Aurell walked
down the streets of the great city of Lumendere, marveling at the great
workmanship of the Lumendei forefathers. She had never been to Lumendere
before, but was completely enthralled by the mysticism of it all. The city
gates themselves were almost a hundred meters tall, barely showing as a spec in
the huge Man-made city. For miles, she could see the huge statues holding up
the main level, fading off into the distance because of their sheer size.
In the peculiarity of it all,
despite being thousands of meters both above and below the surface, the city
had true sunlight, plants and flowers, and it felt like she was still outside;
the Spell Weaving from countless experienced individuals kept the city in the
condition it was in. She was awed at the peculiar feeling of statues and
staircases disappearing into the sky, knowing they were helping to hold the massive
foundation of Lumendere. Vibrant colors and floral scents filled her senses,
and she found it difficult to believe this was truly an underground city. The
only thing that kept her on track was the small sense of claustrophobia she had
at the mountainous walls that bordered the length of the metropolis.
This is more than a city, she
thought. This is… unbelievable.
Aurell turned her attention to the
path in front of her, scanning her surroundings to find where she needed to go.
She was unfamiliar with the other races that scampered about the city streets,
and it put her on more of an edge then she would have thought. She passed by an
Aeon sitting by the main path, trying her hardest not to stare. Despite her
precautions however, her unquenchable curiosity was greeted by the creature.
“What’s the matter, daughter?” The
Aeon asked.
Aurell stood speechless, marveled by
the Aeon before her. He was clad in a robe of whiteness and while sitting down,
he still managed to reach about six feet in height. The Aeon had no eyes;
instead his skull encased where his eyes would be, indented with the glowing
symbols strewn about his face. Distracted by his sheer size and alien
appearance, she was slow to compute his words.
“Daughter?” She asked, “I’m not your
daughter.”
He chuckled at her words; reaching
into his robe and pulling out a map, he handed it to her. “It’s my job to help
people navigate Lumendere. Is there anything else you need?”
Aurell was still confused, but
graciously took the map of the city. She didn’t have any idea where she was
going and a map would be just what she needed. She swallowed her anxiety and
asked the Aeon, “Um, can you point me in the way of the Evokers guild?”
“Which one?” He asked.
“. . . Which one?” She repeated.
Silently, she was giddy with excitement. She lived in a small village which had
only known Fei’s Evoking. She knew other guilds and studies existed, but only
in her wildest dreams did she think she would find the others. However, her
outward show of giddiness was naught- she was terrified to have so much to take
in.
“The closest one to here is Fei’s,
if you’re interested in that one,” the Aeon suggested, “It’s roughly ten
leagues away, directly under the southern great statue.”
Aurell thanked the guide and
continued on her way, heading towards the monumentally tall statue. She
continued for a while along the path, taking in the tremendous amount of new information.
Anxiety struck at her constantly, and often times she had to sit down and
breathe deeply just to stay sane. Growing up in a small hamlet far to the
north, she had never experienced such a breathtaking conglomerate of people
before. Her anxiety built up when she had left her home, slowly accumulating as
she traveled thousands of kilometers away. Now, at fourteen years old and not
technically an adult until next week, Aurell was struck with an overwhelming
sense of Agoraphobia.
Aurell turned to the only think she
could think of to calm herself down: Magic. The pursuit of knowledge has always
intrigued Aurell though, she hadn’t known much of it growing up- aside from a
book she got for her birthday when she was younger. She intently studied the
symbols crawling up her left hand, impressed with her progression. All Lumendei
had symbols on their dominant hand and although she wasn’t sure what they
meant, she did know that it was directly linked to the magic she used.
As Aurell gestured towards the
ground, faint green colors swirled within the runes on her hand while she
Evoked a simple idea she had done many a time. A small pea plant rapidly
matured and bore fruit until she finished her Evocation. She smiled and picked
a pod from the plant, sticking the entire thing in her mouth; the sweet, slight
savor of the peas bringing back a nostalgic euphoria. Aurell had always enjoyed
the squint peas her mother had evoked and eating them once again helped focus
her mind on where she needed to be going.
Aurell picked a few more peas and,
as a common courtesy, reverse-evoked the rest of the unused plant.
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