Unbound

The halls of the Violet Tower were quiet, but unlike outside, Apprentices and Journeymen were ever present. Mages moved swiftly up and down corridors, speaking in clipped tones and shifting materials from one room to another. Everyone seemed to have work they needed doing, which was great for Felix and his friends. Their off-white robes meshed well with the Apprentice robes, and so long as no one slowed down enough to notice the lack of purple, they could pass easily enough.

“Through here,” Zara gestured. Tern had given them detailed instructions, at least on the layout at the main level. “It should be at the end of this corridor.”

Their boots whispered softly against plush rugs, the only sign of softness in the Tower’s design. The hallway was lined with a dark, polished stone, flecked with quartz-like inclusions, and inlaid along the edges with complicated gold knotwork reminiscent of Dwarven architecture. In fact, a lot of the Tower seemed similar to structures Felix had seen in Red Shield Hold.

"Did Dwarves make this place?" he asked as they navigated another turn.

Zara nodded but kept her voice low. “They were among the first denizens of Levantier. They intended to mine the star metal from the meteor that cratered this mountain, and they discovered the Vent and its impressive properties.”

"So they built all of the Towers?"

"No. I heard they'd just built the old city,” Atar said. “That fortress down near the Vent where it opens up into the earth.”

Alister raised an eyebrow at him, and the fire mage looked affronted. "What? It's a city of mages. I'm not completely ignorant of this place."

"Just surprised, my love. You're not typically interested in much besides sigaldry and fire magic."