Parvenu: Book Three- Otherland

A little bark from Paul's shoulder caused him to jump. He had been so intent on watching Ginh Zah that he had forgotten that Mah Zah was still there.

Mah Zah launched herself off Paul's shoulder and into the air.

Paul instinctively tried to catch her, but before he could, her body had transformed into its red and black amphibious form and seemed to have also grown bat wings somewhere in the process.

"That's rather... disturbing." Mr. Gilbert said honestly.

"I guess Ginh Zah and Mah Zah are spelling partners so they both need to be involved for any of their bigger spells to work." Paul carefully explained.

Mah Zah screeched and Ginh Zah meowed at the same time.

Paul rolled his eyes, but continued to watch as Ginh Zah also transformed into her demonic visage.

"What is it?" Mr. Gilbert asked with concern.

"They're more than spelling partners." Paul said simply.

"Oh. How progressive of them." Mr. Gilbert said uncertainly.

"Ginh Zah, are there demons who don't have magic? You know, like the non magical people we have here?" Paul asked curiously.

The little 'dragon' creature hissed in his direction, then began flying in a long slow arch in a counterclockwise circle.

"She said there are." Paul said distantly as he focused the majority of his attention on what Mah Zah and Ginh Zah were doing.

The pair of them were flying in circles at a dizzying speed and Paul noticed a vortex forming in the floor.

A hiss from the flying demons drew Paul's attention and he immediately tried to see into the spell that they were casting and the vortex that was manifesting.

"That's enough. I've got it." Paul said toward his demons.

The two demons stopped flying in circles and finally came to rest on Paul's shoulders.

After listening to them for a moment, Paul turned to Mr. Gilbert and said, "You know those limitations that you use to keep the portals small and to stop the wrong things from going through? The portal that they create has those limitations fixed in place. They can't change them and it keeps them from passing through. It's possible for them to make a portal into hell that we can pass through, that is, if they could open one big enough. But no matter how big it is they can't pass through it themselves. It's that way for all demons. They are incapable of creating a portal to give themselves access to our world or to return to their own. The only way they can come here is if they are summoned."

"I don't understand why that is." Mr. Gilbert said honestly.

"It's an ancient curse that's been placed on all demons. It puts limits on the magic they can use, I guess to keep them from flooding into the natural realm and destroying us all."

"Who cast the curse?"

"The gods."

"Which gods?"

"That's a good question. From what Ginh Zah said, it's no one who exists in hell today. And I'm guessing that it's not someone in the natural plane either."

"Do you suppose it might be someone from the angelic realm?"

"It could be, but if I were guessing, I'd say that it's probably someone else. Someone who doesn't come to any of our realms very often. From what little I know of the angels, they wouldn't want to limit the demons, they'd want to utterly destroy them."

Mr. Gilbert slowly nodded, then turned his attention to the Yaggoral on Paul's shoulders before saying, "Although I've encountered many demons in my time at this school, I can't say that I've had much of an opportunity to witness demonic spellcasting before. It was a rare treat. Thank you both for your demonstration."

Ginh Zah screeched once in reply, then dug in her claws as she began to transform.

Mah Zah started her transformation a moment later.

Paul grimaced in pain until both had returned to their 'natural' forms.

"If you're interested, perhaps we could see if Amelia might be able to find anything out about your... what did you call it again?"

"It's a skaalix." Paul said simply, then added, "Actually, I think asking Amelia is kind of a longshot, but it won't hurt anything to try."

* * * * *

"Amelia, please excuse the interruption, but would you mind helping us with something?" Mr. Gilbert asked hopefully.

"I guess so. But I'm ready to summon Nomia. Can I do that first?" Amelia asked hopefully.

"Yes. Your spell diagram appears to be expertly done. Please proceed."

After a moment of watching, Paul turned to Ginh Zah and quietly asked, "If you can't open a portal for demons, does that mean that you are capable of summoning a natural creature to the demon realm?"

Ginh Zah alternately growled and chattered her response.

When Paul didn't seem to be inclined to share, Mr. Gilbert quietly asked, "What did she say?"

Paul turned to Mr. Gilbert and translated, "She says that while she could summon a natural creature to The Meayithan Realm, the problem with that is that it would take more magical energy than she has to do it. But even if she could summon a person, anyone she could summon would become sick and die. Just like any thing that she could summon would decay within hours. It's usually just not worth it."

"When is it worth it?" Mr. Gilbert asked cautiously.

They stood and watched Amelia's summoning for a long moment before Ginh Zah reluctantly mewed her answer.

"They consider it worth it when they can receive more magic than they spend. Human anger and frustration can generate enough magic to sustain them for a while. So they do little things that will prompt big reactions."

"What do they end up summoning?"

"Cell phones, TV remotes, car keys, single socks... They usually end up putting them back once they've gotten the reaction that they need. Well, except for the socks. They're snuggly." Paul finished with a shrug.

"Does that mean that they can see into our world?" Mr. Gilbert asked cautiously.

Before Paul could answer, Nomia appeared in the middle of the summoning diagram.

"How are you doing today, Nomia?" Amelia asked happily.

The little 'demon sprite' happily clicked and chattered her answer and no one present needed a translation.

"Mr. Gilbert? I'm ready." Nicholas said from nearby.

"Excuse me." Mr. Gilbert said as he stepped away.

"Now, what was it you were needing?" Amelia asked as she stood, holding Nomia in her cupped hands.

"Mr. Gilbert thought that you might be able to help us figure this thing out." Paul said as he held out the skaalix.

"What is it?" Amelia asked curiously.

"It's a skaalix. At first I thought it was just a toy, but Mr. Gilbert thinks that it might be able to be used as a navigation tool for the different realms. The problem is that you probably need to know which realm it was designed for before you can use it." Paul explained.

"That wouldn't make any sense." Amelia said immediately.

"Why's that?" Paul asked curiously.

"What good is a map if you already know where you are? It's more likely that this is used like a sextant to determine your location in the grand scheme, then after you know that, it can point you in the right direction if you know where you want to go."

"Do you think you can figure out how to read it?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Some of the patterns look familiar, but I'm going to need to check out some things. Can I hold on to it for a little while?"

"Sure. I still have a lot of work to do on my presentation for tomorrow. Just let me know if there's anything I can do to help you."

"I think that Nomia and I will be fine. All we'll need is some time."

Paul smiled at the answer, then went across the room to the table where he could sit down and focus on his own work.

* * * * *

Mah Zah let out a little yelp alerting Paul as Mr. Gilbert approached.

"You seem to have quite the project going on." Mr. Gilbert said as he noticed the several open books before Paul.

