Clearing the Mind

Some people are just loners…

The air just north of the great crater was thick with the scent of blooming flora. Kaelith stepped lightly across the forest floor, her boots silent against the pale bark of fallen branches. Overhead, the colossal mass of the ice giant dominated the sky, signaling the transition from the world's six-hour day into dusk.

Here, nestled between the crater's towering rim and the jagged, snow-capped mountain to the north, the woods were coming alive with a soft, natural glow. Bioluminescent plants flickered to life in the dimming light, painting the underbrush in varying shades of deepest blue and vibrant purple. Kaelith adjusted her reinforced, one-shouldered cloak, the sturdy broach holding it in place glinting as it caught the ambient light. She had always been faster than her peers, a trait that had fueled her rapid rise in the professional Dueling circuit, but out here, she forced her mind and body to slow down.

This trek was a necessary escape. At twenty-three, with only a year left at the Lower Academy, the pressure was mounting. Her professors, her family, and her starry-eyed friends were all relentlessly pushing her to apply to the Academy for High Magic. It was the toughest, most grueling education offered in orbit. As everyone loved to remind her, its graduates were the kind of people who wrote history.

She paused by a river cutting through the valley, watching a cluster of corpuscular animals scurry from their daytime hiding spots to hunt before the bitter cold of Night set in. Kaelith rested her hand on the hilt of her blade, a unique weapon, made from a solid piece of wood perfectly for combat, had it been metal. The wood it was carved from had an intense focal power. She didn't draw it; there was no need for combat here. Thanks to centuries of prosperity and education, violence and crime were rarities.

Instead, she looked further north toward the sheer cliffs, where the landscape rose dramatically into the mountain. The path ahead was steep, much like the decision weighing on her mind. Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, she smiled, her focused expression softening. Whether she stepped into the demanding halls of High Magic or forged her own legendary path in the dueling arenas, Kaelith knew she would be ready.

Comments are locked only because this is the first issue. It focuses on the world and what kind of content we need. Please, we welcome all submissions, and even though we’d like authors to write in the same world setting, we’re going to give contributors as much freedom as possible.

What matters?

Three Cities

Public Education

Schools of Magic.

Articles covering these will round out this first issue.