The Spirit Wilds: Magic of the Green Sage (Fall of the Sages Book 1), стр. 6
Once she was through, she placed the book back amongst its kin and exited the stacks of dark books.
From there, she knew what to do. Deep within her Sage memories, she knew of a portal in the depths of the library that would take her away. She didn’t know where it would take her, but she’d figure it out when she got there. Walking back through the Forest of the Forgotten and to the Bridge of Memories didn’t appeal to her.
Back in the main chamber, with the twelve floors of knowledge looming over her, she took the doorway to her left. It led to a stairway that led her down into the darkest, coldest, dampest depths of the library. The lower she went, the more she realized that this was an ancient place, older even than the library built above it. There were places of primordial power all throughout the world, and this was one of them.
At the bottom of the stairs, she came to a large, dark room made of rock. When her first step hit the floor, torches of blue flame burst to life all around her. It was then she realized that this wasn’t rock, but pure, raw obsidian. Beautiful.
In the center of the room was a tall archway made of the same obsidian. The portal. Portals were ancient magical tunnels that connected to another somewhere in the world. They were always in pairs, and one could only travel between the two. There used to be many such portals, but over the millennia, they’d been lost to time and human idiocy. Now, there were only a few left and here was one.
It was dormant, but Bishta knew how to awaken it.
Bishta strode up to it. Like most portals, it towered over her once she stood before it. At three times her height, it almost reached the rocky ceiling. She put her hand against the cold, smooth, glassy stone. Obsidian was a rare, magical rock, and thus was used in many ancient structures that had magical protections.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The damp, earthy air down there filled her lungs. It tasted like magic, like ancient secrets. Her lips curled into a grin. She loved it.
One hand on the portal and the other on her staff, she centered herself and spoke. “Sama tu lys ursu.”
The earth trembled beneath her. Bits of rock and dust rained from the ceiling, but only for a moment, before the dormant cracks and veins of the obsidian suddenly flared to life with pale green light. As she backed up, the empty space between the archway rippled like a pebble dropped in water. The air became foggy and green until an image appeared in the portal: the other side.
What she saw was a dark cave with only distant orange light flooding in from above. She had no way of knowing what awaited her through the portal, but whatever awaited her, Bishta the Black could handle it.
I can handle anything this world throws at me, just as I always have.
And she had suffered greatly for the things she’d overcome, but soon all those things would be put right. Everything would be put right.
Jaw clenched, she was ready. She dismissed Munla, as spirits couldn’t go through portals. Then, with brows furrowed and a wicked grin gleaming, Bishta cracked her knuckles, shouldered her pack over the ratty black wool of her cloak, and stepped into the portal.
3
Tuni
The air was filled with raucous laughter as the poor gentleman recoiled from the surprise kiss of Tuni Teal-eye. Playful spirits of all the colors of the rainbow hung about and squealed and laughed with glee. The man, though Tuni had to guess he was more boy than man, was wiping his lips with the back of his hand. His inherent disgust only made Tuni’s smile grow wider and her giggles more joyous.
The young man’s name was Armal and up until that point, he had appeared to Tuni as a rather innocent and naïve city boy that didn’t know a thing about the treacherous world in which he lived. Tuni came across him as he was being accosted by harmless but nonetheless intimidating tree folk. Tuni drove them off by speaking to them in spirit tongue. They left without incident.
Armal, though grateful for her help, obviously saw her as a savage. He questioned everything she did for him all day and used such an annoying, condescending tone that at several times, she had the strongest urge to bring him to the top of the tallest mushroom and chuck him over the edge. But she did not, for Tuni had far more fun teasing him.
The kiss was the final straw. Tuni suspected that most of the lavish men of Al-Sevara would enjoy being doted on by a girl like her, but Armal did not. She’d flirted with him constantly all day, gently caressing him whenever she had the chance and saying the most provocative things to him. Then, when she saw her window of opportunity open, she snatched a kiss from his handsomely-bearded face.
He accused her of being a witch and a seductress and then ran away from her and disappeared deep into the Mushroom Wilds.
A small, yellow spirit that resembled a fox with butterfly wings floated down and landed on Tuni’s golden skin. It spoke in a high-pitched voice. “Are you just going to allow him to walk away?”
Tuni smiled down at the cute spirit. “Yeah. He was annoying anyway.”
Another spirit flew and plopped down on top of Tuni’s golden-brown hair. This one was round and purple and had red eyes. “You know he may well die out there.” The spirit’s voice was thick with the accent