the middle. It had writing on the outside, in runes again illuminated by his light spell. The words written said “Here lies a blessing of the true arcanum, yet only the most stalwart of the faithful of Sol could hope to bear its light.” It was his perfect temptation and his arrogance and curiosity allowed him to justify it to himself. He was the best in his generation. He was the most devout, and his belief in Sol was absolute, after all hadn’t Sol chosen him and gifted him with Magic – his greatest passion in life. He was strong and powerful, he was a seasoned warrior of multiple campaigns and almost a veteran. Sol was also in danger at all times from other nations that wanted their farmlands and their wealth, should he not do more if he could? He was certain he could master any magic, even that untouched for the ages, and harness it for the glory of Sol.

He opened the box, and inside was a globe of pure light Aether. It looked like glass filled with swirling magic energy. It radiated magical energy. He felt an instant connection to it, this was pure magic, a pure blessing from Sol, what had the box said, a blessing of the true Arcanum. He saw the truth of what it said, it would take strength to master a well of magic like this, and faith in what you were doing to assert control over it.

He had both of those things, and if he didn’t then he had to know his limits. So he reached out and touched the orb, the magic drew itself up out of the orb and poured into him.He felt it burning him, but he struggled for control. He thought he heard a screaming, or a laughing, or maybe it was him, and then the orb grew dimmer but still glowing, and he collapsed to the ground holding it.

He didn’t know how long he sat there, he was on the border of consciousness and so very tired, but Mattias came for him then. He must have pulled the bookcase down, and he found him there, cradling the dimmed orb in his hands.

The guardian wasted no time, picked up his friend, orb and all and marched him back out into the library.

The last thing Pierce heard before he slept was, “What have you done to yourself now? I hope it was worth the price”, and then he fell asleep in his friend’s arms.