Still Looking For a Title

Chapter 1

The Decision
         

         Chicago in August is hot. It’s so hot that a lot of guys spend the biggest part of a night in a bar drinking down beer after ice cold beer. For Ian Carr and three of his friends that’s a nightly ritual. They gather at Silky O’Sullivan’s Pub and watch Cubs games, and then cry in their beers when the Cubs lose.
         The only difference so far tonight is that there’s no game on. So they have a few rounds and shoot some pool. Josh Montgomery is blind, so he keeps the waitress entertained and the drinks flowing. Glenn Huskey has never been good at pool so he keeps a close watch on his wallet because Dale DeMarris is good.
         “Three in the side,” he slammed the number three ball into the side pocket so hard Josh flinched. “I swear, sometimes I think you’re just pretending to be blind to pick up chicks.” He was grinning as he lined up his next shot.
         “Well, what does it matter? Every time I pick one up, you tell me how ugly she is.” As Josh finished Dale laughed and missed his shot. “I didn’t hear a ball drop, what’s wrong? Did I figure you out?”
         Glenn took his time lining up his shot while Ian and Josh ordered another round. After losing every game he had ever played to Dale, Glenn was just thankful to get a shot now and then. Once he had let Ian talk him into joining a pool league. That’s where he learned that on a scale of one to five, five being the worst and one being best, the rest of the league had ranked him a six. Still, he loved playing the game. Mostly it was being around his boyhood friends that he liked. He had never met a group of guys that he liked more. He was a contractor, he built houses and other projects people wanted. He didn’t make it to Silky’s every day but he tried, this was his favorite thing in the world to do.
         Ian was a TV producer. The job wasn’t as important as it sounded. Really all he did was tell the interns to get the news anchor some coffee or a pop every now and then, and then complain that the budget wasn’t being followed. The job had no real authority just headaches. He had moved to Chicago with his family when he was in the third grade and hated it immediately. His first day of school was so bad that he almost ran away from the playground. Some older boys had laughed at him and picked on him because of his accent. He was from Kentucky and had a strong southern drawl at just eight years old. Dale, who was bigger than the ten year olds even at eight, had stepped in and punched one of them in the stomach and then in the nose when he doubled over. They had been friends from then on.
         “Hey, you guys seen that ghost show the network has on Sci-Fi? It’s been getting some great ratings. Last week they went to this lighthouse in Maine and got something really creepy on camera.” Every day Ian brought up a different television show that seemed interesting to him that the guys could talk about how they could do a better job making it. “Remember when we were kids and wanted to be real ghost busters?  I bet we could make our own show like those guys on Sci-Fi.”
         “Yeah, we could go over to Lincoln Park and check it out. There have been rumors about ghosts and monsters in there since we were kids. When I was a beat cop I was always being sent down there to check stuff out. There was actually a story about it in the Tribune a few weeks ago. I mean there’s no such thing as ghosts and monsters but it would make for a good story locally. Everyone in Chicago has heard the stories.” Dale was a S.W.A.T. cop for the City of Chicago, and was very down to earth and level headed. He would investigate a haunting fully expecting to have a logical explanation when he was finished.
         As a chemistry teacher, Josh was involved in an accident when one of his students mixed the wrong ingredients during a lab session and lost his sight. No longer able to see the instruments and containers, he took a few classes while he was recovering and became a history teacher instead.
         “Well there are all kinds of legends about the park. There’s supposed to be Satan worshipers there and even some Celts. I bet we could at least find some freaks or teenage punks and scare them to death.” Josh knocked over Dale’s beer while he was reaching for his own. “Hey, moron, you know not to set stuff in my way.”
         “Well if you’d watch what you’re doing. I know you’re not handicapped; you’re just in it for the parking. One of these days I’m gonna give you a ticket.” He drove home the six ball and laughed out loud at Josh and Glenn. “That’s it. Eight ball in the other side.”
