184 Regarding the Source of Magic (1/2)
”This…” Alexei stared in disbelief. ”How are we supposed to take this back with us?!”
Mindy barked a low laugh. ”You can't. There's no taking it away.”
Father Petrov eyed her. ”You don't seem surprised.”
”I made friends with a bird who told me about it. I just had to see it for myself. And so did you.” Mindy admitted.
”So… what do we do?” Sir Ivan asked.
Alexei was inspecting it. ”This crack… it seems to be a leak in some sort of seal. The mana we have now is just what's leaking out from the seal.”
”Or its what came out before the seal was put in place.” Father Petrov mused.
”Well, you can't do anything with it.” Mindy shrugged. ”I guess this brings our trip to its conclusion.”
”Not exactly. If mana is what it takes to stop the war, then…” Father Petrov hesitated.
”Then if there were a way to remove the seal, mana would pour into the world undeterred and everyone would have so much mana, we wouldn't need to fight for crystals.” Sir Ivan said. ”Something like that?”
”That sounds great. Let's do it. We'll be famous.” Alexei lit up. ”At least then our efforts would not be for nothing. We'd be the heroes who saved the world.”
”Presumably.” Father Petrov grimaced. ”But that's assuming the best. There are a lot of things that could go horribly wrong.”
”Like?”
”Like removing the seal causes the whole world to get sucked out like water in a sink after you remove the stopper.” Father Petrov suggested.
Alexei shook his head. ”Mana is coming in from there, and I don't feel any suction. More likely it's that other world on the other side that's going to get sucked into ours. Assuming that it really is another world on the other side of that seal.”
”Which is just as worrisome. What if it's not a world? What if it just leads to an endless ocean of mana, and mana just keeps pouring into our world until…”
”Until what?”
”I don't know! Until we drown in it, or explode, or something!” Father Petrov grunted. ”The legends claim the Source of Magic is evil. Haven't you even been wondering why?”
Alexei turned a bit red.
”You haven't?” Petrov stared. ”Since discovering the seal, you didn't even consider whether what kind of consequences could arise if we somehow unleashed a terrible evil upon the world?”
”Unleash an evil…? That's absurd.” Alexei began.
”That's exactly what it sounds like you're about to do.” Sir Ivan cut in. ”We don't know what's on the other side of that seal! If mana is so great and the Source is sealed up, then that Seal must be there for a reason! All the stories about evil at the Source must be there for a reason!”
”Whatever it is, it's beyond ancient! Whatever dangers our ancestors were so terrified of, the power of modern man and magic can easily handle it!” Alexei bristled.
”We can't even handle the Wilds.” Mindy cut in. ”And the Wilds themselves wouldn't come near it.”
”If I didn't have to, I wouldn't want to enter these dead lands either.” Father Petrov confessed.
Sparks ignited. Mindy and Petrov turned to see Alexei raising both hands, purplish energy gathering in them as he chanted something in a low voice.
”Alexei! Stop! We didn't agree to this!” Father Petrov yelped.
”Don't do it! No!” Mindy jumped at him.
Alexei's eyes narrowed. He lowered his hands – toward Mindy.
Mindy halted, staring. She tensed, feet primed to dodge.
Petrov grabbed at him. ”Wait! Alexei! Think about it…!”