There is something profoundly wrong with this world. Powerful as we are, even we cannot correct the failures of our creator. That is why she must be revived. Only the return of our goddess can set things right. The others will not do, Sygelion least of all.

  Evran Wright stood proudly at the helm of a small sailboat flying across the open sky. Its wooden mast groaned under the weight of sails bursting with wind. Evran reached into the front pocket of his pristine school uniform and retrieved a rounded blue crystal set within a heavy brass frame. Holding the enchanted far-sight lens to his eye, he peered over the bow at the fast-approaching island. His face beamed with excitement. Evran adjusted the ship’s steering wheel, placing the distant landmass directly in his path.

  “Hey Lerrum! We’re getting close!” he shouted, glancing back to see if his friend had heard him over the flapping of the sails.

  A second boy wearing the same uniform sat motionless on the stern bench, his face buried in a textbook. When a second shout failed to rouse his friend, Evran held up his magic lens and angled it to catch the sun. Reflected sunlight danced back and forth across Lerrum’s eyes, drawing his attention. Squinting, Lerrum glanced up from his book to see Evran eagerly pointing at an island in the distance. His excitement was contagious.

  Lerrum Ilner slammed his textbook shut and rose to his feet. He stashed his textbook in a leather satchel before tossing it back onto the bench. After a quick stretch and a yawn, Lerrum drifted lazily to the helm. Once there, he threw his arm over Evran’s shoulder.

  Of the two, Lerrum was taller, though not by much. That and his dark red hair made him easy to pick out in a crowd. Evran, alternatively, was quite unremarkable in his appearance — not tall, not well built, not handsome. Both boys were the same age and in the same year attending the prestigious Aldean Magic Academy.

  “Here,” said Evran, offering the lens to his friend.

  Lerrum tousled Evran’s brown hair in revenge for flashing him with the lens, which he deftly snatched away from his friend. Looking through it, Lerrum scoped out the floating island in the distance. “The landing is over to the east a bit.”

  “Why don’t you take over? I’m low on mana.”

  A small metal disc sat embedded in the center of the ship’s steering wheel. Engraved on the disc was an intricate pattern of concentric circles decorated with strange symbols and runes. At the core of the magic circle, a green gemstone glowed with an intense light.

  Evran let go of the steering wheel and stepped aside. The glow from the gemstone faded, as did the wind. The sails deflated, causing the ship to slow. Lerrum hastened to take his place at the helm. Once he grasped the wheel, the green gemstone began to glow once more, and the wind returned in force. The sails caught the fresh gale, and the ship continued to speed towards the distant island.

  “So, are you ready to tell me why we’re out here?” asked Evran.

  “Not yet!” Lerrum wore the smuggest of grins, content to keep their mission a secret for as long as he could.

  Evran shook his head and wandered to the side of the ship. He peered over the edge and into the hazy void beneath him. An icy shiver ran down his spine. He gripped the straps of his float-harness and swallowed his anxiety. “Never look down,” Evran reminded himself under his breath as he retreated to the stern bench to rest.

  Soon the island grew close enough for Evran to see its features unaided by his enchanted lens. He could make out a small homestead on a grassy slope leading up to a forest. A small creek flowed from the forest and poured over the sheer cliffs down into the void below. The shore here was uneven and overgrown with bramble and edge-hedge — far too rough a place to make a landing.

  The ship turned gently as Lerrum navigated toward the eastern end of the island. They sailed around a small peninsula and found themselves in a protective cove. The edge-hedge had been cleared away, and much of the forest had been reduced to a sea of tree stumps. Several ship-sized ditches were carved into the shore slightly under the float line. Lerrum disengaged the windstone array and piloted the drifting boat toward one of the shallows.

  “Have you been here before?” Evran asked.

  “Yeah, I took Kestie here on a date last year. It’s where we first kissed.”

  “I hope your plans are different this time.”

  A mischievous grin formed on Lerrum’s face. Evran leaned away nervously, but Lerrum grabbed him and wrestled him into a headlock. He struggled in vain to break free, but Lerrum held tight. Their antics were interrupted by the sound of the ship scraping the side of the shallow as they docked. Lerrum released his grip and grimaced as the ship came to rest. Evran shoved his friend off of him while laughing. “Serves you right!”

  “Whatever. You get the sails while I tie us down.”

