Update! Posting to resume soon!

Hey all!

Finally got things in order with the copyright.  I should be able to resume posting in a few days (have to consider the holiday tomorrow) so I will be sure to do so!

I apologize for the time off, and I am very glad that some of you (or maybe new people) have been visiting my blog and keeping my page views high over the last two weeks!  Thank you so much!

Much love,
-tk

Posting potentially halted

Hey all,

I was just informed that I should not post until my copyright is fully processed.  So I am thinking of listening to such advice.

But if I can't help it, perhaps I'll post :P

And hopefully it is processed soon!

Chapter 10

Chapter 10: CIMPLE

            Maybe telling Garret had gone a little better than Aiden had expected.

            There was this whole other side to Garret that Aiden had no idea even existed.  Especially the side that told Matt Kaufee to cut Aiden a break and stop giving him such a hard time.

            And he stayed true to his word, too.  After Modern Media, Aiden met up with Garret and took him to the room under the stage to see Kirk, Myriah, and Hazzlok.

            The conversation was lengthy, as Garret was very new to magic and had entirely too much to learn all at once.  A full hour later, he was caught up to speed and well-informed.  For someone who seemed so resilient at first, Garret believed everything that they told him and didn’t even think about questioning it.  Then again, after magic had potentially saved Hailey’s life the night before, how could he not trust the four of them?

            Much to Aiden’s excitement, Hazzlok held up his end of the bargain and arranged to take Aiden, Kirk, Myriah, and Garret to CIMPLE on the day before their Christmas break.

            “Here,” said Hazzlok.  “Take these home to your parents and have them sign them.  They are false permission slips, stating that we will be attending a Science seminar in New York since you are my top students.”

            “But I’m not even close to being a top Chemistry student,” said Kirk.  “My mom would never buy that.”

            “Your report card for this marking period says otherwise,” said Hazzlok, winking.

            Kirk nodded a “thank you.”

            “Hey, Hazzlok,” said Aiden.  “This doesn’t say anything about what time our bus leaves.  Don’t permission slips for class trips usually have that kind of thing on there?”

            “Ah, quite right, Aiden.  I suppose I shall have to print new ones, then.  Not to worry.”

            “Well, if we’re going to New York, then what time does our bus leave?  I’m going to need some time to get ready in the morning,” said Myriah.

            “Yeah, ‘cause it must take forever to put your hair in a ponytail,” teased Kirk.

            Myriah gave him a reproachful look and turned to Hazzlok.

            “Two thirty or so,” he said.

            Aiden gave a puzzled look.  That seemed a little late for a four hour round trip to New York.

            “Oh!  Sorry,” said Hazzlok.  “I forgot that you don’t know, yet.  We won’t be taking a bus… we’ll be taking my portal.”

            “Is that some kind of fancy, foreign car?” asked Garret.

            Hazzlok laughed.  “No, no.  By ‘portal’ I mean that we will be teleporting to headquarters.”

            Aiden looked nervous.  “You mean teleporting like… defying space and time and getting to New York instantly-kind-of-teleporting?”

            “Yes,” nodded Hazzlok.  “Not instantly, though.  Don’t worry; portal travel is actually quite enjoyable.  Two creative mages from some time ago invented it… it’s been around for a few decades now.  James Tell, a fire mage, created the concept.  His partner on the project, Alfred Portus, a wind mage, perfected it.  Hence the name ‘teleporter.’  We owe them many thanks.”

            “Whoa,” said Kirk, his eyes wide.  “That’s pretty freakin’ awesome.”

            “Quite.  Now, let me print some new slips for you four.  Try to get them signed tomorrow… just to seem legitimate.  We don’t want anyone to know what we’re really up to.”

            “We know, we know,” said Kirk.  “You’ve only told us a hundred times already.”

            “Good.  When we finally get to headquarters, perhaps you will understand exactly why I am so adamant about it.”

For the next two weeks, Aiden could hardly contain himself.  It was like he was going off to a really awesome vacation or something. 

            He was going to teleport, something he only ever fantasized about when he was feeling particularly lazy.  On top of that, he was going to the center of all things magical in the country, where he would be surrounded by enchanted objects and other mages.  He was also looking forward to picking up on some new magical lingo.  Hazzlok said that he would even get to meet the CEO of CIMPLE.  The head honcho.  The real deal.  It was nerve-wracking, but exciting all at the same time.

            To add to this, their regular meetings were now much more fun with Hazzlok and Garret there.  They spent most of the time trying to help Garret, who wasn't exactly a natural when it came to magic.  It took him two full sessions to cast the same spell that he had done on the football field.  It turns out that the spell was some sort of shielding mechanism that helped him topple his opponents.  Even finding out what his Intagrum was proved to be a challenge, which ended up being the black and brown wristband that he always wore.

            Aiden could not have been happier, though.  His parents were glad to see that all of his time after school “getting extra help with Hazzlok” had amounted to his becoming of a top student.  This put them in better spirits and they were much more pleasant to be around.  In fact, they were in such a good mood that they even started up a conversation outside the realm of academics.

            One Saturday morning, Bruce Brande set down his newspaper and cleared his throat.

            “So, Aiden… who’s Myriah?” he asked.

            Aiden nearly choked on his pancakes.  “Dad!” he sputtered.

            Bruce shrugged and raised his hands in the air.  “Sorry, bud.  You left your phone on the table the other day and she must have texted you five times in about forty seconds.  I thought it was an important phone call or something.”

            Aiden’s heart sank.  They had been texting about the CIMPLE trip.

            “Dad… please tell me you didn’t read them…”

            “’Course not.  I don’t snoop into your business without asking first.”

            “Why?  Embarrassed?  Sounds like Aiden’s got a girlyfriend!” his mother teased.

