Soon the second sun had hidden its light behind the waves of the ocean. Eri had brought a small light crystal, but she was sure there had to be another light source around, after all, it was a wizard’s tower and what good would a caster of magic be if he couldn’t light up his own dwelling. Eri initiated her epic quest for a switch or another type of occult light source. She looked on the walls, no luck, then around the fireplace, again, no luck. She stood at the center of the room, clapped her hands, snapped her fingers, and… nothing. After some time she felt her intelligence being tested and her frustration took her to check every single space, even the floor.
Eri stood in the darkness, alone, frustrated, and in silence, suddenly her school didn’t seem that bad, her parents telling her what to do had a nostalgic feeling about it. Before she could realize that she was still a child a thud caught her attention. An orb rolled to her feet, she picked it up, there was a light inside it, not enough to illuminate anything around it, just barely to take a peek within the murky glass sphere. She found herself wishing there was more light so she could discern it, as a consequence, eight spirit fires came to life all around the room. She stepped back startled, but one of the fires came closer to her, kind of timidly, like waiting for her approval, she smiled and the flame became more confident. The fire was blue but it gave no warmth and the light it provided was amber. The rest of the fires lit the chandelier in formation. Eri walked around the room as the flame followed cheerfully, she stopped, it stopped, she ran, it picked up the speed. She was sure that it had been her thought that summoned the spirit flames but she still had no idea how.
Eri looked deeply into the orb but it was no easier to look inside it with the help of the flame. At that moment she yearned for a magnifying glass, which came floating at her in no time. She grabbed it curiously, an idea came to her mind, but she decided to investigate it after the orb. She looked through the magnifying glass to find a spiral of light that flowed in concentric circles, a purple color nucleus barely emanated from it. To her, it felt familiar and yet cosmically unreachable, she left the orb to one side, ready to try out her idea. She started thinking of a chair to sit down and relax, but nothing happened. She yearned harder, everything stood still. She wished with all her might; a crack under her feet made her jump, yet the excitement was all she got.
Then the orb rolled next to her, she picked it up and tried again, a chair appeared out of the shadows and slid close. It was clear to her that the orb was the control center for the tower, as long as she had it close she could discover the mysteries of that place. She began to fool around with it, trying different things, a spoon, a glass, and even a table, and that made her hungry, before she knew it a plate with chocolate cake was served. Enjoying her dinner she pondered on what else it could do, however, she decided to be cautious, just in case something really dangerous could be invoked like a tendrakill… A huge roar was heard throughout the tower.
─I don’t want it. I don’t want it.─ She repeated over and over in a panic with her eyes closed.
Everything became quiet again, only the sound of her racing heart was present. It took her a moment but she calmed down, breathing in and out, over and over. All at once, the room came to her, she had been too busy to pay attention. But now under the amber light from the different colored flames, she began to absorb the details of the place. The wooden fixtures, of a dark reddish color, the furniture matching elegantly, bookshelves covered with tall, small, fat, thin books, the balcony to the ocean with its black silver railing, simple but adorned with two oweneks at each corner, the metal was a strange material, never seen in Nifhelm. The floors were of a softer brown colored wood, old but quite well cared for, emphasizing the large rock bricks that formed the inside wall, dark, light, and everything in between, the grey tones made such a pleasant atmosphere that Eri didn’t realize she had been calm for a while. “Would be nice to read a book.” She thought. So a book was provided instantly. The girl flipped through the book realizing that it was an old kids’ tale from another country, she was curious but also, slightly offended. She was about to throw the book on the table but corrected her attitude and placed it carefully sending her curses towards the tower instead. After all, as far as she knew, all other countries had been destroyed, so that innocent child's book was invaluable.
The smooth surface of the orb caught her attention, it seemed like glass, but at the same time, it was not cold and felt softer than it should, however, it was as clear as could be, barely even reflecting light. The girl put away the orb in one of her pockets, called her loyal flame friend to follow, which it did, while she observed the books carefully, picking one and then another until she had a full stack of them. She came back to the table and opened them, nonetheless, she felt disappointed, all of them were in a language she could not understand, they weren’t even the same language. Not a single one in the stack was legible to her. An idea struck her, she took the orb and wished to understand the books; in her mind, the books would transform and each character would become her own language, however, that did not happen. Instead, a cold sensation appeared around her neck, that of metal against the skin, and that it was, as she put her hand to her chest she felt a pendant under her clothes. Eri took it out, it was a precious stone, bright blue with a tiny rune circle on the inside, glowing. The setting was of the same material as the railing, of that not quite silver neither black color, seeing it up close only made it feel more precious.
