Hadjar’s thoughts began to fade, and he slipped into a blissful daze.
***
Under a sky shrouded in darkness and dotted with twinkling stars, a lone figure sat in the center of a vast meadow. A gentle breeze caressed the grass, causing it to sway and sigh softly. In the distance, the silhouettes of the trees swayed to and fro, whispering their secrets into the night.
If only he could listen to them… but the study of magic had never piqued his interest. In the harsh world he had spent most of his life in, the only thing that had mattered to him had been whatever could either save him from damnation or lead to his downfall.
“That damned sage,” he murmured, the words slipping from his lips like a curse.
The musician’s slender fingers glided over the strings of his instrument, evoking
