Multiverse of Magic & Mistakes (Completed)

1.1.2 Chapter 2

The Mages College of Verdyn, Verdyn, June 2019.

Master Reynold, was sat in his favourite fireside chair, enjoying a glass of delightful blood-red wine, his deep auburn hair glowing in the firelight, when the girl who was destined to destroy the world, unintentionally interrupted his thoughts.

It had been a long day. An awfully long day. It had started badly, with an incident in his morning Novice Elementals class that resulted in a small fire (overenthusiastic attempt to light a candle), then a large flood (overenthusiastic attempt to put out the fire), then an even larger water-filled sinkhole right in the grass of the central courtyard (overenthusiastic attempt to drain the water). Reynold had sent the entire Novice class to the library to write essays outlining exactly what had gone wrong and spent the rest of the morning standing in the mud, putting the courtyard back in order.

His afternoon was no better. The weekly meeting of the Echelon of Verdyn had not gone well. Tensions in the city were high, as they always were, different groups with their ever-increasing energy demands all petitioning the Echelon. None of them would accept 'no' for an answer, ever. And then there had been the never-ending complaints. Those whose requests had to be denied. The long list of travel requests to reject. Reynold could not remember the last time the Echelon had been able to approve a request, but still, they went through the list at every damn at every meeting. Keeping up appearances as if someone might get a different response if they re-applied for the seventeenth time. There were the construction delays, all halted for similar reasons. The recent spree of thefts in the city. Complaints of trouble caused by wayward novices. Reynold's list of issues was endless. And as he sat by the fire, the Governor of Verdyn College pondered how he could possibly resolve them all.

Master Reynold was sharply interrupted out of his revive, by his Conveyor buzzing. Signing, he placed the half-empty glass of blood-red liquid on the table and picked up the large grey stone. The third gemstone was giving off a bright glow. Reynold frowned. Calistan had strict orders not to contact him late at night unless it was an emergency.

"Yes?" he answered abruptly, sending the word directly into Calistan's mind.

"Apologies for the interruption, but a spike has been detected." Said the elderly Caretaker.

"Not Novice Riley's sinkhole?"

"No, another spike from earlier this evening."

"You tracked it down?"

"Yes. I have located the source." Calistan paused. "It is another erroneous object, but this one passed through intact."

"Where?"

Calistan named the location.

A short while later, Reynold and Calistan were striding through an open clearing in the forest to the south of the Colleges dormitories. The Novices held rambunctious parties here at weekends, which they thought the Governor of the College was unaware of. Master Reynold always knew, of course, he knew everything that occurred at the College, and in the City of Verdyn. But whilst most of the students were out partying, the Echelon would take the opportunity to conduct some much-needed work.

"Here it is," said Calistan, coming to a sudden halt.

Reynold looked down. There on the grass, by his black boots (still coated in sink-hole mud), was a green vase, with abstract blue waves. As Calistan had said, unlike almost anything else that had passed through previously, this item was whole and undamaged.

"Appears to be of Earth origin. They like their ornaments. This is the exact location you found it?" queried Reynold.

"Yes.."