Rune Mage [Fantasy/Adventure | Book 1 +2 | Complete]

CHAOS MAGE Chapter 9: Neverending Surprises

Now, Benover, Karma.

Sweat trickling down the side of her face and a distant headache thudding against the back of her skull, Kommora sat back, frowning. This was the only relevant record in the entire library describing Sallows's journey at that point in time and she recognised it as the same leather-bound book he'd brought back from Teirrin seventeen years ago.

The hours blurred into each other. Liore stuck her head in every now and then, but always withdrew after seeing Kommora still at work; she knew better than to interrupt her, no matter the hour. Kommora traced her hands over Sallows's neat ink scratchings on the yellowed sheets. Mundane. They were all mundane. She was missing something. There was no way, after exhausting all the varieties of scanning runes, she would be unable to even find a hint of the magical encryption preventing her from seeing Sallows's true words.

You'll have to prove your worth as my successor if you want to take my place.

Sallows knew this day would come.

Kommora straightened up and groaned as her back clicked and neck ached. Her entire body complained, but she brushed the whining aside. Running a hand through her hair and then slicking the loose strands back into her plait, she clasped her hands behind her back and strolled around the library. Night had fallen some time ago. Yellow runes bathed the chamber in warm light. Stars glittered far on the other side of the domed glass above her. Her boots grazed the plush carpet, her knee-length tunic whispering with her every step.

As she sat on the toilet, relieving herself, she mulled over what Harred would have done already. In terms of magical prowess, Harred trumped both Sallows and Kommora, but Harred relied heavily on magic, despite her brilliance. If anything could be done with magic, whether it be travel, building, or cooking, she would always use magic. There was always an air of disdain whenever there was a mention of non-magical methods. Sallows knew that and would have deliberately encrypted his work to Harred's disadvantage. If Sallows had used magic, Kristen Harred would have been the first to find the information instead of spending the past few years failing, and ultimately using organic magic as a means of recreating celestial magic. No, Kommora would have to go about this a different route.

Returning to the library, she scrutinised the words with a new eye. Sallows loved his word puzzles, feeling they were a means of keeping the brain active, flexible, and not always dwelling on magic. Perhaps there was a key in these introductory paragraphs.

Several more hours passed, but Kommora barely felt them. She flew over the lines, each letter revealing themselves before her very eyes. Sallows was a genius. Harred never had time for puzzles or riddles — hiding each letter within apparently irrelevant musings of Teirrin cuisine and culture was the perfect way of ensuring she would dismiss it as nonsense and tricking her pride into not allowing others to prove her wrong. Celestial magic: the origin of magic, able to manipulate the magical core in every human being, but particularly those of mages, who were able to harness the energy. Sallows had kept an eye on Harred, a rising mage with unlimited potential and a sinister inconsequential air, as a possible threat to the future of Karma.

Twin souls. That was a recurring theme in Sallows's documentation. There were a few words missing, another key Kommora needed to find, but Sallows was preoccupied with a pair of souls who were discovered by the Teirrin royal family. He could be referring to the discovery of the burial sites of the original twins, Karma and Hanna, in Teirrin. Sallows volunteered to oversee the excavation, in case there were magical barriers posing a danger to the team there. Pausing, Kommora squinted at the far bookcases of records from twenty years back. Her vision was fuzzy at that distance after spending the whole night working and the sunlight coming down from above only made the sight all the more offensive. She moved closer and thumbed the spines. Was it 996 or 997? She'd have to flick through them.