Daily Dream 01-12-2017 Library Living

A snap of my finger brought the mage globe to life, the small orb rising from above my palm to float just over my shoulder, staying out of my eyes after long practice. I no longer needed to concentrate to keep the light alive and floating in the correct position. Took longer than I cared to think about, but the usefulness had been beyond measure.

My eyes roamed over the runes etched onto the unforgiving stone. The ruins had been hidden for countless years and only the recent storm that had stripped the jungle from the unyielding stone had revealed their existence. My ears were always to the ground for discoveries like these and I was sure that I was the first one here. It was going to be close though.

Thank goodness for magic. Portals were of so useful. Not to mention the friendly light.

Returning my attention to the runes in front of me, I traced a particular set for a moment before allowing my magic to reach out, questing for the triggers. Power still thrummed within the massive wall, strong in spite of the years. That magic latched onto my own, tasting it… and finally finding it satisfactory.

Several of the runes glowed blue for a moment before shifting into a vibrant green that nearly drowned out the light from my mage globe. Slowly the runes draw back as if pulling on string. The runes dragged the stone apart, slowly opening into a dark portal through the stone into the wonders and mysteries hidden within.

Slowly, I stepped through the opening into the vast unknown, my eyes scanning the stone on every side, above and below, while my magic quested for any hidden traps that might make the trip more interesting.

Nothing tried to stop me. The cool, somewhat stale air seemed to hang in anticipation as something seemed to lightly tug upon my questing magic. The hints drew me deeper within the ruins, down winding passages, past other hallways that I ignored.

Where were they taking me? How long had I been following this feeling without really registering my surroundings. The stone corridors began to blur together as I lost myself in the feelings driving me along.

Suddenly, I found myself standing before a set of massive metal doors, their surface covering in runes that drew in the light from my mage globe. That light dimmer for a moment while the runes glowed brighter, this time a light purple. The pattern was more intricate than any I’d encountered thus far in the ruins, growing more complicated by the moment until my mage globe disappeared with a pop.

Metal ground on stone as the doors drew away, swinging inwards. A dry wind buffeted me for a moment as it rushed past the opening doors, escaping from the interior until the air equalized. My mage globed popped back into place and floated above my shoulder again, though it wouldn’t have mattered.

First one, then dozens of mage globes ignited within the room, casting their light on the numerous racks of rolled up scrolls, the stone shelves filled with tomes.

This was what the magic wanted me to find. What it wanted to share, not only with me, but with others. That was why I had to be first. My unique magic ability.

Reaching into my pack for the first time since entering the ruins, I pulled out my tablet, the sturdy electronic device having survived numerous trips around the world with me, and a key part of my magic.

Closing my eyes, I reached towards the tablet with my magic, linking with it in a way that only those focused on technomagic could possibly understand, let alone duplicate it.

Duplicate. That was the important word. Motes of light seemed to rise from the tablet before shooting across the room, countless slivers roaming the room. They flashed through the shelves, disappearing into books, settling onto scrolls. All the while, information flashed across the screen on the tablet. Duplicates of each scroll, tome, map, etching… everything in the room was dutifully rendered on the tablet, cataloged and recorded for later review.

This was my true purpose in these ruins. The preservation of knowledge. While some of these scrolls and tomes would no doubt crumble at a touch, they were now safe, copied onto the tablet and uploaded to the servers back home.

Someone else would eventually have access to this information and figure out what it said. It was my duty to make sure they got that opportunity.