9. The Vault

The Adventures of Godrik the Magician*

I’m flying, Godrik thinks, but it’s more like he’s tumbling end over end, high up in the air over a nighttime landscape. The kingdom’s Temple River and its side streams pass by beneath him, glittering dimly under silver, moonlit clouds. He can’t seem to stabilize his flight, but at least he’s beginning to slow it down.

The walls of Thothia come into view below, the torches on its guard towers glowing like molten gold against the night’s fog. Somewhere within the city’s walls, there are screams rising up from a fire. Rising up into the pale, pitiless light of the Moon. Terrible, high-pitched screams. The way a man screams when there’s nothing left of him but a horrifying end. It’s Godrik’s stepfather burning on the pyre, no doubt. This is that dream again. Must wake up! Papa needs me. I’m powerful enough to save him now.

For a moment Godrik feels an odd sensation, like something hard pressing on his forehead. He focuses in on that, and his stepfather’s voice fades away, giving way to shouts. The shouts of combat. Alexander! Radovan! They need my help. Must wake up… The streets of Thothia suddenly rise up. Godrik is falling toward them! The flagstones of the moneychangers compound rush up with terrible speed, threatening to bash him to a pulp, but he passes right through them. He feels the minerals of the…