"Yeah. I'm trying to find out as much as I can about portal interactions." Paul said as he looked up from his reading.

"I doubt that you'll find very much on the subject. I don't know of many people who use embedded summoning portals."

"Yeah. That's what I'm getting from what I've been reading." Paul agreed.

"What are you trying to do?" Mr. Gilbert asked curiously.

"It's just my presentation for tomorrow. I'd rather not talk about it, if you don't mind. I want it to be a surprise."

"Why does that frighten me?"

Paul laughed, then said, "There's nothing to be scared of. I won't actually be summoning anything. Besides, Mah Zah and Ginh Zah have used this spell a lot. They'll make sure that it's safe."

"I assume that Amelia agreed to investigate the function of the skaalix."

"Yeah. From what little she said about it, I get the feeling that she actually is the perfect person to analyze it." Paul confirmed.

"Is there anything that you'll be needing to further your study for your presentation?"

"Just time. I want to go through everything and make sure that there's no possibility that I'm about to do something monumentally stupid."

"I'm hesitant to allow you to proceed without knowing more of what you intend to do. I not only have a responsibility to you, but also to the rest of the class." Mr. Gilbert said honestly.

"Here. Look at this." Paul said as three summoning diagrams appeared on the floor beside them.

"I see what you mean about not summoning anything, although I can't see the point of creating the portals if you don't use them." Mr. Gilbert said honestly.

"That's the part where I'm asking you to trust me. The first diagram is just a standard summoning diagram, like what I'd use to summon Mah Zah and Ginh Zah. The second is a reverse summoning diagram like I'd use if I wanted to go to visit them in their realm for a while."

"You haven't done that, have you?"

"No. Maybe I'll do it someday, but I need to learn a lot more about my magic before I start travelling between realms." Paul said frankly.

"What about the third diagram? From the formation of it, I can't begin to determine its purpose."

"That's because it isn't for summoning. I really don't want to spoil the surprise, but if you look at it, you can see that it's nothing dangerous."

"I don't know what you're going to use it for, but I agree that it doesn't appear to do much of anything. I don't see any harm in allowing it."

"Thank you sir. I'll get back to my studying now."

* * * * *

Ginh Zah growled in warning, drawing Paul's attention.

"Paul, can I ask you a question?" Nicholas asked uncomfortably.

"Yeah. What's up?" Paul asked as he noticed that Frederick was perched, squatting on Nicholas' shoulder.

"I've noticed that you can talk to your familiars and that Amelia can talk to Nomia. Is there any way that you can fix it so that I can talk to Frederick like that?"

"Mah Zah and Ginh Zah did that themselves. They cast a spell to let me understand them. I don't know any spells like that but maybe they can help you."

Ginh Zah meowed seriously and Paul turned his attention to Frederick to wait for his reaction.

After a moment to consider, the small demon growled and hissed his response.

Paul looked to Ginh Zah for a translation, but instead heard Ginh Zah meow and chatter at Nomia.

Before long, all the demons were talking, each in their own versions of speech.

Paul wasn't catching enough of their conversation to make sense of it but was content to wait until a consensus had been reached.

After a time, Ginh Zah finally relayed their conclusion to Paul, who in turn passed it on to Nicholas. "Frederick doesn't have the ability to cast the language spell that he would need to make you understand him. Mah Zah and Ginh Zah's spell is rooted in the magical bond we have, so that won't work for you. Nomia has a spell that she can cast, but she'll have to cast it on you and Frederick."

"The spell will just be to let me understand Frederick? It won't do anything else?" Nicholas asked cautiously.

Ginh Zah mewed and Paul nodded before saying, "You'll understand each other. It goes a little deeper than spoken words, there's an empathic aspect to it, too. But it's the only spell that Nomia knows that might be able to help you."

Mah Zah gave a quick bark, and Paul nodded in response. "Mah Zah says that it's also possible to enchant the same spell onto charms for you and Frederick to wear. But Frederick would have to leave his charm here, in this realm, when he returns to his home."

"Can we do it now?" Nicholas asked slowly, then explained, "We'll be having demonstrations tomorrow, so we won't be able to do anything extra."

"What do you say Mah Zah? What would it take to do it?" Paul asked curiously.

Mah Zah whined and whimpered a little before Paul finally nodded.

"Okay. I think I can handle that. I know the spell to make the charm hold a charge, but I'm not sure about the spell to convert potential energy into magic. I've only seen it done once." Paul said to Mah Zah.

A bark and a yip was Mah Zah's response.

Paul nodded then turned to Nicholas and said, "I'm going to need charms for the two of you, some quartz crystals, a rowan wand, and something to use as a source of enduring energy, like a battery."

"Where am I supposed to find all that stuff?" Nicholas whined.

"I don't know. Maybe someone else can make you a charm with less supplies, but this is the only way I know to do it." Paul said frankly.

Nomia clicked and chattered, drawing Paul's attention.

"As long as Amelia doesn't mind, we'd be happy to have your help." Paul responded to the 'demon sprite' with a smile.

"Can you understand her?" Nicholas asked with surprise at the exchange.

"Yeah. In a way. I can't speak her language, but I could tell that she was offering to help." Paul said simply, then thought to add, "Maybe you could ask Mr. Gilbert if he can help you collect some of the items. For all the different spellcasting going on around here, they must have a supply room or something."

"Aren't you going to help me?"

"You're my teammate, so I'll help you do the things that you can't do for yourself, but I'm not going to waste my time gathering your supplies for you."

"That's kinda mean." Nicholas grumbled.

"Yeah. Well, I might go out of my way and help out someone who liked me but since it's you who's asking, you're on your own." Paul said with a grin, then walked back to his table to continue his studying.

Nomia started rapidly clicking and Paul looked at her curiously. It took him a moment to realize that it was Nomia's way of laughing with delight.

* * * * *

"Will this work?" Nicholas asked abruptly, jarring Paul out of his reading.

"Were you sleeping on the job?" Paul asked Mah Zah on his shoulder.

The puppy made a slight whine which made Paul smile.

"What did she say?" Nicholas asked suspiciously.

"She said that she's on guard for threats and she's determined that you're not one." Paul said simply, then asked, "What have you gotten?"

"These necklaces can be used as charms..." Nicholas began to say when Paul interrupted.

"Snowflakes?"

"Does it really matter what they are?" Nicholas countered.

"No. I guess not. What else were you able to find?"

"Here's your rowan wand, your quartz and a battery." Nicholas said as he placed the items on the table before Paul.

"Okay. Ginh Zah, go get Nomia and ask her if she's ready. She'll need to be the one to cast the actual spell on the charms." Paul said as he stood.

Ginh Zah dug her claws in as she transformed, then set her claws deeply into the flesh of Paul's shoulder before pushing herself into the air.

Paul reflexively clutched his shoulder as he called after her, "Don't forget, I'm part demon too."

After gathering everything that they would need, Paul walked into an open area in the middle of the room and placed things where he would need them.

"Did you need me over here for something?" Amelia asked as she walked up to Paul and Nicholas.

"Actually, we're going to need for Nomia to cast a spell. She's the only one who knows it and has access to the magical specialty to cast it. But if she told you that you were needed here, she might need you to back her up." Paul said honestly.

"What is it that you're doing?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Creating a set of translation charms for Nicholas and Frederick." Paul said simply.

"And you need for Nomia to help you?"

"Yeah. She's the only one who knows the spell."

"Way to go, Nomia!" Amelia said happily, then turned to Paul and added, "I think I've done all that I can with the skaalix."

"Did you figure out anything?"

"Only that it's way too complex for me to decypher. You might try showing it to Mrs. Tabbert and see if maybe she can make something of it." Amelia said as she handed the skaalix back to him.

"I may do that next time I have Astrology. But for right now, we have some amulets to enchant." Paul said frankly and noticed that everyone, including Mr. Gilbert, were standing by, watching what he was doing.

After a slow breath to calm himself, Paul cast his Alchemy spell diagram, a golden circle surrounding a blue square.

He placed the amulets in one quadrant and the quartz crystal into the diagonal quadrant of the square, then picked up his rowan wand. Since he appeared to have an audience, he felt the need to put on a bit of a show. As he touched the rowan wand to each of the corners of the diagram, small self-contained fountains sprang up.

"Water into Earth, Earth into Water, two become one. That which Water has alone, now so does Earth. That which Earth possesses, now so does Water. Let it be that when the one becomes two, that both retain the memory of what it was to be more. Let them retain the capacity and the will. So shall it be by my command." Paul said, then watched as the quartz and the amulets merged together for a moment.

With a wave of his wand, the spell diagram and water dissipated.

"Ginh Zah, are you sure you can do this?" Paul asked as he created a circle surrounding a triangle.

Since she was still in her 'dragon' form, her answer was a screech rather than a meow, but he understood it just the same.

"Okay. Let me get this set up, then I'll leave you to it." Paul said as he moved the quartz out of the way and put the 9-volt battery in place.

Mah Zah suddenly vaulted off Paul's shoulder and transformed in mid air. She once again had bat wings and flew around the room once before finally coming to rest at Ginh Zah's side.

Paul added the text to the spell diagram then backed away as he said, "That's everything I know about it. The rest is up to you."

Ginh Zah squawked to indicate that it was sufficient, then went into action.

Balls of fire suddenly appeared at each corner of the diagram.

Paul nodded his approval of what they were doing.

Both Mah Zah and Ginh Zah began walking around the perimeter of the spell diagram on all fours while making almost imperceptible straining sounds.

Paul visibly winced because the sound was like the manifestation of effort expressed in a purely auditory medium.

Ginh Zah suddenly stopped walking and screeched. It only lasted a moment, but Paul was frozen in place with fascination as he listened. Mah Zah then stopped and did the same identical thing. They alternated that way several times until Paul noticed that after the last time they walked away from the diagram.

"Is that part done?" Paul asked curiously.

Ginh Zah squawked once to tell him it was.

"Good. Then our charms are powered up, all that's left is to cast the spell and to make it stick." Paul said confidently as he dispelled the thaumaturgy diagram and replaced it with a pentagram. It took him an extra moment to fill in the text of the spell from memory, making slight changes to adapt to the objective that they were trying to achieve.

Ginh Zah chittered in a low voice, drawing Paul's attention.

"Yeah. That sounds good to me. Just let me know if you need me to do anything." Paul said calmly.

Ginh Zah chittered again, then waited for Paul to relay her message.

"Amelia, you and I need to focus our attention and support our demons. We need to be ready to step in and help them out if they fall short either in magical talent or magical ability." Paul said calmly.

"What do we need to do?" Amelia asked cautiously.

"If Nomia needs your help, be willing to take over for her and do what she tells you. If Nomia says that you have the ability to cast the spell, I'll believe her."

"Okay. I think I can do that." Amelia said quietly.

"Good. Even though I don't know much about cementing the enchantment onto a charm, I've seen it done once and nothing about that made me feel like I couldn't do it. So if Mah Zah or Ginh Zah need me to, I think I'll be able to finish the spell for them." Paul said confidently.

Having said so, fireballs sprang to life at the five points of the pentagram.

Tiny little Nomia began walking around the spell diagram clicking and chattering at a steady pace.

Although Paul felt the urge to smile at just how cute she was, he was able to hold his expression due to the seriousness of the task at hand.

At the point where Nomia completed one circuit around the diagram, Mah Zah and Ginh Zah began casting their spell.

While Paul could understand their language, the manipulations of magical energies that they were describing in their spell were still outside his area of expertise.

His logical mind could see what they were doing, but internally, he didn't have the same comfortable familiarity that he felt with Wizardry.

Although Nomia didn't stop her spellcasting, she paused for a moment to touch the first point of the pentagram.

She continued on, touching each point of the pentagram, while also continuing to cast her spell.

Mah Zah and Ginh Zah continued unabated, doing their wholly unrelated spell which would eventually intersect with Nomia's spell and bind it to the amulets.

Paul, Amelia, Nicholas, Frederick, and Mr. Gilbert watched silently as the three demons continued to cast their spells.

Mah Zah and Ginh Zah stopped in unison. They both reared up on their hind legs and appeared to freeze in place as they waited for Nomia to complete her spellcasting.

When Nomia finally stopped her spellcasting, she ran toward Amelia with her arms outstretched, looking for all the world like a young child wanting to be held and fawned over.

Amelia didn't disappoint.

"Is it done?" Nicholas asked uncertainly.

"It should be, give me a few seconds to see what it looks like." Paul said as he focused on the amulets, trying to see the spell housed within.

Everyone waited as Paul concentrated and eventually started to slowly nod his head in approval.

"So you believe that the spell will do what it is supposed to?" Mr. Gilbert asked cautiously.

"I don't know anything about that. But it looks like the amulets have been changed to carry a charge, then they were filled with magical energy and now the spell that Nomia cast has bound to the amulets and is being fueled by them. That's exactly what we were trying to do. As far as what the spell actually does when you put the amulets on... we'll just have to wait and see. I can't understand what Nomia says and I'm not familiar enough with the type of magic used on the amulets to be able to interpret it."

"Mr. Gilbert, do you think it's safe for us to put the amulets on?" Nicholas asked hesitantly.

"No." Mr. Gilbert answered simply, then added, "But if you only want to do what's safe, you should probably give up demon summoning."

"You're a dick!" Nicholas said sourly.

"Yes. I suggest that you remember that in future." Mr. Gilbert said with a smile.

Nomia chattered something from Amelia's cupped hands and Paul could tell that she was talking to Frederick.

"Do it or don't. I don't know about anyone else, but I have other things to do." Paul said frankly.

Nicholas sneered at him, but finally took Frederick off his shoulder and set him on the floor.

Frederick didn't need any encouragement, he immediately reached down and picked up one of the necklaces.

Nicholas was a little more reluctant, but took the other necklace into his hands.

"Is there an incantation needed to activate the spell?" Mr. Gilbert asked cautiously.

Nomia chattered something, then Amelia said, "No. They just put them on and it should start working."

Nicholas looked down at Frederick, then slowly and carefully pulled the necklace over his head and placed it around his neck.

Frederick followed his motion and carefully put the necklace on. The pendant of Frederick's necklace reached nearly to his knees.

"Can you understand me?" Nicholas asked cautiously.

Frederick growled and hissed his response.

"What did he say?" Amelia asked hopefully.

"He said that he can understand me just fine... and he seems to have a British accent." Nicholas said uncertainly.

"I don't see any problem with that. He seems like a nice enough chap." Paul said with a grin.

Frederick hissed something and Nicholas' eyes went wide with surprise.

"What did he say?" Paul asked curiously, intrigued by Nicholas' reaction.

"He said that he loves you." Nicholas said disbelievingly.

Paul shifted his gaze toward the small demon and could see the adoring look in his eyes.

After a moment to process the emotional impact, Paul carefully said, "I can't wait to get to know you, Frederick. I hope that we'll have many opportunities to work together in the future."

Frederick shyly turned away, then tightly clutched Nicholas' leg.

"I think he hopes that too." Nicholas said reluctantly.

Ginh Zah let out a brief screech to draw Paul's attention.

"That's right. We have work to do. If no one needs me for anything else, I've still got a few things that I need to work out before tomorrow." Paul said seriously.

"Are you done with that?" Mr. Gilbert asked as he pointed at the pentagram.

"Yeah." Paul said as he waved his hand and the diagram disappeared.

"That thing you did with the water... I've never seen that done before. Could you show me that spell sometime?" Amelia asked hopefully.

"Yeah. Just remind me and I'll write it down for you. Right now, I still have a lot of work to do."

"Is it anything I can help with?" Amelia asked cautiously.

"No. I've got to do this myself. But thanks for looking at the skaalix for me. I don't know enough about Astrology and the different realms to recognize their patterns."

"I wish that there were more that I could do, but I doubt that anyone with less than a master's degree would be able to get much farther than I have. It's just too high level."

"I'll keep that in mind. For now I'll just keep hold of the skaalix and use it as a divination tool."

"Can you even do that?"

"I can. From the way things turned out, I think it's because it has some sort of a link to the demon realm. If I had encountered another demonic device first, I might have been able to use it instead." Paul said thoughtfully.

"From what I've heard, a lot of people have divination tools that have a personal meaning to them. I don't know if there's some sort of a magical connection or if it's more of a psychological thing, allowing you to use something that's meaningful to you to interpret the future."

"So what does that say about the people who use runes and tarot cards?"

"Maybe that they lack imagination or any connection to anything out of the ordinary. They probably live in beige apartments and wear fashions inspired by The Brady Bunch."

"Riiight. I'd better get back to work now." Paul said before cautiously backing away.

Amelia turned her attention back to Nomia and began talking to her softly.

* * * * *

Paul was drawn out of his studying by the sound of spellcasting.

He turned to see Amelia beginning her spell and Nicholas making his preparations.

"I guess it's time for you two to go back." Paul said regretfully.

Ginh Zah looked Paul in the eyes, then transformed herself into her demon form.

"What?" Paul asked cautiously.

She growled and screeched for a moment, then waited for his response.

"I don't think there's going to be any trouble."

She hissed slightly as a reply.

"Okay. If I run into a problem, I'll call you, I promise. I've seen your magic and I know that you can be vicious... especially with your claws."

Ginh Zah seemed to be satisfied by the response and made a little screech in Mah Zah's direction.

The puppy began to climb down off Paul's shoulder, but before she could take more than two steps, he picked her up and placed her on the floor.

Ginh Zah joined her and once the two were together, Paul did the short-version, no-frills reverse summoning to send them back.

* * * * *

Although Paul had started his reverse summoning last, he finished long before either of his classmates, so he gathered his things and went into the central classroom to wait for the final bell.

As he walked into the room, his spirits fell as he noticed Carla.

"How DARE you come back to class after what you did to Katie! They should throw you out of this school! You don't belong around decent people!" Carla snarled.

Paul stared at her for a moment, then noticed someone across the room and started to walk away.

"Don't walk away while I'm talking to you! YOU CAN'T IGNORE ME!" Carla bellowed.

"What's wrong with her?" Karras asked as Paul approached.

"From the look of her makeup today, I'm guessing that she must have broken her trowel. That probably put her in a bad mood." Paul said simply.

When Carla caught up to him, she screamed at the top of her lungs, "LISTEN TO ME! I'M TALKING TO YOU! DON'T IGNORE ME!"

People were peeking out from the different study rooms to see what all the commotion was about.

Professor Ortega crossed the room and quietly asked, "Is there a problem?"

"No sir. Good afternoon. How have you been?"

"DON'T IGNORE ME!" Carla screamed.

"Very well..." Professor Ortega responded, then looked to Carla and asked, "Miss Wells, did you have a problem of some sort?"

"He's a monster! He hurt Katie and changed into a demon and put a curse on all of us! You need to get rid of him! RIGHT NOW!" Carla bellowed.

"I've heard about the incident that occurred earlier and Mr. Darroch has been absolved of any wrongdoing. As to him being a monster, that's a very cruel and hurtful thing to be saying about one of your classmates. I would remind you that while you are in my class that you are expected to behave with civility and decorum." Professor Ortega said reasonably.

"HE'S A DEMON!" Carla screeched.

"Perhaps he is, in some sense of the word, but that is simply a circumstance of his birth. If you will calm down, perhaps you will see that you're overreacting..."

"CALM DOWN?! How can you expect me to calm down when that soul-sucking life-destroying monster is allowed to be here in your class with us?!" Carla screamed.

"Miss Wells, you are barred from this class and you will not be allowed to return until we've had a disciplinary hearing regarding your conduct. Hopefully, once you've had a chance to cool off, you'll be able to voice your concerns and listen to reason." Professor Ortega said firmly.

"I'm not leaving! I'm not going anywhere! If anyone's going to leave it should be him! He should go back to hell where he belongs!" Carla spat venomously.

"I've asked you politely and you've refused to leave. What happens next is no fault of Mr. Darroch. It is a consequence of your own behavior." Professor Ortega said simply, then gestured toward the other side of the room, beckoning the teachers gathered there to come near.

"Miss Oaken, please escort Miss Wells to the administrator's office and await my arrival there. If she says or does anything that will endanger the school, you have my permission and support for whatever measures you deem necessary." Professor Ortega said firmly.

"Yes sir." The female teacher said seriously, then turned to Carla and asked, "Will you come with us, Miss Wells?"

"I'm not going anywhere!" Carla declared.

The female teacher uttered a magical phrase in Latin. Although Paul could understand the words clearly enough, he couldn't make sense of the spell that was being cast. Once again, it was a variety of magic that he had no affinity for or knowledge of.

A blank look came over Carla's face, then she began to walk robotically toward the door.

"That's much better." Professor Ortega said with a smile.

"Yes sir." Paul agreed.

"Although I would prefer to protect you from people such as that, I believe that it's important for you to understand that there will be people who will hate you simply for the fact of your heritage." Professor Ortega said regretfully, then added, "I hope that you didn't take any of her slurs and insults to heart."

"No sir. In fact, when she called me a soul-sucking life-destroying monster, all that I could think of was the irony of her calling anyone else that." Paul said honestly.

"It appears that class is nearly at an end. It is my sincere hope that you will have an enjoyable remainder of your day." Professor Ortega said courteously.

"Thank you sir. I hope that yours is enjoyable too." Paul responded with a smile.

Professor Ortega glanced at the door, then said, "Doubtful, but I appreciate the sentiment."

"Yes sir." Paul said after Professor Ortega as he began to walk away.

As Paul turned, he saw Nazzy, Vinda and Karras all waiting anxiously to speak with him.

He smiled and felt contentment in his heart as he walked to join his friends.

* * * * *

"What the hell happened?!" Nazzy exclaimed as Paul approached.

"It was just Carla being Carla. I wouldn't worry too much about it. I'm sure that she'll snap back, kiss some ass and be back tomorrow like nothing happened." Paul said easily, then thought to ask, "How was your day?"

"Vin was able to do this really awesome ghost summoning. It fully manifested and even told us its name." Nazzy said excitedly.

"That sounds great. Are you going to do that for your demonstration tomorrow?" Paul asked curiously.

"Probably not. That spell has a high failure rate. Just because I made it work once doesn't mean that I can do it again." Vinda said seriously.

"Let's get back to Carla. What happened to cause that?" Nazzy asked firmly.

"I exist. That's what happened." Paul said simply.

"There's got to be more to it than that. Did you say or do something to set her off?"

"I walked into the room. That's it. I don't know what triggered her insanity, and to tell you the truth, I really don't care."

"It's true. I was there." Karras said quickly, "Paul didn't have a chance to say a word. She tore into him when he stepped through the door."

"Carla's always been mean and stuck up, but in all the years that she's been going here she's never lost it like that before." Nazzy said slowly.

"Lucky me. I get to be the object of her psychotic break." Paul said wearily, then continued more strongly, "Listen, I don't care what her problem is. I just wish that whatever it is that she'd leave me out of it. We've got our group presentation tomorrow morning and then I have another one to do on my own in the afternoon. The last thing I need is to be distracted by a screeching swamp donkey with too much makeup."

"Feeling the pressure, huh?" Karras asked with concern.

"A little, yeah." Paul admitted.

"Well, I can't help you with your presentation for this class, but you don't need to worry about the Spelling class presentation. It looks great." Karras assured him.

Paul betrayed a small smile, then quietly said, "Thanks Karras. I know you're right, but there's no way I can stop worrying about it. I have to be as prepared as possible. I won't give it less than my best."

The bell ringing stopped any further conversation.

Paul walked out of the classroom with his friends and noticed that some of the other members of the class were looking at him warily.

He couldn't fault them for that.

If they had heard what Carla was saying, it would only be right for them to be suspicious of him.

For a moment he considered that it might have been better if he had restrained himself and not revealed his demon form in class, but something inside him rose up to protest the thought.

If he hid his 'dark secret', he would forever be holding himself back for fear of drawing too much attention.

               'If I'm going to be damned, I'll be damned for being myself.'

"Well, it looks like you can forget everything else for a few minutes. There's G." Nazzy said with a smile.

Rather than wait for G to join them, Paul broke away from the group and walked up to G, pulling him into a firm hug.

The others watched with matching smiles, knowing that despite what Paul had said earlier, that he had been bothered by Carla's outburst to some degree. But they also knew that all that was wrong was being made right within G's arms.

"What's wrong?" G asked with concern at Paul's uncharacteristically enthusiastic public display of affection.

"Nothing now." Paul assured him.

"Paul had another run in with Carla." Vinda said quietly as the rest of the group approached.

"Fluffy bunny attack, huh?" G gently teased.

"You have no idea." Paul quietly responded, then quickly added, "But I don't want to talk about Carla. What do you have planned for tonight?"

"I have a little homework and then I have to do some more work on Lex."

"I have a lot of work to do too. But do you think we need to do anything more with the presentation for Spelling?"

"No. I think we're good. Anyone who wants to can go over their part again, but as a group, I think we've got it." G said confidently.

"Yeah. What about you guys? Any big plans?" Paul asked the rest of their group.

"I think Vinda and I will probably go through our part of the spell at least once, to make sure that we have the timing down but besides that, I don't think we have anything." Nazzy said thoughtfully.

Paul looked at Karras inquiringly.

"I'm probably going to be working on my summoning. After seeing what all you guys are doing, I've realized that I need to step up my game." Karras said frankly.

"Just let me know if there's anything I can do to help you. Remember that I've already been through what you're going through now." Vinda quietly offered.

"Thanks. If I get stuck, I may ask for your help." Karras said timidly.

"Real world." Nazzy warned as they approached the merging point with the regular school.

"Do you think it would be best if we didn't mention the cookout while we're in the van."

"Yeah. If Sandy finds out about it, she'll automatically assume that she's invited."

"Hey Curtis! How was your day?" Nazzy called out cheerfully.

"It was good. I guess that since I asked questions yesterday and got involved, that the teacher decided that she'd give me some extra credit work." Curtis said happily.

"And that's a good thing?" G asked slowly.

"Yeah. Instead of trudging through the same boring stuff as everyone else, I'm getting to work on actual case files to try and calculate the best financial strategies for people based on their individual needs."

