The Found Wizard

         The year is 3864 A.D. and the planet earth has been ravaged by war and an unnatural blight. In 3862 A.D, an advanced alien race named the Alino appeared to make first contact and began to dominate this sector of the Milky Way galaxy. The negotiation of surrender did not go smoothly and eventually the fighting had started slowly but eventually took over the whole northern hemisphere of the planet earth. Day by day the Alino would further their front lines. On the brink of extinction, as a last ditch effort the human race made a final push to pierce the front lines and gain access to the Alino's ships. With their determination they were able to take an unknown Alino ship and launch.

         "Captain, we have multiple inbounds!"

         "Raise shields and target the repeater on the starboard of the Class-C dreadnought." With a quick maneuver of the fingers, the captain starts imputing multiple combinations on to a strange blue tinted fluorescent see-through heads up display. "Where is Renc? Tell him we need him at hall 4-C for a breach!"

         "- there - Alino combat - section -! We - help!"

         "Lieutenant, scan all sections for unnatural life signs. There should be irregular heartbeats coming from them."

         After a few seconds three bright red flashing lights start flashing and then the alarms start up. Multiple impacts are heard throughout the ship as multiple radio transmissions start coming in about multiple impact sites and breaches in the hull of the ship. "Captain, we have found the Alinos in section C-2! There are already two teams engaged in combat with 13 casualties reported."

         "Good, send in Klaustin's team. Hopefully he will be able to push them back. If not, God save us all..."

Someplace else in the ship...

         "Klaustin, you are instructed to proceed to section C-2 and engage hostiles. There should be a room next to the hall. We need you to check it out, there are abnormal power readings coming from there. That will be your main objective."

         "Copy that. Team move out, Jen I need you to take point." Klaustin starts giving hand signals to the team and they obey without question. "Command, what is the sitrep on the hostiles?"

         "Reports indicate there are now 23 with five confirmed kills. Two more drop ships are approaching."

         Klaustin and his team approach the battle in section C-2. "Dren, give us cover fire!" Klaustin darts across the hall into a room marked with a couple of strange symbols. "Command, we have engaged the enemy and I am in the room. There are multiple active consoles here each with unreadable symbols flashing on the screen."

         "Klaustin - touch - button"

         "Copy that command." Klaustin reaches over and touches a button that lies in the middle of the screen.

-Beep-

         As Klaustin's finger hits the orb shaped button, a pulse of electricity starts to run up his arm disabling all of his movements. Sounds start to fade from the room and ship, the light and images of the room fade away to a black nothingness. Slowly, color starts to form and take shape; bits of blue and green start forming bottle shapes while shades of all colors form into a room around him. Few minutes pass and Klaustin is still paralyzed standing in what looks like an empty bar. Klaustin moved his left hand; a hard tingle pulses up the ulnar nerve and ends with a sharp pain in his elbow and shoulder.

         "What the heck just happened? Where am I? I have never seen this place before." He mumbled to himself, still trying to clear his head.

         The door to the room flew open. Klaustin watches as droves of people start to fill the room. They start to gather around the tables and to partake of the food that still lies upon the counters and tables. The once quite bar is now filled with people laughing and slapping each other on the back while drinking and eating, they pay no heed to Klaustin. Klaustin walks over to a burly looking fellow that is wearing a pair of light brown worn out pants covered in grime. He put his hand out tentatively to touch the man, but as he reached forward he gasped as his hand passed through the man's body. Shocked at the unnerving event Klaustin stepped back and stumbled through a waitress.

         "What the-?" The waitress continued to serve her drinks.

         "I should take a look around this place." Klaustin walks outside and was shocked to be greeted by a lively street of merchants peddling their goods.

         "Five dronirs for a fine crafted quilt! It's made with the best craftsmanship! 120 thread count, you couldn't find a better quilt anywhere in the land!" a merchant screams at travelers passing by. As Klaustin walks by him, "You, fine lad, I can tell by your exquisite clothes that you could use this fine quilt to furnish your home! Since I like you so much I will sell you it for three dronirs!"

         Surprised and bewildered Klaustin says, "You can see me?"

         "Of course I can lad! You are apparent as day! Did you think you could slip by Abardon's eye?" without waiting for a reply, "I didn't think so! "

         Klaustin walks up to the merchant and attempts to touch his hand but to no avail, his hands just go right through. "Very interesting skill you have there, lad. Tell me, what is your name?"

         "I am Klaustin from the resistance."

         "Ha! Resistance, there hasn't been one of those since the last time I was born! Tell you what lad, come with me. I'm heading to the next city to peddle my goods. It would be great to have company! You might even be able to ask the Arch Mage that resides in that town if he could fix you."

