Sovereign Stone by David Wells

will also find a book that will explain the workings and capabilities of Blackstone Keep. The seal on this letter has imparted the ability to read the book. Study it well, and the Keep will serve your cause.
    “The third Bloodvault is hidden well and is for you to find. It contains the greatest treasure of all, but it will do you no good until you are ready to claim it. Only then will you have the insight to find it.
    “I am sorry that I couldn’t spare your world the horror that you now face. I gave all that I am to this cause—and I failed.”
    The letter was signed: “Barnabas Cedric.”
    Alexander sat quietly staring at the letter. Cedric had sacrificed everything and accomplished a great deal in his lifetime, yet he went into the afterlife believing that he had failed. Alexander read it again with quiet sadness. The man who had given the future a chance deserved more than a lonely death with nothing but his regret to comfort him in his last hours. Alexander folded the letter and carefully slipped it into his tunic.
    He returned to the little room below and found Kelvin sitting by the bookshelf carefully leafing through a book. Isabel was outside on the balcony looking at the horizon.
    “Cedric’s remains are up there. He left a letter for me.” Alexander handed the parchment to Kelvin. The Guild Mage took it carefully and read it through, then read it again.
    “It saddens me to know he died alone and with the belief that he had failed. I would give much to let him see the esteem he is held in today. For me, this letter only serves to deepen my commitment to defeating Phane.”
    Alexander sat down. “Me, too … I found the letter in a room that isn’t really there. It’s like it’s a place in another world with a doorway leading from this world.”
    Kelvin nodded. “It’s called a Wizard’s Den. Arch mage wizards are able to cast such a spell. Once cast, it creates a chamber separate from this world that can only be accessed by the command of the casting wizard. If it’s left open when the wizard dies, it will remain with the doorway open indefinitely. Did you see any books?”
    Alexander nodded. “There was a small shelf with a couple dozen or so. Should we take them with us?”
    Kelvin considered for a moment. “If he left them in his Wizard’s Den, then they were for you alone. It’s best to leave them there for now.”
    They made their way back into the bowels of the Keep, taking care to close every passage in order to protect the libraries and workrooms Mage Cedric had left behind. Each would require more careful inspection another day. It was starting to get late, and Alexander wanted to be ready for the summoning of the fairy.
    When they reached the entry hall, he ordered the sentinel to guard the central tower and prevent anyone from going either up or down from the main room. The sentinel obeyed without question. Alexander reached into the Keep Master’s ring and found the four doorways leading into the large round room at the base of the central tower. He sealed them with the magical stone that had filled them the day Alexander had discovered this place.
    As they returned to the paddock, they found several other groups of explorers along the way. There was a great deal of excitement on the part of the wizards. They had discovered huge libraries filled with books and scrolls of spells, magical research, writings on magical theory, discussions of the nature of Wizard’s Dust and how it interacted with the consciousness and the firmament, histories of the war and the time before, and even stories and fables. By all accounts, it would take a thousand wizards a hundred years to pour through all of the volumes they’d found. The library wings were vast, and the books were all intact despite long years of disuse.
    Rooms in another wing were clearly storerooms for items of magical power. The wizards were in agreement that those specific rooms should be carefully protected, first from thieves, but