"Sorry, but I don't see the good part." G said honestly.

"It's real. It's not pretend made up problems just to demonstrate a theory. It's like you were saying, I'm getting to see how this stuff applies in real life."

"I said that? Well then, it must be true." G finished with a grin.

"Paul!" A voice called out.

"Hi Kinney. What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you had any more problems. Have they got back at you yet?"

"Not yet. But Carla had a meltdown and got taken to the principal's office, so that means that they're probably not too worried about me at the moment."

"They still might try to get revenge."

"Yeah, they might." Paul agreed, then quickly added, "We've got to get to our vans now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Later." Kinney said before heading off in a different direction.

"What happened?" Curtis asked curiously.

"Nothing important. I'll see you tomorrow. Don't forget to talk to your parents about coming over on Saturday."

"Don't worry! I won't forget!" Curtis promised as they walked out the front door of the school.

* * * * *

The ride home was quiet and uneventful.

Paul noticed a few uncertain glances from Dex, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

When they arrived at the house, the sound of heavy equipment was the first indication that something out of the ordinary was going on.

The handwritten note on G's door was the second.

"It sounds like Dad's got them started on building your room." G said as they walked inside.

"I thought that he'd ask me about how I wanted it to be before he started it." Paul said honestly.

"I think he did. You told him that all you wanted was a glassed in hallway." G said frankly.

"I was in shock. He can't hold me to that." Paul argued.

"Actually, I think he can." G said simply, then quickly added, "The note said that they'd, be waiting for us in the parlor. We'd better hurry."

"Do you think that they're asking us to go in just to tell us what we've already figured out?"

"Probably. Just humor them. Remember, they're old."

"Yeah. I'll try to act surprised. It's only right considering all that they do for us." Paul agreed.

"I guess we'll have to go the long way around." G said when he found the door to the connecting hallway locked.

Paul walked to the nearest window to look out at what was being done, but found that the window was covered by a tarp.

"Come on. Let Dad spring his 'surprise' on us." G said as he started toward the front door.

"Yeah. I can think of worse things." Paul said with a smile at the thought of his adoptive father wanting to spring a surprise on him.

* * * * *

G and Paul walked through the front door of the main house and on through to the parlor.

As soon as they stepped through the parlor door, all their preconceived notions about D's announcement evaporated into nothing.

"Oh good! We were just talking about you. Come on in!" D said delightedly.

Although Paul recognized the people from the wedding, he was fairly certain that he'd never been introduced to them or learned their names.

"Kyla and the kids just got back from Scotland and dropped in for a visit before going back to their regular lives." D said pleasantly.

"Come on over here G and give me a hug." Kyla said as she stood from her place on the couch.

Paul looked on warily as G complied and was hugged enthusiastically.

"Kyla and Star volunteered to help me go over the design for the baby's room and I thought it might be nice if you boys took Lucky with you while we're doing that." Beth said as she looked Paul in the eyes, silently conveying that it was more of a command than a request.

Paul looked at the children, who appeared to be twins, and deduced that the girl was Star and the boy was probably Lucky.

"I want to get started as soon as possible." Beth continued, as though they had agreed and everything was settled. "You boys have fun!"

As G was released from his hug, he looked down at the younger boy and said, "Come on, Lucky."

Paul noticed that the boy seemed uncertain, but followed along as he was told.

               'Just like the rest of us.'

* * * * *

"We'll have to go outside to get to my room." G said as he led the way down the hallway.

Lucky was silent and kept sneaking glances up at Paul.

When G noticed, he said, "That's Paul. He's my new brother."

"Does he play the wish game?" Lucky asked timidly.

"Yeah. Don't worry, he's a witch. But I'm glad that you asked before you said anything about magic. Paul and I have some friends who aren't witches, so it's best to ask if you aren't sure." G said as he opened the front door.

"The wish game?" Paul asked cautiously.

"It's a way that kids can ask if someone is a witch or not without being obvious about it. What Lucky just did was perfect. If it turned out that you weren't a witch, then I would have told him 'no' and he wouldn't do any magic or talk about it in front of you." G explained.

"You don't know about the wish game?" Lucky asked Paul curiously as they walked around the side of the house.

"Paul just found out about magic last week. He was born a witch, but since he never knew that he had magic, he never tried to use it before." G said as they walked.

"Mama says that I'll probably start using 'real' magic soon. Right now I can only do the little magic." Lucky quietly admitted.

"What kind of little magic?" Paul asked curiously.

"I can make lights and fire and I can even make things move a little bit. Star can't do that and she's really jealous of me." Lucky said proudly.

"Well, I've only been doing magic for a week, so I don't know much more than that. Maybe I can show you a few of the spells that I've learned and you can show me some of yours?" Paul asked hopefully.

"You don't have to play with me. I'm ten. I'm not a baby." Lucky firmly declared.

"Okay. But I'd still like to show you what I've been able to do with lights and fire. Maybe it's something that you haven't thought of." Paul said with a smile.

"Paul, you are not allowed to show him how to summon demons." G said firmly.

After a glance at G to gauge his sincerity, Paul looked down at Lucky and whispered, "He's no fun."

Lucky was oblivious to the exchange as they walked in through the front door of G's room.

* * * * *

Once they were inside, Paul asked Lucky, "Can you show me a Wizard's light?"

Lucky did the simple hand gesture and spoke the words. As soon as he did, a single dot of light appeared, floating in the air between them.

"Can you make it longer?"

"No. How do you do that?" Lucky asked curiously.

Paul didn't say the words aloud, since they were the same words that Lucky had used, but made a point of doing the hand gestures slowly and carefully so that Lucky could see the difference in what he was doing.

When Paul completed his spell an eight inch long light appeared.

"Can you do that?" Paul asked seriously.

Lucky seemed to be uncertain, but did his best to replicate Paul's movements as he spoke the words of the spell.

When a Wizard's light didn't appear, Paul gently told him, "Try again. You've got to make every gesture just right or the magic won't know what it is that you're trying to do."

"You're really good at teaching." G said with a smile as he watched Paul do the gestures again.

"I just learned this stuff myself, so I think that makes it easier to explain." Paul said with a smile back at him.

Lucky slowly and carefully tried again to make his Wizard's light line.

Paul silently watched, paying careful attention to every gesture so that he could show Lucky where he needed to improve.

When Lucky was finished, a golden line of light was suspended in the air between them.

"Good. That's perfect." Paul said happily.

"I did it! That wasn't hard at all!" Lucky said excitedly.

