I fell asleep so quickly that I am not sure my head even reached the pillow before I was out. When I awoke later I saw Darnath, Gafar and Andreya eating quietly at the table that never seemed to run out of food. Luke and Jerran were still asleep. I poured a drink and headed into the other room to find Kellyn poring over a book.
Immediately I felt her reach out to me and say, “Morning, Vydor. I have something for you.” She mentally pulled a scroll from her memories and handed it to me. When I opened it to read I was transported back to earlier in the day and saw myself leave the room. Then I, as Kellyn, walked over to the bookcase and started taking down books at random. None of them made any sense. They were all filled with strange writing, and many had odd illustrations that did not make sense without the text. After a while I found a book with writing on its side that I could read. I pulled it down and saw that it was entitled “A Wizard’s Primer.” I took the book over to a large reading table and opened it at the first chapter, which was entitled “The Spell of Many Tongues.”
After studying this spell I took another book off the shelf and attempted to read it, using the spell. Success! After casting the spell I could read any of the books I pulled down.
The memory ended there. So I lifted a book off the shelf, attempted the spell I had just learned, and it worked. I could read all the books on the shelf. “Where is the primer now?” I asked Kellyn.
“Here,” she said and handed me a book from her stack, barely looking up from her studies. “I am finished with it.”
I spent the next few hours studying that book until Darnath and the others finally wandered in. I handed them the book and told them all about the first spell. We all spent what we assumed to be the rest of the day in there studying. With no windows it was hard to guess the time. Eventually we took a break from our studies to eat a meal together.
Talking with them now as Magi, I noticed that we had all shifted to a more casual tone, and any thought of rank was almost completely gone. I was pleased to see this because I knew from experience that all those formal ranks and rules just got in the way of getting things done.
At first the talk was mostly about what we had learned. Other than the primer book, we were each reading out of different books and learning about different things. Kellyn studied all the books she could find on spirits, demons, and magical healing while Darnath was more interested in spells regarding shields, protection and hiding. Jerran seemed to favor spells dealing with fire, explosion, and the like. Gafar and Luke were working very closely together studying natural and weather magic, while Andreya stayed focused on illusionary magic. My interests lay much more in how magic worked, and what its origins were.
“When we get back I suppose the first thing we must do is resign,” Darnath said, which seemed to silence all communication.
“Yes, that would be best,” I responded. “Officially we are all dead now, so I am not sure of the best way for you to do that. For me it is easy. I have to go to my former captain and officially announce my resignation, but you all … can you even resign when you are sent to a quarantine colony like that?”
“Well, I’m not sure. None of us volunteered for the position, nor does our status officially exist,” said Darnath thoughtfully.
“This is what we will do, then. When we get back we will travel to High Command, and we will inform them that we are leaving the military. It is likely that no one will be happy with this, and we will be seen as traitors, but in time that will pass,” I said.
“Aye, but it could be worse. Being what we are, they might try to imprison us,” interjected Gafar.
“Well, we will deal with that if it comes up. All we need now is to make sure we have a good escape plan from any meeting. Has anyone studied the art of teleportation yet?” I asked. They all shook their heads. “Jerran, please make it a point to find a book on that. Gafar, find out what you can about gate travel. I suspect we will need to learn both before we leave. Andreya, please see what you can learn about opening a window to look at places like Mantis did, and any other monitoring means you can find. It is important that no two of us learn the same thing. We can exchange memories later. For the moment we need to maximize the time we have in this library. Darnath, go on with what you are studying, we will need that for sure. Kellyn, you are on a good track already, too. Luke, please find out what you can about summoning creatures to help us. Surely the wizards have something other than the foul beasts the sorcerers use. I will see what I can learn about crafting wands, staves, and other magical tools, as we will need to know how to make our own. Study what you can, but make sure you get good rest and nourishment. It could be a long time before we enjoy safety like this again. As silly as this sounds, take it slow and easy, but study as much and as fast as you can.” I smiled at that. They indicated they understood what I meant. One by one they finished their meals and entered the library.