The Book
Upon recovering enough to be cognizant of her surroundings, Lelei felt something strange and unsettling. Everything was much sharper and the colors of her surroundings were much more vivid. She couldn't put words to it, but for a few seconds, she seemed to have been lost in the room she was in, as if it were somewhere fundamentally foreign to her. That feeling itself shifted into a slight creeping dread for a moment, and a faint cold breeze that only she could feel blew through the room, causing her to shiver slightly before turning her head in her sitting position towards her teacher who knelt by her bed and was babbling some nonsense or other about her.
The words entered her ears and she heard them, but something about the old man was odd to her. When she looked at him, she could see very faint colors on different parts of his body. She could swear that the old man's head was coated in a very faint dark red energy that slowly shifted and swirled with a dark gray mist like fog covering his body. It was almost indiscernible, but she could make it out with some difficulty.
What did this mean? It felt like a mystery was unfolding in front of her, but she didn't have enough knowledge to understand it. The fact of that irked her in some minor way that she couldn't put her finger on. It wasn't akin to an itch, instead, the irritation was that of a constant reminder that there was knowledge out there that she did not have access to.
Her teacher seemed to be reaching the end of his spiel and calmed down somewhat.
He stopped speaking, seeing the curious look on his disciple's face as she was seemingly inspecting him intently. To him, a man who had a large amount of experience in the matters of magic and to a lesser extent mysticism, it was obvious that she was looking at something metaphysical that even he wasn't sure of. Upon second look, he saw that her blue eyes had a soft sheen of an opaque but silvery power that he could not recognize.
The sheen slowly receded and the young girl regained some of her healthiness and her face became noticeably less pale.
He let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't been possessed by a god or some other being. It must have been just a nightmare. Perhaps the ability she seemed to be using was an ability from her Rurudo Tribe.
"Lelei, are you feeling better? You gave me quite the fright" He spoke with concern.
She silently spoke in a simple but somewhat frightened manner.
"Nightmare" She simply said, giving no further explanation before pulling up her blanket and wrapping it around her as if to ward off some invisible grasping chill, despite the fact that it was midsummer.
The old man seemed to deflate somewhat, having half expected such a response from the girl. He had only been tutoring her for several months but her quirks and behaviors began to cement in his mind as she began to leave her imprint in the large house the two lived in.
"I understand. If you want to speak on it, I will be here. Otherwise, Rest well You're safe here" He said, getting to his knees while several coins in his blue robe pockets clinked and clattered.
Lelei let out a small yawn and gave a soft smile which then turned to a frown as an image flashed through her mind. The village they lived in being covered in shadow from some massive being in the sky that bore down on her. That feeling of stretching and expanding, and the unknown item in her hand.
It gave her hesitation as to if it really was safe in the village.
Speaking up and reaching out her slender arm from under the blanker, she said something she wouldn't usually. The tone of her voice was uncertain.
"Wait. Please" She spoke. Her soft and fragile voice barely made it's way to her teacher who was picking up his hat from the carpet.
He placed the hat on his head, and turned around to her, his concern deepening the lines and wrinkles on his face.
"What is it, Lelei?" He asked, this time his voice was softer. He had clearly seen the doubt, restrained fear, and uncertainty in his pupil's expression. It wasn't a look that fit a young girl like her. No, no child should make a look like that, and it sunk into him like a thorn.
"Will our village really be safe?" She asked, an unintended shiver causing her to frown again.
"Lelei, what happened in your dream?" her teacher Cato asked her as he walked over to the desk across the room and removed the wooden chair.
Lelei waited for him the place the chair down next to her bed, and the soft look on his face given light by the summer morning sun shining through the window relieved some of her fears. Despite her teacher's odd habits sometimes, he was a man she trusted and looked up to. If there was anyone who could help her, it would be him.
She looked down at the blankets that covered her and took some time to collect her thoughts. Then after a long pause she spoke up.
"Teacher. I'm scared. I think something saw me in the darkness" She began with a hesitant tone, her voice wavering.
Cato couldn't help but frown at this. He hadn't sensed anything enter their house the night before, and he did have a warning magic that would sound only to him when something or someone other than him or Lelei entered the property.
Clasping his hands together and speaking in the same gently tone, he reserved himself to comfort and aid his student in any way he could.