"The next thing I'm going to show you is a spell diagram. I don't expect you to be able to make one like mine, but once you see what I can do with Wizard's lights, maybe you'll want to work with them so that you can do different things for yourself." Paul quietly explained.

Lucky's attention was more on the line of light that he had created than what Paul was saying.

Regardless, Paul did the long version of the spell with all the hand signs included in making a pentagram.

It took a moment for Lucky to draw his attention away from his line of light, but soon he was fascinated by Paul's complicated gestures.

When the gestures were complete, Paul released the magic to fuel the spell and the pentagram appeared on the floor between them.

"Wow! That's a lot!" Lucky gasped.

"Yeah." Paul agreed with a smile, then made the gesture to create the balls of flame.

Lucky took a step back when the fire came into being.

"There's a long spell for the next part, but I'm going to do most of it internally so it won't take a lot of time. Besides, G doesn't want me to teach you summoning." Paul said with a grin before enacting his summoning spell.

When it was complete, Paul said aloud, "The time has come. Follow my voice. Your master summons you. Come to me now."

Lucky watched in wonder as a puppy and a kitten walked out of the fracture in reality.

"Lucky, this is Mah Zah and Ginh Zah." Paul said formally, then continued, "Mah Zah and Ginh Zah, this is Lucky. I think he's our cousin or something like that."

"Second cousin." G supplied.

"You made a puppy and a kitten?" Lucky asked in amazement.

"No. I summoned them. I moved them from one place to another." Paul patiently explained.

"Can you show me how to do that?!" Lucky asked hopefully.

"No. Maybe when you get your 'big' magic you'll be able to do something like that, but what I wanted to show you was the summoning diagram that I use. I was thinking that you might want to practice with your Wizard's light and maybe even come up with something I haven't tried."

"Are you going to leave me alone?"

"No. G and I will be right here with you. We both have stuff that we have to work on for school right now, but you can work on your Wizard's lights while we're doing that."

After a long silent moment, Lucky quietly said, "I don't know how to start."

"G, can you help me for a minute?" Paul asked hopefully.

"Sure. What did you need?"

Rather than answer verbally, Paul gestured to an open area just as a stone pillar emerged from the floor.

"Oh, okay." G said simply, then made a quick lifting gesture, installing his illusionary overlay on top of Paul's construct.

"How did you do that?" Lucky asked in amazement.

"There's a whole lot to it, but it all starts with Wizard's lights. If you can stretch them into different shapes, change their colors and move them around so that you can stack them or place them end to end, you can make something kind of like this." Paul carefully explained.

"This is the project that we're presenting in class tomorrow. There are going to be four of us casting the spell to create this all at once." G added helpfully.

"Four people casting the same spell at the same time?" Lucky asked disbelievingly.

"No. We'll be casting four different spells, but all the spells will be working together to make this." Paul said as he gestured to the pillar.

"I can't make something like that!" Lucky exclaimed.

"I'm not asking you to. I'm just saying that if you can make your Wizard's lights do different things, you may be able to come up with something crazy and wild and special. You won't be coloring in a book that someone else created with the lines already drawn for you. You'll be using the tools that you naturally have to create something that's all yours, from beginning to end." Paul said seriously.

"My magical specialty is illusions, so if you get stuck, I may be able to help you. Bringing dreams to life is kinda what I do." G said with a grin.

"And since I'm so new to magic, what I'm learning to do is combine all the little spells that I've been learning so that I can make them do bigger and more interesting things." Paul added.

Ginh Zah meowed, gaining Paul's attention.

"Right. I need to get to work right now. Go ahead and try some things and we'll be right here if you need us." Paul said as he picked up Ginh Zah and placed her on his right shoulder.

Mah Zah barked once, then waited.

"I think I'm going to need you both for this. But if we can get my presentation perfected, then maybe you can spend some time with G and Lucky later." Paul said as he reached down and picked up the puppy.

"They're going to help you?" Lucky asked cautiously.

"Yeah. Actually, the presentation that I'm going to do was their idea. I'm adapting a spell of theirs so that I'll be able to show it to my class tomorrow."

"Are they shapeshifted, like what Uncle Gawain does?" Lucky reluctantly asked.

"Yes. They're both shapeshifted." Paul said simply, feeling that it was best not to discuss demons with Lucky at this early stage of their relationship.

Ginh Zah meowed again and Paul responded, "I know. I'm getting started now."

"I've got to get to work, too." G quietly told Lucky, then added, "I'm sorry that we don't have a lot of time to visit with you right now, but if we can all get our stuff done and out of the way, maybe we'll be able to do something together later."

"No. It's okay. I think it's better if you let me do magic and stuff like what you're doing." Lucky said quickly.

"Okay. Then let's get to work." G said with a smile as he raised his arms in a 'lifting' gesture. Directly in front of him, 'Lex' appeared.

Lucky stared in wonder, but held himself back from interrupting G while he was working.

After the initial shock had worn off, Lucky turned his attention back to Paul to find him standing over a glowing spell diagram on the floor. The kitten and puppy were perched on his shoulders and appeared to be studying the diagram as well.

Paul muttered something, then Lucky noticed that some of the symbols in the diagram changed.

Lucky finally decided to do as Paul had suggested and began to create a Wizard's light. His gestures were slower and clumsier than usual due to his uncertainty about altering the properties of a spell that he had always used in its default form.

A few minutes later Paul looked up from what he was doing and noticed that Lucky appeared to be enthralled with all the different sizes, shapes and colors that he could create.

* * * * *

"Paul, when you have a minute, could you look at this for me?" G asked hopefully.

"Yeah. I've just been waiting for Mah Zah and Ginh Zah to agree on the next part of the diagram before I can do anything more anyway." Paul said as he took his familiars off his shoulders and placed them on the floor at the edge of the diagram.

"You don't have to tell me that the face doesn't look right. I'm going to work on that next. But I think I'm done with everything else. Have a look and see what you think." G said as he stood aside.

"The butt's not right. It needs to be perkier."

"How do you make a butt 'perky'?" G asked incredulously.

"Make it a little fuller and a little higher up. It's too flat the way it is now." Paul said seriously.

"Come on! You're just making that up, aren't you?" G asked uncertainly.

"How often do you look at your butt?" Paul asked firmly, then before G could answer, he continued, "And how often do I look at your butt?"

"Fuller and higher. Got it." G finally conceded.

Paul walked around 'Lex' to get a good look at the front.

"Fuller and higher?" G guessed before Paul could say it.

"He needs a bulge. It doesn't have to be anything obvious or gross. But he needs to look like he's got something between his legs." Paul said slowly.

"I thought about that, but I didn't want for people to laugh at me for making him... you know, hung like a horse." G said frankly.

