Sunlight shone in her eyes, and she buried her face in her pillow. She groaned softly as she rolled out of bed, her sore muscles protesting an the occasional bruise making itself known. It was her last temple day. She pushed herself off the bed, straightened the covers before going through her small closet for something nice to wear.

  Settling on a white linen tunic and brown trousers and pulled her brown hair into a tight bun, she made her way downstairs.

  As usual, Dad was gone and there was a small pot that sat near the hearth. Rubbing her eyes she examined her practice sword while she waited for the oatmeal to heat up. She winced as she saw the edge; every time, every single time, but that’s what you got with a sword like this. Grabbing the whetstone and settling on a cushion, where the old rocking chair used to be, she got to work getting the nicks out of the blade.

  Looking a little better she sheathed the crude iron, setting the blade down and digging into the oatmeal. While she ate wondered what questions she would ask, but what was there to find out when you already knew everything? She took another bite, chewing the savory gruel as she thought.

  On her way out of the house she glanced at mom’s sword, still shiny as ever. It’d been so long since she’d last held it, since that night beneath the tree, all those years ago. The sun hung just below the clouds, still on its climb into the sky, she shielded her eyes, squinting in the glow.

  The district was a buzz of activity as adults and apprentices left for the day and kids her age streamed toward the high road, most of them anyway. Vi saw the occasional kid heading in the opposite direction, toward the Saltgate and Mul’s Temple.

  Soon she joined a parade-like gaggle making its way up toward the high city. She made a token effort to try and pick Vethyr out of the crowd, but couldn’t find his sandy blonde hair amongst the crowd. Her gaze strayed to the kids wearing roughspun and grimaced, straightening her own clothes. It wasn’t like she had a meat pie or some jerky, she just hoped she wouldn’t need it.

  As they neared the cliff the road began to rise, switching back on itself as it climbed. Idly she considered the butte, trailing her hand across the rockface, feeling the almost sandpaper scratch of the fine-grained rock. There was no way the butte had formed naturally, not when the unpaved paths of the lower city seemed more like river sediment than sandstone. It was certainly well above the floodplain, and, well, these sorts of things didn’t just spring out of nowhere. Maybe it was some strange formation that was revealed when the loose earth around it was swept away, but what could’ve cemented the sands together, leaving nothing else? She shrugged, she didn’t know, tt wasn’t like she completely trusted the knowledge that seemed to pop into her head like wind whispers.

  Her musings ended as the gates loomed ahead, more sandstone; she smiled wryly.

  There was shouting at the front of the line, probably one of the worse-dressed kids getting the boot. She craned her neck with everyone else and caught a glimpse of the pair. The kid in dirty roughspun was practically crying in front of a stony guard, a meat pie was smashed on the ground a couple feet away, what a waste, the man was pitiless. Usually they turned a blind eye or accepted the token bribe, her eyes strayed back to the meat pie, it actually smelled pretty good. The boy was saved when a priestess of Moto came to scene; red robes complimenting her fiery demeanor as she scorched the guard with the heat of Mortis. Even Vi winced at some of the curses, and a hush fell over the crowd. Soon the line began to trickle forward, now under the direction of a glowering fire mage.

  The ‘cone of silence’ ended a couple buildings after the city gates where they separated toward the different temples. Still no sign of Vethyr, above them an immense tree cast drifting shadows as branches as thick as a building swayed in the breeze. Riley always had thought Duri’s temple was more impressive that Erdae’s, and well the towering pine certainly supported the claim. She sighed, missing the familiar argument, and now this might possibly be the last time she entered the temple, definitely her last reading day.

  Towering over the inner city’s wall, the sandstone monolith loomed ahead. Most of the stone had been shaped away long ago, leaving the temple more a tower of sloping roofs and columns. An apprentice, by the look of him, ushered them through the great doorway. It was cooler inside, and their footsteps seemed to echo through the temple as they made their way to the great hall.

