Chapter 1: Eyes in the Dark.

"We tap into something dark when we use magic," the old man forewarned. The young man before him eagerly absorbed his words. He was too immersed in each bit of knowledge to actually write anything down. His name was Zack Welsh, and he was studying the science of Arcane Efficacy. The field had evolved over hundreds of years, from mysticism, to religious study, and finally to science. Technological breakthroughs had aided in magic's advancement.

Welsh was studying to someday attain the highest mastery of magic; the Wizard. It was a title, the equivalent of a Doctorate in a traditional field of study. Zack had his Mage certification already, which was a typical four years of schooling he had completed in two. During those years, his every thought had been about runes and layouts. A rune was a very specific shape that created a very specific effect. A layout was how those runes were arranged together inside a pentagon, hexagon, and so forth. Magic was a matter of memorizing those forms, and recreating them in one's mind without looking at a picture. An entire encyclopedia was devoted to listing all the runes and their function, or in some cases, a best guess or generalization of their function. Welsh had made it halfway through the volumes when he had graduated as a Mage. Most students of that level only new the basic textbook on runes. Unfortunately for those pursuing Arcane Efficacy, runes were the simpler part. Books by Wizards all over the world were compiled concerning layouts and diagrams. A lot of it was theory, as the more complex the layout, the more difficult it is for anyone to hold it in their mind's eye all at once, and create the spell.

So hard, in fact, that types of spells are separated into three categories. The first are cantrips; layouts involving triangles and squares using runes with simple designs. The second are labeled sorceries, and contain more complex rune shapes and layouts of pentagons and hexagons. The third are labeled rituals, as they can sometimes be performed with the help of other mages, and typically take a lot of preparation to be executed successfully. Such a spell involves obscure or theoretic runes, and heptagons, octagons, and possibly higher numbers of sides. It is currently believed that no one has performed higher than an octagon, and there is no record of any successful octagon outside of those involving the same exact rune duplicated eight times.

The rest of the books on the subject matter were devoted to techniques for spell memorization and evocation, safety while attempting to cast a spell, and theory on why exactly magic works. The professor now lecturing, an old man named Raymond Rellerton, seemed to have drifted into that latter area of study that day. The professor, whom the students often called Ray, continued after a brief pause. "There is a higher rate of mental illness," he paused again. "Severe mental illness, in the scholars of the field of magic, than any other field of study that exists today."

Welsh shifted in his seat a bit. What he really wanted to hear was more about runes, layouts, and evocation. Even so, he listened intently, though now a little less comfortably. "It is though we cross over into another world when we cast," Ray speculated. "Or perhaps we beckon something into this world that wasn't there before. While magic has been broken down into a science as far as it's methods are concerned, it has not been broken down into a science concerning it's origins or causation. In effect, we think something, then another thing happens. There is no physical link between the two, yet our own minds cannot conceive that there simply is no link. The link, therefore, must be non-physical. Take care in your studies, for man lived quite well when magic was scarce. All mages need to make sure that they do not ruin a good thing."

Raymond sat down, and shortly after the bell rung and all students were dismissed. There were only nine students total in that class, and they made up about half of those studying to become Arch-Magus in the only AE school located in the western hemisphere. There were about double that number who graduated with their Mage certification, and only about half of these eighteen students would pursue their Wizard certification. The ability to evoke, that is the ability to imagine a layout vividly and precisely, was rare. To be able to do it well was even more rare. Tests often involved actual spell casting as well as written tests.

Zack picked up his books, which he rarely opened, and exited the classroom. He stopped right outside the door and glanced back and Professor Rellerton, who sat motionless at his desk. He stared into the distance. Zack strolled through the hall and down the stairs, his thoughts on runes and layouts. He passed many other students, but a majority of them were freshmen. Welsh headed to the student union where the cafeteria was located. Snapping out of his studious thoughts, he looked around at the campus. Fall was a few weeks away, and everything was moving, brightly colored, alive, and the sounds of various birds and insects filled his eardrums. It was hot, but not oppressively like it would have been a month back at that time.

Inside the student union, everything looked expensive and new. Marble tile, beautiful murals, leather furniture, and computer terminals built into all three. Then there was the cafeteria. There was nothing expensive about the cafeteria or it's food. Pizza was left in rotator warmers for the entire duration of the serving period. Many of the fried foods were generic brand processed foods ordered in bulk. Yet it was more expensive than going to any of a hundred nicer places. Zack was there to eat in peace, and he enjoyed the food more than someone should. That day, a Friday to be exact, Zack picked up chicken strips and a baked potato.

