Magic Diary: Maria



  • _One, two, three…that's all the seconds It took for me to completly vanish from the guards. They didn't believe what they were witnessing, evenless that it was -me- the one stealing the book. I ran up the stairs and through the corridors, soon the mages of candlekeep would already be there and that would definitely ruin everything.
    I exited the library and headed quickly towards the stables. By the time I reached the spot, I had to take a break to catch my breath. I was never an able runner.

    By the time I was done catching my breath, the spell ended, and I was totaly visible again. I could not stay outside for long, or I'd be spotted, so I entered the stables. It was quite dark in there, but I had played in there hundred of times, so I knew my way. I stepped deeper into the building, and it didn't take long until I heard the voice. He told me to move further deeper, and to put the book on the ground, that they'd free her then.

    I cautiosly walked ahead and put the book on the ground and stepped away from it. Three men stepped out of the dark and approached the book. They were wearing black, they were hooded, and their only thing that wasn't black was a small scorpion in gold that was to be seen by their ankle. They reached for the book, examined it briefly and nodded to someone that was far behind them. The man made a movement with his hand. The last thing I heard was a shout of Silea. "NOOOOOOOOOO"
    The last thing I felt, was a hit in the head._



  • _As any other day, I waited for Silea after classes. Sometimes she was a bit late, depending on how deep into trouble she was. I waited for an hour, and she didn't show up. It was the first time in all this years, I was worried. I started walking towards the library, but I didn't make it far. A man wearing all black and hooded walked just past me. With Silea I learned a lot of things, and detecting pickpocketing attempts was one of those things. This man, however, instead of taking something from me, deposited a note on my book. A note which content I'll never forget:

    "Take the Netherese Hidden Secrets book from the private library or she's dead- Stables."

    It was fairly easy to assume they knew I was working in the library, and as such, I had acces to most books. However, and this is something they possibly knew too, that book, along with another 6 books were forbidden to be taken, even for me.
    What Silea would've told me to do was clear. To tell them to fuck off.
    But it was not something I was going to do, not with Silea's life on thin ice.

    I went to the library, as everyday, and attended to my duties. As some other nights, I stayed well past the working time, to read books. It was just the usual with me. When things got real quiet, I moved downstairs, to the private library. It wasn't unsual either to see me down there, the best books, the most rare ones were down there, not for nothing Candlekeep was a reknown library. It was guarded by two guards, who recognized me and let me pass through to the hundred of shelves. Quietly walked towards the crystal shelf, the one you could not take a book from without the presence of the highest authority of Candlekeep.

    I did it. I took it. Who would blame me for that? I'm certainly no the best of thieves. I forgot to bring any bag to put the book in. That turned out to be the smallest of troubles, compared to the fact that at the second I moved the book away from the shelf I detected an alarm spell. I was caught.

    I started to run towards the exit. The two guards would more than probably block my path, and if I was caught, Silea was dead. I reached into my pocket, I reached for a scroll. Silea gave it to me as a gift when I graduated. "Use it when your life's in danger" While I was runing, I started to read from it…I wasn't sure if it'd work, but it was the only way to get out of there. And it wasn't my life the one in danger, but it was hers.

    Things started to change around me...everything...turned ethereal...I was not in the same plane._



  • _Silea would pick me always after class and I'd spend a few hours with the crew. They were mostly orphans, or some just had problems with their parents. I wouldn't say I had problems with my parents, my father died in the war, and my mother was too busy working at the inn for the day, and too tired at nights to be bothered to know where or how was my day.
    Because of that, Silea was to me like a big sister.

    She didn't just care for me, but she also teached me many things…I can still remember the first time I got to successfuly pick a lock. I was so happy...can't say the same about the farmer who's cows scaped. She teached me how to survive in the streets too, how to defend myself with a solid piece of wood, a staff.
    She was the only person that accepted me and cared for me without wanting anything in return.
    I loved her with all my soul. Same as one loves his dearest friend, and sister.

    It was some great years. I soon was admited as a Candlekeep honor member, for my continuous improvements with magic. Silea cared for that too, and she wouldn't let me skip classes or miss my studying times...she even made sure I had the proper books to study with. Granted she didn't adquire them in the most legit way, but I didn't ever ask her where she was getting them from.

    At the age of 16, I was already a full member, I had already learnt to cast up to third circle spells and the teachers were surprised about my progress. It would not be very crazy to say that if things had gone alright, I could've scalated to the top of the candlekeep library.
    But the gods had different plans for me...and so it happened..._