Desi raised her eyebrows. “Is there a particular book you are looking for? Maybe I can help you find it. I was practically raised among these shelves.”
Alissa didn’t know exactly where to look. She thought the information on Senectus Subita would be found in healing practice books, but she had been unsuccessful with that approach. She remembered the story of the Battle of the Mundane and the extinction of magic and wondered whether her daughter’s ailment, or even the walls of Bryniard, might be in any way related to the magic that once existed in Heldraine.
“I would like to read more about magic. Do you know where I can find something on that?”
Desi’s eyes sparked, and a slow grin embraced her full lips. “I see you are an enthusiast of magic, like myself. I know exactly what you are looking for.” Without another word, she disappeared into the countless bookcases that filled the fifth floor of the library.
When she returned, her breath was slightly ragged from the effort of climbing so many flights of stairs. Panting, Desi grabbed a stool sitting across from them. Only then did she take the time to observe that the desk they were using was already piled high with dozens of books. She wondered whether all these volumes had been read in a single day or were still to be explored.
Desi placed a book on the desk; its brown leather cover was cracked and worn from centuries of use. The edges of the pages were yellowed and delicate, with some corners turned and frayed. The spine was slightly bent, and the gold-embossed title had dulled with age, but Alissa could still read its name:Fundamentals of Magic.
She skimmed the content quickly, motivated to devour the information hidden in the molded pages, hoping they would prove themselves useful in the future. There were so many words she didn’t recognize.
“What does it say?”
“Only theory, really, would be useful for someone who could actually wield magic, not us. You will like it if you love all magic-related subjects like me.”
“Would you teach us some of it?” Freyah asked, taking back her seat beside Alissa.
Desi’s eyes lit up. She would never pass up the opportunity to talk about magic. “Of course! How much do you already know about how magic used to work in Heldraine?”
Alissa and Freyah shook their heads, and Desi realized they were completely ignorant of the matter. “I shall start from the beginning then.”
They settled back in their seats while Eldric kept his eyes glued to his own book, preferring not engage in their interaction.
“It is believed sixty-five percent of our people were blessed with the power of magic in their veins before the Battle of the Mundane,” she said, shaking her head contemplatively. “And to think all of them were killed in that terrible massacre.”
Alissa, Eldric, and Freyah knew this story had, at least in part, a mythic element rather than an absolute truth, considering the walls of Bryniard held no monsters, as the story told. Still, as Desi apparently didn’t know about it, they kept listening carefully.
“Before the battle went down, there were three types of mages in Heldraine. The first kind, and the most common, were called theKsaren—they could summon their magic to manipulate nature and its elements. They were usually farmers, builders, or merchants because they could control the weather, the tides, and the soil in their favor. You can only imagine the abundance of food and the magnificent constructions of that time.” Desi made a circular motion with her hand, indicating their surroundings. “This entire place was built with that same power.”
Desi’s lips turned up a little when her friends widened their eyes. The resemblance to her own children’s reactions when listening to her stories was stunning.
“The second kind were theZeity.They were a rare kind of magic holders. Only ten percent of people touched by magic fit this category. Their gift was very powerful—it controlled time, flesh, and consequently life itself. They were usually our healers.”
Freyah gasped. “Does this mean they could go back in time?”
Desi let out a small laugh. “No. They couldn’t travel through time. They could manipulate flesh and the effects of time on flesh or any other living fiber or organism, altering the being’s life as a result. For example, they could accelerate the healing of an injury that would take months to heal, turning it into seconds. They could fabricate flesh from scratch, and therefore, hunting was not practiced back then. They could slow someone else’s aging, although it was forbidden because it messed with the natural order of life.”
Those words hit Alissa like a stone. If they could slow someone else’s aging, they could probably speed it up, too, as Senectus Subita did to her people.
“The third kind of magic holders were theHozter.They were believed to hold both the powers ofKsarenandZeitys.This means they had the magic of the elements, flesh, and time. They were the most powerful and dangerous of all. Although records about anyHoztersever being born in Heldraine are very inconsistent.”
Alissa raised her eyebrows, listening attentively.
“You would expect in a world in which people had such power, chaos would eventually fall upon it, as the abuse or immoral use of magic could end in rivalry between the people. That is why Belfar—now known as Heldraine—had implementeda legislative system to control the use of magic, to make sure such power was respected and used correctly,” Desi continued.
“First of all, no one could use their magic with malicious intent, whether to harm another or to cause them any damage or losses. These were strictly forbidden. Secondly, mages were only allowed to use magic within their line of work with the purpose of contributing to society, never for personal gains.”
“What would be the consequence of breaking one of those rules?” Freyah asked, her index finger tapping her bottom lip.
“These were rules abided by the Crown, which means they do not differ much from our current legislative system. The subjects would go on trial to be sentenced either to death by hanging or imprisonment.”
Desi’s voice darkened for a second. “But there were other, stricter rules, enforced by magic itself—the Magic Edictum. These rules applied only to theZeitysandHoztersand were directly tied to the chaos that could arise from disrupting the natural balance of life and time. These mages were forbidden from manipulating the natural aging process of people and from directly taking or restoring another person’s life using their magic.”
“Did they have the power to resuscitate people?” Even in her wildest dreams, Alissa would have never imagined a power such as this could exist.
“They did, and they also had the power to do the opposite. These were decrees set by magic and added to the constitution. They believed interfering with people’s lifetime by killing or resuscitating was a sin, and no person—magical or not—should have the power to change the natural end of all living things.”