Out From the Shadows

Out From the Shadows

Chapter 1

A Sorcerer’s Tale

I am Cynder, son of the landlord of the de’Arnise castle. That might be something everyone would wish to be.  Let’s face it, the status comes with a nice set of advantages. Power, money, and anything the combination of these two might get you. But people often only see the bright side of things.

To me, this all seems more akin to a golden prison. As I am the second descendant of my father, I am not going to inherit his authority over the city when his time is over. Now mind you, I wouldn’t have wanted that - but I’m still considered “high society” by the common people’s standards, and that is really annoying.

I am not allowed to do anything that might “endanger” myself. That actually means that I can’t leave the castle for any reason, and anything I do that is out of the ordinary has to be approved by one of the guards. I feel like I’m being held in an overly-secured environment.

There’s also the fact that when you’re living day-to-day as the son of one of the most famous heroes Faerûn has ever known, most people tend to compare you to your father. They wonder if you’re going to be as great as your father, to be as heroic as your father. You’re only going to be compared to your father’s level. You’re not going to simply be “you” for what you’re worth.

Sure, in his time he had fought countless foes, ranging from thugs to dragons - well, that’s what the stories say about him in the books anyway. He helped a lot of people in distress. He stood valiantly against most of Amn’s oppressors, and bestowed justice everywhere he went. He even saved entire cities with the help of some of his companions. I’m not quite sure what parts of the stories I hear about him are true, and which ones are just there to embellish his already countless accomplishments.

Truth is, I don’t really care. When I asked him about these stories, in the very rare times that we could have discussions, he’d tell me to believe what I wanted to, and that his life of adventure was well behind him. He made it clear that he didn’t want to talk about his past deeds.

I guess I can understand him. Not every story about him is pleasant. Even if most of what you’ll hear depicts him as proud and valiant and... well feel free to add any other heroic adjective of your choice. Some of them are of a darker shade though. I’ve even read some books that claim he is a Bhaalspawn, the offspring of the now-dead God Bhaal, and let me tell you, being a child of the God of Murder himself isn’t very kind in terms of public image. I don’t really know what to think about all of this though. Distinguishing the legend from the reality is difficult, and it doesn’t help when the person concerned doesn’t even talk about it.

However, the fact still stands that I have never heard or read any legend about him telling that he is evil.

Eruadan, being the landlord that he is, is very busy, which is why he rarely has time to dedicate to his family and friends, which includes me. He barely manages to get some time alone with his wife, Nalia de'Arnise, a human who was once one of his traveling companions before he decided to settle down.

Why do I need to be so precise about her being a human, you may ask? Thank you for asking. Really.

Well, considering humans are not the only race that exist in Faerûn, it wouldn’t be wise to assume everybody is one. Even if in Amn - that’s the region of Faerûn we are in - there is about 83% of the population that are humans, there are other humanoid races as well.

That being said, my father isn’t part of that 83%. He is an elf. A wood elf to be precise. The elves have a lot of subraces, each with their own cultures, and ways of thinking and living. I could probably lecture on and on, explaining each of them and their differences, but I don’t want you to die of boredom just yet, so I’ll cut that out.

The history of the castle itself was not peaceful, though as it was once mostly the domain of the rich family of de’Arnise, and it served no other purpose than to host the family members plus some servants. But one fateful day, Nalia’s father - the owner of the castle - died while the castle was besieged by trolls ( long story ). After the trolls had been dealt with, the ownership of the castle became quite blurry due to her father’s death. Nalia was the only child of the castle owner’s family, but she was a woman, and therefore could not claim the castle for herself. I hardly understand why such laws exist, but what can I say?

In the end, if she were to be married to a man, that man could then legally claim the ownership of the castle.

At the time, Nalia was promised to Isaea Roenall by her father, mostly for political and financial reasons, but she didn’t like the man in any way. Aversion would be more exact to describe their relationship. However it was sufficient to grant Roenall the right to claim the de’Arnise castle.

Eruadan and Nalia had already gone through some adventures, and Nalia didn’t want her family’s castle and belongings to fall in the hands of the despicable Roenall.

In a desperate attempt to save the castle from Roenall, she proposed that Eruadan take over the landlord status through marriage, which he gladly accepted. Not really because he loved her, but because to him, what was happening was a great injustice. Also, marriage does not have any symbolic meaning for the wood-elf race. To him, it was only a way to help her out legally.

After getting the ownership of the castle back, Nalia and Eruadan didn’t stop their adventures right here. They continued to go through Amn to help those in need, maybe ( let me put an emphasis on the “maybe” word )because Nalia insisted on helping every possible disadvantaged person on their way, much to the disdain of the group they were in. But they couldn’t really object most of the time, and more often than not, had to comply with her desire to help out everyone they could.

Some legend-tales later, the group decided to part ways, having earned quite their fair share of bounty, fame, and battle-scars. But considering the numerous fights they participated in, mostly the later.

I guess that’s when Nalia and Eruadan began to have some sort of romance going on, because Nalia invited Eruadan to stay at the de’Arnise castle, instead of letting him return to his elvish homeland. My father accepted, and here we are, some years later, and if my half-elf presence and those of my two siblings are anything to go by, they probably loved each other since then.

When they settled in the castle, Nalia kept on with her way of helping disadvantaged people. That, plus the fact that the castle was the home of a famous hero, it attracted a lot of people; either just travelers passing by to rest for the night in a secured shelter on their journey, or people looking for long-term hosting and work.

Nalia welcomed everyone willing to work for a salary, and over the years, the castle itself became too small to host the ever-growing population coming in her family’s home.

