Letter 2

Poppy,

I know I'm avoiding the werewolf in the room. I hope you know that I am so, so sorry for everything that happened. I wish we had known what Marcus would do. I should have known for Arcane’s sake! I was the project leader. And afterwards, well, I've never lost control like that.

You know better than anyone that I was born with four elemental powers, and they made me choose just two. They said that mages who tried to train more would lose control. But they also warned me that extreme stress could bring the other elements to the surface. And I guess that's what happened.

You know I chose earth and water, locking away the ice and the fire. I didn't know what I was capable of. But I do know I should be rotting in an iron dungeon right now.

I'm sure the Chief Librarian agrees. There was a flood a few days ago in one of the lower levels. Guess who got the blame? Of course, I'm the only troublemaker here according to her, so it must have been me. At least until we found the true source of the problem (there's a literal crack in the wall). I'm sure they keep expecting me to attack them or something. Honestly, if the shoe were on the other foot, I might feel the same.

Speaking of shoes, a goblin brought in a cursed boot today. I was assigned to document and then file it in sublevel 17, the deepest sublevel that I've been sent to so far. From the paperwork it seems that this is where most of the cursed or spirit bound objects are kept. I was grateful that my shift ended just as I finished the paperwork. But now that's waiting for me tomorrow.

In the meantime, I can try and teach this gorble to fly. All he does is hover. But he's cute. At night when I'm desperate to sleep, it's comforting to see him there, head under wing, snoozing peacefully. He loves his food so I'm hoping that I can tempt him to build strength in his wings.

We went down to the canteen before and he hopped and hovered, excited by the attention of some travelling merchants. One of them talked about strange incidents near the fissure, slowing it's repair, but I didn't want to be reminded of what happened. I made my excuses and left.

Still, if we're heading to sublevel 17, he may well need those wings, so we should get practising.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Your dearest friend

Willow