The Unsuspecting Mage - Brian S. Pratt [6]
“I guess we should sit down and wait.”
Dave glances at the door. “How are they going to know that we are here?”
“There’s probably an alarm on the door. Someone will most likely be out in a minute.”
Looking through the material on a nearby table, James fails to find anything of interest, so he crosses the room to the table next to the door marked Private. Lying atop the other reading material sits a small brown book with a peculiar design inscribed in gold leaf upon the cover. Intrigued, he picks up the book but quickly reflexively lets it go when the contact results in a shock of static electricity. The book hits the edge of the table and tumbles to the floor where it lands on its edge, a piece of paper slips out.
The paper is folded in half. When he picks it up and opens it, discovers a brief message.
“Welcome and thank you for coming. Glad you found the book. If you could read the first page and then walk through the door, we can begin the interview. If you brought anything with you, please feel free to bring it along.”
James picks up the book and looks at it with increased interest. He turns to Dave and shows him the book and letter. “Look at this.” When Dave joins him, he hands him the letter. While Dave reads, James says, “That’s a dumb way to start an interview. What if I had never found the piece of paper? I could’ve been sitting out here for a long time!”
Dave looks up from the letter and shrugs. “You’re right. This guy must be some kind of an eccentric or something. In the ad, he mentioned role playing games. Maybe in his mind this is some kind of test.”
Nodding agreement, James sits in one of the chairs and opens the book to the first page.
Underlying Principles of Magic
The practice of magic is quite simple and basic. Magic is the process by which an individual taps into the reservoir of strength, or power within himself, and manifests it into changes of the world around him. Each individual contains the ability to manipulate this power. Some have the ability to do very little while others can literally bring down mountains.
Looking up from the book, James turns to his friend. “Unless I am mistaken, this book is going to explain the workings of a magic system. Not Houdini type, but more along the lines of Merlin or Gandalf. It’s talking about using the power within you to manipulate the world around you.”
“Weird. This guy must be a nut,” Dave jokes.
“Yeah, but character or not, a job’s a job.” Turning back to the book, James finishes the first page quickly. Closing the book, he climbs to his feet and the vampiric bats return in full measure. He glances to the door marked Private and almost fails to go through with this as he’s never been one to initiate contact with anybody. Sighing, he turns to his friend. “Wish me luck.”
“Luck!” replies Dave, giving his friend an encouraging thumb’s up.
Slinging his backpack over his shoulder he gathers his courage, tucks the book under his arm and heads for the door. Pausing momentarily, he takes a few deep, soothing breaths to calm his nerves, then opens the door and steps through.
The crunch of dried leaves beneath his foot, coupled with the scene before him brings him to a stunned, and sudden stop.
A meadow nestled within a forest of trees stretches out before him. Birdsong fills the air and the wafting of a gentle breeze only adds to the impossible scene. Off to his right warbles a babbling brook that cuts its way through the heart of this pastoral scene.
He remains rooted in dumbfounded shock as his brain tries to make sense of what he’s seeing. Turning around to ask Dave if he’s hallucinating or what, he receives another shock upon discovering that instead of the doorway he had just passed through, a stand of trees rise majestically to the sky not ten feet away.
Did I just cross over into the Twilight