Chance Encounter

Drawn a bit over a year ago in celebration of the completion of my first fantasy novel! It took me ten years to write the whole thing. Fortunately, I'm a little faster at writing now.

As an infant, Firal was left at the Kirban Temple to be trained in the way of mages. She's never known her parents, but that's not unusual; it's not uncommon for mages to leave their children behind while they carry on with their duties to the world. She longs for something more than the temple, but she's afraid of the unfamiliar, unable to break away from her comfort zone. Instead, she answers her need for adventure with explorations of the ruins of the old labyrinth outside the temple walls.

The ruins are forbidden; not because they're interesting, but because they're impossible to maintain, and more than one mageling has been crushed beneath collapsing walls. But she doesn't believe any of the myths or spook-tales surrounding the place, especially not those about the Underlings, a forgotten breed of people rumored to be monsters.

Until she meets one, anyway.