Corinne Barnett Collection: The Wizard's Dream

By Corinne Barnett.

Vico sat in his study, papers and open books strewn about his desk as he prepared his next lecture. Continued strife left inhabitants of the Arcane Tower ill at ease, anxious if there would be another attack, if the Tower's walls were safe. Vico attempted to drown out these thoughts with his work.

Loud noises and screams interrupted Vico's writing. He jumped to his feet and made his way to the floor transitional doorway, quickly stopped by shadows pouring out from it like a black mist billowing across the floor. Several people clad in black robes emerged from the door, resembling shadows themselves with silken dark cloaks wisping behind them as they moved.

The figures turned to run, noticing Vico's presence and stopping in their tracks. The dark magi began to chant and gesture their hands, the shadow mist taking shape into all manner of horror. Giant beasts of fang and claw, huge barbed spiders. And lastly one of the magi thrust his arms up in the air, the shadows rising up and creating identical black silhouettes, making it impossible to tell which was which.

The hallway now filled with shadows, the magi rushed forward along with their forsaken pets. Vico held his hand forward, a blinding light from a sunburst spell filling the hall with light, the shadows disappearing in its radiance. Vico looked for where the magi went, realizing they ran past while distracting Vico with their shadows. Whatever it was the magi wanted, they had accomplished it and had no desire to stick around.

Vico apprehensively made his way to the transporter door. He dreaded to find out what damaged had been done, but if the room beyond was on fire or people were injured, he had to do something to save them.

Vico passed through the transporter, more black mist coating the ground once he emerged on the other side. But unlike the foyer, these shadows were still, the spell animating them abandoned by the escaped black magi. Vico carefully trudged through the dark room, his heart sinking as he saw the door to Spellhold blasted open.

Vico rushed inside Spellhold, mentally going through all of the scenarios he could encounter, and all of the spells to use in each situation. But nothing could prepare him for what he saw. The body of his fellow warden Alina lying unconscious on the floor, features barely visible from the shadowy mist covering the ground.

Vico cried out her name and sat her up, checking her vital signs, trying to figure out what he could do for her. He carried her back to the Warden hall and laid her on a bed, gently brushing the hair from her face.

It upset him, how peaceful she looked in a sleep he didn't know if she would awaken from. All of the projects he wanted to do with her, all of the research, all of the untold things in the back of his mind. He couldn't give up on her, she needed a second chance. He needed a second chance, he needed to know there was still time to pursue these dreams.

Whatever brought Alina unconscious was impossible to discern, nothing in Vico's books covered anything like it. With logic failing, Vico followed his heart, returning to Spellhold for clues, for artifacts, for anything. A place of magic objects stored away for years, surely someone must have kept something to help people.

Vico walked through Spellhold with determination. A still silence filled the air, the black mist rippling across the ground with each step, like a pond from a dream in some long forgotten ruin. Vico poured over the relics stored within, a strange and confusing mess of poorly documented mistakes and things better left forgotten. But a chalice in a corner caught his eye.

The chalice was made of silver long since tarnished, ornately decorated with scenes of celestials and divine light. A faded scrap of paper was kept in place under the base of the chalice, research started and abandoned. A chalice of dreams, perhaps of Lathandrite or Ilmatari origin. Said to fulfill the wishes of the holder so long as the wishes were pure.

Vico grabbed the chalice and rushed back to Alina. Uncertain of what to do with it, he sat it down on Alina's chest below her breast, lifting her hand to hold it in place, cupping her hand with his. Vico began to pray, begging that Alina be healed, that she awaken once more. But the chalice remained inert.

Sorrow overcame Vico, and with it the sense of emptiness following his dreams being cut short. He looked fondly over Alina's face, thinking about all of the good times they shared together. Thinking about everything he ever wanted to say, everywhere he wanted to go with her.

Lost in thought, he didn't notice the chalice beginning to glow, filling with a white light, its tarnished silver now shining polished and new. Filled with dreams, the white light overflowed from its edges and poured onto Alina, absorbing into her. She began to stir, giving a murmur before her eyes fluttered open.

Forgetting his academic professionalism, Vico lifted Alina's hand to his chest and clasped it with both of his, overjoyed to see her awaken. No longer being held in place, the depleted chalice tipped over, returning to its dull, tarnished state.

Days later while with a group assessing the damage to Spellhold, Vico returned the chalice to its corner exactly how he found it. Some things shouldn't be researched. The chalice was a journey of hope, no guide could ever show the way. He then looked towards Alina. He wouldn't waste the dreams the chalice gave.