Unity (Part Two)

His college experience turned out to be a total dichotomy. It was nothing like his expectations, or misconceptions, but at the same time, lived up to all of them in a very bizarre way. Like most new students, he found some classes very tedious and struggled to stay interested. Others pushed him in directions he never thought to go. Jim had always been the top achiever since middle school. If there was ever a time he was not, it was when he came in second to Nathan Connors. They always seemed to be jockeying with one another to share the spotlight.

Jim’s social life was a different story. He had been the observer in high school, never comfortable in the social spotlight. Always the geek, he was forever analyzing and predicting what was and would be happening, never actively participating. His first roommate, Robert, blew that cocoon of safety apart with the force of an F-5 twister. Robert came from a small private school in California and introduced Jim to the world of advanced physics and the antics of Richard Feynman, one of its founding fathers.

It wasn’t that Jim had skipped physics during high school, it was just Artificial Intelligence had captured his imagination and never ceased to dominant his thoughts and drive. During the first month of school, Robert had been the mastermind behind numerous pranks and always talked Jim into joining him by posing the pranks as experiments in human patterns. It was during one of their more daring pranks on one of the girl’s floor that Jim ran into Cally McDuncan, literally. Jim and Robert were in the process of absconding with the door to the floor warden’s room after curfew when Cally walked out of the elevator and collided with Jim.

"Hey!” she exclaimed.

"Jim, bring her with now!” said Robert. "I’ve got the door."

"Uh, where? How?"

"I don’t care. Just hurry."

"What’s going on here?" Cally asked.

"No time to explain. Just follow me." Jim said as he grabbed her arm.

"Why should I?"

"I don’t know. To get your answers?"

Jim’s honesty and the implied intrigue piqued Cally’s interest. She gamely followed the two into the freight elevator and down to the basement. Robert quickly outlined what they were doing with the door. The guys found their prankster group doubling in size as Cally told them about how she and her friend, Darcy, were the other ones responsible for the pranks in the dorm goading Robert and Jim into more outrageous pranks, which, in turn, goaded the girls into trying to outdo them. The four of them quickly became known as the Fearsome Foursome, the feared, but oft admired, pranksters of campus.

Unity (Part One)

The scream shredded the comforting blankets of his dreams. The panic that seized him was akin to that of a parent whose baby has gone missing. He searched the house, flooding it with light as he went. First, he checked the upstairs bedrooms. All was as it should be. Maybe the scream came from downstairs. His heart thudded as he made his way to the living room and then the kitchen. It was only as he was about to check the porch that he realized the scream had been his.

He quivered uncontrollably under the intensity of the emotional tidal wave. Nights like this made him question the direction he took in life. Had it been worth all the loss and turmoil? Rarely did he regret what he had done, but the dream nights brought a sense of despair and longing for what he lost. He missed the days when the future had yet to unfold.

Jim stood by the front window all afternoon. His stomach was performing a routine guarenteed to earn a gold medal for tumbling. He had been promised today was the day. The postman always arrived before noon, but not today, not when Jim was expecting the letter. His friends had received theirs the previous week and he had the confirmation sitting in his email. He still wouldn’t believe it until he had the actual document in hand. Given his skills, he knew how easy email could be spoofed or telephone calls rerouted. It was the actual document on the forgery-proof paper that truly meant his application to the Oklahoma School of Technology was granted.

He nearly fainted when the postman drove past the mailbox. As he stood in shock, the postman backed up, put a large envelope in the box and waved as he pulled away. Jim couldn’t move. It was here, the acknowledgement of all his work and the beginning of his dreams. OST was the only school Jim wanted to attend. There were schools with bigger reputations and longer traditions in the computer field, but they had issues accepting the speed of change in the field. They provided a solid education and background in the history of the field, but only the grad students worked on the new technology. Not at OST, they prided themselves in the number of undergraduate students contributing to the discoveries in the labs. It was the only school to which Jim had applied.

Arcane Essence - Part Three

The Control

Boch had guessed right. The first words of his uncle’s incantation were the trigger words that released not only the delayed spell that activated his ring, but also the locks on his carefully concealed spell chambers in his mind.

He had carefully thought out the sequence of spells to be released from the ring. First was a spell for fire protection. Next was a fire strike targeted at himself followed by lightning and essence arrows aimed straight ahead.

The living throne shrieked in dismay and pain as the fireball exploded in Boch’s lap. The death grip was immediately released as the throne tried desperately to quench the fires by slapping itself.