  Throughout the grand chamber light fell through latticed windows, and a couple apprentices and an adept watched over them as they took their seats, occasionally shepherding some of the younger children to smaller chambers. Vi sat a little to the right of the center, as was her habit. Vethyr hadn’t arrived yet and she drummed her fingers on the stone floor, searching through the crowd.

  A couple minutes later she caught glimpse of him, already making his way towards her. She smiled, waving. He waved back, breaking into a jog.

  “Hey” Vethyr smiled, his voice barely above a whisper

  “Hey!” Vi whispered back

  “Did you see that fire priest at the front gate,” he shuddered dramatically “like the second coming of Orin.”

  “Oh, you should’ve seen her!” The pair chatted excitable, telling each other what everything that had been going on over the past week.

  “When is your system day exactly?” Vethyr asked, but Vi’s reply was cut off by the entrance of an elderly earth priest

  “I’ll tell you later,” Vi mouthed, as they turned their attention to the mage.

  “What a pleasure it is, to see all of you in Yang’s light,” smiled Titus, as his gravelly voice rolled through the chamber. The man wore his usual robes, all sorts of stone beads bedecked his thick braids, and the white sleeves contrasted well against his dark skin. Behind him novices rolled carts of scrolls, accompanied by the occasional adept. Most of them were scribes, but she spotted a couple with their own stone beads.

  “And by Erdae’s grace, I welcome you to this Temple Day!” Vi watched him with admiration, she would get to talk to him! Get his personal guidance! She didn’t know whether she wanted her last temple day to last forever or end there.

  As Titus spoke the novices began to weave through the crowd, handing out the first scrolls of the day. Vi took the one handed to, unraveling the thin paper, content to start her day with whatever made its way to her.

  She sucked air through her teeth, grimacing at the handwriting. Slowly she unraveled the bastardized script, puzzling out the small treatise of the history of Sarene, er the poorly copied treatise on the history of Sarene. Vi glanced up, wondering if the scribe who wrote it was somewhere in the room.

  The city state was founded half a millennium before the Tale of Twin Flame and the kingdom of Acridae, when the Saltwash, apparently called the Dead River at the time, drew the interest of the artificer, Azzet Durand.

  There was a big chunk in the middle she couldn’t quite make out, something about a device to extract salt, and Jotunheim was mentioned multiple times. No surprise there, since Sarene was almost at the foot of the great mountain range.

  After struggling through a list of what she was pretty sure were giant names she gave up, turning to skimming the scroll for any mention about earthmages. There was something about the founder of the temple, but nothing before. At least nothing she could read. And not particularly caring about the history of Sarene, and certainly not enough to struggle through the illegible scroll, she raised her hand.

  One of the adepts overseeing a group of novices dig through the scrolls noticed her, Allene. As the adept walked over Vi waved her hand emphatically. The adept smiled.

  “Hey Allene,” Vi whispered, “Do you have anything on the nature of stone and earth?”

  “I’ll check with the novices-” Allene paused “This is your last temple day right?”

  Vi nodded

  “You know what, I’ll see what I can do.”

  Vi watched as the adept approached the master, before Titus seemed to consider something and nodded, and Allene disappeared into the halls of stone.

  Vi sat patiently while she waited for Allene, but time seemed to drag on and soon she couldn’t take it. She could practice meditating, it was said to be good, even for non-mage classes, but she couldn’t imagine what good it would do a warrior. She tapped Vethyr on the shoulder who looked over, surprised.

  “Can we share?” she mouthed

  Vethyr blinked “What?”

  Vi pointed at his scroll, mimed reading it, and repeated the question.

  He pointed at his scroll with a from “This?”

  Vi nodded “Just, give me top half, I can read upside down.”

  “What?”

  After a couple more gestures and a great deal of confusion Vi had the top end of Vethyr’s scroll across her lap while he continued where he was. She read the title upside down, a skill she’d picked up playing Monster Mash, a popular card game in the middle city.

  The Tale of Twin Flame.

