perfect place to research little known spells and incantations. I usually visit Sol to chew the fat with him or listen to one of his stories about the good ole days. Other times, he invites me here to discuss doing some work for him. Only on the most difficult cases will I drop by to talk shop or find out about some esoteric fact you probably couldn’t find elsewhere.
I reach into my pocket and pull out the Bloodstone. I try to ignore the way the ring feels in my hand. It’s not as bad as last night. Maybe I have gotten used to it but the feeling is bad enough. “It’s about this,” I say as I give Sol a good look at the ring.
His eyes widen in alarm and instinctively, he takes a step back nearly upsetting the books on his desk. “What the hell have you done? You fool, you’ve killed us all!”
I don’t know what I was expecting him to say but that wasn’t it. Sometimes, Sol likes to joke and use old clichés. He also has a tendency to exaggerate. This time he is serious. “It wasn’t me. Someone named Meredith did it.”
Sol’s hand moves swift and sure in what could be a sign of protection. If Meredith were here, I am sure Sol would have more than a few words for him after he throttled the life out of him. Usually, you can’t speak to someone after they’re dead. Sol is one of few who know the steps necessary to do so. With a scowl, he says “It shouldn’t surprise me that another of my ‘esteemed’ colleagues lacks a sense of self-preservation. Let me guess, he said something about the Seven?”
“Yeah, he did,” Sol knows all about the break-in at Scott’s house but not the details. If he didn’t find out from the news or Nerva, he would have heard it through the grapevine. He keeps track of that sort of thing, some might call him paranoid but he prefers the term hyper-vigilant. It is why he keeps moving his library and dwelling. I add the detail he is probably missing. ”Meredith was the one behind the break-in at Scott’s.”
“Then he is even more the fool but a dangerous fool nonetheless,” Sol pauses a moment motioning me to put away the ring before continuing. “It takes a certain degree of power, skill and insanity to delve into the First Magics.”
If he thinks it is bad then there has to be a good reason for it. Odds are Sol tried to study it in the past and learned the hard way how dangerous they can be. This brings up another question. “Sol, I’m not exactly a new kid on the block but this is the first time I’ve ever heard of this stuff. Want to enlighten me?”
Sol’s smile returns now that the ring is out of sight. With it, so does some of his good humor. “Yes ‘o seeker of knowledge. The First Magics as many of us in the trade call them is the magic of the Dragons and their enemies the Seven. You never heard about them because the few of us who know about the First Magics ‘discourage’ others from studying them. We go out of our way to keep it a secret.”
I look at Sol and wonder just how many people he has ‘discouraged’. He likes to use euphemisms when talking about something unpleasant especially when it involves violence or anything he might be prosecuted for in a court of law.
“They are uniquely dangerous. So dangerous that we try and ‘confiscate’ anything related to them. Unfortunately, every once in a while someone stumbles upon a way to tap their power. The problem is that there are usually spectacular consequences for doing so. Tunguska is a good example of that.”
“I see,” And I do, all too clearly. Like Sol said, you would have to be a fool to mess with something that dangerous. No one knows what caused the Tunguska event in 1908. Some scientists theorize it could have been anything from an asteroid or comet air bursting above Siberia to a micro black hole opening up. There are even wilder theories. It looks like Sol has his own ideas about what happened. No matter what you think caused the event, Tunguska is as a good example of what
I reach into my pocket and pull out the Bloodstone. I try to ignore the way the ring feels in my hand. It’s not as bad as last night. Maybe I have gotten used to it but the feeling is bad enough. “It’s about this,” I say as I give Sol a good look at the ring.
His eyes widen in alarm and instinctively, he takes a step back nearly upsetting the books on his desk. “What the hell have you done? You fool, you’ve killed us all!”
I don’t know what I was expecting him to say but that wasn’t it. Sometimes, Sol likes to joke and use old clichés. He also has a tendency to exaggerate. This time he is serious. “It wasn’t me. Someone named Meredith did it.”
Sol’s hand moves swift and sure in what could be a sign of protection. If Meredith were here, I am sure Sol would have more than a few words for him after he throttled the life out of him. Usually, you can’t speak to someone after they’re dead. Sol is one of few who know the steps necessary to do so. With a scowl, he says “It shouldn’t surprise me that another of my ‘esteemed’ colleagues lacks a sense of self-preservation. Let me guess, he said something about the Seven?”
“Yeah, he did,” Sol knows all about the break-in at Scott’s house but not the details. If he didn’t find out from the news or Nerva, he would have heard it through the grapevine. He keeps track of that sort of thing, some might call him paranoid but he prefers the term hyper-vigilant. It is why he keeps moving his library and dwelling. I add the detail he is probably missing. ”Meredith was the one behind the break-in at Scott’s.”
“Then he is even more the fool but a dangerous fool nonetheless,” Sol pauses a moment motioning me to put away the ring before continuing. “It takes a certain degree of power, skill and insanity to delve into the First Magics.”
If he thinks it is bad then there has to be a good reason for it. Odds are Sol tried to study it in the past and learned the hard way how dangerous they can be. This brings up another question. “Sol, I’m not exactly a new kid on the block but this is the first time I’ve ever heard of this stuff. Want to enlighten me?”
Sol’s smile returns now that the ring is out of sight. With it, so does some of his good humor. “Yes ‘o seeker of knowledge. The First Magics as many of us in the trade call them is the magic of the Dragons and their enemies the Seven. You never heard about them because the few of us who know about the First Magics ‘discourage’ others from studying them. We go out of our way to keep it a secret.”
I look at Sol and wonder just how many people he has ‘discouraged’. He likes to use euphemisms when talking about something unpleasant especially when it involves violence or anything he might be prosecuted for in a court of law.
“They are uniquely dangerous. So dangerous that we try and ‘confiscate’ anything related to them. Unfortunately, every once in a while someone stumbles upon a way to tap their power. The problem is that there are usually spectacular consequences for doing so. Tunguska is a good example of that.”
“I see,” And I do, all too clearly. Like Sol said, you would have to be a fool to mess with something that dangerous. No one knows what caused the Tunguska event in 1908. Some scientists theorize it could have been anything from an asteroid or comet air bursting above Siberia to a micro black hole opening up. There are even wilder theories. It looks like Sol has his own ideas about what happened. No matter what you think caused the event, Tunguska is as a good example of what
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