To some, it appeared sinister and menacing. To others, it was a beautiful example of the work of the world’s greatest architects.

The Library of the Spirits sat at the top of a steep mountain peak. It both rested and held itself on and around the mountain. The stone foundation sloped upward at such an angle that scaling it would have been nearly impossible.

Of course, the Spirits could have chosen a more practical spot for their library. But it had been built with the intention of defense.

Humans were known for their fear and hatred of the unknown. Magic was a target of much prejudice, along with those who had the knowledge to wield it. So the persecution of human mages by their own race had resulted in the sorcerers isolating themselves. But in their separatism, they had developed their own distrust for the outside world that had turned on them.

The other races looked at the humans’ hatred for their own people with an almost horrified curiosity. The elves’ Ghosts were neighbors and friends with their kinsmen. The Dead, as the ogres called their mages, were always sought after for their arcane skills.

Humans were the black sheep of Neddel in their own way. The Spirit’s library was a crowning testament to the paranoia of humanity.

The library was raised out of the stone and shaped by powerful magic. The old writings by the Spirits told that it had taken their most gifted wizards nearly a year to finish construction. Chanting from the arcane work was said to be audible in the area day and night along with the rumblings of granite and marble being torn asunder and reshaped to accomedate the Spirits’ needs.

The end result: The library literally covered the mountain. The top structure was triangular in design. At each of the three corners was a blunt dome that shined in the moonlight. Wall made their way between all of the domes. One the southern side of the area, between two of the domes, was a spot where a wide portion of the wall branched off of the structure and wound its way along and down the mountain side. The branched off wall wrapped three whole times before it ended at the foot of the great peak. All over the walls, lights glittered in the windows.

The wall served a multitude of tasks. It was of such an immense size that it contained many rooms. Some of those rooms were where the Spirits and those wizards training to be Spirits resided at night. Others were storerooms for the library’s provisions and various spell components. Most of the rest were used as laboratories where magical spells and experiments took place.

Kirn and Sera had walked for two and a half days to reach the library. The traveling was silent for the most part.

Orth Ethern’s grisly death had left the siblings with the knowledge that there was something more to Ethern’s wealth than just some bedtime story.

There were times when Sera would visualize herself claiming the same wealth Ethern had discovered. But then her mind raced to a far different scene. One in which, she saw herself dying. Her blood flowing from her body upon the floor of some godforsaken place.

Sera had never really contemplated death. She had risked her life before; probably more times than she would ever let Kirn know about. But that notion of her life coming to a sudden end. It sent a shiver down to the core of her very being.

What in the Soul’s name is happening to me?! Sera berated herself. I’ve gone up against worse odds than a bunch of bloodtalon. So has Kirn, and we’ve both come through it all on top. So what the hell has got me so worried?

Kirn seemed to be doing enough worrying for the both of them. It was visible in the way he walked and the expression on his face. It was like this growing look of dread that grew more pronounced with the passage of time.

I’ll take him out to a tavern. Ten minutes with some barmaids to make advances on, and he’ll be back to his usual pigheaded self.

About the only time Kirn had been the one to initiate a conversation on this trip from Willowleaf was last night.

"Try to reconsider." Just out of the blue, the wizard had said it. "You saw what happened with the guy back there. I say that we just tell the Spirits what happened, leave it at that, and let them deal with whatever has come up."

"What?" Sera had responded. This wasn’t the laid back brother she knew who like to go on sprees of seducing women.

"Just give it some thought." That was the last Kirn said before rolling over in his bedroll. As suddenly as his speech began, it suddenly ended.

The few words from Kirn at that point caused Sera to fall into an unsettled sleep until the coming dawn.

Now it was the night following the dawn. Twilight had settled, and the evening’s first stars were visible in the sky. To the west, the final traces of sunset were seen as the soft shades of orange and pink running in a thin line along the horizon.

As the siblings made their way to the library, they noticed an oddity to the library other than its amazing architecture. The closer they walked, the quieter it got around them. Few crickets chirped and fewer mosquitos tried to bit them with each step they took. By the time they had finally reached the gate, there was only a deep silence. Almost as if they stood in some kind of magical void.