  Vi stifled a groan.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Eight hundred years ago, two children came to be in the ancient city state of Durin. Blessed by Moto, on the day they were born their strength rivalled that of their parents: Veth, the protector, and Orin, the betrayer. Pushed to the edge of extinction the twins fought on the vanguard of humanity, uniting the city states-

  Allene tapped her on the shoulder. “Vith,” Allene greeted her, holding a book, an honest to gods book!

  Vi stared at Allene in shock and Vethyr dropped the scroll he was holding, making a clatter that echoed over the faint rustle of paper. A hush fell over the room, the rustle of paper and the occasional whispered conversational whispered conversation falling silent. Vi wasn’t even sure if the silence was her imagination.

  Vi took the book reverently, taking the tome in both hands “Al-,” she paused, lifting her gaze from the book “Allene. Thank you.”

  The woman gave Vi an approving nod “You’re welcome. I trust you’ll treat the book well,” Allene said softly, raising an eyebrow.

  “Of course,” Vi said, holding the book to her chest as she watched Allene walk away. She could hardly believe that had just happened. She exchanged a wide-eyed look with Vethyr who looked astonished as she felt. Kids around her were staring, but she hardly cared.

  The book was heavy, bound in a dark leather that was cool and thick and reminded her of stone, not the temple sandstone, but a river rock. The pages were pale yellow and there were a few patches of darker yellow.

  An actual book! Slowly she opened the book, wincing as the spine creaked. She glanced around, her guilt plain to see, but it didn’t seem like anyone had seen.

  Different Perspectives on Earth and its Worldly Mechanica.

  She flipped the page, marveling at the motion, adding a new sound to the quiet din.

  Earth is one of the seven elemental forms, generally imbuing a more stable energy then pure Yang, elemental light or presence. It is solidity and subsidence, ever shifting but slow, as violent and placid as water. Like all elements It’s energies are the strongest during transitions between inhale and exhale. When Kalpa exhales and Yin grows in power, earth stagnates. When Kalpa inhales and Yang grows in power, the earth trembles.

  Vethyr tapped her on the shoulder “Vi… Vi!”

  “Yeah what?” she asked crossly

  “We’re breaking for lunch.”

  The words died on her lips “Oh.” Vethyr raised an eyebrow and pulled her to her feet.

  It felt wrong to leave the book on the ground, it felt like leaving a pile of drachma on the street and just walking away.

  The fare was almost extravagant, a bowl of curried lentils and flatbread. Vi took a moment to just savor the smell of the spices, no doubt traded from Caligae.

  The pair each grabbed a bronze bowl from a cart and took their seats in the back, behind the groups the ringed the bubbling cistern “Hey, so, my system day is in a couple days and I was wondering if you wanted to come.”

  “Of course! When is it?”

  Vi’s cheeks turned a little red, from the heat of the cooking fires, definitely from the heat. “It’s in two days,” she grinned “well one day, 17 hours, and like a bunch of minutes.”

  Vethyr rolled his eyes “Your place?”

  Vi nodded, raising her bowl as a novice walked over.

  “I’ll be there,” said Vethyr, putting out his own bowl.

  The pair devoured the meal, the spices searing their tongues as they ate the wonderfully seasoned food.

  Vethyr let out a burp, leaning against a column next to Vi. She laughed and elbowed his leg. He tried to get another one but all he did a weird gurgling sound, making Vi snort and sit up.

  “Okay, let me show you how it’s done,” she said, flexing her knuckles. She steadied herself, feeling her breath and pushed air through her throat.

  “You sound like your about to throw up,” laughed Vethyr as Vi made a series of noises somewhere between a gurgle and a hack. “Okay, people are looking at us weird.”

  ***

  The dwarves believe that Kalpa bubbles with energy, its plates are thick, and its magma is thick and viscous. That Kalpa’s molten blood seeps through it, cooling into crystals and rare minerals, believing, the longer it takes rock to cool, the larger the crystals that form.

  Mer laugh at the dwarves, while conceding the occasional point to the stout folk. They believe the crust in thin compared to dwarvish reconning, that magma is thin and runny, and cools to form the crust that spews from the great volcanic rifts at the bottom of the sea.

