The Quest for Normania #1: The Door of Andrios

1. Shadows of the Mind

It took courage and conviction for a man or a woman to break the bonds of expectation and surpass limits

Norin Zura was a 21-year-old young man, fresh out of the wings of his mistress, Rumin, considered to be one of the best magic teachers in all of Ahala.

He stood just outside the gates of the yela's shinto, when he heard a familiar lilting voice behind him. He turned around.

"Yela!" He bowed, the cloth bag slung on his back suddenly weighing down on him and he involuntarily grunted. He slowly righted himself again. "I was just breathing in the fresh air of adulthood! How do you suppose I should go back to my village?"

Yela Rumin smiled as she approached him. "The next ferry to Bonkin should be right about now. But you'll surely miss it by the time you get there. You should leave within the next five minutes, though."

"I see!" He looked around for the town clock. Every district of every town in the country of Ashisa had a that told time. "It's almost noon now – you're right, I'll be too late."

"Now, Norin, remember everything that I taught you for the past fifteen years," said Yela Rumin. "Everything. You made notes – you can read through them. You also have the scrolls I replicated for you. Use your spells wisely. You know the expiry dates for each spell. You also know each spell's strengths and weaknesses. Use them!"

Norin grew grim as his teacher spoke. In the end, he nodded. "Yes, yela, I remember. And I do have my papyruses with me." He patted the strap of his bag for emphasis. "And, not to mention, my amulets."

"Good." She smiled grimly. "I think you're ready to face the world now."

The young man laughed, sounding more nervous that he intended. "What... do you mean?"

The sorceress studied him calmly. "This day, almost eighteen years ago, an old seer foretold the end of the world. That day is coming upon us and fast. You must do something about it."

He gulped, trying to push down his growing nervousness. He was trained to be better than this, after all. "Does... does that prophecy have something to do with me?"

"It might be. Though the ultimate choice is left to the of Sofia. Speaking of which, the Occult Ravis has requested me to send you to the Castle of Alkatra in Normania. It seems Eura Ansari wishes to send a few subjects on a mission and has requested for two of my best students. I thought of you at once."

Norin's eyes narrowed. "And who's the other?"

Yela Rumin didn't reply right away; it seemed as if she were examining him with calculating eyes – a feeling he sometimes got when the yela was obviously hiding something.

"Mithra Surita," she whispered cautiously.

At once, the man groaned in exasperation. "You're not serious!"

Her face turned grim. "Of course I am. Now – if you don't leave, you'll miss the next ferry, too. Scram!"

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Norin grumbled to himself all the way on the ferry to his part of the island, the village of Ze.

"Mithra," he muttered. "Why her of all the wizards on the island!? Granted, she's powerful, but still..." A thought occurred to him. 'Of course, she's powerful, that's why. Yela wanted to send her "best students".'

He stood leaning against the bow end of the ferry, staring unseeingly at the horizon, where he could see the sun setting in the starry heavens. Despite the cool air, the clouds in the sky seemed darker than usual—a phenomenon he learnt never to make light of.