            “She’s not my girlfriend…”

            “Oh, please,” said Lauren.  “You’ve done nothing but text all day long for the last two weeks, Aiden.”

            “I’ve just been talking to some of my good friends,” he said, truthfully.

            Lauren winked at Bruce.  “Ooookay,” she said.

            Despite how irritating the nagging from his parents was, it made Aiden realize just how lucky he was.  He finally had a close group of friends, not just Kirk.  Even Hazzlok was beginning to feel more like a friend and less like a teacher.  Aiden felt like he could trust them all and he enjoyed the time that they spent together.

            On the morning of the trip, Aiden's excitement disappeared and was replaced by something close to fear.  Something about having his body de-materialize and then reappear somewhere else made him feel uneasy.  Kirk and Myriah were certainly pumped up all day, so Aiden did his best to hide it.  He just could not shake the unsettling feeling that something wasn't going to go right.

            The final bell of the day rang and Aiden and Garret left Modern Media together.

            "I wonder why he wants us to meet him in the lab instead of our usual spot?" said Garret.

            "Yeah, I have no idea.  Seems kind of flaky."

            After a few minutes of walking, they reached the Chemistry room to find Myriah and Kirk sitting on one of the tables, swinging their legs.

            "Where is he?" asked Aiden.

            "No idea," said Myriah.  "We were hoping he'd be with you."

            "Nope, haven't seen him," said Garret.

            "Guess we'll just keep waiting, then," said Aiden.  "I hope he doesn't think that we're meeting in our usual place."

            Garret hopped up on a table next to Kirk while Myriah jumped down and started pacing the room.  Aiden moved over to the storage closet and leaned against it, crossing his arms.  Nobody said anything and they waited for a minute in silence.

            Suddenly, Aiden was vaulted forward against his will.  It felt like he got plowed over by a bear.  The storage closet door had violently swung open with Hazzlok standing in the archway.

            "So sorry I'm late.  Had to make sure that everything was in order... Aiden, why are you on the floor?  Never mind, let's hurry.  We have much to do!" he said excitedly waving his arms.

            Kirk could only laugh as he helped Aiden to his feet. 

            "Wait... in there?" asked Myriah.

            "Yes, yes, come on!  Quickly, before somebody passes by," he said ushering them into the closet.

            The five of them hardly fit inside.  Aiden had never been in there before, but he had to give credit to Hazzlok; he was quite organized.  Every jar was labeled and alphabetized along the wall and all of the boxes were stacked neatly in the corner.  Hazzlok moved over to them and slid them aside, revealing a very strange looking pattern on the tile floor.  It was primarily a circle, with several purple, glowing lines weaving in and out of it, making it look like a very interesting snowflake.

            "Step over here," said Hazzlok.

            He moved aside three jars of acetone and pressed a small red button.

            "Hello, Claudia.  I am traveling as a party of five.  Are the pathways clear?" he asked, apparently talking to no one. 

            Seconds later, a high-pitched, nasally voice played out from behind the jars.  "Yes, Mr. Ether.  Authorization is complete, the halls are empty, and the meeting is underway... you may proceed."

            "Ready?" asked Hazzlok.

            "Wait a minute," said Aiden.  "Did that woman just call you 'Ether?’”

            "Er, well, yes, yes she did," Hazzlok said quickly.  "It's an alias.  I must ask that you refer to me as Ether inside headquarters.  I don't have time to explain it right now, but just please do as I ask.  Now are we ready?"

            "Uh, sure," said Kirk.

            "Okay.  Oh, and do try not to move… just relax.  Three, two, one!"

            It sounded as if someone just turned on a vacuum cleaner right next to Aiden's face and then sucked the light out of the room with it.  He felt his feet leave the ground, or rather that the ground left his feet.  His body felt weightless as it sailed, belly up, toward the sky.

            And then a pleasant tune played in Aiden's ears, a piano medley mixed with sounds of the ocean.  He felt a gentle breeze blow through his hair that smelled strongly of cinnamon buns.  Light entered his eyes again and he found himself floating over a beach on a massive, fluffy cloud.  The water below was transparent, revealing a shiny array of coral and sand beneath the surface.  The sun shone brightly and warmed Aiden as he floated along.  This was the most relaxed he had ever felt.

            And then he began to fall, slowly.  He drifted down toward the beach and landed in the soft, warm sand.  The vacuum noise sounded again and sucked the scenery from his eyelids.  He opened his eyes to see a very large, but very bland, grey room with several strange patterns on the tiled floor, much like the one in Hazzlok’s storage closet.  Myriah and Kirk were wearing wide grins upon their faces, but Garret looked a little green.

            “That was awesome!  Can we do it again?” asked Kirk.

            “Ha!  Speak for yourself,” said Garret, who now looked like he was going to vomit.

            “I tried to tell you to relax,” said Hazzlok.  “Teleporting is supposed to emulate the traveler’s idea of paradise.  However, if you aren’t fully relaxed or if you fidget too much during the initial few seconds, it can be rather… unpleasant.”

            “Interesting…” said Myriah, turning slightly red.

            “In any case, welcome to headquarters!  This is the Portal Room.  People from all over the country can teleport to this room as long as they have been granted access.  It is rare to have your own private portal, so let’s just say that I got lucky,” said Hazzlok. 

            Garret and Kirk nodded their heads, looking thoroughly impressed.

            “Follow me, please.  First, we have to check you in as guests at the desk near the main elevator,” said Hazzlok.  “Oh, I should probably check my mailbox while we’re here.  This way.”

            He led them out of the Portal Room and into a small hallway which opened up into a very large, central area with a high ceiling and several hallways branching off in all sorts of directions.  Hazzlok stopped at the first door on their left and let the four of them inside.

