Heartwell was true to his word. He didn’t bother any of the mages. He didn’t even show up in front of them. He let them do their work unobstructed while he focused on keeping the camp secure.

It’s not like his presence was necessary anyway. He could handle all of his duties from inside his military command tent, thanks to his loyal attaché.

The “lesser” mages, as they are known in the archmage circles, started storing their energy into the crystals right away, while it took a few days for the archmages to organize themselves. They spent more time trying to assert their individual dominance than actually trying to reach a constructive agreement. But, eventually, they agreed on dividing the scrolls among themselves so each archmage could work on her scrolls independently.

Hazelmere’s work progressed exceptionally well, perhaps too well. She managed to decipher the first scroll in just three weeks, even though she thought it would take her moons to do so. A few days after she started working her second scroll, she was interrupted by the pleasant voice coming from outside of her personal tent.

“Excuse me, Hazelmere, may I enter? We need to discuss something.”

“Go ahead, come in!” Hazelmere said as soon as she had checked that nothing that should be hidden from the prying eyes is on display.

A fellow archmage walked in. It was the golden-haired one who spoke from among the crowd when Hazelmere was briefing the mages.

“Sorry for the interruption, but I would like to share some of my concerns with you.”

“You don’t have to be so formal with me, Natle. Oh, yes! I was too busy ever since I came here, I forgot to thank you!”

Natle waved her hand dismissively, with a smile, “Think nothing of it.”

“Anyway, thank you! It may sound silly, but having you assert it will be impossible to forbid carnal relations was really important. It shows to the other mages that I am willing to compromise and appreciate their input.”

“I must say, I never thought you would ask me for that kind of favor.”

“It was the royal advisor’s idea. I wanted it to be Mizette, but the advisor insisted it has to be someone I am not friends with.”

“Well, the royal advisor seems to know what she is doing. The rest of us do need to know you are open-minded.”

Hazelmere’s face went sour: “Well, that is great but … I am not so certain about that advisor.”

She recovered quickly: “But, anyway, what do you need?”

Natle took a seat without asking: “I have some serious concerns regarding these scrolls.”

“Ok, I am listening.”

“I have just finished deciphering the second scroll … and I can’t help but think it was too easy.”

Hazelmere’s look got serious: “I agree. It was too easy. I expected it would take at least a few moons to decipher the first scroll.”

“Exactly! I have never seen scrolls that are so easy to use! It is as if whoever wrote them is leading us by the hand.”

“I admit I share some of your worries but, then again, the mages of old had much better arcane knowledge than we do. And these scrolls were most likely written by the ancient Sun elves. I guess they understood the magic so well, their scrolls didn’t have to be complicated to work.”

“I get that but, as I am figuring out those incantations, I can’t help but feel some … uneasiness. I can’t describe it in words.”

“The arch priestesses have checked each and every scroll that we have. There is not a single trace of demonic taint on them.”

“I know, but … I don’t know,” Natle said with a sigh, “it is just that it was never supposed to be this easy. We were all taught that there is the easy way and the right way when it comes to magic. This feels like it.”

Hazelmere also sighed: “Yes, I know, I feel uneasy about it too. You know what? We shouldn’t just dismiss those worries. I will wait a week and see what progress have the other archmages made. Maybe you and I just got some simple scrolls? But, if everyone else gets the same feeling that we have, that is a sign something may be wrong here. If that happens, I will summon all the archmages, and we will see what to do about it together. Are you ok with that?”

Natle nodded, looking satisfied: “Yes, that is what I was thinking too. I wish we could talk about it right away, but I realize some mages, who didn’t decipher a single scroll yet, may take it as an insult.”

“I agree! I don’t want anyone to feel singled out.”

“Not even Cybil?” Natle asked.

That gave Hazelmere a pause.

“She’s a … a different story, but I can’t let myself be seen as acting petty. Her house would immediately use that against me.”

“They are still sore about it?”

“It makes sense since I have ruined their family’s heritage.”

“It is not your fault you were chosen as the royal archmage.”

“Well, that is exactly how they see it! But, then again, I bet they are giving Cybil a much harder time than they are giving me since she is the first mage from their family to fail them. So, I can’t really be mad at her.”

“You know she holds an obvious grudge against you. She isn’t even trying to hide it.”

“If she has any common sense, she will realize now is not the time for infighting.”

Natle’s tail swished slowly: “I am not so sure about that.”

But she quickly stood up.

“Anyway, I am glad we think the same. Thank you for your time. I will take my leave now.”

“Don’t hesitate to come again if you need anything!”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

And with that, Natle left the tent.

---

A week later, Hazelmere summoned all the archmages:

“All right, I have summoned you here to see how the deciphering is going. Anyone who has deciphered at least one full scroll, please raise your hand.”

All the archmages raised them.

“Well, that is disturbing.” Hazelmere continued, “I admit, it felt good thinking I am just too good a mage since I have deciphered one so quickly, but if everyone was as successful, I can’t help but be worried about these scrolls.”