Welsh sat down, and began to ogle the various females walking around the seating area. It was a compulsion. He assumed it was hormonal. His plan was to lock eyes with a woman and then of course, she'd come over and ask him for a date, or perhaps just drag him to the nearest bathroom facility for a quickie. At the age of twenty and a virgin, he could not help but to indulge such fantasies, by attempting to catch the gaze of any female in the room. Hunger got the best of Zack, and he began to feast on his horribly overpriced meal. He began to bite down on his chicken with the intent to savor it and enjoy it, but as soon as he began his thoughts drifted. Zack thought of Ray and what he said about magic. He thought about certain similarities between a great deal of the runes. And yet, outside this one similarity, few others existed. Zack found himself swallowing the last bite of his food, already disappointed that he was done already, and failed at concentrating on the food itself.

Welsh looked up and saw a familiar face. Her name was Julia. She was tall and thin, with long brown hair and glasses. They had met during Rune Studies 110. During the course they had become friends and partners in magic. Julia seemed to have an uncanny insight into rune structures. Being that runes were, as far as anyone could tell, shapes with little to no logic in their structure, this was something of a gem to the faculty of the school. During her second year she discovered a new cantrip, something that hadn't been done for at least a decade. Now in her third year, she didn't see much of Zack outside of random encounters like the cafeteria.

Julia sat down across from Zack. “Hey Zack.” She sat her tray down and sat her backpack down beside her chair.

Zack considered carefully how he would respond. He wanted desperately to turn the conversation to something involving a date between the two of them. He had been infatuated with her since they had first met. Her confidence, intellect, and character were a triple threat that could not be resisted. The only force more powerful was his fear of rejection. He straightened himself in his chair. “Hi Julia, how are you?”

“I'm okay, new semester, new stress,” she replied, smiling at the end.

Zack responded to this opportunity to hear her troubles, “Oh, tough courses already?” he asked.

“Evocation 300,” she replied with an exaggerated frown. “I couldn't cast a simple three-part cantrip during class today. I nearly started crying.”

“Which cantrip was it?” he asked, now genuinely interested.

“Minor globe of light,” she replied with a sigh.

“Do you want to cast it now?” Zack asked with a sly grin on his face.

“I've embarrassed myself enough for one day.”

“Close your eyes,” he told her.

“I don't think-” she started.

Zack interrupted her, as he was now fully immersed in the effort of getting the cantrip cast. “You know the three runes involved right?”

“Of course,” she replied. If Julia knew anything, it was runes.

“Imagine the shape of a triangle. Wait till you've got that steady in your mind. If parts of it leave your inner vision, then imagine it smaller. Try to keep it as large as you can without losing focus.”

“Ok,” she said. “It's there.”

“Now, one at a time, place the three runes on the outside of the triangle, one next to each side,” he instructed.

She had heard all this before, so Julia was starting to get impatient. “Ok, but nothing is happening.”

“Don't worry,” he responded. “It's because holding three runes vividly is not easy. First, focus on the right-hand rune and imagine it outlined in white. Now move to the bottom rune and do the same thing.” he paused, noting the movement of her eyelids. “Now move to the left-hand rune and do the same thing.”

“Now what?” she asked, quite calm now.

“Do it again, except faster. Just keep highlighting them in your mind, one at a time, but do it quickly.”

For a few moments, they sat silently. Then suddenly a ball of light blossomed into existence just above the table. Julia opened her eyes and let out a squeal. She stared into it, as it swirled and fluctuated in place. Several others in the cafeteria were staring as well at the scene. Magic was rarely 'done', and mostly studied.

“You did it.” Zack said.

Julie dabbed her eyes with a napkin. Slowly the light faded out. “Thanks,” she said. “That was incredible.”

“The first time always is,” he smiled. “My first spell was a lot more dull though.”

“I don't understand though,” she said. “What you told me to do was nothing like what the book said, or what Professor Wells taught for that matter.”

“I ...understand evocation,” Zack was uncertain how to word it. “I've mostly ignored what is taught, and instead have intuited my techniques. Magic is a tradition today, so the teachers really have no interest in new methods.”

Julia stared at her food for a few seconds, then looked back to Zack. “Want to get some dinner with me tonight?”

Zack's heart started to pound, but he managed to say something like yes, and Julie said that she would be coming to get him at around seven. Zack excused himself shortly after, to make sure he wouldn't somehow screw up the moment.

Zack floated back to his dormitory room on a cloud of air. Completely gone were all thoughts of magic. His classes were finished for the day, so he had several hours to prepare himself for his date. He walked up the stairs and strolled down the hall towards his room. Zack's dormitory only housed fourteen other students. It was a relatively small building, with public bathrooms and the bare essentials. Living on campus had made the last two years an almost surreal experience, as opposed to merely traveling to classes and back home. Almost all that he saw, moved through, and smelled was the school grounds.

