Megan spun on the spot, looking left, right, down, and up. Samuel was nowhere in sight. She was alone and disoriented. The fact that she couldn’t see her teacher, combined with the feeling that she’d left her stomach behind rather reluctantly told her that she’d moved a fair distance at incredible speeds. Well, she thought, this is unfortunate. Strangely, she didn’t panic. She felt certain that Samuel could and would find her in no time, so she took the chance to further explore her surroundings.

There still wasn’t much to explore, of course. All around her was the compressing, draining chaotic mana, and nothing else. But she could see, in the far distance, little pinpricks of light, like the stars that shone in the night sky. She hadn’t noticed those at first, she thought. Belatedly, she decided to pull up the screens of text that were her character sheet. There was a map function here, and she selected it.

Ethereal Plane

Sea of Chaos

Undiscovered

There were no landmarks in sight, no matter how far she zoomed the map out. That was strange, alright. In the material plane, even if she hadn’t discovered each individual location, there were still lines depicting the local geography. This was her first time seeing only a blank void depicted in the corner. Sighing impatiently, she resized the window and put it on the top-right of her field of vision. Then she became aware of an approaching field of mana and looked over to see Samuel rushing towards her, an amused look on his face.

“Well,” he said, grinning broadly. “I didn’t expect you to move that quickly. Do you have any idea how far you went?”

She shook her head. “I just forced the mana out of my way, and tried to move forward.”

He nodded his approval. “That is the basic skill needed for surfing the Sea of Chaos. I forgot to tell you to be careful of how fast you moved. Novices in the practice often shoot off much faster than they intended.”

“How do you control your speed?”

“That will be for another lesson,” Samuel said. “Looks like you haven’t noticed how much that took out of you.”

And the instant Samuel mentioned it, she was aware of how drained she was. The mana collected around her body was almost completely gone, and her focus was reaching alarming amounts. She really wanted to stay here and continue experimenting, however. She put a little more energy into her barrier, easing the draining sensation a bit, and raised her eyebrows at Samuel.

“Couldn’t you gift me some mana again?”

He shook his head. “It’d take too long to explain why, but that kind of magic doesn’t function here. I can only do it on the material plane, as whatever I try to share here gets eaten up by the plane.”

He waved his hand, creating another hole in the energy. She could see through it to the plains they’d left behind, and the tall grass that waved lazily in the evening breeze. That was strange, she thought with a frown. Surely they’d only been in the plane for five minutes, maybe ten. It had been late morning when they’d entered. She followed Samuel through the portal landing on the soft grass and looked up at the sky. It was nearly dark.

“How long were we in there?” She asked. “It didn’t feel that long.”

“Noticed, did you?” He flashed a grin at her. “Time works a little differently in the Ethereal Plane. What feels to us like mere minutes is actually several hours in Ahya.”

“Wow,” She said quietly. “What’s the longest you’ve ever spent in there?”

Samuel was busy casting a spell to teleport them back to Milagre, and paused at the question .”A hundred years, give or take a few months.”

They were back in his tower office now, and she stared at him, mouth agape. “A hundred years? How did you not die?”

“There are magicks that let me replenish my energy while in the plane,” he explained. “But that’s a story for another time.”

He seemed to enjoy taunting her with a good story, she thought. Sighing again, she reluctantly decided to let the subject pass. He noticed her obvious displeasure, and his grin widened. “Patience is important with magic, young Megan.”

“I know, I know,” she said morosely. It was the most common lesson that her teachers quoted. “Let’s just move on. What’s next?”

“That’s it for today,” he said. “I’d planned to teach you a little more, but time has slipped away from us. You can’t afford to miss your classes tomorrow, and you’ll likely be busy over the next week with your homework.”

“Homework?” She queried, raising an eyebrow. “I already have enough of that. What do you want me to do extra?”

“The papers,” he reminded her. “You have to notify the participants of the Exchange.”

“Oh, right. I forgot.”

“Well, you should get a move on. You only have three days to let everyone know. Good night.”

“You’re dismissing me awfully quick,” she noticed, narrowing her eyes. “What else do you have to do tonight?”

“I have dinner plans with my wife and daughter,” he said simply. “See you next week.”

He was gone in another flash of light, leaving her alone in the office. She snorted and turned to the door. Samuel might be the greatest mage in existence, she thought, but he could learn a lot about social graces. Sudden appearances and dismissals never worked well with any professional or personal relationship. Whoever his wife is, she was a patient person. She paused only briefly to study a piece of art on the wall depicting the god Arcana, then exited the office.

