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.”

.

Chapter going up tomorrow night instead.  Sorry all!

Chapter 8

                        Chapter 8: The Figure in the Dark

            It was Hazzlok.

            It was Hazzlok all along.

            He made the boxes fall over.  He made the lights go out.  He was responsible for all of the noises and objects being rearranged, not George’s ghost.

            He had been down there many times, it seemed.  But just how many times had he been watching them?  How much did he see?  How much did he even comprehend?  Why didn’t he tell the principal?  Better yet, how did he even know that they were down there practicing?

            There were so many questions that Aiden wanted to ask Hazzlok right now, but couldn’t.  His hatred for him had just reached a whole new level.  His anger was mingling with a great sense of urgency and fear as a new thought occurred to him.

            Hazzlok had discovered Aiden trying to make mortars.  Mortars.  It doesn’t matter that he wasn’t trying to destroy anything.  It doesn’t even matter that he didn’t want them to be any bigger than a cereal bowl.  To anyone on the outside looking in, it certainly appeared as if the boy who set the locker room on fire was looking further into pyromania and methods to terrorize and deface the school.  He would most certainly be taken to the principal’s office where he would promptly be expelled.

            Which meant that his parents would ground him for life.

            Which also meant that his days of practicing magic were about to come to a swift end.

            Aiden never felt worse in his life than he did right now.  He remained silent, waiting for Hazzlok to chew the three of them out and march them down to the office.  Aiden didn’t even dare to look at Myriah or Kirk.  He hung his head and did not let his eyes stray from the ground.

            “First thing’s first, you three,” said Hazzlok.  “Do you have any idea how many school rules you have broken today, alone?  I must tell you, what you have been doing is completely and utterly foolish.”

            Nobody said a word.  Aiden remained focused on the floor.

            “Believe me; I have every reason to expel all three of you.  I have been to nearly every one of your ‘meetings’ and have seen everything.”

            Everything.  Every meeting.  But how?

            “Though maybe your intentions have been good, and although you have tried to be secretive, you have also been quite careless.  Talking about meetings in class, suddenly becoming so friendly with one another, alienating your other classmates and friends… it was quite obvious that you were up to something.  Do you realize that you could have easily been overheard?  Or followed for that matter?

            “And suppose that someone did follow you.  Suppose that they saw you creating flames, water, and cyclones out of thin air.  Your history is against you, Aiden.  It would have seemed like malicious destruction on your part once again.”

            He really had seen everything.

            “I already covered for you once, Aiden.  It took a fair bit of convincing for me to portray that you had absolutely nothing to do with the locker room fire, were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, and that you walked away unscathed because of a certain chemical leak that coated your skin with a layer of protection.  I can get away with such lies because I am a respected Chemist and nobody would dare question me.  This is why you were not called in for questioning by the Board of Education or the police department for that matter.  Had you been discovered down here, I am not sure what kind of lies I could feed the Board again.”

            Aiden was stunned.  “You… covered for me?”  His voice was meek and barely audible.  “But, how did you – er, why?”

            “I certainly could not afford to have you expelled, Aiden.  I knew that I had to keep a close eye on you, and now, the two of you as well,” he said, pointing at Myriah and Kirk.  “But I suppose you are still a bit confused.  Maybe you’d rather like to ask me how I know what I do?  How I knew what happened on that first day, how I knew where you were meeting, how I knew what you have been doing?”

            Aiden tried to respond, but could not find words.  He merely nodded his head once.

            Hazzlok straightened himself and pulled his pen-pointer from his breast pocket and extended it as he had done on the first day of class.  He raised it high into the air.

            A great wall of flame erupted from the dusty floor and immediately surrounded Aiden, Kirk, and Myriah.  They were closed off from Hazzlok, trapped within this circling inferno.  It was bright and the heat was intense.  The flames began to form shapes: people, swords, and the head of a mighty Chinese dragon that bolted around the room and left a blaze in its trail.