So, in an attempt to circumvent the problem - and let’s face it, Nalia wouldn’t just ever just say “no” to anyone - the denizens worked to clear away a great part of the forest surrounding the castle, and a small town emerged in its place, aptly named “de’Arnise city”.

De’Arnise is located on a route near the center of Amn, between the great city of Athkatla that is on the coast to the west, and other cities such as Trademeet to the southeast, or the Umar Hills to the east. It serves as a safe route between all nearby cities, since Nalia made sure to severely repress any pillaging going down on these routes.

You can’t really steal from people when you’re dead, right?

Well, of course, bandits are always given the opportunity to surrender, and willingly meet their doom, but most of them would try to flee, or to fight back when approached by the city guards. I can’t blame them for trying, since those unlucky enough to be caught are executed without any form of trial. Needless to say, those that try to engage directly in battle often get defeated hands down due to the guard’s finer experience in combat, and their superior equipment; the former being due to my father extensively training them, and the later being provided by our city’s best blacksmith.

Nalia continued to be really close to the people living in de’Arnise, even as the city became too big to be able to know everyone that lived in there. She’s going as far as walking down the streets outside the castle with no guards following her. Most of the time, she’s going to a tavern to share a few drinks with the citizens and casually talking with anyone willing to join her at the table.

The citizens enjoyed her presence very much, because it allowed them to talk about some of the problems the city may have, having the possibility to directly talk with the one in charge without having to worry about the etiquette that people usually care about so much in the castle ( to my dismay, I have to cope with it every day of the year, and every year of the -- well you get the idea ).

They really loved that “close to people” side of her, and the fact that she would take near-immediate action when something needed to be done to improve the overall quality of life of her citizens.

So, while Nalia is mostly helping the city by doing individual actions towards people - like she always did in her adventurer’s life - my father would try his best to accommodate his time between managing the enforcement of the rules via the city guards, the family’s finances, and training the guards by using his quite impressive fighting and combat experience he accumulated while on his way to become the hero he is today.

He also has my two brothers to help him take care of those things. The youngest is helping him dealing with all the paperwork, while the eldest is getting trained to later command the city guards unit. It’s not like I really envy them on what they’re doing.

At least, I am studying magic, and that is quite enjoyable. But it means I’m stuck nearly all day long in my library, which is located in one of the castle’s four towers.

I never understood why the architect wanted the library inside this tower. While it is quite roomy, it forces some of the furniture to be round to follow the tower’s walls, and guess what? Books are anything but round. Really.

It probably gets a bit chaotic to manage the books on these shelves, but at least, the shelves that are not along the walls are of a more classical shape, and thus, more practical.

The tower itself has a welcoming atmosphere, and despite the fact that the walls are made of cold stone, the ground is carpeted nearly everywhere, allowing visitors to walk in comfort throughout the room. There, two hearths were built into the opposing walls, dispensing a cozy warmth throughout the vast place, while the tall windows present are allowing the afternoon light to flow inside the library, and giving quite a sight of the city surrounding the castle below. Some torches are suspended on the few walls that do not have shelves against them - though they are unlit for now - they would allow a comfortable ambient light to read in for the darker hours.

It is in those surroundings that I’m staying most of the time, and since I’ve to be here nearly every hour of the day for my magic studies, I’ve been designated to be the librarian. At least, it allows me to do the book ordering by myself, and gain some money while also continuing my studies.

I know where each book is located inside that library. I once held a registry of the books that I have, but I never exactly had updated it consistently. In the end, I have been better off learning it all. Being in charge of the place for some years ended up granting me that kind of knowledge.

So, here I am, sitting in a chair behind my personal desk, and guess what? I am reading a book. I’m quite sure you didn’t expect that at all, did you?

My desk would have looked like some kind of a mess to the inexperienced eye, with scrolls, inkwells, quills, and some tomes that were all scattered across the surface like there was some kind of war raging between all the present objects. However, believe me, they were right where I needed them to be for my personal use.

Right in front of me was an opened volume of “The Magus’ Compendium”, a very large and very heavy volume. It contains a list of the most well-known spells in Faerûn, and instructions on how to cast them properly.

I am a sorcerer. Just like wizards, I am a capable of casting spells, but there’s a slight difference between the two.

Wizards are more of the “scholar” type of mage. They are not born with the ability nor the instinct necessary to use the magical energies. However, with heavy training and devotion, they can achieve to become arcane spellcasters.

Us sorcerers, on the other hand, have an innate ability to use and bend magic to our will. Most of us never require to study magic to use magical energies. But there is a catch. We know how to unleash great amounts of raw power in the blink of an eye, but... Not in a very precise and methodical kind of way.

A sorcerer’s magic mostly reacts to one’s instincts and emotions. That is why it is easier for us to let the magic energies decide what to do based on our mood and situation. But that is also very inefficient, and quite uncontrollable.

You are getting unbelievably angry and let the rage control your thoughts? Let out some of your power, and watch as the world burns around you.

You desperately need not to be seen in a life-of-death scenario? If you believe hard enough that nobody can see you, you’ll turn invisible.

That is how I learned I was a sorcerer by the way.

Come on, don’t tell me you’ve never been eager to win at hide and seek when you were a child.

So, in an attempt to have a better control over my magical abilities, I am trying to learn a wide variety of spells, similar to how a wizard would. The only problem being that due to the nature of a sorcerer’s spell casting abilities, I’m having a harder time learning how to shape spells into a precise desired effect, since we normally do it on an instinct and emotional basis, not an intellectual one. The only good side of this is that once I can successfully pull off a spell, my sorcerer’s instincts will allow me to later replicate the spell without having to remember the process.

