Erudition Bound

[Dalek]

The ship was swaying back and forth. Dalek stood starboard and leaned against the railing, reading his tome. In front of him a small dark orb slowly grew. There was a small mist and it was difficult to see but once Dalek heard the pounding footseps upon the wooden deck of the ship, he closed his tome and the dark orb vanished without a trace."Hoy, lunch is ready below deck. If'n you're hungry that is." He held his tome close to his chest and watched as the sailor walked by. Food.... Dalek looked about him. He hadn't realized that he had been out at sea for days, that he hadn't eaten or slept for days. There were times when he missed the comfort of his bed and the fun itmes he had amongst the people in Delfia. But he left for a reason. In his pursuit of knowledge, his parents had tried to stop him from learning. From growing. They wouldn't hold him back anymore. No one would.

Dalek walked down the staircase and followed his nose to a small eating area. Plates were set out with dried, salted meats with a bowl of onion soup. There were other passengers and sailors seated amongst the tables and chairs. Their joyous laughter pierced his ears. He sat down and kept his eyesight to the ground. He didn't want to stand out or be seen. Few people are fond of Elder magic. He kept his cloak on and hood up, hiding his face from anyone curious enough to look his way. He took the salted meats and put it in his sack. Once he reached the isles, he wouldn't know where to find food.

"The Western Isles. Nice and isolated." He muttered to himself. He quietly mumbled to himself and rambled on about the isles and Elder magic. All the while he was constantly looking around in a paranoid fasion. Under his cloak, he was turning through the pages in his tome.

[Dalek]

The boat ride was, bearable at best. Dalek just wanted to be left alone. He stepped off onto the dock at the southernmost tip of the western isles. Valor would be better, but I don't exactly have the resources to get there. The other passengers walked past, going left and right, leaving him standing alone on the dock. He walked north, towards the mountains. There he hoped that he'd be able to freely practice his magic, without disturbing the local populous. At least, not yet.

There were monks everywhere. Missionaries sent by Etrurian nobles. Many of them stared at the dark cloaked shaman. He could feel the gaze of the St. Elimine disciples. He felt as if their eyes were stabbing into him. He began to sweat nervously. Elder magic, or 'dark magic', doesn't exactly have the best connotations... His slow pace grew into a brisk walk and soon into a light jog. He just wanted to leave the city.

He turned his head to check behind him. No one was following him, but everyone stared. Suddenly, he fell onto the ground. He hadn't noticed the woman that was in front of him. Her dark hair glowed in the sunlight. She's..gorgeous... Dalek realized the young woman was wearing white robes. He cursed silently. She was a cleric.

The other St. Elimine devotees heard the commotion and approached the two. He panicked. He didn't want to draw any attention to himself, but that was going out the window. He opened his tome. He had created many spells that would work in theory, but never had the chance to test them. "Now or never." He flipped through the pages and found what he was looking for. He began to whisper the spell. Uttering the final words, he closed his eyes and brought up his hand. "Blind!" Everything faded into darkness.

After a few moments, the black shadow began to recede. Suddenly it was gone, along with Dalek. He had ran towards the mountains and left the small port town. Exhausted, he collapsed on the ground.

[Dalek]

He found himself staring at a hooded man sitting in front of a fire place. The bright embers providing the only light in the dark hut. The figure seemed familiar, albeit, indifferent to him. Dalek approached the robed figure and shook his shoulder.

"Excuse me. Hello?" He shook the figure again, but to no avail. The hooded figure continued to sit there and stare at the fire. "Can you help me? Where am I?" Still, the figure stared into the fire.

Angry, Dalek forced the figure to turn around, revealing a familiar face with red locks. Dalek stared into the familiar eyes. The eyes stared back, uncaring, unwavering. Dalek was staring at himself.

With a jolt, he woke from his dream, finding himself in a hut not unlike the one in his dream. A dark haired woman with white robes entered the hut and smiled at him. The cleric from the village...