            Aiden could see Hazzlok through the fire in front of him.  His pen-pointer was moving gracefully, like an orchestra conductor’s wand, guiding the movements of the fire dragon.  His eyes remained focused and unblinking.  He then gave a swift, upward striking motion and the flames immediately died out.

            “Let us just say, Aiden, that I very well know fire magic when I see it,” said Hazzlok, grinning.

            Absolutely nothing could have prepared him for this.  Aiden’s jaw dropped to his chest.  He was blown away, as were Myriah and Kirk.

            “You have got… to be kidding me,” said Kirk.

            “Wow…” said Myriah in awe.

            “Yes, it is true.  I am a mage, just like you,” said Hazzlok.

            This was simply unbelievable.  Hazzlok, of all people.  The man who Aiden disliked so very much was now an insanely powerful fire mage.  In many respects, he was just like Aiden… or rather that Aiden was much like him.

            Maybe this was why Hazzlok was nicer to Aiden after that first day.  He must have known that Aiden was a mage all along.  He even admitted to covering up the locker room incident.  Yes, he definitely knew.

            “Does this mean you’re not going to expel us?” asked Aiden.

            Hazzlok laughed.  “No, not at all.  In fact, quite the opposite actually.  You see, we have much to discuss now and I rather think that we should be a little friendlier with one another, if you understand what I am getting at,” he said, leering at Aiden.

            Aiden sighed.  “Fair enough.”

            “Excellent,” said Hazzlok.  “As I said, we have much to discuss, so where shall we begin?  I suppose you have some questions for me, so I will humor you with answers.”

            Myriah spoke first.  “Mr. Hazzlok?”

            “Please, Myriah, just ‘Hazzlok’ is fine.  I think we should ditch the formalities, personally.  We are all on the same level and I do not want to be viewed as superior to you three.”

            “Well, alright then, Hazzlok.  How did you know where we were meeting?  We never talked about that in class, and I’ve been very careful to make sure the coast was clear before we came down here… how did you find out?” she asked.

            Hazzlok smiled and sat down on one of the piles of sandbags.  He gestured at the rest of them to do the same.  “It’s simple, really.  I read your minds.”

            “You did what?” said Aiden.

            “I read your minds; saw what you were thinking… that sort of thing.  Really, I would have guessed that you figured that out by now.  How else would I know?  As you may have seen, I make a terrible spy, judging by the copious amount of boxes and objects that I have knocked over down here in my time of watching you.”

            “You can really read minds?  That’s possible?” asked Myriah.

            “Of course! It is an advanced spell belonging to fire mages, and I must say, it comes in handy quite often.  Don’t worry, though… I have only used it when necessary.  Some of the thoughts that go through your heads I’d rather not see.”

            “Well that’s a load of crap,” said Kirk, throwing his hands in the air.  “How come you guys get to read minds and all I get is a little gust of wind?  I want something cool, too.  Is there anything like that for wind mages, Hazzlok?”

            “Yes, indeed, Kirk.  And you shall find out in due time, I must say.”

            Aiden suddenly became very interested in the floor again.  “Umm, Hazzlok?  If you can read minds, I just want to say that I never truly meant any malicious thought that ever crossed my mind that you might have happened to see…”

            Hazzlok laughed.  “It is alright, Aiden.  I must also apologize for the way I treated you on the first day of class.  I was rather… bent out of shape, you could say.  But the past is the past; we have a clean slate now.”

            Aiden smiled and nodded a “thank you.”

            “That spell you cast… that was pretty incredible,” said Kirk.  “How long have you been a mage?”

            “Oh, about seven years I would guess, now.  Yes, that spell is one of my favorites.  It’s flashy, but very dangerous.  It is called the Ring of the Firedrake.”

            “Spells have proper names?” asked Myriah.