Finding the participants of the Exchange was easy, of course, as all the information of each student was listen on their papers. Even those she didn’t know by sight had their Archmage and chosen Master listed, as well as their personal schedule. She leafed through the folder for a few minutes before deciding on the closest two people, which coincidentally turned out to be Michael and another classmate of hers. They were in the dining hall right now for dinner.

“Gather all, gather all!” Michael crowed when he spotted her approaching. “The chosen apprentice, Miss Richards, approaches! Gather round and hear her wisdom!”

She rolled her eyes and told him to shut up, only half a second later than Rachel. Then, to stop him speaking again and making a further fool of himself, she slapped the paper containing his information down on the table in front of him. He looked down at it with a curious smile, and his eyes widened.

“No way!” he said. “You’re serious?”

“Yep,” she said flatly. “Don’t be an idiot, and don’t let it get to your head.”

“Too late on both accounts,” Rachel put in, leaning across the table to study the paper. “Oh, I forgot about the Exchange. Am I in it?”

Megan shook her head. “Trust me, you’re better off. It’s bad enough that I’ll have to deal with the idiot for two weeks. Best if you don’t have to suffer as well.”

“You’ve been selected as well?” Michael asked, looking disbelieving. “But you’re-”

“Better than you,” Rachel threw in. “Good luck Megan.”

“Thanks,” Megan said over her shoulder as she moved away, searching for the next participant.

The next student didn’t look nearly as surprised as Michael when Megan placed the paper in front of her. He was a Proficient in his second year, and his robe held a pin that marked him as a Prefect. He glanced at her in slight surprise as she approached, but his face relaxed into a smile when he saw what she was there for. His friends immediately congratulated him for qualifying, and Megan left for the serving line after he thanked her. Two down, six to go, she thought.

Half an hour later she’d finished her simple meal, and retired to the common room of the Proficient dorms. She’d found another of the participants on her way back, and stopped him in the middle of the crowded corridor to hand his paper over. He’d been even more surprised than Michael, and could barely contain his excitement. Megan knew him from the talk of other students and knew that he was close to earning his Master’s Robes. It made sense that he’d be selected as a participant.

She spent the last few hours of the day completing a long easy for her Alchemy class, idly scribbling down the thoughts that came to her. In truth, it was an easy assignment on improved health drafts, a subject she was already familiar with. The simple assignment left her mind clear to contemplate other topics, such as wondering what Eric was up to nowadays. The strange dream she’d had about meeting him lingered in her mind again, and she thought that it would be fun to visit him once more, even if it meant freezing her ass off in that cold climate.

She finished the last few lines of her essay with a flourish, reminding herself forcefully of Samuel, signing the documents for the Exchange. Did he ever get tired of writing in the five hundred years that he’d spent in Ahya? Immortality was probably boring, she guessed. She was quietly glad that she didn’t have to suffer from the condition.

There were still a few hours left in the day, but she decided to retire early. Wishing Rachel and Jordan, who had returned to do their own homework, a good night, she went back to her room. Since she’d beaten most of the students back, she took advantage of the supply of hot water to take a quick bath, then laid down in her bed. Her mind was still focused on Eric, thinking of the burden that was once his and was about to be put on her shoulders.

No sooner had her eyes closed than she blinked, and found herself in his living room. Of course, she just happened to appear there, she thought. That was just how this Ahyan magic worked. He didn’t seem to be around, however. She could tell, by the light outside his window, that it was the middle of the day on Earth. He was probably at work then, she reasoned.

He’d made a few changes since her last visit. There was more furniture, and the walls were now a dark gray instead of the previous eggshell. It matched well with the light wood of his floor. He’s got a good eye for colors. The armchairs they’d used in front of the fire were still there, and he’d bought a nightstand to put beside one of them. There was a journal resting on it, and she picked it up, curious. It was laying open, turned to a page with scribbles.

Samuel Bragg Mage?

Megan Richards

Emma?

Mandra

Korin

Ehran

Dog

She stared at the list of words, wondering what had compelled him to write them. She obviously recognized her own name, as well as that of Samuel and Mandra. The name Ehran sounded vaguely familiar, and the dog he mentioned was clearly the small white wolf that he owned. What was so strange about it that he felt it necessary to record this? She flipped to the next page of the journal and picked up the pen, writing a quick note.

Hey Eric,

Just came back to visit, on accident again. Is it strange that I appeared here when you were away? My training with Samuel is going well. Today I learned some new magic, and I’m apparently participating in some tournament called the Exchange.

Hope you’re doing alright, and that your job is going well. I’m busy with schoolwork, and I still don’t know what’s expected of me in the future. Samuel only told me that some big event is expected to happen. Do you remember anything of your time in Ahya? If you do, I hope to hear about it when I return. I’ll try to come on purpose next time.

Megan Richards