         “Ok, I’m in. I can’t take another loss. We won’t find anything there but it’s got to be better than losing all my money and beer to this billiard freak of nature. I’m pretty sure he’s taking HGH.” Glenn ordered the next pitcher, as was the deal. When you lost a game of pool you bought a pitcher for all four of the guys. “So, when are we gonna make this show? I’m off for a few days since we finished a job today. It won’t be as fun and when we wanted to do the reality show to get Josh an assistant. Those Co-Eds where hot.”
         “Come on, what are we gonna do, set up a smoke machine and creepy lights. That’s the only way to get good shots that would work on TV.” Dale was ordering a pizza from the waitress; he always had to have pizza when they were drinking. Silky made the best pizza anywhere, Chicago style of course. “There’s a better chance of seeing the Virgin Mary in my extra cheese than there is a ghost in a park.”
         “Sure there is, but the guys on the show don’t actually get ghost pictures they just get creepy shadows and tree limbs that move and then scare the people watching.” Ian knew the rules when it came to making and entertainment program. They weren’t like a news program, which was supposed to look likable yet professional while delivering the day’s events. In the entertainment industry you had to catch the audience attention at the start and never let it go. “We can get some cameras and lights at the station and set up in no time. There’s a guy down there that’s always looking for something fun to do, I bet I could get him to help since you guys don’t know much about the equipment.”
         “Ok then, let’s do it.” Dale was finally on board, “After my slice.”
         That was it; the four friends had sealed their fate and didn’t know it. The night was about to start. For these friends, a ghost story was about to lead to trip to Hell and back.








Chapter 2

The Descent

         
         They all left the bar, piling in Dales Escalade. They had all given him a hard time about how he could afford such a nice ride on a cop’s salary, when the reality was that he had bought it at a police auction. The SUV had belonged to a drug dealer and was actually full of bullet holes when he got it. He had used his spare time to repair the damage and even customize it. It had hidden police lights and a siren, of course, gut it also had GPS, an in-dash video system, a wireless internet link for him to use to run checks on driver’s license and outstanding warrants, and it even had a hard liner in the rear for Josh’s dog. Dale may have a little fun at Josh’s expense but the comfort and convenience of his friends was very important to him, since he was always with them.
         Traffic was light for this time of night so getting across town only took about hour. They drove over the bridge by the football stadium and took that opportunity to discuss the slim chance the Bears had next season of making it to the Super Bowl. That was a conversation that didn’t last very long.
         After arriving downtown at the station, Ian explained to the night security guard that he was just showing his friends what a real studio looked like and then boarded the elevator. On the fourteenth floor they headed to the end of the hall where the equipment was kept to do remote broadcasts. They gathered the cameras, microphones, and lights they would need, and then Ian went to his office to call Chen.
         “Chen, are you busy tonight?” Ian was checking his e-mail while listening to all the things Chen had planned, which really all just sounded like busy work. “Well I’ve got a project for you if you’ve got the time. After a short explanation Ian hung up the phone and said the cameraman was on the way. Chen Ting was a student at a nearby technical school who was studying television production and broadcasting. Ian said that he was eager to help; he enjoyed doing field work, and was ready for anything.
         “How are we going to get all this stuff down to the van without the watchmen seeing?”  Josh was asking a legitimate question even though he had no intention of carrying anything down the stairs of a building he had never been in and wasn’t familiar with.
         “Maybe we could strap it to Rin Tin Tin.” Dale was the first to answer; he hated that dog because it had bit him once. He was trying to sneak through Josh’s garage to play a prank and the dog tried to protect his master. Since then none of the other three has ever called it by its name, sort of a way to get back at it for biting Dale. All it really did was to confuse him.
         “Or maybe we could get a rickshaw and he could pull all of it and us?” Glenn was always ready to join in on the abuse they gave the dog.
         “You guys need to lay off my dog or he’s gonna get a complex,” Josh was laughing at every word.
         “There’s a service elevator in the back where we take stuff down all the time, we can use that. It goes all the way down to the garage, just around the corner from where we parked.” Ian was giving Chen, who had just arrived, instructions and telling him about what was planned at Lincoln Park.