            “Indeed.  Many do, as they have been around for centuries and have been passed down through generations.  However, new spells come about and don’t necessarily have names.  Some people like to keep their inventions secret, you know.  That particular spell I performed is relatively new.  I invented it, and named it promptly.”

            “Wow… that’s crazy,” said Aiden.  “So if you’re a fire mage… does that mean that there are spells you can teach me?”

            Hazzlok nodded.  “Yes, there are hundreds of spells to be learned, Aiden.  And judging by how well you three have progressed, I daresay you might be able to invent some of your own one day.”

            Myriah blushed.  Aiden and Kirk turned to each other and grinned widely.

            “I have a question, actually,” said Myriah.  “The three of us have noticed that we glow the color of our element sometimes… why is it that we never noticed you glowing?”

            “Usually, only fresh mages glow.  It is one of those unexplainable phenomena, you see.  For many mages, the glow goes away on its own, and for others, they learn how to suppress it.”

            “Yeah, I think we need to learn how to do that,” said Aiden.  “If my parents saw me glowing red they would take me straight to the emergency room.”

            “Actually, they wouldn’t be able to see it, Aiden.  Nor any magic you do for that matter, sort of.  Magic is only truly visible to other mages, being that the first step to becoming a mage is believing that magic itself is real.  To those who cannot do magic, or ‘Normals,’ as we like to call them, it merely appears as a trick of the light or a hallucination.

            “For example, if Kirk were to make a gust that snapped a tree branch, the four of us would see the purple and gray aura of the spell as it traveled and sliced through the branch.  To a Normal, they would only sense the wind pick up and see the branch crack, passing it off merely as nature taking its course.  This is most helpful as it keeps our secret relatively safe,” said Hazzlok.

            “Oh, that reminds me,” said Kirk.  “Why does magic have to be such a big secret if there are so many people who can do it?  Like, Aiden wouldn’t get made fun of so bad if everyone knew he could do magic.  They’d think he was awesome instead of some freak.  Why don’t we just tell people?”

            Hazzlok laughed again.  “Ah, yes, you still have much to learn.  You see, there are several reasons why we keep magic hidden from the rest of the world.  For one, we are actually few and far between.  The fact that this school has more than one mage in it is highly uncommon.  More than two is just absolutely unheard of.  The mages in the United States comprise of less than one percent of the population.

            “If people were to know of our abilities, there would surely be laws put in place to suppress us.  Our powers would be viewed as a threat.  We would be alienated, oppressed, angry… which would lead to an uprising, which would lead to war and destruction.  The last thing we need is another war.

            “On top of that, many mages are born because they enjoy the novelty and fascination of magic.  They do not use it for personal gain, but more for entertainment.  As you have demonstrated, Kirk, it takes only determination and belief to become a mage, for some.  Yes, some natural ability is required, but not much.  It is quite easy to teach magic, actually. 

“Now imagine a world where anybody could do magic if they wanted it badly enough.  We have enough dangerous and power-hungry people who use guns and weapons to get what they want… imagine if they could read minds, become invisible, heal themselves, and gain an extra layer of protective armor on their skin on top of that?  The world would fall to chaos.”

            Kirk looked as if he’d seen George’s ghost.  “Man… I never thought of that.”

            Aiden stopped to think for a moment.  “I noticed that you said less than one percent of the U.S. population is made up of mages… that’s still a lot of people.  How has the secret stayed, well… secret?” he asked.

            “A good question, Aiden.  Simply put, almost all mages work for or belong to a single company.  This helps us monitor all magic in the U.S.  We are based in New York and are known as CIMPLE.”

            “Wait, like, the Control of Imports and Monitored Production of Legal Exports kind of CIMPLE?  I used to live in New York,” said Myriah.

            “Precisely, Myriah.  Although, that is our code name.  A small portion of the company does the import and export thing, but the real reason we were created was to keep an eye on all magic.  Our real name is actually The Containment of International Magical Practice and Law Enforcement.  We are sort of the like a mage’s government, and there is one in every country.  This is how we keep order across the globe,” said Hazzlok matter-of-factly.

