The Capital and the Guild

Xavier

When we finally arrived at the Capital, Persephone was still nursing her arm. Even though she had healed it over many days through prayer to Thanatos, it still left a nasty scar. Mordred had also woken up, though he kept a considerable distance away from me. I guess he saw what I had done. Solskin hadn't woken up yet. According to Persephone, nothing was wrong with him and he just needed to wake up on his own. We rolled down the bumpy main road and came to a stop in front of a large storehouse. The merchants began unloading their various cargo. We collected our pay and headed off deeper into the city.

The city was grand. It sprawled from the coast and pressed right up against the mountain range. The royal palace towered over the entire city with its soaring towers. Rings of white marble walls enclosed the entire city. Markets dotted every plaza and people crowded through the streets.

"Wow!" Solskin's jaw dropped. His eyes widened with a childish glee. He immediately sprinted into the crowd.

"Solskin, stop!" I cried out in vain. He was gone. Persephone and I sprinted after him. Mordred had already left. He went to take care of some business at the High Mage Guild. I heard him mumbling about something yellow.

We pushed our way through the crowd, trying our best to keep up. Solskin's height made it considerably easier to find him. His yellow hair practically stood out like a banner. We finally caught up to him. He was standing in front of the palace gates. His eyes were wide with excitement.

"Xavier, where do I sign up?" Solskin stared expectantly. It seemed to me that his childhood dream hinged on my reply.

"You get requested," I stated bluntly. Solskin frowned. He had some fame, but it wasn't enough to spread beyond Solaire. As for money, I knew that the 40 gold pieces on him weren't enough to impress the noblemen in charge. My own savings weren't too great either. I only had 30 gold pieces on me. I led him away and to the tavern. After getting us a room and eating a hot meal, I set out into the bustling streets of the capital. I wandered around for a bit and hid in an alleyway. Looking around, I saw no one. I took of my gauntlet and unraveled layer after layer of bandages. I stared at it. My arm, but also not mine. A gnarled, black hand with fingernails that came to an unnatural point. I realized it had spread further towards my shoulder. Where was Epoch when you needed him?

Mordred

The Mage Guild was quite a distance away. It was a small tower sitting on a hill overlooking the entire capital. Unassuming and plain, other than the fact that it was surrounded by floating rocks and glowing crystals. I stepped inside. My body tingled as I crossed into another dimension. I clenched my teeth and shivered a little, everytime I did that I felt like I did back when I first came to this world. The inside of the tower was huge. Glowing orbs dotted the vast library-like building. Books and scrolls floating above in an endless complex highway. I twisted my ring and sent out a message. I immediately got a response. Inside my head came a raspy voice.

"Mordred Leporum, I didn't know you were at the capital. How are you? Is the manor life too comfortable for your tastes?"

"Ash, long time no see. It's been great. You?"

"Emmyth Daeric is as troublesome as ever, but he is slowly learning the tricks of the trade."

"His kind are always pricks."

"As an elf, I really can't take offense from that fact. We are pricks. But at least we are more magically gifted than some short, uncultured apes. Anyways, did you need anything?"

"I found something… interesting, to say the least. A man that wields similar magic to what brought me here."

"That is indeed quite interesting. His name?"

It was strange how Ash was so direct, he usually enjoyed playing word games.

"Xavier. A former soldier of the Galian army."

"Hmmm. Is he of the Bloody First?"

"I honestly have no clue, but he seems to have a connection to them."

"Hmmmm. Meet me in the 25th annex. We have much to discuss."

The 25th annex was a rather small room compared to the others. All of the books contained inside were about extra-dimensional travel, a difficult and esoteric subject. Compared to the annexes dedicated to illusions and elemental spells, both of which stretched on for miles without end, with shelves that towered over everything, this room was like a closet. On one of the small benches sat a man, hunched over an archaic tome, scribbling notes on a sizable stack of parchment. He was Ash Tarot, an ancient man even by Elven standards. He did not notice me and instead was lost in deep thought.

"Ash!" I said with slight amusement, standing right in front of his bench.

He turned and looked at me. Hastily, he stood up and dusted off the front of his sable robes. He appeared very disheveled. A small, red book poked out of his pocket, and he was covered from head to toe with chalk dust and alchemical powders.

"Where is Daeric?"

"He had a number of errands to run, procuring research materials. Finding 'willing' test subjects, like trees and large rocks, maybe the occasional corpse. A squirrel and such. You could say he is… uh… doing a job for me."

"Oh. Well, should I tell you what happened?"

"Of course. This is interesting in the extreme. Reminds me of that time you told me you were from 'Earth'."

I launched in the saga of the past few days, describing each and every detail while Ash sat there, thinking. I noticed that he realized something in my words.

"Find something out?'

"Maybe, I have a hunch. I need to talk to Emmyth about it. He has the research papers on him right now.

"Has there been any successful findings yet?"

"Afraid not," Ash sighed heavily, "We still grasping at straws, hypothesizing, if you will. We will make a breakthrough, don't you worry about that. But it will probably be within the next 100 or 200 years. Too bad your human lifespan won't last."

"Is there anything I can do to speed up the research? Maybe another person on the team might help? I'll do anything I can to return home."

"Bring Xavier to me. I want to see it in person. By it, I mean his magic, not the dangly bits between his legs. Meet me in my lab under the guild next week. I need to collect my thoughts."