Sorcerers lack in the efficiency and reliability departments as spellcasters, while wizards mostly lack in raw power, but have an easier time when learning new spells, since they don’t have to deal with their emotions getting in the way of the spell shaping process.

When I was young, and that my ability to use magic was first revealed, I was directed to learn more about it by my father. He told me I could become a very powerful sorcerer if I studied hard enough, and that he could have a use for me once I would get strong. Hence, he assigned me with a tutor named Dahrim.

While a wizard himself, he was the person I saw the most in my life at that time, since he was the one in charge of instructing me with all things about magic. From the basics of casting spells successfully to the most complex of rituals.

So, I am actually seeing Dahrim more than my parents because my magic studies were taking a good amount of time in my life. However, he is kind of busy in another city as of late, and I’ve to learn new things by myself for the time being.

I kind of hate it when my mentor isn’t here, since that means the majority of the following days are going to be almost lonely for me. He keeps disappearing from the castle suddenly, only leaving a note on my desk notifying me of his departure. But he never had told me why, where, or when he’ll come back. It can be really frustrating sometimes.

Learning about magic is always interesting. Either when Dahrim is instructing me personally and making me practice it, or when I have to learn alone, it is a passion that got me since I started knowing about the fact that you can do amazing things when you use magical energies properly.

Being a spellcaster comes with some really nice advantages. Even the most basic spells are practical. A nice example would be the spell that we call the “Mage Hand”, that allows a caster to grab close objects in a telekinetic grasp, and move them around using their magic power instead of sheer physical force.

Now don’t get all excited about that yet. While magic is easy to perform, - well, once you know how to actually cast spells - it is draining on your mental resources to do the desired effects and it will exhaust you, as readily as lugging around a heavy object would.

But the fact is, it’s way more comfortable to telekinetically move objects around than having to walk and do it yourself with your hands, especially in a library as large as this one.

Magic does not stop with this simple spell, though. It ranges from minor feats, like lighting up torches by conjuring a small flame, to as far as controlling the flow of  time, and crossing through planes of existence. Even though I’m quite advanced in my studies of magic, those kind of spells are far out of my comprehension. For now.

In fact, anybody can learn to use magic, since it is an energy that flows around all of us continually, however, what makes it difficult, is to know how to channel it and use it effectively to get the desired effects.

My study was interrupted as someone opened the door of the library. I raised my nose from the book I was reading to have a look at the newcomer. I immediately recognized him as a servant of the castle, due to his clothing and behavior. He looked at me from across the room, and bowed down graciously, while saying in a very formal tone:

“Sir Cynder, dinner will be served in ten minutes.”

I gave him my most cheerful smile, and replied with as much respect and compassion that I could offer, “Thanks for your solicitude. I will make sure to arrive on time.”

The servant retired to the staircase of the tower, though, before closing the door, he bowed down slightly again in my direction.

I can’t really blame servants for being too formal with me, which is why I try to be as friendly as possible with them. But I really can’t stand the fact that nearly everything in that castle has to follow the “royal etiquette”. We are not even from a royal family, only the one of a landlord. But I guess the domestics are trying their best to not seem disrespectful.

Now that I think of it, time sure flew by very quickly. The very bright afternoon that could have been seen behind the windows what felt moments ago to me, was now replaced by a view of the sun nearly setting over the horizon, still dispensing just enough light so that reading wasn’t going to be a problem for about an hour or so. Also, the library was now deserted of anyone, while there were at least a dozen people last time I checked over the tables that were used for reading.

Someone had left a book on one of those tables instead of putting it back in its rightful place. I sighed at that plain display of disrespect for my work. Some people...

I focused on gathering a small amount of magical energy through my body, and raised my right hand in direction of the book. A nearly imperceptible yellow aura glowed from my hand, and soon after, that same aura appeared around the book.

Following my will, the book flew through the air, drawing closer and closer to me, until it was close enough to allow me to read the title. “Wishing Well” was written in golden letters on the leather cover. This was an interesting book I had long since read already. I always liked stories where ordinary people would live great adventures. That may be because I was stuck in this castle, having nothing to do but study all day long. I envied those kind of characters and their stories.

I sighed at the thought, and with a flick of my hand, the book flew back in its designated place, in one of the nearby shelves.

Then I remembered that dinner was soon to come. Oh well, I’m again going to waste some time with those stupid dinner with the rest of the castle instead of spending my time studying. Great.

My morale was starting to go down at the prospect of losing some precious hours of work, but it perked up again when I thought of something... Actually, I had been working on a new spell for a few days already...

I smirked. Time to give it a shot.

I made some distance between me and the furnitures of the room to get some much-needed free space, then, I began to cast a spell.

Raising my hands in the air, and moving them around to draw as much energy as I could, I started to recite an incantation.

“A plano tenebrarum quasi in re invoco duplicata esse.”

I felt the magical power beginning to gather inside my body while chanting the words, and I used that power to give shape to the spell in my mind. This spell is a complicated one that requires quite a chunk of energy. As a general rule of thumb, the more energy a spell requires, the harder it is to force it to your will. The magical energies always try to fight back to any sort of forced shaping. So, the more of it you will try to shape, the more it will try to escape from you.

