Daniel waited patiently for the door to open, albeit with some anticipation of what lie inside. As the door slid open a crack he could see the rows and rows of books inside. Stretching from the floor to a ceiling that was somehow taller than it looked like from the outside. Something to do with magic, as he had been explained to before, the entire inside of the house was larger than the outside had room for. It was like your mind was playing tricks on you. But, that wasnโt all he saw in the doorway. There was also the owner and proprietor of the home. A tall man dressed in ill-fitting cloth and leather clothing with dark hair, a long beard, and brilliant blue eyes that seemed cold. Though the manโs demeanor was far from cold, and the smile he wore even before the door had opened all the way was proof of that.ย
Though Daniel didnโt return the smile. He wasnโt able to, not on this day. His hand came up to offer the letter. Ever since he had become the courier for this mountain mage, he had been told to open and read each letter before delivering it. The recipient of those letters had even taught the young boy how to read, just so he could fulfill that duty. Daniel tried to stop his hand from quaking, tried to meet the bearded manโs eyes, but he was unable to do so.
No matter. Just as always, the letter was pulled from his grasp, and some coin and a scone were placed in his hand. Then, ever so gently the door was shut, leaving the boy out there on the porch, alone.
Daniel took the steps two at a time as he bounded away, looking back over his shoulder just before he met the illusion once more. He frowned at the shack, his voice coming out quiet and hoarse.ย โGoodbye, Mister Destriane.โ
Asherโs eyes could not find the strength to move away from the letter as it sat on the desk. Even as it sat on the table with the other scrolls and papers it stood out with stark contrast to his gaze. The seal had been broken, every letter he received over the last year had been opened before ever making it to him, but he still recognized what it once had been. The seal of the Dawnsworn. Despite his reluctance to look away, he also couldnโt find it in himself to open the news. He could tell by the way the boy had acted, this news was bad.ย
His left hand came to the surface of the table, powerful digits wrapped themselves around the edge of the furniture and dug in. His breathing had stopped altogether, unbeknownst to him, as his right hand fell carefully down to the envelope. His fingers peeled back the top crease of that letter fold, and the air left his lungs immediately.ย
Aelorelle Dawnsworn, was dead.
Asherโs first thought was, strangely enough, that he should have been seated before receiving the news. Even with his left hand grasped around the edge of the table he was unable to keep his feet. His knees struck the hard wood as his stomach twisted and turned. The breath he had been holding came out in short unsteady gulps, like a drowning victim trying to get just one swallow of air. His left hand released the table and drove downwards, hard enough to put his fist right through one of the floorboards, his right hand still clasping the now crumpled letter, the rest of its message currently unknown to him. He tried desperately to push all the negative thoughts from his head. The guilt of not being there, the desperation of thinking he could have helped her, the worry of who else he might have lost. Clearly, he wasnโt good at controlling his mind.
A few minutes passed. As did the guilt, and the pain in his gut. Asher found his breath, he steeled himself, and he continued to read on. The contents of the letter didnโt matter much. Nothing past that first sentence really registered anyway.ย โGuess the world canโt be ignored forever.โ He said to nothing and no one. His legs decided to cooperate again, so he stood himself up. He added the letter back to the stack of parchment on the table.
The mage turned that glacial gaze all around the contents of the shack. Taking stock of everything there, and deciding in an instant what needed to come with him. Turns out, it was everything. Asher grabbed a piece of chalk from a nearby cabinet and got to work. He started at the floor beneath his main table, drawing circles and symbols all around the center piece of furniture. It had been placed at the exact center of the room for this reason. He branched out from there, furiously scribbling with that line of chalk, connecting and branching every piece of furniture, every container of parchment, even his modest collection of appliances. Every item was contained in a circle, the entire layout of the large libraryesque room mapped out in chalk.
It took the better part of the day, and by the time he was about finished he was working with only the tiny nub of his last piece of chalk. As if by fate, the chalk crumbled to dust in his fingers just after he finished his last line.ย โPerfect..โ He muttered to himself, staring up at the last connected sigil, on the ceiling perfectly parallel with the first symbol on the ground. Asher stepped gingerly from the table, careful to avoid the lines that were now everywhere. He looked almost like a dancer, balancing on toe tips until he made it to the door.ย
The man turned around to admire his work one last time. Bending low, he placed his right hand on the symbol nearest the door, and closed his eyes. There was a brief surge that he felt dance through his every muscle. He opened his eyes, and it was all gone. There was no wooden floors, no grand book case, no table, no parchment. The interior of the house was back to being plain wooden walls, and a dirt floor. But, there in the center of the room, lay something new. A backpack, perfectly centered, perfectly placed where he had begun his ritual. Asher collected his library, or the backpack if you wanted semantics, and placed it over his shoulder. He turned on a heel in that sodden dirt and pushed open the door leading outside.
Asher looked one last time at the empty library, and bent low to write a message in the dirt. Just in case one of the few people that knew where he was came looking for him.
Then, he set off. His feet pushed him forward through the wilderness and down the hill. He knew where he needed to go, and just how to get there.
Because just like the message scribbled into the dirt of that empty home said. He was: