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As Selael presented the ideas to the young Princess of Aden, he thought back and looked over at the giant glass spike he had in his hand... He thought back to the first time he thought of the use of Glass in battle, transforming the sand around him into a substance to pierce rather than burn... It was a while back when he was just beginning to take up his responsibilities as a guardian of the Kingdom's secrets... And the beginning of his infamous reputation as a ruthless destroyer of the thieves of the Secrets of Aden...

"Selael, the time is fast approaching... You will take the charge that has been upon our family for generations now that you have learned our ways, the history of the Kingdom and the art of Pyromancy..." It was his big day... His eighteenth birthday and when his father would retire his position to Selael. The Keepers of the Royal Secrets were not an official branch of protection for the family, but they were important nonetheless, perhaps because they were so enigmatic and so thoroughly hidden from the rest of Aden... Those who know the most about them are the thief guilds who constantly go toe-to-toe with the Keepers... And sadly to say for the Shalehem family, most of the time, those thieves got around the defenses set by the lineage of Pyromancers.

"Do you swear, Selael Shalehem, to keep the Secrets of the Kingdom of Aden from falling into the hands of foreigners?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear, Selael Shalehem, to ensure that the Secrets of the Kingdom of Aden never fall into Citizens of the Kingdom who would misuse them?"

"I swear."

"And finally, do you swear, Selael Shalehem, to keep the Legacy of the Phoenix alive by ensuring the safety of the people it has blessed?"

"I swear."

Selael's father, a middle-aged man with graying, red hair and olive skin, not unlike Selael's own, but with the hair tied completely in a tail in the back, took off the crimson, flame-adorned robe and two chained tomes from his body. He carried them slowly and ceremoniously to his son, coming behind the boy and placing the robe and chained tomes over his body. Selael slipped his arms through the sleeves after his father placed the robe on his shoulders, his father releasing an audible "Oi" of relief as he released the weight of the tomes and the robe.

"You know, son... You don't have to carry those all the time. It's purely ceremonial."

"I'm aware of this, father. These are the vestments of our ancestors in our line of duty-"

His father started snickering, the older man let out a gentle sigh and pat his son on the shoulder. "Boy, you're a lot more enthusiastic about this job than I was. When my dad gave me the robes and the tomes, I couldn't get the damn things off fast enough! You'd make your grandfather proud."

Selael then replied, a faint smile on his face as he looked his father in the eyes. "It's our duty to bear this burden... No one else but our family can."

The middle-aged man sighed and nodded slowly. "Yeah... You sound just like your grandfather." He snickered lightly. "Come on, let's get you something to eat to celebrate! And please, take off the vestments." He snickered. "You're not on duty quite yet. I'll still be keeping watch just to make sure you're ready. You shouldn't worry, no one's ever tried to rob the Kingdom's Secrets since your Grandpa was your age."

Selael then nodded slowly, keeping a rather stern, still face. His father appeared to be a rather carefree, easy-going individual, although he did teach his son all the mental disciplines expected of a Keeper of Royal Secrets. Selael took this very seriously, though, a lot more so than he did... His father was proud but somewhat concerned that his boy wouldn't ever find himself a wife to sire an heir... Then again, wives of Secret Keepers have a bad habit of attracting attention from Thieves' Guilds... It was the kind of job where you WISHED your spouse was cheating on you. For this day, Selael's father had arranged for his mother to head out of the country to someplace in the west to retire, just to make sure none of the Adenese Thief Guilds decided to use her as leverage, especially with a young, new Guardian taking his place...

They went over to one of the popular inns of the time, having a rather sumptuous meal of steaks, cured ham, bread, and rather well-aged wine. Though whilst they ate in celebration, a group of Thieves were watching them... A group that was rather well-acquainted with the Shalehem family's work in trying to stop thieves from stealing valuable secrets that may end up with the leaders controlling much of the Royal Power in the country... Something that these thieves in particular were interested in. It was no longer simply a matter of survival for them... Now they wished to taste the forbidden fruit of Royal Power, and with this changing of the guard, it suddenly became easier for them to impose themselves and take the secrets of ownership over this nation... It was the perfect crime...

Later that night, the older Shalehem man sat down on a chair in a dark corner near the castle... Out of the Guards' line of sight and certainly out of anyone who'd be passing by... It was fine for him. This corner happened to be by a window on the top of his house, which had a perfect view of the castle and the surrounding area... The family had used this house for generations. It wasn't particularly luxurious, but it got the job done... And did so rather consistently. Selael was fast asleep in the other room, resting for what will later be his true first day of being a Guardian of Royal Secrets... Of course, with several thieves stationed outside the house, that day may come sooner than either of them had bargained for.

"Alright, men... Those two are members of the Shalehem family, which means if we try to get the true source of Royal Power, they're going to give a lot of grief for us, and by grief, I mean burn us to a crisp."

"That's why we have these fire wards, right?"

"Correct. Do you have them on your persons?"

All of the thieves replied in whispers. "Yes, sir."

"Good... First we take out the old man, and the kid will be a piece of cake."

The thieves then kicked down the door... It stirred the attention of the older Shalehem, walking down the stairs and opening the door... He saw a company of hooded men wielding daggers, about 5 of them in total. He then held out his hand and shouted, very loudly for the entire house to hear...