The two were at the foot of the mountain, where the wall ended in a stone archway with a sturdy, steel door sealing the way in for any unwanted guests. The porticulus before the door had been lowered for the night to emphasize the message that visitors were unwelcome.

Sera gave the long, winding passageway to the main structure at the top a brief look and immediately felt like skipping the visit and heading straight for the Steel Mountains.

"There is no way that I’m going to climb through all that just so you can tell a bunch of wizards a story about a funny feeling you got around some bloodtalons." She said pessimistically.

"We probably won’t have to if I can talk the night watchman into saving us the trouble." Kirn said.

The mage then held his staff in the direction of the door. The raven at the end of it glowed in a deep gold. The air was then filled with a low-pitched gong that broke the silence of the night.

For a moment, nothing happened as the ringing faded. But before the silence could settle in, an illuminating sphere appeared out of the very air before them.

Sera looked at the sphere passively. Having a mage for a brother made her used to seeing magical effects that set most humans on edge.

From within the sphere, the image of a man could be seen. His face was framed by the hood that hung over his head. He looked at the two from the orb as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. His face was youthful for a wizard. He couldn’t have been older than Kirn who was just getting into his thirties.

"Who are you, and what do you want at this time of night?" The young man asked over a yawn.

"Muldicak, is that you?" Said Kirn with a degree of honest surprise.

The weariness from the face in the sphere seemed to ease as the wizard began to wake up a little more.

"Stormpheonix? This is unexpected. How long has it bee? Five years?"
"I’d say so." Kirn replied.

"I take it you two know each other." Sera said.

Kirn turned his attention to his sister.

"Yes. Quite some time ago, I came here to train a little with the Spirits. Muldicak here was one of the wizards I had met here. He’s pretty good with magic for someone his age."

"And I’m still here, unlike certain people who spend their lives as drifters." The image of Muldicak glowered at Kirn.

"That was my choice to make." Kirn said in irritation.

"Maybe. But the question is whether that choice was the correct one." More emotion went into the young guard’s words. "I can’t really say I would choose to live among the barbarians out there."

"They’re not barbarians." Kirn returned with growing annoyance towards the glowing face. "They’re our fellow humans. Or have you forgotten that while being shut in your fortress here?"

Sera could only catch onto bits and pieces of the meaning behind the conversation after that. She knew only a little of the social structure of mages from what Kirn had told her. She knew that the truly dedicated wizards went to live here in the library of the highest ranking spell casters.

Kirn was not among them and was looked upon as a delinquent by the sorcerers for being "irresponsible" in the practice of magic.

She knew that the other wizards were wrong in their notions of her brother. Daily, she saw Kirn reading and writing in that spell book of his. Just this morning before they had broken camp this morning, Kirn was sitting with his nose in the book. It almost surprised Sera that Kirn didn’t get that strange madness that was said to come over mages who let their magic consume them.

"You’ll never gain the true understanding if you plan to spend you life wandering the countryside, hoping for it just fall into your hands." Muldicak criticized.

"And the Spirits, and those of you who live here to learn from them, are never going to find it behind these iron doors. You’re afraid to even look at the outside world for fear of it slapping you in the face." Kirn argued.

This was not what Sera had in mind as a brief visit to tell the Spirits what had happened in Willowleaf. The odds of simply getting in didn’t seem too good if Kirn was going to have a heated debate with apparently the only person who could let them in.

All she could do was assume that Kirn knew what he was doing.

"And what kind of wisdom do you think that all of us living in this ‘fortress’, as you call it, could use? What information could be out there that’s so valuable that we should waste our time for?"

"Perhaps the Spirits would be interested to know about a group of bloodtalons that was controlled by magic." Shot back Kirn.

Right there, all the color from Muldicak’s hovering face just disappeared like it had been washed away with a wet rag.

After a brief pause, Kirn decided to speak again.

"I assume this is the place where you say, ‘Oh shit.’

"We were in a town just a few days’ walk from here to see someone. That someone was soon dead when a bunch of the things came out of nowhere. Their attack methods were far too organized for bloodtalons, and I was able to sense magic around each one. So we decided to stop here to find out what you people might think of it."

"This does merit consultation with the Spirits." Muldicak’s face lost some of its previous pallor. "I think that Turoth is still up in the main study. I’ll be back soon to see what he has to say."

