Stolen Heart - By Bennett, Sawyer Page 0,3

magic became the sole means by which people attained progression in their societies. The first inhabitants of each AltVeritas used their magic to create the world the way they wanted it. While The First Dimension went on to advance in industrialization and technology, settlers of the AltVerita progressed magically. Those things they needed to prosper and survive were procured through incantations or potions, not through mechanization. It left most AltVerita leading a slightly antiquated lifestyle, but there wasn’t much they were lacking. And in some things, they were more advanced.

For example…bathing. Kieran enjoyed a hot bath or shower from time to time, and he could summon one forth easily by manipulating the elements of water and fire. But why waste the time when he could incant himself clean within a few seconds.

Another example…travel. Every inhabitant of the AltVerita with any degree of magical ability could transfer their body from one place to another incanting the spell known as evanesce recreo. Should Kieran want to transfer, he would merely say a spell over a grounding object--such as a rock or other small item he could easily hold in his hand. The magic would transfer him to any place in his current dimension, as long as he had traveled there before. It wasn’t the same type of travel as inter-dimensional travel, but it was quite handy indeed. The only limitation was he could only transfer with the clothes on his back and his grounding object. Thus, it was best used for short trips.

In fact, Kieran could have transferred right to Carrick and Ava’s apartment, but he wanted to have the extra few minutes to walk so he could think about the stolen Scepter. The Scepter was a magical object created three years ago after Ralina was destroyed. Ava had used blood magic to incant the most powerful spell ever seen in Vyronas.

The Scepter was not what you would normally envision. Kieran knew that many monarchs carried scepters made of gold, encrusted with expensive and shiny jewels, as a symbol of their status and authority. The Scepter Ava created was actually quite ugly. It was an iron bar about a foot long. It had no markings and had a person seen it lying on the ground, he would probably pick it up and put it in a junk pile. But that is what Ava wanted. She wanted it to look innocuous.

Making it of iron would also help to ensure most people with magical abilities would shy away from it, because iron actually nullified magic. Well, iron actually harnessed magic. It was thought for centuries that any contact with iron would render a sorcerer’s abilities useless. Ava actually discovered, through trial and error, that iron didn’t cancel out magic, it merely captured it.

Ava knew a lot of things. She was, without argument, the strongest sorceress in their entire AltVeritas. She was descended from the Royal House of Clairmont, which was the oldest lineage of magic in all of Vyronas. The older a familial line becomes, the more potent their magic. Ava, as the only child to King Jaron and Queen Selena, had the mother lode of all magical abilities. Forced to learn blood magic as a way to defeat Ralina, Ava’s powers had grown phenomenally over the years. The difference between Ava and Ralina was that Ralina used blood magic for nefarious purposes. Ava used it only to protect her people and for the good of all.

At any rate, wanting to avoid the years of war that had ravaged Vyronas, Ava created The Scepter with her own powerful blood, forging a magical instrument that would do its owner’s bidding. Whatever was asked of it, The Scepter would grant. Luckily, Ava had a heart of the purist intent, and only asked one thing of The Scepter…to keep Vyronas peaceful. It was an amazingly dynamic object, and in the wrong hands, could wreak havoc that would make Ralina look like a fluffy bunny. Stars, if that happened, he’d have to come up with a sweet nickname for Ralina. Something like Sugar Britches or Honey Lamb. Our world would be doomed.

Lost in his thoughts, Kieran found himself standing outside of Carrick and Ava’s apartment. After a quick knock, Ava called for Kieran to come in and he opened the door. He knew they didn’t expect him to knock but just walk right in. But he never wanted to catch those two doing the naked tango so he always used prudence.

Walking into the kitchen, Kieran found Ava sitting