Sarge

The Last Wizards

(The Bond 2)

This story is a separate story from The Bond, but knowledge of that story will make this easier to understand. I recommend reading that story first.

1. Preface

"Damn it, Allister, pay attention," Grayson said with frustration.

"Sorry," Allister said as he let his best friend's dick slip out of his mouth. "But something's bothering me."

"I'll tell you what's bothering me. This is the second time you almost got me there and then you lose focus and stop what you're doing. I gave you a great blowjob, now get your mind into it and finish me. Please!"

"Where do wizards come from?"

"The only cum I want to consider is mine. Are you going to blow me or not?"

"You're getting soft. It's because you're yelling at me. I can't make you cum if you get soft."

"Bullshit! I was fully hard a minute ago until you stopped. Either do it or forget about it. I'll go and have fun with Aaden instead."

"You and Aaden are wizards. Maybe if I work harder I'll earn that title too. But why are we able to make magic? Why can't everyone?"

Realizing that his friend wasn't going to continue, Grayson pushed himself up to a sitting position.

"I thought we agreed that everyone could, but it needed some spark; something to make it start working. That's what Aaden was assigned to research. To find out what and why."

Normally, the sight of Grayson's dick would excite Allister. But now his focus was on the potential problem. "You and I generated our first spells when we were being humiliated. Aaden too. But many other boys here did it during anger brought on by things other than humiliation. And some just, uh, to quote Aaden, "wished it." But everyone gets humiliated or angry or makes wishes. Why do only a few, a very rare few, generate a magical spell from it? And why are there fewer and fewer wizards each generation? Aaden found that long ago, several centuries ago, it wasn't so rare. In fact, it was so common that the general public was aware of it."

"Yeah, and they did horrible things to those poor kids caught and determined to be witches. But why bring this up now? I really just wanted to get off and you promised me we'd do it. I thought the Bond meant as much to you as it did to Aaden and me."

"What does the end of wizardry have to do with being Bonded?" Allister asked, confused by Grayson's statement.

Grayson shook his head, knowing that once Allister's mind was locked onto to a problem he gave up everything to try and solve it. His hope for a simple blowjob from his Bonded partner was over for now. Allister wanted to know what made a wizard, and until his mind could formulate an answer or reach an end, he wasn't going to be useful as a sexual partner.

"That question has been studied for decades by people smarter than you and me. They know that the ability to create magic isn't hereditary. In fact, the chances of a gay boy being able to produce magic is more likely than a straight boy. The only reason we're in the minority here is because gays are small fraction of humanity."

"They even tried to force it. Put boys in danger. Humiliated them relentlessly. Scared the hell out of them. No matter how much they tried, they couldn't induce it more frequently than random chance. Then they tried girls and never got one who could produce magic. Boys only, without exception."

"They did MRI's and other tests, all with no results. There is no physical reason why some boys can create magic and others can't. You know all this Allister. Let it go and think about me instead." Grayson was hoping he could bring Allister back to studying how to make his partner happy. But because of the Bond he could feel much of what Allister felt. And of course, Allister could feel his frustration, but was ignoring it.

"I can't focus on it when all you want is sex," Allister said. "But think about it, because it is important. If wizards stop being born, what will happen with the magic? And I think the general thought that it is just random is wrong. If it was truly random, then gay boys wouldn't be three times as likely to be able to master it than straight boys."

"Allister, your biggest fear of being Bonded before it was explained to you was that someone would use the Bond to make you do stuff you didn't want to do. But I know you want to give me a blowjob. You and I and Aaden have given each other bunches of them. Don't make me force you. Do it this time, like you promised, and then I'll help you with the problem of the end of magic."

Allister could feel his ears burning. "I guess I was kind of self-absorbed. You wouldn't really use the Bond to make me do something, would you?"

Grayson was thinking that his need might be solved if he just pushed a little, but Allister was right, it wasn't the purpose for the Bond. And knowing Allister's fear of being controlled and controlling him anyway would be doubly wrong. Suddenly, he had a thought.

"Hey, just a thought. Could a boy who couldn't create magic be Bonded to one who could? And if so, could that Bond then be used to force the non-gifted one to make magic anyway?"

"You're a damn genius, you know that?" Allister said with enthusiasm. "That gives me a lot to think about and study. And, with that, maybe now I have enough focus on spend on you for a few minutes." He bent down and started manipulating Grayson's shaft. It didn't take long to get him hard, and once hard, now that he was paying attention, it didn't take long to make Grayson cum.

Then it was time to apply Perception to the problem. He started with what the Bond really was and if it needed both partners to already be able to create magic.

2. Bonding

Allister had more knowledge of Bonding than any other wizard he knew except for Mr. Arbox. But he didn't want to go to him with an un-researched question. Mr. Arbox was not open to experimentation with the Bond. He had allowed Allister to attempt a three-way Bond because Allister had provided sufficient discovery to make the experiment worth trying.

Due to his Bond with Grayson, he was now able to create many fourth-floor spells. But none of those were going to help him with something as complicated as a Bonding spell. He'd managed to create the Bond only through Perception, not magic, and even then it would have failed except that his friends also helped.

Just as in his old school, the direction was hypothesis first, then study, and finally trial and error. Only the potential rewards had to be greater than the risk in case the outcome was error. Allister had his hypothesis – an adolescent boy who as far as they knew would not develop the ability to create magic, Bonded to a wizard, could be controlled using the Bond. And if so, then they could create new wizards at will.

But how to study such an idea? Allister now had access to some of the school's records. He started by researching Bonding to see first if his hypothesis had ever been tested. And if not, what were the extremes of Bonding that had been done – what limited how little magical ability did a Bonded student had to have a successful Bonding.

Allister learned two things fairly quickly. One didn't surprise him, but the other did. He wasn't surprised to learn that there was no record of any attempt at a Bond with a non-magic user. But he didn't expect to learn that Bonding had only been done for less than two centuries. It started being done right when they realized that fewer wizards were being born.

That would suggest that the fear another school had been stealing potential wizards was bullshit. If they'd been doing it for over a century they would have enough by now to rule all the schools. The idea of going to war, which was the current recommendation to the Directors, would not achieve anything if he was right. And the answer was so obvious that Allister now had a new problem. Why hadn't anyone else recognized it? Why did the researchers currently working on the problem believe so fervently that war was necessary?

He wished that Aaden was here. His Bond with Aaden provided Aaden with the ability to use Perception. He wasn't as good at it as Allister, but he could combine it with magic easier than Allister could. Besides, this problem was branching into two problems. And if there was a war, further research that didn't support the war would not be permitted. All resources would be pulled into the war effort.

Allister knew that he and Aaden would not be front-line soldiers, their magical ability was too slight. But Grayson was a very gifted wizard, and had recently won the coveted Battle Wizard title in competition with other friendly schools. He'd be in battle for sure. And the problem with the Bond was that if one died, so did the other. In this case, all three of them were at the same risk.

Allister went to his old Perception teacher, Eryn. It still seemed odd to be on a first name basis with him, he'd always been Mr. Barker before the Bonding. "Eryn, I'm trying to do some research and I'm wondering if you can take a couple of my Perception classes for a little while."

Before he broke the code, Perception training had been a long-existing failure in the School. Few boys ever managed even a basic understanding of it. But it continued because once in about every fifty years a student's use of Perception instead of Magic was discovered. But because of what Allister had done, they now had twelve Perception students learning the ability.

Eryn taught the twelve, Allister the mainstream fourth-floor students. "Any of them show any ability at all?" Eryn asked.

"Not a one. How did you do it for all those years before I came along? It's so frustrating, for them as much as me. And currently pointless."

"Two of my students are ready for self-study. I'll have them take over your classes for a time. What are you researching?"

"The time of the last of the wizards may be upon us. There must be a reason. And what happens to magic if there are no wizards anymore?"

"That's already gone to the Directors," Eryn said. "One or more of the other schools are somehow finding our boys before we do and taking them. They've documented dozens of unsolved missing person's cases. It could be that most or all of those boys who just disappeared were kidnapped by them and trained for magic in their school."

"That's circumstantial, and they only have guesses as to which Schools may be involved," Allister said. "They've been at it for nearly two centuries. By now they would have enough wizards to achieve their purpose."

"The research team thinks it is a fairly recent condition, less than twenty years. What makes you think it's been happening for longer than that?"

"The number of wizards has been decreasing at an increasing rate since before the Bonding started. That is a well-documented fact. I guess it is possible that some other School has recently come to the same conclusion as I have that the time of wizards is nearly over and because of that they have been stealing our candidates, but that still won't help them in the long-term. We need to understand the real reason why there are fewer wizards every year. War isn't going to solve it – in fact it will speed it up."

"The Directors don't agree with you. I'll let my students take over your classes for a while, but I recommend you work on it in secret for now. Working against war preparations could be conceived as sedition. You need more to go on. And you need it soon."

Allister was just about to leave when the office door opened and Mr. Arbox stepped in.

"Eryn, I need Allister's talents for a while. The research team has found something they don't understand and Aaden wants Allister there to help. I'm going to send Grayson as well as a few warrior wizards too."

"You can have him, my students can take over his duties," Eryn said. "Why so much fire power?"

"I can't tell you much, the Directors have put a lid on the discovery. But a number of researchers and guards and support staff have died in unusual circumstances. It may be related to the war preparations. Understanding the discovery must something the enemy wants as well. So we need protect our assets." Mr. Arbox looked at Allister and said, "Pack what you need, you and Grayson will be leaving inside an hour."

3. The Manuscript

Being together again for the first time in weeks gave Allister, Grayson, and Aaden a chance to perform a ritual of their own. They had perfected a method of three-way sex and each worked diligently to get the most satisfaction from their other two partners as possible. It was exhausting, but worth the effort.

Afterwards, the three lay on the cots provided in their tent. They didn't have the strength to dress and all hoped that none of the officers in charge would need them. Being gay was more than just tolerated when they were students, it was frequently encouraged for various reasons. But in the field, there were far more straight wizards than gay ones and not all accepted gay sex for what it was.

"So why are we here?" Allister asked. "What did they find that you can't understand?" Aaden's use of Perception was second only to Eryn's. And Allister had other research he wanted to conduct. Not that he didn't want to help his Bonded partner and friend.

"It's an old manuscript. They keep it locked in a side cave in the mountain. I've spent hours with it, but all it contains is twenty-four pages of two columns of numbers. I've tried using Perception, but I haven't got a clue what the numbers represent."

"Can you remember any of it?"

"Yeah, I took the liberty of memorizing the first page. I'm not allowed to write it down anywhere, so you'll have to either wait or try to memorize it as I read them off." He read them off starting with the left column. "8351, 8472, 8473,10584, 10585, 10586." The right column was just as boring.

"That's it? Just twenty-four pages of numbers?"

"Yeah. There is a letter-number combination at the top of each set of number that I think serves as the title. The one I just read off was E9. The sets are broken apart by a space and then the next sequence of numbers start. Some of the later sequences have a dozen rows of numbers, but each number has either four or five digits."

"What have you eliminated?"

"Not much. And I don't want to use the word elimination just because I don't understand what they represent. I guess the only thing I think could be eliminated is coordinates. Unless there is a four-dimensional space somewhere, there is one to many digits for then numbers to be coordinates."

"Couldn't the last number be time?" Grayson asked. "That's kind of like a fourth dimension."

"Or the first number, yeah," Aaden said. "But the other numbers aren't long enough to give a location."

"You're both long enough to satisfy me," Grayson said. "Although I do wish you were bigger." He pointed to Allister, whose dick had become erect again. "Maybe some more practice will help you both in your development."

"That's all you think about – sex," Allister said. "But I do like the topic. Get hard and we might have the strength to do it again."

They just finished the second round of play when a gong sounded. "Shit, how long were we at it," Aaden said. "That's the dinner gong. The food here isn't as good as at the School, but it isn't bad."

"And I'm starving," Allister said. "Although I seem to lack the strength to get dressed."

"I thought I feed you enough," Grayson said as he swung out of his cot. "Maybe I could produce more if…"

"If we do it again I won't be able to get up for a week," Aaden said. "Get up, get dressed, and let's go. I'm starving too."

The next morning Grayson was given a tour of the area around the cave where protection had been established while Allister and Aaden were admitted to the room where the manuscript was. Allister was pleased to see that Aaden had made no mistakes in the number sequence he had memorized. He stared at the first page, which and two sets of numbers in two columns as follows:

The second list of numbers went on for 15 more rows.

"The last number is always consecutive," he said after a moment of looking at them. "I think we can eliminate that and just concentrate on the first three or four. I think some of them have two digits, like the 10 in the third row of the first column. So, the next two in that block are the 5 and the 8, and it is the 4th in the sequence."

"Yeah, it doesn't require Perception to see all that," Aaden said. "But what do they describe?"

"I think Grayson's guess was close," Allister said as he started to use his Perception training to gain understanding. "They don't give a location as much as a direction using three coordinates."

In his head, Allister pictured a cube and mentally filled the cube with a dot for each coordinate – the first number being left, the second right, and the third vertical. Then he watched it move as he did the same for the next row of numbers.

"I know what you are doing," Aaden said. "But how do you know which number goes with which spatial orientation? The first number could be left, but it could be up. Or down. You have to know what the starting point is to understand the motion. That's the point I can't get past and why I asked for your help."

"You just wanted me and Grayson here because you were horny," Allister said. "This can't be that hard."

"Yeah, when I wanted hard I thought of Grayson," Aaden said with a laugh. "Seriously though, there has to be some meaning and if we can't figure it out quickly they are going to try and take the manuscript back to the School."

Allister stopped his concentration. "Why did you say 'try?' That implies that there was at least one unsuccessful attempt."

"There was another manuscript, a shorter one. I never got to see it. When they brought it out of the cave the person carrying it suddenly had a heart attack. And the manuscript disappeared. They thought at first it had been an attack and the manuscript stolen somehow, but later it was found back where it had been found the first time."

"And it seems like too much of a coincidence for the person to have a heart attack right where the manuscript left the cave. I see how that would give them pause. Mr. Arbox said there had been other strange events that he thought were attacks. Can you tell me more about them?"

"Two researchers have died in one particular section of the cave from blunt attack. Rocks. It appeared they killed themselves, but the Base Commander thinks that somehow it was a spy. And two of the soldiers at the original perimeter walked away from their post. Their bodies were found in the desert. Do you need any more time here?"

"No, I think I have the first block of numbers memorized and we can study it just as well in the tent as here. But like you already knew, unless we have more to go on Perception isn't going to help. What else is there in the deeper tunnels?"

"I don't know. Everything here is all hush-hush. Nobody is allowed to talk about what they are doing or what they've seen. It's counter-productive to true research, but the commander believes we are under attack and wants to limit the number of people who have knowledge of all that has been learned."

"That's the real reason you wanted us here," Allister said. "To bolster support for access to more knowledge of what they know."

"You're the resident expert on Perception. You've even surpassed Mr. Barker. Grayson is the current Battle Wizard champion. I'm hopeful they will listen to you two more than they did to me."

"At least you got the three of us back together. We've both missed you, and because of the Bond I know it has been hurting you too. So for that I'm glad you got us here. But just so you know, there is a lot of talk back at the School about being under attack. They are preparing for war."

"War? With what school?"

"That's the dumbest part. They don't know which one. The basis for it is total bullshit, but I was warned about saying so. There is something going on that I don't like. But I don't for a second think that the decrease in wizards or what is happening here is the result of interference from another school."

4. A Partial Solution

That night, the first night the three of them had spent together in weeks, Grayson decided to play a little joke on his two friends. They were all about to go to bed when he used magic to seal their covers down, just as had been done to each of them back in the third-floor dorm room. "You know what you have to do in order to get under the covers," he said to them.

Aaden was still embarrassed to have to do it, but he was hopeful it would lead to more fun afterwards. He lay on top of his blankets and exposed his dick, rubbing it to get it hard. But Allister was still standing there with his mouth open.

"Do it again," Allister said.

"I don't need to. The spell was created correctly. You just need to do what Aaden is doing."

"No, I don't care about that. Do it again. Or any spell. Create one that's complicated."

"You know, you're a real kill-joy when you get an idea in your head," Grayson said. But he used magic to lift Aaden from his bunk and put him on the floor in the middle of the tent, right in front of where Allister was standing. But Allister never looked down.

"I know what the manuscript is for," he said. "It's the hand movements necessary to create magic the way Grayson does. It gives the position of each hand relative to left-right, up-down, and forward-back. The last number is just the step number. Some of the hand movements repeat except for the last number, that means you hold your hands in position."

That got Aaden's attention. "But there's more to creating magic that way; you also need the vocal input. When you've gotten good enough you can just think the words, you don't really have to say them, but you still need to know what they are."

"What words did you use the first time you created magic?" Allister asked. "Before you were brought to the School."

"I, uh, well, I guess I didn't use any. I was begging the guys to stop, but that's not magic incantation."

"Exactly. So why do you need vocal input to create magic now? Grayson, try a simple spell but don't think the words. Just do the hand movements."

"It won't work. Lots of times I forgot the words or got them out of order and the spell didn't work."

"Believe in yourself. Use the Perception you gained from me through the Bond and focus on what the spell does, but don't even think about the words."

The simplest spell he knew, one of the first ones he learned, was a shield. "Throw something at me. Something light in case this doesn't work."

Aaden threw his underpants at him. Grayson created the magic quickly but as asked did all he could to keep the words from entering his mind. The result was a partial success. Aaden's briefs were partially deflected, but still hit him. "It kind of worked," he said, surprised. "But I can't be sure that somehow the words weren't in my mind."

"We need you to try the spell that's in the manuscript," Allister said. "And we need somewhere safe to do it since we have no idea what magic it will create." Most of Allister's magic training had been defensive spells, but he did know a couple of minor offensive spells. One was a spell that blinded the recipient for as long as he could hold he spell active in his head. He used it on Grayson but didn't think of the words, just the hand movements. Grayson saw it coming and successfully blocked it.

"Thought you'd keep me from watching what you have to do in order to get under the blankets, didn't you," Grayson said with a smile. The smile faded as he thought about what Allister had just done. Allister wasn't able to create most spells without using his voice. But he'd done it without speaking.

"So vocalization isn't necessary," he said. "Then why'd they teach it to us? Make us memorize all the language?"

"I don't know," Allister said. "Everything I was taught about magic turns out to be wrong. I can use Perception to create that same spell without moving my arms or using voice. And I can do it in a fraction of them time."

Allister got on top of his blankets. "We need to get some sleep, I think tomorrow's going to be a busy day. But first we must satisfy Grayson's childish desires." He stripped off his briefs and began jerking off, the required activity back on third floor until one could undo the magic that held their blankets down. Both Allister and Aaden were capable of reversing Grayson's spell, but it was more fun to give in to Grayson, so they did.

The next morning, they met with one of the researchers and told him what they had discovered. "It won't work," he said. "Let me prove it. I'll teach you a basic spell used to direct a burst of air at a target. We use it to blow sand away without disturbing what is buried under the sand. It is a simple spell, and you create it like this." He went through the motions several times until he was sure that they all could do it in slow motion.

Next, he built three small mounds of sand. "Now, use the spell to blow the sand I've piled up in front of you." All three boys tried repeatedly but failed each time. "You thought you could make the spell work without the vocal input, but your mind already knew the words and added them to your spell without you being aware of it. But when it comes to a spell you've never seen before, you can't do it without knowing the vocal part. Your find is promising however."

He started to blow the sand away but Allister was a bit peeved to be proved wrong so easily and used Perception to create the same spell and blew away the sand on his pile. The researcher was surprised.

"If you already knew the spell you should have been able to do it without the vocal part. Unless you weren't really trying."

Grayson recognized Allister's anger and before he could say something that would cause problems he asked the researcher if he could tell what spell was being created by just seeing the arm movements.

"Most of the spells I know are designed to help in research. Still, I might. But the fighters are trained to recognize spells, it's how they know what their opponents are sending at them. Let's see the one you think is a spell."

Grayson made all the movements, first slowly, and then at a normal casting speed.

"You could still ask a fighter, but I'm sure that isn't a spell. Most spells are composed of parts of other spells and there wasn't a single arm movement that I recognized. I think you guys had a good idea, but it looks like you were wrong."

Grayson thought the researcher sounded a bit arrogant. He decided to end the conversation and go and find an off-duty fighter and try again. Once they were far enough away from the researcher both Allister and Aaden also expressed their opinion that the researcher seemed conceited. They found a fighter that Aaden knew just finishing his breakfast. Unlike the regular army guards, he was one of the few guards who was also a wizard.

He was more than willing to watch and comment. After watching three times however, he said it didn't have any of the components of any spell he'd ever seen. "That sounds definitive, but remember, my training is based on the use and detection of offensive spells. If this is some category that I've had little or no training in then I most likely wouldn't recognize it."

Allister was about to ask him who might be helpful when he said, "You know, all spells are documented in the library. You guys should have access to it on line. Look at the first few movements, that will tell you something about purpose. To get used to how to use it, start with spells you know and see how they are categorized and expanded. Then look for the one you just showed me. I'd like to help, but I just finished the night shift and I need to hit the sack. Good luck."

"Well, we didn't learn anything about the spell, but at least he was helpful," Grayson said. "Did any of you know there was an on-line library of spells?" Allister and Aaden both shook their heads. "I wonder if we missed something by not completing fourth and fifth floor formal training. Let's go back to the tent and have a look."

They took the fighter's advice and started with several spells they knew and were surprised at how many variations and expansions there were. While interesting and something each of them wanted to come back to later, it did give them insight into how spells were arraigned. They knew they rule out research and fighting – if the movements they thought were a spell were in those two areas it would be nearly certain that either the researcher or the fighter would have recognized part of it.

After an hour of searching however they were no better off than before. They were about to give up when Aaden got a comm from a sender marked as "Librarian." He opened it publicly so that his friends could see it too.

"You've been using up a great deal of time and computer resources searching for something. Perhaps I can help?"

Aaden immediately thanked the person and said they were trying to identify a spell for which they only had the arm movements for. He recorded Grayson as Grayson went through the movements.

They waited for a response. And waited longer. And then even longer yet. Aaden sent another comm asking if the first one had been received.

"I had to check your clearance, and it isn't sufficient. I want to know where you saw that spell. Your supervisor has been notified of your attempted access to classified material."

"That's odd," Grayson said.

"And a little scary," Allister added. "Why would they have a classified section of spells?"

"Well, at least now we know that it is a spell," Aaden said. "Let's go back to the book. I want to see if any of the other spells start out from ones we recognize now that we know what to look for."

But when they got to the access portal and tried to pass they couldn't. A guard immediately came over as they tried a second time.

"IDs!" the guard demanded of them.

They presented their ID cards and the guard scanned them. "You have just tried to enter a restricted area without proper clearance. That is serious offense. You are now under arrest." The guard called one of the Wizard warriors who created a spell that held their arms and legs in place.

Aaden saw what Allister was doing and stopped him. "Breaking his spell will only make things worse. And it may cause him to attack you. Think before you act! This is so third-floor of you, I thought our little fight there cured you of that."

Allister was suddenly embarrassed to remember how impulsive he'd become when he first learned how to perform magic with Perception instead of creating it. He stopped what he had been about to do and started trying to figure out exactly when he reverted to impulsiveness and anger instead or reasoning. It only took a moment of analysis to realize it started when he first entered the cave.

"Did you have any trouble with impulsiveness after you entered the cave for the first time?" he asked Aaden.

"No, that's your trait." But he did spend a moment of Perception and it caused him to realize that he'd been prone to being impulsive since then but had been successful at blocking it without realizing it. He admitted as much to Allister.

An officer arrived and questioned them and Aaden told him they had asked about a spell from the classified section of the library without knowing it was classified. "I was told that the three of you represent a threat to the research being done here and that you are to be sent home."

He put four cubes in a box around them and then touched one of the cubes. A three-dimensional solid box formed around them, preventing them from seeing anything beyond the walls of the box. They could still fee motion however, and they were aware that they were elevated off the ground and moving at a walking pace towards the hanger. Any guards outside the box either ignored all their questions and pleas, or they couldn't hear them outside the box. Allister decided enough was enough and used Perception to reverse the magic that had bound their legs and arms. There was no reaction from the outside.

"I don't think they hear us anymore than we can hear them, so it's safe to talk," he said. "Those cube things create magic. Have either of you ever heard of or seen a device that can do that?" His friends said they hadn't. "I think that if I try to understand the spell I could reverse it, but without knowing all that it can do I don't think it would be wise to try. It looks like we're going home."

Six security guards, Mr. Arbox, and two other people they didn't know were standing around them when the magic of the cubes was de-activated. They were warned to follow orders and not to try to create any magic.

Grayson may be the Battle Wizard champion, but he would not be able to protect himself and his friends from six well-trained guards. Especially since those guards were not regular military; they were war wizards. "Allister, don't fight it," he said knowing that of the three of them Allister would be the first one to react. "Control your impulses and let's see where this goes."

5. Renegades

They were taken to the basement of the school they had all started out in so many months ago. None of them had ever been aware there was a basement. As they were brought in, they could feel magic coming from the sides. For Allister, it was like the feeling of magic he got in the Bonding room, but that had been soothing and helpful, this was the opposite. He also recalled that only Mr. Barker and he had been able to sense the spells.

