THE VOID

read "The Void" here:

  The Void

Chapter One – The Grand Plan

    *...Somewhere in Arkon...*

― To lose a friend.

― Why does it weigh me down so much?

― To lose a family.

― Why does it bother me so much?

― ...Why

― Do we

― Care?...

― At long last, a place to be mine.

She finds a place in the void: a wrecked shed, out in the nothingness. An abandoned pocket landfill.

― Feels great to be alone, right, Rune?

― You’re not alone.

― I still have you, don’t I?

― What’s that, Linna?

― Oh this?!

― It’s a newspaper! It says the Emperor decreed death to all nomads.

― But what did we do to deserve this?!

― We did nothing but survive for years in this fucked-up world. But he doesn’t care! He’s a tyrant!

― So what do we do now, Linna? They’re gonna kill us! We need to do something!

― You’re right! That’s why I’ve been planning this for weeks…

― I’m listening!

― You know I’ve been practising heat magic, right?

― Of course. It’s your magical affinity!

― Exactly! I was searching in the snow and found this book. I was thinking... maybe we can translate the spells so I can learn the heat magic in this book.

― Right, yeah, I can do that, but what does that have to do with the plan?

― Rune, do you not get it yet? The Emperor said he’s going to kill us for surviving! That means war, and I’m not gonna let him win. This means we are going to kill him before he gets to us.

― What?! Are you going insane?!

― I know, I know — it’s weird to say this, but it’s the only way, Rune. We’ve got to kill him.

― But what about the people?…

― You’re not even human! Why do you care?

― My mother was a vampire, my father was a fairy, but that gives you no right to tell me I can’t have empathy!

― Uhh, sorry — I forgot about your righteous heart. Didn’t mean to offend you or anything…

― You joke too much!

― Come on! I need you to teach me magic so we can follow through with the plan!

― Why do you need to learn magic anyway?! I know magic — I could kill the Emperor for you!

― ...You know I can’t afford to lose you, Rune... you’re the only one in my life…

― I see. I’ll teach heat magic then. You told me you’ve been planning something, but you still haven’t told me what it is!

― The plan is the following: you teach me ambience until it’s undiscoverable, and we find a way to get near the Emperor and — boom!

― Magic ambience?… It’s not that simple to make your ambience disappear. It takes practice! Lots of it!

― Like how much of it?

― You don’t even know a single spell yet. You’re not even a mage. I need to gauge your ambience through your spell execution.

― That’s the part you got wrong — I learned a heat spell today!

― What?! Who taught it to you?!

― Another nomad. She was tall and said she knew all magic types — she’s amazing. Anyways, she taught me this advanced spell I learnt!

― what is it?!

― It goes like this:

― so-Syntur!

A gigantic explosion the size of a small mountain happens the moment Linna points her finger at a large area; the destruction is visible for kilometers.

― Woah!

― Amazing, right?! *pants*

― That’s gonna be so hard to refine.

― What do you mean?

― An explosion this big? That’s no homework to give a familiar!

― Come on, you’re telling me you can’t teach me ambience?

― I’m telling you it’s hard to refine. Your ambience was all over the place!

― What?!

― Plus...that wasn’t an advanced spell either…

― It wasn’t?! What do you mean?!

― You said so in the beginning which means it’s a beginner level spell

― Huh?!

― If you were to say an actual advanced spell beginning with wo for instance, that would have destroyed the planet

― It would?!

― Something like that! I don’t know many spells of your magic type but a wo-spell is always something crazy happening

― well, teach me an advanced spell then!

― That’s against my familiar code

― what?! Why?!

― because a spell like that would kill you…

*Linna is surprised*

― You can only learn spells from your magic level, you’re just a beginner, so amateur spells will be a handful enough for you

― I see...

― Do you even know what magic ambience is?

― I do! It’s the magical path your spells leave after they’re executed!

― Wrong!

― Eh?!

― Magic ambience leaves a path before the spell is executed. Magic ambience is the invisible trail; if visible, the path alerts mages nearby that a spell is about to happen.

― Oh... I thought it was…

― Something else?! Anyway, for you to refine this spell you need to first work on the path you’re projecting. It’s way too clear — so clear that the average mage will perceive it in no time and lock you up before the spell happens!

― Lock me up? Why wouldn’t they kill me right away?!

― Because you’re a mage, Linna.

― I thought you told me I wasn’t one!

― That was before I knew you could actually cast a spell. Congrats — you’re one now.

― Why does being a mage protect me from... what, exactly?

― Everything.

― Eh?!

― When a human learns a magic spell they’re no longer considered human; they’re protected by the First Law of Merlin.

― First Law of what?

― No mage shall attack another mage without a duel. Otherwise, existence will be ceased.

― What a stupid law.

― Merlin created the First Law so mages would live in harmony, without magical attrition. The law protects anyone who knows a spell from other mages: if a spell is launched at a mage without prior agreement to fight, the author of the attacking spell ceases to exist entirely.

― What?! No way?!

― That’s why we’ve got to be extra careful not to find any mages there.

― This makes things even harder!

― I know!

― No way the Emperor wouldn’t be surrounded by mages, right?!

― Yeah — and if your spell hits a mage, it’s game over. That’s why you’d be locked up immediately instead of being killed instantly.

― I see...

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