The Unsuspecting Mage (3 page)

Looking through the material on a nearby table, James fails to find anything of interest, so he crosses the room to the table next to the door marked
Private
. Lying atop the other reading material sits a small brown book with a peculiar design inscribed in gold leaf upon the cover. Intrigued, he picks up the book but quickly reflexively lets it go when the contact results in a shock of static electricity. The book hits the edge of the table and tumbles to the floor where it lands on its edge, a piece of paper slips out.

The paper is folded in half. When he picks it up and opens it, discovers a brief message.

James picks up the book and looks at it with increased interest. He turns to Dave and shows him the book and letter. “Look at this.” When Dave joins him, he hands him the letter. While Dave reads, James says, “That’s a dumb way to start an interview. What if I had never found the piece of paper? I could’ve been sitting out here for a long time!”

Dave looks up from the letter and shrugs. “You’re right. This guy must be some kind of an eccentric or something. In the ad, he mentioned role playing games. Maybe in his mind this is some kind of test.”

Nodding agreement, James sits in one of the chairs and opens the book to the first page.

Underlying Principles of Magic

Looking up from the book, James turns to his friend. “Unless I am mistaken, this book is going to explain the workings of a magic system. Not Houdini type, but more along the lines of Merlin or Gandalf. It’s talking about using the power within you to manipulate the world around you.”

“Weird. This guy must be a nut,” Dave jokes.

“Yeah, but character or not, a job’s a job.” Turning back to the book, James finishes the first page quickly. Closing the book, he climbs to his feet and the vampiric bats return in full measure. He glances to the door marked
Private
and almost fails to go through with this as he’s never been one to initiate contact with anybody. Sighing, he turns to his friend. “Wish me luck.”

“Luck!” replies Dave, giving his friend an encouraging thumb’s up.

Slinging his backpack over his shoulder he gathers his courage, tucks the book under his arm and heads for the door. Pausing momentarily, he takes a few deep, soothing breaths to calm his nerves, then opens the door and steps through.

The crunch of dried leaves beneath his foot, coupled with the scene before him brings him to a stunned, and sudden stop.

A meadow nestled within a forest of trees stretches out before him. Birdsong fills the air and the wafting of a gentle breeze only adds to the impossible scene. Off to his right warbles a babbling brook that cuts its way through the heart of this pastoral scene.

He remains rooted in dumbfounded shock as his brain tries to make sense of what he’s seeing. Turning around to ask Dave if he’s hallucinating or what, he receives another shock upon discovering that instead of the doorway he had just passed through, a stand of trees rise majestically to the sky not ten feet away.

Did I just cross over into the Twilight Zone?

Unable to believe what his own eyes are telling him, he rubs them and then looks around the clearing again as he works to make sense of it. Trees swaying in the gentle breeze; birds soaring against the backdrop of blue sky above; and the soft trickling melody of the stream as it makes its way across the meadow to disappear within the trees on the far side give this place a surreal feel.

Movement out of the corner of his eye draws his attention to the far side of the stream near a fallen log at the edge of the forest. What he sees nearly convinces him that he’s lost his mind. For sitting atop the log is a strange little creature; about four and a half feet in height with skin a dark-greenish color. Wearing a blue vest and a crazy felt hat, it looks out of place in such a surreal scene as this. Intelligence peers out from behind eyes of yellow and they’re looking right at James.

I’m having a hallucination. This can’t be real!

Unsure what to do, he walks through the grass of the meadow toward the creature. He pauses at the stream in wary apprehension when he sees the creature hop off the log and get to its feet. When no hostile action is forthcoming, he leaps across the water and walks the few remaining feet until he’s standing before the creature. Staring into those yellow eyes nearly unnerves James completely. Somehow, he summons the courage to say, “Hello.”

To his utter astonishment the creature replies with a coherent “Hello.”

James’ eyes widen in surprise. “You can talk?”

Putting hands on hips, the creature’s expression transforms into one that could only be considered sour. “Of course I can talk. Any intelligent creature can talk. But not many have anything worthwhile to say.”

Before James can get out his next question, the creature says, “
Where am I?
Was that to be your next question? You’re not where you started out, boy. My master has set me here to get you started and that is all I intend to do. I am not here to hold your hand or wet-nurse you, do you understand?” The creature gives him an intent look as it waits for a response.

Nodding his head, James gives a weak, “I think so.”

“Good. Now listen up and listen well, for I am here to tell you some things and I will only tell you once.”

“First of all, magic works here. Read the book you have in your hand. It will help you get a handle on it. Your survival may well depend on it. Scratch that. Your survival
will
depend on it.”

“Secondly, you can’t go home, at least not right now. Don’t try. We won’t stop you, but take it on faith that the way is simply not open to you.”

“Lastly, get your sorry butt to the village of Trendle.”

With that, the creature leaps backward into the air, and with a faint popping noise, disappears.

