Before True Light: The Awakening 2nd Edition

by Sarah Buchynski

The bustling streets of the massive city were unquestionably different from the village. There were hundreds upon hundreds of people, street vendors, and traffic consisting of carriages, single horses and strange carriages that made loud noises and operated without a horse. Almost everything here was completely foreign to Izanami and Zane. The things that were somewhat familiar were on a much larger scale than what they were accustomed to and this intimidated them greatly.

  “Zane, where do we even start to look for information? This place is enormous. Don’t lose me here, okay? By the way, you have the Tablet safe in your bag under your cloak, right?” Izanami said to Zane as she tightly clung onto his arm.

  “Yes, and everything will be fine. Don’t worry so much, Izanami,” said Zane.

  “Yes, but we don’t exactly have a lot of information to work with. We have a man in a red leather trench coat with a black pendant that renders Red Mage powers useless, and these people here don’t even know that Red Mages are real!” Izanami harshly whispered into Zane’s ear.

  “It seems that the odds are against us, but we have to try anyway. Maybe we should find a library to see if we can find any information on the pendant,” Zane whispered back.

  After walking around for nearly an hour, Izanami convinced Zane to ask someone for directions to the nearest library. At the corner of the street that they were on, there was an outdoor court where food was being served. The two decided to sit down for a few minutes to rest from their first overwhelming excursion in a city. Everywhere they went it was always noisy and busy. It was, indeed, very different from what they were acquainted with. However, once they felt rested they would ask for directions to a library.

  A woman walked to the table where the two were sitting, “So, what can I git ya to eat or drink? Today’s special is crab salad with peach juice, all imported from Tongetto, for only ten crensts.”

  “What’s ‘crensts’?” Izanami asked, with a confused look on her face.

  “How can you not know what crensts are? It’s money… ya know, to buy things with,” the woman said in a condescending tone.

  Izanami and Zane looked at each other in puzzlement. In the village, there was no such thing as money to buy food and goods. They stayed quiet and looked down at their grumbling stomachs.

  “Oh, no – no money means no food. Now scat, ‘n’ git yer free-loadin’ bums outta here!” the woman waved at them.

  Izanami and Zane were about to get up when a man from another table got up and said, “It’s alright, Sandy. Let the poor kids eat, and put it on my tab. The poor things look like they’ve been through a hell of a time. You two eat whatever and how much you want.”

  “Oh, thank you for your generosity sir, but we can’t accept such an offer,” Izanami spoke up.

  “That’s right, thank you, but we really should get going anyway,” Zane said as he stood up.

  “Nonsense! The two of you look like you are going to wither away if you don’t eat something. I’ll stay and chat and make sure you get enough. No negotiating,” the man said.

  “Thank you very much, sir,” Izanami said, hesitantly. Soon, food was brought to Izanami and Zane and both of them spoke very little as they satisfied their immense hunger. The man, however, watched Izanami closely, as if he was studying her. This made Zane uneasy, but he said nothing.

  As Izanami was eating, her pendant dangled from her neck. The man reached out and gently lifted the pendant with the pads of his fingertips and examined it. Izanami reflexively grabbed it and clenched it in her fist.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. That pendant must mean a lot to you. It’s very pretty. It’s kind of like jade… same colour and everything, but slightly different. Am I right?” Izanami nodded. While Izanami and Zane were finishing their meal, the man continued studying both of them, and he had his hand on his chin as if he was pondering something.

  “Thank you again for your generosity, we are indebted to you,” said Zane.

  “You two don’t owe me anything. Is there anything else you need?” the man said.

  “Well, actually… we do need to find a library,” Izanami said hesitatingly. Without asking why, the man gave Izanami and Zane directions to the nearest library. Soon after, the man told them that there were some things he needed to attend to. Walking away down the street, the man’s golden hair glistened in the sun.

  “He seemed nice,” Izanami said to Zane.

  “Yeah, but a little too nice if you ask me,” replied Zane.

  Together, Izanami and Zane navigated their way down the busy streets of the city. After fifteen minutes of following the directions given by the man with the glistening golden hair, they found themselves in front of a majestic library building.

