It was deep night in the village, but there was as much noise as during the day. The men, who used to keep tools only for farming, were now trying to use them for other purposes. The women stayed at home with their children, trying to ignore what was going on.
In one of the village huts, not very different from each other, stood a woman with a child in her arms. She was 30 years old, although she looked about 25 as she worked in the fresh air and ate fresh produce grown by herself or her neighbours. She had blue eyes and blonde hair, her face could be described as very pretty. Although she was not the most beautiful girl in the world, her mere presence evoked a feeling of tenderness and softness.
This girl's name was Elizabeth, and she was holding her three-year-old son Daniel, who was hugging his mother very tightly. Daniel had been a very bright boy from infancy, so he too realised that something was going to happen, even though his parents and older brother Andrew told him not to worry. From the age of two, as soon as he learned to speak, his parents realised that their son could get into the city academy, so they bought him books and he studied every day in the evenings.
The books cost an average of 3 silver coins, which was a fifth of the family's monthly budget. This price was due to the fact that educational books were only available in the libraries of the academies, and were only printed in the imperial press.
Daniel, in his mother's arms, held a book on cartography in one hand. Cartography was the discipline the little boy enjoyed the most. There was a simple reason for this. Cartography itself had emerged some 500 years ago, but even with all the modern methods, the map was still unfinished.
"Mummy, how will you know what's next on the map?" - Daniel asked, closing his eyes.
"Plutishka, it's been half an hour since I put you to bed and you're still thinking about studying. Studying is important, my little one, but sometimes you need to get up and rest to achieve something, otherwise you forget why you are doing all this," Mum said lovingly.
"Mum, you always said that if you like something you have to work hard at it, so I've been trying to figure out how to use what's in the books, but to no avail," Daniel replied with a yawn.
"Look at you, you're already falling asleep, but you're thinking about how to reach your goal faster. You see, everything in this life is set up so that you can reach your goal at any moment, all that matters is your imagination".
"OK, Mum, I will sleep, but you have to tell me a story about our continent."
"You have heard it since you were a child, so you know it by heart! Like this. Once upon a time there was a girl. She lived among creatures who could do all sorts of things: make a typhoon in a calm sea, rain in the desert, fire in the sea. She lived happily day after day, but when she turned 16, her uncle, who craved power in the family, found out that she had a great gift that could be taken away. So he sent mercenaries to kill her and create a powerful artefact from her body. The girl did not expect this and was killed with a dagger through the heart. It is said that the girl's heart turned into a mirror of water. The water mirror became the ocean, and the dagger formed the continent we live on...".
The boy had already started to sniffle, and his mother just stared into the distance.
"I hope you can at least see tomorrow..."