James ol’ boy
, he thinks to himself.
You’re screwed!

_______________________

His mind whirls in an attempt to come to grips with the enormity of the situation.
There has to be a rational explanation!
The forest surrounding the meadow appears like any forest that might exist back on Earth; pine trees, birds singing in the distance, insects buzzing here and there; normality. Nothing strange, except for the little detail that there is no way he could have arrived at such a place by stepping through a door. This was something straight out of one of his books.

The ad said “traveling”. Well, I have traveled. The ad also said that being well read in fantasy novels and experience with role playing games would be a bonus.
Thinking of the little creature he had just encountered, James can see the logic in that as well. Such a background might enable a person to more willingly accept these odd occurrences.
Provided of course, that all this is real.

Okay, let’s take this one step at a time. What actually happened to you? You were on the 23
^rd
floor of an office building, stepped through a door and then you find yourself in the middle of this meadow talking with an odd looking little creature. Have you lost your mind?

After taking a quick mental check, he decides insanity is not the culprit. But could an insane person tell? No odd thoughts or urges run through his mind. No hallucinations, unless this meadow and that creature could be considered as such.

Reaching down, he runs his fingers across the grass.
Feels normal.
He again takes in his surroundings. Everything looks and feels quite real.
So, if this
is
real, then what happened?
A breeze ruffles his hair which only adds to the sense that all this is real. Closing his eyes he takes a deep breath, holds it for a second, then slowly exhales. Opening them again, he finds the meadow unchanged. He didn’t really expect that to change things, but it’s what everyone does who gets into these sorts of situations.

I’m not in the Twilight Zone. I don’t see Rod Sterling over to the side talking to the viewers.
At this point, he would hardly be surprised if he did.
Then if this place is not a hallucination, it has to be real!

Holding up the book acquired in the waiting room, he takes a much more interested look at it than he did before. An odd design is embossed on the cover, and the book holds not very many pages.
Think, James, think! Let’s for the moment consider the possibility that all this is in fact real. What now? You were brought here for some reason; that goes without saying. Why else would that little creature have been “set” here to deliver the message? Could this be for your benefit? Probably not; it never is.
James reflects on various books read over the last several years. Some dealt with this sort of thing and if memory serves, the main character rarely has a fun time of it.

For the sake of argument, let’s suppose this is in fact, a true guidebook on magic. And let’s further suppose that since I was brought here and told to bring it with me, then it stands to reason that I should be able to gain some benefit by the information contained within. Why else would they have bothered? And who exactly are “they?”
Realizing some questions are going to have to wait, he opens the book and rereads the first couple paragraphs. Two sentences grab his attention:

Sounds easy enough. What the heck, let’s give it a try. Best to keep it simple.
He spies a small stick lying on the ground. Concentrating, he creates a visualization of the stick rising off the ground.
Now for the words…

Mimicking the action of a dozen different wizards from literature and film, he raises his hand toward the stick and speaks the incantation. With the utterance of the first word, an odd sensation grows deep within his body. Sort of like water rising behind a dam. The growing pressure is not an entirely unpleasant feeling. The utterance of each word causes the pressure to build. As soon as the last word is spoken, the dam breaks and the power surges forth. He can almost see the magic flowing from him to the stick, though it’s probably just his imagination.

The stick slowly rises from the ground. It reaches nearly a foot in the air before he becomes so excited at the effect he has wrought that his concentration breaks and the stick falls back to the ground with a clatter.

I DID IT!!!!
James ol’ boy, you are one amazing wizard!
Cavorting around with jubilation, he races over and examines the stick which just a moment before had been floating in the air. He hesitantly reaches out and touches it. Seeming normal, he picks it up and examines the wood more closely but doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Feeling a little cocky, he formulates another set of words, visualizes the effect he desires, then tosses the stick into the air yelling,

His verse wouldn’t win any poetry contests; but then, at the moment he’s more into functionality than artistry. This time he is determined to maintain the visualization. With the utterance of the last word, the power once again surges forth. The stick’s flight through the air comes to a sudden halt six feet above the ground. As it floats motionless in the air, James controls his excitement so as to maintain the visualization and not disrupt the spell.

He comes to the stick and grins while walking around where it hovers in mid-air. Moving his hand over and under the stick, such as what a magician might do to prove to his audience the absence of supporting wires, he encounters nothing. He then reaches out and places his index finger upon its wooden surface. The stick moves the barest of a fraction, but otherwise maintains its position. Placing his hand under the stick, he ceases concentrating upon his desire for the stick to remain motionless in the air and it drops into his hand.

“Yes!”

Quite pleased, he smiles at his success.
I could get to like this.
Then sadness comes over him when he thinks of how his grandparents are going to feel when he doesn’t come home.
I may never make it home. Oh my God! What about Dave? He saw me go through the door. How will he take it? I guess the best he can, that’s all any of us can do.