The sphere with Muldicak’s visage disappeared before the eyes of the siblings.

"So what do we do now?" Sera asked.

"I guess that the only thing we can do for the moment is wait." Kirn answered.

The images of Kirn and the woman with him faded from Muldicak’s view by the power of his magic.

The stone walls of the small room he was occupying were engraved with parallel lines of runes running horizontally. A circle of runes in the center of the room was the location where the miniature phantasms of the visitors outside had been conjured.

Thoughts raced through Muldicak’s mind as he brooded over what he had just heard from Stormpheonix. Even he had to admit that this was more than he could have ever expected from the delinquent mage.

The Spirits had only scraped the surface of sorcery involving the conscious minds of simple animals like insects. Whatever could possess something as demented as bloodtalons was a leap ahead of what the Spirits had been researching before the contact with Earth.

Swiftly, the young mage ran out of the room. He moved through the halls faster than many of the other wizards could have on even their best days.

A few of the mages he passed in the hall watched Muldicak go by and wondered what could have brought such a rush upon him.

A quarter mile run made only a half rotation around the mountain through the wall that went along the side.

The wizard nearly collapsed in front of the door to the main study as he braced his arm on the stone wall near him. He spent some odd minutes panting and gasping for air.

Once his breathing grew steadier and not quite as deep, Muldicak felt ready to enter.

With a sigh, he pushed open the right side of the huge double door that led into the study.

As Muldicak had predicted, Turoth was sitting down at one of the tables used for reading. A half-eaten plate of food sat at the edge of the table with an empty glass beside it. The Spirit was bent over the spell book he was reading with his undivided attention. Beside the book, was a quill pen and a tiny jar of ink the powerful mage used to take any notes he found necessary.

"Turoth?" Muldicak called softly while he came towards the table. Sound carried well in the room. A slight echo resounded from the high, domed ceiling.

The Spirit looked up.

By the torch, did he look in bad shape, Muldicak noticed. The normally cheerful face that filled a room with good humor in a place where everything was kept rigid and disciplined was now haggard and sagging.

The uninitiated mage truly felt sorry for the man who still refused to give up hope when the situation was at its bleakest. Dark circles had formed around Turoth’s eyes. How long had it been since he had had himself a full night’s sleep?

"What is it, Muldicak?" Turoth was always thoughtful enough to remember the names of all the mages who studied under him.

"There are some people who would like to speak with you and the other Spirits. One of them is Kirn Stormpheonix."

Turoth leaned back in his chair as he thought deeply.

"Stormpheonix has been here before." Said the Spirit.

"Yes. He sat in on a few of your teaching sessions a while back."

"I remember him now. Bright young man." Turoth began to recall. "A little too adventurous, but he did have a good head on his shoulders."

"I thought he would have lost it after the advances he made on Belcetti’s daughter." Muldicak said bitterly.

"So what is it that he wants to talk about this late at night?"

"He and some woman are here regarding bloodtalons possessed by magic."

Turoth face had been slightly ashen form the lack of rest before. Now, he looked almost pale enough to be mistaken for dead. He suddenly sat bolt upright in his chair.

Muldicak was pained for having to upset one of his mentors so much. Poor Turoth had been getting slightly unhinged these past few days, and this news brought in by an outsider like Stormpheonix could not have been good for the archmage.

"Send them up." The Spirit said softly.

"As you wish." Muldicak answered without argument. The young mage then left the study. The shuffling of his robes were the only sounds made in the room as he left.

Down the corridors, Muldicak went. His steps were quick, but not as hurried as they had been on the way to the study. The gradual sloping downward of the floor allowed gravity to have its way and help the mage keep a good speed.

He returned to the room that he had been stationed in when Stormpheonix had arrived.

The mage stood in place as his mind began to recite the words for the spell necessary to regain contact with the visitors outside. He drew on the magic and channeled it with his voice and mind.

Once again, the blue sphere came into sight as it had when Muldicak began his guard duty. Within the glowing orb were the images of the two he had spoken with earlier. Both of them looked impatient with the delay.

"I have spoken to Turoth, and he is willing to speak with you. If you’ll just wait, I’ll have you brought up to see him."

"Thank you." The image of Stormpheonix said with some forced civility.