Mind you, you neither need to move your hands around, nor do you need to incant anything to successfully cast a spell. The hand movement allows for easier energy flowing through the body, while the incantation consists mostly of words that you say to ease the spell-shaping process in your mind. You do it to “command” the magic, and bend to your will. It is more the intonation that you use in your voice that makes it useful, since it does have an influence on your psyche. Both those actions are not necessary, but they allow one to use the magical energies in a more efficient way, which makes the spell-casting process less wearying overall.

I was starting to sweat from the exertion of the spell-shaping process, and I closed my eyes to try my best to focus on the intent I was giving to the spell. I recited the incantation for a second time, and after a few moments of mental struggling to keep the magical energies under control, I felt that the spell was ready.

I extended my arms in front of me, and opened my eyes and hands wide. Then, I released everything.

I felt the magical power pressure that had been gathering moments ago leaving my body, and bright white particles of condensed magic began to escape from my hands. Those particles were piling up in front of me to about 6 feet high. At first, nothing specific could be discerned from the heap of energy, as it had no defined shape. But as the brightness of the particles were dispersing, I could make out the contour of an humanoid form.

When the glowing effect finally receded, it was not a surprise for me when I saw a perfect copy of myself standing mere feet away from me.

“I did it!” I shouted. It seemed like the spell went off successfully, and I did nothing to cover my exuberance, throwing both my fists into the air in a victory gesture, while smiling to myself - literally.

I began to review the illusion in front of me, pacing around it, and looking for any imperfection that could have been caused by a flawed casting. Complete success in casting a spell for the first time is pretty rare for a sorcerer, so I held out my enthusiasm for now, and switched back in a more professional demeanour.

After spending some time to check my unmoving double-self, it seemed like every detail of the illusion was perfect. From the royalty-looking white and gold mage robes I was wearing, to the slim and elongated body proportions. The color of its hair and eyebrows were perfectly matching mine, with a too-much vivid yellow. The hair itself had the same parting shape ending in a ponytail down to the middle of the shoulder blades in my back, and a few strands were flowing on the sides of my visage. It even had my silvery-grey eyes and my prolongated ear tips, the later being the trademark of my elven heritage, allowing anyone to easily figure out my half-elf nature, should they have somehow missed the slightly inhuman hair color, and my silvery-white metalized skin tan in the first place.

Even the whole body had the right dimensions, as I stood in front of it to compare my general measurements to it. ( But I didn’t go in depth... if you know what I mean ). It had the exact same height of about 5 feet and 9 inches as me.

I began to feel the burst of mental exhaustion inherent to the casting of a high energy-consuming spell, and I had to put a hand to my forehead for a moment. I almost had to kneel down from the strong enervation, but I soon overcame it thanks to years of practice. Once I was able to focus again, I turned my attention back on my double-self to check it one last time.

I really couldn’t find anything that was off. I probably can consider it a success.

While I was reviewing the finer details of the illusion for inconsistencies, I felt a telepathic link kicking-in in my mind. If the book I was reading before was anything to go by, I could now control the actions of the illusion, and also see and feel the world by its body by using that link.

After trying to move the illusion around, I think that the best way to describe how the link works would be like when you’re closing either your left or right eye. When you do that, you see the world from a different point of view. It’s the same here, I only have to focus on what “side” I want to see through, and my mind will be in the corresponding body. But unlike with the eyes analogy, I can not “open” (control) both at the same time. My mind has to fully focus on one to be able do anything.

The body itself, while being an illusion, is formed by energies from the Plane of Shadows that gives the body the consistency to interact with the Material world, thus enabling the illusion to perform minor physical tasks. But the body is much more fragile than mine, and it has only a minor fraction of my (nearly non-existent) real strength. Also, it may fade away into nothingness should it get hit by something a bit too harshly.

Anyway, it’s not like I was going to let that happen...

After basking in the joy of having cast the spell quite flawlessly for a moment, I was about to go to attend to the dinner when I remembered something.

“She might come back soon, I should probably have one of the windows opened for her.” I said to myself.

Joining action to speech, I went to open a window situated near a moderately sized bird-perch, with a large roost add-on, and went to go the dinner I had been called to.

Leaving my double-self behind me, I began to walk out of the library in direction of the banquet room. I hurtled down the long staircase of the tower, and navigated through some of the hallways leading to my destination.

Torches had been lit in the passages, probably not so long ago by the domestics in foresight of the night that was soon to come. However, for now, the windows to my right were still showing a magnificent view of the sun setting in the horizon, dispensing an eerie orange-tinted light along my way.

As I neared my objective, I noticed a net increase in activity, going up from the quiet and peaceful environment of the empty library to the commotion of servants affairing to prepare everything for dinner, hastily running around the corridors of the castle. There was also the noise of people chatting with each other while on their way to attend to the banquet.

I followed the crowd inside the immense room, occasionally stopping to return the acknowledgments from the people who recognized me. The dining room was consisting of very long wood tables joined side to side with each other in an extensive succession throughout the very large place. The tables were engraved with beautiful artistic patterns, giving them a regal look, while the whole place was illuminated brightly by several lustres suspended to the ceiling. There were also some more classical torches hanging to the walls in between each of the very high windows.

Like usual when about to eat in community, the persons that knew each other made sure to sit in groups at the tables, to ensure themselves some interesting conversations throughout the meal. For my part, I made sure to get a place close of my family so that most people won’t try sit nearby by respect.

I really hate most of the castle folks, because most of them are high class nobility.

Don’t get that the wrong way, this doesn’t mean I hate them simply for being part of the nobility. Gods forbid me, if I was to hate them for this sole reason, I would also have hate myself a lot.