"Tell me what you remember" he said, giving her all the time she needed. Seeing her in such a wary and uncertain state had really torn into him and bit at his heart.
Then the next twenty minutes were a torrent of emotion that even frightened him.
When the girl finished recounting her dream, a cold and visceral shiver went through his heart and spine. This was not a nightmare. That he was sure of. What happened with her was something that could only be considered the domain of the Gods.
This was not something he could take lightly.
Something in that strange place his student's consciousness had noticed her and almost annihilated her mind. In several books he head read in his travels in his youth, he had read that directly interacting with a God could destroy your mind and body, though such was unconfirmed.
There was conjecture and speculation on apostles and how if you failed to take in a God's power that you would be completely obliterated. This felt viscerally different though, as according to Lelei's account. Whatever had noticed her was immensely evil and had frightened her to such a degree she instantly woke up.
If this truly was some being or God from somewhere else, he would have to prepare in any way he could. He couldn't leave her to some twisted fate.
Such vivid, mystic, esoteric, and symbolic imagery was not something a ten year old girl with limited experience with magic would dream about. This meant someone or something had planted those images in her mind.
Still, he didn't want to get too far ahead of himself. Taking a deep breath he realized that he needed to calm the girl first, then he could begin an investigation. If this was some strange being from another dimension, it would effect him as well. This wasn't just about the young girl.
He may be old now, but he was anything but helpless.
Getting up, he looked around the room with intent, hoping that nothing was out of place. The dresser was fine. The closet was fine. The table was fine.
Right as he was about to let out a sigh of relief, a freezing cold shiver went down his body, as sitting on a corner of the desk was a blue book of similar look to the one described by Lelei earlier. This was not a book he had ever purchased before.
"No" He said with dread and slowly walked over to the desk.
It seemed to be a book of small dimensions, barely more than a novel one might find at a library. It was blue of a soft and rich navy color. He didn't dare touch the thing, as it could be a artifact of immense danger.
"Lelei, please go downstairs to my office to get me my Ash bark wand and crystal ball" He said, turning over towards the girl who was beginning to grasp the severity of the situation.
Wiping away her sluggishness, Lelei got up from the bed, still in her blue silk pajamas and hurried out of the room.
When she was gone Cato reached out his hand towards it, and gently sent some of his magical energy into the book. Instantly the energy was devoured by some invisible force. This was a dangerous item. Of that he was sure.
He spent a few moments looking at the item and it's surroundings. It didn't seem to have any outward effect on anything around it. He studied it's appearance some more before noticing a softt indent in it in the shape of a tower in the middle of the cover.
"A white tower" He murmured, thinking about what his student had told him.
Lelei returned moments later with an apple sized crystal ball that was clear and exuded a light white energy. In her other hand was a foot long wand made of Ash bark that had been ground and refined into long fibers that snaked around each other, forming a long grayish wand. She placed them on the desk next to her teacher and traced where his eyes were looking down to the book on the desk.
"That's-" She let out stopping halfway before reaching out to it. Instantly, her teacher grabbed her arm firmly..
"No" He firmly and sternly said.
She quickly retracted her hand.
"We don't know what that book is and if reading it will invite some dangerous existence into our home" her teacher admonished her for her impulsive action.
"I'm sorry" She apologized, putting her hand down by her side and looking down dejectedly, feeling wronged. She just wanted to read it. To see the tower again. Was that really something he should be so harsh about?
"Wait" Her teacher spoke out as if coming to some conclusion only he understood.
"What?" Lelei asked, curious as to what he was thinking.
"This book affected our minds just now. I felt an unnatural surge of emotion and the desire to punish you for trying to touch the book. it's extremely dangerous, so I'm locking it away" He said, deciding to risk touching it to take it to his safe in his office.
With that, the discussion was over, and Cato gently picked up the book, letting out a relieved sigh as nothing overtly horrible happened to him. He wasn't sucked in. His flesh didn't peel and fall off, nor did he sense any noticeable changes...yet.
With that, he took it down to his office and locked it away in his large closet safe where he kept his valuables. It was not an artefact that should be left lying around the house for anyone to see.
Lelei couldn't help but feel a pang of longing to the book, as if it was something she loved quite dearly being unjustly taken from her. Removing the thoughts from her mind, she began to go about her morning routine. She hoped that this pang wouldn't get worse and would disappear with time.