  “We are going to be in here all day, and then some. It’s going to be like finding a needle in a hay stack. But, we don’t even know what we are looking for so finding the needle would be much easier. Why does everything have to be so big here?” Izanami said as they entered the library.

  The inside of the library was astounding. Dark pink swirled together with different shades of green and black within the marble floor. With each step they took, the clacking sound echoed throughout the entire library. The center of the library was an oval shape. Above the main floor, two more floors were filled with hundreds upon thousands of books. Glancing upward, they noticed the vast, splendid stained-glass mosaic of what seemed to be a female warrior figure, embedded within the dome-shaped roof. This was the most conspicuous element of the entire library. Izanami stared up at this picture for a few moments. The iridescent characteristic of the glass was what initially captured Izanami’s attention. Yet, she felt a familiarity with this picture. Not so much the picture itself, but the distinct elements which comprised it.

  “Hey, are you alright?” Zane whispered into Izanami’s ear.

  “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Let’s start looking for clues about that pendant. I’ll take the main floor, you can take the second, and we’ll tackle the third together… hey, what’s with the face?” said Izanami.

  “Well, just stay where I can see you, okay? I know it is a library so there shouldn’t be any threats. Plus no one knows who we are, but still…,” Zane replied in a worried tone.

  “Um… ok. I’ll stay nearby if that will make you feel better,” Izanami said in a comical tone.

  Throughout the remainder of the day, the two browsed through a countless number of books. Many topics they searched were related to ancient artifacts, myths about relics from over two thousand years ago, and any historical events where something strange occurred that never could be explained. There was absolutely nothing written in historical documents about Red Mages, which baffled Izanami and Zane. Red Mages were completely erased from history in this library of the outside world. This seemed strange, since Red Mages lived for thousands of years in the history of this part of the world.

  Izanami continued up and down through what seemed like never-ending aisles of towering bookshelves. Carrying three books under her right arm and reading another in her left while walking towards the reading tables, she abruptly turned around. She peeked into the adjacent aisles. No one in sight. At one of the tables, Zane had immersed himself in a book entitled ‘Ancient Relics and Beyond’. Izanami lifted and opened one of the books she was carrying to disguise her true intentions for the moment. Her eyes scanned the surroundings. Nothing unusual, except a man that looked familiar, but Izanami had seen hundreds of people within a short time so she dismissed this sense of familiarity by the overwhelming effect of her first time in a city.

  “Izanami, do you want to take a break? It’s a bit stuffy in here. Let’s get some fresh air,” Zane said in a low voice. Izanami nodded. “But I want to see if there are any books on Red Mages first,” Izanami answered.

  Thinking that, perhaps, they overlooked something when searching among the limitless books, they decided to ask the librarian about books on Red Mages. The elderly librarian led them to the children’s section of the library. All the books on Re
d Mages were children’s stories.

  “Well, this is a bit insulting. For centuries, our ancestors protected the commoners and now we are only fictional characters designed to entertain. Look at some of these pictures and interpretations, none of them are accurate!” Izanami ranted.

  “Yeah, something isn’t right here. Why erase over four thousand years of history?” Zane replied in a reflective tone.

  “Just look at this, it portrays the Arts of the Red Mage as witchcraft. There is no such thing as magic! Sure, heka isn’t exactly well understood and elemental alchemy is complicated but, I mean, we can’t make people blow up like a balloon or anything like that,” Izanami continued to rant.

  Zane took the storybook from Izanami and placed it back in its proper place and said, “Don’t get upset, Izanami, we know what we are. Does it really matter what the outside world thinks of us?”

  “Well, I don’t want them to be scared of us like we’re some kind of mythological monster,” Izanami huffed. Zane gave a faint smile and put his arm around her shoulder. He started to lead Izanami out of the library. Walking down the now less busy street, Izanami and Zane were in dire need of fresh air. Izanami gently pushed Zane’s arm off from around her as she turned her head back. She made a frown as she turned her head forward again. “What’s wrong?” Zane asked.