The problem is that some of them got to their actual rank with lies and deception, using nearly any method at their disposal to grant themselves more power, or more money, pursuing their own objectives while disguising them behind a wall of selflessness.

Not all of them act that way, I know that for sure, but I can’t really take chances since I am the son of the landlord. Having misplaced trust could have disastrous consequences for those around me, and myself. I shield myself by only having the minimum of social contact with those persons.

My brothers had rarely anything interesting to talk about. One could go on forever explaining how the rules of this city had loopholes that could be exploited by malicious persons and how they needed to be changed, while the other would try to convince me to do physical exercises with him and the guards, to “be able to defend yourself, and strengthen that frail body of yours” to quote his own words.

Hell, if someone would try to do anything to me, I already have numerous ways to deal with that, thank you very much. Burning them, freezing them, shooting them up with pure magic missiles, or sending them flying some feet away are only a few of the options I’d be more than happy to use. I don’t need to lose time trying to vainly build my body when I could be improving my magic potential and knowledge instead. Anyway, it’s not like I was going to ever put my life at risk, locked in the castle as I am.

I found a chair next to my younger brother and sat there, waiting for the dinner to officially begin.

I greeted my parents and siblings with joviality, and they all returned it happily. Dinner is the time of the day where everyone is guaranteed to see each other. In the daytime, everyone is busy with their work, and lunch does not have a predefined hour, so it’s easy to carry on a day without seeing anyone that you may know. I even skip it most of the time when I’m not hungry.

The library isn’t exactly the place where I have a high chance to see my family. Well, except for my younger brother, since he works a lot with the town's rules, but he mostly comes around, take the books he needs, and goes back to his own office.

The servants were still filling up the tables with either cutlery or dishes. Since I still had some time ahead of me before they would finish to set up the meal, I decided to focus on my illusionary self, which was still at the library.

I opened up my senses to the telepathic link, and found myself in front of my personal desk. The supplies on it still seemingly in the middle of a great conflict, but I couldn’t care less. I resumed my study of the huge tome that I had been reading minutes before.

While flipping through the book, I found an interesting chapter going on about the creation of magical portals, allowing the travelling of very long distances by stepping into it.

Well, that’s the easiest part of it all.

After further reading, it seemed like summoning one is actually a very complicated ritual, involving the creation of runes on the ground using complicated patterns, and the shaping of a very elaborated spell.

I focused myself on the footnotes of the spell.

“It is probably wiser for one to start learning to create portals before attempting any self-teleportation magic. Getting the basics of accurately defining the arrival point of a displacement spell is important, and while the creation of portals has quite high requirements, it has the potential of being the safer way to trifle with arrival points.

If the arrival point was misplaced, the caster can simply shut down the portal to avoid any complications that might occur, while a caster failing a classic teleportation spell might cause himself harm if placed poorly.*

*See page 2845, 2ndparagraph formore information about teleportation into objects.”

I pondered over the subject for a few seconds. After very intense reasoning, I decided that using such an elaborate illusion to read a book was counterproductive.

There are far more better ways to ways to make such a spell profitable...

I smirked at the possibilities.

While I was going through the potential uses I could have for this spell in my mind, I felt something on my shoulder - and I didn’t mean the shoulder of my library-located-self, but the shoulder of my physical body. I focused my mind back to my real self, and tried to identify what was causing the feeling.

As the view of the banquet room filled my eyes again, I turned my gaze to my left side, only to find my younger brother glaring at me through his glasses with worry, a hand still on my shoulder as to call me out.

“Cynder, are you alright? You haven’t eaten anything yet, and you look very preoccupied by something. Do you want to talk about it?”

As he said that, it struck me that the dinner was almost half-through, and that I still had an empty plate in front of me. People around the tables were either finishing their main course, or beginning to eat their desserts, while still chatting happily with their neighbours, filling the air with the noise of their conversations.

My brother’s questioning also attracted the rest of my family’s attention, and they were now looking at me, eyes filled with concern too. I shifted nervously, as I hate being the center of attention.

“Yeah, maybe I should start to eat,” I thought. Anyway, my belly was starting to signify me his dissatisfaction of being empty by growling loudly.

I thought for a bit, trying to come with an answer better than “Oh, I’m actually controlling a duplicated version of myself while we eat, don’t worry about me”. It would bring a needlessly long explanation that was sure to reduce the impact of some of the plans I had for this illusion.

I smiled, and tried to look confident.

“Sorry, I kind of phased out while thinking about my latest studies. I’m learning about teleportation magic, and I didn’t realize dinner even started because of how deep in thought I was,” I said, while grabbing my fork. “I’ll go ahead and start eating now. Don’t worry about me.”

Technically, it wasn’t a lie. I simply omitted some minor details, like the presence of an illusory being that looks just like me in the library, and the fact that I can remotely control it.

I started serving myself with some dishes, and seeing me acting normally was enough for my family to drop the matter and resume their previous conversations.

I also felt another starving feeling, but on a deeper level. I knew what that meant, but I would have to address that problem later.

For now, I had fulfill myown biological needs.

I got myself a generous portion of anything that was to my taste. However, while machinally eating, I eavesdropped for some interesting news.

Being a librarian, getting news from the town can prove to be quite difficult while working. Even though I see dozens of people a day, the fact that a library has to remain calm means that you can’t chit-chat with anyone without breaking the comfort that silence brings to the readers present in the room. So, I hardly ever have time to talk with people, aside from the occasional questions I get when someone is looking for advices on what to read next based on what they want, to which I’m much obliged to respond being the librarian and all.

Things being what they are, dinner is the only time of the day where I can get such news, so I went fishing for some.