Muldicak made the sphere vanish and exited the room.

The next left to do was something he hated. Across the wide hall, was another oak door. It usually remained locked, except for those rare occasions when special visitors came.

Certainly, Muldicak didn’t think of the two at the gates as that important. For all he cared, they could walk the whole way up to the main study to talk to Turoth. But the knowledge that Stormpheonix might possess of enchantments on bloodtalons easily tipped the scales of importance.

The mage reached into his robes and drew out a single brass key. The bolt clicked as the door was unlocked. Hinges that been used in weeks squeaked noisily as Muldicak put his shoulder against the thick door.

This new room was similar in appearance to the one in which the young mage had kept this night’s vigil. There were runes on the walls like in the previous room. But instead of a circle of magical glyphs in the room’s center, there was a brass podium standing four feet high with eight sides. Engraved into the gleaming surface were the arcane letters of sorcery. On two opposing sides of the podium was a pair of handles running along the edges.

The teleporter was never used that often. The few guests admitted to the library often walked up through the winding corridors to the top as they were given a guided tour of the place. Certainly, the teleporter save time and effort for any visitor who needed to see the Spirits in an extreme emergency. But it was a real strain on the operator of the magical device.

Turoth had told Muldicak specifically to "send them up", not let them in, not allow them to enter. That one phrase was what the Spirits said when they were referring to the teleporter.

Muldicak stepped up to the podium and gripped the handles.

Bringing the two people outside to the main study would wear him out enough. Sending them back to the entrance would probably put the young wizard in bed for days, if it came to that.

However, Muldicak had taken oaths to serve the Spirits for the privlige of learning under them. And among those duties was the operation of the teleporter when he was called upon to do so.

He reached out to the magic around him. His concentration became so intense that his knuckles turned white with their grip on the bars. He felt the magic flow into him and then out into device.

The writing on the podium glowed green in the dimly lit room, and there rose a low hum.

"I still don’t understand." Sera complained. "How are we supposed to get up to the top of this place, if we aren’t going to walk up. I doubt they have horses around to carry us."

"Just wait and you’ll see." Kirn said.

Eerilly, a green light rose from the ground, encircling the two.

Sera gave out a fearful shout.

Kirn couldn’t help but be amused at how most people reacted to magic when they weren’t used to having it cast upon them. They were always afraid that the first spell being cast on them was supposed to burn them to a cinder or turn them into some dreaded monster.

Sera looked at the calmness in Kirn’s face and started to visibly relax.

The green light wrapped itself around the siblings. It clung to their skin and clothing. Their bodies took on the green hue and became no more than silhouetted shapes of their former selves in the glow. The light then vanished, and with it were the two it had engulfed.

Turoth continued to sit at this table in the main study with his hands folded together.

In the empty space before the table, a green light appeared. Out of it came the shapes of Kirn and Sera. They grew less transparent and more opaque as their very beings parted from the enchanted energy and rejoined with the physical world.

Both of the new arrivals looked around at their new surroundings.

Kirn was much more at ease than his sister who looked ready to draw her weapons.

The Spirit stood from his chair to greet the visitors.

"I’m Turoth." He announced. Sera could tell that this wizard’s smile was forced, as if he was preoccupied with some other pressing matter.

"I remember you from your visit here, Kirn Stormpheonix." The archmage then turned to Sera. "And I see that you’ve brought an attractive companion with you. May I ask your name, miss?"

"It’s Sera. I’m Kirn’s sister." She said. "I wasn’t expecting to get here so fast, or in such an unsettling manner."

"Forgive us for that. I was told that you have information worthy of immediate attention."

"We do." Said Kirn. "Willowleaf recently became the sight for a nasty occurrence."

"So I’ve come to understand. Please have a seat." Turoth pointed to some chairs across the table from him.

Kirn and Sera sat down as Turoth did the same from his side.

"This will all make much more sense to me and the other Spirits when I bring it to their attention if you start at the beginning of this incident. Try not to leave out any details."

"It’s all a very long story." Sera stated. She wanted to be moving again to the Steel Mountains as soon as possible. And she knew recapping the past week or so would take a while.

"Maybe so." Turoth insisted. "But before we can take any action, we must know everything that happened."

Sera resigned herself and joined Kirn in telling the Spirit of their journey. They started with Glif’s bracelet back in Lar and his story of a cousin finding a dragon’s cave. Sera admitted her desire to find this so-called dragon’s lair in hopes of finding other such items. Turoth listened to that part very intently for some reason.

"Could you each draw me a picture of this bracelet that started this whole trip of yours?" Turoth requested as he pulled a few blank, scrap sheets of parchment out from underneath the spell book he had been studying earlier. He then slid over his quill pen and jar of ink to Sera, allowing her to go first.

The young woman’s sketch of the bracelet was quickly made. It looked like nothing more than an oval meant to be the wristband with the main body being a crude rectangle having a few bumps sticking out of its sides.

When she was done, Sera handed her drawing to Turoth who looked at it from several different angles, as if he didn’t know exactly what he was looking at.

"Let me try my hand at this." Kirn said.

Sera handed him the pen and ink with disdain. She never cared that much for the art of drawing to begin with.

The time necessary for the completion of Kirn’s work was considerably longer than what was needed for Sera. But Kirn’s drawn account of the bracelet was far more accurate and detailed. He always had a knack for art and made it a hobby of his when he wasn’t studying his magic. The picture was drawn so life-like that it looked as if it were ready to leap right off the page. Even the small lettering that appeared to be an inscription of some foreign word was included. The only thing missing from the finished picture was just a little bit of color.

Once Kirn was satisfied that he hadn’t left any details out of the sketch, he handed the masterpiece to the Spirit.

It only took a second for recognition to come over Turoth. His eyes grew wide. It became apparent to the two siblings that Turoth was familiar with what he was viewing.

"You’ve seen something like this before." Kirn stated.

"It’s no Rolex, but… By the torch! I don’t believe this!" The Spirit suddenly seemed to be charged with energy.

"So what are we looking at, here?" Sera asked.

"You have my word that I’ll tell all. If you’ll just continue with your story." Promised Turoth.

"Fair enough, I suppose." Said Sera. She was starting to put a load more stock in Glif’s family than she had ever before.

And so brother and sister continued telling their tale. The only details they left out were the goriest ones of Ethern’s slow and gruesome death. Kirn told of how he sensed magic surrounding the bloodtalons in their suicide run against Ethern before they took the old soldier’s life.

"That’s about it." Kirn said as he and his sister concluded their report. "Now what do you know of this bracelet?"

"This bracelet that you mentioned and drew was not made by anyone on this world." Turoth said flatly.

"What do you mean?" Sera commented. What the Spirit had just said made absolutely no sense to her. "If nobody made it, then how can it exist?"

"I didn’t say nobody made it. I said that it wasn’t made by anyone n this world."

Both of the siblings were equally confused by what they were being told.

"Let me start off by saying this much." Turoth tried to explain. "There is a huge universe out there, and we are not alone in it. There are those who exist no on this world, but on other ones far away."
"This is all a bit over our heads." Kirn said.

Sera definitely was at a loss. And if her brother, the mage, was unable to comprehend what Turoth was saying, then it looked as if their trip was taking them into a load of trouble.

"Let me try to explain this on the smallest scale possible." The Spirit went on. "We live here in the world. What we’ve been calling Neddel. And this world is just a tiny part of what is really out there."

Kirn and Sera both continued to give looks of incomprehension at knowledge so foreign to their own beliefs.

"Maybe it would be easier if I started with the largest scale instead. Everything is part of Existence, and Existence is made up of three realms."

The next quarter of an hour or so was spent on the lesson given to Kirn and Sera regarding the nature of the universe. They learned also of how the Spirits gained this new understanding by visiting one of the other realms and keeping that knowledge a secret to all outsiders.

"Why haven’t you told anyone on this world about your discoveries?" Kirn asked. "This knowledge could change the way we live."

"Which is exactly why we haven’t told anyone."

"I don’t understand." Said Kirn.

"Not all change is for the best." The Spirit replied. "Do you have any idea how many major religions exist on this continent alone?"

"I can’t say that I’m a very religious person to begin with." Admitted Kirn.

"There are seventeen. And everyone of them says in some way that there is only this world and the Afterlife in the stars where we are all said to go after death.

"If we told the world that the realm of the dead was not the Afterlife, but a vast, never-ending void in which our world and all others are held in place, then we’d all be condemned as heretics.

"Imagine followers from seventeen different religions knocking at the door and howling for our blood. And that’s assuming anyone took us seriously to begin with."

Kirn shook his head at that last comment.

"Oh, don’t get so rattled, Stormpheonix." Turoth said to the lower mage. "Don’t tell me you haven’t felt the prejudice that comes with those robes."

"I have, and it was mostly from our own people." Kirn responded. "But by isolating yourselves like this, you’re just compounding the problem. Fellow humans are as fearful of us as you are of them."

"And you’re not scared?" Turoth raised an eyebrow.

"I was for a while." The lower mage admitted. "But I learned that both sides are responsible for the problem. There are better ways to deal with this than hiding out."

It was then that Turoth gave a wide smile.

"You sound like myself when I was younger. When we discovered Earth. It was a world that had never seen real magic. I saw it as the opportunity for human mages to find acceptance. But that opportunity was dashed years ago. So we’re back to the trek’s first step again."

Sera could see that the loss of this Earth had pained the Spirit. She was compelled to feel pity for this man who had seen his own dreams taken.

"For what it’s worth, I’m sorry." She said to the archmage.

"There’s no need to apoligize on your account, miss. Traveling with your brother shows that there could have still been a chance for acceptance on this world after all."

"Could have?" Kirn asked, unsure of whether he had heard Turoth correctly.

The Spirit lowered his eyes to drawings of the watch and shook his head.

"I can’t help but be astonished at how smoothly the pieces have now fallen together. You just can’t imagine the sick beauty of it all."

"What are you talking about?" Demanded Sera. "Something about that bracelet has set you off. Something worth more than a quick lesson about the Realms."

Turoth looked up to face his two guests. The chissled features of his face just seemed to fall apart.

"Existence is doomed. It has been for four years now."

"What?!" Kirn exclaimed.

"You’ve got to be kidding." Sera said with disbelief.

"Hear me out." Turoth pleaded. "There’s more that we’ve kept secret than most people could imagine."

Kirn and Sera paid attention to the Spirit, hanging on his words as we detailed Existence’s current plight. They learned of the enchantment placed upon the very Realms and its origin on Earth.

"So that’s why I’ve been feeling a disturbance in the flow of magic." Kirn realized. "I sensed something was wrong, but I had no idea it could have been anything like what you’re talking about."

"If this Earth is where you know the spell is being generated from," Sera reasoned. "Then why not just go there yourselves and take down the caster?"

"Earth is a world completely foreign to us." Turoth said. "And from what we’ve come to know, the place is completely fortified. Besides, none of us are fighters."

"But I’ve seen Kirn fight with his magic before." Said Sera, not quite understand Turoth’s logic. "And you Spirits are supposed to be more powerful than him."

"In many ways, we are." Turoth replied. "But combative magic was forsworn by us long ago."

"I acquired much of my training from other races." Kirn nodded his head. "The few human I did learn from were outcasts like myself."

"Then spread the word." Countered Sera. "Just about every city has a trained militia. Gather an army or something."
"My dear," Turoth smiled humorlessly. "When the lower mages go into the nearby village for supplies, they are spat upon. The outside world still bears much malice towards us. Do you think that they would take us by our word alone?"

"So that’s just it then?" Sera propped her elbows on the table and glared at the archmage. "We just sit back and wait for the end without even seeing the face behind all this?"

"We haven’t been spending the past four years sitting on our hands." Turoth said. "We have delved into our knowledge and lore, trying to stop what’s happening. But as you may guess, it hasn’t done much good.

"But something happened a week ago that gave us hope."

"What?" Inquired Kirn. "Did you find a spell or ritual to counter the effect on the Realms?"
"No, rather something else even more unexpected. Somebody from Earth had managed to cast open a portal to this library. I went through the portal and found two men. I told them the story of the Realms just like I’ve told you.

"They didn’t take the news any easier than you have, but I saw something in them. It was a potential for the future. So I made a decision.

"It was a long-shot to be sure. But I had to convince the other Spirits to join me in casting the Spell of the Shadows. Are you familiar with it Kirn?"
"I’ve heard that it’s not a spell to be taken lightly." The mage answered. "You must have been desperate to cast it."

