Pacing through the sanctum beneath the tower, I cannot focus my thoughts to do anything useful. This has been a growing problem, of late.

I sit down in one of the low arm-chairs, outstretch my hand, and focus on a story I haven't heard in a long time. There is a dim burst of red light and a small book falls into my hand. Quickly, I begin racing through it, looking for the signs of the emotional and philosophical moments within. This is tedious as even this abridged text already has small minded nonsense scribbled into the margins. I close my eyes and wince for a moment, muttering under my breath before returning to my search, "Quick to judge but slow to understand.... such disappointment."

Eventually, I reach a page with a simple illumination of a young woman looking emotionally hurt or confused. As the image floods into my mind, I suddenly feel a heaviness within me... and a vibration in the stone beneath me.

Clutching my chest, I rise and swiftly walk to the spiral steps leading to the lower chambers. I need to get closer to this vibration if it is what I suspect it is. It is something I haven't felt this clearly in a long time which means I might finally be able to find something I lost!

Reaching the bottom of the long staircase, I notice what appears to be steel plates and stone, fused together on the wall. This appears to be a blocked passage. This lack of technique looks like I must have sealed it in haste. The lack of recollection means I wasn't fully conscious when I did it.

I outstretch my hand toward the wall and, whispering a repeating chant, the steel begins to rust and the stone begins to crumble. This process is slow, taking several hours of mostly-continuous focus, and after a few metres of decaying this barrier, I reach a small round chamber with a glowing blue dodecahedral crystal on the pedestal in the centre.

I pause to gaze upon it for a moment. It is definitely the source of the vibration and, as I see a flickering in its glow, I realize that it is not glowing but that it contains a faint blue flame, flickering by some impossible breeze.

After several moments, I realize that this isn't a barrier I can open. Not on my own, at least. I need another hand, and a great deal of time, to breach it. It is infused with a kind of magic I can no longer wield effectively.

What would be so subtly strong, yet so vulnerable, that it would take this shape and behave in this way? Why is it sealed away and was this deliberate?

I may never know,
...Nights