Chapter 2 Chapter One

Cadderly stepped slowly from a free-standing stone tower, across the fields, towards the lakeside city of Kaladon.Autumn has descended on this region.The few trees Cadderly passed—mostly maples that had turned red—glittered in their autumn hues.Today's sunshine is bright and warm, just in contrast to the cold wind blowing from the nearby snowflake mountains.Gusts of wind lifted the hem of Cadderly's blue silk cloak, fluttering behind his walking figure, and bent the brim of his blue wide-brimmed hat. But the preoccupied young scholar was unaware of this. Cadderly absently brushed the sandy-brown hair from his gray eyes, but his shaggy hair, which was longer than usual, fell back unruly, much to his frustration.He pushed it away again, and again, until finally he tucked it under the brim of his hat.

After a while, Karaton came into view.It is located on the shores of the broad Lake Impasque, surrounded by large fenced fields, where herds of cattle and sheep and various crops grow.The city itself was walled like most other cities in the Realms, and inside the walls were many multi-storey buildings crowded together to keep out the stalking enemies.A long bridge connects Caladon to a nearby isle, an area reserved for wealthier merchants and officials. As usual, whenever Cadderly walked this road, he always looked at the city with mixed and uncertain emotions.He was born in Carraton, but has no recollection of that early life.Cadderly's eyes drifted across the walled city, to the west toward the towering snowflake mountains, and the road leading up to them.There lies the Adorable Library - a protected and safe fortress of knowledge.

It had been Cadderly's home once, though he now knew it wasn't, and felt he couldn't go back because of it.He was not poor. In the tower he left just now, a magician gave him a large sum of money because he helped translate a lost spell book, so he was able to provide himself with enough food and clothing. But not even the wealth in the world could give Cadderly a home, let alone free his troubled mind from torment. As Cadderly grew up, he learned that he was in a violent and imperfect world.But everything happened so suddenly.Thrown abruptly into situations he had never experienced before, the young scholar was forced to play the role of hero and warrior, but he only wished in his heart that he could only read about these adventures in books.Cadderly had killed a man not so long ago, and had been involved in a war that had seared, ravaged, and ultimately defiled a dense forest that had once been pristine and pristine.

Now he found no answers, only questions. Cadderly thought of his room in the "Dragon's Fig Leaf" inn, with the most sublime book of the Denirians: the Book of Universal Harmony, still open on his small desk.It was a gift from the high-ranking headmistress of his sect, Portelope. She had promised Cadderly that in this thick book, Cadderly would find his own answer. Cadderly wasn't sure he believed those words. Sitting on a raised spot in the grass overlooking the city, the young scholar scratched at the stubble of his beard as he wondered again what purpose and responsibility he had been given in this chaotic life .He took off his sombrero and gazed at the porcelain rank badge affixed to a red strap: an eye and a candle, sacred symbols of Denir, a god dedicated to literature and the arts .

Cadderly had served the god Denir as long as he could remember.Though he's never really sure what it takes to serve him, or what the purpose of serving a god is.He was a scholar and inventor, and a true believer in the power of knowledge and creativity—two main tenets of the Denierian order. It was only recently that Cadderly had come to realize that this god was not just a symbol, not just a model that scholars had to emulate, but a fabricated model.In the elven forest, Cadderly began to feel a force that he didn't understand was sprouting.He used magic to heal a friend from what should have been a fatal wound; he was also able to discover the truth of elf history in a supernatural way, not just the historical events that were recorded, but the events that gave this ancient race its true appearance. Emotion, and incredible aura; he has watched in amazement the soul of a noble steed rise from its broken body and floated away; once found a dryad disappearing in a tree, and commanded the tree Push the fleeing dryad back—and the tree did obey his orders!