"Indeed we were. We gave the two I found on Earth what we prayed was the ability to save us all."

"You don’t sound so confident." Sera noted.

"Your story told me everything." Turoth pointed to the pictures the siblings had drawn. "This bracelet you saw came from Earth."

"We’ve deduced as much by now." Kirn said.

"But do you know how it truly got here, hmmm? Something was able to span the distance between Realms. That same thing is what must be causing the spell on the Realms. This man who died in Willowleaf wasn’t far off the mark when he spoke of his trip into the Steel Mountains."

"What are you talking about?" Asked Kirn.

"I’m talking about a dragon." Turoth answered gravely.

"Now we’re wading into a bit of madness here." Sera disagreed calmly. "Dragons are just myths. They always have been."

"Human disbelief goes a long way." The Spirit muttered. "Kirn, what do you know of them?"
"Outside of the fairy tales?" Kirn said while massaging the back of his neck. "I’ve heard the legends from some of the religions. They said that the dragons were responsible for the creation of Neddel. There was some kind of period of chaos before our world came into existence. For countless millenium, they were known to forge worlds and destroy them at a…." Kirn trailed off as his own words hit home.

"Oh shit." The lower mage said softly.

"You can’t just believe this." Sera remarked.

"Think about it, sister." Kirn said. "We find a bracelet unlike anything seen on Neddel. Ethern said he found a dragon’s cave. He later winds up dead with an unprecidented level of magic in the area. While that’s going on, I start to notice a disturbance in the usual flow of magic. And something immensly powerful had to be acting for the Spirits to cast the Spell of the Shadows."

"This is all new knowledge to me, as well." Admitted Turoth. "I never would have suspected something of the magnitude of a dragon. And if what I fear is true, then the Shadowed Ones on Earth don’t stand a chance. Even if they had ten years to manifest their powers, they would still be destroyed with just a thought from the dragon."

"If such a creature exists," Sera ventured. "Then how the hell do we kill it?"

"I don’t think it’s possible." Turoth said hopelessly. "The legends said the dragons were like gods. They’re ancient, far older than the Realms, maybe even older than Existence itself. But don’t think that’s going to stop us from trying."

"You plan to take that thing on?" Kirn questioned. Such odds were beyond comprehension.

"Does it look like we have a choice?" The archmage said. "You know how things have gotten. The Spell of the Shadows has only been cast four times over the centuries. There’s nobody out in the world who takes us seriously, so it’s up to us now."

"When do you plan to set off for the Steel Mountains?" Sera asked.

"First, I must wake the others and tell them what has been learned." Turoth then looked grimly at Kirn and Sera. "We will also need a guide to the mountains. Do either of you have any knowledge of the that area?"

"I’ve passed it by now and then on my travels." Kirn answered. "I can guide the way to the mountains easily enough, but I truly can’t say where the dragon’s cave could be. Ethern stumbled into it by chance alone."

"It doesn’t matter." Said Turoth. "The Realms will collide in a matter of months, if that long. We have to get moving before what little chance we have is lost. I’ll return soon with the rest of the Spirits."

With those words, Turoth stood up from his seat and quickly left the library. His robes made hurried brushing strokes across the marble floor until he was out of the room.

"If things go well, we can be there in under a week if they have horses to ride." Sera said.

"I don’t think you should be coming along on this trip." Kirn said firmly.

The young woman’s expression darkened.

"You plan to leave me here?!" She nearly shouted. "I don’t think so."

"This is a suicide run." Kirn said. "The Spirits value their power more than their lives at times. If they cast the Spell of the Shadows, then they don’t fear walking into death. Which is what’s most likely hiding out in those mountains."

"And you plan on going with them, even if it mean your life?"

"The Spirits are not combative wizards like I am. At least they haven’t been for years. They need someone with real experience in using spell to fight."

"Just like that?" Sera said. "You’re going out to die with these wizards who don’t even respect you to begin with."

"I’d rather die trying than waiting for the end."

"Then I’m going too."

"Sera…"

"Look, if Existence is doomed anyway, it won’t matter if I stay here or go with you. I’ll either die by the end of the week in the dragon’s cave or in a few months when the realms hit."

"But…." Kirn tried to get a few words in to convince his sister otherwise.