When Zack reached his door, he turned his key in the rather antiquated lock system that remained on all the doors. The mechanical lock fascinated him, and seemed almost more complex than the computerized ones installed in most facilities. He opened his door and his first step inside his room made an odd crumple noise. Zack looked down to see he was standing on a small piece of paper. He quickly picked it up and read it. It appeared to be a website address. It certainly wasn't his writing, and must have been left under the door.

“Ooh, a mystery,” Zack chuckled. He sat down at his computer. It was only a few years old, and he preferred the free operating system, despite it's lack of support. Those days, the only real difference in systems were cosmetic details, which were easily changeable by those who were daring or knowledgeable in computing. The basic code execution had become a standard defined by a commission of computer scientists over a hundred years ago, so every piece of software conformed to that same standard. Interpreter engines became the main battleground, where performance was the dynamic.

His monitor flickered to life. It was a standard liquid crystal monitor, the same monitors that had been used for almost two hundred years. The only improvements had been larger resolutions and more efficient back-lighting On his screen was a picture of a spell's design. It was a pentagon layout with 5 runes around it. It was something of pure beauty to Zack. He looked at the piece of paper again, and it struck him as familiar somehow. He turned it over, hoping for some additional clues, but there were none.

Zack clicked on his Net Viewer and typed in the address written on the piece of paper. After hitting enter, he was treated to what looked like a very amateur website. In large letters across the top of the page it read “The Evils of Magic”. Zack chuckled at first, at such an idea. Then it occurred to him that perhaps someone was stalking around campus with a hatred for mages. He continued reading the page. It made claims of being the devil's tool, and cited statistics about recorded mental illness in mages. Zack skimmed most of that, which he already knew and came to something that gave him pause. A headline said, “Shared nightmares torment practitioners of magic”.

Below the headline there were drawings depicting imagery from these supposed nightmares. Zack turned off the Net Viewer, shaking slightly. It wasn't the first time he had seen a fanatical anti-magic website. However, it was the first time one had actually gotten to him. What scared him was that some of the imagery looked familiar.

“I don't want to go to the store!” Zack yelled at his mother. She was a pretty woman of the age of thirty. Alone in a lonely world, with a ten year old boy to take care of. Zack repeated himself, “Mom, I don't want to go to the store!”. His mother, Clarice, sat down at the kitchen table, unsure what to do. She noticed the history journals strewn about Zack's room.

“Would you like to go to the library to read while I shop?” she asked almost pleadingly. Zack thought it acceptable. They drove to the local library. “Now don't talk to strangers, just find something to read, sit down somewhere, and I'll be back to get you soon.” Zack nodded and got out of the car.

Inside the library, Zack was amazed at the number of books. Comparatively, it was a small library, but much larger than that of his elementary school. He spent the first twenty minutes just strolling through the aisles, looking for something interesting. As he was walking, he stepped on a book that had been left on the floor. Removing his foot, the title read “Introduction to Arcane Efficacy”. The cover was somewhat flashy, with an arm outstretched and some sort of swirling ball floating just above it.

Zack picked it up and found a small table to sit at. He looked around, and saw only the librarian behind the counter. An hour later, Clarice returned and now had to convince him to somehow leave the library. Their compromise was a library card. From that point forward, Zack visited the library whenever his mother went to the store, reading every single book about magic that it contained, and then was instructed by the librarian how inter-library loans work. Zack began his research on the internet, as well as loaning out several books per month.

Most books were not practical. Many seemed to assume a level of education far beyond what Zack had been exposed to. Yet he did his best to understand what they said. After his first few months of study, he decided to try to cast a cantrip. After several failed attempts, the room began to spin. Zack instantly shut his eyes, but that only enhanced the feeling of spinning. Fear began to take hold on him and he felt nauseous. He stood up and took a step forward. He fell instantly to his hands and knees. Zack vomited several times and passed out.

In the darkness, he experienced visions unlike nothing he had seen before. A pair of eyes, unfeeling and predatory. They stared at Zack, glowing a color unlike none he had experienced. It was a hue that didn't belong in the visible spectrum. Instead of round pupils, there was the shape of a rune. One that Zack had not seen before. A few moments passed, and Zack began to feel cold. The cold began to bite at him, as if pricking him with thousands of needless. Then all was dark a second time.

Clarice found him, and also saw the books left open. Zack woke up in a hospital bed the next day. Due mostly to the large hospital fees, he was forbidden from studying arcane efficacy. His mother had to reach into his college fund to pay it off, and Zack felt awful about it. Even so, he continued his studies into arcane efficacy in secret. He revisited all the books he had read, to try to understand what had happened to him. Zack was too afraid and too guilty to attempt casting again. He found no answers outside of a general warning that casting is very mentally exhausting.

Zack eventually finished high school without incident. Yet he had no idea what to do with himself. It was the summer, a very hot one at that. Cooling was done with super-conducting plated studs that ran deep into the ground where it remained cool. If you were lucky, you'd get a spot that had water underground, as it would carry the heat away faster. So long as the house was properly insulated, the temperature between underground and above ground would balance out.

