Aristhaeus looked at the shadows of the large flames which fell on the walls.
The Seventh Fire.
Even Aristhaeus did not come often to this room, though he was the archmage. It was a well-hidden room. He observed the flames quietly. He stood still. What had made him come here? Even he felt awestruck at the sight of these flames. A little bit intimidating.
Some people called it the Seventh Fire, but the name didn't really matter. It was a source of unrivaled magical energy...
The flames danced and told a story from another time, another place...
They said the Seventh Fire was the soul of a unicorn... a black unicorn. An immortal being whose powers were not supposed to be used by people.
Aristhaeus left the room.
He could feel the Queen was trying to find ways to turn against him so that she could be the only one to control the Seventh Fire. If that happened, he'd lose everything he'd fought for his entire life.
***
In the courtyard, young mages were dueling in the open mage-training arena, their spells perhaps making more noise than everybody else in the castle. At the end of the battle, they noticed the archmage was passing by and had stopped to observe them.
He congratulated one Mage Thrace for having improved his skills.
It was a great honor and a rare event to hear praise from Aristhaeus himself.
Tall, quite slim yet very handsome, Thrace had a natural seriousness to his face that made people wonder whether he was an older person who looked extremely well for his age or a young man surprisingly mature in character.
"Thank you," Thrace replied and thought, *But I still have to beat you at least once!*
He knew he was aiming too high, though! Aristhaeus hadn't lost a match for decades, even when he didn't use the power of the Seventh Fire.
Thrace wasn't very well acquainted with the Seventh Fire or how it functioned. He had a certain fear of Aristhaeus and he would never ask about such things because the archmage might consider them too personal.
The connection with the fire was realized through a magical artifact, in Aristhaeus's case − a ring. This ring allowed him to use the Seventh Fire instead of his own life force when casting spells, whenever he wished.
But a mage who had control over the Seventh Fire did not always employ its powers. He could choose to rely solely on his innate abilities.
Aristhaeus often did that. He wanted to feel the thrill of dueling and to feel a bit more vulnerable. Duels would never be interesting if he was certain to win.
Thrace was Aristhaeus's student. He was from an aristocratic family who had insisted that he received the best training possible, and they would ignore Aristhaeus's notorious personality, and even the fact that they belonged to the Riore mage-clan and the archmage did not belong to any.
Mage-clans were something a bit outdated, but they all had a particular reputation and older mages found them important.
Thrace appreciated the opportunity to work with such a well-known figure.
An older mage approached them. Aristhaeus spoke,
"Isn't that good old Mage Shahmayar?" Although Shahmayar was neither that old, nor that "good"...
"I come to say goodbye," the man smiled. "I am leaving the Castle, and perhaps for a long time. But you have surely heard of that. I'm going to a meeting of my mage-clan…"
The archmage nodded and Shahmayar continued,
"Archmage Aristhaeus, haven't you ever thought of entering a mage-clan? Many mages meet together in the clan, you may exchange knowledge with them and..."
"Mage Shahmayar, there is only one mage I could learn something from and, unfortunately, he is dead," the archmage answered quickly.
"Oh," the old one exclaimed, "Mage Darius Arunai, I presume?"
Mage Thrace was quiet but listened attentively to their conversation. According to the legends, the Allyrian Kingdom had been founded when a then unfamiliar source of energy was discovered; it was thought to be the soul of a unicorn, an eternal fire that could not be extinguished.
Much later, a powerful mage-king named Darius Arunai had split the fire into seven parts: the main part became known as the Seventh Fire. The other six fires were placed in different regions of Allyria. To this day, no one could explain how Mage Darius had managed to split the fire, because it wasn't an ordinary fire. The objects around it could not be ignited by its flame... There was no way to separate the flame.
"The one who managed to split the energy of the Eternal Fire into seven," Shahmayar added. "Amazing, indeed."
Suddenly they noticed another person approaching them in the distance...
"What are three amiable grand fellows like you doing in the middle of the mage arena?"
Aristhaeus glanced at the figure. It was Princess Junnica Arunai, the heir of the previous royal dynasty, a young woman that could rarely be seen in the Castle. She was usually traveling. Many people blamed her because of her lack of interest in politics and because of the fact she had left Allyria in the hands of Queen Lyneanne, who'd been just a mere regent before that...
"Princess Junnica!" Shahmayar and Thrace bowed to her.
"I'm glad you have not forgotten me," she smiled politely. "We've forgotten each other with Aristhaeus, for I haven't seen him for so long."
The archmage half-smiled in reply.
"Well, these days you're never in the castle, are you?" Shahmayar said.
"I would be bored if I had to stay here all day," she shrugged.
"Shahmayar will be leaving soon too, Jun," Aristhaeus said.
Then they started talking about their journeys; the archmage was soon summoned in the Throne Room by the Queen.