My two brothers were talking to each other. Actually, I am not sure ‘talking’ was the right word. I listened in the middle of their conversation. The older one seemed on the verge of flipping the whole table over, which I hoped wouldn’t happen, since I would be right in the trajectory of the object. It would optionally also disturb the serenity of the dinner itself, but I think it comes second in my priority list when having to deal with the possibility of having a whole massive table heading in my general direction at an unhealthy speed.

He was as close to shouting as you could be without drawing the attention of the whole banquet room, but it still earned him a few glances from our closest neighbours. Indignation and rage were dripping from his voice while he said “But that’s stupid! I know our town hasn’t anything to say in Amn’s laws-making, but why would they prevent us from dealing with bandits by ourselves? They get in the way of our citizens, and even possibly theirs! We can’t afford to let them roam on our roads and commit crimes in all impunity! I can understand the roads are not under our legal protection, but we don’t even ask for money to do it!”

My younger brother tried to remain as calm as he could, considering the threat of the table promising to shorten dramatically his usually quite long half-elf lifespan - as well as mine in the process - should it get flipped over.

He eyed his older counterpart with a composed expression. He adjusted the glasses present on his nose and said in a comprehensive tone “We can’t really argue with orders from the Council of Six of Athkatla. Also, I think their decision isn’t that much devoid of meaning, considering the recent upsurge of aggressive tribes of goblins and the likes. They even reported a hill giants tribe attacking a small village in the northeastern part of Amn.”

He joined his hands on the table and went on, “Right now, sending patrols might lead them to their demise. If bandits are dumb enough to expose themselves to such dangers, let them do it.”

He grinned mischievously while adding, “And if there are encounters between the bandits and those tribes, we win, whatever happens.” I had to concede, my younger brother had a serious point here.

“This is the reason why the Council does not want us to go out bandit hunting. They simply care about us. Once the situation changes back to normal, I am quite sure they will allow us to do it once more. As you mentioned, it is quite profitable for them that we don’t even ask for a compensation while doing it,” he said.

My older brother seemed to have calmed himself down. “I guess I understand,” he said.

        The younger also added, “But the fact is, the Council made sure to inform everyone to only travel under heavy escort for now because of these events. So you may see a sudden increase in escort missions on your side.”

        “That is something I will be looking forward to!” he answered happily.

They both went back to rules debating, as it was common for these two. I tried to get a hook on any other bribe of useful information that I could listen to from the nearby conversations, but nothing else seemed interesting enough. Knowing whoever is dating with isn’t what I would call interesting.

So, while I was finishing my meal, I began to set up a plan for my illusion by switching my vision to the illusion while I was chewing on my food.

Switching back and forth from my body to the other wasn’t so hard, so I intended to use that feature to its full extent. If my plan works as intended, there should be some animation very soon...

And I was not mistaken. A few minutes later, a city guard came in the dinner room, and rushed past all the tables, heading directly to my father, his full-plate armor rattling with every step he made.

I started focusing a bit of my magic, channeling it very subtly on myself to make sure the guard wouldn’t notice me right away.

It worked perfectly, because the guard just continued past me, apparently not even acknowledging I was there, and he went next to my father. He made a salute, and reported:

“Sir, some of the main gate guards spotted your son Cynder leaving the castle a few minutes ago, apparently without any official permission. We tried to stop him, but he ran to the town. We gave him chase, but we lost track of him at the corner of a street. Should we send a search party to bring him back?”

Right when he finished his sentence, I stopped channeling the previous spell, and tried my best to act like I was surprised.

My father stared dumbfoundedly at the guard for a few moments. Then he turned his gaze to me, quickly checking if I was there. After getting this confirmation, he turned himself back to the guard.

“Are we talking about this Cynder,” he said, while pointing a finger in my direction, “or do I have another son named Cynder that I am not aware of?”

The guard turned himself to look at me, and the look of pure confusion that I could see on his face was priceless. I must say, I had trouble to keep my own confused facade, while all I would have wanted was to burst into laughter right then. He stared at me, seemingly not believing his own eyes, and stammered, “B-b-but... He... I...”

Seconds passed, while his expression gradually shifted to one of suspicion. “How...”

I could not resist adding some more salt to the wound, so I said “Are you sure that it was me? I am in this room ever since dinner started, and I had been in the library before that. I never left the castle’s vicinity.”

“But... the robes... The ears... I...”

I saw my older brother looking at me with a knowing smile, which I could only return with an utter confused look and a shrug. I could not drop the appearances right in front of my father.

However, my father didn’t exactly seem amused the whole situation and cut the guard short. “I have no time to hear about your hallucinations. Was this man you gave chase to of relevant importance that it might be worth interrupting my meal? Else your are dismissed.”

He didn’t even bother to give the guard any more attention, and went back to finishing his meal. I still felt bad for the guard, but damn, it was worth it!

The guard stared a few more moments at me, like he was seeing a ghost, and finally said “No sir, nothing else to report. Sorry for the interruption.” After that, he saluted again, and quickly ran out of the dining room.

After a few moments of silence, my older brother said in a falsely inquisitive tone, “I wonder who it is that they saw... Because you obviously were here all the time...”

He let the sentence hang in the air, like I would explain him what had happened.

Of course, it was my illusion that ran out of the castle, and I stopped the spell right when it was about to be caught, but a magician never delivers his secrets, so I just shrugged, and replied “How could I know?”

