Kolish gaped as he read the letter his mom sent him. How could this be? No! It was impossible! He couldn't have magic! There was no way! People would have noticed, he would have noticed! Magic was evil and he was not evil! He was going to destroy that evil! He was going to join Connlaoth's military and slay those who harnessed evil! Those who were dormant mages, those who could manipulate the world around them with hand gestures and strange words. He would destroy those creatures who devoured the land around them with their needs for magic! Mages were abominations! There was no way he was one! He immediately crumpled the letter and threw it into the fireplace as a wrapped, circular object dropped on his lap. He looked down at it and grimaced. There was no way in hell he was a Serenian! He picked it up, but part of the paper shifted and his skin touched the bare metal.
Pain surged though his fingers and he immediately dropped the ring with a clang to the floor. He looked at his singed skin in disbelief. He remembered not being able to wear certain cheap jewelry as a child, but this ring had burnt his skin with a mere touch. If... what his mother said was true, than this ring had to be made of pure iron. He grabbed the wrapping paper with his undamaged hand and grabbed the cursed ring and threw it out his window.
It couldn't be... no it couldn't! He had his life all set out of him: He would apply for the military, go through the training, and hopefully end up in a group that deals with mages and destroy them. However a single letter and ring had changed all of that. He had to avoid the military, had to keep his identity a secret. That's what that letter told him, thats what the ring had showed him. He stood up and grabbed the application he was making to the military and crumpled it, and threw it too into the firepit, walking out of his room and to the door.
"Kolish, my son, where are you off to so late at night?" His grandfather asked him.
"I need some fresh air to think." Kolish grumbled, shaking off the kind hand placed on his shoulders and walked out the door. He had his whole life to replan after all...