            It took a minute for Aiden’s eyes to settle, for the entire room was nothing but rows upon rows of small, metal mailboxes that had been carved into the walls.  The room seemed to be divided into sections as well.  Red mailboxes lined the left side, with grayish-purple ones to their immediate right, followed by blue, and then brown ones.  Aiden understood immediately – opposing elements were as far away from each other as possible.  Apparently Hazzlok wasn’t kidding…

            “Afternoon, Ether,” grunted a voice to their left.

            Hazzlok nearly left his skin in fright.  “Oh!  Hello, Jeff – er, you’re here later than usual, I see,” he said nervously.

            “Helluva day, pal.  Just one hell of a day.  Left everythin’ in here this mornin’, then came down in a rush to get started for the day.  And wouldn’t ya know it, left the damn thing open.  Just lockin’ her up now.  I swear, this Clarke nonsense’s got me goin’ loopy.  And who are these kids?” he asked, gesturing to Aiden and his crew.

            Hazzlok shifted uncomfortably.  “Oh, well – you see, students of mine, yes.  I was rather lucky this year – four fire mages in my senior class,” he lied.  “I am taking them to see Raine.”

            “Ah, well, good luck to ya’ll.  Raine’s havin’ a cow today.  I’ll be seein’ ya, Ether.”

            “Goodbye, Jeff.”

            When the doors shut behind him, Hazzlok gave a sigh of relief.

            “Luckily, Jeff doesn’t quite fit the bill of a fire mage… he’s rather dumb, you see.  Had we run into anyone else, they would have recognized your auras and the way in which you carry yourselves around one another and we would be answering questions for days.”  He held up his hand and walked over to the massive wall of red mailboxes.  “I’ll only be a moment,” he said.  He stuffed something inside his suit jacket, which Aiden couldn’t see, adjusted his hair and glasses, and led them out of the mailroom.

            Aiden could see the information desk a ways in front of him, now.  The rest of the gigantic room was empty, so Aiden figured it was a good time for some questions.

            “Who was that?” he asked.

            “Oh, Jeff?  Just someone who I see in the mailroom every day.  His mailbox is next to mine.  He is a Scout as well.”

            “And Raine is the CEO or whatever who we’re going to meet?”

            “Mr.  Raine, Aiden.  And yes, that is him.”

            “Okay.  What did Jeff mean about Clarke something-or-other?  I saw you looked uneasy when he said it.”

            “A true fire mage, Aiden.  Very observant, you are.  And quite intelligent to boot.”

            “Don’t change the subject on me, Hazzlok”

            “Shh!  Ether, Aiden.  Remember what I said?  Now, come.”

            They reached the huge, L-shaped desk in the center of the room and were greeted by a young woman with vibrant red hair, laid in perfect curls, and eccentric-looking black glasses.  She snapped her chewing gum obnoxiously as she waved to them, a pen in her hand.

            Her accent was a fierce shade of Brooklyn but Aiden recognized her nasally voice from the storage closet.  This must be Claudia.  “Hello, Mr. Ether.  I have ya guest passes here.  Aiden Brande?” she asked looking down at the four of them, waiting for a response.

            “That’s me,” said Aiden, holding out his hand to take the laminated slip chained to a red lanyard.

            “Okay, and you must be Myriah,” she said, handing her a blue lanyard.

            “Thank you, Miss”

            “Ah, don’t mention it, honey!  You must be Garret – you look like one.  My cousin’s name is Garret and he’s big and strong like you, doll.”

            “Uh – thanks,” said Garret, awkwardly.

            “So that leaves… Kirk?  Lovely name.  So handsome, you are!”

            Kirk turned pink and smiled shyly as he took his grey lanyard.

            “Thank you, Claudia.  Much appreciated,” said Hazzlok.

            “Anytime, dear.  When are ya takin’ me to dinna, Mr. Ether?”

            “Er – well, I’m – how about we talk about that tomorrow?  I’ve got to get them up to Raine’s office immediately.”

            “Alright, alright.  But just know you can’t play cat and mouse foreva’ with me,” she said, winking as they walked away from the desk.

            “Real smooth with the ladies, I see,” said Kirk, jabbing Hazzlok in the ribs with his elbow.

            Garret and Aiden gave a hearty laugh, but Myriah crossed her arms.  “Oh, you’re one to talk, Kirk,” she said.  “You didn’t even say thank you to her and your ears are still red!”

            This made Hazzlok smile.  “Rather intimidating woman, isn’t she Kirk?”

            “I hate you guys,” he pouted.

            “Hey, man, if you can’t take it, don’t dish it,” Garret chuckled as he slapped him on the back.

            The conversation came to a halt as they reached a glass elevator and quadrupled archways.  Four long hallways extended from underneath the archways in a brilliant rainbow of colors.  Each hall was guarded by a statue, which, like everything else in this building, was enormous.  As far as elements, it was easy to decipher which hallway was which, for the statues that guarded them were clad in their own respective colors.

            On the left, a burly, long-bearded man clutched a flaming hammer in his right hand about twenty feet off of the ground.  A black, metal anvil lay at his feet.  A plaque along the archway of the hall read Kenneth ‘Hephaestus’ Hadyn.  The next hall over, a thin, cloaked man with eagle’s wings protruding from his sides leaned heavily on a crooked cane.  The plaque above his head read Feng ‘Hermes’ Govad.  To the right, another statue stood erect.  A man with scraggly hair that was covered in seashells and a scarred face held a net in his left hand.  Water dripped from his mouth and moved along the webbing of the net into a small fountain pool at his feet.  His plaque depicted him as Irvine ‘Poseidon’ Wiley.  And finally, a very muscular young lady, wielding a bulwark and dagger, stood tall on a small mountain of rocks on the far right.  Her plaque called her Gina ‘Gaea’ Avani.