Leaving all distractions aside, she put the pendant back in her clothes and opened a book, the symbols didn’t change but her mind could understand them. She noticed that she could even pronounce the words as she read out loud by accident. The first book was nothing extraordinary, it was the history of someplace far away, interesting but not what she wanted to read in the most magical place she had ever been. The second one was something that she preferred not to have read, closed it with a queasy feeling in her stomach. Then came one about herbology that kept her distracted for a long while. Next, she found a red thin book, looked more like notes than an actual printed book, when she opened it she found the handwritten letter of the master of the tower. He started the first chapter with the plans for his tower, mixed inside were weird comments about how he found himself in a strange land after performing an experiment where he mentioned something called 'The voice of the world", he had tried to go back, but a strange force kept him in place, he couldn’t even leave the town. All this while he talked about rune circles and how the connection with the "ether flow" was crucial.
Then Eri remembered what the townspeople whispered about the wizard that lived there, how he suddenly came to town and had no explanation for his manifestation. At first, the older folk told stories about how he gained their trust, and what a nice old man he was, but he vanished as forthwith as he had come about. Something happened a couple years back, when the church started to roam around town, suddenly the council declared that it was best to leave his tower be, in case he came back or in case there was anything dangerous, at least that was the excuse, but horrible stories and rumors started to spread about the old wizard. Soon it became taboo to talk about him. Her father had confided in her one night when he was a little drunk after a town meeting, that it was all false, but he asked never to repeat it in town as he fell asleep in the living room. Now she sat there, reading the notes of a man that came to a place he knew nothing about, while a girl that knew nothing about rune circles read his books, it all felt ominous, as if she could disappear at any moment. Once again, pushing bad thoughts aside, she kept reading, tracing the circles with her finger, understanding a little more with every page. Her eyes tired, she stood up leaving the book at one side, stretched her legs, and looked at the pendant one more time. There was the rune for wind, another one for fire, sound, and change, around eight that she had couldn't make out. It seemed the pendant allowed her to understand complete ideas but not individual symbols, or maybe it was that runes were too powerful to be discerned by magic translations. After all, she remembered reading that intentions play just an important part in creating rune circles as the runes themselves.
Eri was never one to take a risk without having a plan, but after reading the notes and winded up by all the marvelous things in the tower she became too committed not to give it a try. Grabbing the orb in her hand the girl yearned for a piece of metal and something to draw on it. A sheet of thin copper and a strange stick of the same strange silver material appeared. She began tracing some circles and shapes as she had seen on the notebook, finally, she traced each rune, and as she did it all the circles started glowing with a red light, embers followed the movement of the point. So she finished, looked at it, checked her work, and placed it on the table. She concentrated on making the sheet of copper into transforming, she concentrated on a sickle so sharp that could cut even a tree trunk, and so it did: morphing into the correct shape, but without warning it melted into the wooden table, leaving the runes scattered and burning charred shapes. A hard-knocking sound interrupted her concentration, then intense shouting crept through the window, Eri grabbed the orb and put it in her pocket before heading to the balcony to try and see what was happening.
─Eri I know you are there, come down right now!─ Ronte shouted angrily.
The girl began to panic and her mind got jumbled up with so many consequences that she couldn’t concentrate. An intense feeling of weakness took her knees by surprise, she collapsed. Her arms, legs, and head were burning, her veins became wires conducting heat and she felt energy pouring out of her. On the other side of the room, the table began morphing into many different objects, so fast that she couldn’t even tell what it was anymore, her eyes became clouded. She had forgotten to close the connection and the runes were draining her through her emotions. She tried to close it, but it didn’t work. Weaker than she had ever been, she grabbed the orb and supplicated for it to stop. At that moment the tower began to shake violently, or was it her mind that was shaking as everything went dark?
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