Please read chapters 1 – 17 first if you have not done so. This is not a stand-alone story. Link to other chapters in comments.
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Mirja lay awake most of the night, unable to keep the image of the strange creature out of her mind. She had always wondered what happened to the Westerlings. Was that it? Had they transformed somehow? It was rumored that the disaster that befell the Westerling Empire had been of a magical nature. It was perfectly reasonable that whatever immense magical power that the old Westerlings had wielded, turned against their own people when it got out of control.
The next moment her thoughts shifted to Master Olgric. Master Cerdic, that was what Master Olgric had said. What had he meant by that? Did Master Cerdic have a similar laboratory as the one in the Faculty of Animancy? Or was it in the Elemancy building? That shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out.
Finally, her thoughts drifted into dreams filled of the strange creatures and Sigrid. Sigrid turning into one of them and pulling Mirja with her to a strange realm of rivers of light and golden pools.