"You have knowledge of a dangerous spell," one of the unknown men began. "We want to know where you learned it."

"That's easy," Grayson said. "We got it from…"

"STOP!" Aaden commanded. "We signed papers saying we would not discuss anything we saw without approval from the base Security Director, remember?"

"Our authority exceeds his," the man said.

Allister was suspicious about why Mr. Arbox hadn't said anything yet. "Then this will be easy to solve. Call him and tell him to allow us to discuss things with you."

"Does he know what you found?"

"Again, call him and have him allow us to discuss these things with you," Allister said. "Without that, anything we say can cause us to be placed under arrest and tried under the Sedition Act."

"You are already being questioned under that Act," the man said. "And I am ordering you to start answering questions. Without hesitation, unless you want to find out what other methods of interrogation can be used to extract the information we need."

"Perhaps it would be easier to simply call the base commander as they suggest," Mr. Arbox said, speaking for the first time. "I'm sure that once freed from their agreement they would be willing to discuss what they know."

"There is no reason to involve the base Security Director in this," the man said. "He is unimportant to this matter. As are you. We appreciate your assistance with this matter, but we can take it from here. We no longer need you."

"This is my building and these three are my responsibility and…"

"My I remind you that you too are subject to the Sedition Act? I said we can handle this on our own. Return to your duties, the matters to be discussed here are above your pay grade."

"The Directors…"

"And what will you tell the Directors? That you knew how dangerous these three are and yet you encouraged them? That you sent them to a secret and secure site where they immediately came upon a very dangerous spell? And that you disobeyed my direct order to leave? Go, tell them what you want. And soon you'll have the cell next to theirs."

Mr. Arbox looked hurt. The threats were not idle however, and with a nod at Allister, Aaden, and Grayson, he gave them a salute, first with a closed fist and then with all five digits extended as he left the room.

Only Allister understood the salute. Without a movement, he teleported the three of them to the room he had used a few times on the fifth floor. One he knew didn't exist to even highly skilled wizards until they had been inside it. It had taken all of his concentration as the room itself tried to prevent leaving by that means, but the protections built into the room were intended to contain spells from wizards, not from Perception, and he was able to complete the spell before the room could begin to undo the spell.

"Are you totally crazy?" Aaden said. "We're fugitives now. Everyone will be looking for us. This is treason, one of the few laws that result in the death penalty."

"That man knew nothing, and his authority did not exceed that of Mr. Arbox or the base Security Director," Allister said. "It would have been simple for him to send a Comm. He could have had us talking freely in minutes. But he wouldn't do it because he knew the base commander would not authorize it."

"And I, for one, do know about the interrogation methods that he could use and they are quite unpleasant," Grayson said. "But Aaden is right, now we're on our own and everyone will be hunting us. What do we do from here?

"One, I don't think everyone will be hunting us. I don't know who that man is, but I am sure he can't order a general search without providing reasons that he either doesn't have or can't discuss. And I don't think he is acting under the authority of the Directors either. So only he and his limited number of wizards will be searching for us. For now, think of us as renegades, not fugitives."

"Okay," Grayson said. "But what do we do? We can't stay here, he'll search the school and find us."

"I don't think he knows anything about my powers. That room was designed to keep anyone from teleporting out."

"Yeah, I felt that too," Aaden said.

"But that means that the Perception students, the real ones, will be in trouble as soon as he finds out how we got out. We need to start a list of what we need to do and prioritize them. First item on the list is warning Mr. Barker. We need find out more about that restricted part of the library.

"We need to know who and what that guy is. He's powerful, either through connections or wizardly," Grayson said. "Mr. Arbox barely stood up to him."

"And we need a better hiding spot than the school," Aaden said. "He will find us here eventually and it won't be as easy to escape next time."

"How far can a teleport spell take us?"

"The furthest anyone has teleported and lived is three and a quarter miles," Grayson said. "And that Wizard spent a month in recovery. For me, half a mile at best. Mr. Arbox, maybe a mile further than me."

"Why would the spell be limited?" Allister asked. "I was hoping to use it to get back to cave."

"I don't think the spell has a limit, I think it is the caster. The power it takes goes up exponentially with distance and linearly with weight. There's a formula I learned when I learned the spell if you need it, but it will never get us to the cave. That's closer to five hundred miles."

"And equally important, why do you want to go there? They'd arrest us on sight."

"The researchers were supposed to be the best and brightest, yet they were unable to decipher anything. All they did was find stuff. Fourth-floor students could have accomplished what they did. I think the cave is the cause. It certainly affected me though Perception. I wasn't even aware of it until you warned me about being impulsive. And it was affecting you too. Calling for us and then mostly just wanting sex play – don't you think that was you being impulsive?"

"Even if you're right, and you generally are, I don't see how we can get there," Grayson said. "And even if we found a way, like Aaden said, they'd arrest us on sight."

"Add it to the list. And getting access to the library. These are the problems we need to solve before we can start working on what is going on. And we need to act fast before the Directors start a war they can't win."

There was a knock at the door and they immediately got quiet.

"Ms. Ardlayelyn, are you there? I have your computer." There was a pause and then another knock. "Hello, are you home?" A few moments later they heard the squeak of a cart wheel and then it was quiet.

"There's a woman using this room?" Grayson asked. "How is that even remotely possible?"

"It isn't," Allister said. "Which means either that computer was meant for us or it is a very elaborate trap. I favor the former." He stood by the door and listened for a few moments before slowly opening the door. A brand-new computer was in front of the door. Allister quickly dragged it inside and closed and locked the door, and then had Grayson put a wizard lock on it just in case.

A tag on it read "Ardlaelyn – the password is altruistic. You must change it immediately after logging in."

"Do we dare?" Aaden asked. "What does altruistic mean?"

Grayson surprised them all. "It means being concerned to the welfare of others. The opposite word would be egoistic." He saw his friends staring at him. "What, just because I'm a fighter you think I'm not educated? I went to a good public school before I started here."

"The name is very unusual," Allister said. He used his Perception ability and unraveled it quickly. "It is the letters of our names. A from Allister, R from Grayson, D from Aaden, L from me again, and so on. It takes the next position each time it changes names. This is intended for us. Before we log on, we need a good password, one we can all remember but would be hard to break."

"Longer is better," Aaden said.

"ItsawallAfuckingwall," he spelled out and then said. "It is what I said to Mr. Arbox when he asked me what I saw on the first floor on the day I was brought here. Mr. Arbox will recognize it. And he knew I'd bring us to this room. Go ahead and log in and then change the password."

Aaden did and once the new password was recognized he started searching. "This is amazing," he said. "It seems that Ardlaelyn isn't a woman. It isn't even a person. This computer belongs to someone named Albert Walker. Albert has just graduated from his fifth-floor training in artifacts. And he's got orders to travel with two interns to the cave. The two interns are Kyle King and Jim Tucker. And as if that isn't enough, he also has access to the classified section of the library."

"Don't go there yet," Allister warned. "But do go to the library and research disguises or changing how you look. And see if there are any pictures of Albert and his two interns."

Two hours later they all had new identities. They began quizzing each other on their backgrounds, making sure that they each knew anything others might know about them. Allister looked and found three tickets on a military jaunt to the research site waiting for them.

"These guys are boring," Grayson said with a sigh. "They were never popular, they never excelled in anything, all three have only marginal skills in fighting. And Albert took up the most boring subject of all – archeology! Collectively they don't know anything or anyone."

"All the better to be anonymous," Aaden said. "Nobody will pay any attention to them. I think we're done here and it's time to go." Before they left he removed any trace of where he'd been on the computer and changed the password to egoistic.

As they left the school they happened to pass the man who had been interrogating them in the basement. He glanced at them and then ignored them as they passed. Allister and Aaden suppressed giggles as they went out onto the street. Grayson stopped them and said, "Look, we're in our twenties now and we can't act like sex-crazed young adolescents."

"But we are adolescents," Aaden said.

"And definitely sex-crazed ones." He and Aaden started giggling again until Grayson sighed.

"Okay, you're right," Aaden said. "Especially while we're in public. But in private…"

"I don't know," Allister said. "I mean, I love Aaden. But Albert is kind of ugly and hairy. I'm not sure I have any interest in doing anything with him beyond the study of artifacts and ancient wonders."

"You guys are ancient wonders and I don't think I want to have fun with either of you," Grayson said, and this time he giggled.

"The spells only last about twelve hours, so we need to keep track of time and make sure they don't go away when we aren't ready. And it took a lot of my power to cast them, so maybe I could do it twice in one day, but maybe not."

"I'll pay more attention to the details next time," Allister said. "Maybe I can create them with Perception if we need me to do it." He paused as they stood on the street right outside the school. "The transport is a good fifty miles away. Do any of you have enough money for transportation?"

"Albert has authorization to charge necessary expenses back to the school," Aaden said. "But I don't want to use that here. We need to be very careful what not to leave a record. That is one of the things that guy will be looking at once he realizes that we got out of the school. I have enough money to get us most of the way there, but for the same reason we can't hire a car."

"I've got a few bucks," Grayson said. "I was hoping to spend it on food. I'm starving. Besides, that guy is looking for three kids, not us. I say we hire a car only have it take us somewhere closer but not to the base."

"You'll have to stay hungry until we get to the cave, I don't want to leave any records of three people traveling or eating around here. We guessed there are spells to change appearance, he'll know that. What he doesn't know is what we look like, and I don't want to leave any trail for him to follow."

"So how do we get to the transport?" Allister asked. "It'll take us days to walk it."

"I don't know," Aaden said. Just then a man in his early twenties walked up to them. "Albert Walker! I heard you were too stupid to move on and was sent to where they send the drop-outs. Did you escape? Should I call Mr. Arbox?"

"They found a medical reason for my problems," Aaden said. "Once that was cleared up I quickly progressed. We're waiting for our first assignments and got permission to travel home, but we don't have any way to get there. My parents are at work and I can't reach them for a ride."

"Where do you need to go? I've got access to a school vehicle for my internship."

"The train station near the military base. We've got just enough money to get tickets on the train. I can't afford to pay you much, we only have just enough for the three of us until I get home."

"I can take you, but first, I want you to prove you're not an escaped non-wizard. Cast a spell, something quick."

"I can't do that in public," Aaden said. "A Watcher's will see it and come looking. And I'm not cleared for use of any magic out here. But we can go up to the third floor and I'll do it there if you want."

"Well, at least you gave the right answer. But I would like you to prove it anyway. It would be my ass if you did escape and I let you go. Let's go inside. And you lead the way."

For Aaden, Allister, and Grayson, walking through the wall was now as natural as anything. They lead the man up to the third floor. As soon as they were there Aaden's clothing disappeared. Allister had taught him how to return them using Perception and Aaden did it immediately.

"How'd you do that?" the man asked, clearly surprised.

"I'm not an unskilled wizard, I know how things work, and I know a few supervisor spells as well. Now, how about that ride?"

They were just about to leave when one of the men from the interrogation room stopped them.

"ID's, all three of you," he said.

Aaden suddenly realized that while they had identities he hadn't thought to get them the ID cards to go with the new identities. And they were about to get caught.

"Donald Granger, security intern," the guy said when the man who made them return to the third floor handed over his ID. "You know these three?"

"I know him," Donald said, pointing at Aaden. "He's Albert Walker. He and I started here the same day, but I was on fourth floor and he was still struggling here. But I don't know the other two."

Aaden felt like he was about to faint, and he saw the look of terror on Grayson's face as well. But Allister reached into his pocket and pulled out three ID cards.

"I'm Kyle King, he's Jim Tucker, and that's Albert Walker."

The guard looked at them and then at his laptop as he entered the four IDs. "None of you belong on this floor, what are you doing here?"

"I hadn't seen Albert since we were assigned here until today, and I thought I'd play a prank on him," Donald said. "But he's got wizard skills now that he didn't have before and it wasn't much of a prank."

"It sure must not have been," the man said as he handed the ID cards back. "Collectively, these three would be voted the least likely to be able to find their own dicks. Any real spells would baffle them completely. They are about the sorriest graduates I've run across." The man had lost all interest in the four of them and continued with his assignment of searching the third floor.

"Come on," Donald said. "I'll give you that lift to the train station now. If you're in the computer you obviously are good. I wonder what he's doing here?"

"You know him?" Aaden/Albert asked.

"I don't know him, but I know he works for a special security force put together looking for the ones who are stealing our wizards. But why he's here is a mystery. Unless another school has figured out that this is our school. I need to get back and see if I can get assigned to work with them."

Donald took them to a school vehicle that was completely unmarked as such. He drove fast and it didn't take long at all before he dropped them off at the entrance to the train station and then drove off without saying goodbye.

"I hate that our records have already been entered in the main computer," Aaden said. "But how the hell did you come up with the IDs?"

"Magic," Allister said. "You need to use Perception more often. It's a lot faster and easier than your magic."

"Hey, look, there's a military bus over there," Grayson said. "I recognize one of the guys getting off as someone I saw at the cave. I'll bet we can get a ride to the military base without leaving a record of our travel."

They hurried over, and once Aaden handed over his orders the driver let them on board. They waited a few minutes to see if anyone else was coming before the driver closed the door and headed to the base. Four hours later they were at the entrance gate for the cave, and shortly after that they were given a tent assignment and told they would get a tour the next day. Because their assignment wasn't something considered important, they were given a tent in the back. Which the boys considered to be good as it would allow them to talk with little fear of being overheard.

"All the same, we have to be careful of the noise we make," Aaden said as he removed their disguises. "But I don't want to make love to Kyle or Jim. Welcome back Allister and Grayson."

"I wish you'd left them up long enough for us to go get something to eat," Grayson said. But he was pulling off his clothes along with his two bonded friends.

Afterwards, Allister asked if they were ready to get into the classified section of the library.

"No, not yet. The librarian will report anyone who tries to look up that spell. We need to have another reason to enter."

"What exactly is Albert doing here?" Grayson asked.

"My assignment is the age classification of the site. I – Albert that is – has access to all areas of the cave, as well as his two interns. We're supposed to start dating when the cave was made."

"Do you have any idea how to do that?" Allister asked.

"Nope. I guess my starting point has to be learning what Albert is already supposed to know." He opened the computer and got to work.

6. The Importance of Archeology

The next morning before putting the disguises back on spent some time with their favorite pastime. None of them were normally quiet during sex, and they had to frequently warn each other about moaning and crying out, but that didn't put a damper on the fun they had. After eating a hearty breakfast that they all needed, one of the interns working there gave them a quick tour. They had to hide their boredom as they all knew more about the place then he did.

Once the tour was done they were taken to area where workers reported.

"You are here to determine when the cave was opened?" the man behind the desk asked. "Who the hell cares about that?"

Aaden did his best to explain why that might me important. He knew it probably wasn't important, and he wasn't able to convince the man that it was. But they had authorization and orders, and the watchman couldn't prevent them from being allowed entry.

"I want you to work mostly at night so you don't interfere with the real work being done here," he said. "And just because you have access to all areas, don't touch any of the artifacts. Some of them have proven to be quite dangerous. Far more dangerous than any of the three of you could handle."

Aaden realized that having a boring job and paperwork that showed they were very unskilled wizards was actually paying off. He had to give Mr. Arbox credit for knowing that in advance.

"I realize you probably slept all night and wanted to work this morning, but for today I'm only going to authorize you to the first entry point. You can spend the day doing whatever it is you do there. Knock off early and try to get some sleep so that you can come back at night when you can work without getting in the way of the real researchers." He handed them the authorization paperwork and badges. "I'll set up the computer to change your badges when you log in tonight and you can get the paperwork from the security office before you start."

His obvious contempt for them made him unlikely to even consider that they might find anything worthwhile and it gave them free access to the entire cave complex at a time that few researchers would be working. And Aaden knew that after one night of watching them 'work' the guards would also find other things to do instead. But first, they would have to get through the day.

It wasn't too boring for Aaden as it gave him a chance to practice the new spells he'd learned to pull off his Albert impersonation. But Allister and Grayson very quickly got bored and they were very glad when Aaden said it was time to try and get some sleep so they could work the night shift.

That night Allister wanted to start by looking in the areas they hadn't gone to in their brief previous visit, but Aaden said it would be out of character and focused his work on the branches of the tunnels just past the entry portion. Guards frequently came by and asked, from curiosity not suspicion, what they were doing and Aaden would quickly bore them to tears with how important the field of archelogy was.

They didn't advance far beyond the entrance gate that night and didn't enter any of the areas where the important findings were stored. Allister was annoyed but Aaden knew he was buying trust from the guard shift for when they did go further.

The 'work' was boring and they didn't last the entire night shift, leaving the cave around three in the morning. Grayson talked them into dropping the disguises and having some fun, but even he was too tired to do more than stroke himself and Allister to climax while Allister used his mouth to bring off Aaden. They then slept until past noon.

The second night went much like the first. Aaden used the time to practice some of the harder archelogy spells and made Grayson learn some of them too. They saw fewer guards that night and those who did approach saw only that the leader was training his interns. Aaden promised that the next night they would go deeper into the cave. Grayson used that same line once they were back in their tent as he probed Allister's 'cave.'

The third night they went down a tunnel that none of them had been down before. After slowly working their way about a mile into the shaft Allister suddenly stopped them.

"There's something different here?" he said.

"You mean you're actually learning something about Albert's important work and noticed the markings on the walls are different?" Grayson quipped.

"No," Aaden said. "Now that Allister made me stop and use my senses I feel it too. There's a strong feeling of Perception here."

"I thought Perception was just something you did because you can't use magic," Grayson said. "I didn't know it gave feelings."

"It can be detected much the same way that other wizards can tell a spell is being or has been cast," Allister said. "Other than when I make Aaden practice I rarely sense it. But over here is a strong source of it." He moved to a wall in the cave and tried to sort out exactly what it was that gave him the feeling.

"I wish Eryn was here." Eryn was Mr. Barker, his Perception teacher from before the Bonding. "He'd be a lot more familiar with this. Maybe he even had some training in understanding it. I'm not getting anything but the feeling that strong and persistent Perception magic is at work here."

"Can you sense anything beyond the wall?" Grayson asked, trying to help.

"This is Perception, not a wizard creation. I don't even know how to penetrate that." He looked around and made sure no guards were nearby and then used Perception to create a wall between him and Grayson. "I can see right through that, but that's because I'm mirroring a magic spell. This is different." He made the wall go away.

"Yeah, just before you ended it I was able to see you and Aaden too," Grayson said. He began feeling the wall in the area where Allister said he got the feeling, hoping to feel something with his hand that he couldn't see with his eyes, but felt nothing but rough stone.

"I could go to work on the other side if you want to spend some time trying to figure it out," Aaden said.

"No, let's move on. I want to ponder it. Something will come to me eventually."

They walked a few steps and Allister looked at Grayson and asked, "If we needed a wheelbarrow, could you create one?"

Grayson shrugged his shoulders and made a wheelbarrow.

"But that's just an illusion," Allister said. "We can't put anything in it."

"Magic doesn't create things, it just creates energy and force. You know that. But if you want a wheelbarrow full of rocks…" He waved his hands and filled the barrow with rocks-like things.

"You need to work on your rocks," Allister said laughing. "These look more like bowling balls."

"Yeah, well let's see you do better."

Allister gave it a moment's thought and then used Perception to duplicate the spells Grayson had used, only with a noticeable improvement in the rocks in the barrow.

"Fuck off!" Grayson said, obviously hurt and angry.

"Grayson, that isn't like you at all," Aaden said. "And you, you're being very impulsive again. And you deliberately set Grayson up and then bettered him. Can't you feel his angry through the Bond?"

"No, actually, until I tried, I wasn't," Allister said. "How is that possible? And I'm sorry Grayson." He made his wheelbarrow go away while Grayson made the one he created disappear.

"I know where we are," Aaden said suddenly. "And I think we need to get out of here right away. This is where two of the researchers were found murdered and set off all the talk of spies being in the tunnels. Although no murderer was ever found and even after all the background checks were scrutinized they didn't find any spies either."

"There is something here using Perception that makes people act like jerks," Allister said. "He's right, let's get away from here." They quickly reversed course until they were well past the point where Allister could no longer sense the use of Perception. Aaden said that since they were not expected to find anything of value or worth and they had no commitments, they should call it a night and go back to the tent and think about it, and all agreed.

"That Perception spell basically interfered with my connection with the Bond," Allister said. "I had to mentally restore it, it didn't come back just because Aaden pointed it out. By the way, were you two affected and are you okay now?"

"I was, but I didn't get it restored until we were most of the way out of the cave," Allister said. Aaden also wasn't as quick as Allister but was able to reconnect with Allister's feelings once they had moved past the strongest part of the Perception spell.

"You know what?" he asked as he looked it up on the computer. "The two researchers who were murdered there were Bonded. We need to stay the hell away from there."

"We need to understand it," Allister said. "Forewarned is forearmed. But I want to study it here and try to understand what and how it was doing that. I want to compare it to the Perception fields in the Bonding room. This was the opposite. Maybe the reports of spies aren't all that far off."

Grayson looked down at his feet and Allister immediately felt his fear. "I won't let it cause us to hurt each other," he said to Grayson, but that didn't lift Grayson's fear.

"Maybe it would be best if I didn't go back in there with you."

"If there is someone causing it I might need a fighter by myside," Allister said. "We only got as far as anger and hurtful feelings, we weren't ready to commit murder. We can control it now that we know what to watch for. We at least have to go back just to see if we can overcome it now that we know it is there. But not until I understand it better."

Allister lost himself in thought, using his Perception abilities to try to understand what it was that affected them. Grayson knew that sex with him when he was working on a problem would never be fun if it happened at all, and besides, he was more scared of what had happened than he wanted to admit. He didn't tell Allister that he was in the process of thinking up a spell that would have knocked Allister flat and he knew that at that moment he was ready to use it.

As dawn approached they stopped work and tried to get some sleep. When they woke, there was a silent Comm waiting for them. "Augustine Arbuckle from the Research Department will be here tomorrow and wants to meet with all researchers. He will start with a speech at ten o'clock. Transition from nights to days to accompany him tomorrow."

"Who the hell is this Arbuckle character?" Grayson asked. "I've never heard of him."

"I'll bet there are hundreds of wizards in the Research Department you've never heard of." Aaden was already looking him up. "But I've got to be certain that Albert Walker has never met him or would be of any attention to him at all."

After a few minutes, he closed his computer. "He's one of the proponents for going to war against other schools," he said. "He has a "Just War" theory, the purpose of which is to ensure war is morally justifiable."

"I already don't like him," Allister said.

"Don't let that show when we're with him. He's a wizard of high rank and he won't tolerate any discussion of ideas from an unknown intern like Kyle King." He saw the confusion on Allister's face. "That's your persona. You're Kyle King here. Just keep all your feelings in check."

"What if he wants to go down the branch of the cave where Allister felt the Perception magic?" Grayson asked, his fear returning.

"If he really does want to spend any time with us to see what we are doing, I can bore him so fast that he won't be able to get away from us fast enough. I don't think we're going to be accompanying him any further into the cave than the first hundred yards."

7. Justification for War

Aaden directed them to the middle of the meeting room. He didn't want to be in the back or the front, he wanted to sit where it appeared they were interested by not interesting.

When Augustine Arbuckle was introduced, he came onto a makeshift stage wearing expensive clothing, his hair perfectly styled, and his shoes bright and shiny. Grayson took that as a good sign, knowing that he would never enter the dirty and dusty cave dressed like that.

"I know your work here is very important, and I hope to leave you to conduct it. But as you know, subversives have been here. Unsolved murders have occurred. Important works found and then lost again. Just recently, three subversives were allowed access to some of the findings. They then attempted to enter secured areas of the Library and were called back for questioning. Yet despite the best efforts of the newly-created Anti-Terrorism Department, they managed to escape. None of that has been released to the public, but I know I can trust those of you here. You knew them. Aaden Jacoby, Allister Granger, and Grayson Reciter. They obviously were working for a different school and attempted to steal from the fruits of your research."

Grayson straighten as he heard his name, but Aaden put his hand on his knee to signal to him to sit calmly. A hand went up from in front of them and when called upon, the researcher asked, "What area of the Library did they try to access? There isn't anything here that would be in the library."

"I don't know the exact details because I don't need to know, but there is a branch of spells known as Creation Spells that were put in the secure area of the Library long, long ago. Those who have been allowed to study them have found no use for them and the spells don't have a vocal component so they can't be created. We don't know what they were intended for, but whatever it is, those responsible for them put them where only those authorized were allowed to see them. And just so you don't worry, the subversives only attempted access, they did not succeed. The security measures for the library are satisfactory and no additional security is necessary at this time."

Augustine continued. "Other schools have been stealing our Wizards for decades, somehow getting to them before we do, and the number of potential wizards entering the school gets smaller every year. In a decade, there won't be a school anymore, and as we die we will be the last wizards or our realm. But it doesn't have to end like that."

There is a doctrine known as 'Just War.' Just as in justified. It has been studied and endorsed by the military, by the ethicists, and now by the Directors. The purpose of this doctrine is to ensure war is morally justifiable through a series of criteria. There are two parts to this: The Right to go to war and the Right to conduct a war. The first concerns the morality of going to war, and the second the moral conduct within war."