         
         Once all the equipment was loaded the five men loaded up in the van and Dales SUV. Ian, Chen, and Josh rode in the van and Glenn with Dale. When they pulled out of the parking garage Dale noticed that there were no stars out. It was very hard to see stars in the lights of a city like Chicago anyway, but they could be seen. Since the night was clear and there were no forecasts for bad weather, Dale began to feel a little uneasy. The moon was bright and not blocked in any way, so where were the stars?
         “Ian, is it just me or is it getting colder?” Josh had actually started to shake and was feeling for the handle to roll up the vans window. Ian looked around and Chen was shivering too. This had started out as a hot August night; it just wasn’t supposed to be cold now.
         “Come on guys I know it’s cooled off but it’s not cold.” As he said this he felt a chill. It was cold and he had to admit it. “Well maybe a little.”
         Dale pulled into a gas station and Ian followed. They parked at the pumps and got out. Not saying anything to each other they both paid the pump and began filling up. There was something uneasy in the air but neither wanted to discuss it.
         Back on the road they each felt a little nervous as they turned at the fountain that was the entrance to the park. They parked at a service entrance to an underground maintenance shed and unloaded their equipment. Ian and Chen took a few minutes to check everything over and for Ian to give Chen a few instructions on how he wanted things to look. Then Ian talked to the rest of the guys so they could all decide what they were going to do.
         They came to the conclusion that they needed to set up some “mood lighting” around the entrance while Dale worked on the lock on the door. There was a padlock on the door and he had a set of bolt cutters in his SUV that could cut it off. Some might think it was unusual for a police officer to break into a building like this, but to his friends this was just him being a teenager again. They had all gotten into a lot of trouble once when they broke into their school and spray painted the trophy case.
         “Does the moon look funny to you guys?” Chen was staring at the night sky instead of checking the luminescence reading of the cameras display. If he had, he would have noticed that even in the lights around the shed entrance the picture was dark, almost black. The camera was rolling but not picking anything up.
         “Looks like a moon Chen, but I don’t really have any others to compare it to.” Ian was getting annoyed at his assistant for not paying attention to what he was saying to him.
         When they got in the door and started down the dark stairwell they noticed a faint red glow. Josh’s dog began to seem nervous. Glenn had to help lead Josh down the stairs. Ian and Chen had the cameras rolling already. Dale’s Police instinct took over and he drew his gun. Glenn was the first to notice.
         “What the hell are you doing? Jesus Christ, we aren’t coming down here to kill somebody. Put that thing away.” He understood the need for Dale to carry a gun, even during his off duty time, but guns made him uncomfortable. The sight of his friend, gun drawn, scared him. Especially since there was no need for it, all they were doing was coming down here to film a made up ghost story.
         “Something’s not right down there. I’ve been in here hundreds of times checking for damage or theft after kids got in here and there’s no red lights in the whole shed. Not even flashlights with red lenses.” He motioned for them all to stop walking and be quiet as they got to the bottom of the stairs. “Wait here and let me look around. I’ll use hand signals to tell you what to do and where to go.”
         “I got a hand signal that’ll tell you where to go.” Josh was smiling as he said this and it almost made Dale laugh, but the police officer in him had taken over.
         “Give me Cujo and I’ll see if he can find anything.” He was reaching for the dog’s harness as they heard a moaning sound come from the room ahead. “Never mind the dog, just wait here.”
         He hugged the wall on the right hand side and quickly made his way towards the door. As he got closer he heard what sounded like a low chant coming from inside the room. He peeked around the opening and saw what looked like fifteen people kneeling around an altar. In the middle at the altar was a tall man covered in a black cloak. No, not a cloak shadows. He was covered in shadows. That’s all. Just in bad light.
         Dale walked back down the hall to his friends. Pulling another gun from his ankle holster he handed it to Ian. “There’s some of Josh’s Satan worshippers down there, I think we can scare them and make them leave permanently. That gun’s not loaded, so don’t worry you won’t hurt anyone. I want everyone to follow me in the room. We’re not going to sneak in, we’ll just walk right in and Ian and I will hold our guns on them. Tell them to leave and never come back. It’ll be fun.”
         “Uh, Dale, just one question. How did they get in here if the door was locked?” Glenn was shaking his head in disbelief. They had to still be drunk, or at least have a good buzz on, if they were seriously considering holding guns on innocent people.