            “Brilliant, aren’t they?” said Hazzlok.

            “They have the names of Greek gods and goddesses,” said Aiden.

            “Yes.  It is CIMPLE’s way of paying homage to our ancestors of magic while also poking fun at the rest of the world.  You see, Greek gods and goddesses never actually existed.  The Greeks were sort of careless when they first discovered magic and didn’t try to conceal it.  When Normals could not figure out what caused great floods or earthquakes, they created the image of the gods to explain the forces of nature.  Little did they know that it was all just the work of mages.”

            “That’s incredible!” cried Myriah.

            “Indeed, as were the mages who we have put on display here.  Each of these four can easily be regarded as the best of their element.  The most powerful, hard-working, and cunning mages to ever roam the Earth.”

            Just then, two doors echoed noisily from far behind them and a throng of people began to flood the central area.

            “Meeting must be over,” said Hazzlok.  “Quickly, into the elevator!”

            He ushered the four of them into the glass elevator directly behind them and jammed the last button furiously.  As the elevator made its ascension, Aiden stole another look at the statues through the glass.  A man shot a fireball at the Hephaestus statue and it quickly moved to the side, allowing him to pass.  What a neat form of security, he thought.

            Ding.   

The elevator stopped at the top floor and the glass doors slid open with an awful grinding noise and the five of them stepped out.

Aiden was not surprised in the least at the hallway’s décor.  Olive green and burgundy carpeting cupped his feet as he walked and the thick, mahogany walls watched him as he walked.  Photographs of strange men lined the hallway and orchestral music played through the speakers overhead.

They paused outside of a set of double doors and Ether fumbled in his pocket for something.  He pulled out a small card and swiped it through a scanner on the door.  Aiden could hear a soft voicing playing from behind the doors.  Mr. Ether.  Department One. Identification number: nine one six zero zero one three nine nine.  Scout.

The same voice called out on Aiden’s side of the door, now.  Access granted.  Welcome.  Please step away from the doors.

The doors opened slowly and they stepped inside.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Raine,” said Hazzlok.

An older man with a funky, white comb-over sat at the desk in front of them.  His eyes lit up when he looked at Aiden.

“Excellent!  Well done, Ether!  I knew I could count on you!” he shouted.

The doors shut behind them with a Click.  “Please, Mr. Raine, as long as we are not being overheard, do call me by my real name.  You know how I hate that alias.”

“Certainly, Edwin,” said Mr. Raine.  “Now, you four must be Aiden, Kirk, Myriah, and Garret!”

“That’s us,” said Aiden.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Raine.”

“No, no, my friends!  The pleasure is all mine!  Please, have a seat – we have much to discuss.”

Aiden and his friends did as they were told and sat down in the four seats in front of the desk.  Hazzlok stood off to the side.

“So, what has our dear friend Edwin told you so far?” asked Raine.

Aiden was a little caught off guard.  He wasn’t expecting to have to answer a bunch of questions already.  Maybe this was secretly an interview to see how they would be as future CIMPLE employees.

 “Who, Hazzlok?” asked Aiden.  “Aside from the fact that we are the youngest mages in a gajillion years, we can cooperate with those outside of our element and it’s uncommon, and there is apparently some war going on… nothing, really.”

Hazzlok interjected.  “It’s not that I withheld information from them, Sanford, but rather that I thought that you could explain it a bit better than I.”

“Ah, well, that may be true,” said Raine.  “It is alright, I will do my best to give the short and sweet version of exactly what is going on.”  He took a deep breath and cracked his knuckles, then continued.

“Over the last few years, a certain man has been quite a thorn in the side of the magical world.  His name is Vincent Clarke, an ex-employee of CIMPLE over in Britain.  He is vastly powerful and highly persuasive – a combination that does not bode well with anyone.  For that, he is somewhat renowned, and has gained a bit of a following over time.

“About four months ago, he assassinated the CEO of Britain’s headquarters and dressed his office with the blood of the corpse.  He had certain demands of which we are not sure.  However, we do know that those demands were not met and, in a fit of rage, Clarke terrorized the building, killing an additional forty seven people, and then left the scene with over one hundred followers of his own.

“This left Britain’s headquarters in complete disarray for several weeks.  Thankfully, everything is in order over there again and added security measures have been taken.  On the other hand, Clarke has gone missing, and many famous mages are suddenly dropping dead.  We believe that this, too, is the work of Clarke.”

“Wow,” said Kirk.  “What a nutcase.”

“Indeed, my friend.  He is on a quest for power – blinded by it, actually.  He is ruthless and does not seem to have regard for anyone but himself,” said Raine.

“Hang on a second,” said Aiden.  “You mean to tell me that the guy who killed a CEO and forty seven people by himself is trying to become stronger?”

“That is correct, Aiden.  Indeed, it is scary.  It is pretty evident that he is building up an army and eliminating any potential threats.  To do what with this army… we are not sure.  Some of us have theories, but nothing has been proven, yet.”

Nobody said anything for a bit.

“So… where do we come into this picture?” asked Garret.

“Ah, yes,” said Raine.  “You see, Clarke is more than just powerful.  He is at a bit of an advantage.  He is a legendary Quadramage.”

“And… what exactly is a Quadramage?” asked Myriah.

“He means that Clarke can perform spells of all four elements – hence ‘Quadra,’” said Aiden.  “Am I right?”

“One hundred percent,” said Raine.  “You were right about this one, Edwin.  He is quick-witted.  We should make him the leader.”

Despite the compliment, Aiden was getting frustrated.

“That’s fine and all, but it doesn’t answer Garret’s question.  What does this guy being a Quadramage have to do with us?”