            “But how do you keep track of so many people?” asked Aiden.

            “With people like me, of course!  Tens of thousands of us work as Scouts across the country.  We are assigned to work in certain positions and we monitor any use of magic in our areas.  This is why I intervened at the principal’s office on the first day of school, to cover your tracks.  And then, as part of my job, I kept a close eye on you, to make sure you didn’t do anything stupid, destructive, or illegal.  If you wanted, I could probably get the three of you jobs as Scouts when you graduate.  It pays well and is quite fun.”

            The three exchanged looks of excitement.

            “That does sound pretty cool,” said Kirk.  “Sure beats doing accounting or something like that.  So what do you do when you find a mage… just stalk them and make sure they don’t ruin things?”

            “Well, normally, I would approach them immediately and have this same sort of conversation that we are having now.  Then I would take them to headquarters and we could discuss career options with the proper people.”

            “So you’re going to take us to New York!?” Myriah asked excitedly.

            “Yes, eventually.  I promise.”

            “What do you mean eventually?  What are we waiting for?” asked Aiden.

            “Yeah, why didn’t you just stop us at the second or third meeting and talk to us then?  Weren’t you afraid that we’d blow the school up or something?” asked Kirk.

            Hazzlok scratched the back of his head.  “Ah, er – yes, well, of course, you are still a bit too young to have a career with us since you have yet to graduate so I felt no particular rush in taking you to headquarters,” he stumbled.

            Aiden got the feeling that he wasn’t being entirely truthful.  “Okay, but that doesn’t answer Kirk’s question.  Why did you spy on us for so long?”

            Hazzlok sighed and dropped his hands, slapping his knees.  “Well… I suppose there was no avoiding this.  How should I put this?  You see, you three are… well… a special case.  Sort of like an exception to the rule.”

            They exchanged puzzled looks.

            “To be perfectly honest, if I had taken you to headquarters a few weeks ago, you’d be somewhat of celebrities.  I was not sure if that would be the best thing for you all right now, so I decided to wait.  I wanted to know more of what you could do.  I wanted to see how you handled magic.  I was fascinated by your camaraderie.  Maybe it sounds selfish, but I think I made the right decision,” said Hazzlok.

            “What do you mean?  Why would we be celebrities?” asked Myriah.

            Hazzlok paused and stood up.  He paced in circles for a moment.  “I suppose I will start with the easier of the two.”  He heaved a deep sigh.  “To put it simply, mages do not blossom until they reach adulthood.  And by adulthood, I mean eighteen years of age.  The three of you are sixteen, yes?”

            They nodded.

            “So you are performing magic two years younger than you should be.  Do you see what I mean?  The people at CIMPLE would flock to you like a mindless paparazzi,” he said.

            “So it’s kind of like those teenagers you see on American Idol and stuff, I get it,” said Kirk.

            “Yes, but there is much more to it, I am afraid,” said Hazzlok.  “It is sort of hard to explain.  Perhaps I will let Mr. Raine explain it to you when we get to headquarters.  He is better at this sort of thing.”

            “Alright, but just because we are young shouldn’t make us famous or anything,” said Aiden.  “There’s something else, isn’t there?  You said there was.”

            “Patience, Aiden, please.  Yes, there is something else.  Again, this is slightly hard to explain, so bare with me.  Myriah… do you ever feel different around Aiden?  Something that you don’t normally feel around others?”

            Myriah immediately turned pink.  “I – what?  I don’t know what you mean,” she stammered.

            “Forgive me, I should rephrase that.  Have you ever felt a little weak or light-headed around each other?”

            Aiden looked over at Myriah and nodded.

            “Yeah,” Aiden interjected.  “We’ve actually collapsed around each other a few times.  And you probably saw us during some of the meetings… she said she had trouble focusing when I was close by.”

            “Precisely.  You see, as it stands, mages typically only, er – get along well with those of the same element.  Even at headquarters, we are divided elementally.  For example, a fire mage might be able to cooperate with a wind mage, but eventually they will butt heads and argue.  The fact that you two – (he pointed at Aiden and Kirk) – are best friends is nothing short of marvelous.

            “On the other hand, opposing elements are a more severe case.  At CIMPLE, our fire mages are on the complete opposite end of the building to the water mages.  If we put the two together, they would tear each other apart.  To put it simply, think of it in terms of science… water douses a flame, fire melts ice… the same holds true for earth and wind.  They oppose as well.”

            “So, you’re saying that Myriah and I should have been at each other’s throats by now?” asked Aiden.

            “Yes.”

            “So that explains why it burns when our hands touch…” said Myriah.

            “Exactly.  The fact that you were even able to teach her how to cast some spells is a miracle in and of itself.  Opposing elements generally loathe each other, but for you two, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

            Aiden felt slightly embarrassed.  “So let me get this straight… the three of us shouldn’t get along, but we do… and that makes us special?” he said.

            “Yes.  If I brought you to headquarters now, you three would glow, people would see you walking and talking together… add that on top of the fact that you still look, and are, very young… well, it would draw a lot of attention.  Yes, I think if we are to go to headquarters, it will have to be a sudden and secretive move.”

            Aiden thought about this for a moment in the lull of the conversation.  “Why not just go now then?  As in, right this second?”

            Hazzlok let out a deep, hearty laugh.  “I admire your eagerness, Aiden, but you are forgetting some things.  What would your family think if you told them you were leaving for New York tonight?  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, you haven’t packed or anything… it would be highly suspicious and unorthodox.  Not to mention that I have to clear a meeting with my superior first, anyway.”

            Aiden felt his ears turn red.  It kind of was a dumb thing to say.

            “Don’t worry, I promise I will take you all to headquarters.  But first, there are two things that I would like you to do for me in exchange.”

            Aiden couldn’t figure out why, but he certainly believed everything Hazzlok had told them.  In a way, he kind of reminded him of Cafaran.  He made Aiden realize that there was so much more to magic than he thought.  And despite how much he disliked the guy over the last few months, he could not help but appreciate and respect him now.  He was being so helpful.  So understanding.  So… cool.

            “Sure, what’s up?” said Kirk.

            “One, I want the four of us to continue having these meetings.  I wish to monitor and observe your magical progression.  I will even teach you a few spells, Aiden.  I believe that there will be much to gain from consistently practicing together.”

            “Okay, easy enough,” said Myriah.

            “And secondly, I would like you to do your absolute best to recruit a fourth mage to include into this practice regiment.  He is a fresh mage like you three, so I don’t think he quite understands exactly what he is doing just yet.  Perhaps you could talk to him?”

            “Like Myriah said… easy enough,” said Kirk.

            “I wouldn’t be so confident, Kirk.  You see, there are a few things that I am weary about with this whole operation.  I should mention that he is most definitely an earth mage, so that is obstacle number one.  Just because the three of you work together so well right now doesn’t necessarily mean things will be just as fine with the four of you together.  Magic is like Chemistry… if you add one extra item to the concoction, sometimes it explodes.

            “I should also note that when I said he is a fresh mage, I mean fresh as in he performed his first bit of magic a few days ago.  I am not sure if he even believes what he did.  Some people cast their first spell on accident.  He might be scared, which could also mean that he will be very resilient.  You must be persistent with him, even if he refuses to believe anything you have to say.”

            “We get your point,” said Aiden.  “Just tell us who it is and we can give it a shot when we get back from break on Monday.  It will be a little awkward approaching a total stranger about magic, especially if he’s older than we are, but it’s worth a try.”

            “Actually, he, too, is an underage mage.  You all know him… he’s in our Chemistry class,” said Hazzlok.

            “Well… who is it?” asked Myriah.

            “Garret Spire.”