The Master of Names

Chapter 7- Awakening

  How much time had passed?

  Ten minutes?

  Ten years?

  Keldon couldn't tell. Consciousness evaded his grasp like loose sand, slipping through his fingers. Yet, somehow, he had thought.

 

  Occasionally.

  Was Bertram okay?

  "Just this once, let me have done something right." thought Keldon into nothingness.

  Wait. If he was nothing. How could he think?

  Strange.

  Keldon tried to open his eyes.

  Slowly, Keldon began to blink back to consciousness. Something wasn't right though. Where was the open sky? But, instead of the fading purple hues of twilight, Keldon was met with a cold stone ceiling and the familiar musky scent of wood glue book binding. Keldon pulled himself upwards, looking around him. It seemed like he was no longer in the glades of Deeproot woods but rather, in a small cozy room, filled with stacks of tomes.

  " Where am I..." Keldon thought, looking at his surroundings. Looking around the room brought back recent memories, Bertram battling, Keldon trying to pull the other new recruit members to safety, and the terrible Aberrant . If he could help it, Keldon didn't want to remember the sight of the aberrant, fearing that even remembering it's image charging at him would chase away any sanity that his unconscious mind was able to recollect. However, what he could remember though, was the vivid memory of incomprehensibly raw and utter power. His arm throbbed at the thought of the wild terror and bewilderment he'd experienced.

  "Nothing." Keldon thought, examining his right arm. His arms seemed perfectly fine now, but Keldon remembered the searing white-hot pain of the mutilation. That moment of despair seemed to last an eternity, that moment when his eyes locked with what felt like one of the most terrifying creatures on this side of the continent. But then, something beckoned his ear. Something absolute gripped his hands and pulled him towards something beyond his comprehension. The memories had fragmented beyond that moment, but what Keldon did remember was speaking some sort of name, Keldon had called to something... someone...and whatever it was, it gave him strength. And as freely as it was given, it was taken away. Keldon couldn't remember how, who, or why it really happened but he was almost certain he knew a what.

  "Magic..." Keldon whispered to himself. The floodgate of emotions and questions burst open, overwhelming him with thoughts and feelings. What sort of magic was that? How did he even acquire it? How long has he had this power? Why did it trigger now? And not to mention, the sheer relief Keldon felt knowing that he could actually use SOME sort of magic. But the mix of joy, relief, anxiety, and tension he felt was shadowed by the problem that loomed over his mind.

  Keldon had invoked illegal magic.

  It was 74 years ago, by decree of the First Prime Emperor, Sun-K'aal-Sun, Illuminator of the Veil, right hand of the Archon, and the father of the nation's modern magic, that magic which not created by his hand and mind, are verboten under his name.

  However, hedidn't have the luxury of contemplating on what even got him to his newfound strength or how he was going to hide it. First of all, he still had no idea where he was. He steeled himself, and looked around the room.