Eruadan and Nalia resumed conversing with each other, in a low voice. They didn’t seem to care about what had just happened. The only one to have rightful suspicions about me was my older brother, but he knows I like playing tricks to the guards with my magic. This isn’t exactly the first time something similar had happened, but never anyone could prove it was me.

It kind of is the only way I have to break the monotony of my life. Since I have an easy time with any illusion-related magic, I am trying to make the best out of it. It helps me morally, and gives some way for me to use my magic for a real reason.

Dinner was soon coming to an end. I was finishing my dessert, namely, a slice of my favorite: Strawberry tart. Most of the people around me were finished with their meals, and were going through the ends of their conversation topics with their close-by companions, or leaving to head to their quarters, or maybe to attend to some other businesses I’m probably unaware of.

Once I was done eating, with my stomach now full and warm, I left the main room, but not before wishing a good night to my siblings and parents, to go through an opened door leading to the quite huge kitchens of the castle. That part was swarming with activity, mostly servants passing by, either carrying the rest of the dinner’s dishes towards the cleaning room, or on their way to get more of them from the dining area.

The room had numerous hearths throughout it. Though they had now nearly all been extinguished, they were probably used moments ago to cook our meal. There were also lots of shelves present, garnished with all sorts of ingredients necessary to prepare the food. It was also a bit darker than in the main room, and it was taking my eyes a moment to adjust to the sudden decrease in brightness .

The room should probably have felt a tad too warm to me, considering the heat that had been produced by the preparation of our meal. However, I had enchanted my robes some weeks ago when studying the Spellweaving skill. I had put an enchantment that keeps me at pleasant temperature whenever I face moderately cold or hot environments.

I was drawing some curious glances from the persons present , but I didn’t care to explain my presence here to them. After spending some time trying to spot the chef in the crowd, my search finally paid off, as I saw him sitting in front of a table, eating his own meal with some of the servants now that the service for the castle was finished.

I walked in his direction, and he spotted me approaching when I was halfway there. He waved his left hand to me, while still attending to calm his hunger by eating with his right arm. Once I was in front of him, he dropped his fork in his plate, and stood up to shake my hand.

“Hey, how’s going the landlord’s son t‘day? Learned some new of those fancy spells o’ yours?” he asked me with a very sincere smile.

“You wouldn’t believe the last one if I showed you. But, I’m fine, how about you?” I said, returning the smile, as we broke the handshake.

“Oh, you know, always the same,” he said while waving his hand dismissively.

He’s one of the few people that I know because of my librarian job. He often comes to get some books about cooking, to try to improve himself or get new ideas. I really enjoy talking to him, because he never really treats me differently than anyone else. He’s one of the few that are not afraid to talk sincerely in front of me, and neither does he change his attitude because I’m of a higher class - except sometimes for comedic purposes.

He was quite the old man, nearing his 40 years, his expression a reflection of his hard work throughout his life. He’s wearing the official cooking uniform, depicting him as the chef, and his whole outfit is stained with blood or sauce marks, leaving no doubt as to his function.

“I’m here because it seems that my familiar may - again - end his day with his stomach empty. Perhaps you could get me something that she might eat when she comes back?”

He emitted a “Hmmm...” while thinking over the question. “Well, I might have a rabbit that she could eat. Hang on, let me go get it.”

With that said, he left the room to go through a door, probably leading to the meat stock. He came back seconds later with, as promised, a skinned rabbit carcass. He was holding it with his bare hand. He probably didn’t really care about getting himself bloodstained.

He presented it to me, while saying, “Here you go. However, I’m concerned by your bird’s hunting abilities. They seem to be getting worse and worse recently. Did she became too fat to get her own food?” he asked, while insisting sarcastically on the word ‘bird’.

“I’m afraid so, but I can’t just let her starve to death. Especially because of our bond.”

“Well, you should try to make her do some exercises. I’m sure you can find a book about ‘How to keep your bird fit’,” he said jokingly.

I picked up on this and said “Or I could write it myself, that I am sure of.”

We exchanged a hearty laugh. When we were done I directed my hand towards the carcass, but instead of grabbing it with my hand, I let out a small amount of magic, creating a telekinetic field around it, causing it to glow with a slight yellow aura.

Maybe he didn’t care to dirty himself, but I don’t particularly like getting blood all over my hands, or clothes.

“Sorry about bothering you for this,” I said.

As he noticed the aura around the carcass, he let go of it, and replied “You know you’re always welcome here, boy’. Anyway, I’ll get back to finish that,” while pointing his thumb behind him to his unfinished plate.

“Alright, let me get out of your hair then. Good bye, and thanks!” I said, waving to him with my free hand, and started to leave the room by using the service door while levitating the rabbit carcass in front of me.

“‘later, Cynder!” I heard from behind me.

        So, I made my way back to the library. The light dispensed by the torches was now mandatory, as the sun had now set, giving place to a starry night.

I reached the door leading to the library, and opened it.

It was now quite dark in here. The two hearths inside the room were now put out, only small embers indicating that there was once something burning here. There wasn’t going to be enough light to continue my study, even considering that half-elves herit of a somewhat diminished version of low-light vision from their elven ancestors. I navigated through the library mostly by memory, blindly going through the room. I was approaching my desk, the rabbit carcass still following me through the air, when I suddenly heard something.

“Meat?”

Getting addressed so unexpectedly got me frightened, and I did a quick turnaround to face the source of the voice. All the while, my concentration on the Mage Hand spell dropped, and so did the rabbit carcass that was hovering near me.

Hearing something that was really unexpected in such a dark and - usually - silent place made my survival instincts kick in. I quickly raised into an offensive position, and without even thinking, released some power to begin casting a fire spell.