“You mean, all of us managed to decipher a scroll?” An unimpressively-looking archmage named Mizette asked.

“That is what I have said,” Hazelmere set down, putting her fingers on her forehead for support, “I hoped my scrolls just happened to be so easy, but this is ridiculous.”

“I don’t understand, what is the problem?” another mage asked, “Isn’t it good that the scrolls are so easy to decipher? That only means our job will be much easier, and we will be done with it quickly!”

Everyone in the tent looked at her judgingly.

“How did you even become an archmage?”

“What? What is wrong?”

“Didn’t you learn, at the very start of your training, that everything useful comes at a cost? If something is easy to do, then it is probably not worth doing it with magic.”

“And we are summoning a portal here, to the other world nonetheless,” Natle said, “few things are harder than that. I would expect these scrolls to be complicated, unlike any other scrolls I have seen.”

“I agree. Something is wrong here. It is as if someone has already prepared these scrolls for us.”

“But, the ancient Sun elves were the masters when it comes to spells and magic! It makes sense they would optimize them somehow!”

“That argument made some sense to me until I have realized something,” Natle spoke over the others, making them lower their voices, “the truth is, the ancient Sun elves have designed all the spells we use.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Aren’t there much more useful spells you would expect them to optimize first? I find it unbelievable that the ancients would optimize traveling between the worlds but not healing spells, for example. It took me much less effort to decipher these scrolls than to decipher a simple scratch-healing spell.”

“And that is coming from a restoration mage,” the red-haired archmage named Peratha said. She looked a bit older and more mature than the other mages present, but she was hardly out of her prime.

“That is not all,” Natle continued, “take water purification, for example. We mages don’t deal with it, but I know some priestesses, and it takes them much time to master water purification spells. You would expect the ancients to make those scrolls much more accessible, considering their importance. I find it unlikely that the ancient Sun elves have written such simple, yet effective scrolls, considering the complexity of all the other scrolls they have made.”

“But, that leaves us with the question: if the ancients didn’t create these scrolls, then who has created them?” Hazelmere wondered out loud.

That left the tent in awkward silence.

Until a voice filled with mockery broke it.

“What is the matter, Hazelmere? Are you getting cold feet on your very first task?”

Nobody had to look in the voice’s direction to know who spoke, but Hazelmere took those words as the challenge. She saw the familiar face of her bitter rival. A female who was easily identifiable by her unusually white hair and an extremely pale skin complexion. Although her skin complexion wasn’t as pale as the elven, it was totally uncharacteristic for any timkik who doesn’t belong to her family.

And, since those striking features are present in all the family members, they took it as a sign of their divine origin. And above all, their supremacy and divine purpose.

“Listen, Cybil, now is not the time,” Hazelmere dismissed the childish comment, “If there is even the slightest chance that someone has messed with these scrolls, that is a major cause for concern.”

“That would mean someone is really, really interested in seeing us succeed. Someone really powerful,” Natle agreed.

“Someone even more powerful than the ancients,” Mizette added, “I don’t even want to think what kind of power it takes to make the scrolls as simple as this. And it would take ... thousands of years to create all these shortcuts we have seen in them!”

Hazelmere nodded in agreement, “Shortcuts … yes, that is a great way of explaining it! These scrolls are so simple, thanks to the fact that several incantations you would normally use on a scroll are merged into one. I never really thought about it like that, but you are right. This level of spellcrafting requires unbelievable knowledge of arcane arts.”

“But … I am only saying this hypothetically, but if it would take thousands of years to make these scrolls, and they are so simple yet do such wonderful things, and also considering that someone made them so simple because they want us to succeed … would it be possible that some god has created them?” Mizette wondered.

There was a brief silence in the tent.

“It doesn’t have to be a god, I doubt they would meddle in something so mundane, but it could be possible that some divines are involved,” Natle entertained the thought.

“And what if it is not the divines but their counterparts,” red-haired Peratha asked.

That caused another pause, but the air was much tenser this time.

“I think we are getting ahead of ourselves,” Hazelmere broke the silence, “the point is, we have no idea who made these scrolls. I just wanted to share my worries with all of you, that is all. I mean, if some demons, or some other hellish entities, have truly meddled with these scrolls, then the archpriestesses would detect their taint for sure!”

“We were just speaking hypothetically.”

“Well, don’t! We are here to study these scrolls, not to come up with all kinds of wild hypothesis! Let us focus on the job at hand!”

All the archmages but one nodded in confirmation.

“We will continue with the deciphering, but make sure to pay close attention to everything! We will see what we come across as we are deciphering them and, if in time we realize there is some serious cause for concern, I will take it to the Emperor. If we find some serious evidence that these scrolls are created so masterfully just because someone wants to take advantage of us, his highness will certainly want to know about it. Then, we will leave the choice up to him.”

Seeing that no one is objecting to her proposal, Hazelmere dismissed them all.