  Elvish and Entish geomancers…

  A tap on her shoulder made Vi glance over. She almost dropped the book in surprise. Titus sat next to her, and Allene stood by his side in the empty hall, she’d been so focused that she’d completely missed the end of the day.

  “I trust you learned something child.”

  Vi snapped her mouth shut “Yes,” she squeaked

  “Then would you share your insights with me?”

  Vi gulped “I- I think most races have different perspectives because they live in different environments, not because they’re wrong. Not that they’re entirely right either.”

  Titus looked at her with an expression she couldn’t read.

  “At least that’s the conclusion the author came to, and I think it makes the most sense,” she hurriedly added “like you know how goblins and dwarves have fairly similar perspectives because they generally live in underground, but giants who usually live on the mountains themselves have a somewhat different perspective that’s more about rockfalls. But the giant perspective is more similar to the dwarf and goblin than the elf or ent which are, in turn, similar to each other.”

  Titus was nodding along with a faint smile “You know the first time I read that I was convinced the ents were right… We do, after all, live next to a rather large river.” With an ease that seemed to belie his age the Titus rose to his feet, and offered Vi a hand, “Have you prepared your questions?”

  Vi nodded, taking the hand and suppressing a gulp “I have.”

  Titus smiled “Good, then you may ask me the first.”

  Vi paused as she thought which one to ask. She shifted as the silence stretched, not that Titus seemed to mind, until she came to a decision. “What are they?” She asked, “the Moonveins I mean”

  Titus glanced at her with an eyebrow, half-raised, and thoughtful expression “The Moonveins,” he paused, thinking.

  “It just seems wrong, the whole sky, I mean,” Vi interjected, filling the silence

  “That it does,” nodded the old mage “that it does. Most believe the Moonveins are an effect of the emperor’s working, Veth’s Aegis. They flow west, congregating around Durin, seeming to flow toward his seat of power.”

  Vi nodded.

  “Let me show you,” he said, waving a hand over the ground. The earth shifted in front of them, a map of the Acridian empire rising out of the sandstone. Then eleven walled cities rose out of that and from there stone tendrils bloomed over the empire, like some vast root system that hovered over the kingdom.

  Vi’s jaw dropped.

  “Do you see how the aegis has ten major threads that branch out, flowing toward each city. There, you can see the one that flows from Durin to Sarene. That is because of Veth’s anchors, and from there the aegis spreads to cover the entire kingdom. Some believe that each pulse is a death, and others claim it does more than merely protect the kingdom, which rumors are true I cannot say,” he lowered his hand, and the kingdom sunk back into the stone. She continued to stare at the ground in awe.

  “You may ask two more questions.”

  Vi nodded, she’d known that from the start.

  “What is the nature of earth?”

  “Of earth?” Titus raised another bushy eyebrow and grinned, a real, toothy, almost rebellious smile “let me show you.” He raised a hand like a blade against his chest and closed his eyes. Around them the the entire chamber began to swirl.

  In the dancing light cast by braziers set around the hall mountains rose and fell, volcanoes belched, and rivers of liquid earth carved out gulleys in the floor. Layers of rock were eroded, forming towers as loose sediment was washed away, flowing downstream, growing the continent as it met the sea. Vi watched in awe, at the thousand ways the earth shifted.

  Titus opened his eyes and the floor froze. A drop of sweat beaded on his forehead, “the element is not just the ways of the earth. How much do you know about Erdae, child?”

  “She’s the incarnation of earth?’ Vi said

  “True,” agreed Titus “But what was she? And what does it mean for the nature of earth?”

  Vi’s brow drew together as she tried to think, she was sure she’d read something about this.

  “What Erdae’s mortal form truly was has been lost to history, though most claim she was a great wurm before she ascended, but there’s more to it. You see, an incarnation does more than just embody an element, there is a back and forth, a give and take. As earth colors Erdae, so does Erdae color the earth. It regenerates itself, slowly breaks apart the dead, and in the deep, where its power is dense, they say the earth breeds wurms. Some say Gulagai, Orin’s bane, was one of her spawn,” Titus paused, and the vast landscape around them smoothed over “now… one more.”

  Vi paused, trying to digest what he’d told her. The very earth grew wurms? She shook herself; this wasn’t the time. She knew her third question, all she had to do was ask. Close by she noticed Allene was meditating.

  “How do you kill a giant?”

  Titus frowned. Vi played with her hands behind her back in the silence. Titus let out a breath “very well, I will answer your question.”

  He flicked his fingers, and a formless giant took form in front of her, the fires throwing light across the sandstone. “They share our weaknesses, the giants, but they are less fragile. Stronger, but less agile. Do not underestimate their speed either, power works the same for them as it does for us. To kill one…” he paused, as if disliking the sound of his own voice.

  Vi felt only hate when she looked at the formless titan in front of her, how would she kill it?

  “To kill one, it’s best to target their large arteries here, here, and here. Similar to our own,” the stone sank back into the earth “satisfied?”

  Vi nodded and the man stalked away, beads clinking in his wake, and Vi was left in the empty chamber next to Allene who sat meditating next to her. She wondered if she’d just made a mistake.

  It was a couple minutes before Allene opened her eyes, sweat beaded her forehead and the strange aura of power that even Vi had been able to feel faded like a distant memory.

  “Sorry about that,” the woman said, getting to her feet and smiling “but I guess I owe you one, not everyday old Titus goes all out like that,” said Allene, and the woman patted Vi on the back “I think he likes you.”

  Vi stared at the ground; her eyes burned, and her nostrils flared.

  “Well, you should be getting home, let me walk you out.”

  Taking the tome from a reluctant Vi, the pair walked through the temple halls in silence. Vi stewing with indignation while Allene pondered the insights from the questioning.

  They finally stopped at the edge of the temple, by the braziers that burned by the great archway and along the colonnade. “Goodbye Vith. It has been a pleasure to watch you grow up,” said the scribe and Vi wrapped her arms around her the woman who taught her how to read and write.

  “Oh Allene. I have no idea what I’m doing!” the sixteen-year-old cried, her voice muffled against the scribe’s robes.

  Allene gently stroked her head. “It’s okay. Can I tell you a secret.”

  Vi nodded into her robes.

  “My dear, nobody knows what they’re doing.”

  Vi almost laughed, her body shaking between emotions. Allene stroked her head, standing with the girl as the last light of dusk faded.

  Vi rubbed at her red eyes as she walked through the high city, the path illuminated by small lanterns that hung from buildings. She passed through the gate, making her way home.

  She relaxed as took smells of a rich stew; she was home. Dad was by the hearth, tending to a large pot suspended over the fire.

  “How was your last temple day kiddo?” he asked, not looking up

  “It was definitely something” Vi suppressed a sardonic laugh “They let me read a book” she said softly, feeling like it had been in another life.

  Dad looked over, a little surprised “A book? Like an actual book?”

  “Yes Dad, an actual book,” the hint of smile touched her lips “Actually some of it was hard to believe, like Baelgon, the earth dragon, and how the Worldspine grew beneath his bones,” she had a broad smile- “but the drawings, oh the drawings!” she practically swooned, and her eyes twinkled

  Her dad raised an eyebrow “What irresponsible scribe would let you get your hands on a book?”

  Vi rolled her eyes "I was perfectly responsible!”

  “I know, I know, it’s a wonder you didn’t become a scribe,” He paused “You aren’t going to become a scribe?” he paused, “are you?”

  Vi looked at him blankly “I’m not going to become a scribe, Dad.”

  “Okay, okay,” he said, raising his hands, still holding the wooden spoon, before returning his attention back to the stew, “the old man say anything interesting?”

  Vi nodded emphatically “You should’ve seen some of his magic, it was like the earth around us was an image in his head, only more complex than anything I could possibly imagine and then…” she trailed off

  Her dad shrugged when she didn’t elaborate “I’m glad you, at least, found it entertaining.”