“My dear boy!  He is the first Quadramage in over two thousand years!  You are the youngest mages in two thousand years!  Connect the dots, don’t you see?  History is repeating itself… fate is at hand!”

“We still don’t know what you’re getting at, sir,” said Garret, coldly.

“You can’t possibly mean to tell me… haven’t you heard the tale of The Book of the Four Mages?”

..

post going up tomorrow, for consistency purposes!

:P

Chapter 9

                        Chapter 9: Number Twenty Four

            “There’s no way, I refuse,” said Aiden.

            “Yeah, that’s totally not happening… he hates Aiden,” said Myriah.

            “That, I wouldn’t be so sure of.  I strongly urge you to talk to him soon,” retorted Hazzlok.

            “What do you want us to say?  ‘Hey, Garret, I know you think we’re all weird and I know you make fun of Aiden all the time, but take a seat!  We’ve got some things to talk about!’” mocked Kirk.

            “That is exactly what I want you to do.”

            “Yeah, that’ll go over well…” said Kirk.

            “He’s right,” said Aiden.  “He’d probably just ignore us.  And if Matt Kaufee is with him, there’s absolutely no chance.”

            “Then I suggest that you find a way to catch him by himself if you want to go to headquarters.”

            “Oh come on, don’t be like that, Hazzlok.  We can’t help it if he won’t listen,” snapped Kirk.

            “I think that he will.  You’d be surprised.”

            “Umm, Hazzlok?  I don’t mean to be rude but… isn’t that your job?  You said Scouts were responsible for talking to new mages and explaining things,” said Myriah.

            “That is true.  However, I think it is best that you three talk to him.  Be friendly, set aside any differences, and be understanding.  But most of all, be persistent if he tenses up.  Now, come… it’s nearly five o’ clock,” he said gesturing them toward the trap door.

            Aiden followed but wasn’t nearly done complaining just yet.

            “I don’t understand why it is so important that we talk to him.  Don’t you think that he’d be more likely to believe an adult than some ‘freaks?’” said Aiden.

            “I told you before,” Hazzlok said leading them through to the auditorium.  “You three are a special case and I want to see if the four of you can cooperate with one another.”

            “Big deal,” said Kirk.  “So what if we can give each other high fives and handshakes?  I’m sure plenty of opposing elements can work together if we can.”

            “That is where you are wrong, Kirk.  You all are the sole living exception.  Only once, in all of history, have mages of four different elements worked together willingly… and that was over two thousand years ago.  Don’t you see?  You are the youngest mages in two millennia… the only group to work together since then… the four of you could be legendary.  You will have a very special job at CIMPLE, indeed.”

            They reached the door of the auditorium and stopped.  Aiden thought carefully about Hazzlok’s words.  They… he, could be famous.  Legendary, even.  He’d have a job working with magic.  That would be wonderful.  He wouldn’t have to feel so pressured to get good grades and suffer through SAT prep courses.  He wouldn’t even have to spend thousands of dollars on college.  It was almost as if Hazzlok were handing him a future on a silver platter.

            “Alright, fine,” said Aiden.  “It’s a deal.  We’ll talk to him.”

            “Excellent,” said Hazzlok, smiling.  “Now, from what I gathered from reading his mind, his magic occurred on the football field during their game last weekend.  If I were you, I would hang around his practice this Monday after school and see what you can find out.  See if he casts anything unknowingly and then talk to him afterward when the team goes home for the day.  He’s seventeen as of last month, so he drives to school and will be in no rush to catch the bus.”

            They nodded their heads in unison.

            “Thank you, you three.  Have an excellent holiday.  I will see you Monday!”  He opened the heavy, noisy door and stepped out into the hall, heading for the faculty parking lot.  He was just about to exit the building when Myriah called to him.

            “Hazzlok?  What kind of ‘special job’ will we have at CIMPLE?”

            He laughed.  “If you become the group of four as I have asked you to… you will command the most powerful unit in the Magi War.”

*                                  *                                  *

            It was definitely the most frustrating Thanksgiving break that Aiden had ever had.  Long car rides to visit relatives for the holidays and being cooped up in their houses all weekend gave him plenty of time to think, and that was the last thing that he wanted right now.

            He just had so many questions that he wanted answers for, yet again, but he had no way of getting them until Monday and, even then, he wasn’t sure that Hazzlok would give him any sort of explanation until he, Myriah, and Kirk somehow managed to talk to Garret. 

Myriah and Kirk were just as clueless as Aiden.  The three of them were constantly texting each other all weekend long, trying to craft theories and decode what Hazzlok had said.

What exactly was a Magi War?  War had multiple connotations, after all.  It could be more of a passive war, which meant protesting and trying to make settlements… but Aiden didn’t really think that that was the case.  Hazzlok said something about commanding a unit, and that definitely sounded like this was a real war.

But even then, how real of a war was it?  Would they be commanding an army with guns, tanks, and missiles?  Or would a mage’s war mean that they would cast spells at each other?  Either way, it sounded very dangerous.  Aiden wasn’t exactly sure how much he wanted to get involved in this.

Something in his gut bothered him, though.  Somehow he felt that there was no getting out of this.  He had not even talked to Garret yet, but he already felt committed to whatever was in store for him at CIMPLE.  All the talk of being the youngest mage in two thousand years and being legendary and such really made his mind warp.  It almost seemed like he was part of some big prophecy and that this was just the beginning of his fate as a world savior or something.  When he looked at it that way, it was a lot more intriguing.

All weekend long, Aiden simply could not wait for Monday to come around.  He felt like he would be getting the answers that he wanted that day, and he looked forward to it.  It wasn’t until the morning of that he remembered what Hazzlok had tasked him with that day, and suddenly he dreaded it.

