Scenes from the past flashed through Selvas’s consciousness. The reverie, the elven dream, showed the past, lest they forget. A gift from Solonor Thelendira, the god of immortality.
Selvas saw himself as a child playing with his brother, Val, while their parents looked on and laughing at their play. It was a sweet memory. Val was only ten years older, sibling rivalry usually soured such close births, but Val never seemed to be jealous of his young brother, probably because they were so very different. Though Selvas was no physical slouch, his brother was a juggernaught, and while Val was not an idiot, Selvas was brilliant.
The scene shifted to the not so distant past. He stood in a great hall, before a great table with 11 mages looking across at them. They could see he al but burned with power. The council of 12 had called him here to judge him, one of their own.
“The council has ruled that your research it too dangerous, yet you persist.” Gravas, the instigator behind this witch hunt spoke, reasonably. He was good at speaking reasonably, but Selvas knew in his heart that he bore a hatred, not only for Selvas, but for all elven people..
“I have given you all every assurance I know how to give,” Selvas spoke quietly, slowly, “Yet you persist in this inquisition. The circle has no precedent for judging it’s members, we exist to share knowledge and prevent the wide spread abuse of magic, not to stifle it.”
“You will destroy us all!” The high pitched screech of Tobian, one of Gravas’s lackeys, echoed in the hall, “I have seen your theories, if you go through with them, you will create a self sustaining rift in the Latice work, it will grow and consume everything.”
“That is not possible with what I am doing. You simply do not understand…”
“Enough! We have been through this a hundred time, the council has ruled, you are not to pursue your theories under pain of sanction.”
Selvas paused and then looked Gravas directly in the eye, “I do not recognize the authority of this council,” he looked around the room at some he would call friends and other he had worked with on numerous occasions, “I do not recognize any of your authority. If you wish to stop me, you must do so by force, I will not be constrained by the foolish,” he turned back to look at Gravas, “or the bigoted.”
Selvas raised his staff and slammed it into the great seal of the council of 12, there was a flash of light and the seal cracked, “Now for the first time in history the council is broken.”
Selvas knew this is what most historians believe began what was called the mage war by some, the truth was it didn’t really start until Gravas sent assassins after him, before he contemplated too much on those events, the scene shifted again.
He wiped blood from his eyes and looked around the burning city, his city. He was younger now, a promising apprentice to the great wizard Feanol. They had been on his spire when the dragons had fell upon the city. Feanol had sent his apprentices to help with the defense, but the dragons were too powerful. He had been helping with the evacuation when he had seen his parents home ablaze.
He ran to his house and found his parents inside, incinerated by a direct hit of dragon fire. He then saw it, a titanic red dragon. He sent spell after spell at it, but it ignored him as the spells refused to effect it. After dispatching the elven knight he turned upon Selvas,.
“Foolish mageling,” the thing spoke in a huge deep booming voice, “I am magic.” It drew back it’s massive head and unleashed fires stoked in the very furnaces of hell.
Selvas snapped out of his reverie with a start, he hated that memory. Val had pulled his broken body out of the wreckage, but Selvas knew he had failed. He lacked the power to change the course of events. He vowed from that day forward, it would not happen again.
He did not believe that these memories came to him unbidden. His greatly enhanced mind was conveying to his subconscious something, or perhaps Solonor himself. In any case, he had not seen his brother in a while, perhaps it was time to visit the prime again.