"I think they'll laugh at you worse if you make him neuter." Paul said honestly.

"Fuller, higher and make sure he has something in his package. That shouldn't take me too long to fix." G said as he moved around to look at Lex from another angle.

A simultaneous bark and meow caused Paul to look back to his spell diagram.

"It looks like they've come to an agreement. I'd better get back to work." Paul said, then seemed to change his mind as he turned and asked, "How are you doing, Lucky?"

"How do you make another one the same as the first?" Lucky asked curiously as he looked up at Paul.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're asking me." Paul said honestly.

"Your Wizard's lights. When you make a special one, how do you make another one just like it without having to start all the way at the beginning and change the color and size and shape and everything?" Lucky asked seriously.

"That's a really good question. The answer comes down to how you think about your Wizard's lights. If you look at the spell that you already know as being The Wizard's light spell, then you'll probably have to keep going back and fixing it over and over and you'll probably give up on ever trying to do anything different with it because it's boring and too much trouble." Paul said frankly.

"So how do you do it?" Lucky asked cautiously.

"I'll show you." Paul said easily, then a stone wall rose up out of the floor, right beside where they were standing.

"How did you do that?" Lucky asked in amazement.

"Ask me again later and I'll tell you. But for right now, let me show you how I can make all the different Wizard's lights." Paul said as the stone wall began to fill with glowing writing.

"The first spell is just the basic Wizard's light, so you can look back to it when you need to. The next one is the Wizard's light circle. Whenever I need a circle, I can use that spell and then just adapt the size and color to what I need it for. Then we have Wizard's light writing. After that is the Wizard's light plotter, for 3D shapes. Each one of these is a different spell which uses the Wizard's light spell, but is also different in the way that it works. If you want to make three blue tumbleweeds, first make one, then make a spell all of its own for it. Then you can cast that spell two more times and as many more times as you want after that."

"Okay. I think I can do that." Lucky said slowly.

"Good. Then the next step is to make something... maybe a snowman. To make it, you'd take three of your tumbleweeds and make them different sizes and stack them on each other. Could you do that?"

"Yeah. Probably."

"Then the next spell you make is your Wizard's light snowman spell that has everything that you need built into it. Once you've done that, you can create as many snowmen as you want, just by casting that one spell instead of starting with a little dot of light each time." Paul carefully explained.

"Yeah. I can do that!" Lucky said with a huge grin.

"I can't wait to see what you come up with. But for right now, Mah Zah and Ginh Zah need for me to work with them to figure out how to make their spell work in this world."

"Okay. I got this." Lucky said happily as he started his next spellcasting.

* * * * *

"Boys, it's time to come in to dinner." Beth's voice called over the intercom.

"Good. I'm hungry. Besides, I think I need a 'mental health break'." G said as he looked up from his work.

"Me too. I'm tired of concentrating."

A meow drew Paul's attention and he nodded in Ginh Zah's direction.

He wasn't in the mood to put on the whole production, so he made a simple gesture, mostly to indicate where the portal was going to form.

As soon as it was open, Mah Zah and Ginh Zah scampered through.

"Wanna take a look at Lex before I put him away?" G asked hopefully.

Paul approached and took a long considering look before saying, "His eyes are too close together and his mouth is too full."

"Be nice! I've been working hard on him." G said playfully.

"Oh? Did you want me to lie to you?" Paul asked with a smile.

"No. I guess not." G reluctantly admitted.

"He looks great. I just thought that you needed to know what I spotted as being out of place. I could see how it might be difficult for you to identify something like that since you've been staring at it for so long." Paul explained.

"Yeah. I can tell that something's off, but it's hard to know what." G admitted.

"Lucky, are you ready for dinner?" Paul thought to ask.

"I'm almost done with this. Just a minute." Lucky said in deep concentration.

Paul and G walked over to where they could see what Lucky was doing.

Lucky was concentrating and muttering the words of a spell as he made relatively complicated hand gestures.

Both looked on critically, trying to detect any fault in his technique, in case his spell failed.

When Lucky was done, a swirl of Wizard's lights came into being.

Paul was astonished by the way that the dots of lights slowly moved in different directions, leaving lighted trails in their wake.

It was almost like watching a three dimensional picture drawing itself.

When the tangle of lights stopped moving, Paul suddenly realized what Lucky had drawn.

"It's Ginh Zah!" Paul blurted out.

"Yeah. But it's not quite right yet. And it'd be better if it wasn't glowing." Lucky said as he stopped to look over his handiwork.

"If you want, I can show you how to change the luminosity properties after we've had dinner. It's easy." Paul assured him.

"Do you think it looks good?" Lucky asked eagerly.

"Yeah! If I were drawing Ginh Zah she'd be made up of little cubes. You did it all with lines. It looks great! A whole lot better than what I could have done." Paul assured him.

"Come on. They're probably waiting for us and we're going to have to go the long way around." G quietly interrupted.

"Do you think it's okay?" Lucky asked him hopefully.

"It looks great. In fact, as soon as I'm done working on Lex for the night, I'd like to get a look at the spell you're using. Although I could make an image of Ginh Zah with illusions, I don't think there's any way that I could do it with Wizard's lights." G said honestly.

Lucky beamed at the praise for his work.

"Does anyone need to put anything away before we go?" G asked as he looked at Paul's spell diagrams still glowing in the area where he had been working.

"I want to be able to pick up where I left off when we get back." Paul said frankly.

Lucky seemed to be reluctant, but he finally dispelled his Wizard's light drawing.

"Come on." G said with a smile at the younger boy, then draped an arm around his shoulders as he guided them out of the room.

Paul followed with a smile at the scene.

To Be Continued...

Editor's Notes (1):

 

Hmmm, notes, let's see, g sharp b flat, break notes, permission notes, Editor's notes... well, I guess those would be obvious, grin. 

I kinda figured that Frederick was becoming fond of Paul. I think it is nice that Nicholas and Frederick can communicate directly with each other. Maybe he can learn to be civil with his demon, instead of brutally screaming at him all the time. 

Carla doesn't seem to look past her own selfish ideas. I really doubt she ever will. There are a lot of people who act that, and they don't have to be magic users to act that way, sadly. 

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Editor's Notes (2):

 

We are learning more about spell casting and how to make Wizard's lights. 

I can't seem to get the hang of that yet, but I think I just need a bit more practice. 

I know darn well, I'll never be able to come up with anything as complex as Lex. 

Lucky is sure catching on quickly. I bet he is going to be a pretty strong magic user when he gets a bit older. He learns fast and if he can learn to concentrate without using up a whole lot of magic to produce what he is trying to do, he will do just fine. 

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher