Jankin sighed. The mine was dirty and foul, and the air smelled of decay.
Derek always claimed he could smell silver, and recently when Jankin had
teasingly asked him when their next big hit would be Derek had just shaken
his head and sighed. Jankin had been sure this spot would be the big one.
There had been something about it. It had looked like any other mine, but
everything nearby had seemed somehow sharper. But they'd been here nearly a
month and found next to nothing. Suddenly Derek's voice broke through the
stifling air. "Jankin!" Jankin recognized the tone Derek used for a big
find. He scrambled as fast as possible to where Derek had been working. "Oh
my god..." his voice trailed off. A substance like liquid light was veined
through the walls and had poured onto Derek's hand like honey. "Stay
there." He managed. "For god's sake don't drop it!" Derek shot him a look,
as if to say 'would I do a thing like that?'. Jankin ran and grabbed the
nearest container at hand and tossed it to Derek. He began pouring the
stuff into the can, but as he did so something in him seemed to brighten
and twist. "Derek." He whispered in horror. Derek's skin bubbled slightly
and his veins began glowing. Derek pulled away from the stuff, terrified.
"Help me!" he begged turning to Jankin with hands outstretched. Jankin
recoiled in disgust and ran. The mine began to rumble, the first sign of a
collapse. "No please, no, just let me get out..." he begged. The light stuff
oozed into the braces. They glowed, and impossibly held. Jankin pounded out
of the mine with Derek's screams ringing in his ears.
Time passed and Jankin told a few friends about that day at the mines. They convinced him to tell them where the place was, but couldn't drag him there at any price. The stuff was amazing. It granted wishes! It was worth more than silver, more than gold, more than anything. Some professor referred to it as aether, and the name stuck. Soon it was in everything. Jankin found it increasingly hard to only use things without aether in them. In two years may be less, he knew, it would be in literally everything. The miracle of a new age. His self-same friends, now rich, found his body hanging from the roof of an old church without any aether holding it up. It would soon be demolished, everyone agreed. The wealthy 'discoverers' of aether decided then and there. A new Age of this liquid light had come, and it couldn't be run like the old one. There would be guilds, with themselves at the head. The churches would require aether too, just like everything else. Magic would be poured down the throat of the world.
And in a forgotten mine a bloated white creature dragged itself through the mines howling "Jankin! Jankiiiin!". It stumbled, tears falling down its hideous face. "Help." It moaned miserably. Help. When it died, years later, a man in Africa found liquid light dripping from the walls of a cave. And a man in Japan found it flowing from a mountainside. And the whole world rejoiced in the birth of the light ages. No one had seen the changeling screaming.
Time passed and Jankin told a few friends about that day at the mines. They convinced him to tell them where the place was, but couldn't drag him there at any price. The stuff was amazing. It granted wishes! It was worth more than silver, more than gold, more than anything. Some professor referred to it as aether, and the name stuck. Soon it was in everything. Jankin found it increasingly hard to only use things without aether in them. In two years may be less, he knew, it would be in literally everything. The miracle of a new age. His self-same friends, now rich, found his body hanging from the roof of an old church without any aether holding it up. It would soon be demolished, everyone agreed. The wealthy 'discoverers' of aether decided then and there. A new Age of this liquid light had come, and it couldn't be run like the old one. There would be guilds, with themselves at the head. The churches would require aether too, just like everything else. Magic would be poured down the throat of the world.
And in a forgotten mine a bloated white creature dragged itself through the mines howling "Jankin! Jankiiiin!". It stumbled, tears falling down its hideous face. "Help." It moaned miserably. Help. When it died, years later, a man in Africa found liquid light dripping from the walls of a cave. And a man in Japan found it flowing from a mountainside. And the whole world rejoiced in the birth of the light ages. No one had seen the changeling screaming.