"Just War theory postulates that war, while terrible, is not always the worst option. Important responsibilities, undesirable outcomes, or preventable atrocities may justify war. We have developed strict conditions for 'legitimate defense by military force':

• the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
• all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
• there must be serious prospects of success;
• the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of magical means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition."

"The justification for such a war is clear, and this war will be upon us soon. I will strive to allow as many of you as possible to continue your research here as I know it is of upmost importance. Security will be tightened. We ask all of you to watch your fellow workers here, and report any unusual activities. However much I personally find it reprehensible, your mail will be scanned and reviewed before being sent or delivered."

His speech lasted another fifteen minutes, but Grayson, Aaden, and especially Allister couldn't bear to listen any longer. They made an effort to applaud along with the other researchers when he was done.

Once back in their tent, Allister wanted Aaden to get into the library and see what was filed under the term 'Creation Spells.'

Aaden refused. "What exactly would we learn from that? The entry would be noted immediately and put us at risk of being the subject of investigation. It isn't worth the risk."

Allister was annoyed, but he understood Aaden's reasoning and he knew that he was mostly just curious. Seeing what was there would not, as far as he knew, advance any of the ideas his brain was busy trying to analyze.

And to make it even better, at lunch they overheard a group of researchers at the table next to them. "Twenty-eight spells. None with names. And like Augustine said, none of them have a vocal component. I've gone through six of them and nothing happens. I don't see any reason to hide them, they don't even appear to belong in the library."

That perked Allister's ears and he suddenly had a thought. He let his Perception guide him and once directed he could detect a very faint sense of Perception from the man. "I'm curious and I don't have access the restricted areas of the library," he said after tapping the man on the arm. "Can you show me one of the spells?"

"Sure." The man moved back and did the arm motions necessary to create magic. Nothing happened, but the sense of Perception grew as he did it.

"I don't think I've ever seen a spell like that. Are there any others that start in a similar manner?"

The man thought for a few minutes. "You know, long ago there was a man who thought you could teach a boy wizardry. He had a spell that started like that. Only it never worked. He ended up teaching non-wizards while he watched for the first spark of magic to appear in the school. Never amounted to anything. I only know about that because I once took a class in the origins of wizard training. A worthless class, I wouldn't recommend it."

"Thank you for your time," Allister said. "By the way, I'm All, uh, Kyle King. I'm an intern working for Albert Walker." He pointed out Aaden. "And that's Jim Tucker. He's an intern like me."

"Yes, I've heard of Albert. Working on the history of the cave. Very interesting." His tone suggested he didn't think it was interesting at all. "I'm Grant Ohmsford. We're trying to find out why the papers here are important. If they even are important. You know, if you'd like to intern in something with more pizazz, you could intern for me."

"Uh, well, thanks," Allister said. "But my grades weren't all that good. Too much intertest in other matters not related to learning. I don't think I'd be much more help to you than fetching coffee."

"We always need someone to do that for us too," another of the researchers at the table said. "Then you could let Steven go back to school." He laughed, a mean sounding laugh.

"Steven is my son. He's eleven and we do use him when we can. I was so hoping the spark of magic would pass from father to son, but so far, no luck. I even went so far as to hire a bully to scare him and all it did was make Steven cry. I've pulled him from school for now and when my work here is finished I'll have to get him into a private school."

Hearing that, Allister couldn't wait to get away from the man. He felt sorry for Steven, trapped living with an arrogant asshole of a father. The thought made him realize how much he missed his father, which made him realize that his parents, and Aaden's and Grayson's, were almost certainly being investigated by the Anti-Terrorism Department.

But the man was smart and well educated in wizardry, and Allister had one more question to ask him. "Where do spells come from? I mean, I know we create them, but how? Why us and not your son?"

"You should have been a philosophy student. That's a question for them. But somewhere during my training I was taught that we don't create spells, all the spells that exist have already been created. All we do is use a part of our brain that others can't access to channel energy into bringing the spell to life. And before you ask, I know, the next question is who created them in the first place. You can choose any available deity you subscribe to or just accept that they were created by chance."

Allister knew that the man was wrong about accessing parts of the brain. Countless studies and medical examinations had been done to find that area and all turned up nothing. MRIs, CAT scans, post-Morten brain inspections of wizards all showed no difference, even while a spell was being cast. It didn't answer the question, but it did seem to rule out the wizard brain as being somehow different than others. But for an egotistic man like him, that answer would fit perfectly.

"What a dick," Grayson said as they walked back to their tent. "I'm glad we don't have to work for him."

"But you saw it too," Aaden said. "When he did the magic. I saw you and then I felt it too. He almost invoked Perception."

"Perception was the result of the spell, not the effect of the casting. But he was missing something. I want you to find out more about his kid. I'd like to get to know him. Maybe he'd rather be our gopher than his dad's."

"Why? It would piss off the mighty Ohmsford. And we don't need a gopher."

"I want to teach him to be a wizard. I think the spells we know can do that. I think I know how wizards are made. I'd like you to research the Watchers. What characteristics does it take to be assigned as a Watcher? Why are they selected to do the job?"

Aaden had his doubts about letting Allister try to make a wizard out of the boy, but until it came to that he could at least do the research. He got to work on it.

"Stephan Ohmsford," he said when he finished working on the boy. "Age eleven years three months. While at Gardner Primary School he claims to have been the subject of a bully, stating he was the victim of several wedge's, swirlies, and finally pushed down a flight of stairs where his left arm and his nose were broken. None of his accusations had any witnesses. The supposed bully was the son of a prominent business man in Gardner. Stephan was sent for physiological evaluation where he was found to be schizophrenic, with a lack of desire to form relationships and a lack of motivation."

Aaden scanned over other stuff until he paused. "Holy shit, get this: "He insisted during evaluation that his father was wizard and could create magic. That must have been something his father had to defend back at the school."

Aaden shifted gears and started researching Watchers. Those whose job it was to find that first spell that indicated a new wizard had become capable of creating magic. At first, he found little. There didn't seem to be any special skill set that marked them, no required training. So, he instead found a few Watchers and looked at their background to see if there were similar traits. But the only thing they seemed to have in common was that they all were wizards. Nothing more basic than that. Apparently, anyone could be a Watcher if they wanted and there was a need for one.

Aaden recalled what the researcher had said and looked for a class about the origins of magic. It didn't take long to identify that a certain Nigel Collins believed that anyone could be taught magic and set out to prove it. Aaden shifted his research to Nigel Collins.

"This can't be a coincidence," he said to Allister and Grayson. "The man Ohmsford told us about, the one who thought he could teach anyone to use magic--he taught Perception at the school for over twenty years. He was removed as an instructor because of his beliefs and then became a Watcher. He was about to be 'disgraced' after he attempted to create wizards from kids at the school where he was assigned but he disappeared and was never located."

"Disgraced doesn't sound like it means what the word means," Allister said. "It sounds much worse. And there's no record of the man after that?" Aaden shook his head. "How long ago did this happen?"

"He started teaching Perception one hundred sixteen years ago, and he disappeared nine years after that." Aaden saw a gleam in Allister's eyes. "You've got an idea. Talk about it instead of just spontaneously dumping it on us."

"I want to go to the cave and touch any of the spell papers. I want to see if they have a trace of Perception on them. I'm betting they do. And I want you to take Albert Walker's research assignment seriously. I want to know how old the cave is. And anytime you aren't being watched, use Perception instead of magic."

"Where does all of this lead us? Do you think Nigel Collins made the cave?"

"I think he either made it or found it and made it useful. But I think he was on the wrong track. You can't just take a kid off the streets and make him a wizard. I think there is at least one more step in the process. That's my assignment, to figure out the missing steps."

"And what do I do?" Grayson asked.

"Start learning archeology spells. You're by far the best wizard of the three of us. If Aaden needs help with a spell you can help. But find, or make, a weapon. I think things are going to start going from bad to worse faster now. If war is declared a lot could change, and we'd be the first ones here they would pick to send us off to the front lines. Nothing we are doing is helping them in the slightest. So, we need to get done and get out of here quickly."

It was early evening, too early for the midnight shift, but they could explain that to the watchperson by saying that attending Augustine Arbuckle's speech made them revert to days and they needed a day or two to get back to working nights.

8. Perception

They checked two of the papers that were stored in different locations but close to the entrance, and Allister found that they both did have Perception magic associated with them. He was unable to think of how that could be or what the magic did, but he started by clearing his mind using the relaxation methods he learned when he first started learning Perception.

Aaden and Grayson worked together. Aaden made sure to show Grayson how to cast the spells he'd use most frequently and started looking at the cave walls from a different perspective. Perception wasn't just the casting of magic in a different way than wizards did, it was a formal process of understanding how things were created, how they worked, and the purpose for them. Aaden wasn't sure that Perception applied to building or modifying a cave, but he also cleared his mind and started working on the problem while pretending to be an archeologist.

It was a new and difficult task and by midnight they hadn't made much progress and were tired. Allister wanted to do one last thing before they left. Despite the counsel of his two friends to save it for the next day, he headed down the passage that had the strong Perception aura they had identified two days ago.

When they reached the point where Allister could just begin to discern the magic he stopped and told Aaden and Grayson to wait for him there. He proceeded down to the center of the field and used all his calming skills to keep his mind focused instead of allowing it to make him angry and impulsive.

Aaden and Grayson yawned and wished they could go to bed. They were both too tired to even enjoy sex. Suddenly they noticed that Allister had disappeared. One moment he had been standing one hundred feet away and the next moment he was gone. Neither of them had seen him move, he had simply disappeared.

Grayson reacted the way he'd been trained and started casting protection spells on him and Aaden while also trying to detect magical invisibility or other magic means of making oneself disappear. But he could not detect any magic. Allister was simply gone.

"We need to go after him," Grayson said.

"He told us to wait here. I think he knew what he was doing, he just became impulsive again and acted without thinking or discussing it with us. Let's give him a few minutes."

"He could be in danger, or hurt," Grayson said, but Aaden immediately asked him to consider the Bond between him and Allister. "Okay, he's not hurt or even scared. I'm not getting much of any emotion from him."

They waited fifteen minutes and then Grayson couldn't stand waiting any longer and convinced Aaden that they needed to check out where he'd last been seen. He led the way down the passageway. When they got to the place where Allister had been last seen they stopped. "Anything?" Grayson asked. "Perception, your bond, anything at all?"

Aaden had to focus his attention to remain calm and cautious. "Like you, I'm not getting much from the Bond. I can feel the same Perception magic as before, it doesn't seem any different." He stopped to use his Perception to analyze the wall; he wanted to know if it was the same as the other walls in the cave. As soon as he did he could see Allister sitting at a table reading. He stepped through where his senses told him there was a wall and found himself in another room.

"Go back and get Grayson, he can't find the way through on his own," Allister said. "And he's very scared right now."

Grayson had been looking elsewhere when Aaden disappeared, but when he saw that he was alone he again tried to use any magic he could think of to try and find his friends. He was getting more and more scared until Aaden re-appeared next to him.

"Clear you mind. Forget there is a wall. Use all the Perception ability you got from Allister through the Bond and let me take you inside." Aaden gave him a moment to try and then took his arm and walked him through the wall.

Grayson panicked. He was in solid stone, yet he could see Allister, Aaden, and a small room. But his body told him he was inside the rock mountain. In his panic, he tried to pull away from Aaden, but Aaden was holding him inside. Then he heard Allister yell, "Get him out of here!"

A moment later he was back inside the cave. Tears were running down his face. And worse yet, his Jim Tucker disguise was gone – Aaden was seeing Grayson. If anyone were to come down the passageway and see him he'd be arrested immediately.

"Calm down, tell me what happened," Aaden said to him.

"I was in the rock, inside nothing but rock. I could see you and Allister, but, I can't explain it, it was just wrong. It was like I was in water, only it was solid rock. I couldn't breath and I could feel it squeezing me, trying to absorb me into the rock."

Allister came out and joined them in the passage. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that would happen." He looked at Aaden and asked, "Can you disguise him again? We need to go back to the tent, but he can't go as Grayson, he needs to be Jim Tucker." He directed them down the passageway to beyond where the Perception magic field ended.

"I've used most of my spell energy teaching him archeology," Aaden said. "The altering spell is complicated and I don't think I have enough energy to create it."

"I'm a better wizard, maybe I can do it," Grayson said.

"Have you ever seen Jim Tucker? I mean, did you see yourself in a mirror or anything?"

"No. So, I guess that won't work. How about Perception?"

Allister was about to answer when he heard footsteps coming down the passageway towards them. "Make yourself disappear," he whispered to Grayson.

It was the first time he'd ever seen the invisibility spell and he was glad he'd seen it created. It didn't seem very complicated and he was sure if he ever needed to he'd be able to duplicate it with Perception. But now his concern was if it would fool a guard. He knew that many of the guards had devices designed to detect wizards using magic to hide.

He heard the device beep just as the guard came around a bend and could see them. The guard looked down at his belt and pulled the device. Allister was considering what options they had, knowing he only had a second to decide. He was about to try and put the guard to sleep when he heard a voice he'd heard somewhere before coming from right behind him.

"Come on you two, this area is dangerous." Allister and Aaden both turned. Instead of Grayson or invisibility they saw the guard who had first told them about the library when they had been to the cave as themselves.

The Guard coming towards them was looking at them and at his device, which was still beeping. "Rick? What's going on? First my detector told me someone was invisible and then it switched to invalid ID."

"That happens around here. Something about this part of the cave that makes things go bonky." The guard grabbed Allister's arm. "That's why I need you two to move along, this is no place for wizards with little skills."

"But the detector is still going off and the signal is getting stronger," the other guard said.

"Yeah, I know. I turn mine off in this area. I've spent hours trying to find invisible people or spies. Start back the opposite direction and it will clear." He kept moving Allister and Aaden down the passage.

The other guard kept his eyes on his detector but turned and started back the way he had come. As he took twenty steps his detector stopped beeping. He hadn't seen or even detected the spell Allister had cast.

"I guess you're right," the guard said. "But it's never done that before and I've been down this passage several times in the past."

"Yeah, it's different every time. But one thing is constant, it makes you feel something is wrong and makes you aggressive. I'll bet if you think about it you'll remember feeling that way here before. I think this part of the cave is hunted or something."

The other guard was relaxing. "So now you're telling me that our detectors can detect ghosts. That's a good one. Wait until the other guards hear about that."

"If you can, wipe that from his memory," Grayson whispered to Allister. "And at the next branch go a different direction than he goes."

Allister had no idea if he could remove memories and this wasn't the time to try. He acted like he was intimidated by the guard who was pushing him and moved slowly. By the time they reached the next branch the other guard was well ahead of them and moving further away.

"Apparently my disguise spell works," Grayson said once they were alone. "And I never thought I'd have a chance to use an anti-technology spell that I learned as part of my warrior training. I made his detector stop working. He won't notice until he turns it in at the end of his shift."

"Can you fix it?" Allister said. "He'll be very suspicious if it broke just when it was detecting an invalid ID. His detector saw your ID as Jim Tucker but you didn't match. It's something he's likely to report."

"Yeah, I get it. You two wait for me here. Let me catch up to him and when I'm close enough I think I know how to reverse it."

It was a long fifteen-minute wait for Allister and Aaden before Grayson returned, still in his guard disguise. "Success, and I think I even talked him out of tell anyone that I believe in ghosts. Now, what options do we have to get out of here and back to the tent?"

"I really don't think I have enough energy left to create the spell," Aaden said.

"If we could get Grayson to calm down and accept it we could hide in the room," Allister said, but one look at Grayson, even in his disguise, showed that he wasn't ready to even consider trying that.

"I could walk out of here as this guard," Grayson said. "Escort you back to your tent."

"Except that Jim Tucker is signed in, and you don't even know the name of the person you're pretending to be."

"If only I knew what I looked like I could create the spell. I did it with this disguise in a rush without even thinking it through. Without the threat of immediate discovery, I could do a better job changing me to Tucker."

"I must be more tired than I thought," Allister said. "I know how to allow you to see yourself. It's easy and risk-free." He used Perception to mimic parts of the disguise spell, only instead of changing one of them he modified it to create a three-dimensional image of Jim Tucker.

"How's that look?" he asked Aaden.

"Good enough. There will be a few mistakes when he makes it, but I don't think anyone will notice."

Grayson studied the image until he was sure he had it in memory. He then cast the spell upon himself again only this time he went from being a guard to being Jim Tucker. "Good enough?"

"As good as we're going to get," Aaden said. "Let's get out of here and back to the tent. I have a ton of questions."

"They're going to have to wait until dawn," Allister said. "There's too much to discuss and I'm too tired. But I can tell you one thing – that room was created by Nigel Collins."

"How do you know?" Aaden asked. "Anyone could have signed the papers you were reading."

"I know because his ID is on what's left of his body. He died in there. And he figured out more about Perception than anyone in the last several centuries. I'll need weeks just to begin reading all of his notes."

"We probably don't have weeks," Aaden said. "We need to get what we need and then find some way to stop the war. You could bring the papers out and study them back here or when we're traveling."

"He created that room to protect his writings and I see the logic in that. But someone did get in before me and they took some papers out. Those are the ones that have been found. Think about it – someone managed to get into that room and take papers, but that person must have died and the papers can't leave the cave. I'll need to go there to read them. But I need sleep first."

The next morning Grayson announced that he was ready to go into the room again. "It was just because I wasn't prepared. This time I know what to expect."

"No," said Allister with a tone that said he didn't want further discussion. "I'm not even sure that is a room. I don't see how you could create a room out of rock with any spell, Perception or not. And you felt like you were swimming in rock. You have very little Perception ability and I think it is too dangerous for you to be in there. Besides, I don't need protection in there. I need time to read the papers."

"What should we do?" Aaden asked.

"You've got a lot of research to do. Try and meet that kid, Stephan Ohmsford. Use your best judgement, but I'd like to know his reaction if he were to see you openly use magic. I don't think he'd tell anyone, but it's still risky."

"And what good would it do?" Aaden asked. "If he did tell, I, we, could be sent home. Or to the front lines. It is still illegal to use magic in the presence of a non-wizard. And remember, he did tell when his father did it."

"And look where it got him. If he is interested instead of scared or amazed, then try and get him to tell his side of the story. And see if he'll hang around. If you can get him near the room entrance see if you can teach him a spell. Use Perception as much as possible."

"That area is dangerous. I don't want to take a kid there. Especially one who has no defensives. No magic to draw on to protect himself."

"Exactly. I think it will be the needed spark. If not, you and Grayson need to get him out." Allister thought for a minute. "Look, I understand this is dangerous, both to us and to the kid. But we don't have much time. They are going to start the war and I currently don't have a clue how to stop them from doing that. So we need a success somewhere. We have to take risks."

After breakfast, they split up. Allister went directly to the cave where the entrance to the hidden room was, and after making sure nobody was around he entered it.

He spent the first hour organizing the papers, and then realized where the two papers that had been found outside this room belonged, confirming his suspicion that someone else had managed to get in and had taken the papers out of the room.

He then started with the subject of magic creation. He realized that something he had theorized long ago was almost correct. Magic did not start with wizards. It started with Perception. And Perception was used to create the spells that wizards used.

His next big discovery came when he learned that once someone who had Perception could create a spell, that spell, and any modifications to it, could be done without an audio component. But a wizard, one who did not know Perception, always needed the audio component. That meant that if he knew what the spells on the papers did he could create them. He started looking for an index or reference table, anything that would tell him about the spells in the books outside the room.

He stopped his reading and started looking. After carefully going through how he had organized the papers, he found where the spell list should have been. But that paper was gone, meaning that it was outside the room. He needed to start searching there.

He was about to leave when he realized he had been hearing Grayson's voice outside the room, along with a younger voice. He presumed the younger voice belonged to Stephan Ohmsford. He went to the opening where he could see them. They were just a few feet away from the entrance to the room and on the opposite side of the cave. Grayson had just shown Stephan how to light a candle using magic. Aaden was there too, watching, but not helping. Magic was Grayson's strong suit.

"My dad said that in order to do spells you had to know say the words perfectly or the spell won't work. My dad said I was always botching them. But they don't make any sense. It's like a new language. I probably won't be able to anyway, my dad spent months trying to get me to be a wizard. I'm just not suitable for it. Once he found out I'd never be a wizard he changed somehow. He hates wizards now."

"Do what I said and clear your mind," Aaden said to Stephan. "You said you feel something in this area, draw a small part of that and light the candle. The words are important, but you were close enough that it might have worked except that you are allowing negative thoughts to interfere." Aaden repeated the words for hm.

Allister realized that Aaden had taught the basics of Perception to the kid. And then he realized what the kid had just said – he could feel the Perception spells in this part of the cave. He stayed quiet and watched.

The kid failed, and Grayson encouraged him to keep trying. As he tried and failed he began to get angry, at which point Aaden stopped him and told him to calm himself the way he had shown him. The kid wanted to stop. His dad had told him he was not a wizard and never would be and that was blocking him, only Aaden wasn't seeing that.

While their attention was turned to the candle Allister stepped into the cave. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there.

The kid turned white and Allister saw his eyes begin to roll back. "Catch him before he falls," he said to Aaden, who needed a moment to keep from peeing himself. Aaden had thought a guard had caught them trying to teach magic to a non-wizard.

With a few minor spells from Grayson, Stephan recovered from his faint quickly. Allister quickly explained that he was working with Aaden and wasn't going to tell anyone what he saw.

The boy stood, still not sure about anything and not willing to give complete trust to any of them at that moment. He'd just seen someone step through a rock wall. Allister knew that some of that was a natural reaction to being surprised, but some of it was also a result of the Perception magic in this part of the cave. He was about to move them out of the zone but Aaden was able to get the kid to calm himself.

"Remember, the strong emotions like fear, hate, and embarrassment are your enemies," Aaden said. "You can control them, but until you do you won't be able to create any magic. I have confidence in you."

As the boy worked to apply the calming techniques Allister took his first real look at the boy. He had thin blond hair that was currently stylish, long in the back with a patch combed down across his forehead. Only it was too long and he had to keep brushing it out of his eyes. Stephan's eyebrows were almost invisible due to the thin, blond hair, and his eyes were a deep shade of green. He was dressed in a worker's uniform that had been tailored to his size.

"Okay, I'm ready to try again," Stephan said. He glanced at Allister and paused.

"There is one more thing," Allister said. "You have to internalize it. You must believe you can do it. If anyone ever told you that you are worthless, or that you'll never be able to do anything, you need to use the feelings that caused you to have. Take it as a challenge; not as an insult or outcome. Make yourself want to prove that person wrong. Think on that for a moment and then try to light the candle."

The green eyes disappeared behind his eyelids as the boy concentrated. When he opened them, he looked at the candle and a moment later it lit. No one was more impressed than the kid. "I did it! Look, I made magic. My dad told me I'd never be like him, but he was wrong."

Aaden looked at Allister, confusion written across his face. He had clearly never believed that Stephan would suddenly become a wizard.

"I now know where wizards come from," Allister said. "They don't appear randomly. They are created, and it takes Perception."

"But there was no Perception around when I made my first spell," Aaden said. "Same for you."

"I'll bet if we went back and looked we might find some now that we know what to look for. But it was small. And it could have come from someone with Perception talent passing by at just the right time. I want to go back into the room and do more research, but I think the reason there are fewer wizards each year is because there is less Perception each year. Maybe long ago Perception magic was placed in schools to make wizards and those spells, are weakening. I don't know. But I intend to find out."

Allister turned and was about to step back into the room but then he paused and motioned Aaden over to him so they could talk privately. "What's going to happen when Stephan tells his dad we helped him become a wizard?"

"We talked about that," Aaden said. "We agreed it would be best if he had a sudden inspiration and discovered he could do it on his own. Once he's had a chance to practice with Grayson he's going to go somewhere and then 'discover' that he can create magic.

"But he knows the words to the spell."

"He'll tell his dad that he overheard one of the researchers say them."

"Good plan. Thanks for thinking about that beforehand. I've got another research assignment for you. Try to find out who found the papers in the cave and where they found them."

"I already know that. Alvin Read and Travis Getty. I could show you a map where they were found if you want when we get back to the tent."

"Okay. Do a back search on them. Be careful but thorough. Your search may attract attention, so plan it out to make it look like something else if you can. I'm going to be in here for several hours. Did Grayson get over feeling bummed that I wouldn't let him back in the room with me? I'm still getting some disappointment from him through the Bond."

"He hasn't brought it up, and he's been great working with Stephan. Maybe it's just being in this area."

"You can move outside the zone now that he's done it. He doesn't need the Perception magic to boost him anymore. I'll see you guys later."

Allister changed his own research. He was pretty sure that he'd just proved that becoming a wizard wasn't a random event. He now believed that the reason there were fewer wizards had something to do with Perception. He remembered glancing at something that Nigel Collins had written. He went through three of his stacks of papers before he found it.

Nigel was eager to try what Grayson and Aaden had just done – use a Perception field to induce magical ability in someone who hadn't been identified as a wizard. But after one attempt the Directors claimed he was dangerous and sought to arrest him. He was arrested, but his use of Perception allowed him escape.

