Oxilian's Path

The next morning, Levai awoke and stared up at the ceiling. The crystal lights were already slowly turning themselves on and he got up, placing a hand on the inlīt on the wall to fully light the ones at the top. For a second, Levai forgot that today was different and prepared himself for the same boring routine as before, but then remembered the Path and the conversations he had yesterday. A small well of excitement awoke in him at the thought of it, completely forgetting the death aspect, and he quickly washed up and dressed, ready to get downstairs. As he arrived, all of his things were already packed and ready to go, along with a wrapped up sandwich and a package in his mother’s hands.

“Erm, what are you doing with Father’s old rod?” he asked as he stared at the package, not so much in bewilderment but more in slight fear and anger.

“Shh, not right now. You’ll learn more when you get to school”, she said hurriedly as she brought him out into the garden. Levai watched in awe as his mother stuck the staff in the ground and dragged it across the floor. She was breathing heavily and sweating as if she were having her life drained from her with each passing second. Her face flushed, and her hands shook as she drew into the grass. Despite her diminished demeanour, the floor demanded more of Levai’s attention. The end of the staff was leaving a golden trail behind it as she drew three symbols inside a giant ring. The floor glowed brightly as the circle was completed, and Levai felt a funny buzzing feeling run through his body. She then walked around each symbol on the floor, tapping it and saying random words that sounded like some strange form of ancient language and gibberish mixed together.

“Here, take this and hold it tight with both hands”, she panted weakly as she handed over the staff, wiping a whole river of sweat from her forehead. Incredibly confused, Levai held the staff with both hands, and his mother stepped out of the circle. She raised her hands and closed her eyes, directing her face to the sky.

“Ābrāci āfōn þ�"an, naur asergh felaisk, naur ra’ir dunes, duura leat aigh”.

Nothing happened, and he held the staff, looking at his mother like she was crazy. She opened her eyes for a moment, and everything was still.

“Damn, I hoped it would work even after all these years”, she mumbled.

“What would work?”

As soon as Levai responded, the markings on the ground burst into gold again, and a loud humming noise could be heard as if the ground were charging up. Then, the staff began to move and vibrate. The wrapping paper over it burst into blue flames, revealing the glorious staff in all its might. It had a sturdy, black metal pole for the handle. It ended at the top with a large purple diamond-shaped jewel with four miniature jewels of the same colour with golden metal bands wrapped around them stuck to each side of it. As the humming grew, the jewel on the staff began to glow purple inside, and the four miniature ones floated away from the big one as the humming got louder. After floating at least a couple of centimetres away from the central jewel, they slowly rotated around the big jewel, orbiting it like moons to a planet. Levai stared at it with his jaw dropped and was speechless for the first time in his life. The vibrating became more intense, the humming getting louder, and as Levai held the staff a small distance away from him, he let go of it with one of his hands. He felt immense pressure, like a bubble of rejective energy, which suddenly burst from the staff. Immediately after this pulse, he felt a wave of electricity surge through his body and return to the pit of his stomach. The sensation caused him to collapse and fall to his knees as he started to sweat, and his heart rate increased, making him pant for his life on the floor.

“Yes, I was told that you might react that way. You might vomit later as well”, his mother almost yelled as she looked down at him on the floor, trying to be heard over the humming noise, which was beginning to die down. Levai only groaned in response as he shook it off as best he could and used the staff to heave himself up to his feet.

“What in the God's name was that?!” he tried to yell but only breathlessly.

“A transfer ritual. Now that staff is yours. All we have to do now is get you to school!” Levai’s mother walked around with him to the front side of the house, where he saw the familiar view of the city. It was a gloomy day in Oxilian, as it usually was. The sky was fairly grey today, the lights were dimmed and the only significant light to be seen was from the numerous light crystals that still remained lit, despite it getting towards the later morning. Still, it seemed there may be some sun yet to shine today. Levai looked around and saw where his mother was pointing, toward the North Gate. He looked taken back for a moment as he stared. Finally, he was going to see for himself what was beyond the wall. The map was splendid enough to see, but to see it with his own eyes would truly be something else. Finally, he’d be free of this imprisonment. 

“Today is a very special day for you, Levai. Go to the gate, tell the guard that you’re going to school and present the staff. He’ll walk you through the rest!” Levai looked at his mother who beamed brightly back at him, prompting a very slight smile from him in return. 

“You know we’ll have more to talk about when I come back.” His mother’s smile faltered only slightly at the thought, but she kept her smile and nodded at him.

“I promise I’ll be open with you from now on. Even though I have dreaded this day, I have also anticipated it greatly. You have no idea how happy I am to finally stop hiding things from you.” If there was one thing Levai could count on, it was his mother’s authenticity and he could easily tell that there was nothing but truth in her words. Giving her a nod and a bigger smile, he turned around and started making his way to the gate.

“Make sure to avoid Spire Town! Be safe! I love you!!”

Levai set foot outside the door, waving his mother goodbye as he went, walking down the pathway and out of the gate onto the cobblestone pavement outside. The clouds loomed over the city as he walked down the street, looking towards the line of painted brick buildings. Clearly it had been raining the night before as the cobblestones shone as he walked, and drops of water rolled down from the steep roofs of the shops, filling the puddles on the ground. The bottles hanging from the physician’s store clinked with the slight wind as Doctor Valraugh brought some boxes inside the store, giving him an approving nod upon noticing him walking around with the staff in hand. Continuing on, Levai walked past the city hall, a huge building with old dusted white brick and a giant clock tower in the middle, striking the time at midday. The arched windows of the hall showed off all the clerks and higher Fél of Oxilian working hard and running from one side to another. It always seemed like there was important work going on in there with everyone looking like they were in a rush. Outside the front of the hall, a gathering of children were being shepherded around, with two adults supervising and one pointing up at the hall, explaining the history of the city. As he walked, he couldn’t help wondering how many of the citizens here were also Warlocks. Did all Warlocks just leave Oxilian, or did some choose to stay even if they succeeded on the Path? How many of them were failures? Levai began to understand exactly how wide his world had been blown open with this revelation, and it was only bound to get even more unravelling. Levai continued onwards, walking through the main district and seeing the passage into Spire Town. It was probably much better to avoid it, but the most direct route to the North Gate was through there. Taking a breath, Levai continued onwards, heading through the slums. Spire Town was a place full of rejects. People who had gone out of the gate and returned, in worse shape than they left. Levai didn’t ever understand why a lot of the people who returned only went here, especially since it was clear that some who came back simply continued their lives, but all the same he knew it was best to keep a steadily quick pace and not disturb any of the residents. Walking carefully, the sounds of chatter and whispers surrounded him. It was enough to send a chill down a person’s spine, but he was not shaken so easily. At least, not until he felt someone suddenly grab on to his wrist, screeching in a more garbled version of Göndradhe.

“Do not go! Do not go down the Path! They all died, and you will too!” A crazy man, adorned in scratty, torn cloth and showing broken teeth looked up at Levai with a gaze filled with sorrow and fear. He looked at him only for brief seconds, before ripping his arm away and engaging a more brisk walk to get out of the district. What could that have possibly meant? They all died? Levai dismissed it as best he could as the ravings of a madman, but his feelings toward leaving the city were significantly less calm. 

“Sorry about that kid. Some of the rejects get a bit… jittery.”

Looking off to his left, sat a man on the floor, covered head to toe in a dirty blanket. The man slowly got up and Levai backed away a bit, pointing the staff he had at the man. He raised his arms up to show he meant no harm and stopped.

“Relax, I’m not going to grab you. I’m Miresti. Morvask Miresti. I keep the Spire Town residents where they should stay. And you are?” 

“Levai. Magnus.” Morvask nodded and looked over to the other side.

“Let me escort you. Can’t be too careful around here. Not many of the kids dare to walk through Spire Town to get to the gate.” Levai scanned the man up and down and kept a firm grip on the staff. Whatever his intentions were, it seemed holding the staff would keep him away if he tried anything. Levai walked at a bit of a distance behind him while he walked ahead.

“Why are you helping me?”

“Why not? The more Warlocks in the world, the better, I think. It would be a shame if you met an end here already before you get to see the outside.” Levai pondered the man’s intentions even more after this, not feeling satisfied at his answer.

“You’ve been outside the gate then?” Morvask nodded as he kept going, explaining that he received one of the more dangerous tasks when it was his turn.

“I camped out on the path for weeks, almost starving to death up in Muraxus. But, I finally made it back. Though my reception was less than optimal from my family. They kicked me out, called me a failure, and left me in Spire Town. So, if I couldn’t make something of myself out there, I could at least do it here…” It was a fair sentiment, though still didn’t make him any more worthy of trust, as the staff still remained positioned firmly in a place of battle readiness.

“What might I expect out there?” Soon enough, he left Spire Town, finally arriving at the North Gate. Morvask turned around and looked at Levai.

“The Path isn’t a simple road outside Oxilian, it’s a gateway. Just like all the other Walled Cities, it will take you across Griermar to places unknown… and dangerous. Just know this. It’s better to pretend everyone you know and everyone you travelled with is already dead. That’ll prepare you for anything out there.” Morvask opened the gate on the other side of the town and stood by to let Levai through, closing it and giving him a nod as he turned away and disappeared into the darkness of the wrecked alleys. Thinking heavily on his words, Levai continued towards the gate, finally arriving where the guard stood.

“Ah, you came with a staff already? Lucky you. Most of the adolescents here get theirs when they arrive'', the guard commented as he knocked three times on the giant gate. Levai looked up and watched as the gate slowly creaked open and finally gave him his first view of the world outside. The landscape outside Oxilian was just as dark as inside, perhaps even darker. As far as he could see, there was forestry sitting upon hills of red tinted grass with black trees, looking thick and strong despite their dark and withered look. Dotted here and there were farms with small cottages that gave a village feel from the surroundings, but still retained the classy, yet towny house design Levai was used to. Though the land itself was dark in look, it felt warm by nature and radiated a strange calm as he stood in its dark embrace. Ahead of him was a long path that disappeared in the distance into some fells. Levai looked back at the guard who nodded at him to continue. Taking a deep breath, he held his staff tight and started walking, before being stopped in his steps.

“Wait! Hold on! I’m here!” the voice of a girl came running up behind and joining him at the gate.

“Ania. Glad you could finally make it.”

“Indeed! There’s no way you’re getting into the school without me! Well, me and…” she said with a beaming smile that faded as she turned around and pointed at a whole group of other young Warlocks-to-be from the city running toward the gate. Levai frowned as they approached. The last thing he needed was to be going on another field trip with a bunch of people from his previous school.

“Well, well, look who has got his adult pants on at last. Little Levai has become a Warlock.” Drower Zengist, one of the boys Levai hated the most, strode up to the gate with a cocky grin on his face and looked out to the outside world.

“You’re shorter than me, you arrogant scourge…”, he hissed back.

“I guess we will find out if we make it and become Warlocks…” one of the people in the back mused as he looked over to the exit.

“I guess we will. Though if anyone does die on this trip, I hope it’s you…”, Levai leered at Drower before turning back to Ania.

“Die?! Nobody said anything about dying!” one of the other boys whimpered.

“Oh! Right! Here, there’s more in this book my mother gave me. Apparently this is one of the essentials you need for starting. She near enough threw the book at me, now that she could start telling me the truth.” Levai looked down at the book cover. A Brief History of Griermar. He opened the book and read a small passage in the first chapter.

“...apart from the absurd claims that the first settlers were actually Fȳrdraca, Griermar has always remained the home of Wærlokas and Félleás…” 

Fȳrdraca… A brief moment of recollection shot into his mind upon hearing the word, recalling a childhood fairytale his grandfather told him. But there was no way that they were actually real. Levai kept the book close, remembering to peruse the pages at a later hour.

“Come on! You can waste time being a bookworm later! Let’s GO!” another impatient girl yelled as she shoved her way to the front of the line. Turning around, Levai looked ahead at the pathway and then over to Ania beside him.

“Don’t worry. We’ll both get through and soon enough we’ll be super powerful Warlocks! Ready?” Ania took his hand, causing him to flinch a little, but as always, her kind face and smile relaxed him and he gave a strong nod.

“Ready.”