*Book One of The Accursed Chronicles*
August was a man from a normal world, living a mundane life until one night everything changed, and he was sent spiraling into a world stuck forever in winter, full of magic, creatures, and a curse that has grip...
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There wasn't a doubt in my mind that August wasn't meant for Laelmos, but that didn't mean that he wasn't a worthless cause. He had potential and that potential wasn't going to go to waste. If he chose to stay with us, then he'd be certain to learn as much as he could because he couldn't waste this opportunity. He might see it as a curse, but I saw it as a chance for growth.
Except, it was up to him. I could've forced it upon him and made him stay here and commit to training, but I remembered that I had been forced into the life that I now lived. I'd had no choice. It had been the only option after I had been expelled from Roefell and disowned by my mother. I'd been forced to make a new life and struggle to survive in it. I wanted him to have the choice that I never had, though I wanted him to choose to stay. It wasn't for me, but for himself.
When night had passed and day had come, he hadn't given me his answer yet. He had only requested to go to Daesa to have his power's potency inspected. I'd been hesitant myself to let Daesa do anything more with him, seeing as she was a confidant to Magnus, yet I trusted that she would not go to him right away if something were discovered.
My trust didn't come naively though as I had precautions in place.
Daesa lived in a tower within the boundaries of the castle. It scaled high above the walls boarding the citadel, but it wasn't tall enough to reach the bluish grey clouds that blocked the sky. She'd welcomed us in and had offered us a warm, sweet berry drink that had I had refused while August had leapt at the chance. It had appeared he had learned nothing from his past experiences of being too accepting of people. Perhaps he needed to have another near-death experience...
I stood beside the hearth, where the heat was the greatest in the tower. There were carved branch objects hanging from the beams on the ceiling, and then herbs strung upside down on a string. One half of the downstairs room was filled with bookcases while the other half held the hearth, chairs, a table, and tall cabinets that held swirling, colorful mixtures in bottles.
Daesa moved across the room, carrying a tray in her hands. She approached August who had knelt on the floor on a rug in front of the hearth. He glanced up at her then to the tray in her hands as she got down onto her knees with him. He shifted his weight away and glimpsed me, eyes worry filled before he focused back to the tray. The tray held a luminescent jade-colored crystal, a bowl of water, and a cluster of a wild plant bound together with string. Each could tell a mage their potency and purity of their magic.
"Before when I saw your aura, I could tell something was different about it," she began softly as she took the crystal into her hand and held it upright in her open palm. "You were right in coming to see me. We can't have uncontrolled magic roaming around Laelmos unchecked. It would be dangerous for not only you, but those around you."
That had been why I had been vigilant against the Vale. Untamed power could wreak havoc within a short time if in the wrong hands. That would never happen with August though, because even if he decided to go his own way, I would ensure he knew how to calm himself.