            Part of him just wanted to pull Garret aside before first period and get it over with, but a bigger part of him simply didn’t want to do it at all.  It’s not that he was afraid, that definitely was not the case.  In fact, Aiden figured himself to be pretty brave and realized that it would most likely be he who broke the ice with Garret this afternoon.  It was more like he just knew that their conversation would not go over very well.

            And he was quite right.

            As soon as the final bell rang out, Aiden, Kirk, and Myriah met up at the far door of Building Two and walked out toward the athletic fields.  The late November air was chilly, even at two in the afternoon and with the sun shining down.  Aiden found it especially cold and curled up his hands in the front pocket of his sweatshirt as they trudged across the lawn near the bleachers.

            The football team was just coming out of the building as the three of them sat down.  The metal bleachers stung Aiden with a rush of coldness and he found it difficult to get comfortable.  Kirk didn’t exactly look warm, either.

            “This is nuts.  Just nuts, man,” said Kirk.  “We’re gonna sit up here for two hours, freezing our tails off, and the big dope is just gonna ignore us or tell us we’re lunatics.  Remind me why we agreed to this?”

            “Oh, come on, Kirk, it isn’t that bad,” said Myriah.

            “Of course it isn’t, Ms. Water Mage.  But for the rest of us who don’t have ice in our veins… it’s freakin’ cold,” chuckled Aiden.

            “Oh, wow… I actually never thought of that,” she said as the three of them laughed together.

            Garret was easily recognizable, even in his football gear.  Obviously enough, he jogged on to the field in stride with Matt Kaufee, a massive number twenty four plastered to his back with a bold “Spire” over top of it.  Kaufee was making some sort of weird gesture as he ran and his teammates erupted in laughter.

            Aiden turned a little red.  He suddenly didn’t feel like being here anymore.  Myriah seemed to understand this.

            “Ignore him,” she said.  “We’re here to talk to Garret, not him.  Matt’s just an idiot meathead anyway.  He wouldn’t understand any of this even if we explained it to him a hundred times.”

            “Thanks,” he said.  “I just hope that Garret is smart enough to at least listen to us.”

            About an hour went by and nothing eventful happened.  At all.  The team had broken off to do separate drills with their respective coaches and the entire process was monotonous.  Kirk was gazing absent-mindedly at the track and was probably dreaming of winning some big event.

Myriah, on the other hand, had let her hair down from her ponytail and was now playing with the ends of it.  She must have really been bored; her hair never left its ponytail.  It was pin-straight and hung an inch or two below her shoulders.  Aiden could not help but stare.  She was gorgeous.

But now, why was he attracted to her?  Was it because he kind of liked her, somewhere inside?  Or was it solely because of their unique opposing element ordeal?  He wondered what Myriah thought about it, or if this had even crossed her mind.  He couldn’t try to figure this out now, though… he had enough to think about as it was, and had a job to do in a little less than an hour.  He had to focus.

It was then that he noticed it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a faint brown light.

“There!” he cried.  “I just saw the glow, I’m sure of it.”

The team had lined up and appeared as if they were scrimmaging together.  Garret had blown past the pile of linemen and defenders and was whistled to stop at the fifty yard line.  He wasn’t glowing, but Aiden was sure that he had seen it.  His eyes were definitely not playing tricks on him.

“I don’t see it, man,” said Kirk.

“He definitely did.  Just keep watching,” urged Aiden.

It did not take long for it to happen again.  On the very next play, Kaufee pump faked to his right hand receiver and tossed the ball off to Garret, who charged straight at the line of scrimmage.  A tawny aura encircled his body as he collided with a linebacker and shrugged him off like it was nothing.  He then stiff-armed the safety and the play was blown dead at the fifty once again.

“Wow… now that is… awesome,” said Kirk.

“You would think that, Mr. Athlete,” said Aiden coldly.

“Well, now we really do have to talk to him.  He needs to teach me how to do something like that for track meets.”

“It’s probably an earth-only type of thing, Kirk,” said Myriah.

“Oh yeah…”

“Alright, anyway,” said Aiden trying not to sound too annoyed.  “Did either of you happen to see exactly what he did?  I didn’t see him focus or anything.”

“I don’t know,” said Myriah.  “It just kind of looked like he was turning some power on with a flip of a switch.”

“Yeah, it was definitely quick, whatever he did.  I totally missed it,” said Kirk.  “Maybe he’s just better at magic than we are.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” said Myriah.

Aiden mouthed a quick “thank you” to Myriah and she smiled and winked back at him.

“Practice should be over pretty soon here.  We should probably just wait until everyone else leaves and then follow him out to his car,” said Aiden.

“Sounds like a plan,” said Kirk.

For once, Aiden caught a lucky break.  Practice ended and everyone marched back to the building except for Garret and the coach.  Aiden figured now was as good of a time as any, and started making his way down the bleachers.  They reached the edge of the field and could just barely make out his conversation with the coach.

“-telling you, Spire… I don’t know what your mom is putting in your meatloaf, but keep eatin’ it.  With the way you’ve been mowing through defenders, we’ve got the conference game in the bag.”

“Thanks, Coach.  That means a lot,” said Garret.

This was actually the first time that Aiden had heard him speak.  His voice was very deep, just like his laugh.

“Of course, Spire…  Ha!” he said, pointing at Aiden.  “Looks like you’ve got some fans after your performance last week.  Go talk to ‘em, kid.”

The coach patted Garret on the back and jogged back toward the building.  This was their chance.

He was walking toward them, though very cautiously it seemed.

“Hey, Garret,” said Aiden.

“Uhh, hi,” he said.

“Sorry, we know this might be kind of weird,” said Myriah.

“I’m not going to lie… a little bit,” said Garret.  “But anyway, what’s up?”