         “There has to be another way in or they wouldn’t be in there. Come on this is gonna be fun. It’ll teach them a lesson.” They all walked slowly down the hall and whispered the plan back and forth between each other. As they got to the door they waited to make sure they were all on the same page. They could hear the chants but not understand the words.
         “It’s German; I’m not sure what their saying, but it’s German.” Josh was as good at history as he was at chemistry. He was an expert on the Second World War. If he said it was German then it was. “I know they have a lot of Goths over there but I find it hard to believe they would come all the way to Chicago to worship the devil.”
         “Well, now they can go back to Germany. Let’s go.” They moved in the doorway with Dale and Ian holding their guns high “Don’t move.”
         The man that was covered in shadows turned on the spot. All five friends knew immediately they were in danger. The man was still covered in shadows even though he was in the middle of the room and all the light was shining on him. The worshippers stood and turned toward them. One or two of their robes opened to reveal Nazi uniforms.
         “You’re too late to stop us. It is done. Only one anchor remains.” The shadow man turned his back on them and the whole world went black.











Chapter 3
A Taste of Things to Come

         When they woke up they were in a dark room, so dark they couldn’t see their own hands. They could feel the dirt on the floor and there were rocks on the floor. Not a room. A cave. They were in a cave.
         “Ian, Dale, Glenn you guys O.K.? I can’t find my cane. Guys, you there?” Josh was crawling around on the ground looking for his cane, his dog standing in front of him panting in his face. He raised his head to face the direction of his dog and saw his own face. It was like looking in a mirror. He screamed. A scream woke up the others. A scream that would have woke the dead.
         “What’s wrong? Where are we? Josh is that you? What’s wrong?” It was Ian. He was the first to wake up after Josh. Then Dale and Glenn. Once they were all awake and Josh had calmed down he explained to them that he was having flashes of vision. He also explained how he didn’t think the flashes came from his own eyes but from his dog’s.
         Dale was the first to respond,  “So you’re saying Snoopy really is a seeing eye dog?” He was trying very hard not to laugh because he knew they were in a tight spot and they needed to keep cool. The cave was dark and had a high ceiling that made echoes last, it seemed like, forever. “Josh, there’s no way you can see, you’re blind remember?”
         “I know what I saw damn it! I saw my own face, but from another set of eyes.” Josh was to his feet now. “And I see each of you, just in flashes.”
         “We need some light, Chen see if you can find the camera and turn it on.” No response. “Chen, Chen, you awake yet?”
         “He’s not here Ian. I’ve got the camera hang on.” Glenn flipped on the camera’s spot light and shined it around the room. There was just the four of them. “Maybe he got scared and ran away.’
         “No, he’s a pro. He would have stayed right with me. Something has to have happened to him.” Ian took the camera and was checking the footage so far. He saw the maintenance room and the guys in Nazi clothes in front of the shadow they everything went black. “It stops when we black out. That’s all he got.”
         “Well let’s find a way out of here and see if we can find him.” Dale was walking towards what appeared to be a door. Stone with hinges and a latch, it was definitely a door. All four of them finally got it open and it led to a hallway.
                   The hallway led off in two directions with another door just across from the first. One direction was blocked by rocks that had fallen from the ceiling. The other took a bend about twenty yards down, so the end could not be seen. They decided to try the door to see where it would lead them.
         Inside the other room was a tomb of sorts. What looked like soldiers, or their skeletons were laid out on stone platforms all around the room. Each one still wearing their armor and tabards. Each one still clutching their weapons. Some had shields laying beside their resting place.
         “Let’s see if we can use any of this stuff,” Dale was already sorting through one body and its possessions. “I can use this axe; I used to chop wood for my grandpa when he lived in Sandwich. I always begged him to get a gas furnace.”
         “That’s just because you’re lazy,” said Ian as he was looking at a rusty broadsword. “Hey guys how do I look?” He picked up a shield and held the sword high above his head.
         “Like an idiot. You don’t have any idea how to use that thing.” Glenn was leaning on the blunt end of a pole arm as if he were bored to death.
