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"Serale, Austin," Venn smiled as he stopped pacing to greet his brother-in-law. "I trust your affairs are in order for the day." The paladin waved the man toward him so that they both stood within the Circle of Light. "Not everyone is able to be unbound, Austin. Only one among a thousand or so can be so released." Venn did not want his friend to be unaware of the odds if in case he might be disappointed in the end. "At the same time, the procedure is mostly harmless but there are the very few who never wake from the process, you need to know the risks." The half-teleris circled around Austin already studying the pattern of the others' form and essence. "My role is to unlock the blocks to your mind that keeps you from being able to perceive the energy that exists within you and around you. Often times the releasing of these barriers are a bit of a shock to your psyche and will likely cause you to lose consciousness. Many report of having very vivid dreams as their mind reorients itself to a new awareness of things. This may render you unconscious for several candlemarks but the reaction varies from person to person."
Venn stopped walking around Austin having examined the common patterns that were invisible to the visible eye but evident to a mage. Austin had a reoccurring loop in his arcanic weave that would allow Venn to know a little more what to expect when he engaged the man's mind. In some the weave was so convoluted that they could not be unbound without severe damage being incurred, thus making the process unsuccessful. Venn could not yet tell the state of Austin's pattern until he began to delve deeper. "So, if you are ready, we will begin. Just hold still."
With Austin's assent, Venn raised a hand symbolically with his finger's spread out in front of the man's face. There he began to look beyond the surface and into the more intricate tapestry of Austin's energy. Austin himself felt a tingling sensation in the back of his head although there was nothing there. There was a sensation that oscillated between hot and cold along his spine and an odd metallic taste on his tongue. The feeling began to shift and encompass his head, just under the scalp until it was no longer and oscillation of temperature but a solid feeling of warmth. Venn's concentration did not flag but it seemed that he was manipulating something as his eyes darted to and fro as if he were watching something happen. The heat grew from uncomfortable to unbearable as his mind and spine felt pricked by a million tiny needles. His vision too began to blur and fade into an unfamiliar white glow. That glow grew brighter and more intense. Even closing his eyes did not shut out the light. All of a sudden there was a searing sensation and his entire body felt as it was flooded with fire.
Venn caught Austin as the man slumped over. The paladin lay the squire down in the soft grass of the Circle.
"How is he?" said a telera who had emerged to observe from the shadows just outside the illumined area.
"It's done," Venn replied. "Now we'll just have to see if his mind can adjust."
"Hmmm, that's always the difficult part," the priestess murmured. Venn simply nodded in reply.
Within Austin's mind the light suddenly disappeared in a blinding flash. He awoke in his dream in a small round room of stone. The walls rose straight up beyond the range of his vision into a light that shone downwards although he could not tell the source of it. The diameter of the room was just beyond his arm-span. There were no doors, no windows and no features on the walls except for a large floor-length mirror. He recoiled from the mirror, however, for within it he saw reflected his most dreaded memory...
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