“Well, um… maybe you should say it, Aiden,” said Kirk, grimacing.

Aiden shot him a look that said “thanks a lot.”  He sighed.

“We want to talk to you about something.  The reason why you suddenly seem stronger than normal.”

Garret turned a very pale white and his eyes widened.  “Look, I’m not on steroids, I swear.  Why does everyone seem to think that lately?”

Aiden gave an awkward laugh.  “No, it has nothing to do with steroids.  I know for a fact that that’s not why you’re stronger.”

Garret paused for a second and raised an eyebrow.  “What’re you getting at?”

“I don’t really know how else to say this but… we’re pretty sure it’s magic,” said Aiden.

“Okay, I have to go,” said Garret quickly.  He picked up his helmet and started walking out toward the parking lot.

“Hey, wait a second!” called Kirk.  “Just listen!”

But his cries were pointless.  Garret was now borderline sprinting to his truck.

“Fantastic…” sighed Aiden.

The following day, Garret seemed to be missing in action.  He wasn’t parading through the halls with Matt Kaufee, he failed to show up to gym class, and he chose a seat in the furthest corner from Aiden, Myriah, and Kirk during Chemistry.  He kept shooting nervous glances over at the three of them.  Aiden looked up at Hazzlok during their lab assignment.  He returned the gaze and made a face that clearly said, “You’d better try again.”  As scary as it was that Hazzlok could read his mind, it saved Aiden a lot of trouble of explaining what happened.

            The lab room was particularly noisy today, so the three had plenty of liberty to talk without really being overheard.

            “Well, we just have to try again,” said Aiden.

            “Even after he shut us down so hard?” asked Kirk.

            “Yes.  And maybe you could actually man up and say something to him this time,” said Aiden resentfully.

            “I tried, man!  I had a few things planned out that I was going to say but then I just forgot once we got down there.”

            “Relax, Kirk,” said Myriah.  “Cut him some slack, Aiden.  The whole opposing element thing… you know how it is.”

            “Fair enough.  But either way, I say we head out to the field again and try to catch him.  Let’s wait until the end of practice, though, so he doesn’t have a chance to make a plan to run away from us.”

            “Sounds good,” said Myriah.

            “Good idea,” said Kirk.

Realizing that they had at least an hour and a half to kill, Aiden suggested that they use their time effectively and go practice in the room under the stage.  It was nice to be back in there after having gone almost a full week without performing any spells.  Instead of doing things separately, the three worked in unison, bouncing spells off of each other playfully. 

Aiden made a fireball in his palm and had Kirk make it grow with small gusts of wind and then Myriah would put it out.  They laughed and had a good time mixing spells together to see what the outcome was.  They managed to create a moving cloud of steam, which was definitely new and exciting.  Maybe Hazzlok was right in saying that nobody else could cooperate like this.  They just had a natural synergy when they did magic together.

“Okay, it’s almost five,” said Aiden.  “Time for round two.  Let’s go.”

Practice must have ended early because the field was deserted as the last few players made their way into the building.

“Dammit,” said Kirk.  “Come on, maybe we can catch him at his truck.”

The three of them sprinted off toward the parking lot, Kirk far in the lead.  As luck would have it, they spotted him tossing his gear into the bed of his truck and closing the flap over it.

“Garret!  Wait up!” called Kirk.

Garret froze in his tracks as Aiden, Myriah, and Kirk suddenly appeared at his side trying to catch their breath.

“We need… to talk… to you,” heaved Aiden.

“At least hear us out,” said Kirk, hardly sounding winded.

“Guys, I have to go.  I can’t talk to you.  I have to get my girlfriend from the gym,” he said.

“Then just listen to us, we’ll walk with you,” pleaded Myriah.

Defeated, Garret sighed.  “Fine, but stay at the door when we get there.  I don’t want her to see me talking to you guys.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t want to be caught socializing with a bunch of freaks, huh?” snapped Aiden.

“Look, man… I don’t care what anybody else says about you guys and I have no opinion of you three.  But I will seriously never hear the end of it from Hailey.  You know how cheerleaders and gymnasts are…”

This very much surprised Aiden.  “Alright then, deal.  But you have to promise that you’ll listen.”

“Fine, now let’s walk,” he said.

The three obliged and followed alongside of him.

“You promised you’d listen, so we’ll just be blunt… you can do magic, Garret,” said Myriah.

He gave a nervous laugh.  “Do you know how ridiculous you sound right now?”

“Yes, we know.  We all thought the same thing at first.  But Hazzlok, our Chemistry teacher, can do it.  He taught us a lot already.  He’s actually the one who told us that you can do it, too.  He wanted us to talk to you,” said Aiden.

They reached the side door of Building One and stepped inside.  They hushed their voices.

“What?  How would he know?”

“He can read minds.  It’s a special spell, but we can get to that later. So-“

“Wait a minute, read minds?  You guys are seriously messing with me,” said Garret.

“We swear, we’re not,” said Myriah.  “We know you can do magic, Garret.  We saw you glow, and only magic users can glow like that.”

Judging by the look on his face, Myriah had hit a home run.  Garret actually stopped walking in the middle of the main hallway.

“When you say glow… do you mean like, a quick pulse of color?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

Garret shook his head and drew a deep breath and then kept walking.

“You saw us glowing today in Chemistry.  That’s why you kept looking at us,” said Aiden.  “And that’s why you skipped gym!  You were afraid you’d see it again, am I right?”

“I don’t know what I saw.  I hope this is just some bad dream,” he said.

“Garret, there is nothing bad about magic.  It’s pretty cool, actually.  Just spend some time with us and you’ll see.  Think about it, is it really all that bad that you can stomp people on the football field now?” said Kirk.

