251 Piece of an Origin Story

Cerlius was led down the hallway, and eventually to the stairway. He then headed to the opposite door, back towards the classrooms, but Lance shook his head. The instructor moved Cerlius to face the rickety stairway leading down into black shadows. He lit a torch to light the way because there were no light crystals down that way. Cerlius had to watch his footing. There was no orderly white stone, only the splintered, creaking steps.

"Why is this place different from the rest of the academy?" Cerlius asked, not as uncomfortable as he thought he'd be in pitch blackness.

"Well this place isn't particularly used very much," Lance said. The shadows danced around the many cracked white stone statues built into the walls. They were mostly depictions of other human mages with similar plaques at the base, but the writing had been worn away with time.