A minute passed, and then a glowing figure rose from the floor, lifting the VR devices with it. The shining image coalesced into the form of a girl.
“Alicia! You are actually here!” Ethan said.
“In the flesh. Kind of,” Alicia said with a giggle, raising the visor over her eyes. Her body looked solid, but there were moments where she seemed to shimmer and waver, as if she might vanish in a heartbeat. She glanced quickly around the room, but her eyes rested on him. “So this is your apartment?”
He grinned. “You are the first girl I’ve ever invited in here.”
She laughed. “Okay. Before you get too many bright ideas, I have two reasons for this visit. First, it’s to verify Dane’s effort to expand on Callister’s work. The Professor had almost solved the problem of sending people and objects between our worlds fully.”
Ethan nodded. “Klendistone wanted slaves, not trade and travel.”
“Yes. And that brings me to the second reason for my visit. The faculty has chosen to go ahead with Callister’s plan for a graduate program.”
“You’re in?”
“Of course! And… so are you, if you are interested. We have talked to people from the company that made your device, but we don’t know who to trust out there. But you have already helped us immensely, and you have an aptitude at magic. We could compensate you…”
“Yes.”
She arched an eyebrow. “I hadn’t finished my offer.”
He grinned at her. “Sorry. You can keep going if you want. Can I take magic classes, too?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll ask them if they can make an exception for you once you get here. Besides that, while I was never great at the practicals, I’ve been told I’m an excellent tutor.”
Jay Barnson gets to work with Virtual Reality by day, creating high-tech simulators for training. By night he creates virtual worlds through words. One might question how much he actually lives in the real world. He is the author of the Blood Creek Witch fantasy series set in the backwoods of the Appalachian Mountains.
Lab Partners
By Frank B. Luke
Another world lies hidden alongside outs, invisible to most. Those few who can cross into it rediscover themselves as knights, rogues, clerics, and wizards. It runs along a very specific set of rules that exist in our world as a game, Legends & Lore. This story takes place before the story “Crucible” in the first volume of this collection.
Karen and Sally expected a short trip into the wetland for their Magical Ecology class. They only needed to interview a magical creature. The first monkey wrench came when a third mage joined them. He was Evil. Karen, being Good, couldn’t stand him. The Neutral Sally just wanted to complete the assignment! But of course, Dr. Graff’s assignments never have only one hitch...
Lab Partners
Karen Hahn parked her white economy car in the little offshoot next to the wetland. It was a pleasant fall afternoon. The white-robed mage exited the car and waited for her college roommate to get out.
Wearing a red robe decorated with golden stars, Sally climbed out. “Well, you have no style in this thing, but I’ll give you credit for the miles-per-gallon aspect. I don’t think the gauge dipped at all with this trip.”
Karen grinned and tied her brown hair back in a ponytail with a blue tie. Then she waved a hand over the car. “Just a little magical amulet in the fuel injection system.”
Sally sighed. “So it’s not something we can patent and sell to the mundanes. Too bad.” Then she smiled. “No matter. I’m sure we can find a magical creature to interview in these parts.”
“We’d better,” Karen replied, changing her regular boots out for mud boots. She could clean the robes, but her white boots might be ruined by the mud. “The report is due Tuesday, and we’ve come up dry everywhere else. What do you think is out there? Imps, fairies, pixies?”
“Oh, I hope not pixies,” Sally said with a grimace as she put her red sunglasses in her purse and back in the car. She fished a couple of butterfly nets from the back of the car and held one out to Karen. “Their brogue is hard to understand, and I didn’t prepare anything for interpreting it.”
Sally was already wearing mud boots.
Before the girls could take another step to their search area, an old, black motorcycle came over the hill and parked right behind them.
“Ho, ladies. I need to join you,” the rider said, not asking for permission before exiting the bike and coming to them.
The new arrival wore black robes with a blood-red belt. The grease in his hair made it seem blacker and shinier. He had not worn a helmet but carried a butterfly net like the girls did. He chewed on a toothpick.