Zack sat in at the kitchen table, a glass of water in front of him. His concern for his own safety had waned with the realization that he had no real direction in his life. He recalled the same spell design that had knocked him out long ago. Zack had no intention of that happening again, instead decided to relax and try only three times. His hospital visit had been the result of twelve failed attempts. He closed his eyes, envisioned the square rune configuration.

Nothing happened. Zack considered that a first failure. He decided to try something different. He focused on the two runes at the top and left sides of the square. He then switched quickly to the opposite pair. Suddenly Zack Welsh felt something flow through him he had never felt before. Directing the spell with his hand, the glass in front of him began to lift from the table. He was instantly hooked. He spent the rest of the day trying out various cantrips. He could feel himself becoming fatigued every few spells and would stop for a few minutes.

As the sun began to set, Zack made his decision. After he and his mother Clarice had finished dinner, he offered to do the dishes to her surprise and delight. Zack finished them quickly and sat back down at the table, where Clarice was reading a magazine.

“Mom, for a long time I've been studying magic,” he confessed.

“Why?” she asked. “You did this behind my back, after what happened?” She sounded upset already.

“I studied, I didn't try to cast, like that day,” Zack said softly. “Tonight I was able to cast spells for the first time.” His mother did not respond, but her breathing became fast.

“I can show you if you want,” he offered.

“Why is it you are telling me all this?” she asked.

“Because Mom,” he started. “It's what I truly want to pursue. Not many can cast at all. Mages are used in many fields in crucial work, and I could virtually determine what I do. I can help people with this.”

Clarice softened a bit. “Where would you go? Just off into the world?”

“There's a school. The only one in the country in fact. It's where half of the world learns advanced magic,” he told her excitedly. “I know exactly where it is, how I would get there, and where I would room.”

They sat in silence for a while. Zack felt it was a lost cause. His mother spoke, “It's just all happening all the sudden. I'm going to bed, we can talk more about this tomorrow.”

Zack slouched into his chair. When his mom decides to 'talk about something later', it almost always means that she is finding the right way to deny him something. That night he went walking through town. The cool night air was refreshing, and he liked ogling the females passing by, a habit that would follow him around for a very long time. He got home tired, and when he went to bed he fell asleep quickly.

For the second time in his life, he saw the eyes staring him down and freezing him in place. This time he was less afraid. Like clockwork, it vanished, leaving him to a peaceful sleep.

He woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon. Clarice was cooking breakfast, something she did not do regularly. Zack sat down, and she paused from her cooking to sit down with him. On the table were savings bonds. “If you are sure,” she said. “of what you are doing, then these are yours.”

Zack hugged his mother. Clarice pushed him away to look him in the face. “It may not be enough to give you a full ride, and you may have to find a job for a while,” she told him sternly.

Zack nodded. His mother hugged him this time, “I'm proud of you, but it scares me too. Just be careful and keep in touch.” Zack was relieved. He spent the next month learning about the school. The College of Arcane Efficacy, it was modestly titled. With the money he had, he doubled up on his enrollment, determined to make what funds he had last. The day he left his home was like a weight lifting from his shoulders. He was finally going to be in a new place, with new challenges, and new interesting people to interact with.

Two years later, he sat down at his computer, and saw the same imagery that had haunted his dreams twice before. It disturbed him to know that others had the same visions. The website had implied that there was some sort of demonic connection to magic. Zack didn't believe in demons, but the afterlife was an unknown to him. Could be demons, ghosts, gods, or everlasting virgins. He took a notepad laying beside the keyboard and drew the rune that acted as a substitute for pupils. He studied it, trying to think if it was a rune he had seen anywhere else. After a few moments of searching to no avail, he gave up and started on his homework.

Zack soon fell asleep on his books. Magic history was just too boring for him. A knock at the door startled him awake. He looked at his wrist-term, and had to squint through the sleep in his eyes. It was nearly seven o'clock. Zack panicked and went to his dresser, brushing his dark hair back. He then frantically rubbed what sleep he could out of his eyes. Zack rushed to the door and opened it. There stood Julie, wearing a colorful knee-length dress. Zack felt embarrassed, as he had not taken any time at all to get ready.

His first impulse was to slam the door closed and try to get ready, but he feared even more embarrassment from that decision. “Hi Julia,” he choked out. “You look... very pretty.”

“You look... like you just woke up!” she burst out laughing. Her laugh was very loud too, and probably carried throughout the dorm. Zack's face visibly reddened.

Zack forced out a slight chuckle. “Any place in particular you want to go?”

“I don't care really, but someplace quiet,” she answered. Recalling her laughter, Zack felt uneasy at the prospect.

