[A Mage discovered the secret behind the Mage Tower's collapse. He found one of the survivors and uncovered the truth of what had happened...]
After adding a flashback to the beginning of his manuscript, Annan finally finished The Fall of the Mage Tower.
With a lingering sadness at the story's end, Annan turned his attention back to reality.
Tiny motes of dust drifted through the sunlight. The letter from Ossulund Territory lay beside his desk, its indulgent words, like those of someone coaxing a little brother who would never grow up, gleaming in the light.
At first, Annan had treated The Fall of the Mage Tower as a scheme to counter Augusta Olmedo. But once he immersed himself in it, he began to take it seriously as something wonderful he wanted to share with the world.
"Abby, take this to Marco at the Publishing House."
It would be hard to get the people of Breeze City to accept a novel form of Magic Film all at once. Many of them had never even seen a stage play. Annan needed to take it step by step: introduce the story through the novel, have Tavern Bards spread the word, then let the Theater adapt it for the stage. Only then would the finished Magic Film make its debut.
At the window, Annan saw Evelyn and the Stage Actors practicing on the lawn.
He went over during their break.
"Are you ready?"
"I'm... so ordinary. Can I really do it?" Evelyn hesitated.
"Of course."
Looking into her clear, uncertain eyes, Annan said, "Everyone has a light of their own."
By the next day, most of Annan's confidence was gone.
Clueless himself, Annan led his equally clueless companions forward through one stumbling attempt after another.
Soluman Copperbeard finally got through her scene without