         "Wait, but I have to get-" when he suddenly gets cut off mid-sentence by some soldiers passing by talking loudly. Klaustin looks to the soldiers who seem to be wearing full plate-mail armor, with swords strapped to their sides. Klaustin turns back only to find an empty spot where the merchant was when a whistle sound starts coming from the alleyway to the right. Klaustin heads to the alleyway and upon entering it he sees the merchant crouched down with a pack on his back and a giant ostrich looking creature which is carrying multiple bags upon its back.

         "Well let's head off, I think that this place is going to be getting quite unfriendly." The merchant turns around and leads the bird off towards a gate. Not knowing what to do Klaustin quickly follows after him hoping that the Arch Mage will help him return.

         Klaustin and Abardon leave the city and are now riding on a cart that is strapped onto the Abardon's bird. They set out on the expansive desert on the off beaten path. Klaustin looks at Abardon and only now starts to realize his features, as Abardon finishes off a pastry he then proceeds to wipe his hands on his dirty shirt and pants that are clearly too long for him. He scratched his head where white flakes of dandruff fell from the greasy coarse brown hair with parts starting to fade to white. "Tell me, uh, Abardon was it? Well let me ask you this, why are you helping me?"

         "Well, lad, I figure that you need to go to the city of Abysi and I need a traveling companion. You can't hold a sword or cast spells, I don't think, so besides that I can't really think of any other use for you. When I first saw you I thought you had odd clothing on, with the robe and all." As soon as Abardon had said that, Klaustin looked down and found himself in a fine silk dark blue robe.

         "Maybe I took someone else's place in this world?" Klaustin thought to himself.

         "This trip is going to take some time, a day or two, so we should set up camp up here in the ruins." Upon taking residence at the large ruins a sandstorm starts to set in. "Watch out, sandstorms are a bad omen."

         Night has come and with it, the creatures of the night. Klaustin is woken up by the sounds of something. "What was that?"

         "Ah, I see you are up. Those are the sounds of the Nentil men. They are men that have been experimented on with magic. They feast on mana for food. Judging by your skill set, you are either pure mana or using quite a bit. It is attracting them to us." Abardon starts to stand up and walks over to his bird to pull out a small sword that is large compared to him. "Quick lad, find some way to protect yourself! They will be on us in no time."

         Klaustin stands up and looks around in confusion. What could he possibly pick up? His hands just go through everything he touches. He then has in idea, "Abardon! Earlier you were talking about spells or something like that? If they are like the spells I have heard of, they can help us defend our camp!"

         "Bah! I don't know a thing about spells or magic! I'm not a mage, I'm just a merchant! Go flail your arms around and start shouting gibberish. That might save you." As Abardon finishes his sentence big black creatures come bounding down the dunes. "Get ready for them!" The first one to reach them is quickly hacked down with a swift cut from Abardon's small sword. "Don't just stand there, do something!"

         "What could I possibly do? Whatever!" Klaustin starts throwing his arms around hoping for some miracle to happen. Suddenly he starts to see something, what looks like an elderly man has appeared before him and is slowly walking towards him. He has a blue glowing aura around him. "Who could that be?" flows through Klaustin's mind with waves of panic not far behind.

         "Klaustin, I see you are finally here. Quite a bit of trouble your magic is causing, eh? Fear not, I shall teach you something you must have forgotten. Repeat after me and copy my motions." The elderly man starts to do some intricate finger movements which Klaustin starts to copy but not as refined. "Nyen-odo" the elderly man says.

         As he is still copying the movements he looks around to find that all time has stopped. Abardon has his sword half-way through a Nentil man while another one is coming up behind him. Klaustin points his hand motions towards the Nentil man that is approaching behind Abardon. "Nyen-odo" Klaustin shouts. Suddenly all time resumes and a ball of fire appears out of thin air. Klaustin can feel the heat of the scorching fire in his hands. He throws the fireball like he would a rock. The fireball shoots out of his hands at a high speed nailing the Nentil man in the side and incinerating a hole through its side.

         Abardon in surprise looks at Klaustin and yells, "Run you fool!" and throws his sword past Klaustin. Klaustin turns to find a Nentil man impaled by the sword with its claws about to tear Klaustin to bits. "You are lucky that I had enough time to throw that or else you would be dead. What was that back there? You said you didn't know magic! I guess it doesn't matter, thank you for saving me."

         "I swear I had no clue, an old man appeared and taught me how to do that. I had no clue I could do that and no problem." After saying this, Klaustin goes over to one of the dead Nentil men to inspect him. He looks nothing like a human, more like a giant black yeti. Its claws are sharp as a phase-blade and it stands at least 8-9 feet tall and is covered in thick black hair. There doesn't seem to be any face visible; maybe it doesn't see with its eyes? "Abardon, why do these things have no face? I thought they were men that were maybe infused with this element you call magic. They look like something out of a bad nightmare."

         "Aye, they are not very pretty and they are human but you would be surprised what magic could do to a person. We are just lucky it was just a scouting party. In the main group there are over 60 of them that hunt. They do not like the sunlight so their home must be pretty close since it just turned night." Abardon says as he starts to roll up his bedroll to pack away. "I think we should head on a little bit away from this place. It's not safe to rest here."