Young Cadderly doubted it no longer—magic was with him, giving him these terrible powers.His companions called it the magic of the god Denir, and thought it a good thing.But from what he'd done, and what he'd become, and the horrors he'd witnessed, Cadderly wasn't really sure he wanted the company of the Denir. He stood up from the raised grass, and continued to walk towards the city surrounded by high walls, to the "Dragon's Fig Leaf" hotel, and the book of universal harmony, and he could only pray that he could find some answers there, with A little calm. He flipped the pages of the book, his eyes desperately trying to catch the information before a page was quickly flipped away, but this was an impossible task.Cadderly couldn't keep up with his insatiable desire to turn the pages.

In just a few minutes, he read the almost 2,000-page Tome of Universal Harmony.Cadderly slammed the book shut, frustrated and worried.He tried to get up from the little desk, thinking he might go for a walk, or see Brennan, the young son of the hotel owner—they were friends now. Before he could leave his seat, however, the book enveloped him again.With a dissatisfied but powerless growl, the young scholar reopened the book and began to scan frantically again.The pages of the book were turned at a crazy speed, and Cadderly couldn't read a word at all, and couldn't finish any page. However, the song of the book, the implication behind those simple words, echoed clearly in his mind.All the mysteries of the universe seemed to be contained in a sweet and beautiful melody, a song of life and death, redemption and sin, eternal energy and finite things.

He also heard voices—an ancient tone and pious rhythm chanting in the deepest corner of his heart, but he couldn't express it in any language, just like the words recorded in this book.The whole book had melted into one for Cadderly, and he could see the meaning, not the words. Cadderly felt his energy drain rapidly as he forced himself to continue.His eyes ached, but he couldn't close them; his mind raced off in all directions, unraveling many mysteries and re-instilling them back into his subconscious in a more organized fashion.From page to page, Cadderly struggled to wonder if he was going mad, or if the process was draining his mind.

Then he learned another thing, which finally gave him the strength to close the book.In the Mengzhi Library before, several high-ranking deans of the Denier sect were found to have fallen on this book and died of exhaustion.Their deaths had always been interpreted as natural deaths—these Headmasters were all much older than Cadderly—but Cadderly knew that was not the case. They were to try to hear the song of Denir, the song of the universal mystery, but they were not strong enough to control the influence of that wondrous and beautiful song.Their energy is drained. Cadderly frowned at the tome's black cover, as if it were something sinister.It wasn't, he reminded himself.Then, taking advantage of the fear in his heart before he had time to protest, he opened the book again, starting from the first page, and started the frantic scanning behavior.

Melancholy overwhelmed him; the door that had shut the revelation opened wide, pouring its contents straight into Cadderly's heart. The young scholar's eyes gradually drooped with sheer weariness, but the song continued, the sound of the celestial bodies, of the rising and setting sun, and the overtones of eternity. The song went on and on, never ending, and Cadderly felt himself falling toward it, like one of countless flying notes. the music goes on... "Cadderly?" the call came from afar, perhaps from another world.Cadderly felt a hand grab his shoulder, cool and substantial, and felt himself being turned gently.He opened one sleepy eye and saw young Brennan's curly hair and shiny face.