“Well, no but-“

“Exactly,” said Aiden.  “Just sit down with us for a half an hour and we can explain everything.  It’s a ton of fun, it’s useful, and Hazzlok said we could get jobs with it.  We can get to that later but, seriously, this could change your life.”

“Maybe I don’t want my life to change.  Look, I have a high reputation to uphold right now.  I’m on my way to getting a full ride to a few schools through football and I can’t have them know what’s going on.  The sudden steroid questioning is bad enough, and now apparently I glow so I’ll have to find some way to figure out to avoid questions about that, too.”

“That’s all fine, Garret,” said Myriah.  “But you have to learn to control what you can do.  For one, that’s the only way to make the glow disappear.  And two, if a spell goes wrong…you could seriously hurt someone else or yourself.  Do you want to accidentally kill someone during a game one day?”

“Oh, come on, you think I could kill someone with this… power, or magic, or whatever?”

“I torched the locker room on accident,” said Aiden coolly.  “That could have killed people if they were inside.”

“I don’t know guys, I just don’t know.  This is all too much at once.  It happened for the first time last week and I had no idea what was going on.  It’s freaky.  It creeps me out, okay?  I just want to ignore it.”

“But you can’t, man,” said Kirk.  “It’s going to keep happening.  And if you can control it, think about how many games you could win.  You could make it to the NFL.  Just give it a shot.  Let us explain everything.  Tomorrow, right after eighth period.”

They reached the door to the gym.

“Sorry, I just can’t.  I have to go… Hailey should be on her last routine on the uneven bars,” he said shutting the door behind him.

The heavy metal door echoed throughout the empty hallway as it closed.  Then it was silent.

Aiden heaved a deep sigh.  He felt defeated.  Myriah and Kirk were looking at the ground, probably feeling the same way.

“Well, it was worth a try,” said Aiden.

Nobody said anything.  Kirk leaned against a wall display and crossed his arms.  Myriah fiddled with her shirt.

Just then, an ear-piercing scream, followed by a sickening thud sounded through the gym doors.

“Hail!”

It was Garret’s voice.

Alarmed, Aiden looked at Myriah and Kirk and bolted into the gym.

Garret was crouched down on the blue mat underneath the highest bar next to a body that Aiden guessed to be Hailey’s.  The gym was empty except for the five of them.  They hurried over to Garret.

It was awfully grotesque.

Hailey remained limp and her body was all sorts of contorted.  She was most definitely unconscious, and judging from the way her head was lolled off to the side, had possibly broken her neck as well.

Myriah knelt down next to Garret and looked at Hailey more closely.  Her breathing was stifled.

“Give me a cell phone!  We have to call an ambulance!” cried Garret.

Aiden fumbled through his pockets and pulled out his phone.  Garret yanked it from his hand and dialed the three digits furiously.

Aiden was more in shock than anything.  He had no idea what to do or say.  He and Kirk just stood there, watching.  Myriah was now assessing Hailey like a medic while Garret screamed through the phone.

And then it hit Aiden and he knew exactly what Myriah was about to do.  She closed her eyes and rubbed her hands around Hailey’s neck.

Garret had gotten off the phone now.  “Don’t touch her!  If her neck’s broken you could kill her!” he screamed.  Tears started to well up in his eyes.  Garret was clearly more compassionate than Aiden gave him credit for.

But Myriah did not stop.  She didn’t even acknowledge Garret.  She kept rubbing Hailey’s neck with her eyes closed.

Garret moved to stop Myriah, but Aiden interjected.  “Stop!” he said, throwing his body in front of Garret’s.  “Trust her.  She won’t hurt her.  She’s trying to help.”

“What... is she a nurse or something?  That’s my girlfriend there!  An ambulance is on its way, just leave her be!”

“Garret, just calm down, please,” said Kirk.  “If we know Myriah, Hailey is going to be fine.”

“She’s doing magic, Garret.  Let her focus,” pleaded Aiden.

Garret hesitated, clearly unsure of what to do.  Eventually, he gulped, nodded, and put his hands on his hips.  He watched nervously.

A pale-blue light was now emanating from Myriah’s hands.  It almost looked like a more colorful mist, and it made a strange hissing noise as it moved.  The blue light began to change to a teal, and then to green.  The mist encompassed all of Hailey’s head.  Garret looked like he was going to pass out.

Then, she stirred.  Her legs moved first, and then her arms.  She made an unrecognizable sound, but was clearly conscious.  Her head sat straight on her shoulders. 

Garret’s mouth was hanging open.  “Oh, my – how the – Hailey?  Can you hear me?”

She made another noise that was barely audible, but there was no denying that she was alive and was going to be okay.

Garret knelt down next to her and grabbed her hand.  Myriah backed away to give them some space.  “We’re going to take you to the hospital now, okay?” he said.  “You’re going to be fine.  Just close your eyes and try not to move, okay?”

This certainly proved that it is impossible to judge people.  Garret was definitely not just a dumb jock like Aiden had thought.  He was very mature and caring.  Now Aiden understood where people got the expression “gentle giant” from.  Garret had a big body, but an even bigger heart.

He stood up and walked over to Myriah.  He wrapped his massive arms around her in a hug.

“I have no idea what you just did, but thank you.  Thank you so much.”

Myriah looked like she was suffocating.  She gave an awkward laugh.  “Don’t mention it,” she said.

They heard faint sirens signaling that the paramedics had arrived.  Garret met them at the door and led them in to where Hailey was lying.  They scooped her on to a stretcher and assured the four of them that she was going to be fine for now, but still needed to go to the hospital.

Garret climbed into the ambulance with two of the paramedics, still holding Hailey’s hand.  Before they shut the doors, he called out to Aiden.

“Hey, Brande, we can talk after Modern Media tomorrow… I’m in.”