The Return of the Novice

shadow." The ink was faded, ancient even, but unmistakably written in a hurried, almost desperate h

ist in any of the records she'd seen growing up in the Temple, nor in the city records of Eldorath. Yet, a

name felt familiar, though alien-like a story told to her in in

ming as though reacting to her voice. A gust of unseen wind blew through the c

urning her back to the pedestal. The room no longer felt like

had been

stion that it had to do

st Emily. Not

ely-and someone had worked

he chamber. The walls seemed to breathe, and faint, glowing runes ap

her to stay. The room responded to her presence-no, not just her presence, but h

flame in the lan

icker-fully,

y fr

y Seers of the Ancients to communicate across time. It signaled that a messa

m and coiling in the air above her head. The spiral shifted and condensed until it formed

oth male and female, layered

. To the one who bears the shadow of the raven, your time is not yet yours. R

ished. The room went still. The blue flame flickered

been destroyed during the Great Cleansing-a hidden place used by the earliest founders of the Order to house fo

uly connected to the Temple of

en it

knew. They ha

at she would become if she discovered the truth on her own. They had kept her close, disguised her ide

w many lies had she lived under? How many truth

. She needed to find the Temple of Dus

nd turned to leave the forbidden chamber. She didn't know how long the sp

eave Eldora

stic, and ancient. But now it felt smaller somehow, like a cage she had outgrown. The knowl

dust, the old man having disappeared weeks ago without a trace. At the time, she had thought lit

. Emily moved quickly through the streets, hood drawn, head down. She had to return to her small room above t

elt heavier

dow seeme

f coins, and a vial of moon-dust oil, just in case she needed to light her way through e

e window, the cracked mirror leaning against the wall, the hal

been he

d no longer

ional bark of a street dog broke the stillness. Emily slipped into the shadows w

wall of the city, she t

sanctuaries, lay behind her. The Te

he darkness of the unknown, on

longer ju

en legacy... and the world wa