영계 걷기: 입단 시험

나는 소용돌이치는 연기와 안개의 고원에서 정신을 차렸다. 내 발이 보이지 않았다. 혹은 그 장소에서는 내게 발이 없었을지도 모른다. 한 발짝 한 발짝이 기만적이었다. 땅이 있다고 믿으며 걷는 수밖에는 없었다. 내가 믿지 않는다면, 땅은 사라질 것이고, 나는 무의 세계로 추락할 것이었다. 그곳에서 나를 지켜주는 것은 오직 내 의지와 마법뿐이었다.

그들이 내게 마주하게 만든 악마는 거대한 고양잇과 짐승의 형상을 하고 있었다. 우리가 싸울 때, 그것이 내 마음속에 말을 걸었다. 그것은 내가 결국 비틀거리게 될 것이고, 그것이 내게 덤벼들 것이라고 속삭였다. 악마는 장막 너머에 있는 내 마비된 몸 위에 서서 심장에 칼을 겨눈 채 내가 실패하기를 기다리고 있는 성기사들에 대해서 이야기했다. 조금의 두려움, 의혹의 씨앗만으로도 나는 사라질 것이다. 악마는 나의 마음을 집어삼키고, 성기사들이 내 육체를 파괴할 것이다.

이것이 내 입단 시험이었다. 그들은 이것을 모든 마법사에게 강요하고 이것이 옳은 일이라고 말한다. 하지만 이건 좋지도 않고, 옳지도 않다. 이건 사악하고 부당하다.

—킨록 요새 저수지에서 발견된, 일부가 훼손된 이름 없는 일지에서

 

Walking the Fade: A Harrowing

I found myself on a plateau of swirling smoke and mist. I could not see my feet, or perhaps I had no feet in that place. Each step was treacherous. I had to believe there was a ground. If I didn't, there wouldn't be, and I would fall into nothingness. I was protected only by my will and my magic.

The demon they made me face took the shape of a great cat. As we battled, it spoke in my mind. It told me that I would eventually stumble, and then it would pounce. The demon talked to me of the templars beyond the Veil, standing over my paralyzed body, their swords pointed at my heart, waiting for the moment of my failure. All it would take was a splinter of fear, a seed of doubt, and I would be unmade. The demon would devour my mind, and the templars would destroy what was left of me.

This was my Harrowing. They force this upon all mages and call it good. But it is neither good nor right. It is evil and unjust.

—From a partially destroyed journal bearing no name, found in a Kinloch Hold cistern