As Boch stood to cast another set of spells, his concentration was shattered by the horrid stench, an unanticipated side effect of the fireball. As he faltered, the control words jostled with each other in his mind, canceling out most of his prepared spells. He was able to cast an essence lock on the door to keep the guards out.

He never believed the conflagration he unleashed would actually harm his uncle, but it was never intended to; just create a distraction as he slipped the snake from his pocket. Boch quickly activated one of his rings that created a sphere of null magic around him. Any magic attempting to pass through the sphere either direction would be absorbed by the sphere and the energy would be used to sustain the sphere itself.

“What a pleasant surprise, my boy. It’s a shame it all came too late.”

“I’m not so sure, uncle. I still breathe and your throne looks a bit the worse for wear.”

“True, but your sphere won’t last forever and then you will be mine.”

“No one can foretell the future, uncle. Not even you.”

“What a pity you never tried the tests. With your sheer power, you would have passed with ease.”

“But then I’d have to answer to you, uncle.”

“Would that have been so bad, Boch? Oh!”

His uncle’s eyes suddenly flew wide open with surprise as the snake sank his fangs in his calf and the deadly venom started to course through his veins. With each beat of his uncle’s heart, more of his body turned to stone.

“Who taught you, Boch?” he asked with a fading gasp.

“Arch Mage Pritle was my mentor.”

“But he died millennia ago?!”

“Exactly.”

“How? Why?”

“You don’t have much time left, uncle, so I’ll be quick. As I am sure you remember from the school histories, Pritle was the foremost farseer of his time. He foresaw a time of deep trouble. The school would become corrupted like the outside world. He left various clues and hints throughout his writings pointing to his spell arsenal. Unfortunately, he didn’t see someone like me finding it.”

Before his uncle completely transformed, he cast his Specter Hand spell, pulled the arcane essence from his uncle, and locked it in the empty pendant he wore.

“Guards!” Boch shouted, unlocking the throne room doors with a thought. As the constructs streamed in, Boch cast a repair spell on the throne and sat down.

“Bring me my siblings.” Boch commanded with a wicked, knowing grin spreading across his face. Now was the time to create his own brood of sorcerlings, for what he planned would make his uncle’s reign look benevolent.

A dry cackle reverberated throughout the throne room.

Arcane Essence - Part Two

The Throne Room

The throne room appeared deserted as Boch made his way to the “Living Throne”. The throne was another construct of the Arch Mage and was rumored to consist of the body parts of the failed students. Boch shook his head to try to dismiss the thought.

The slight breeze on the back of his neck was the only warning he was no longer by himself in the room. A dry cackle reverberated throughout the throne room.

“Welcome, Nephew.” came whispering from the shadowed corner of the room.

“Hello, Uncle. To what do I owe the privilege of being summoned to the Throne Room?”

“I do believe it is past time for your Tempering.”

“But Uncle, the other teachers don’t think I’m ready.”

“Be that as it may be, I will not have one of my own ridiculed in this hall as an incompetent.”

“The next test is in six months. I can take it …”

“Enough with your excuses and promises, my boy. Your teachers have concluded you are a hopeless waste of time. Look closely and see how we may salvage something yet.”

The Arch Mage held out his hand and pointed to his robe. Boch shuddered when he realized the various brooches, rings and pendants contained the arcane essence of his kin who had obviously failed the tests.

“Please take a seat,” his uncle said, pointing to the throne.

“But uncle, that’s your throne!”

“I insist. It will be a bittersweet taste of what could have been. It will bring a certain vibrancy to your essence as it drains away.”

Boch reluctantly sat down on the throne. The throne’s arms grew skeletal hand and seized his wrists in a death grip. Again, the cackle reverberated through the room.

“Uncle, please, you don’t know what I can do.”

“No, my sweet, simple, Boch, I do know your abilities. You are the last, weakest child of my brood. Even your younger siblings have at least gotten to the testing stage. You will never have the ability to step into the room for the test. You have no supporters among the teachers or apprentices. It is time for you to meet your fate.”

With that, the Arch Mage tossed his scepter at Boch. The Scepter of Control floated just inches from Boch’s reach, both the arcane and physical. The blood ruby blazed with an unnatural fire from within as the Arch Mage started casting the spell to forcibly remove Boch’s arcane essence, or as some might call it, his soul.