"You want to keep me safe. I know that. But like you, I just can’t sit back and wait to die."

"You’re not going to let me keep my promise to Mother, are you?" The wizard commented with a note of sadness.

"I think the dragon broke that promise a long time ago."

Kirn face registered something like a newfound respect for his sister. Perhaps he had finally recognized Sera as more than just his little sister. But rather as a woman who knew what decisions had to be made.

The two sank into a discomforting silence as they sat there waiting. Anxiety was creeping upon them form the speed that events were flowing at.

As a few more minutes ticked by, Sera found herself getting antsy. She stood from the wooden chair and began pacing around the gigantic room. Every so often, she would glance at the variety of books lining the marble shelves.

The young woman began to examine one book, which looked like a bound stack of dried clay slabs when the main doors of the study opened wide.

Turoth had returned with over thirty other Spirits milling in behind him. The robes of all the archmages looked like they had been tossed on in a rush, which was more than likely.

Kirn stood from his chair in respect towards the higher-ranking wizards. Sera stepped away from the nearby shelf to join her brother.

"I’ve told them what you have told me." Said Turoth. He then turned his attention to the Spirits around them. "My friends, we have little choice here. We must strike against the dragon ourselves.

"To be honest, I don’t think many of us would be likely to return. In fact, those who go will be signing their own death warrants. But we’ve run out of options, as these past few weeks have shown us."

"He’s a great leader. I have to give him that." Sera whispered to Kirn.

"The Spirits don’t have a leader." Kirn whispered back. "They make their decision together. Turoth is just a great diplomat. I’m not sure whether the others will all agree to go or not. But they most likely will once they’ve given this some thought if Turoth continues to ham it up."

"The spell we wasted on those two you brought here from Earth has drained us all." A pale-skinned woman with black hair remarked angrily. "We don’t have the strength we used to. Even if we were at our full potential again, our odds would be nil at best."

"Faira," Turoth said to the sorceress. "I’ve asked a lot of everyone in the past, and here I am just asking for more. But we don’t have a choice on this."

"I know." Faira said softly. "But that doesn’t make what’s coming any easier to take."

"What lands would we pass through if we went to the Steel Mountains from here?" Turoth asked Kirn.

"The new colonies being set up by the elves." The uninitiated mage answered.

"Other humans may not take us serious," Turoth said. "But maybe we can recruit some of the Ghosts."

Again, Turoth turned to face the Spirits crowded around him.

"It’s my opinion that we must attack the dragon. Make an effort to let it know that we won’t go without some kind of a reckoning. I plan to go and face the threat. Those who want to stay, go back to bed. As for the others, I’m heading out in the morning. So gather whatever you may need."

None of the Spirits uttered a word.

Turoth stood in place after his speech was made. His face was an image grimmer than death.

At first, all of the other Spirits looked indecisive. Then, one by one, a new emotion seemed to make its mark on all of them. Jaws tightened and eyes flashed with determination.

Satisfied that his point had been made, Turoth exited the study.

Kirn and Sera followed close behind.

"Wait." Sera said once they had caught up to the Spirit.

Turoth stopped to turn to the visitors.

"We just want you to know that we’re behind you on this." The treasure hunter said.

"Thank you." Turoth managed a weak smile. "Any help you give will be appreciated, even though there doesn’t seem to be a way to repay your bravery."

"With the way you handled things back there," Kirn added. "You shouldn’t have a problem convincing the Ghosts to join us."

"Bitchin’." The Spirit responded dryly.

"Huh?" The siblings asked in unison.

"It’s a slang term from Earth." Turoth explained. "It’s used when one is happy with the current situation. Knowing that you have such confidence in me is… refreshing."

"It’s too bad that we can’t go to one of the other realms to learn more about them." Sera muttered sadly. "I would have loved to see more of what Existence holds."

"We’ll make that son of a bitch in the mountains pay." Turoth consoled the young woman. "We may not be able to kill the dragon, but it will know that it had been in a fight. But in the meantime, we have much to do. We’ll rest for a few hours tonight. Then we’ll make preparations to be on our way."

The three of them moved down the stone corridor. In the distance behind them, the first few Spirits stepped from the main study with the knowledge that their lives were likely to soon end.

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