Right, first post in a while, and it's the first page of my story, so tell me what you think!
(It's under Read More)
Gareth, Head of the Alurmbi Mages Council, awoke suddenly in his spartan yet comfortable bed. His eyes opened to the darkness of his room. A streak of light coming from the window illuminated one wall. A cool breeze blew in from his open window, bringing with it the sounds of a few mermle birds calling out to their fellows. Shaking off the remainder of his dreams, a nightmare perhaps, he looked out of his window over the ancient city of Benitay. His eyes wandered over the square architecture that had held over the many years. The city was still dark, only a few torches burning in the streets, and the twin moons Ciam and Triath offered any illumination. The red moon of Ciam was just setting and the blue Triath was not far behind her sister. Instinctively Gareth knew something was wrong, from the position of the moons he should not have woken for another five intervals. He was a deep sleeper, and nothing could wake him excepting the direst of situations. He attempted to reach out with his magical senses to see if he could determine what was happening, but he felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. He tried again but to no avail. Falling into the breath pattern taught to him many years ago, he felt inwards with his senses and quickly came to the near-impossible conclusion that his magic wasn’t there. The source of his power had gone, or more accurately, his connection to it had been blocked. Since his magic was really just an extension of his higher-energy body, he could never truly lose it. But still, only very powerful dark magic could block that connection.
He quickly reached out to his beside table and fumbled for the box of matches that he could see in the outside light. He managed to get hold of the box, and opening it pulled a match out. He struck the match once against the side of the box and it flared to life, briefly illuminating the rest of the room. He held it to a tall blue candle that was also on his table. The wick caught fire, and the room slowly came into view as the flame strengthened and grew larger. The light brought a steel cabinet, a wooden closet and the door to his room into full view. Not unusually there were no pictures on his walls, neither were there any personal items in the room, as a true mage was not expected to form ‘attachments’ to material objects.
He jumped out of his bed quickly, his bare feet landing on the cold wooden floor. He had to contact the rest of the council! Instinctively he tried to reach them with his magic, forgetting for a moment that he was unable to. When he realised his mistake he cursed and began moving quickly over to the steel cabinet, trailing his long purple night robe. As he moved he pulled out an unremarkable grey key that was kept on a gold chain around his neck. He fitted it into the lock, at the same time muttering the words that would allow him to safely open the cabinet. Turning the key, the lock briefly flashed and then yielded. He pulled the doors open revealing a stash of magical objects and supplies. He scanned the shelves, eyes passing over scrolls, potions, various gems and reagents. Finally he found what he was looking for, and reaching out he picked up a certain gem, identifiable by minute details that only Gareth and a few other mages could recognise. It was what he and his fellows would call a notrea gem, a beacon. Only four people in the world held one of these, and they were the highest-ranking members of the Council. Gareth had enchanted them years ago in the possibility that something like this might occur. He thanked the gods that he had had the foresight to do such a thing. He grasped it firmly and uttered the words of power required to activate it. It began glowing and pulsating in his hands, he knew that at this minute the other three would be doing the same thing, as well as sending urgent mental signals to the council members. He could only hope that they had not befallen the same fate as him. Placing the gem on his bedside table, he moved to the door and checked that it was latched before turning back around and sitting in the centre of his room. He slipped easily into his meditative trance, and waited for the others to arrive.
Within minutes, he heard the first of the council members appear. He pulled himself out of his trance and opened his eyes to smile at Meryl as she got up off the floor where she had appeared, looking a little dishevelled and confused, still in her night-gown. She was the youngest member of the council and the only female; she had always had trouble with her teleportation. Still, she was by far the most adept enchantress this side of the Triscallarian Divide. Gareth had always had a bit of a soft spot for her, perhaps something to do with that fact that he found her high features and gentle manner attractive. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the appearance of Jacod. He was better dressed, though he looked like he had changed very quickly. A look of speculation was apparent on his sunken and wrinkled face. Though he was chronologically the youngest male of the council, a chance encounter with a Beryd beast when he was young had aged him physically beyond his years, giving the impression of wisdom, something that he lacked at times. However, he had always served the Council honourably, something that Gareth could not fault him on.
The final member of the council suddenly made his appearance. Menli shimmered gracefully into view, bowing as he did so. Gareth couldn’t help but smile, Menli was only two years Gareth’s junior, but still had a perchance for showing off his skills. The four council members nodded to each other, and then approached Gareth slowly.
“What’s wrong Gareth? We’ve never activated the notreas before,” said Menli.
“Connect to me,” responded Gareth. He saw the other three looking at each other inquisitively before closing their eyes. Seconds later he felt the gentle brushes of their magicks against him, reaching into him. He felt them searching, and searching deeper. Finally he felt them withdraw from him, and the others opened their eyes and began staring at Gareth worriedly.
“Where is your magic?” asked Meryl urgently, “it’s not there.”