  Lerrum released a few latches on a segment of the port-side rail and lowered it to form a gangplank. He grabbed a length of rope attached nearby and spiked it onto the shore. Meanwhile, Evran approached the mast and began securing the sails. Right as he’d finished, Evran noticed a flash of movement in a field further inland. A small wolf with bright orange fur trotted towards them.

  “Hey look, an Emberfang!” shouted Evran, pointing to the approaching wolf.

  “The island was likely abandoned over the winter, so we’ll probably have to deal with a few monsters,” said Lerrum.

  Evran jumped off the boat and landed next to Lerrum. “It’s a small island. I doubt we’ll run into anything strong. As for this guy… let’s try that combo we talked about last week. Have it dodge right.”

  They nodded in agreement. Evran knelt and placed a palm on the ground. Lerrum pulled a wand from his belt and pointed it at the emberfang. A shard of ice formed in the space beyond Lerrum’s wand. The emberfang snarled and charged the two boys.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Aiming slightly to the left, Lerrum launched his ice shard toward the attacking monster. It flew at tremendous speed, but emberfangs were agile creatures. It leapt to the right, dodging Lerrum’s spell, just as they hoped it would!

  Evran pressed his hand to the ground. A pulse of energy traveled through the dirt toward the monster, erupting as a spear of razor sharp stone right beneath where the emberfang had leapt. The unfortunate monster landed on the stone lance, impaling itself in the chest. It let out a final whimper and collapsed further down the jagged rock.

  “Nice work!” said Lerrum, laughing. “I can’t believe I used to struggle against those. Hey, remember in our first year when Kaila got frustrated and cast firestorm to hit it?”

  “Oh yeah, she set the whole damn field on fire. We spent the rest of class putting it out! Anyway, the pelt’s worth a silver or two. Mind if I harvest it?”

  “Take your time. The fangs, too! Obviously.”

  Evran approached the dead wolf, unsheathing a small knife from his belt. It had an ornate hilt made of a polished black stone with vibrant crimson marbling. Its pommel was a plain silver cap with a recess meant for a gemstone, though he’d never slotted one.

  The stone lance made a large hole in the center of the emberfang’s chest. Evran tapped the stone, and it crumbled to dust. He placed his blade into the hole and cut the pelt off of the dead monster.

  “Wow, that’s fast,” exclaimed Lerrum.

  “Thanks! Professor Tyrin taught me a trick you can do with pressurized water magic, but it requires high mana control. I can show you if you’re interested.”

  “Gods no, I’ve got you to do all the nasty work!”

  Evran rolled his eyes and returned to the business at hand. He made quick work of skinning the monster, then pried two large canines from the creature’s jaw. Holding the loot in his hands, Evran began the process of reification. He forced the monster’s mana from its hide and fangs, and replaced it with some of his own. This stabilized the items, preventing them from dissolving back into miasma like the rest of the monster soon would. After scraping the last stubborn bits of flesh off the hide, he rolled it and stashed it back on the boat. He kept the fangs in his own satchel.

  “Finished?” asked Lerrum, rising to his feet.

  Evran nodded.

  “Alright then, follow me!”

  Still unsure of their purpose, Evran followed Lerrum into the interior of the island. They passed a crude structure made from earth magic; a shelter made by whomever first explored the island. Evran could not help but critique its haphazard construction, noting several flaws in its design and placement. He still had to give its creator some credit, as the structure had endured the last few winters, serving its purpose.

  They hiked up the gently sloping field toward the forest. At its edge were more ruins, though these were far older and made of weathered brick and crumbling mortar. Evran had always found these ruins particularly fascinating, as they were remnants of the previous world.

  “Hey, check your barrier charge,” suggested Evran as the two approached the forest.

  Lerrum stopped and pulled an amulet out from under his shirt. It was another metal disc with a magic circle, much like the spell on the ship’s wheel. The gem at its center was white, however. Lerrum fed his mana into the amulet until it would take no more. “It was low. Thanks for the reminder, Ev!”

  The two boys delved into the verdant woods. An island this small would normally take twenty minutes to cross on foot, but the undergrowth delayed them greatly. They slowly cut their way through using blades of wind magic. Evran trusted Lerrum to know where he was going and followed silently.

  Eventually, they stumbled upon a small stream. Evran noted a subtle look of relief on Lerrum’s face before it returned to the confident smirk he usually wore. They followed the stream deeper into the forest until they emerged into a clearing in front of a large hill. At its base was a cave.

  Evran froze. “The labyrinth entrance? We’re not going in, are we?” he asked, feeling a tinge of betrayal at the idea.

  “No! No, I doubt it’s much more than a small cave with one turn in it, and the guardian is long dead. Besides, we’re here for something else! Keep up!”

  Clang! A hexagonally segmented wall of solid light had appeared in front of Lerrum’s left ear. Chunks of sharp stone tumbled to the ground after breaking upon Lerrum’s barrier. They were under attack.

  “Where?” shouted Evran, frantically looking into the entrance of the labyrinth. Nothing.

  “Over there!” Lerrum pointed to a place well past the labyrinth entrance. “Terra Stag!”

  A massive deer clad in gray stone plates emerged from the tree line, its crystalline antlers glittering in the sunlight. In the space above its antlers, three large spikes of stone coalesced from nothingness. The stag snorted and wheezed at the two boys intruding upon its domain. With a stomp of its foot, it sent the stone shards flying toward them. Evran reacted quickly by raising a wall of dirt in front of them. The stone shards sank harmlessly into the earthen wall.

  “Good, no break!” said Lerrum, inspecting his amulet. The white gem at its core continued to glow steadily. Lerrum tucked away his barrier amulet and pulled out his wand. “This is exciting! I wasn’t expecting such a powerful monster.”

  “Should we head back?”

  “No way, we can take it! They’re weak to the cold, so we just have to get close enough to hit it with a frost nova.”

  “So, a pincer attack?” Evran suggested. “When it attacks one of us, the other advances until we’re close enough.”

  “That should work! Watch your footing and keep moving. And don’t use earth magic! That’s his specialty.”

  They nodded in agreement. Evran and Lerrum each darted out from opposite sides of the earth wall. A rain of stone shards immediately fell upon Evran. He cast a barrier of light around his body that moved with him as he ran. The first few attacks missed, but a single shard impacted Evran’s barrier. It held. Evran continued to focus on keeping his barrier active rather than counterattacking.

  Lerrum was having better luck. With the terra stag distracted, he’d approached from a different angle unseen. Lerrum held out his wand and cast an ice shard. It struck the monster between two of its stone plates at its hip, but left only a small gash in its thick hide.

  The terra stag turned to face its new opponent, giving Evran a chance to attack. He charged the monster, repeatedly casting ice shards as he ran. They had little effect against the deer’s stone armor.

  Frustrated, Evran changed tactics. He conjured several spheres of water in place of the ice shards. He launched the water balls at the stag, with a greater focus on volume over speed. The water did no damage to the monster, but every inch of the beast had been soaked through.

  The terra stag continued to attack Lerrum, who could do little but dodge and block the rapid barrage of stone shards. With the creature soaked, they only needed to get one of them close enough to hit it with a frost nova. Evran ceased his attacks and tried to approach the beast from behind, but his attempt at sneaking failed. The terra stag whipped around and began casting at Evran.

  Stone shards hurtled toward Evran at incredible speed. He raised another barrier just in time. Once again, it held, but he was too close to dodge. The stone shards continued to pelt the barrier, one after another. It was only a matter of time before it would shatter. In the brief gap between barrages, Evran dropped the barrier and raised a second earth wall.

  Enraged, the terra stag let out a sonorous grunt. The deep, booming sound shook the ground, knocking Evran off balance and crumbling his earth wall. Evran was exposed. He quickly raised another light barrier, then braced himself for the inevitable attack. None came.

  Evran stood, peering over the mound of dirt that had once been his earth wall. He saw the terra stag reared up on its hind legs, completely frozen in ice. Lerrum stood at its feet, looking up at the unmoving monster. Its silence was somehow both welcome and unsettling.

  “I’m not sure if it’s dead,” said Lerrum. He tapped the ice with the tip of his wand. “It’s not casting anymore, so maybe?”

  The ice crackled and groaned. Evran cautiously approached the frozen terra stag and raised his right hand. He shot a stone shard of his own into the monster and shattered it into many pieces.

  “Yeah, it’s dead,” replied Evran, with some confidence. “Nice work, Lerrum.”