So, I dedicated my life to finding a way to stop the madness. I know it sounds insane, but I am a child of this mad world. It’s the insanity I vow to stop.
I know that the gods are on my side; they are! We are their children, and the hardest plight a parent can endure is watching their child fail and die.
My first test was stealing the sword of Obryn, a demigod who preferred the pages of his books to his family’s legacy. That sword, handed down throughout his powerful family, was covered in dust, having never been touched by his hands.
For years, I acted as his loyal servant. It was so simple to take it as he slumbered.
Getting my hands on the Vitalis was much harder, but I managed to do it. Me!
Once I had the Vitalis in my possession, I became the most wanted person in the world. I tried to destroy the book using Obryn’s sword, which was said to have ungodly powers. But when I pressed the sharp blade into the cover, it did not yield. Instead, it released a magical pulse that almost killed me.
That’s when I realized the book was not an object but a creature; its cover possessed some type of protection magic.
But what if I found its soft belly? What then?
I flipped open the book and glared at the pages, knowing they held power, but every creature had a weakness. In a fury, I struck the sword down onto the paper.
That worked!
A page was sliced free from the book, and as it fell to the floor, the rune on it vanished. But then another blank page appeared in its place. I cut the blank pages out, over and over again, but still it healed! I knew even if I cut out all the pages that were marked, more blank ones would appear, ready and waiting for another’s hand to draw upon them.
That’s when the gods blessed me with a new idea. The Vitalis is a beast that can’t be killed, but… it can be caged. My first thought was to make a rune that would cage the book, sealing off its magic to those who have runes on their skin.
But if the magic were sealed off, then the cage made of a rune would stop working.
“Just a few… more…”
Ugh! Gods bless me.
“Steps!” I gasp as I stumble forward.
During my years of research, I discovered a truth the world tried to conceal from the fae. Fae magic differs from others. When a fae releases their dying breath, they can choose to give their magic to another or have it released back into our world.
But that’s not all.
They can place rules over their magic, just like mixing ingredients before putting them in an oven to bake.
That’s why the knowledge was hidden. It prevents one family line from inheriting multiple powers.
Since the Vitalis is a creature… I should be able to order my magic into it. But giving the book more magic isn’t what I intend to do. I want to turn my magic into a cage that is strong enough to trap the most dangerous book in our world.
What better cage than death? The magic I happen to possess.
I just need the perfect location, one long forgotten and cursed, to hide the book in, and then I will stab the inner pages with Obryn’s sword, cutting off the rune magic from the world.
With trembling hands and tired eyes, I set the Vitalis on the stone floor.Thump!The sheer magical weight of the book makes my toes curl and the ground tremble.
Drip, drip!My blood dribbles from my bleeding heart and onto the book. I felt little pain when I plunged the dagger into my heart. Only hope. For my death would release my magic and cast the world into light again.
Like a predator’s wings, I extend the cover of the book back, exposing the soft pages. The book releases a whimper. I press the exposed pages against the cold, unforgiving stone. With them pinned, I lift Obryn’s sword.
Touching the blade gives me a dangerous strength that makes my death feel farther away. I plunge the sword through the pages easily; to my amazement, the weapon buries itself into the stone floor as well.
For a moment, the book trembles like a cat’s tail under my boot. It releases another whimper.
Then…boom!
The ground quakes as the entire world feels a tremor. The runes inked on the pages grow faint and sickly as the wound from the sword pins them down in a prolonged state of torture. I watch as the runes attempt to heal themselves, but the sword prevents them from doing so fully. For as long as this sword remains stabbing the pages, their magic will be cut off.