“You need us, Nathan Hagard?” Karen asked, disturbed by his sudden appearance. She did not like Nathan at all.
They were widely-separated in the alignment grid. She was Lawful Good, while he was Neutral Evil. Sally was True Neutral. “We don’t need you.”
“No, but you have to take me,” he smirked and held out a glass disk with the flat side up.
An image of their teacher, the red-robed Dr. Graff, appeared. “Miss Hahn and Miss Orman, Mr. Hagard’s lab partner for the class has fallen ill after trying to summon a small basilisk for extra credit. Luckily, the creature was too immature to kill him. However, he will need time to recover from the venom. I have instructed Nathan to join you. I apologize for the inconvenience and short notice.”
Karen tapped her foot. “Sounds like we have no choice in the matter.”
Sally’s blue eyes were bright. “I don’t mind. Three people doing the work can’t be a bad thing.”
The new arrival pointed with his butterfly net. “Then let’s go into this swamp.”
Sally rolled her eyes. “That’s a bog. You haven’t paid a bit of attention in class all trimester, have you?”
Nathan cocked his head and gave her a lecherous grin. “Oh, I pay attention. Just not always to the teacher.”
“Okay,” Karen said, letting her annoyance be heard. “The sooner we get in there, the sooner we can catch a critter.”
“Find Living Thing,” Sally said, tapping a compass while invoking a spell. “Follow me.”
The trio set out behind her, Karen in the middle. She knew the compass would now find the kind of creature that Sally had been thinking of when casting. They would have no indication of distance, just direction.
“Can we triangulate?” Nathan asked. “Move, say, 20 yards to the right and see how the arrow changes? Math can then tell us the distance.”
Sally shook her head and showed them the needle already wobbling. “Whatever I got, it’s moving. We need to hurry.”
They followed her into the bog, walking carefully on the spongy ground. The ground shifted under them with each step.
Sally lectured, “The dead, green matter here is not firmly attached to the earth. Instead, excess rainwater has collected underneath it, or, I should say, the plant matter collects on top of the rainwater below. It’s very acidic below. That’s what makes this a bog.”
The trio spread out a little to distribute their weight. The plants were mostly pines, other evergreens, and flowers that could also handle the acidic soil.
Beautiful, Karen thought as she felt the moss growing on the pine nearest her.
“Rope Friend,” Nathan said behind her.
Before Karen could stop, a vine at her feet raised up and tripped her. Trying to regain her balance, the white mage fell sideways into the water. She grimaced and bit back harsh words. Behind her, the deep voice chuckled.
“Nathan,” she said, climbing to her feet without even an offer of help from her black-robed partner. “That was not nice. My robes look atrocious!” Her pristine white robes were covered in mud now. Even the bright blue trim on her lapel and cuffs was spattered with dark mud. Only her mud boots looked the same as before.
“Karen!” Sally shouted, rushing back to them. With only a look at the two, she knew what had happened. She gave Karen a hand g
etting out of the muck.
Karen glared up at Nathan, fists on her hips. He towered over her by a head and had a strong jawline and chin. His deep black hair was wavy and curled on top. His eyes were brown pools of chocolate.
He smirked back and twisted an onyx ring back onto his finger. “Oh, come on. That little joke was nothing.”
“Nothing to you, but the noise probably scared any creatures away.” Her blood pounded in her ears and closed in on her vision. She struggled to keep her voice at a natural level. She didn’t want to frighten away anything that was still nearby.
Nathan rolled his eyes. “Sally will surely find one first. She has enough talent with the wild, I’m surprised she didn’t cross over the Veil as a druid.” He snarled and pulled his red belt tighter. It was the only splash of color on his black outfit.
“No use for druids?” Karen asked.
Nathan raised an eyebrow. “I have no use for any divine casters, or the divine for that matter. And I haven’t for some time.”
The tone of his words chilled Karen, but she didn’t press on. “Whatever. I’d like to finish this assignment so I can study for my exams in the other school.”
As Karen said this, she felt the weariness of being in two schools bear down on her. Her major back in the regular world demanded much of her time. The magic school on this side of the Veil took the rest of it. All the extracurricular clubs she had planned on being part of in college had gone by the wayside. Magic was a harsh mistress.
Sally glared at Nathan. “Take a hike.” Before he could protest, she continued, “I’m not telling you to go home. Karen needs to dry off.”
He nodded and disappeared back the way they had come.
“Grasping Hands,” Karen said, undoing the belt on her robes.
Two invisible hands took hold of the robe’s shoulders and held it up between Karen and Nathan.
“I don’t trust him. You know how his alignment works.” She took off her necklace and hung it on a nearby tree branch. A winged chameleon flapped away into the next tree.
Sally nodded and stated, “A Neutral Evil person will do anything to attain their own goals and satisfaction without regard for laws and others.”
The red robe twisted the ruby on her only ring until a gentle heat wafted out from it. She pointed it at her roommate.
Karen stood there in her bra and panties, letting the heat dry her off. “My hair will have to wait until later. Can’t we just send him back for this?”
“Karen, it’s a prank. Nothing more. He’s Evil, but...” Sally bit her lip to hide a smile, “…ruggedly handsome, if you ask me.”
“I didn’t ask you, and you aren’t the one he pushed into the water.”
“You were in no danger. The bog’s only a couple feet deep here. He’s right that you are rather uptight.”
Blinking at her roommate’s accusation, Karen pressed ahead. “He said that to you? When?”
“The other day during a break in Intermediate Scrollwork.” She looked away. “My hand was cramped, and he rubbed out the soreness.”
Something in Sally’s voice made Karen ask, “Sally... are you going to date him? He’s Evil!”
“And I’m True Neutral; he’s no more outside the box for me than a Neutral Good, and you’d have no problem with that! We’re going out tonight once we finish the assignment.”
“But he’s not a Christian! We should only become romantic with our fellow Christians.”
Sally rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me you never thought about dating the bad boy in hopes of converting him?”
Karen shrugged. “Did that once. Doesn’t he have a girlfriend that hasn’t crossed over?”
Sally nodded. “We’ll go somewhere she for sure won’t see us. Probably use a transportation spell to get there.”
“You’d help him two-time a girl?”
Sally replied, “Look at it this way. He’s already been vetted and approved.”
Shuddering, Karen gave up. “Still. I don’t like Nathan.”
“Is there any black robe you like? And I don’t mean that romantically.”
Karen thought for a moment. She replied, pointedly, “Actually, not a single one.”
“That bastard!” Sally shouted and pointed at a floating crystal eye. She grabbed a rock and threw it.
Calling her now-dry robes over, Karen let the invisible hands dress her. “What?”
“Nathan sent a spying eye!”
The two women fumed. “Nathan! Get your lousy butt back here!” Karen yelled.
Nathan sauntered back into view, the crystal in one hand and a smirk on his face. “Problem, ladies?”
“You were spying on me undressed!” Karen shouted, not caring if she scared any creatures away. “Go! Go home! We won’t work with you!”
Nathan feigned great pain. “I’m hurt. A couple of jokes, and you want to call off our partnership?”
Sally agreed with Karen. “I’m with her, and don’t worry about tonight. The date is off!”
Karen stomped over to him and looked up. He towered over her. “Yes. The second wasn’t a joke. It was an invasion of privacy. I’ve never let anyone see me like that!”
“Oh, please. I bet you’ve shown more skin at the beach. Pink is your color,” he snarled.
Cheeks red with rage, Karen balled her fists and thought about her prepared spells. Only second level, she didn’t have many. Sally and Nathan were the same level. A more advanced caster could have sent multiple eyes, but Nathan’s level allowed only one. A red haze covered her vision. “Just go. I’m sure Dr. Graff will side with us when we explain what happened.”
Before Nathan could respond, Sally interrupted. “Karen! A fairy is stealing your necklace!”
“Stop! Come back with that, you little thief!” Karen shouted as she took off after the lithe, blonde fairy flying away from the branch upon which Karen had left the necklace. Nathan and Sally were right behind her. The cross on the end of the necklace had been handed down from her grandmother.
About a foot tall, the tiny thief wove back-and-forth over the forest path, just out of reach. The necklace trailing behind her, she giggled with pleasure!
Karen jumped over a fallen log and ducked under a low branch. The bog ground shook under their feet.
Four translucent wings sprouted from holes in the fairy’s black dress and kept her away. She tossed fairy dust at the trio.
Karen pushed on, rubbing her eyes with one hand and reaching for the fairy with the other. The dust clouded her thinking. She wished she’d grabbed her butterfly net before starting the chase!
Beside her, Nathan elbowed past. He had his net! With a single swipe, the fairy was in it!
The tiny woman thrashed inside, trying to reach the opening. Nathan grabbed her legs just as she reached the top.
“Give me back my necklace!” Karen said, snatching the necklace from the fairy. “Why did you take it?”
The fairy did not answer.
Nathan snorted, “She wants to ask us something but couldn’t just come up to us, for some reason.”
The fairy stopped fighting and nodded. She had a cute face, crystal blue eyes, and short-cut hair. It bobbed around her strong jawline. Her eyes widened. “How did you know?”
The black robe rolled his eyes. “You didn’t fly through any brambles when trying to get away from us. You stayed over the path even as it twisted between the trees.”
Her shoulders slumped. “You figured it out.”
“Only had to think a little. Now, name?”
“Kendi,” she replied, looking at Karen.
“Why did you take it?” the white robe asked.
She looked up at the trio, tears running down her high cheekbones. “Alfred. My clan needs help against Alfred.”
“Who is Alfred?”
“He’s a wicked cleric of Loki who’s been kidnapping fairies.” At their look, she shouted, “Don’t worry. He’s old, but only crossed in the last few years. Low level.”
“Sou
nds like you’ll get along real well, Nathan,” Sally snapped.
“I don’t know,” the man replied. “Clerics of Loki tend to be Chaotic. We might ally for a time, but our paths would part sooner or later.”
“How can we help?” Sally asked, her face full of empathy. “Let her go, Nathan. Tell us what you know.”
Kendi let out a sigh of relief as Nathan released her. Her little wings beat to keep her in the air. “We don’t know why he’s taking us. We do know that he takes captured fairies to his cabin not far from here. He lives there with his cat, Grimm. I can show you.”
The black robed mage shook his head. “Evil clerics need a reason to act. Maybe you curdle his milk? Turn over the cat bowls?”
She glared at him and put tiny fists on tiny hips. “That’s another clan here in the bog. We’re nice fairies.”
Karen held up a hand. “He may be low level, but I guarantee we are lower. Eight spells a day for each of us, all of them low-powered. Sally used one when we entered the bog. We have items, too, but…” She spread her hands.
“I burned two slots already this morning before we got here,” Sally said, raising her hand.
Brow knotted in irritation, Karen snapped, “I’ve told you to save slots for when we need them.”
“Who’s to say I didn’t need them?”
Karen then whirled on Nathan, her eyes aflame. “And I know that you’ve used at least one today!”
“Can the three of us handle the cleric?” Nathan asked Kendi, ignoring Karen. “Party of three lowers our average level for figuring challenge ratings. Can you guess his level?”
The fairy bobbed her head. “Level four, we think. You’ll have fairies with you,” Kendi insisted. “Remember that his cat is as evil as he is, maybe more so.”
“I brought a Mind Call scroll in case of emergency,” Sally said. “Since we’re in a quest now, no cell phones allowed.”
Fantastic Schools, Volume 3 Page 5