         “Like you can use that. Just because you saw Jackie Chan use one once, you think you’re an expert.” Ian was annoyed at his friend. None of them could use any of these weapons. There may not even be a need for them, but he wasn’t going out of here unarmed.
         Josh didn’t like any of what he saw and he picked up a stick and joked that he could poke someone’s eyes out. Before they could leave the room though they would have a chance to test these new found weapons. Just as they reached the door they heard the other weapons falling and turned to see the skeletons standing. Shakily at first, then more sure of themselves they started toward the group of four. The ones still with weapons and shields raised them to attack. There had never been a more frightening sight in the entire world.
         Ian and Glenn tried to open the door with no success. Dale being the monster of a man that he was ran toward the skeletons swinging his axe. Catching one in the mid section it fell to pieces immediately. Another blocked the blow with his shield and pivoted on the spot hitting Dale on the back with the pommel of his sword knocking him to his knees. Raising the sword high above his head the skeleton was about to behead Dale when he was engulfed in a flame like a flamethrower from the end of Josh’s stick.
         “How the hell did that happen?” It was Josh who had asked the question. The rest of them were stunned. They had never seen real magic before and weren’t sure they had seen it now. “I couldn’t even see what I was aiming at. All I saw was the skeleton for a second and then I pointed the stick and then it was black then fire then black again.”
         “Well next time let the dog aim so you don’t barbeque me.” Dale was to his feet and fighting another skeleton. Glenn and Ian were both fighting the same one and Josh’s dog found a nice big bone and was growling to show it was his.
         A skeleton was slammed against the door and it opened. The four men each noticed the open door and made their way toward it. Three skeletons blocked it. Four more came up behind them. They were surrounded. Glenn grabbed the dog by the harness and spun around on the spot in a full circle. Each skeleton was knocked sprawling to the floor. At this site all four men couldn’t help but laugh. Not knowing what they had gotten themselves into, the site of a Seeing Eye dog being used as a weapon was just too much.
         “What was that?” asked Dale
         “Oh, I was just having a look around.” said Glenn with a dry tone. They all couldn’t help but laugh again.
         After getting out of the room they prepared themselves for more skeletons to attack. But as they came out the door they began to fall apart. They didn’t get more than five or six feet past the door. The spell that had them bewitched was only good inside their tomb.
         Once they realized the danger had passed for the time, they began to search the hallway ahead. After the bend it stretched on for about thirty yards before ending in another door. Ian had gone back to the room they woke up in and got the video camera. It had a light on it and was small enough to carry without slowing them down. Shining the camera up and down the walls of the hallway they concluded that the door was all there was to check out. Along the way they noticed notches in the walls Josh told them were for torches to be lined up and lit.
         Through the door was a staircase that led up. Beams of what appeared to be sunlight could be seen halfway up the stairs. This was a welcome site to t he group since they thought they might die in the cave and tunnels. The stairs seemed to be carved out of solid stone and there were notches in the walls every few feet just like in the hallway. The walls were smoothed out and there were hints of some type of painting on them. Whether or not this was for decoration or something else could never be known since almost all of it looked like it had long since faded.
         Ian was trying to get a signal on his cell phone to check in with the studio and see if Chen had returned. He had no bars and the battery was getting low. He decided to try the GPS feature on his phone before it went completely dead. When he turned on the feature he was not surprised to find out that it could not sync with the satellite. He would have to try it outside if he hoped for it to work.
         At the top of the stairs was a large alcove. It looked like it had also been carved out of the rock. It was large enough for maybe thirty or forty people to stand in and be able to take shelter from a rainstorm. A pathway led from the entrance of the alcove to a wider road. It looked as though a mid size truck or SUV could fit in the middle with no room for anything else to pass it. At the intersection of the pathway and road was a large rock that might have been a road sign or mile marker or even both. On the rock sat, oddly enough, an Indian.






























Chapter 4
A Whole New World
         
         “Maybe we should ask him what’s going on.” Glenn was leaning on his weapon again not really sure of what else to do or where to go. The others were watching the Indian with a little nervousness about approaching him. He seemed friendly enough. When they had first noticed him he waved and smiled their way. He didn’t seem to be armed with any weapons like they themselves were carrying. “You think?”
         “What if he’s got a gun?” asked Ian.
         “I’ve got a gun.” said Dale.
         “Yeah but what if there’s more people out there waiting for us?” Ian was trying to come up with any excuse not to talk to the old man. He was sure he wouldn’t like what the guy had to say.
         “We can’t stay here forever and I sure don’t want to go back in there.” Glenn pointed toward the door and shook his head.
         “Ok, we talk to him.” Ian motioned for the others to head down the path. “Nobody litter.”
         As they approached the man he raised his hand in greeting. They saw that he was old. Probably eighty-five or even older. He seemed in good shape for his age though. He didn’t have a cane or anything else that he used to walk with. He seemed muscular. His eyes were narrowed and no doubt sharp as a hawk. He had silver black hair with feathers hanging in it. He looked like a true Indian.
         “How paleface.” He said with a wide grin. “That is how your elves speak isn’t it?”
         “Elves? What are you talking about? Can you tell us what’s going on here and where we are?” Josh was the first to speak to the man. The others just stared in amusement. They had never seen a real Indian before and for him to say what he had was just funny.
         “Well that all depends. I’m talking about elves, the elves where you come from. And as to where you are, well, where do you think you are?” He seemed friendly and playful, but showed a hint of impatience.
         “We were in Lincoln Park, but this doesn’t really seem like Lincoln Park. So, I would have to say… we don’t know.” Josh was showing his own impatience. They had gone into a maintenance shed at about two o’clock in the morning and came out of a cave at what felt like four or five in the afternoon. They were all confused and didn’t want to play games.
         “You’re not there. I dare say you are nowhere near there, or even Chicago. Actually you’re not even in your own world anymore. So, if you have time, and I’m willing to bet you have loads of time now, pull up some dirt and have a seat. Believe me; you’ll want to hear this.” A seriousness came into his voice that made them nervous.
         “We certainly don’t have time for this. We need to know where we are so we can arrange for someone one to come get us. When we come up missing our families and jobs are going to come looking. So, if you know anything, just tell us and we can be on our way.” Dale was putting on his cop face now and showing his authority.
         “Then sit down and I’ll tell you. What’s so hard about that? You’re going to enjoy this. Or, I don’t know maybe you won’t. Come on, sit. You four are the best chance we have. I’ll start at the beginning.” He pulled a crystal from his pocket and held it to the sun. The beams that refracted from the crystal blinded the four and even the dog turned his head. 
         “If we sit will you tell what we want to know?” Josh was trying to keep calm and keep Dale calm as well.
         “Probably not, but I will tell you what you need to know.” The Indian was trying to remain playful while letting them know how serious he was. “This will take a while. I’ve got a whole world of history to catch you up on.”
         Figuring he would get any answers unless he did what he was asked Josh sat down on the ground next to his dog. The other three followed suit. The ground was surprisingly soft. Instead of grass there was moss all over that had grown from some trees that had fallen and taken over the small corner by the road. The Indian looked as though he was deciding where to begin.
         “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….”
         “Wait, what? You’ve got to be kidding.” Ian was the ultimate Star Wars fan, no matter how much he liked the story though this wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
         “Yeah, I am. Just trying to soften the blow.”
         “Well don’t. Just get on with it.”
         “O.k. My name is Tulean Wekad. I am an elf; in your world you would call me an Indian. I am one of four people in this world called Keepers. We watch the anchors and keep the story alive so we can tell the defenders how they came to be and what needs to be done.” He could tell that they were lost. “You don’t understand do you? You’re the defenders. Eons ago, when the multiverse was young, this world had two schools of learning. The first school was magic; there were academies where children with an affinity towards magic would be sent to learn how it’s done. The children who seemed better with the sciences were sent to those schools. It all worked very well.”
         “Yeah, except there’s no such thing as magic. Where’s the peace pipe old man? That stuff’s illegal.” Dale was not buying into any of the story. Tulean decided to help himself along and he held out his hand with the crystal in it. He opened his hand and the crystal rose into the air a few inches. The men were dumbfounded. Just as Dale was about to say something the crystal flew out of Tulean’s hand and hit him in the forehead.
         “Is that magic enough for you? Now don’t interrupt me again. There’ll be time for Q & A after the story. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, anyway, these schools made very valuable wizards, witches and the like, but also great scientists, inventors, and even engineers. We had the best of both worlds. Actually that’s where that expression would eventually come from.  O.k. on with it. There were a few who learned both schools and became too powerful.”
         The afternoon sun seemed to disappear behind a black veil. Everything was dark and what looked like stars began to swirl around in the air between Tulean and his audience. As they watched, the stars began to coalesce into images of people. They were working in labs, both chemistry and alchemy. Some were working with tools and some with books.
         Many were working for the good of the people in the villages. There were hospitals, schools, water treatment centers, and sorts of different facilities that made life easier and better. Life seemed to be good for the people. Each house had a garden and a yard for the children to play in.
         In dark corners of the scenes before them people seemed to vanish. Buildings caught fire with no explanation. Plagues began to sweep the lands. Tales of hooded figures that came into the villages at night and watched through windows as people slept became common place. A fear covered the world like a blanket. No one knew where it came from. Tales of forbidden experiments in the school of magic began spread through the villages.
         Some of the teachers were using tracking spells on transport caravans. Students were being put in special classes where they were taught to use dark magic. They weren’t trouble makers. They were very gifted students who had a hunger for knowledge. A hunger that clouded their judgment. They learned magic that would allow then to control the minds and bodies of other people. Magic that could change the world.
         Still more rumors of the school of science troubled the villagers. The teachers at the school were worried about two of their own. Elias Kinkain and Celowin Jones were teaching their students engineering as well as strategy and battle tactics.  In their engineering classes the students were learning how to design missiles and cannons. The teachers said it was all in the name of science and self defense. The other students and teachers wondered who they were defending against.
         When magic was used to increase the explosive powers of rockets and bombs some began to realize what was really happening. They also began to realize it may be too late to stop the teachers. Fear kept them from speaking out against what was going to happen.
         As they sat and watched helplessly, strange machines crept across the land. Mechanical men and men in mechanical suits that bore weapons of great power that seemed to draw their energy from the magical realm itself. A never ending power source for these Mechs meant they were almost unstoppable.
         When the war finally began to rage fully, the wizards and scientists felt that all was lost before it began. The rogue teachers were winning battle after battle and enslaving the people of each village, forcing the populace to build even more suits and artificial men. They worked many of the people to death, assembling the weaponry and transporting the equipment across the land to begin yet more battles.
         The elders of all the villages that survived and the leaders of all the branches of schools gathered in the small town of Setesh. Once hidden away in some underground tunnels they began to devise a plan to end all of the madness that had taken the land by storm. The only true answer they could conceive was to separate science and magic forever. The only way they could figure to do such a momentous task was to separate the world into two and lodge them permanently in two separate dimensions.
         A few weeks later they were ready to try the spell that they believed would save them all. The teachers never knew what was about to happen. And to keep them from finding out the elders sent four heroes to keep them distracted. They waged battle for nine days. Only barely standing from fatigue and injury. Magic spells and potions kept them going.
         On the ninth day, at mid afternoon, the ground began to rumble. The sky became black, but with no stars. There was a rip in space. A rip so large it took up the whole sky. All the combatants stopped and stared in awe at what they were seeing. The battle was over, though no one knew it had ended.
         The suits and mechanical men all slumped in the field of combat. The men inside the suits screamed in horror as they realized they could no longer move. A light began to glow from the mechs. Then without warning the machinery was gone. The men in the suits stood exposed and powerless. It was all over.
         The designers of this war were hunted down and arrested. Tried and convicted for crimes against humanity. There was only magic now. No science. But the elders promised that if anyone ever found away to undo what they had done, the four heroes would return to stop them and protect all of reality.
         “So, there you have it. Fast forward a few zillion years and here you are. The heroes, although, I had hoped you all could see. But, nevertheless, here you are.”