I know the choice of element to fight with wasn’t really brilliant at the moment, considering we were in a library, but my emotions were taking control of my spell shaping process at this instant.

Having no time to try to spare my magical resources, I poured as much energy as I could in the spell, which got it ready nearly instantly. In less than a second, both my hands were engulfed in a cracking fire. I held them in front of me, ready to release a torrent of flames in the direction I should point them to.

However, right when my hands were set ablaze, I felt a deep sense of primal fear, that had nothing to do with my own instincts, and I also heard a shriek coming from the darkness I was facing.

Right when the light radiating from my hands allowed me to see what was in front of me, I suddenly realized that it was my familiar.

Just as quickly as I had initially cast the spell, I interrupted it, cutting the energy flux flowing into my hands, and the flames died out with a slight swoosh sound, without causing any damage.

“Damn! Sorry!” I said.

I felt a panic that wasn’t mine, and I rushed to the side of my familiar’s perch. As I neared it, I could now distinguish its features. I was in front of a quite large golden eagle, of about 42 inches in length, its feathers of dark brown shades almost blending in the darkness surrounding them.

She was startled, courtesy of my earlier pyroclastic show, and was agitating herself on her perch, flapping her powerful wings without actually taking off, making the perch oscillate dangerously, nearly putting it off-balance.

“Calm, it’s over, no need to panic anymore” I said, trying to sound serene and attempting to convey the feeling that everything will be alright. I also tried to put my hands on her sides to help calming her.

Well, saying that I ’said’ my previous sentence might not be the right word for the kind of conversation I was having with my familiar. Neither of us could understand each other if we were to use our respective voices. But, when a spellcaster creates a bond with an animal to become his familiar, this bond allows to empathically convey thoughts and general feelings over this link, making the understanding of each other possible without having to utter a single word.

This kind of binding also makes us to perceive what one another is feeling physically and emotionally at any time.

After a few more seconds of trying to calm my familiar with soothing thoughts, she finally went still, and the panic I felt from her earlier receded.

She stared at me, puzzlement emanating from her as she asked “Why did you do this, half-elf?”

To that question, I answered - a bit abruptly perhaps, “You startled me when you addressed me so suddenly. I did not know you were here.”

“You were looking in my direction, how can have you not saw me?” she said.

I sighed, and replied “Do I need to remind you of your more developed vision, or is that you just like it when I compliment you?”

She took a prideful stance on her perch, slightly raising her head puffing her chest. “You, humanoids, really have the most inefficient appendages I have ever seen.”

I rolled my eyes, knowing there was no point arguing on such a field with her.

Then, I remembered why I had brought the rabbit carcass here, which was still lying on the floor, due to the previous events. I used a telekinetic grasp to bring the rabbit carcass to my familiar.

She eyed me quizzically. “Is that for me?”

I almost wanted to make a joke out of this, but resisted the urge, and simply nodded.

Once she caught it in one of her talons - still using the other to keep her balance on the perch - I let go of the carcass. I felt my familiar directing gratitude towards me, just as she began to feast on the rabbit.

After letting my eagle eat a bit of her meal, to make sure she wasn’t starving anymore, I asked her, “So, was your hunting so bad?”

I felt a shameful sentiment coming from her at that question.

“I started hunting too late. My prey all went to hide now. I couldn’t even get one of the smaller ones.”

I tried to reassure her. “It’s okay. You know you can count on me when you’ve got a bad day.” Again, I felt gratitude from her.

I let my familiar to feast on the carcass and went to attend other matters. I went around the room, to light up the torches with a minor fire spell, and rekindle the hearths by adding more wood in them. Once I was done, there was enough ambient light to read comfortably, and I wasted no time getting back to it.

The night went on without much notable events, and I continued my learning of the portal spell I had stumbled upon while controlling my illusion. The moon was now shining brightly outside, bestowing its otherworldly light upon the city and the forest around it, while the starlight had gained in intensity.

After staying up probably more than politically correct for me, I decided to stop when I couldn’t focus rationally on the book before me anymore. I shifted my gaze around the room, and saw that my eagle was already asleep in the nest add-on of her perch.

I quickly made some tidying up, and extinguished the torches around the room. I also added some wood again in the hearths to make sure they will last throughout the night. When I was done, I felt some contentment emanating from my familiar.

“Darkness...”

She shifted slightly, in her roost, making herself a bit more comfortable, and I felt her mind drifting back to sleep.

I smiled at this scene. Seeing my familiar sleeping had some kind of cute side to it.

 I left the library to go to my chamber. It was small room located behind a door inside the library. I had long ago asked my parents if I could get a room there to lose less time travelling back and forth between the appartements wing of the castle and here - which is quite a walk because this castle is huge - and they had granted it, turning that old storage room into my very own chamber.

The setting was quite simple, with a comfortable bed, and the basic furnitures you’d expect in any chamber, and most of those are of a really good quality. There is no desk, due to the proximity of the library, and due to the fact that I already had one in there, but despite this, I got all I need to take care of myself. There’s also a small window giving a glimpse of the outside.

I undressed myself, put the clothing on a hanger provided for this purpose, and literally dove inside my bed due to my heavy exhaustion.

Now that my body was relaxed inside the bed, my mind was starting to drift away, but I forced myself to focus one last time of what I will do tomorrow.

“Try to create a portal” I thought. If I can pull it off, I will certainly gain a lot of insight on the magical forces used in the displacement of matter through space. That could prove useful for a lot of spells. But for now, I had a more urgent task at hand...

I fell asleep.