Spellscribed: Resurgence Read Free Page B

and people and cultures were stored on those shelves. Each book was a specific, narrow subject only filled with what he knew about it. Many shelves had empty spaces; some of them were almost barren. Several shelves had been so full he had split them off into even more refined subjects.
    In the central hall of the library of his mind, no information about magic remained. It was not a point of his concern, but rather an assurance. Now, should anyone intrude into his mind, the bulk of his arcane knowledge would not be available to just pick up off a shelf. His spells, research, and other magic teaching were safely locked away in chambers he had made intentionally difficult to access. Ever since the Mercanian had forcefully projected his voice into Endrance’s head, he had been worried that there would be foes capable of doing even more than that.
    He turned back to the silver-lined reflecting pool and knelt, touching his fingertips to the silver lip above the water. He formed the correct mental picture, which was reflected in the pool. A separate room appeared reflected in the still pool of water, showing a dark gray stone chamber. Endrance stood, and held a foot out over the pool for a moment before putting his weight into it and stepping onto the water.
    His foot plunged through the water as if it was far deeper than it appeared. Having committed his full weight to it, he quickly fell forward into the water. The surface accepted him without splashing; only a light ripple marked his passing.
    The water-filled silver reflecting pool in the back of the dark stone room rippled as Endrance came out of it in the same smooth motion by which he had fallen in, except in the reverse. His foot touched stone as he completed his swing and came upright, standing in the room he had been watching just a second before. He was dry, and the only sensation he had felt was the familiar feeling of having to suddenly change his train of thought.
    This chamber had nothing in the way of decoration. The floors and walls were simple dark, gray stone slabs, set so precisely together that there was no mortar. A ring of glowing wards were carved into the stones around the reflecting pool, forming a secondary barrier. Though large, the chamber was not nearly as big as the rest of his library. Endrance had never visualized where the room was within the building. That would have enabled an intruder to discern a way to get there directly. It was neither above nor below any of the rooms; it was something that he'd left intentionally undecided. At the moment, the only way even Endrance could get into the room was through specific patterns of thoughts. This kept his mind safe from being subtly explored by any mind-reading spells, but also kept others from being able to get an idea of what his abilities were, should he find himself in another mental battle of wills, like he'd had with the succubus.
    The room appeared to be forty feet long and forty feet across, with a ten foot ceiling. The reflecting pool was in a twenty foot square alcove at the back of the room. In the center of the main chamber was a five foot diameter, circular low table that was set into the stone with six legs. The table’s surface was a layer of finely hammered, and excruciatingly detailed etched silver, with the edges entwining with white wooden legs. Patterns were etched into the silver in extremely tight, very thin lines in an elven pattern he had learned while living in Salthimere. If he could show it to any mages, it would have been recognized for what it was, but not understood. The complex, interweaving pattern of lines and carefully set circles on the outer edges appeared like a diagram of multiple spell forms overlapping each other.
    On the walls were gilded, glass-doored bookshelves, stacked from floor to ceiling. Each section of shelves was organized by element, then each shelf within that section was separated by further values such as the person the knowledge came from, how