"IGNUS!" The sound conjured up a pillar of flame in front of the older Pyromancer, the sound of it awakening young Selael from his rest. Selael then knew the procedure... He was to get out of the house until things inside calmed down. This wasn't the first time someone had tried to assassinate his father... Though there was something about this time that would be much different.

"Turn back while you can... I didn't make it to kill, but the next one won't be as-" When the flames in the house dissipating, something shocked the older man intensively... The thieves weren't even singed by the flames, and they wasted no time in throwing their knives in his direction... One of them landed in Shalehem the Elder's shoulder, the man falling down on his knees and howling in pain, then collapsing onto the floor, or so it appeared...

Young Selael heard the noise, but stood back, standing further away until he stood inside the sand... He gathered himself together... His father likely wasn't dead, not yet... The old man probably knew what to do at this time. The thieves then rushed out of the house to find Selael standing in the sand of the outside, staring at the thieves as he held out his hand... Selael, at this time, was seen wearing full vestments, the Crimson robes adorned with flames and the two tomes chained across his body. He held up his hand and said the incantation for a Flame spell quietly in a deadpan tone...

"Ignus." In front of him, a small spark flew toward the thieves... The group resisted the urge to laugh, and rightfully so as the spark suddenly burst into an enormous fireball around the thieves... When the flames cleared, Selael seemed somewhat surprised that they weren't affected by them. The thieves held out their weapons.

"Stupid kid... Couldn't tell that his little flames won't work on us anymore, just as dumb as his old man!"

Selael quickly reached down and grabbed some sand, all panic, fear, remorse... All things that would normally be present in a person in his situation just disappeared as the idea cooked up in his mind... The thieves laughed as they charged at him. "He thinks throwing dust in our eyes will do him some good!" Their blades were held up and ready to pierce into the youth's skin...!

"You're half right there..." He held a blank, cold stare as the threw the sand toward his enemies and near the same instant declared the incantation for fire...

"Ignus!" The flames then burst around the sand, melting it and turning it into glass shards, then the flames would erupt further, this time behind the newly formed glass. As the flames shot out behind the glass shards, they flew at the thieves like crystal daggers, each vicious, reflective surface twirling toward their targets and then embedding themselves in the eyes and foreheads of each of the robbers... Within moments, each of them stopped writhing and groaning in pain as life left their bodies slowly and painfully...

Selael walked up the stairs to the room where his father was, seeing the dagger pulled out and his father unconscious... Selael spilled some of the blood to ensure no poison that might have been laced in the dagger was in his system, then he burned the wound shut. He picked up his father and made preparations to send him west with his mother...

Later that week, Selael stared out the uppermost floor of his house that he inherited from his father, simply leaving the corpses of the thieves outside to rot, to warn any others that may try to strike against him or against the family... His eyes carried now an all-too-familiar cold and blank stare... This was why his family made sure mental discipline was a part of their training... This was why the process was rigorous enough to go through his entire life, for those who must wield flame as he does and against the foes he must fight against, he must freeze his blood and deprive himself of any form of remorse or regret..

His eyes stared out that day, dim and lifeless, looking out that window like a living doll, watching and waiting for whoever would dare incur his ire next....

From that day forth, the Fire-Magician's Eyes were as Cold as the void itself...

Selael bowed deeply before the Princess and adjusted his robes. "If I may take my leave, Princess, I will get to work on the Ark and the Security Measures..." He then walked out of the library, heading first to the tower to inscribe the Ward there... He prepared the ashes and then began writing them on the ground of the tower chamber... The area he chose of the tower was more of a walk-in closet, a place that would normally be quite out-of-the-way and inconspicuous. When he finished inscribing the ward with the ash, he cast a spell on it.

"Vive Incantatem." When it was cast, the runes briefly glowed, then went back to having no light at all. At this juncture, Selael pulled out a bag of sand from his pocket and covered the inner circles in it, pulling out another back of sand to be sure, coating it in another pile of sand. At this point, he put the bags in his pockets and went outside to gather more sand... Before he did, he remembered that he had to have more of the original ash, then pulled down part of his robe and rubbed some of the ash onto his chest, to ensure that it went in and didn't fall off. Placing his robe back on, he went out to the desert to gather more sand...

He then re-entered at the permission of the guards into the cellar... After finding the ideal space which was out of the way and big enough for the ward to be constructed on without being accidentally triggered, he began entering the ward again... The same ritual followed afterward of pouring sand onto the center, only this time a great deal more of it, since there was more room in the cellar. When he finished, he went back to his home, just outside the castle and went to his own cellar.

Inside the cellar was a magnificent, golden box with handles on either side. The box was adorned with a Phoenix soaring from its lid, and all over it were inscribed protective runes and spells, all of which Selael began to carve back into clarity, re-infusing them with a Vive Incantatem spell to actually have them work. The requirement to open the Ark without setting off the traps was different than the wards... This one required that the person opening it be of the Shalehem Family. After several hours, the Ark had been finished in its re-enchantment. He'd conclude that night by reading up on the liturgy associated with the Ark, preparing himself to create his diversion...