But Nigel believed that it was someone in the school who gave false or misleading information to the directors, and the only reason he could come up with for stopping him was that whoever knew about it didn't want it to work. In other words, the decline in wizards was an intentional act committed by someone with access to the Directors. Someone from the school.

Allister looked, but the trail ended there. Nigel had found the cave and used magic to hide it from others. With his hiding spot secure he felt safe, but he knew that until a body was found they'd still be looking for him. And he couldn't research his beliefs without being back in the town around the school.

So, he spent the rest of his life trying to determine what Allister had questioned. Where did spells originate from? And how could a non-wizard create a spell without knowing the words?

If he had found the answers he hadn't published them as far as Allister could tell. But he did something even more useful and amazing. He learned how to craft a spell that didn't exist. And after much trial and error, he created the room – an opening that was both rock and void at the same time. Worried that if anyone ever did find the room they could modify the spell in ways he didn't like, so once he committed it to memory he burned the copy of the spell.

But he created dozens of other spells, and put them in books sorted by the type of magic they employed. These spells were different. They didn't mimic a wizard's spell, they were unique and created only by Perception. A wizard would be unable to use them.

He had found he couldn't practice in the room. Something about the way the spell worked kept him from creating other spells inside the room. Wizard spells were fine, even if he used Perception. But new spells, one's he'd invented, caused unspecified problems. So he wrote the notes in his notebooks and hid the notebooks in the cave where he could work with them until they did what he wanted them to do.

It was late and Allister suddenly realized he was tired and very hungry. Other than what he'd learned there didn't seem to be much more in the stacks of pages. Much of it was research. Some was lists of supplies he needed. And some was just the rambling of a man who'd been alone for several decades.

As he left he thought that it was likely he'd never be back. He wondered if anyone else would ever put one and two together and realize the result like he had.

Aaden and Grayson were asleep, spooning on the same bed. Allister went back out to get something to eat, hoping they had been smart enough to eat without waiting for him. He got his food and sat in the back of the dining hall, away from everyone else. There were only six other people in the place. Four sitting by themselves and a pair at a table. The pair had eyed him as he came in and when he sat they leaned over the table to talk.

Allister grew interested. He considered what kind of spells he could use in order to hear them but nothing practical came to mind. He remembered from sixth grade science that sounds were vibrations. The men were so close their foreheads were nearly touching. That meant they were talking down towards the table. The table would vibrate with their speech.

He still couldn't figure out how to turn that science knowledge into something useful to allow him to hear. He was so lost in thought that he hadn't even noticed that someone had joined him at his table until he felt the person tap him on his shoulder.

It was the guard who had found them in the cave. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he said. "I was just wondering if you knew anything."

"I'm sorry, I was working on a problem. Something my boss assigned me. Do I know anything about what?" Allister suddenly realized that the spell that made him into Kyle King was wearing off. He hoped the guard wouldn't start to notice. He even risked a small amount of Perception magic to try to hold Aaden's spell together.

"About the Anti-Terrorism Department statement that they had proof that spies from Narwhal were active in the cave. They said the spies had done something to the kid of one of the researchers. I think it was a guy named Grant Ohmsford who tipped them off. Nobody knows what they did to the kid or where he's at. We just completed a total search of the caves trying to find him. The kid's name is Stephan."

Allister's stomach sank. "No, sorry, I don't know anything. I don't think I've even come across anyone named Grant Ohmsford." He looked at the clock. "Damn, look at the time. I've get to get back. Sorry I can't help you." He had suddenly lost his appetite and he threw away the rest of his food and hurried back to the tent with his disguise rapidly fading.

9. Declaration of War

Kadin Graham had been trained first as a bodyguard and then as an assassin. He was skilled at hand-to-hand combat, but given what was known about his targets his skills wouldn't be necessary. He and his underling were not expecting any problems eliminating the two men they were assigned to kill. The easiest part would be making it look like exactly what it was – a deliberate attack. The only thing they had to be careful about was to not let anyone see them or leave anything behind that could be traced back to them. They had to protect the identity of the man who employed at all costs.

Kadin and his assistant used stealth rather than speed to reach their objective. As they passed various areas they heard comments about something happening to some kid. It wasn't their concern. In fact, it was helping them because there were fewer guards about than normal. Even the entry gate had a reduced staff.

"We're getting close," Kadin said to his assistant. A new guy, with only half the training and none of the experience that he had, but at least he was good at moving quietly and keeping to the shadows. His name was Kincaid. He never used his first name, but Kadin had looked it up. He'd been on staff for a few months but this was his first assignment. Kadin hoped he was up to it. Killing people at close range is never as easy as it sounds. Especially when the targets are young researchers who wouldn't know a thing about defense or fighting. Kadin wondered why they had been chosen, but it didn't matter. His boss had his reasons and he didn't always share his reasons with the hired help.

"You take the back. Have your knife ready and when you hear me enter cut through the fabric and come in ready to kill. Make it quick and quiet and for god's sake, don't touch anything or get blood on you. We need to be able to make it back undetected."

As Kadin positioned himself at the front of the tent he sensed rather than heard someone behind him. He turned quickly, keeping his knife out of sight. It was a kid. He wondered what the hell was a kid doing out here at that time of night.

"What are you doing," the kid asked loudly. "You don't belong around here."

Kadin made sure the kid was alone. He was making too much noise and what difference would it make if there were three deaths instead of two? Especially if one was a kid. In the blink of an eye he threw the knife and with a practiced motion drew a second one just in case.

The kid was quick. He should have been taken by surprise but instead almost managed to avoid the knife. Instead of taking it in his neck the knife hit the outside of his shoulder. No problem though, Kadin had the second knife in his hand and decided this time he'd finish it by hand.

Grayson had been sleeping and dreaming. Pleasant dreams. He was cuddled up around Aaden and knew Allister would be a little jealous but not enough to make him mad. Then he unexpectedly felt pain and fear. It took him a few moments to realize the new feelings were not part of a dream, he was experiencing them from his Bond with Allister.

Grayson's training allowed him to jump to his feet and be ready to fight without hesitation. Allister had told him to acquire or make a weapon and he had managed a trade with a guard for a very nice knife with a six-inch [15 cm] blade. As he rose his left hand grabbed the sheath and his right hand pulled the knife. He didn't bother with unzipping the tent door, instead he cut a slash and rushed out through it.

Kadin had slowed his approach. The kid was agile and was ignoring the pain he must be feeling from the knife gash across the side of his shoulder. The kid was proving to be more than a kid, but Kadin had no doubts about his ability to win in a one-on-one fight against him, especially since the kid was unarmed. He heard the tent being cut behind him and guessed that Kincaid had finished the job inside the tent and was now coming out the front to see if his boss needed help. Let him watch, maybe he'd learn something.

He closed on the kid and feigned right and then moved to his left, the knife now in his left hand. He was equally deadly with either hand. As he started the motion to quiet the kid forever he was hit in the back with a bullet. No, not a bullet, a cannon ball. Whatever it was it knocked him to his knees. He turned.

Instead of Kincaid there was another kid. This one was naked and erect. But it wasn't the five-inch [12 cm] extension from his groin that caught his attention, it was the longer metal one in his hand. The kid had a knife of his own. But he wasn't using it. Before he could move the kid hit him with another force spell. The fucking kid knew magic. And he was good at it. But no kid was as good at combat as he was.

He dodged the second force spell and threw the knife while rising to close at the same time. "Kincaid, get in there and finish the job," he yelled.

The naked kid used a spell to turn the knife back on him and immediately used a second spell to throw a force punch that hit him in the side of the head. The goddamn kid was good. Too good. This kid had training. While he started his next move on the naked kid the one behind him grabbed him in a choke hold.

"Allister, NO!" Grayson yelled, but it was too late. Allister had good intentions but he had no training in fighting. Something Grayson decided would change if they both lived through this fight. The man stomped on Allister's feet and then drove him backward and down, landing on top his him. The force of the man landing on him made him break his choke hold. Two elbows to the kid's head and he knew without looking that the kid was done for the count. Now for the naked one.

But then there were two naked boys, the second one a little younger than the first. The fucking kids were everywhere. Kadin launched himself at the bigger of the two just as Kincaid burst through the front of the tent.

You don't become Battle Wizard champion without having some experience fighting experienced fighters in hand-to-hand combat. The opponents Grayson had trained against all knew magic. If the man he was now fighting knew any he was saving it up. Grayson wasn't going to wait. The man had just knocked his Bonded partner out after trying to kill him. There was no remorse in what Grayson did next.

Grayson knew exactly what the man was going to do. It was an honor's level move, and the man was launching it with great precision. Against someone who had never seen it, the move would be deadly. But Grayson had seen it. Many times. Using magic to strengthen himself, he made the only defensive move that would limit the damage he'd take while at the same time allowing him to counter attack. And the counter attack was one that was just as deadly.

The last thought that Kadin had was that nobody should have been able to avoid his attack. He still hit, and knew he'd hurt the boy, but it should have killed him. Then he saw the counter and had no defense for it. His world went dark as his brain matter sloshed around inside his head.

Allister was still down, Aaden had been cut by the second man and was losing his fight. And Grayson was a ball of pain. But he had magic and training for that too. He pushed the pain aside and yelled out to the second man. "Drop the knife and surrender or end up like your pal." He began moving in on the second man.

Kincaid had spared with Kadin several times and he'd never seen anyone move so fast. He had never landed a single blow on him while Kadin pummeled him with punches in places that left big bruises but didn't cause any real damage. That a naked kid would take him down was impossible.

Nothing about this assignment had gone right. There was supposed to be two adults in the tent. They had both checked and ensured they had the right tent. But when Kadin called to him and he cut his way into the back the tent was empty. He went out the hole in the front only to see three kids, two of them naked and one grappling Kadin. He saw Kadin take the kid down and either knock him out or kill him, it didn't matter, Kaden then went for the bigger of the two naked boys so he went for the other.

The kid new magic. He wasn't good at fighting and he'd been cut several times, but he was still standing. Kincaid knew the kid was weakening, but it didn't matter. The boy who had just killed Kadin was now standing up to him. And he wasn't even close to as good as Kadin was. He dropped the knife.

"Lay face down, arms and legs spread wide," Grayson yelled at the man. He complied. "If I see you move I'll kill you in a heartbeat."

Grayson was torn. He was Bonded to Allister, but he knew that Aaden needed first aid now. Some of the knife cuts were deep and he was bleeding a lot. He overcame his Bond and moved to Aaden. Between bandages and magic he was able to stop most of the bleeding and he then turned his attention to Allister.

Grayson was shaking with both rage and fear. He didn't know how badly Allister was hurt. And since Allister was unconscious he couldn't tell anything through the Bond. It was all he could do to remember a few basic spells designed to help someone who'd been knocked unconscious.

"Where are all the guards?" Aaden said as he came to see if he could help. "All this noise should have brought a dozen of them."

"I don't know," Grayson said. "Keep an eye on the other one and let me know if he moves. And don't wish for guards, remember what we look like."

Allister came to, and Grayson could suddenly feel his pain and fear. He did what he could, but the fight had taken a lot of his magical energy. Grayson had fought people who were just slightly less skilled then him but he hadn't been anywhere near this tired since he earned the title of Battle Wizard champion. The man he had killed was better than anyone he had ever faced and Grayson knew that the only reason he won was that the man didn't expect his skill.

"We've got to get out of here," Allister said. "They're going to come for us again." He started to say more but Grayson hushed him, pointing to the man laying prone on the ground.

"You need to lay down," Grayson said as Allister started to rise. "I'm sure you have a concussion."

"No time," Allister said. He was dizzy, but he made it over to where the man was. "You might be scared of my friends, but you're worried about the wrong thing. I'm the one you need to fear. I'm your worst nightmare." One of the spells Allister had managed to learn was a spell to make people afraid of you. But he had improved upon it when he created it with Perception.

He saw the man's eyes widen and smelt him as he peed himself. "I want to know who sent you to kill us."

"I just work for that guy over there--Kadin Graham. I don't know who employed him."

"I'm going to test that, and if I find out you are lying I'm going to start skinning you alive." Allister increased the intensity of the fear spell. "Aaden, check out a certain Kadin Graham. And this guy too." He looked at the man and said, "What's your name?"

"Kincaid. Martin Kincaid." The man's fear was obvious. "We work for Grant Ohmsford. He told us there would be two researchers here. We didn't expect kids. You weren't our target."

"Go back to Mr. Ohmsford. Tell him he's made a big mistake. Tell him we've declared war. And tell him if he's harmed Stephan in any way death will be something he will wish for."

The man ran off. Allister sat down to keep from falling. "I'm hurt Grayson. And I can feel Aaden's pain too. We're too tired to fight again. We need medical attention. We don't look like our IDs and we don't have the ability to change that. And Ohmsford will be coming for us. He knows you taught Stephan magic and for some reason that pissed him off when we thought it would please him. What do we do now?"

"We go to the first aid tent," Aaden said. "We tell them we're sons of researchers and we were attacked by spies. We leave our IDs behind and hope they are more concerned with treating us than checking up on who we are." It wasn't a plan that was likely to be successful, but it was the best one they came up with. Grayson and Aaden dressed in pajamas and they carefully hid their IDs and headed to the makeshift hospital. As they traveled Allister told them what the guard had told him in the dining hall.

Thirty stitches for Aaden and six for Allister plus pain medication and antibiotics. Allister was cleared for light duty after they checked to see if he had a concussion and decided he was lucky and did not. Then then questions about who they were.

They gave three different names, all of them made up. When left alone, they quickly made their way out of the hospital before the staff could determine they had lied. They went back to their tent and hid the two knives. Grayson dragged the dead assassin's body over to near the fence and left it for the guards to find. Aaden used magic to fix the slashes in the tent. And then they lay down to rest. They knew it was likely that someone would come by but they were too tired and sore to do anything about it.

Someone scratching at the door to their tent woke Grayson. Using his Jim Tucker voice, he asked who it was.

"There's a meeting in an hour. Everyone is to attend," the person outside said before he walked off. Grayson woke his friends.

"Take one of the pills," Allister said to Aaden. "You need one. I can feel your pain and its masking my own."

"I've got to have all my facilities to change us into our other persona's first," Aaden said.

"You do me," Grayson said. "I'll do you and Allister."

Once they no longer looked like themselves they headed to the mess hall for some much-needed food. But they made a small detour along the way and passed as close as they dared to where they had dumped Kadin Graham 's body. It was gone.

They strived to control their movements so that their injuries would not show. With the change brought about by magic their new bodies were not cut and bruised but because the outer bodies were nothing more than magic the injuries still hurt. Allister wondered if this might be their last meal.

Then it was time to head for the assembly hall. Allister wanted to remain near the back in case it was a trap but so many other people also wanted to be in the back that they were forced to take seats in one of the middle rows.

"I don't see the Ohmsfords," Aaden said. They took turns keeping watch behind them, but as the lights dimmed and the doors closed they had not seen Grant or Stephan. Their absence made them even more worried.

The base commander took the stage and ordered quiet. "As you may have heard, there was a lot of activity last night," he began. "It started with a boy, Stephan Ohmsford, and for a while we thought he was missing and conducted a complete search for him. Fortunately, this one turned out to be harmless. Young Stephan had come into his magic and it scared him, so he hid. His father eventually found him. I'm sorry to announce that Grant Ohmsford has left to return home and get his son enrolled in the school. He was a gifted researcher and until his return he will be greatly missed."

"The next event however is baffling. Three young boys went to the infirmary with serious knife wounds and bruises. They claimed they were attacked by 'spies' although there is no basis for why they said that. The case is baffling because they slipped out after treatment when the doctors and nurses went to find their parents and notify my staff. The names they gave were faked, but the injuries were real. A second search was made but nothing unusual was found."

"Not even a dead body?" whispered Grayson. Allister hushed him.

"The two events do not seem to be related," the commander continued. "But the directors wanted an outside eye to investigate. Most of you, perhaps all of you, have suffered through his class on Perception, so I am sure you will remember Eryn Barker." He motioned to the side and Mr. Barker came forward to mixed applause.

"Thank you," Mr. Barker began. "I know that many of you don't not have fond memories of my class." A few people laughed. "I have been asked to apply my talents to supplement Commander Park's investigation. I've read his report and I do not see any signs that the investigation cut corners or did not follow up on trails, however, it never hurts to have a second look when something as serious as talk of spies comes up. Especially when kids show up without IDs, needing emergency medical treatment, and then disappear without a trace. So, I will investigate."

"I know the talk of war has been on everyone's mind, and with new reports of spies on this base it raises questions among you, I'm sure. However, I don't know many specifics, and even if I did for reasons of security I wouldn't share them."

"I would however like to present you with two things that I have found to be useful to me at various times. The first one is Control your emotions. Letting your emotions control your reason may cause trouble for yourself and those around you. Secondly, in whatever you do, strive for victories, but earn each one. Be fully committed to what you are trying to achieve."

Allister had heard each of those words before and he knew that his old Perception teacher was sending a message directly to him. Just hearing the words made him calmer; more in control of himself.

The base commander stepped back to the podium as Mr. Barker stepped back. "Mr. Barker has asked for someone to accompany him, but he was kind enough to note that the research we do here is important and that with the absence of Mr. Ohmsford we will be challenged to continue. Together, we went through all the research assignments to see if any could be spared and we did reach an agreement." He paused. "One project, led by Albert Walker, was to establish when the caves were built. I found this surprising since I, like most of you, believed them to be natural. However, the Directors have reason to believe that is not the case. since they it appears that unlike most of us thought they are not natural caves. However, while I'm sure this will be a great disappoint to Mr. Walker, we are going to ask him to accompany Eryn as he conducts his investigation. Mr. Walker, would you please step forward?"

Aaden was looking around, waiting to see who Albert Walker was until Grayson nudged him. "That's you, stupid. Get up!" Aaden rose and made his way to the aisle, followed by his two interns, Kyle King and Jim Tucker.

"Because this second investigation needs to be conducted independent from the first one, please try to give Mr. Barker room if he needs to work in areas you are currently using. Please be cautious and understanding, and I'm sure he will be done soon."

Once Aaden reached him, he made his way off the stage. The commander looked surprised, and slightly angry that he and the three researchers were leaving without being dismissed, but that's what happens when you must work with civilians who don't have any respect for rank.

"Mr. Barker is eager to get started, in the meantime, since we are all gathered together, I'll take a few questions."

"They gave me a private office where we can talk," Mr. Barker said as they left the building.

"I have a better place," Allister said. "Not that I don't trust the commander, but, well, I don't trust him. Besides, we have an awful lot to talk about and you wouldn't believe a bit of it unless you see it for yourself."

They made small talk as they completed the paperwork necessary to get a pass into all areas of the cave for Mr. Barker. It wasn't until they got near the room entrance that Allister sent Grayson and Aaden in opposite directions to make sure no one was watching or listening.

"What do you feel and see?" Allister asked his former mentor and now friend. They both knew that Allister had surpassed Eryn in ability. He was most likely the most skilled person in Perception in many decades.

"I feel, Perception magic. More than just from you. It is like that in the Bonding room, but different somehow. But I don't see anything."

"The magic in the Bonding room is to help with Bonding. This is different. This is Creation magic. This is where Aaden and Grayson turned Stephan Ohmsford into a wizard."

"There were so many rumors, I was hoping to get to the truth. Grant Ohmsford is a well-connected man, and he was able to leave before I arrived. But why he left is a mystery. He certainly didn't go just to enroll his son into school."

"He left because I declared war on him. Grayson killed one of his assassins. You already knew we were the three kids who needed medical attention."

"I surmised it, yes. It was the only logical answer. But there was no rumor, and no official report of a body. Where did you bury it?"

"We didn't. We were too hurt to even attempt to bury it. Besides, I wanted it to be found. And it was, but I don't know by whom. It was gone the next morning. But if you check who arrived and who left with Mr. Ohmsford I'll bet you'll find a discrepancy. The assassin's name was Kadin Graham. I don't know what his official job was, but he was very good at killing. He and another man were sent to kill Albert Walker and Jim Tucker – Aaden and Grayson. And they very nearly succeeded. They weren't expecting anyone with the fighting skill of Grayson nor were they expecting kids. It is only because they were surprised that we are alive right now."

"Killing someone is very different than winning the Battle Wizard Championship. How's Grayson?"

"He's angry, confused, scared – I'm getting nearly every emotion there is through the Bond. But he's strong and he's keeping himself in check. Something you advised me to do in your short speech. Something that is very important beyond that wall."

Grayson and Aaden had both returned to the edge of the Perception magic field and signaled that they had not seen anyone.

"Behind this wall is a partial room. I say partial because I believe it doesn't really exist. As we found out the hard way, only people with Perception ability can enter. I brought Grayson in and the tiny amount of Perception he got through the Bond with me is all that saved him. You will see a room but still sense that it is solid rock. Are you ready to enter? Can you see the room now that I've told you it's there?"

Instead of answering, Eryn stepped into the room. Allister followed. "We can talk opening in here. I think Aaden can hear us, but I know that only those with Perception ability can hear us."

"What's in the paperwork? Should I bring this back to the school?"

"I don't think you can. At least I haven't been able to understand how Nigel Collins protected them, but I think you will be harmed or killed outright if you try to remove them without knowing how."

"Nigel Collins! He taught Perception. He was sentenced to life-long confinement for harming children."

"He escaped. Well, not completely – that's his body over there on the cot. And he was trying to find out how wizards are made and almost succeeded. It was only through his work that I was able to understand how it's done. It isn't completely random. There are variables that I haven't identified yet. But it was done out there in the cave with the assist from the Perception magic of this room. And I believe that centuries ago Perception magic was put in places to help with the initial spark to identify those who could be wizards. Some of it must still exist, but the fields are weakening. I think someone purposely caused the magic to weaken. Someone didn't want new wizards to be found. But I need to be able to go home as Allister Granger in order to test that part of my hypothesis."

"The area of the Library that Aaden tried to access – what did you find there?"

"We never tried. It was too dangerous, I'm sure they were watching and waiting for anyone to attempt it. But once I found this room I didn't need to. The papers that were found are Creation spells. New magic built only by Nigel Collins. And they can only be used by people with Perception. And before you ask, no, I haven't tried any. I want to know what they do before I try to use one. But the pages that tell me that have been removed from this room."

"So someone else with Perception ability has been here. It wasn't from our school, I know the travel locations of every person with the ability since I became a teacher. It might be that the directors are right and we do have cause to go to war."

"Or it might be something that someone found one hundred and fifty years ago and didn't know what to make of it. I don't know. But I am quite sure that reason the number of people with wizard abilities has been going down isn't from another school. It's home-grown. Going to war will only make it worse. Even if we win, we will gain nothing and lose our reputation with other friendly or neutral schools."

"I think my investigation here will draw to an end rather quickly. I'll talk with Arbox and see if we can get the arrest warrant for the three of you lifted. Until then, you have to stay in your false identities."

"We can't. Grant Ohmsford is a smart man. He'll quickly realize, if he hasn't figured it out already, that Walker, King and Tucker are really Aaden, me, and Grayson. And when he tells the directors – and he will tell them-- where we've been hiding out it will put Mr. Arbox in a very bad position. He needs to hear that immediately."

"Okay, I understand. I'll call as soon as I get to the office they gave me."

"No, not from there. Grant Ohmsford was tight with the base commander. I'm willing to bet all those phones are monitored and if you say the wrong thing they will suddenly stop working – probably due to an attack by 'spies.' I think all the so-called spy attacks have been to cover up something and were not the work of other schools but rather done locally. You'll need to use another way. The place with the greatest likelihood of not being monitored would by Ohmsford phone in his office. Be careful. I think we are chasing an unknown power that has been exerting its influence for decades, if not centuries."

"Those are mighty big claims, but I hear you. I'll do my best. If you don't stay in your current disguises, what will you do?"

"Aaden and I could hide out here for the rest of our lives. But not Grayson. So, finding a safe place is my next assignment. I'm going to send Aaden and Grayson back to our tent and get the computer and anything else we may need. While they're doing that, I'll be looking for a place to hide. We'll need some way for you to let us know if you're successful."

"I'll send one of the other students with good Perception ability here as my assistant. He'll have to be able to find you by searching for areas with Perception auras. Unless you have a better idea."

"I don't. It may not work, once you leave the base commander will order our arrest. If he can't find us he may lock down the entire site. I'm thinking my best bet is to find something off the base, but I'll need Aaden's computer skills to find that. For the present, I'm going to search the cave. There are still areas I haven't been to yet."

They stepped back into the cave. Aaden and Grayson were right there. "I heard it all and told Grayson," Aaden said. "And you're right, people without Perception ability can't hear what is said inside that room. We're on our way to get the stuff from the tent. Where should we meet?"

Allister thought for a minute. "Grayson, I need a chunk of rock with a distinctive shape. Something like that one on there." He pointed at an exposed half-oval rock attached to the wall. The other side had a triangular section. Grayson used magic to remove it.

"I'll leave a trail along the edge. Make it go away as you follow it." He bent over and left a mark right next to the wall. The mark in the dust, like the rock, was uncommon but not unusual enough for someone to notice it if they weren't looking for it. They all had their assignments and spilt up.

