A Song of Storm and Fire - 4
Jan. 13th, 2020 04:59 pmThe air smelled stale when Wong stepped into the New York Sanctum. The constant tang of magic that always filled the air was muted, mostly faded. Wood creaked beneath his feet as he stepped further in and the front door shut with an abrupt bang. The silence deepened as the echoes died away and he shuddered, resisting the urge to shield himself as he made his way to the kitchen.
Though he was its caretaker, the Sanctum had never acknowledged him as its Master. The relics watched him warily as he passed and he gave the Cloak of Levitation a wide berth. The Master's of Kammar-Taj had bound the cloak when they had bound Stephen's magic and unlike Stephen, the Cloak had no means of getting around it.
He stepped into the kitchen and hurried towards the cupboards. He'd make himself a cup of strong black tea before beginning his search. Surely someone would have seen a blue-green circle in the past before. He carefully didn't think of what he would do if it was from a known school of magic.
Hours later, he looked up from his stack of books and blinked to find that the sun had long ago set. The library was dark and he had been reading by the faint glow of the streetlights outside of the windows. No wonder his eyes hurt.
The Sanctum was still, oppressive. He brushed off the feeling with some effort. Even after a year, he still hadn't gotten used to it completely. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. He hadn't found anything in the books, had tried several spells to search the texts to see if he had missed anything.
Silver light flashed in his mind. The circle underneath Stephen's feet didn't look like anything he had seen before, but he had seen something similar.
A silver circle with large sun in the center appeared beneath his friend's feet. He covered his mouth with his hand to smother the gasp. He had thought Yue was a doctor, not a sorcerer!
A pang went through him. Yue had always reminded him somewhat of Stephen.
His chest felt tight and abruptly he decided that talking to Yue could wait. He pushed himself off the wall and hurried away as quietly as he could. He shouldn't leave the Sanctum alone for long.
He ignored the pressure in his chest. It would go away soon. It always did.
Wong's eyes snapped open and he nearly fell off his chair. He had seen a similar circle before. The elements of Stephen's circle had been in the same place as Yue's. He took a deep breath, attempted to exhale the jittery feeling in his veins out. It was too late to talk to Yue now. He'd have to go tomorrow.
He got up and stretched. His joints popped, his head throbbed. He needed sleep, but he stepped out of the library and headed towards the kitchen instead.
The Sanctum had gotten colder. He shivered as he stepped into the kitchen and automatically began gathering the materials needed for tea. The shock of seeing Stephen was beginning to wear off and the memory of rock coming towards him flashed behind his eyelids.
He had nearly died. Had he died? Forcefully, he shook his head. He would have remembered dying; he'd remembered everything else that had happened in the loops after all.
He grabbed the tea leaves, chamomile, and tossed them in the pot with shaking hands. The lid made a clang as his fingers slipped, but he managed to turn on the stove without any issues. He leaned against the counter and watched the water, trying to think of nothing.