         Klaustin and Abardon start to travel on to see more decrepit ruins that seem to have an ominous aura coming from them, Nentil men by chance? Hours pass and they are coming upon the small town of Scith. "Klaustin, I will say this once. Beware the men in dark green hooded robes; they cause trouble for all around." Abardon whispers as they are now entering Scith.

         "Ha, look at this guy will ya, Finn. He is obviously a foreigner! Get out of you here you peddler!" yells one of the hooded men sitting at a nearby table.

         Another hooded man walks up to Abardon and says, "Pay no heed to those fools. They are normally pretty tame. I see that you are a merchant of sorts. Do you by chance have any fire salts? I'm running pretty low and we haven't been getting many merchants. Those cursed Nentil men and scaring away all of them."

         "Ah, fire salts, eh? I think I have some here." Abardon says while probing his bag on the ostrich. "Here we are; fine quality fire salts. That will be 2 dronirs."

         "2 dronirs? Ha! What a good man, here you go!" the hooded man then proceeds to hand Abardon 2 dronirs. "It has been quite a pleasure to do business with you!" the man says while walking back to the table.

         "Abardon, what are fire salts? I have never heard of them." Klaustin inquires while they continue on towards a large house that looks to be made out of dark yellow clay.

         "My good lad, they are nothing you want to be involved in. They are a drug that gives the user a pleasurable, for some, tingling hot feeling all over their body. Most large cities ban the use of it but these smaller towns allow it. When the people are happy, the government and town is happy. Now let's head inside and get some rest. We might be able to make it to Abysi tomorrow."

         With rooms paid for, both retire to their rooms. "Wow, I have never seen anything like this!" Klaustin says under his breath as he enters the room that is covered in blue and yellow silk. "It's amazing! I don't think I have slept on a real bed in over 2 years! How was Abardon able to afford this?"

         The day and night pass by uneventful. The sun is rising just as Abardon and Klaustin set off to Abysi. 14 hours later they arrive in Abysi. It is a town that has many high towers with rings floating and rotating around the tops. The whole city is covered in a blue translucent dome that has intricate runes covering a majority of it. Some of the runes look familiar to Klaustin. Upon entering the city, Abardon says, "Well, we are here! For the Arch Mage just go into the tower at the middle. I will see you later I hope. Good luck on your travels to your home."

         "Bye, Abardon, thank you for all you have done!" Klaustin yells as he waves while walking away. "Now, where was the tower I was supposed to go to? Middle of the city or something like that?" Klaustin proceeds to walk towards the center tower that extends far higher than any of the others.

         "Come one, come all! Today I shall show you a very fine intricate piece of armor. It has the ability to let you see the dead!" a merchant standing on a small crate yells to the crowd that is gathering around him.

         "Ha, seeing the dead? I wouldn't believe you even if you paid me! Get out of here you fraud!" an angry spectator bellows out while throwing an apple at the merchant.

         "I shouldn't get involved with this, it could mean bad news and I want to go see the Arch Mage." Klaustin mutters to himself while he strolls away. After weaving his way through the crowd, Klaustin finally arrives at the steps of the gigantic tower. Upon entering, he is greeted by a strange creature that looks like a pile of rocks arranged in the form of a human. "I'm here to meet the Arch Mage."

         The golem starts to motion him to follow. Klaustin obeys and both of them walk to some stairs and up them. They continues down some halls and through some rooms until reaching the final destination which is a giant door that is made of some sort of green glass that has gold etchings in it. Klaustin pushes the door open and in the room are different varieties of plants and some paintings. Sitting in the middle of the room is a desk with stacks of paper all over of it. The chair behind the desk is facing away. In a familiar voice, "So you made it, that's great. We can begin." The chair starts to swivel around to face Klaustin.

         "What? You are just a merchant! Why are you here?" Klaustin says in amazement to Abardon who is now dressed up in extravagant robes that are rimmed with blue lacing.

         "Ah, lad, I am no mere merchant but the Arch Mage and I also love to travel around selling magical items. The quilt I was selling was not ordinary quilt. It was an enchanted quilt that has the ability to add more years to your life every time you slept on it. I assume you are here so that you may return to your own world?"

         "Yes, please send me back! There is a battle going on that I need to help with!"

         "Very well, I shall cast a spell on you. First you must know that it has been over 200 years since you were there. Everything that you know has been changed. With this spell I am going you cast you, you will end up wherever you truly want to be." Abardon starts to move his fingers around and chant words that Klaustin cannot make out.

         Klaustin feels a tingling that starts running from the bottom of his body to the top. After it has covered his whole body, it starts to pulsate. Within seconds Klaustin goes limp and everything fades to a black void. Nothing can be heard, seen, or felt.