10. The Truth Exposed

Allister wished they'd had more time to do the stuff that needed doing. Aaden had offered to provide a map of the cave, but he hadn't had time to get it done. A map would have been very useful right at that time. Allister had no idea if the cave he was following came to a dead end or branched off into other caves. Every fifty steps he left another mark in the dust next to the wall.

It had been nearly an hour since they had spilt up and Allister was getting worried that something bad had happened to his friends, but he used the Bond to push down that feeling. Neither of them were sharing anything beyond the pain from their wounds. He wished he could use the Bond to talk with them, but the Bond didn't work like that.

Then he stopped. Why not? he asked himself. He considered the magic that was used to create Comms, the messages that were sent to others by magic. Could he use Perception to do the same thing through the Bond instead of an open source of magic that could be accessed by anyone. He continued along the cave as he thought it out.

His Perception focus was on sensing Perception magic, and because of it he nearly walked by something. But there was a faint sense of what he was seeking and he stopped and payed more attention. There was also some wizard magic in the same area, and he sensed that the wizard magic was very similar to the Perception magic used to create the room. He stopped thinking about using the Bond to send messages and focused on the area where the magic was coming from.

It was odd because he could only sense the wizard magic when he stood in just the right spot, and it was hidden behind Perception magic. Without his ability, he wouldn't have sensed it at all. He used Perception to analyze the spells. The Perception magic was a spell he'd never seen or heard of and it seemed to be hiding the wizard magic behind it. Allister's wizard ability was very small, but because the spell was similar to the room he was slowly able to understand it.

He stopped. It was suddenly clear to him. Someone had used wizard magic to create a room inside the stone walls of the cave, and then had hidden it behind Perception magic. He reached his hand inside but felt nothing. He was eager to try more, but smart enough to know that if things went bad he was alone and his friend wouldn't know where to find him.

He sat down and turned his attention back to how the Comm magic worked. With Perception, he created an empty comm. Basically, it was just a carrier, there was no content. Which meant that nothing could be traced back to him. If anyone was watching Comms hoping to find him they wouldn't see this one. But his brain didn't sense that a Comm, even and empty one, had been sent to him.

That took him to the hard part. Trying to figure out how Comm's traveled. He knew that anyone could sense a Comm, even one that wasn't sent to them, and with more magic they could make it talk to them. He wanted to avoid that. But his empty Comm had been sent and he should be able to sense it yet he couldn't. He wanted to know how a Comm knew where to go, but the empty one he created wasn't working. It was as though it didn't know where he was.

"Lost? Or too tired to stand up?"

Allister had been concentrating so hard he hadn't heard Aaden and Grayson walk up on him.

"I'm trying to figure out how a Comm knows where to go when you send it," he said. "But that isn't important now. I've got something bigger."

"I sure hope so because the answer to how Comms works was covered in class. It goes to the ID badge of the person you sent it to. Now that I've solved that mystery for you, what else have you got?"

Allister felt very stupid. Of course it would go to the ID. And his ID, Allister's ID, was hidden back at the school. Here he was Kyle King.

"Stand right there and face the wall at an angle," he said. "Tell me what you sense."

"Stone. Rocks. It's a wall. Just a fucking wall," he said mockingly. He remembered Allister telling him that was what he said to Mr. Arbox on his first day at the school.

"Try using Perception for a change," Allister said. It sounded mean, but he smiled as he said it.

"I, uh, there is something there – wait, it's gone."

"You moved too far to the left. Move back and you'll find it again."

"Okay, I've got it. But I have no idea what it is."

"It's hiding something. Try to penetrate through the spell."

"It's not like anything I've ever encountered." Aaden was still concentrating, trying to sense what Allister wanted him to sense. "Is there some kind of wizard magic behind it?"

"Think of the Perception magic Nigel Collins used to create the room."

Aaden was about to give up when suddenly he could sense the magic. "It's the same spell, but different. This one is wizard magic."

"There is a room in there, I'm sure of it," Allister said. "I want to go in. but just in case I can't exist inside a wizard's room, I want to bring Grayson with me and I want you to move back to that spot as soon as we pass in case he needs you to pull him and me out."

"Grayson, you wanted to thy the other room, but I said no. This one I think is safe for you, only you can't enter it without perception ability. You game to try it with me?"

"Yeah," Grayson said with willingness. "But I have a little bit of Perception from the Bond. Let me try and find it myself first."

Allister waited patiently as Grayson searched. But as time went by he grew less tolerant and was about to pull Grayson through when suddenly Grayson disappeared. He was gone for ten seconds and then reappeared. "It's smaller than the other room, but I felt fine in there. I could sense the rock around me but it wasn't like I was drowning in it. You want to come in?"

"You know, I've got some wizard magic too," Allister said, slightly hurt that Grayson thought he couldn't make it on his own. "I think I can get inside without your help."

"Okay, but it's harder than you think. If you think of it like the walls that hid stairs back at school it won't work, the magic is completely different. I'll be inside." Grayson disappeared.

Determined to join him, Allister tried to pass. But as Grayson had said, it was harder than he expected. He kept trying to understand the magic, but it was very advanced wizard magic and he just couldn't make it work for him. He felt a hand on his arm and a moment later he was inside.

It was very uncomfortable. He had to constantly keep telling his brain that there was a room because his brain saw nothing but rock. He now understood completely how Grayson had felt in the other room.

"I can see you're having trouble, let's get out," Grayson said. He grabbed Allister and pulled him back into the cave. "I'll have to teach you the spell. You need to use some Perception magic to get past the first barrier and then you have to sort of cast the wizard spell to get inside. I don't think I said that quite right, the spell is already there, but I had to do it in my mind in order to get past the rock."

"We'll learn it later. Right now I want you to go back inside and search the room. You need to be very careful trying to bring something out. If it doesn't feel right, don't try."

While Grayson was searching, Allister explained his idea of using the Bond to communicate. Aaden's understanding of wizard magic, although not even close to Grayson's, was still far superior to his own. Working together they quickly came up with three possible ways to do it.

"I'm going to send a Comm with no content and no header,' Allister said.

He tried the first method but the spell failed as soon as he tried it. He tried twice more with the same result. He then tried the second way.

"I sense something," Aaden said. "I can't tell what, it isn't anything I've ever sensed before."

You are the sexiest boy I can see right now, Allister thought, careful to not say the words out loud.

"I sure hope that was you," Aaden said with a sly smile. "Cause the same goes for you. But I like Grayson better."

Allister tried sending How's it going in there, to Grayson, taking care to send it through the Bond and not to his Jim Tucker ID.

A moment later Grayson appeared in the cave. He was white as a ghost. "Thank god you're okay," he said. "For a minute there I thought you made it part way inside but I couldn't see you."

"What made you think I was in there?" Allister asked.

"I swear, I heard your voice as plain as day. You asked how it was going."

This time, just think the words, don't say them out loud, Allister said using the Bond.

How the fuck are you doing that? Allister heard Grayson's voice, only in his mind, not with his ears.

"When you teach me how to get into this room I'll teach you how to speak to me through the Bond," he said out loud. "But I don't think it will work between you and Aaden since you two aren't Bonded to each other. We'll experiment with it later."

"Unless you're ignoring me, I can't send you a message either," Aaden said.

"I wasn't ignoring you, I never heard your voice in my head. It might be that you need some help with the Perception magic."

"If you're creating a link with Perception then doesn't the same spell have to exist using wizard magic?" Grayson asked.

"That's a damn good question," Allister said. "And I don't know the answer. But more on that later. Have you found anything inside the room?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. I found a bunch of papers." He reached into a pocket and pulled them out. "I wasn't planning to bring them out without some experimentation, but when I thought you were in trouble I came out without thinking. At least now we know I can take things out of the room."

Allister glanced through the first three pages. "I've been looking for this. This is the description of the spells in the papers that were found. And they are all just Perception magic." He shook his head in amazement. "I wonder if Nigel Collins tested these. Some of them are really, uh, dangerous? Useful? I'm not sure."

"There was a box in the corner that I was just about to open. You want me to go back in and look or is this enough for now?"

"No, go, look. If we need you I'll talk to you the same way as before, so don't freak out. I won't try entering the room unless there isn't any choice." Without saying another word, Grayson disappeared back inside the room.

"Look at these," Allister said to Aaden. "There's a Perception spell for hiding magical magic. We know that one works. And this one – how to create a Perception field room. That one works too, and apparently, I was right, the room doesn't really exist. I wonder how we can enter it. And here's one – teleport to any location you have been to before."

"All I see are the names," Aaden asked. "Where are the spells?"

"The papers you were trying to understand. Remember the letter-number combination at the top of each set of numbers? It matches these titles. We're lucky we couldn't make any of them work. Which brings up another question – why didn't they work? How do you create a spell from nothing? Everything I've done is based on a wizard spell."

"But you create them without even knowing how to cast the wizard spell. I'm starting to get the feeling that everything we've learned about Perception and magic is wrong."

Grayson came back out. "I found a bunch of scribbled notes about audio components and teaching new spells to wizards, but everything was cross-reference to some other pages somewhere. I tried handing them out to you but as soon as my hand passed the barrier the pages went back into the box."

"We need a pen and a few notebooks of paper so you can start copying it all and see if that can be brought out," Allister said.

"Why can't I just bring Aaden's computer in and use the camera to take pictures of them?"

Once again, Allister felt stupid. Aaden got the computer out of his backpack and Grayson went back into the room. He came out a moment later.

"I just wanted to see if it works." He opened the computer and launched a file. "Yep, it works," he said, showing them a page of scribbled writing. "I can take pictures of each page and bring them out. I guess computers didn't exist back when he was protecting things." Grayson went back into the room.

"This is all wonderful, but we lost track of our mission," Allister said. "We need to find a place to hide. I know they will be looking for us as soon as Mr. Barker leaves. And when they start they will know that we are in the cave."

"Are we going to leave Grayson?" Aaden asked.

"I could send him a message, but this room is the best place we've found, assuming that you and I can go in and stay in there for a while. I'm going to call Grayson and have him come out and start teaching us the spell he used to get in there."

"You don't need to send me a message," Grayson said from right next to them. "I can hear everything you guys say out here. I've got ninety percent of it copied anyway. But I have an idea. Since they know we are in the cave, and you said there is a teleport to anywhere spell somewhere, why don't we leave by teleportation? Let the search as much as they want. They can't find us in here if we aren't in here."

11. Playing with Fire

"You said you found something about adding the vocal part to his spells," Allister said. "Let me see that."

Grayson found the right pictures and gave the computer to Allister. "He had years, decades, of living alone here in the cave, and he managed to discover something amazing," he said as he read. "He found the language of creation. He says everyone is born with it, but in order for a wizard to cast a spell the right parts have to be known. Otherwise, it is random chance that determines what spell, if any, is created. That explains why so few wizards are found – two events have to occur at the same time and in the right place, and one of them is random."

"So, does he tell us what words go with what spell?" Aaden asked.

"He does, for the spells he knew and for those he created. They are on the papers that were found and on others that haven't been found yet. We need to get the pages you showed me the first day we were here. One of them is the teleport anywhere spell."

"Duh!" Grayson said. "Why are you being so stupid today? Maybe your head got knocked harder than we thought. You know the spell name, and we all tried several of the movements. I, for one, remember most of them. Which one was the spell we want?"

"7F," Allister said. "You're really enjoying showing me up, aren't you."

Grayson ignored Allister's comment. "7F goes like this," he said, demonstrating the movements. "Now teach me the language of that spell."

It took several tries before Grayson was sure he had both the movements and the words right, then it was time to synchronize the two parts. That also took several attempts. It was a lot quicker in school when there was a teacher there to show the right timing instead of having to figure it out by trial and error. Grayson knew the teleport spell they taught at the school and that helped. He also knew how the spell they taught at the school could be directed, and he was using that knowledge to make sure he only moved a few feet. After several tries, he got it right.

"I can tell right now it takes a lot of energy to move great distances. This is going to be a one-trip per day spell until I'm a much bigger wizard."

"We need to see if you can also carry the two of us," Aaden said.

"Maybe not." Allister had payed close attention. The spell was originally made only of Perception magic, all he had added for Grayson to learn it was the vocal part that allowed Grayson to learn the wizard's equivalent. But he didn't need the vocal part to use the spell. Without any hesitation, he used it to teleport next to Grayson.

"You tried that spell a dozen times back in the tent," Aaden said. "Why didn't it work then?"

"Because I didn't know what the spell did. I didn't give it a position. I think it did actually work, I remember feeling a bit tired after each try, but without a new location I think it just kept teleporting me to right where I was. Do you think you can do it with Perception or with wizard's magic?"

Aaden tried several times using both methods before he finally jumped the ten feet [3 m] to where the other two were standing. "I see what Grayson means," he said. "That took a lot of my energy and for just such a short distance. I don't think I could even go close to a mile without rest."

"Then that won't help get us to where I wanted to go," Allister said. "The Perception version wasn't very draining at all, maybe I could bring you. Do you mind if I try?"

"I could use a hug," Aaden said with a smile. "By the way, just in case someone comes, did you notice that my casting that spell made Grayson's disguise go away." Allister looked and instead of Jim Tucker he saw Grayson.

"Then this better work. It's only a matter of time before someone comes this far down the tunnel." He grabbed Aaden and this time went fifty feet [15 m] down the cave. "That did draw some energy, but not a lot," he said. "How about you?"

"I'm fine. It didn't take anything from me. And I was using Perception to see how you did it. Want me to try?"

Allister wanted them to have all options available and that required practice, but he believed they're luck was going to run out soon and guards would be in sight. "No, not now. I want to go back to the room on the fifth floor of the school." He looked at Grayson and asked, "Do you remember it? And do you think you have enough energy to get there?"

"I remember it," Grayson said. "But that's hundreds of miles. I'm not sure. We're playing with fire here because we don't know what happens if we run out of energy before we get to our destination. And we've only been trying to do it by moving feet, not miles. Shouldn't we…" He stopped talking and tilted his head to the side. "Someone's coming," he said.

"Time to try it out unless you have a better location in mind," Allister said. Grayson shook his head. "Aaden, if we end up somewhere else, or especially if we don't even move, we need you to be ready to do something to hide us. I think Grayson and I will be spell dead for the day after we do this." He looked at Grayson and said, "I'm going for the bedroom. You go for the common room. And remember where the tables and chairs are and hope they haven't moved. On three – one, two, three."

Aaden had teleported or been teleported several times and he'd never noticed the passage of time before. The distances were too small and he thought that teleportation was instantaneous travel. But he'd been wrong. He had a chance to watch the earth pass by as they moved. It took fifteen seconds to make the complete journey.

Aaden was dropped as soon as they arrived as Allister fell to the floor. He heard a thump from the common room and saw Grayson also lying on the floor. He checked Allister, but other than a scratch on his forehead there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him. Same with Grayson. They appeared to be sleeping, but it was deeper than sleep. Both were unconscious. Aaden hoped it was just the amount of energy they had used to get here.

But they were in the right spot. Unbelievable – they had just teleported hundreds of miles when the previous known record was just over three miles. He lifted Allister to the bed and then moved Grayson to the couch. Until they woke up, if they ever did, he was alone. He felt nothing from the Bond, and it scared him. But he couldn't think of anything he could do about it. He didn't dare leave the room as he didn't know if they were still searching the school for them.

He spent his time reading what Grayson had copied, and then switched to Martin Kincaid, the assassin they had sent back to Grant Ohmsford. There was a record of a flight from the base at the cave to the town. It listed him as Mr. Ohmsford's personal assistant. There was nothing more than that. He wanted to search for Stephan Ohmsford but didn't dare.

At some point he fell asleep and didn't wake until he heard Allister's voice in his head. If you were awake and I was strong enough I'd suck you till you couldn't cum anymore. He sat up. Allister was still in the bed and in the same position he had left him. His eyes were closed. Don't worry, I'm just too weak to move. But I'm fine. And I can sense Grayson through the Bond. He's recovering faster than me. We made it. I need more time.

"If you've got enough energy to send a message through the Bond than you've got enough to get up," he said out loud. "And I am awake."

Allister opened his eyes. "Too bad. I'm too exhausted." He sat up and then immediately dropped back down. "And when I sat up I got dizzy. Check on Grayson."

"I'm okay, just tired," Grayson said from the front room. "I've never been that worn out before. I don't have enough energy to cast even the simplest of spells. But we need to consider getting you to a doctor or having one to come here. Being dizzy might be a sign that you did have a mild concussion and they missed it at the infirmary."

"No," Allister said. "Have Ardlaelyn send a text to Mr. Arbox saying he's arrived and found the computer. Tell him thanks for the gift." Ardlaelyn was the name the computer they had been using was issued to. Only no such person existed. So it had to be by text, not by Comm.

A few minutes after the text had been sent there was a knock at the door. Aaden looked though the peephole before opening it and letting Mr. Arbox into the room.

"How did you manage to get here?" he asked. "There is a travel ban for all three of you. Actually, all six of you." He glanced at Grayson and Allister. "Are they okay?"

"All their magic was used getting here. We think Allister may have a concussion."

"You couldn't have traveled by magic," Mr. Arbox said. "It's much too far. And yet, Mr. Granger there seems to always be able to do the impossible." He went into the bedroom. "Fortunately, part of my duties include advanced first aid. What makes you think he might have a concussion?"

"I don't know," Grayson said. "He hasn't been himself. He isn't always thinking clearly. I've been the one coming up with the great ideas, not him. And he just said he was dizzy."

"It could be post-concussive syndrome. Neuropsychological testing would help, but that is beyond my training. Rest is the single most curative for a concussion. If he gets worse, or doesn't get better after rest, let me know."

"No," Allister said. "Too much is happening. I need Eryn to come and see me. There is something that only he or I can do and I'm too tired to even consider going out."

"Going out is not something any of you can do right now. Mr. Barker called me and gave me your message, but it was too late. As you suspected, Grant Ohmsford figured out that you three and the three researchers sent to the cave were the same people. All travel from the base, including Mr. Barker, has been stopped. Grant Ohmsford was the last one out and he's talked to the Directors. Based on what he told them the Directors have ordered you arrested." He emphasized the proper use of the Perception teacher's name because he did not think kids their age should be on a first-name basis with adults, even if the kids were staff.

"Tyler Morison," Allister said. "I trust him completely. I need for him to learn about this room. I'll give him an assignment." Tyler was one of the more gifted Perception students and probably the one that Eryn had wanted to send to the cave to help them.

"There is a risk in that," Mr. Arbox said. Everyone has been told you are traitors and that you are dangerous. Even though you trust Tyler, he may betray you."

"He won't. Or if he does, it won't matter anyway. Unless I can prove something, we can't prevent the war. And we're about to attack the wrong people while our enemies walk free. I need him. Wake me when he gets here. I need to sleep."

Mr. Arbox and Aaden joined Grayson in the other room. Mr. Arbox put fresh bandages on some of Grayson's stab wounds and then check out Aaden. "You two both need to have some of the stitches replaced. You've torn them and some were not put in properly."

"We were in danger and we couldn't sit idle," Aaden said. "Is Allister okay?"

"I would say he probably does have a concussion. He needs days of rest. I know that once he feels better he's going to want to move about but that isn't a good idea. I'll send Tyler up, but keep in mind that he might turn you in and if he does there isn't anything I can do to help you."

"Thanks," Aaden said. "It was a close thing getting out of the cave. We'll go with Allister's trust. It's all we have. Take the computer and read what we copied. It's enough for you to be arrested too. Everything you know about magic is wrong and Allister can now create spells that so anything. I don't know his plan exactly, but I do know he thinks the reason we have fewer wizards has nothing to do with any other school. If he's right then going to war is the worst possible thing the Directors can order."

Worried that they might be arrested, Aaden wanted to erase the pictures from the computer as soon as possible. He knew that Allister didn't want the information shared with anyone, at least not yet. So, while Allister slept, Aaden assigned Grayson the task of memorizing the text on the pictures he had taken. Grayson was the better choice because first, he was a very skilled wizard and knew magic that would help him memorize the volumes of information, and second he was very intelligent.

Hours passed. The pictures had been deleted, the computer wiped, and still Tyler Morrison hadn't shown up. Allister woke up and said he was feeling much better, but when he saw the time he, like his friends, became very concerned. They were plotting on where to go to hide next when there was a knock at the door.

Expecting it to be Tyler, Grayson opened the door without looking, not that it would have mattered either way. Mr. Arbox was there, along with four guards and two of the Directors.

"Don't do anything foolish," Mr. Arbox said. "We are here to hear your story, not to arrest you. Although I can't promise this won't end with an arrest. We want to talk inside, not in the hall, please step aside and let us in."

Grayson felt betrayed, but one look at the guards and he knew they were as dangerous as the assassins he had faced. They weren't policemen, or military, or even guards, they were part of the force that protected the Directors. And it was highly likely that more than one of them was the Battle Wizard Champion back when they were his age. He stepped back into the room.

"What you told me is too important to be trusted to a twelve-year-old boy named Trever Morrison," Mr. Arbox said once they were all inside the room and the door closed. "And, since I think you know far more than what you told me, I found a way to talk with the only two Directors who don't see a benefit for going to war. It was difficult, but I managed to convince them to come and hear you themselves without telling the rest of the directors and without telling anyone that you are here."

"Okay," Allister said as he sat up in bed. He wished he was dressed. When they put him in bed, Grayson and Aaden had stripped him down to his underpants, so now he sat there with the covers up to his neck. "Where should I start?"

The two directors pulled up chairs and placed them in front of the bed. "You think you know why the number of wizards is decreasing at an increasing rate," one of them said. "Why don't we start with that? And don't just give us your opinions, we will need supporting evidence for them. Without that, faith doesn't count for much."

"Fair enough, I'll do my best. But you have to understand that all my attempts to prove my theory, what you call my faith, have been blocked by order of the directors. Further investigation is necessary and that is what we came back here to do."

Allister took a deep breath. "Long ago, and this you either already know, or you accept, or we can look it up and prove it – whatever – long ago the number of wizards in the school was relatively constant over time. Some years it was up slightly, some down, but on the average, it remained the same. Approximately two hundred years ago, something changed and since then the number of new wizards entering the school has gone down every year. The official reason for this is that another school or schools have been finding our talent and capturing them before we learn they are wizards – a reason for which I'd like to see the supporting evidence." Allister paused to see how they'd react to his statement.

"The number of new wizards going down is the only supporting evidence that exists," one of the directors said. "But before you it, we understand that isn't evidence, It's a circular argument. But it has been studied at the highest levels for much of that that time frame you stated and several decades ago the directors decided that was the most likely reason and by a mixed vote became the cause. More recently, several of the directors have accepted that as factual and once accepted as fact they demanded action."

"Are you familiar with Perception magic?" Allister asked. "More than just what you didn't learn in the required class on the fourth floor when you were here."

"We know that you have the greatest talent for it that anyone has had in a very long time."

"This part is conjecture, I can't prove it, but I believe the proof is in the Library. I think that people with my ability were somewhat common years ago – again, more than two centuries past. The one before me was Nigel Collins. And his ability exceeded my own by a lot."

"I recognize that name, but I can't place it," one director said.

"He was a subversive," the other stated. "He believed he knew how wizards were created and started practicing on children. We'd gone down that path before and did great harm to a lot of children and didn't want him to start it up again. But somehow, he disappeared. We never found him or his body."

"I found his body. And his research. And he discovered a lot of things, foremost being that Perception is the magic of creation. And his thesis was nearly correct. A piece was missing, one that I recognized. It is how Stephan Ohmsford found his wizard powers."

"That is hardly proof. Wizards suddenly appear when stressed. I don't know what you did to him, but his father is demanding the death penalty for your friends."

"His father is the one who used stress to try to develop his son's talent. That is fact. It is in the library. I suspect that a lot of what he did is not preserved. But beyond that, Stephan wasn't put in a stressful environment by Grayson and Aaden. They showed him magic and how to move his arms and what words to say. By trial and error, not stress, he cast his first spell."

Allister saw that the directors were about to speak so he quickly continued. "I know what you're about to say – that was tried countless times on countless children and never worked. But the reason for the past failures wasn't the teaching. It was the part I recognized – the first times must be in a zone of Perception magic. That is how Stephan became a wizard for us and did not for his dad. And if you want proof, you can talk with Stephan. I hear he's enrolled here."

"He is not enrolled here," Mr. Arbox said. "His father said he was enrolled in Brythunia."

"So, your belief is that we can start mass-producing wizards at any time now, all we need is you and children."

"While I do believe that, I think it would be a great mistake. Long ago, when the system worked, they didn't use that. They created the Perception zone in places where kids would be--schools, playgrounds, and such, but they left it to a random variable – stress. I trust the reason for that is because they knew better. Perhaps they had tried mass-production and found the results were different than they expected. They had the ability to do it and still left it to chance."

"So why did the system break down?"

"That is what I wanted to study. I know from Nigel's writings that it existed. My assumption is that the magic was blocked or somehow thwarted. A bit of it must still be there because it is a necessary part of what it takes to make a wizard, but the field is too small and weak to make the numbers that it used to make. And the field is getting weaker every year, which is why fewer wizards are discovered every year."

"And how did you plan to prove this?"

"By going to my old school and to the location where I cast my first spell and then searching for the magic."

"And I suppose we would have to take your word for it that it exists if it does, because we don't have the ability to find it ourselves."

The director to the left was clearly not on Allister's team. But the one to his right seemed open to what he was saying. He decided to speak directly to him. "You do have to take the word of anyone who has even moderate Perception ability, not just mine, but without Perception ability you can't sense or feel the magic of creation."

The eyes in the one to his right sparked a bit. "That is the second time you've used that phrase – the magic of creation. Explain what you mean by that."

"Perception isn't just an organized mind, or one who has advanced powers of insight. Nigel had a lifetime to develop his ideas. And he created twenty-eight spells that I know of. Spells that don't exist in the wizard's world."

"Conjecture," the one to his left said. "You barely have wizard powers at all, you don't know what we know."

"I know that the three of us teleported from inside to cave to inside this room. And I know that you believe that to be impossible. But Nigel created the spell, and it is very different from your teleport spell. I taught the wizard version to Grayson. And we used it to escape certain capture and arrest at the cave."

"You can't have taught a new spell to a wizard, you wouldn't have any idea what the command words are. You would have to make them up. This is preposterous."

"The first spell you ever cast – the one that showed you had wizard power and got you into this school – who taught you the words to that?" Allister stared directly at the director to his left and stated it as a challenge. "All magic comes from creation. Creation is its own language, and all of us are born with the language implanted in our minds. Wizards are limited to the known spells because other than by random chance, they have to be taught the words that makes their mind remember how to create the magic. Those of us with Perception can unravel the magic and create an equivalent Perception spell. I first believed that I didn't need to know the words, but Nigel's writing showed me I was wrong. I do know the words because the ability to use Perception means I speak the language of creation."

"Then teach us one of these so-called new spells. Show us how to teleport hundreds of miles. Then I'll believe you."

It was tempting, but Allister knew better. He shouldn't have even stated that he had access to Nigel's new spells. "You're looking for any excuse to prove I'm subversive or dangerous or both. I'm not of a mind to teach anything. You can disbelieve all you want. It won't change the facts. But arresting me won't help you find new wizards. And going to war will kill off many of the wizards we already have, further reducing our numbers. How can you not see that?"

"Because they believe that other schools have some means to find our talent before it reveals itself to us," the one on the right said. "The Directors want to end that. If correct, that will reverse the cycle."

"And if the Directors are wrong, the declining cycle will persist and our school will be left standing alone against enemies who will then have a reason to combine their forces and attack us in turn."

"What do you suggest we do instead?" the one on the left demanded. "Sit on our thumbs and let or talent be taken from us until we have no wizards in training ever again?"

"If it were up to me, I'd seek instead to have a conclave. Invite all the schools. Talk about this. I think all the schools have the same problem. If you are right and for hundreds of years our talent was being taken to other schools than surely by now they would have hundreds, perhaps thousands of wizards for each of ours. But they don't or they would have used that power by now."

"On that note, if you are right, then we should keep it to ourselves. Find this missing source of creation magic and fix it. Then, as we gain the new talent we should have we would have a big advantage over the other schools." This from the one he had trusted, the director to his right.

"I would go along with that only long enough to prove that my thesis is correct. But why would we keep that knowledge to our school? Why let magic die out in some areas? Come to think of it, there are nations without schools. Maybe their wizards have already come to an end. But I would still be a subversive. Wizards do more than just preserve their ideals of how the magic should be used. They also work for the improve the lot of the people who don't even know magic exists. That shouldn't be denied to other cultures."

"Ah, the altruism of youth," the one on the right said. "I hope that is not lost to you as you age like it has been from so many adults. But you proposed a test. I'd like to see that carried out. But since we can't verify what you tell us ourselves, I'd like to call in an old friend to assist us. Someone I knew from a meeting years ago with members of the school in Cimmeria."

Allister glanced at the one on his left and was sure that he didn't like that plan but couldn't come up with a reason to prevent it or a better plan himself.

"Okay, I'm fine with that. I assume the person you want to call on has Perception ability."

"Yes, very much so. I will arrange for his travel here. You three stay in this room. It will only be a day or two. Mr. Arbox will arrange to have food delivered. I am going to leave two of our personal guards here. They have two purposes, one is to keep you from leaving the room by normal means, and the other is to keep others from finding you are here." He stood up, followed by the other director. They shook hands with Mr. Arbox and then all of them left.

Once the three of them were alone, Allister turned to his friends. "What do you think?"

Grayson shrugged his shoulders. "I guess you did okay. You shouldn't have told them about the new spells. Aaden had me memorize the papers. A few of those spells are quite powerful and dangerous and I'm not sure I want anyone to learn them. But at the same time, it would sure come in handy If I knew them should we ever have to fight off assassins again."

"I'll leave that your best judgement, but right now I don't want to be casting any spells. I feel a lot better, but I can tell that I'm still not fully healed yet."

"Are you healed enough for some activities that don't involve magic?" Aaden asked hopefully. He was.

12. The Magic of Creation

A day and a half later Mr. Arbox came alone. He first checked up on how Allister was doing. Finding that he was much stronger and no longer had any symptoms of a concussion, he stated he was safe for travel.

"The guest has arrived. For safety sake, I'm going to give you new identities again. You won't need to learn your background, it is changing your features that is most important." He had pictures of the three men in their later twenties or early thirty's and he used his magic to change each of them and handed them IDs to go along with their physical persona's.

"We're going to go a school that none of you went to before. The two directors and their guest will meet us there. We decided there might be people who have figured out your plan and are watching, so we'll go where they wouldn't expect us to be."

"But at my school, I know where I was when I used a strength spell to get away from my bully," Allister said.

"And I know the exact location where a new wizard first cast his spell at the school where are going to. If what you what you think is there actually exists, it will be up to you and the guest to identify it."

"I don't think I know much about Cimmeria," Aaden said. "Is there anything in their customs or beliefs that we should know?"

"The Cimmerians are tall and powerful, with dark hair and blue or grey eyes, and their school specializes in combat ability." Mr. Arbox glanced at Grayson. "They don't participate in the Battle Wizard championship as they don't want others to know their skills. But they come and watch the competition. The man you will be meeting is named Imor."

As they entered the school, the boys quickly learned that when you are the guest of any of the directors that IDs weren't really needed. The principal did all he could to get them in without delay and get them to where the two directors were. Of course, here, they weren't known as the directors, that was a title and position known only by wizards. But they were still important people to those who didn't know magic existed.

"Ah, I would have picked you out anywhere," the stranger said when he saw Allister. "But I can't see the real you. The magic that supports this mask is quite good."

"You must be Imor," Allister said. He could sense the Perception magic, but oddly enough it seemed to be coming from ten feet [3 cm] next to where the man was standing. Allister considered the discrepancy to be another symptom of his concussion and he hoped it wouldn't interfere with his purpose for being here. He knew from the man's greeting that the Cimmerian could sense his Perception magic. "Pleased to meet you. Honored, actually. I've never met anyone who, uh, someone that, uh…" he had a sudden loss for words.

"Someone like you," Imor said, completing Allister's thought as he shook his hand. "You are the first I have ever met that gives off a feeling of great magic too."

They released hands and Aaden and Grayson were both introduced by their new names. "I watched you in the Battle Wizard championship," Imor said, showing that he saw through the magic and recognized Grayson for who he was. "You were quite spectacular. You should be proud."

"Thank you," Grayson said as he winced a bit. He had tried to impress Imor with his hand strength only to find that the man was not just strong, but stronger. "I'd be prouder if I knew that I had truly bested the best, but your school doesn't participate."

"We have our reasons," Imor said without providing any clue as to what those reasons might be.

"I understand you have something to prove and that I am the one to determine if you are correct. What is it that we are looking to find?"

Allister didn't hesitate. "A source of Perception magic. A weak one, but I am sure it is there. We just need to go to a spot that Mr. Arbox knows."

"Is that what you call it? Perception magic? We refer to it as Innovation magic. It is what you and I share, am I right?"

"Yes. Only I call it the magic of Creation."

"How strange. I hope to be able to spend time with you and learn why you chose that phrase. But your Mr. Arbox is eager for us to stop conversing and follow him. After you."

They followed Mr. Arbox to the school's gymnasium and then into a locker room. Just before entering, Allister stopped. "You go inside. You know what I'm looking for. Find it and point it out to your friend. Then I will come in and find it. That is the only way they will believe."

"And being alone will give you a chance to create such magic for me to find," Imor said. "I have a better plan. Enter with your eyes closed and stand inside where I can see you. Don't look around, keep your head down and your eyes closed. When I have found it, if it exists, then you may begin your search."

Allister was embarrassed. He hadn't even considered creating the source himself, but Imor had used his perception (innovation) to see possibilities. He did as he was told, not looking, not reacting, not paying any attention to where Imor moved. It didn't take long.

"Come, you try now," he said.

Allister started on the opposite side of the room deliberately to show he wasn't following the path taken by Imor. He was near where the two directors were standing when he detected it. It was very weak, but it was there. He pointed. "The field originates from there. From that metal plate."

"This is a waste of time," one of them said. "You both are making this up, or sensing something that isn't magic. I don't know what game you are playing, but you two are as far apart as can be."

But Imor moved closer to Allister. "No, he's right, there is a second source, right where he pointed."

Allister began his search again and soon found the source that Imor had found. There were two sources, something he hadn't expected. Alister climbed up on top of one of the lockers and examined the plate closely. "The magic doesn't come from the plate, it's coming from behind it. We need tools." He recognized the spell as being one very similar to the magic in the Bonding room, but different in purpose. It was also similar to the creation magic invented by Nigel Collins.

"No need," Imor said. He had climbed up next to Allister. "It is just held on by plaster." He used his fingers push and lift at the same time, and after a moment the plate popped off and landed on the floor with a loud bang.

Behind where the plate had been there was a hole. "The magic is here on the edges," Allister said. "The place where the magic was placed was removed, only they didn't get all of it. Just tiny bits remain." He and Imor climbed down.

Not to be outdone, Grayson had climbed up to the other plate. He removed it, not as easily as Imor had, but he removed it all the same. It revealed another hole.

"I can recreate it," he said, and began moving his arms.

"Stop! Immediately Stop," one of the director's guards yelled. Another one grabbed Allister and stopped him. "We were warned that he would use magic here and told to be ready," a third guard said. "All of you are under arrest."

"What?" The director who had brought Imor here said. "By whose authority? I order you to stand down."

"Sorry sir, but you brought that man," he pointed at Imor, "You brought him here under false pretenses and with a false identity. And you allowed Mr. Arbox to provide false IDs and magical disguises to hide the fact that wanted criminals were brought into a public school to do who knows what. Your orders do not mean anything at this time."

Grayson was determined to not be arrested. He attacked the guard holding Allister, causing him to release his hold. But the guards had training and acted on instinct. One of them shot Grayson with a taser and the other three used magic against Alister, Aaden, and Imor. The last thing Allister saw was Grayson and Aaden collapsing on the ground convulsing in shock and pain before he too was incapacitated.

He woke up on a thin mattress on a metal frame bed. Red brick walls surrounded the room. He sat up and hit his head on the frame of the bed above him. Then he saw Imor enter the room and began an incantation to attack him.

"Allister, stop," Grayson said from above him. "It's okay. We're not in jail here. Imor got us out. He anticipated trouble and was prepared for it. He had four of his bodyguards with him and they got us out."

"Where are we?"

"Cimmeria," Aaden said, getting up from another bed. "The plane landed less than fifteen minutes ago."

"And this is where they stuck us?"

"I know you don't mean it, but you are being rude," Imor said to him. "This is how we live. We don't have big fancy houses like your people have. We live as we have always lived, and we enjoy it. This is the spare room in my house. The door is not locked. There are no guards outside the door. We don't need them in my country."

"So why are we here?"

"You were in danger. I thought it best to come here and think our way through this. In any case, I had to leave and I decided the only people I trusted in that room were you three. So, I brought you along. If we had not had a plane hidden at a secret place nearby we never would have made it. Two of my guards didn't."

"I'm sorry," Allister said. He meant it. It was the first time that people had died saving him and it didn't feel good. "When can we go back?"

"You are not required to stay here. I will get you transport back as soon as you ask for it. I do believe however that you are much safer here than back at your country. And, I would dearly like to do our search at the place where I first cast my spell. I've had a chance to talk with your friends. We have the same problem here. The number of new wizards is so low that we are only using two training rooms now."

"I'd also like to know what spell you were about to cast. It was not one I recognize and it isn't in our library. And it sure got those guards worked up."

"Uh, that was just a spell to trip the guard behind you," Allister said. "I'm not very good a magic and if you didn't recognize it than I must have been doing it wrong."

"No, not that one, but thanks for trying. No, I mean the one in the hole behind the plate."

"Oh, that one. It's a creation spell. I think it would have been nearly the duplicate of the one that had been there. See, in order for someone to become a wizard, a creation spell, what you call invocation, must be present. We proved that, but convincing our directors was not possible." Allister went on to explain all that he believed lead to an ordinary kid suddenly casting his first spell and starting his path to being a wizard.

As he explained Imor led them out of his house and down a rough path to a collection of small brick buildings. It felt good to be able to walk around as Allister again without a fear of being arrested. He answered all of Imor's questions as they walked. Once he had explained all he thought was relevant, he had a question of his own.

"When we were at the public school in my land, I saw you in one spot but sensed you in another. I thought it was because I'd had a concussion, but now that I've thought it over that doesn't seem to be the correct answer."

"That's because your concussion had nothing to do with it." Imor moved his hands and the double location appeared again for Allister. "I am actually here, where you sense me. But by use of magic I appear to be where you see me. When the guards on your world attacked us they attacked my image, which allowed me to incapacitate them all. I'll teach it to you someday."

Imor stopped, signaling that they had arrived at their destination. "Right here is where it happened. The place where I cast my first spell." He and Allister both pointed to a spot on the brick wall that had new bricks in it.

"The magic is just on the edge of this brick, barely detectable," Allister said. "If they had removed this brick there wouldn't have been anything for us to find."

"Except the hole that was patched after they removed the bricks with the spell on it. You are three-for-three. We have a saying. There is no such thing as coincidences. You are right, the decline in wizards was caused by someone. And it isn't limited to just your country and mine. I have friends in the Boarder Kingdom who have the same problem and report that both their friends and one of their enemies also have the problem."

"But who? This has been going on for centuries. Surely someone should have figured it out in all that time. And to happen in all the schools? No one has access to every country with wizards."

They checked four more training areas and found the same thing in each case, the source of magic had been removed and replaced. In two of the areas the remaining creation magic was so weak they could only find specks of it after a lengthy search.

"I want to start with who replaced the bricks. We are very meticulous with records. Bricks cost money and brick layers don't work for free. There will be a record. Come, let us return to my house."

It didn't take long to learn that the spot had been repaired 192 years ago. And again 38 years after that. Just before the second replacement the reigning leader of Innovative magic was found dead in his study. The crime had never been solved.

"That is why there were two plates in the school we went to in your land. The person responsible for putting it there found it missing and put a second spell in place. I'll bet that if you could access your records you would find he died about the same time. This was a deliberate attempt to deprive the world of wizards."

13. The End of Magic

Imor completed his searching and switched to news reports. "Things are bad back in your country," he said, inviting them over to look for themselves. "People taking to the street demanding that all sorcerers, wizards, and witches be put to death."

"There is no such thing as sorcerers and witches," Grayson said.

"Ahh, but the people know only what they are being told. And they have been given evidence that wizards planned to harm their children."

"Is there any word about us?" Allister asked. "Or Mr. Arbox?"

"None. And nothing about my friend. I fear the worst."

"We need to go back," Allister said. "We need to defend ourselves and tell the truth. We need to protect our school."

"You are free to travel and if you want I will make a plane available," Imor said. "But I highly advise against such action at this time. You don't know who you are fighting. And taking the battle to the people who just learned that magic exists will only prove to them that you are dangerous and deserve to die." Suddenly the screen on his computer went blank. He clicked a key and news from his school came up. "It appears that all outside communication from your country has been shut down. A logical step for any takeover of power, and that is what this is."

"But how are we to find our enemies from here?" Aaden asked. "Especially now that we can't even get news."

"There are still ways to get news, ways that are available to our equivalent of your directors. Fortunately for you, I am a trusted servant. But I think you are missing the bigger picture."

"He's right," Allister said. "Just because the takeover is happening in our school doesn't mean it's our problem. Someone has been doing this at all the schools for centuries. This is a well-organized movement with people in place at all the schools."

"Not just the schools. Those countries without magic probably had it in the past. Even here, we are ten years before we have no new wizards. After that, for us it will be the end of magic."

"I think I can help with that next time we are out," Allister said. "It will take time to see the results, but if I'm right you should start seeing an increase in new talent after I put new spells in place. I should have done it when we were there."

"Until we have some idea of who destroyed the original spells I think that will have to wait. Remember, the ones who tried to fix it were murdered. And they were most likely as talented as you."

Alister was about to say that Grayson could protect him when they heard a soft knock at the door to the room they were in. The door opened and a girl came in. She appeared to be a young teen, only she was very tall and strong. Her dark hair was tied in the back. Allister took one look at her and saw she looked very much like Imor.

"Imor, the Counselors want to see you," she said.

"My daughter, Alma," Imor said. He made introductions, and the girl's face brightened when she saw Grayson. Her reaction made Allister jealous. Grayson was more to him than just his Bonded partner.

But Grayson must have felt the emotion through the Bond. He turned and smiled at Grayson and then took a step back from Alma. "It is a pleasure to meet you," he said to her formally.

The exchange was not lost on Imor, who, by use of his gift, quickly deduced that Grayson and Allister were lovers. He suppressed a chuckle and wondered how he would explain that to Alma if he needed to. But Grayson excused himself politely and said to Aaden and Allister that they needed to get to work.

"I must go, one does not lightly dismiss a visit to our Counselors, what you named Directors. I will return as soon as possible." He looked to his daughter, who still had eyes for Grayson.

"Alma, these boys have important work to get done, they are not here for socialization. Please allow them to work. Give Aaden access to our network and then leave them to their work."

Alma appeared to not like what she was told to do, but immediately turned and acknowledged her father. With a cold voice, she looked at Aaden and said, "This way."

"Where do I start?" Aaden asked once Alma had left them. Neither Allister or Grayson had any ideas. An inspiration struck him. "Who would benefit if magic were end?"

"Nobody!" Grayson said. "We use magic to help people. Without it, they'd lose that help."

"People who feel threatened by it," Allister said. "But before you ask, I don't know who those people might be."

"Maybe someone harmed by it," Aaden suggested.

Grayson came on board. "Instead of trying to figure that out, let's focus on those who were trying to stop us. Find something that connects them. A reason, or a cause."

"We need a list," Allister said. "The base commander, Grant Ohmsford, one of the two directors who went to the school with us."

Aaden started typing, but quickly stopped. "All access into our land has been cut off. I can't research any of those people."

"Don't do it from within our school, try an open search. See what, if anything, pops up."

Grant Ohmsford was a well-known person even outside of their school. When Aaden cross-reference his name with the base commanders name he came up with a list of several hundred people they had both had contact with. "I need more to narrow this down."

"Try magic," Grayson said.

"No, but close. Instead try to link them together with no magic."

The list shortened to twenty-eight. Nineteen of them were quickly eliminated. Of the remaining nine, one stood out. "Telos tis Mageias."

"What's that?" Allister asked.

"It's Greek. It could be translated as "The End of Magic." Aaden was already typing. "Sixty thousand references. The top three are a web page by that name and two that list that as the title of a book," he said. He typed some more. "The web page is a review of the book." He started to move on, but Allister stopped him. "A web page just to contain a review? Look in there. Read the review and see who's commented."

"The book is about slight-of-hand magicians who deceive people into giving up money in exchange for being lied to," Aaden said after scanning the review. "There are thousands of comments organized into several threads." He looked away from the computer to Allister. "This isn't what we want."

"Is the book available?" Allister asked.

"It is in public domain, so yes. Do you want me to order a copy?"

"When was it published?"

Aaden checked. "Okay, maybe this is relevant. It was published 214 years ago."

"Right when the decline of wizards started. And it's still something that garners thousands of comments today. I think this is the starting point. Who's the author?"

"Glafkas, no other name." He typed. "He claims his son was kidnapped and hidden away from him for six years, only to come back a devil who would only say kind things about the school he had been sent to. But he was observed on a number of occasions using occult methods to control and manipulate people. He wanted the government to investigate but they refused, citing that his son was not harmed and there was no evidence of him harming others. So he wrote of the need for a society of people who could locate other missing boys and create an end to magic."

"And where did this all supposedly take place?" Grayson asked.

"Argos."

"That's ridiculous," Grayson said. "Argos doesn't have any wizards." And then he realized what he had just said. "But maybe they used to!"

Imor returned at that time and Aaden quickly caught him up on what they had discovered. "I know you are good at what you are doing, but I have at my disposal a team of people who were trained and are experienced at gaining the information you need. If you want, you may work with them, but I want to put them on this right away. Allister, your ability to recognize what might be important would be very valuable to them if you also want to join them.

Aaden knew that a team was always better than an individual, and people trained to do what he was doing just from experience was going to get results much faster. He and Allister both took Imor up the offer for him to work with his team.

"Grayson, I have a request from two of my seniors. They saw you fight at the Battle Wizard challenge and they'd like to spar with you. We fight rough, and it is likely that you will get hurt, but we keep some very good healers on the training grounds just for that reason. Are you interested?"

"Interested? It would be awesome. You bet I want to do it."

Imor made introductions to the research team. Aaden was happy that he and Allister were welcomed into the room, none of the men there seemed at all offended to have a couple of thirteen-year-old kids working with them.

Next Imor took Grayson out to the training grounds. "This is Bain, our finest teacher. He wants to watch this and see what can be learned from it. And over there are the two boys who want spar with you." Imor pointed to six boys out on the field. Two of them appeared to be fighting the other four.

Grayson watched with interest. He's seen a lot of different fighting styles, but never from this school. He was surprised, none of the boys were using magic. But the two older boys fought as a team. It was obvious that each of them knew exactly what the other was going to do. They ignored the blows raining down on them from three of the boys and concentrated on just one.

With kicks and punches thrown with blinding speed the two older boys quickly took down the one opponent they had be concentrating on. Then it was three-to-two. Again, the two boys picked one of the remaining three opponents and coordinated their attacks on him. They were bloodied from the attacks from the others, but all of their effort went into fighting just one of their opponents.

Grayson switched from concentrating on the two older boys and watched the younger ones. Two of them were trying to work as a pair, but their attacks were not as fast nor as coordinated as the older boy's attacks were. And now he saw that the older boys anticipated much of the attacks directed at them and even though they were concentrating their attacks on one target they moved to limit the extent of the attacks from the pair who were working together.

It was over minutes later. The two older boys were bloodied and bruised, but clear victors. They helped up three of the younger boys while a couple of healers went to work on the more seriously injured one. Once everyone had been cared for by a healer, they came over to where their instructor stood next to Grayson.

Bain turned first to Grayson. "Your appraisal, please. And don't be afraid to be critical, it is how we learn."

"It's an odd style, ignoring attacks from others and concentrating on just one opponent at a time. It worked, but only because the other kids weren't as skilled at working together. If you had to face people as good as you that tactic wouldn't have worked. And you didn't use any magic. Do you know any?"

"Yes, indeed. We've been trained to preserve our magic until the end of the battle is in sight. Using magic not only depletes your magical energy, it also drains your stamina. If the fight had gone another round or two Larkin would have pushed them back and I would have healed the pair of us. I'm Ruarc by the way. And we know who you are."

Larkin reached out and grasped Grayson's wrist in a form of greeting. His grip was very strong. "Now that you've seen us fight we're even. We've seen you fight too. Are you interested in taking us on?"

"Aren't you tired?" Grayson asked. "I mean, I'll take any advantage I can in a fight, but you two just finished fighting four other kids."

"They are in the middle of their training and my view is they have a lot to learn, but no, we are not too tired to fight again. Part of our training is building up our stamina. Come, let us go out and give it a try. If we are too much for you just tell us and we will stop, there is no need for either of us to get hurt once the fight is clearly going in one direction or the other."

As they walked out to the middle of the field Grayson was considering ways to defend against their coordinated attacks and planed a few surprises of his own, things he had learned after Battle Wizard. He looked around and saw dozens of kids coming around to watch.

"If you are ready," Larkin said.

Grayson nodded and waited for them to make the first move. They moved as one, but the first thing he did was dive and roll to his right. He jumped up and anticipated where one of them would attack from and cast a shield spell on that side. He punched and blocked with each arm as the other closed in and was pleased to see that his punches landed while Larkin's were blocked.

But Larkin quickly moved around Grayson's shield and joined Ruarc in attacking. Grayson took several hard punches but executed his next planned maneuver. Using a bit of the magic he had figured out from the spells they found in the cave, he created a wedge of force that pushed the two boys apart. Again, he concentrated all his attacks on Ruarc while successfully blocking most of Larkin's attacks.

It was obvious they were surprised, and the way they had coordinated their attacks against the younger boys wasn't working. But it didn't lessen the damage Grayson was taking from Ruarc while he concentrated on blocking Larkin.