“So not the Burrito Bueno?” he asked, half-jokingly. This time she did not laugh. Zack decided that only humor directed at him was funny.

“No no, something nicer,” Julia pondered for a moment. She brightened up, “I'll take you to Fellini's!”

“Oh the Italian place. Let's go then!” Zack was easily excited by food, but he had never been to Fellini's before.

Italian held no geographical meaning, but instead was almost solely used in reference to foods. Scholars long suspected that the descriptors for food recipes had links to the old civilization. They surmised that there was once an Italy. Some of these food descriptors still existed such as Indian or American, which led scholars to conclude that all descriptors somehow implied a geographic origin of some sort. For some reason, cookbooks from centuries ago existed, whereas history volumes did not. It was a phenomenon that troubled everyone, but no one really talked about it, as there was no real point in doing so.

They walked together to the parking lot outside the dorm. Zack had spent virtually every minute on campus, and so he didn't have a car. He couldn't afford one either. Julia did have a car however. It had been her parents car until the day she moved out of the house. It was in fine condition, though not very aesthetically pleasing. As Zack approached the passenger side door, he casually picked off a flake of paint that had been hanging on for dear life.

“Don't do that!” Julia yelled. Zack laughed at her reaction. Half the paint on the vehicle was already peeled off. Sometimes the wind would pick up and carry a few chips away.

Zack got into the car, and gazed at Julia. Looking at her was like watching a sunset, to him at least. She smiled back and switched on the power to the car. It was a battery powered car. One of the most significant advances of the last few centuries was the power of batteries. They were made much small, lasted quite a while, and produced significantly more electricity than in the past. This made them very suited for powering a vehicle. All that was required was a proper method for recharging the batteries. It could be done manually with very common outlets located in parking lots. Such lots had camera surveillance in case your cars identi-chip wasn't properly broadcasting it's information that allowed the owner to be billed for power usage. Federally controlled highways and roads had superconducting tracks built into them that supplied power to any compatible vehicles traveling along them. As long as one's route took them onto one of these roadways for a few minutes, there was no need for manual recharging.

Julia slid a pen-shaped object into her car's terminal, and soft music began to pour from the speakers. It wasn't the most popular music, but it had it's following. It was a mix of synthetic sounds and classic instruments. Zack liked his music faster and more eventful, but could tolerate this sound as well. He could not think of anything to talk about, so for the duration of the car ride he sat silently.

They soon arrived at Fellini's, which looked somewhat busy for a Monday. The building was small and modest looking, and inside the restaurant it was like a different world. I much more colorful one. They had to wait about ten minutes before being seated, but the tables were quite far apart in the large building. It would be somewhat quiet. They sat down across from each other at a small table outfitted with silverware and glasses of water. Zack again took the opportunity to stare at her, but he made sure she was looking at the menu first.

Zack then decided he should look at the menu. He had never eaten at Fellini's before, and didn't want to look clueless when the waiter came around. He decided to ask Julia, at least it would start some sort of conversation. “What should I get?”

“Not sure, what kinds of food do you like?” She replied.

“Oh you know, everything except vegetables,” he answered.

“Get the chicken Parmesan,” she suggested. Zack nodded in agreement.

The waiter came back but apparently only had time to offer drinks. They both ordered some type of Fizz, and then off he went. Zack noticed that Julia was looking at him, which frightened him greatly.

“Hi,” he said, almost slapping himself afterwards.

Julia smirked, “Hi there!” She giggled at Zack.

Zack covered his face with his right hand in shame. He tried to think quickly of something to do. His throat was dry. He casually swept his hand down to his glass of water and knocked it over in a dramatic display of defiance, which was actually meant to be him picking it up for a drink. Water flew off the side of the table and onto the floor.

Julia quickly picked up the cup and they both began to sop up the water on the table with their napkins. The waiter saw the commotion and hurried quickly to their table, he didn't see the pool of water on the floor, and his left foot slipped out from under him. He slid a bit, looking a little like he was stealing a base. Zack let out a yelp, like a dog that had just been kicked. He looked pleadingly at Julia who was staring at the fallen waiter, now expertly placed between two tables.

Suddenly Zack heard a sizzling noise, he looked to his side and saw a waitress carrying a very large and round tray of hot food. Zack opened his mouth but it was too late. The waitress kicked the prone waiter in the ribs, her speedy delivery stopped dead in it's tracks. The tray tilted, and Zack and Julia watched in astonishment as a plate of sizzling panecotto slid off the tray, turned upside down and splattered on the groin of the waiter. The waiter looked at the plate in horror, then released a blood-curdling scream. Everyone in the restaurant was fixated on the carnage.

Zack took Julia's water glass and dumped it onto the waiter's lap. The waiter sat up, breathing heavily. Zack looked around at all the patrons of the Fellini. His stomach cramped up on him, and he stood up from the table and ran to the men's room. Once inside, Zack considered escaping through the small window, but his fear of getting stuck prevented him from executing that plan.

For a few minutes, Zack sat in one of the stalls. He weighed the embarrassment of never coming out against the embarrassment of having to show his face again, and decided the latter was a slightly better option. Much to his surprise, the restaurant was not in flames, and Julia had not left. She was resting her head upon her chin. Her glass of fizz was half empty. Zack carefully approached the table and sat down as if his chair were balanced upon a high wire.

Julia smiled at him. “You going to be okay?”

“Oh yes,” Zack replied, “This is just as I imagined it.”

Julia laughed. She reached across the table, placing her hand on his. “Someday, you'll look back at this and get a good laugh. In fact, I'm already starting to find it funny.”

“It sure beats a boring lunch at the union,” Zack said, now relaxing a bit. “Is this a date Julia? It's okay if it's not. I just-”

Zack stopped talking as Julia removed her hand and sat back. “Of course it is. At least that's what I intended.” Julia stopped smiling. “It's odd. No one wants to call things what they are.”

“You mean more than just our date?” Zack asked.

“Yes,” she answered confidently. “Our past is unknown but no one wants to admit it. Magic is a mystery and good luck getting a professor to say that. We are all confused and afraid, but no one will talk about it.”

Zack himself felt uncomfortable hearing these things. “I think most people are only concerned about their every day lives. I want answers, but with no clear path to them, I try not to think about it.”

“Oh, by the way,” Julia started. “I ordered for you while you were gone.”

“Thanks,” he replied, now noticing he had a fizz in front of him. He carefully took a drink, afraid that his next misstep might trigger the apocalypse.

“There's a second reason I brought you here,” Julia said. Zack perked up.

“I'm all ears.”

“Well I wanted to pick your brain about what happened at lunch,” she said, carefully choosing her words. “Though I was able to follow your instructions, I don't know exactly why it worked.”

“You know I could talk all day about arcane efficacy,” he said. “but isn't there anything else we can talk about?”

Julia looked confused. “I suppose, but I really would like to know. I still can't cast a four-rune cantrip, even when the design is right in front of me.”

Zack looked down at the table. He thought about the web page he had seen before falling asleep. He remembered the eyes that stared at him in the darkness. Zack didn't want Julia to experience that.

“What is it, Zack?” she pleaded.

“I can tell you whatever you want to know, does that sound appealing?” he asked her.

Julia thought it an odd question. “Yes, I would really like to hear it.”

“However,” Zack continued. “You must not run around casting whatever spell you come across. Practice with a few-,” Zack stopped and thought about the darkness. “-that produce some sort of light effect.”

“You are starting to worry me Zack,” she said.

“It's like you said, magic is a mystery. We are like children playing with fire,” Zack said quietly.

“Alright, I agree to stick with light-producing cantrips for now,” she agreed.

“Your brain isn't fast enough to cast four-part cantrips the way I instructed you at lunch,” he informed her.

“Well back up just a little. How did it work on the three-rune cantrip?” Julia inquired.

“Despite what most people think, runes don't have to be activated at the exact same time,” Zack explained. “You have what I estimate to be one second to activate every rune, that is, envisioning it properly.”

Julia listened intently. “It's sort of like mechanical safe-cracking I suppose,” Zack mused. “If you listen carefully, though listen is a strange word for it, you can feel when each rune has been properly activated.”

“Much like a sideways envisioned spell will do nothing,” he continued. “You must activate the runes in a specific order.” He stopped and thought for a moment before continuing. “Well it's more accurate to say that later runes cannot be activated before earlier ones. One could try to activate multiple runes at a time, so long as the later runes are not activated before their preceding ones.”

“Oh,” he added. “It's always a clockwise progression from any rune in the spell.”

Julia had pulled out a notepad and was actually writing down his words. Zack was not happy about her doing that. If any of the faculty came across it, they would surely chastise him for contradicting what they taught.

“Okay,” she said, finally done writing. “I got all that. Now why can't I cast a four-rune cantrip like that?”

Zack took a deep breath. “You can't activate all four within one second. I can and have before, but I'm convinced it's something most people can't do.”

“So is that it? I am stuck at the most basic level of casting?” she said, saddened.

“Oh no,” Zack replied. “When you look at a spell layout, it helps you do only one thing.” Zack paused for emphasis. “It helps you group up runes together to activate them simultaneously. The easiest way for one to cast a four-rune cantrip is to stare at the layout on paper or in a book, and then quickly activate two runes, or even three at the same time, and then move to the fourth. This cuts down your activation time to one second, and then the spell happens.”

“It took me several tries for that three-rune cantrip though,” she said.

“You'll get better in time too. The four-rune cantrip is considered the highest spell that can be cast without looking at the design moments before attempting it,” Zack added. “You will either have to get fast enough to activate each rune, or group them together in pairs to achieve that.”

Julia was furiously taking notes. Before she had finished, their food arrived. Julia had ordered Pasta for herself, and chicken Parmesan for Zack. The waiter sat their plates down without incident, though he gave Zack a quick glance of disdain.

“Considered?” Julia asked, as she put her notepad away. Zack only nodded as he stuffed his mouth with chicken.

They ate together in relative silence, and took turns looking at each other when the other one was looking away. They went through the motions of asking each other how they liked their food, and traded bites to compliment the other's selection.

After leaving a generous tip for the waiter, they departed. Once again they listened to music rather than converse in the car. Julia decided to speak first. “I had a really nice time, Zack. Thank you for explaining how to cast, I think I'd be lost otherwise.”

“It was fun,” he said. “Are we going to do this again?”

“I would hope so,” she said, smiling.

Julia dropped him off at the dorms. Zack's fantasy would now depart from reality as he waved goodbye to Julia. It was a school night after all. The air had a chill in it, which prompted Zack to hurry inside the lobby of the dorm. A security guard sat behind a desk in between the front doors and the elevators. Zack waved to him and boarded an elevator. It climbed to the sixth floor and opened. He walked down the same familiar hall he did every day to his room.

The entire distance was covered in the blink of an eye, as his mind was constantly reviewing the events of that evening. It was only nine o'clock, and he'd have a few more hours of whirling thoughts before falling asleep. As he opened the door, he heard the noise of paper scratching along the floor tile.

Zack looked down, and another piece of paper had been placed underneath his door. He quickly closed the door behind him and picked it up. Zack was intrigued once again. It read, “Meet at Sam's Sandwiches at zero four hundred hours. Important.” Zack compared the piece of paper to the first one, and they matched. Zack couldn't shake the feeling that he knew something else about the paper, but he couldn't place it.

As for the contents of the note, it was an absurd request. While there was no official curfew, that didn't stop the police from picking up anyone who was out past midnight. Worse yet, they would detain those they picked up since not obligated to give them transportation to their home, and then charge a detainment fee. It was a crooked fund raising practice, disguised as making the streets safer.

Not only that, but Zack considered the nature of the first note, which had an address of an anti-magic fundamentalist website. It seemed likely to him that whoever it was could want to do him harm. While this made Zack uneasy, it only gave him more reason to investigate. If they wanted to harm Zack, then perhaps they would also try the same on Julia. His decision to meet with this stranger was an easy one. Zack pulled a thin binder he kept hidden under his mattress. On the front it said simply “Combat”. He opened it and began to study the layouts of the spells it contained. Page by page he memorized them. The binder had become a small secret side-project of his. He felt in his gut that he needed to be prepared to use all aspects of magic.

Zack set his alarm for 3:30 and went to bed. He cleared his mind of all thoughts. As he closed his eyes, he felt the eyes upon him. All went dark. The sound of synthetic ringing woke him from his slumber. Zack's eyes had glazed over, he rubbed at them for a few minutes while getting his thoughts in order. He was starting to have second thoughts about his adventure. He pushed them aside and got dressed.

Zack carefully prowled outside the dorm, since it was past midnight, there was no security guard, and only residents of the dorm could get back in via key. It had gotten noticeably colder since his date with Julia, but Zack had not thought to bring a jacket. He regretted it every step he took. He didn't have a vehicle, but lucky for him Sam's was just a block off campus. Carefully he stalked down the street, keeping close to buildings and shrubbery in hopes that it would provide him with some concealment.

By the time he arrived at Sam's, his nose had started running from the chilly air. Each small gust of wind caused him to shiver suddenly. It was then that he caught a glimpse of a man seated on the ground, up against the building. Zack approached slowly, and the man raised up his hand, and made two quick motions beckoning him closer. Despite this, Zack continued moving slowing, closing in on the mysterious man. Zack positioned himself against the same wall as the man, keeping three meters between them.

“Sit,” the man uttered, his voice hollow, but youthful and smooth.

“I will stand,” Zack said firmly, but not so smoothly, his slight shivering affecting his speech. “I'm here, what do you want?”

“Ah,” the man said. “I didn't realize it was this cold out. You think my intentions are malicious don't you?”

“Given that website it seemed very possible,” Zack replied.

“Good,” the man said. Zack puzzled at this. “The world is much more dangerous than you can know, I would suggest you always be on your guard.”

“Right, well that certainly puts me at ease,” Zack said sarcastically. Though in reality his nervousness had subsided somewhat. “I came here despite possible police harassment and now a cold, don't let me down.”