"Are you OK?" Cadderly nodded weakly, rubbing his cloudy eyes.He sat up straight in the chair, feeling pain in several places in his stiff body.How long has he been comatose? Then, to the horror of the young scholar, he learned that he was not lethargic.The exhaustion that made him lose consciousness can't disappear after a night's sleep.So, what exactly is this? It was a journey, he could feel it in his heart.He felt as if he had embarked on a journey, but where? "What are you reading?" Brennan asked, leaning over him to look at the open book.The words jolted Cadderly out of his own thoughts.In a panic, he pushed Brennan away and slammed the book shut. "Don't look!" he snapped back. Brennan seemed overwhelmed. "Yeah sorry." He apologized, clearly confused, his green eyes drooping. "I didn't mean to—" "Never mind." Cadderly interrupted, forcing a good-natured smile on his face.He had no intention of hurting the young man, who had treated him very well in the past few weeks. "You've done nothing wrong, but promise me you won't read this book—unless I'm here to guide you." Brennan took a step back from his desk, examining the book with genuine horror. "It's a spellbook," Cadderly admitted, "and if you read it without knowing how to read it, you're going to have problems. I'm not mad at you, really. I'm just scared of you." Jump." Brennan nodded tremblingly, still seemingly in disbelief. "I brought you some food," he explained, pointing to a tray he had kept on the table beside Cadderly's crib. Cadderly couldn't help smiling at the sight.Reliable Brennan.When Cadderly first arrived at the Dragon's Fig Leaf, he just wanted to be alone, so he consulted with the innkeeper, Fedegar Harriman, to leave his food outside the door.But this arrangement soon changed, as Cadderly came to know Brennan and liked him very much.By now the young man was in the habit of going into Cadderly's room and bringing him the food tray himself—often in much larger portions than the norm.Cade, immediately stubborn, and after the horrors of the Battle of Simista, developed an icy demeanor, only to find himself irresistible to the company of this warm and nonthreatening companion. Cadderly looked at the plate of food for a long time, and noticed some crumbs on the ground, some were from small bread, some were darker in color, and he realized that it should belong to the noon bread.The curtains on his tiny window had been drawn, his lamp was turned off, then turned on again. "You couldn't wake me up the first three times you came in?" he asked. Brennan was tongue-tied, surprised that Cadderly had been able to deduce that he had been in three times. "Three times?" he replied. "Breakfast first, then lunch," Cadderly reasoned, and then he paused, realizing that he probably wouldn't know that. "Then come in again to see how I am, when you turn the lights back on and draw down the curtains." Cadderly looked back at Brennan, startled again.He almost warned him aloud because of it, but then realized that what he saw dancing over the young man's shoulders - the shadowy figure of a scantily clad dancer, with breasts disengaged from her body - — it was just a scene in his mind. Cadderly moved away and squeezed his eyes shut.What does this sight mean? In the distance, he heard the song again.The song was clearer this time, and a line of lyrics kept repeating, although Cadderly still couldn't make out what was being sung, except for one word: "." "Are you okay?" Brennan asked again. Cadderly nodded, looking back at him, less surprised this time at the sight dancing over his shoulder. "I'm fine," he replied sincerely. "And I know you have other places to go." Brennan's face was full of curiosity. "Be careful when you get to that place in the moth cabinet," Cadderly warned him, referring to a privately rundown bar at the bottom of Lakeview Street, which is east of Calaton, near Lake Impasque and the Sharain River. interchange. "How does a boy your age get in there?" "How could you..." Brennan stammered, his pimple-ridden face swollen crimson. Cadderly waved him away, a wide smile on his face.The dark breasts that had danced on Brennan's shoulders disappeared in a cloud of black dots.Obviously Cadderly's accurate guess dispelled the young man's impulse. But that was only temporary, for Cadderly saw the dancing shadow re-form as Brennan walked back toward the door of the room.Cadderly's laugh made Brennan look back. "You won't tell my dad?" he pleaded. Cadderly waved him away, fighting the urge to laugh.Brennan hesitates, bewildered.He relaxed almost immediately, though, as he reminded himself that Cadderly was his friend.A smile appeared on his face, and the figure of a showgirl was perched on his shoulders.With a snap of his fingers, he quickly left the room. Cadderly stared long at the closed door and at the crumbs scattered on the floor near the little table beside his bed. He knows exactly what happened, whether it was what happened in his room while he was asleep, or the fact that Brennan wanted to go out for a night of partying.He is really clear about it, but at the same time he knows that he should not know these things at all. "Aurora?" he whispered, searching for meaning. "Dawn?" Cadderly translated, shaking his head slowly; what did dawn have to do with the girl dancing on Brennan's shoulder? The young priest looked back at the book.Can he find answers there? He had to force himself to eat, because he was going to need all his energy for the rest of the day.After a while, one hunger was satisfied, but another began to tear at him.Cadderly turned back and buried his head in the Book of Universal Harmony. The pages began to turn, and the song continued to be sung and sung.

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