He used another shield against Larkin and a force punch on Ruarc and Ruarc went down. That allowed him to turn and prepare to defend against Larkin's next attack as he moved around the shield.

Grayson had thought that he had hit Ruarc hard enough to keep him down for at least a few seconds, but as he and Larkin traded punches and kicks he was hit in the back by Ruarc and went down hard. He knew at that point that the fight was over and gave up.

"I'm sorry I didn't give you the fight you hoped for," he said, shaking his head to clear it. "I thought I would last longer against you."

"Sorry?" Larkin said. "That was amazing. You are the first non-graduate we have ever faced who took one of us down. And our training assumes we will always be outnumbered until we even the odds, but you fought us alone. You are good, far better than we anticipated."

"One more punch and I'd have been down until it was over," Ruarc said. A healer was already attending to him. "But you were tiring from using so much magic. I don't think you could have taken Larkin one-on-one at that point, but you would certainly have damaged him far more than those kids watching can."

Bain came over and congratulated him. "After you've rested, I'd like you to practice something as a team. I want you to fight last year's champions, you three against the two of them. Only I want you to practice a coordinated attack strategy where Grayson protects you with his magic instead of fighting. If they can't hit you, you two can wear them down."

"They kicked our ass last time we challenged them," Larkin said. "Once you graduate you join the army and learn a whole lot more. And you don't have other classes to attend, so you learn faster. They mocked us in front of the kids from our school."

"Fine, it sounds good, but if they are any good at all they will come after me," Grayson said. "If they are better than you than I don't really stand a chance against them. I'll give you all the help I can, but I think they are going to hand your asses to you again."

"Not if you practice together and coordinate attacks and defense," Bain said. "I agree, they will have to come at you in order to get past the defensive spell you will be using to protect Ruarc and Larkin. But With a little bit of training I think I can make them pay for a heavy price for going after you. From what I just saw I know you can take one attack and keep standing. That will allow these two a chance to attack from behind. And even they can't take a full coordinated attack with no defense. Then it will be three-on-one and a whole different battle. Let's get to work."

They spent the rest of the day practicing a new fighting style designed by Bain incorporating a magical defense. They worked it again and again against different attack styles until Grayson could anticipate what Larkin and Ruarc's next move was going to be. Once they mastered that they called it a day. The fight was set for the next day right after breakfast.

As important as the research Aaden and Allister were doing, once they found out about the match they took time out to come and watch. Larkin explained that there were four primary training grounds in Cimmeria, each with its own style. It wasn't until one graduated and joined the army that they practiced against the three styles other than their own. While most of the training emphasized good sportsmanship, the men they were going to take on reveled in their victories. "If they win, expect to be insulted," Larkin said.

"It won't be the first time," Grayson responded. "Do you think we have a chance against them?"

"Bain is a fantastic strategist," Ruarc said. "You've got to have faith in what we practiced. I think it will surprise them even more than it did us."

The fight lasted eight minutes, a record for challenge fights like that. It was a very close call, one the soldiers disputed, but victory was awarded to Ruarc, Larkin, and Grayson. The three of them were then taken away to a field hospital where more extensive healing, both magical and traditional, would be performed. They were kept there for two days, during which time the team of computer specialists aided by Aaden and Allister completed their work.

14. Going to War

"We've identified over thirty members of a group dedicated to ending the reign of wizards just in our country alone," Imor said to the gathered assembly of leaders, soldiers, and invited wizards, including Allister, Aaden, and Grayson. "And interesting enough, three of them are wizards, all working on research projects."

"How about other schools," Allister said, still using his countries word for country. "Ours, for example."

"Because your military has taken control it is not as easy to get information from your country, but we did get some and it isn't good. Wizards are being hunted, and the military is aided by wizards who are ready to fight for what they are calling "The New Order" and will give up their magic once total victory has been achieved. Your country is one is one of the leaders in eradicating wizards, but they have convinced a few other countries they were previously suspicious of in joining them."

"Will you help us defeat them?" Grayson asked. "We'll go it alone if we have to, but it sounds like a difficult fight."

"Currently, our military is busy capturing those who we know conspired against us. Right now, the general population is unaware that magic truly exists, but we think that will change soon. Getting the general public behind a movement is the fastest way to slow a government down. We also have sent many teams to our allies to assist them in rounding up those who were active in eliminating magic."

"Now that we know who they are, why risk public involvement?" Aaden asked. "Their plan was working, but thanks to Allister, we have found the cause and we can start to correct it. They will fail and gradually over time our number of wizards will increase."

"One of the captured members stated they were tired of the long process of ending magic. Originally it was to take only a few generations. Now two hundred years later it is still many generations away. And they have received word from sources we haven't identified that we have the ability to correct the problem. We think that Allister is now a direct target." Imor looked at Allister. "I'm sorry, but once this meeting is over I'm putting you and your friends in a safe place. You'll be guarded by student warriors. I know you want to return home and fight, but right now we don't have the resources to assist you in that endeavor. And the head of our Wizard's council has said you are the only one we know of who has the skill to create Creation Magic, which is needed if we are to reverse the damage they have caused. I need you alive and well. I'm sorry to have to do this, but I feel it is necessary."

"It's not house arrest," Larkin said. "We're to keep you informed, and Aaden will have full access to our computer network. And we need you. Grayson has what he says are basic shielding spells that we have forgotten. He'll be busy teaching them to the wizards in our military. We are to get you anything you need."

"We need to go home and take the fight to our school," Allister said.

"Except that," Ruarc said. "We are not allowed to take you off campus."

"It's just for a short while," Imor said. "Once we have ensured the loyalty of our military and we are sure we have eradicated those who want to end magic in our country, helping you is our next priority."

"I've already asked if Ruarc and I can go with you when it is time to go back," Larkin said. "Grayson is good, but the three of us are better."

"A lot better," Grayson said. "And it will give us a chance to train more, develop more strategies, involve more students."

"And in the meantime, they are arresting, perhaps killing, the kids we know at school." Allister appreciated the help the Cimmerians had given them and knew that without their help he and his friends would have been captured long ago. But it galled him to think that his school was likely to become the next wizard-free country while he sat here safe and sound.

"It is going to take me two or three days to teach the spells you should know to match your new fighting style, and I can see the value in that," Allister said. "But after that is done, I want to join the fight. At my school. It may already be too late, but I'd never be able to live with myself if I learned I could have made a difference and turned the tide if only I'd acted a little sooner."

No one had much to say after that. They all had jobs and fell to them and three days went by quickly, but after that there was still no talk of sending them back to their school. The only new item to come out from their school wasn't that much of a surprise: the two co-leaders of the revolution were Grant Ohmsford and the base commander, General Park.

Allister held a private conference with Aaden and Grayson. "I want to go back. We've helped them enough and I feel they should be doing more to help us but they aren't."

"How can we do it?" Aaden said. "The teleport spell nearly killed us and that was only five hundred miles. It's a lot more than double that to get back home."

"We were weak then, tired. We'd been using spells and worrying all the time. Now we're rested. I want to try and I want you two with me. I can't do much alone, but if you won't help then I'll have to do what I can. We need to go back."

"There might be a way," Grayson said. The other two turned to look at him, waiting for him to continue. "Larkin and Ruarc think we're getting screwed. I've helped them a lot and they are feeling like they owe us something back. They also feel like they are ready to get into the fight. And they said they know of a lot of the other kids in their training camp who would sign up with them in a heartbeat. After we won against the army team, they're seen as hero's. And one of their friends is taking jump-jet training."

"Jump-jet?" Aaden asked. "But that only carries a squad."

"He's got a friend. Between them they can carry twelve. Only they've never flown in combat before, just practice missions and simulations. It's probably as risky as teleporting because our school is right at the maximum range of fuel. If we got into a battle or had to fly to avoid a battle we'd run out of fuel before we hot home."

"What if we set down in the Pictish Wilderness?" Allister said. "Close to the boarder. Then we sneak across."

"Sneak across the Pictish boarder?" Grayson said in amazement. "That's the most heavily guarded boarder we have. Not to mention the druids of Pictland. I don't think they'd be so happy to see us land a pair of jump-jets in their forest."

Aaden was busy typing and Allister knew he was researching something relative to his idea so he waited for him to finish.

"There is no news from Pictland. No known wizards, no outside contact. The few people who have traveled there have never returned. Our school has always said they were a threat, but they have never been known to travel outside their boarder. They have never attacked any school surrounding them. And even the Cimmerians know nothing of them. But the Cimmerians only guard the boarder to keep their people from going in, not the other way around."

"So, what the hell is a druid exactly?" Grayson asked.

"There is almost nothing in the Cimmerian library. And that phrase originates from our school. Perhaps they don't exist and it's just something to scare people. Modern day boogiemen."

"Except that all those who have entered have not come back out," Grayson said.

"Yeah, I guess there's that."

"I want to return home too," Grayson said. "And I think the students here can help us a lot. If it comes to a fight, and it will, they are as good as the ones I faced in the Battle Wizard championship."

"You're referring to Larkin and Ruarc. Yeah, they are very good. But the other ones are kids who don't have as much training and ability," Allister said. "And they don't have as much magic to draw on as we do. I'm not sold on how much help they'd be. And if they assisted us in leaving we might ruin the good relationship we have with their leaders now. Especially if we got a bunch of them killed."

"They want to come. And they give us a way to get there. I'm just not sure about landing in Pictland. Is there any other choice?"

"Not really," Aaden said. "Most of the other schools surrounding our school are not friendly to us. The ones that we have good relations with are further away, the jump-jets wouldn't make. If we go by jump-jet, it's our school or Pictland."

Grayson looked at Allister. "You want to go. I do too. They can help us. And I don't think we can get there by the new teleport spell, it's just too far. To go home without the official permission of Cimmeria we need to use the help they have offered."

Allister thought it over for a second. "Bring Larkin and Ruarc here and let's include them in the discussion. And I think it is time to start having a look at the spells Nigel Collins created. Some of them might be very useful."

Allister couldn't deny the enthusiasm that Larkin and Ruarc had. They had selected the best fighters available to them from their training ground, stating that to a man (boy) all had volunteered to go. And they had two pilots, although one was still at the novice level. They knew nothing about Pictland, but weren't afraid to go there except that finding a landing spot for two jump-jets might be difficult in jungle.

The only news about their school they could find was all bad. The military had taken complete control of the government and were still in the process of rounding up 'subversives.' A handful of wizards had managed to successfully escape and were seeking refuge in other countries.

"We can ask for training flights at any time," Larkin said. "All we need to do is sneak the three of you out and we have a plan for that."

"What will happen to you when you return?" Allister asked. He didn't say that he thought it was likely that most, perhaps all, would never be returning.

"We'll face a disciplinary hearing," Ruarc said. "The most they can do is put us in jail, and we don't think they will do that. I think they'll send us to bed without supper." He and Larkin laughed.

"It's dangerous. How will you feel if your companions, kids you train with, are killed?"

"Look, our life is different than yours. We live and train for battle. We lose about 2% of our graduates a year to training accidents alone. That's just about equal to the number of new wizards we are finding. But with the new spells you will put in place we are confident that our kind will begin to grow instead of diminishing. And we understand how much you are hurting being here safe while the kids you went to school with are being hunted down. Don't worry about us. Each one of us know the risks. None of us expect this to be easy. But we choose to join you and go to war."

Allister shrugged his shoulders. He'd done all he could to absolve himself from responsibility, even though he knew he'd take each injury or death personally. He looked at Grayson and nodded his head.

"How soon can we travel?" Grayson asked.

"As soon as we get permission for two training flights," Larkin said. "Most likely tomorrow. Two days at the longest."

"Make it two, we have a few things to do to get ready," Allister said. They all shook hands.

As soon as they were gone, Grayson grabbed Allister by the wrist. "I'm not going into battle with you unless you submit to learning how to fight. I know you want access to the spells I memorized. You can't have it until you agree to train with me six hours a day." "You too Aaden. You're almost as useless in a fight as he is."

Allister didn't like that plan, but he felt the determination Grayson had through the Bond and had to accept Grayson's terms. They went straight out to the training field.

Allister came back hurt and dead tired after the first training session, which had only lasted an hour. He still owed Grayson five more hours. But they sat together and started going through the spells they had gained from Nigel Collins's efforts.

Learning new spells took time, and the more difficult the spell the longer it would take to learn it. And Allister had to learn it, practice it, and then teach the wizard's version to Grayson and Aaden. They didn't have much time, so he had to be very selective in which spells he wanted to learn. After a few hours, he settled on two and then Grayson took him back out to the training ground to let him practice against a ten-year-old who kicked his butt and laughed about it until Larkin showed up and offered to 'train' the young fighter.

"We couldn't get clearance for training missions tomorrow," Larkin said. "The army is doing a major launch. But we got clearance for the day after. We leave at 0800 sharp, so we need to be ready well before that. Have you ever been on a jump-jet?"

Grayson had, but Allister and Aaden hadn't. "Then don't eat breakfast that morning," Larkin said. "We'll be eating army rations from then on anyway."

That gave them an extra day to train, something Allister and Aaden didn't look forward to, but both had to admit they were already much better fighters than they had ever hoped to be.

When the day of their departure for war came, they got up early. Larkin had gotten them fatigues like the students wore and briefed them on moving quickly and quietly to the jump jets once the pilots had filed their flight plans and completed their walk-arounds on the two jump-jets.

"As soon as we deviate from the flight plan and head south, they are going to guess what we are doing," Larkin said. "So Kalin, he's the pilot for the first jet, wants to hug the ground to buy us some time."

"And what about the other jet?"

"Uh, that pilot isn't trained for low-level avoidance flying, so he's going to go as low as he dares and hope. You guys will be with me in the first jet." Larkin had taken them to the airport without anyone seeing that three of the kids in fatigues were not from the training ground. They were waiting for a signal from the two pilots, who were checking out the plains. They walked together, doing one jump-jet first and then moving on to the second one.

Finally, the signal was given. Allister felt the same fear he felt from his Bond with Aaden, but Grayson was eager to get on board and get heading for home. They moved quickly out onto the tarmac, two teams of six, all armed, something that wasn't allowed off their training camp.

They were almost to the jets when a truck pulled away from a terminal and headed right towards them at a high rate of speed. There wasn't time to board and do pre-flight checks. It looked like the mission was over before it even got off the ground.

The truck stopped and the Bain, the fighting instructor, got out.

"You didn't seriously think you could pull this off without me knowing about it, did you?" he asked Larkin and Ruarc.

"Uh, yes sir, we did," Ruarc said. "But I guess…"

"And you chose Bard for your second pilot? He can barely keep a jump-jet straight and level. Did you really think he could fly one out of the country and into combat?"

"Of our choices, he was the second best," Larkin said. Kalin was our first."

"A crappy plan, poorly executed, without proper intelligence and without the proper equipment and personal. And I thought the two of you were ready to graduate. I'm greatly disappointed in you both." Bain looked to Allister, Aaden, and Grayson. "At least you spent some time trying to learn how to fight. But I have doubts about how much you could learn in three days."

"We're going, one way or another," Allister said. "I don't mean for it to be an ultimatum, but it's something we need to do. You'd do all you could to fight for your school. We have the same feeling for ours."

"Yes, I know. But you are not flying with these two pilots. Even Kalin does not have the training necessary for a mission like you have planned, and Bard would likely crash before seeing his first combat. And there will be combat. The air space will be protected, your military is guarding the country. I'm not going to allow you to sacrifice yourselves and my students on a poorly planned and executed mission."

"Yes sir, we submit to your authority," Larkin said softly. "We have disgraced you. And we accept the punishment we deserve. But these other fighters," he turned and pointed to the other kids, "They are not to blame. Ruarc and I talked them into coming. We assured them it was all planned."

"Bullshit, corporal. To a man your entire training camp volunteered to go on this mission. None of them were misled or talked into going." Larkin and Ruarc could only hang their heads in shame. They knew that they were not going to graduate with honors now. They'd be lucky if they were ever going to be allowed to graduate.

"Normally when two of my students graduate and join the military we have a formal review and party afterwards. But there isn't time for that now. Dismiss your men. Military uniforms are in the back of the truck. You five get in and get changed. If you're going to war, you're going to do it with the military. Your jump-jets are waiting for you further down the line." Bain turned and walked back to the truck.

Larkin and Ruarc couldn't believe their ears. Instead of a courts martial, they had just graduated. And the mission was still on, only this time with the authority of military. They were joined by Allister, Aaden, and Grayson as they ran to the back of the truck and put on uniforms. They were slightly upset to find that they went from junior officers to low-ranking enlisted men, but that didn't matter. They were going to war.

They were briefed on the mission on the way to the squadron of jump-jets, and they provided details as they knew them for several of the targets.

15. Going Home

The trip back to their homeland was terrifying for Alister and Aaden; of the three of them only Grayson seemed to be enjoying it. The jump-jet flew just a few feet off the ground and many times had to suddenly rise to pass over trees or buildings, only to drop just as fast once past the obstacle. The only time they rose up was for a quick refueling, and even then, they were barely above the trees.

And it was more than just the flight. They were part of a twelve-plane formation that was leading an attack on his nation, his school. How would history remember him? They all had targets and missions, he, Aaden, and Grayson were to retake the school of magic and free any surviving wizards. Just the phrase "any surviving wizards" set his mind racing. And if there were survivors it was unknown how they would respond to an attack. They may well all be considered enemies, something Allister knew he couldn't accept. He'd surrender to them before he would attack them.

It was also clear that at least the military members did not understand Bonding. They expected Grayson to be in the front, attacking as necessary and supporting four soldiers while Larkin and Ruarc were dedicated to protecting him. They didn't know that if Grayson died there was nothing Larkin and Ruarc could do, he and Aaden would also die. It was the way the Bond worked. At least he could count on Grayson to be careful.

The ground below was a blur at the flight speed of the jump-jet, and Allister was glad he'd followed the order to not have breakfast that morning. Even so, he very nearly emptied his stomach several times when jumping over things on the ground. He saw the at the front of the cabin go from green to yellow and had been told that meant they were getting close. When it turned red they would be in the landing zone. He was also told that they could expect physical and magical attacks inside the yellow zone, but especially once it turned red.

Now that they were close, Allister's fear grew, causing Grayson to make his way back to his Bonded partner and try to calm him down. There was no talking, it was too loud and they didn't have headsets like the solders did, but Allister could feel it through the Bond and passed on as much as he could through his Bond with Aaden. Allister had tried all the calming methods his Perception ability gave him, but they didn't help much in his first combat period. Unlike Grayson, he'd never even been in a live fire exercise.

The jet slowed suddenly as the light at the front of the cabin turned red. It made several violent s-turns and got even closer to the ground, something Allister had thought was impossible. Then it turned sharply to the left and Allister could see the school of magic out the starboard window. The jump-jet dropped to the ground as the engine noise all but stopped.

"Out! Out! Everybody out!" was ordered and the soldiers, who had practiced it a thousand times before, all moved in unison. They had the door open and were jumping out while the jet was still settling down to the ground. Only two of the jets had landed here, the others had other targets.

With one arm around Allister and the other around Aaden, Grayson pulled them to their feet and led them to the door. It was a five-foot drop to the ground and once there they followed two soldiers to the main entrance door. Allister had described the layout, but most Cimmerian soldiers were not wizards and they would need help to get through the illusionary wall. The plan was for Allister and Aaden, supported by Larkin and Ruarc, to secure the second floor while Grayson lead the way to the upper floors.

Allister knew that the second floor was a holding area for those almost-wizards who couldn't master magic and who were never Bonded. They had jobs, but they were prevented from leaving. He often wondered what the families of those boys, most of whom were now men, were told.

The rest of the second floor was administrative offices. Allister led them directly to the area where the non-wizards lived and worked, but as they got close he could smell something he'd never smelled before. He stopped to try and figure out what it was but Larkin knew.

"There was a fight up ahead, I can smell the smoke from weapon discharges. Let's keep moving."

Allister moved forward again. He had planned to allow Aaden to open the magically-sealed door since Aaden's grasp of magic was better than his, but when they got there he saw it wasn't necessary. The door had been blasted out of the wall and hung by one hinge. The smell of the weapon discharge was much greater beyond the opening.

The soldiers from his own school had done what Mr. Arbox and all the school administrators before him had never done. They had killed the thirty-six men in the room. The shooting had been done a few days before and the smell of ripe bodies was overwhelming. Allister backed out of the room, again thankful that he hadn't eaten.

"Up, up, up," Larkin said behind him. "There isn't anything more here. There is shooting above us."

Allister swallowed what little spit he had in his mouth and took them to the stairs. Once there he could hear shouts and moans from above him. He knew that Grayson wasn't hurt – if he had been Allister would have been able to feel it too – but there was still shooting and smoke coming from the third floor.

They were almost to the landing when he could see that one of the Cimmerian soldiers was hit and bleeding. He was conscious but in a great deal of pain. "The others are trapped, held down by fire. I think there is only three enemy soldiers above them, but they can't go up and they can't come back here without being shot."

Allister knew he had to do something, and created one of the magic spells he had learned from Nigel Collins. He'd never had tome to test it, he could only hope it worked. He stepped past the fallen soldier and into the open.

The three men above him shot at him time and time again. Allister could feel the magical shield weakening from each bullet, but it was still holding. He looked at one of the soldiers shooting at him and used the other spell he had learned from Nigel.

That soldier froze, unable to move. Allister shouted to the other Cimmerian soldier to either get back or attack and move forward. He used his Comm ability through the Bond to tell Grayson to stop acting like a soldier and start using magic.

Grayson had been so taken by surprise when one of the soldiers pushed him aside and took a bullet meant for him that he'd forgotten what he was. Allister had woken him up. He stood and pointed and launched the strongest force blast he could at one of the two un-frozen soldiers and knocked him head over heels backwards. At the same time the Cimmerian soldier fired and hit the last one.

While they battled, Aaden had done what first aid he could for the fallen Cimmerian soldier. He was helped by Ruarc while Larkin had run forward to try and stop Allister. Despite their efforts, the man had lost too much blood and died while they did their best to close the wound.

Ruarc grabbed the soldier's weapon and they moved as a group to the third floor. The soldier that Grayson had attacked was stunned and Larkin and the remaining Cimmerian soldier disarmed him and bound him. The soldier had wanted to kill him, but Allister had insisted they leave him alive.

Once he was secured, Grayson headed towards his third-floor dorm. There were many bullet holes in the door but the magic still worked. He didn't have a third-floor uniform, nor did he have his supervisor's uniform, and thus he could not enter the room. They knocked and shouted at the door, but if anyone was inside they didn't answer.

They tried the other dorm but encountered the same. "We're stuck here," Grayson said. "Without the proper uniform, we can't get anywhere."

"Yes we can," Allister said. "I did it back when I was still a third-floor student, remember?" He remembered exactly how the magic of the uniform worked and used it to open the door and pass through into the dorm. And he immediately wished he hadn't. Three students lay dead on the floor.

Allister knew there would be more than three assigned to the dorm, but a quick search showed it was otherwise empty. He stripped the three boys of their uniforms, crying as he saw how young they were.

He came back out and handed the three uniforms to Aaden, Grayson, and Larkin. "I need to go back to our old dorm and check that out." They followed him and this time Grayson entered with him. Two more dead students were found.

One uniform was given to Ruarc and the other to the soldier. The soldier was much too big for it, but they found that it would work even when ripped into pieces and pulled over the soldier's uniform where he could. They headed for the dining hall.

"How long will that shield magic around you last?" Grayson asked.

"I don't know, I never had a chance to see what it does or how long it remains. It was weakened by the bullets, but it is still in place."

"What a second," Aaden said. "You walked into combat without knowing if it would even work against bullets?"

Allister shrugged his shoulders. "We had to do something. We've been here too long already. We were expected to be on the fifth floor by now and we're still on the third."

As they got closer to the lunch room they could hear voices speaking softly. Allister moved in front and as quietly as he could walk he approached the last door, which was open. Inside he saw nine naked students, some of whom had been hurt. He looked for guards but saw none, and stepped where the kids in the room could see him.

"Someone's here," one shouted and they all fell to the floor with their hands behind their heads.

"What are you guys doing?" Allister asked. "Where are the soldiers?"

"Who, who are you?" one asked. The rest of the group had moved next to Allister and seeing the weapons the naked boys began whimpering.

"I'm Allister Granger. Some of you may have heard of me, I was a student here just six months ago. These are my friends and we're here to take control of the school. Now tell me what happened."

The students seemed reluctant to speak, but the Cimmerian soldier knew he was scaring them and let his weapon drop back over his back. Ruarc saw him and understood and did the same. Allister entered the dining hall. "Talk to me," he said, pointing at one of the boys.

"We were told by Mr. Arbox to stay in the dorms. Then the soldiers came and they ordered us to open the door. Matt, he's my dorm leader, uh, he was my dorm leader, refused. We learned the hard way that the magic doesn't stop bullets. Matt was in front and he was killed. So were Steve and…"

The boy's face soured with the memory and tears started running down his cheeks. "Okay, I was there," Allister said. "I saw them. In both dorms. Then what happened?"

"Then we opened the door and they made us come here. They took our uniforms. Without them we were trapped here. They said that if we left the dining hall they would shoot us. That was three days ago."