The man grinned. “I contacted you because I found your notebook in class one day. Yes. I go to the school in a manner of speaking. You implied in your notes that you could evoke what others can not. Is that the case?”

Zack ignored the question and thought about that notebook. He now realized that the man had torn out small pieces of it to use as notes to him. He remembered losing it, but it was near the end of last semester, so he had not thought much about it. “What is it you want? Maybe let me in on that and I will feel a bit more comfortable answering questions.”

“I'm a historian, Zack,” the man said. “The past is a very puzzling thing to us historians. I imagine it's puzzling for everyone, but society has come up with lots of interesting ideas to smooth out the rough edges. Unfortunately I don't have that luxury. To get to the point, the history of mankind simply makes no sense.”

The man paused for a few moments, perhaps collecting his thoughts. “There are so many artifacts, books, and arts from over seven hundred years ago. It's amazing, it really is. As you know, none of the books are about that civilization. Cook books, poem collections, self-help, and arts and crafts instructions. We've learned more about the past from recovered music than from books.”

“The strange thing is,” he continued, “There seems to be a distinct pattern of inconsistencies in material written within the last seven hundred years. There are obscure words in the an old dictionary. Like the word “war”. There has been no such event since the blackout period. I do not understand the existence of a word for an event that has never occurred. Other words have similar issues. Last year I read a book about how to properly judge champagne. That book no longer exists. I was able to find other instances of vanishing books. I picked up a new dictionary today. 'The complete English language' is it's title. The word war is not in it.”

“That's very intriguing, but where do I fit in?” Zack asked.

“I feel as if the last pieces left of a giant puzzle are slowly disappearing. I believe it to be the work of a saboteur. Someone is manipulating things. I have studied magic for the solution, to somehow recover our history,” the man sighed. “I cannot cast a cantrip to save my life. There is a spell that allows viewing the past though. Several versions of it in fact. However, the only school that has not forbidden it is the one right here, the Academy of Arcane Efficacy. It was only discovered about a hundred years ago. The power of the spell determines how far back one can view, and to my dismay no one can cast it in an eight-rune formation. In another hundred years, it will require a nine-rune formation to see past our dark period.”

“Oh, I see now. I'm supposed to somehow do what no one else can,” Zack finished.

“Precisely,” the man said eagerly. “I need you to cast it as an eight-rune spell. But be warned, I have the distinct feeling there are those that do not want such a thing to occur. No one would so carefully manipulate history in order to have it all be reversed by a single spell.”

“How am I going to get this spell in the first place?” asked Zack.

“Soon professor Rellerton will cast it and allow your class to view the past, somewhat recent past that is. It is at that time that you must take the initiative, and tear this thing wide open.”

Zack shivered a bit. “I am not sure I want any part of this. I am doing well here, I like the present, and so I'm not so sure I want to risk my neck for the past.”

“There are greater things at stake here than comfortability Zack,” the man said.

“I will consider it. If you want to talk again, just knock next time,” Zack turned to start walking home. He stopped and turned around, “What do I call you?”

“You can call me Sam,” he replied.

Zack would have told him it was nice to meet him, except it was nothing of the sort. He hid his distress at what Sam had said. He nodded and began stalking back to the dormitory. Zack shivered as he walked, but not from the cold. He had never tried to cast either a seven or an eight rune spell before. His fear of failure was only dwarfed by his fear of success. If the past had been so neatly hidden from humanity, then perhaps it was for good reason. A phrase entered Zack's mind over and over. “Let sleeping dragons lie.” Like the pieces of paper shoved under his door, that phrase felt familiar.

Zack had lied to Sam though. He did not particularly like the present. He felt like a tree which had it's roots cut, but due to unseen tending continues to live. It was a subtle and deeply seated kind of despair. He could see it existed in others too. Eventually, there would be no dark times, it would be so far removed from the present day that it seemed only a curiosity of the world. That day, it was real. Zack could not imagine what it must have been like a few hundred years ago, when such lack of history must have bewildered people constantly.

It was from this seed of despair the conviction to find the past grew. He reached the dorms without incident. In his room, he hid his spell binder under the mattress again. He had to hide it. To view magic as a tool for more than learning and building was frowned upon, and he most likely would be removed from the school for treating it as a weapon. He walked to his desk and slid open the top drawer, revealing another binder. This one much larger with several tabs describing the spell designs they contained.

While much more suitable for a student, the last tab was misleading. It read “Miscellaneous” when it contained that category plus a number of spells that could help him evoke. Each one by itself seemed to be very minor, and it probably did not occur to anyone to use them together to increase one's ability to concentrate, visualize, or maintain the stamina needed for repeated tries. Zack worried that he could be considered a cheater as far as his evocation exams were concerned if someone could put together what he was doing with those spells. In truth, he would never cheat, it was not even a question of morals, but the simple fact that he would never need to.