  “I think we are being followed,” she replied.

  “Why would someone be following us? Are you sure?” said Zane.

  “After we left the place where we ate, about half way to the library, it felt as if a man was following us. But, with the masses of people, I couldn’t be sure. At the library, in one of the aisles, I sensed that someone was watching me nearby and I saw a man that looked similar to the one on the street,” said Izanami.

  Zane interrupted, “And you think you saw that same man just now on the street?” Izanami nodded. Zane motioned for the two to walk towards a fountain that was within sight. They sat down on the rim. He then looked at Izanami and said in a low voice, “Without turning your head, can you see the man?” Izanami nodded. “Where is he?”

  “Look at the shiny sphere on the post that is slightly to your right, you can see his reflection… can you see him?” Izanami spoke nervously. Zane nodded. He pulled Izanami up and put his arm around her. He took Izanami’s arm and placed it about his waist. “What the hell are you doing!?” Izanami demanded.

  “Relax, we are going to blend in like we are… what’s it called again… tourists? Yeah, tourists. According to a book I read at home, many young couples travel to large cities as tourists. We have to look non-suspicious, like normal people,” explained Zane.

  “Well, just keep it above the waist, mister!” Izanami hissed. Zane blushed somewhat when Izanami said this. Together, they closely walked down the street. Occasionally, they would stop and look at something they thought looked interesting, or pointed to a structure as they walked past. The act must have been convincing enough because Izanami could not sense that they were being followed or watched anymore. Both Izanami and Zane looked around and the man was nowhere in sight. Once clear, Izanami pushed Zane off her, and sped up her walking pace until she found a bench. She sat down and bent over so that her forehead was touching her lap. Zane walked towards her, but kept his usual walking pace. By this time, the sun had completely set and the streets were getting quiet.

  “Well, someone’s getting tired,” Zane teased.

  Izanami jerked her head up and snapped, “NO I’M NOT!”

  “Cranky too…,” Zane let out a laugh. Izanami moaned in annoyance and stood up to walk away from Zane again. But before she could go, Zane gently grabbed her wrist.

  “I’m sorry,” Zane delicately said.

  “Well, you should be. Stop acting like I’m so helpless without you! Ever since this ‘Warrior of Light’ nonsense and earthly guardianship, you’ve been acting like a jerk. Besides, I’ve got Amyntas and at least he doesn’t treat me like a child all the time,” Izanami complained. Zane fell silent. He and Izanami knew each other all their lives. Not until that night had Izanami spoken to him this way.

  After what seemed like a long silence, Zane spoke, “I can see an inn just ahead. Let’s go.”

  “But we don’t have any crensts,” said Izanami.

  “Don’t worry about it, I’ll handle it,” Zane said curtly. They walked towards the inn and entered. The small entrance area was basically a room with a desk and a staircase leading upstairs. It was dimly lit by several candles. The innkeeper appeared to be sleeping at the desk. Zane approached the desk while Izanami stayed at the entrance. The innkeeper woke up on hearing Zane clear his throat.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Can I help ya?” the innkeeper asked in a drowsy voice.

  “Yes, may we have a room please, sir?” said Zane.

  “Of course, that’ll be fifty crensts for a night,” the innkeeper said as he handed Zane a key. It hung from a leather tag with a number engraved onto it.

  Zane handed the key to Izanami and said, “Izanami, you go ahead. I’ll be there in a minute.” Izanami, realizing how tired she felt, took the key and left. When she was out of sight, Zane spoke to the innkeeper, “We don’t have any crensts, but she really needs a good night’s sleep. So, in exchange for one night’s stay, can I offer my services in any way for payment? Please, sir.”

  The innkeeper took in a deep breath and gave Zane’s proposition some thought. Then he said, “Well, you seem like a good boy. What are yer skills?”

  “Anything that you need done, sir,” replied Zane.

  “Hmm… well you can chop some firewood and clean out the wood furnace in the basement, make sure to scrub ‘er well,” said the innkeeper.

  “Thank you very much, sir”, Zane said.