"The uniforms wouldn't help them get off this floor," Aaden said. "Where'd they go?"

"Another man came and had magic that allowed them to go to the fourth floor."

Allister asked for a description of the other man, and from it realized that it was Grant Ohmsford. He was surprised to learn that someone who was not a supervisor at the school had the necessary magic to move about and asked Aaden for ideas.

"It can't be just an ID card; the doors are locked by magic that detects both the ID and the correct uniform. How do you defeat it?"

"I use Perception magic to make the magic think I'm allowed passage. But Ohmsford doesn't have Perception ability."

"I'm not real sure what this Perception ability is, but how do you know he doesn't have it?" Larkin asked.

"It's the rarest of all magic. You have to be taught and it takes the correct circumstances to be learned."

"No, that's not true," Aaden said. "You discovered it on your own and were using it for a week before Mr. Barker or Mr. Arbox was aware that you could. If it happened to you, why couldn't it have happened to him too?"

Allister hadn't thought about it that way, but it made sense. "But that allows him to travel throughout the school. He can't bring a squad of soldiers with him."

"You brought me and Grayson to the fifth floor, and that was before you even had a fraction of the control you have now," Aaden pointed out.

A little gear moved in Allister's mind and brought things into a new perspective. He thought about it, analyzing it with Perception. And then he snapped his fingers. He concentrated and cast a spell.

"I think I just gave you all the ability to defeat the magic of the school," he said. "Let's go to the supply room and test it. And get some clothes for these guys."

His spell worked, at least on Grayson, who was the first to open the supply room door and enter. He beckoned for the closest student and the boy walked slowly to the door and then, much to his surprise, entered the room. "Find a uniform that fits," Grayson said. The other boys started entering and searching for uniforms in their size.

"I'm going to learn how you did that someday," the boy who had been talking said.

"Teaching it deprives you of learning it on your own," Allister said. "But if we survive this, I'll be happy to get you started." He waited until all nine of the students were dressed. "Okay, as of right now you have all graduated third floor. I want you all to stay in the back, but I don't want to leave you behind. We are going to the fourth floor and we can expect combat. Don't join in, you just simply don't have the skills."

He led the way to the stairs, only to find that giving them the ability to walk through the magic didn't change the fact that all they could see was a wall. And when they expected a wall they felt one. Only Grayson, Aaden, and Larkin could pass. The Cimmerian soldier, a very embarrassed Ruarc, and the nine students couldn't come with them. Grayson saw the solution and used his magic to teleport all of them into the stairway at once.

"Don't use up all of your magic," Allister warned. "This isn't over yet." They moved quietly up the stairs to the fourth floor.

The fourth floor was worse than the third. More of the students had put up a fight. Six dead students and the floor supervisor were dead in the hallways. They did encounter two dead soldiers and a blood trail that took them to the dining hall, where they found four surviving fourth-floor students. Like below, the students had been stripped of their uniforms, but now that he knew how to do it Allister gave them the ability to travel and they went to the supply room and got them dressed.

This time Allister wanted to leave the students behind. He knew that the fight they were heading towards had to be on the fifth floor. He explained to the students, but two of the fourth-floor students didn't want to be left out.

"They shot our friends," one of them said. "Me and Carter are almost done with training. We're pretty good at magic. And Carter is good at healing. You may need us. And Mitch and Dean can protect the younger students. They'll find out what spells each of them have mastered and set up defenses."

Allister relented. The boy was right, they might need help and he knew full well that fourth-floor students ready to graduate were nothing if not capable.

"I'm going to go to the room on fifth floor," he said to Grayson. "If it's safe, I'll send you a private comm and we'll start bring them up one at a time."

"Why take the risk?" Grayson asked. "It's just as likely to be guarded as the stairs."

"I've got a feeling about that room. I think it is not an ordinary room. I don't think Ohmsford would have what it takes to get inside and besides, why would he try? I'd rather surprise them if we could. We don't know what they are doing, but they've had three days up there and not one of them has come down."

"There might be a reason none of them have come down," Aaden said. "Maybe everyone, including our supervisors, are dead up there. You could walk into even more death than we've seen already."

"I'm not going to go exploring until all of us are up there, but thanks, that's good advice." Allister disappeared, only to return a moment later. "It sounds quiet, but I didn't open the door. Instead of bringing everyone up at once, how about if just you," he pointed at the Cimmerian soldier, "Grayson, and Larkin go. I can bring you and Grayson can bring Larkin."

Allister didn't wait for a reply. He touched the soldier and took them both to the room. Grayson and Larkin appeared a second behind them. Allister headed towards the door, but the soldier stopped him.

"I'll go first," he said, and with his weapon at the ready he quickly pulled the door wide open and dropped to his knees. Larkin knew exactly what the soldier was going to do and was ready to fight beside him as per his training. But there was no enemy. It was silent in the hall. They all moved out and went to the right.

Two supervisors and three soldiers were lying dead just around the corner. From the path of holes in the walls it looked like it had been a running fight. Grayson helped himself to one of the weapons lying on the ground.

Another supervisor was found dead a short way down the hall. Then nothing. Allister took them first to Mr. Arbox's office. He opened the door and was hit immediately by the hardest force blast that he had ever been hit with. It pushed him back hard into the wall behind him.

The soldier and Larkin both raised weapons but Grayson yelled, "No," and pushed down on them until they were pointed at the floor. Inside the room was Mr. Arbox in a pair of boxers and nothing else.

"Grayson, how…never mind," Mr. Arbox said. He pushed past the people at the door and started giving first aid to Allister, who was groggy but not seriously hurt. Grayson helped until Allister said enough and got up on his own.

"Ohmsford locked those they didn't kill inside without uniforms and no way to escape. He either figured we starve to death or that someone would come for us."

"We got all the students into uniforms," Allister said. "They're all on the fourth floor. We need to let them know we're okay." He disappeared, but they guessed he'd gone back to the fourth floor.

"We need to find out who else is locked in an office," Mr. Arbox said. "Only this time, let me tell them who it is instead of just opening the door."

As they travelled from one door to the next Grayson filled him in on what had happened. Allister joined them after they had rescued three more supervisors. They found four students in the dining hall and Allister took care of getting them uniforms. They continued looking until they had searched the entire floor.

"Ohmsford and Commander Parks led the uprising. Ohmsford hid his magical talents from the general population or they might have turned on him too. At first the military seemed to be solidly behind them, but as they rounded up and killed kids they suspected of being wizards the military split. They had plans for it, and succeeded in locking up the majority of the army. My best guess is that there are no more than one or two hundred soldiers still taking orders from Parks. But they control everything."

"Not for long," the Cimmerian solder said. "We have teams on the ground with objectives to secure communication centers. We should go meet with one of the teams. If what you say is true, if we can release even a platoon of your soldiers we can allow them to retake control of the government."

"I want to go after Ohmsford," Allister said. "Do you have any idea where he might be?"

"Either at the government center, or back at the cave," Mr. Arbox said. "He was convinced that you had managed to enter a room he was trying to get into."

"He can't. I don't even know how he would know about the room."

"Allister, he surprised us all. He has a solid ability to use Perception. He knew who and what you were the whole time. He was using you to get something from the cave. Mr. Barker warned me before they cut him off. His power might even be as great as yours. Our wizards could have succeeded against the soldiers in this building, but they were no match for him."

"Then I need to get to the cave immediately before he does figure out how to get in. There is a lot of very dangerous information in that room. Information I don't want anyone to ever see. Even if he is here, I want to go there and destroy the books. I can come back for him later. And I want Grayson and Aaden with me."

"Where you go we go," Larkin said, pointing at his chest and Ruarc's.

"And us," the two oldest surviving wizards from the fourth floor.

"And me," Mr. Arbox said. And I'll bet when we get to this soldier's command post he can get us transport there."

An hour later they were at the command post. Five of six of the Cimmerian objectives had been achieved. The sixth group hadn't been heard from and were presumed to be dead or captured.

The officer in charge didn't want Mr. Arbox to leave. "We need you to meet with any government leaders we can find to re-establish control of the government. They would be fools to listen to us, but as the school's leader and a member of this this country they may talk with you."

Mr. Arbox wanted to leave, but he understood he had a higher purpose in the capital. He wished the others well. In addition to the seven young wizards, they were also going to send four Cimmerian soldiers, one of whom was a graduate of their fighting academy and thus knew magic. Two jump-jets were cleared for takeoff and they boarded as soon as everyone had been briefed on the layout of the base.

Allister was worried. The flight this time was not as hair-raising as before as they flew along at a comfortable altitude once they had established that no attacks against them was expected. But what worried Allister was Grant Ohmsford. If he was truly gifted with Perception and he had gotten into the room, then he would be more dangerous than anyone would be ready for. As he studied the problem, he actually hoped that Ohmsford had gotten in and was practicing the dangerous spells contained there. Because if so then his magic would be greatly spent. If not, then Allister was a severe disadvantage. He had used a lot of his power and hadn't had a chance to rest, Ohmsford might have all his power available to him.

The jets landed swiftly and they quickly deplaned in case they were about to come under attack. But there were no soldiers visible, only the researchers. All of them were in the tent area and as they landed had come demanding answers.

"Where is Ohmsford and Commander Parks?" Allister yelled over their demands, silencing them.

"Inside. He and a dozen or so guards have secured the caves. They took all of our IDs so none of us can get back inside."

"Stay here," Allister said. "We'll get you home later. There is going to be fighting inside, so stay out here." He led the way to the entrance to the cave.

"What are you afraid of?" Aaden asked quietly as they cut the lock on the gates and entered. Allister knew that Aaden and Grayson could feel his emotions through their respective bonds, so there was no reason to deny he was scared.

"That I'm not ready. That I've used too much of my magic. And that I haven't studied my enemy, who knows me a lot better than I know him."

"Just remember, you're not alone," Grayson said. "I've got a touch of your Perception ability and Aaden isn't bad at it. And we've got magic plus fighters. Just don't fall off the edge. Remember how the magic in the cave affects you."

The Perception magic made all those who were around it edgy, and inclined to being impulsive. Those with Perception ability were much more affected and needed to use their talent to keep control over their impulses. And then Allister realized that could be an answer. Was it possible that Ohmsford hadn't realized how he was affected? All Allister had to do was find a way to use it to his advantage.

There were no soldiers inside the fence either, nor at the entrance to the cave. They obviously hadn't expected company because they hadn't even locked away the computer and cards necessary to give access to people. Aaden busied himself making passes for all of them.

While he was doing that, Allister and Grayson worked together to explain the layout of the cave system and where they thought Ohmsford might be. The soldiers discussed how easy it would be for a few men to control a cave and how to counter that. They attached grenade launchers to their weapons and loaded up.

Before leaving, Aaden took the empty cards and pocketed them before someone else realized they could create entry passes and come in behind them.

The soldiers had the ability to move almost soundlessly, so they asked the others to remain well behind them as they slowly entered the cave. Things went quietly until the first branch in the system of caves. As they approached, the lead man was shot. Without hesitation, his paired friend launched a grenade and pulled the injured soldier back.

They didn't wait for the dust to clear. The next two soldiers went in crawling. It was five full minutes before they flashed a light back to let the other know it was safe to approach.

"How far until the next branch?" the new lead soldier asked.

"This path goes for several hundred yards and then turns to the right. About fifty yards behind the bend is the next branch."

The lead soldiers moved quietly but swiftly until they reached the bend, and then they stopped. Allister could barely make them out ahead of them, but he saw one of them make three chopping motions with his hand and they both ran had along opposite walls, shooting as they went. Again, after a few minutes the signaled for the others to come.

Allister didn't think he'd ever forget seeing all the dead he'd seen that day. As he passed the guard he saw that he knew him. It was the guard who had watched him move his arms as per the spell to see if the guard recognized it. The man had been friendly and helpful, and now he was dead. Grayson gently pushed Allister's arm, guiding him down the cave and past the dead guard.

As they approached the next split the two lead soldiers tried the same tactic, but they had no more than started running when three weapons were brought to bear on them and they both were hit and fell to the ground. The shooting continued for several minutes, and there was no doubt that the two soldiers were dead.

"This isn't working, I've got a better idea," Grayson said. He cast the great shield spell that Allister had used earlier. "Why should you have all the fun," he said when he saw Allister was about to try and stop him. He checked his weapon was clear and told the others to stay back.

As soon as he entered the section where the cave split they head weapons firing. This time it sounded like only two, which meant that at least of the soldiers had scored a hit before dying.

"Hold your fire or I'll shoot back," Grayson yelled. The firing continued and Grayson could feel his shield weakening with each hit. He took aim and shot one of the two guards shooting at him. He then aimed his weapon at the remaining one. "Drop your weapon and live," he said.

The guard was not dumb. He and his partner had fired at least ten shots and now his partner was dead. The kid in front of him wasn't hurt. He dropped his weapon.

"Raise your hands and walk past me," Grayson ordered. "One unarmed guard coming towards you," he shouted back so the other wouldn't shoot him. Then he checked the two Cimmerian soldiers. Both were very dead. The guards from the base were also dead. Like Allister, Grayson was getting tired of war.

"If the researchers were right, there's still at least seven more guards ahead of us," Grayson said once the other had joined him.

"We asked," Larkin said. He said there are five more plus Ohmsford. We took his ID badge and told him to leave the cave. Without his ID he won't be able to come back inside or get to more weapons."

"I can't stop very many more bullets," Grayson said. "We're going to need a better plan."

"I can make that magic too," Aaden said.

"No way," Grayson said. "You've never once fired a weapon. You have no training in fighting except the tiny bit I taught you and Allister. You are not going to go up against five guards."

"Or Grant Ohmsford," Allister added. "But I think you have enough ability to modify the spell slightly and cast it on Larkin or Ruarc."

"Or both of us?" Ruarc said hopefully. "We fight together, remember?"

"Yeah, maybe you can do that too. Use Perception, and think it through. I can't help, I need all I've got left to take on Ohmsford. When you're ready, cast it and we'll test it with a couple of rocks."

Aaden sat down and closed his eyes. He wished he was as good as Allister at unraveling how a magic spell worked and then modifying it to make it do something different. He did his best, but little noises kept making him lose focus.

"You're being affected by your own magic," Allister said. "Start by going through the process to clear your mind and remove your impulses. When all you have left is Perception, then start figuring out how to change the spell."

After doing what Allister had said, Aaden found it possible to ignore all other inputs and concentrate only on the spell. Without distractions, he could see how it worked. It was a simple matter to transfer the spell to another person, but much harder to put it on two people. Then, by way of his Perception ability, he saw an easier way. He could cast it about one, but spread it out. It would be weaker, but would envelope both of them as long as they stayed close together. And he's seen them fight before, they never got more than a step apart.

"Stand back-to-back," he said to them. When they were touching, he cast the spell on Larkin and spread it out to include Ruarc. "Okay, it's done. You both don't have protection, only Larkin." He raised his hand to cut off Ruarc before he could complain. "But I stretched it out to Larkin's right. You have to stay to his right and no more than six feet [2 m] apart."

"It'll be weaker that way," Allister said. "But it will work and it doesn't have to last long the way they fight. Once they close on our fighters it will be over quickly, and we've got their fighter here to supply cover fire. Let's test it, only toss the rocks lightly so we don't weaken the shell. Ruarc, stand as far from Larkin as you ever would when fighting."

Grayson and the Cimmerian fighter each picked up a small rock. Grayson through at Larkin and the fighter at Ruarc. The rocks hit the shield and bounced off.

"I couldn't even feel a loss of power from that," Aaden said. "Looks like we're good to go."

"What if your fighters are trained as fighters and not as book worms," the Cimmerian fighter said. "What if they are spread out?"

The expression on their faces showed that Allister and Aaden hadn't thought of that.

"We can help," one of the two fourth-floor students said. "We're pretty good at force punches over a distance and we can help with shielding spells on other people."

"But our shields won't stop bullets," the other one said.

"We'll adopt," Larkin said. "We'll go for the two closest together and take them down one at a time while the shield protects us and you and Grayson shoot at the ones we aren't fighting."

"No, I need Grayson and Aaden to help me battle Ohmsford. We're the only ones here with Perception."

"Not true," Mr. Barker said from behind the group. The others were just about to attack but were stopped by Allister. "Eryn? Where have you been?"

"Hiding, mostly. I have to use Perception to move into any rooms because they took my ID, but I've got enough left to help you. And I've got an itch regarding Ohmsford that needs to be scratched. Just tell me what you want me to do."

"Anything that confuses or distracts him will be a help. My first attempt will be to hold him in place. That will pretty much empty me of spells. Aaden can do the same if I fail or if he can somehow figure out how to defeat it before we find a way to keep him from using his magic."

"That's easy," the Cimmerian soldier said. "A shot between his eyes and he won't bother you with magic ever again."

"He knows we're coming. He has already figured out that is our best strategy. He'll have a plan to prevent you from getting that shot."

"Then what is the plan for him," Eryn Barker asked.

"You. His weaknesses will be arrogance and impulsiveness. You have from now until we find him to figure out how to strengthen those feelings in him. You need to create a one-way Bond and transfer all the Perception blocking feelings to him that you can."

"Are you serious?" Aaden yelled. "A one-way Bond? that's never been done before. And you're the only one here who can create Bonds. How do you expect him to create the impossible?"

"With Perception and belief. He will succeed. We won't fail." Allister sounded very sure. Mr. Barker didn't say anything.

"Just in case, I'll have that bullet ready," the Cimmerian soldier said. Which way do we go?"

16. The Final Battle

"To the right," Allister said. "And when we reach the next branch we'll be in sight of them. All of them except Ohmsford. He'll be in the room. And only Aaden, me, and Mr. Barker will be going in after him." He saw the look on Grayson's face and felt it through his Bond. "I need you outside. I need someone who can come in if we don't come out. And I need you to keep the others from losing control of their emotions while in the Perception field. I need you outside the room."

"I can take it, being inside the room. And if magic fails, you'll need someone who knows how to fight."

"I believe you can enter the room. At least long enough to rescue us if needed. But if our magic fails, the room will consume us. There won't be anything for you to find. And you know what happens to you if I fail and die. Your life is important to me so I won't let that happen."

They came to the last point before the bend where they would encounter the guards. "They're from my country," Allister said to Larkin. "If there is any way to disable them with killing them, please consider it. I've seen enough killing to last me a lifetime."

Larkin, Ruarc, the Cimmerian soldier, and Grayson talked about positioning so that none of them would be hit by friendly fire. Then Larkin and Ruarc bumped foreheads together, shook hands, and started running down the cave. The five guards were ready, four of them facing them and one guarding the back entrance.

The shield was still holding when they reached the first target. The Cimmerian had already taken out the one along the left wall and the wizards were using force spells against the one on the far right side. The guards had never once seen the fighting style employed by Larkin and Ruarc, and they took the first of their targets down in seconds. The second lasted no longer, and in less than a minute three of the guards were dead and the other two wounded and unarmed.

Then it was time for Allister, Mr. Barker, and Aaden to enter the room.

"I surrender," Ohmsford said as soon as they arrived. He raised his hands in the air. But Allister sensed nothing from where he was standing.

"It's a projection, not him," he shouted. He was knocked back by a wizard's force punch that came from behind him.

But the punch also told Aaden exactly where Ohmsford had to be and he turned and used the hold spell without spending time to find the target. As soon as he hit Ohmsford lost his invisibility and was seen struggling to move. Not liking Allister's plan, Aaden used a rock to knock him unconscious.

Mr. Barker had done nothing. He stood there, eyes closed, mind engaged. Aaden left him to it and went to see how badly Allister was hurt.

"Just a bruise," Allister said as he stood up. "It hurt my pride that I didn't see that coming more than it hurt my body." He glanced at his mentor and saw that he was in the beginning of casting a Perception spell. He stayed back, trusting Mr. Barker to get it right.

Mr. Ohmsford was starting to stir when the spell hit him. The effect was immediate. He lashed out with his arms and screamed. He kicked, and shook, and then he was absorbed into the rock as his Perception ability completely failed him. Mr. Barker could hardly stand as he ended his magic.

"Let's get out of here," Allister said.

"What happened," everyone in the cave wanted to know. "Where is Ohmsford?"

"He didn't make it. He is part of the mountain now. Eryn came through, only it didn't work as I expected."

"I didn't do exactly what you wanted," Mr. Barker said. "I modified it to block his access to his power."

"Did you know what would happen if you succeeded?" Allister asked. "I didn't want him dead."

"I know that, and I'm sorry if I've disappointed you. But he was incredibly dangerous. He had almost as much wizard power as Mr. Arbox and as much or more Perception ability than you. And at the end, just before he died, I read his mind. It was full of spells that don't make sense. But I recognized a few of them because I saw you use them."

"So he had found all the books and learned all the spells," Allister said with a sigh. "I want to close the room with the stuff that Nigel created inside. Let it go. Four of us know what was written, and that's four too many. That stuff is too dangerous."

"It should go to the library," Mr. Barker said. "It can be contained. Protected."

"Not against anyone like me," Allister said. "And all along you thought that I was the only one who had mastered Perception. You didn't even know he had the ability. How can you protect them if they are in the library?"

"They are safe where they are now for a few days at least. Give you a chance to reconsider. Give me a chance to see you are right. We can always come back and destroy them later."

"And I could always recreate them later. I'm not going to change my mind." He moved his arms and started a spell, but nothing happened. "I guess you get your wish, at least for now," Allister said. "I don't have enough magic to end Nigel's spell. The room still exists."

17. Aftermath

Law and order was returned to their homeland, but there was no denying that magic didn't exist, so instead it was shown how they had been working in societies' favor, not opposing it. Still, many were doubtful and unwilling to accept wizards in their communities. It was hoped that over time attitudes would change. Most of the military had been rearmed, and vetting was taking place to find any secret sympathizers with the rebellion.

The first thing Allister, Aaden, and Grayson wanted to do was have some time alone for things they'd barely had time or energy to do in the last month.

It took months before all the members of the group dedicated to ending magic had been found. Allister taught Mr. Barker and Imor how to use Creation magic to re-establish the spells that would form wizards, and they agreed to go to schools that allowed them entry to do the same for them. Many were suspicious, but soon realized that without them magic would die in their countries., so the three of them were kept quite busy.

Aaden searched all the schools he could for Stephan Ohmsford, but couldn't find him. He took the problem to Mr. Arbox, who had been promoted to the Directors since half of them had been killed. It took several weeks before Mr. Arbox got a clue as to where Stephan was. Aaden and Grayson took off at once.

His father had not enrolled him in any school, but instead had locked him away, afraid that people would find out he was a wizard and kill him. He was at a farm owned by a corporation he had ties with, and fearful of both the boy and Aaden and Grayson the caretakers were quick to let them take him.

"My father fought until he was killed, didn't he," Stephan said. "Did Allister do it?"

"No. Allister didn't want to kill him, but he was hurt. He and another friend used almost everything they had just to knock your father out, but when he started to come to his friend ended things. He was in a place he didn't belong in. And he died in that place."

Aaden expected tears or anger, but not acceptance.

"He said he would either end magic once and for all or die trying. He said there was no middle ground. And he said that if he won he would come and get me and we'd die together. He was going to kill me, just because you taught me how to do magic. What happens to me now?"

"Would you like to become a full wizard?" Grayson asked. "Learn more spells, and how to control them? Or are you sick of magic?"

"My dad said he had people who destroyed the school and killed all the wizards there. Was that a lie? Does the school still stand?"

"A number of students did survive. But about a third were killed and there is some damage. But all that is being taken care of and they're getting a few recent graduates to come back and help teach. If you want to go, getting you inside will be easy. As soon as he finishes the work he is doing Allister is going to be the new leader. Kind of like a principal at your public school."

"There may be some kids who associate you with your father," Aaden warned. "They lost friends, and were trapped and left to die. But we will make sure they know that you are not your father. That you want to be a wizard. And Aaden and I will be there to make sure things go okay."

"There are some tests, some things that are embarrassing but serve a purpose. It isn't because they don't like you, so when they tell you the first thing you need to master is opening your locker to get to your uniform, they aren't being bullies."

They took him back to the school. On the outside, it still showed it was a one-story building with a sign that read Gurney School of Fine Arts, which it was. But Aaden skipped the tour of the first floor and took him straight to the wall blocking the stairway. "What do you see?"

"A wall. Or should I be seeing something on the wall?" He took a few steps back.

"Can you see anything beyond the wall?" Aaden asked. "Don't think of it as a wall, think of it as something magical."

Stephan tried, but quickly became frustrated and thought that Aaden was picking on him for some reason. It was a typical reaction, and Aaden was ready for it. He used a sleep spell and carried the boy through the illusion and up the stairs to the third floor and into one of the dorm rooms. He put him on the bed that would be his and woke him.

"That is your wardrobe. Your uniform is inside. You can't wear street clothes here, so I need them. All of them."

"You just want to see me naked," Stephan said. He was blushing.

"I'll leave you with them for now. The other boys will be back in about an hour and one of them will take your clothes. If you get angry, try using that angry to open the wardrobe. Sometimes it helps. Good luck."

Aaden left, knowing how Stephan felt. He'd started out the exact same way. Almost every boy here had. But he had confidence that Stephan would be wearing his uniform soon.

The End