“Must I really wear this, Master Zoran?” Darron asked, tugging at the tight jeans and using the false name Soliander had been using since even before the Ellorian Champions had vanished. No one knew that Zoran the Devastator was really Soliander of Aranor, the Majestic Magus, hero wizard from among the missing Ellorian Champions.
“Yes,” Soliander replied. “It is the fashion there. You must fit in, as will I if I can join you. You will carry your wizard’s robes and other items in that bag.”
The apprentice lifted it awkwardly. “Its design is strange, but I must admit the many pockets seem quite functional.”
“What I have seen of this world is strange. You must not gawk upon arrival.”
“Yes, master. What is it you want me to do?”
“You will arrive near the home of the man named Matt. It will be night. You will ensure no one is watching. I need you to act nonchalant while finding a quiet place to contact me via the orb, while no one can observe you. You must avoid suspicion.”
“Of course.”
“This world does not know magic, from what I understand. Once you can contact me, I will ask you to perform a simple spell while I watch via the orb. If the spell works, I will join you.”
“And if the spell does not work?”
You will be trapped there forever instead of me, Soliander thought. “We will deal with that at the time. You may have trouble getting the orb to work as well, but keep trying.”
He didn’t get into what would happen next. The apprentice would likely find fitting in difficult and would get stranded or apprehended on a strange world without magic to help him. Soliander didn’t much care. If that befell the apprentice, they’d never see each other again. He didn’t think it likely, however. Matt and the others could not have been summoned from Earth unless magic was working on Earth again. Even the spell Soliander was about to cast to send Darron there would fail if the planet was still locked, but he had to be sure. If the spell worked and the orb functioned on Earth, and the apprentice performed magic while Soliander watched, then and only then would he feel comfortable casting himself there personally.
He sighed. The time had come. He rose from behind the stone table with its spell books, scrolls, and magic runes carved into its surface. Along the way, he stopped at a table to place a soft, black cloth over a golden orb that had been glowing softly, various images fleeting across its surface. Then he went to stand before Darron. The apprentice didn’t seem as nervous as Soliander felt, but then he had little idea how important this moment was. That inspired Soliander to calm himself and place one hand on Darron’s shoulder. Words of magic slithered from his mouth as the power began to course through him, enveloping the apprentice, who seemed remarkably trusting as Soliander made him vanish from before him. Strange how the disappearance of someone so unimportant to him might lead to the reappearance of those who mattered so very much.
Erin Jennings tightened the top of the white thermos she’d brought from Florida, a comfort from home just like the tea itself. She seldom went for designer flavors or even coffee, just regular tea, mostly because the taste was a holdover from a life long gone but never forgotten. How could anyone forget such a life? The only equivalent in this world were fictionalized stories. Sometimes it all seemed like a dream, but she knew better. And everything she had done since helped her prepare for today.
Twenty years had passed since it ended abruptly in what she had surmised was an explosion, but she didn’t really know. One moment she’d been standing with her dearest friends and the next she stood in a rural field somewhere by herself, a little dazed, very confused, and apparently not at all dressed for the fashions of the day, as she learned when she went to the nearest home for help. The style of the house had been as strange to Erin as her clothing to the occupants, who had initially assumed she was taking part in a nearby festival.
Erin had learned to be quick thinking from many moments of being thrust into new, unexpected situations. At those times, she had sometimes counted on her reputation to get by. People were often too intimidated to cross her or her companions, but this time no one seemed to recognize her. Taking her cue, she had played along, having mastered the art of asking questions to control the conversation’s flow, as one of her friends, who was infinitely wilier, had taught her. And so she came to understand that this place was different from any other she had visited.
Those elderly homeowners had been a stroke of good luck, she now knew. It was late afternoon when she knocked on their door and she accepted their invitation to dinner. Seeing an opportunity as the night wore on and she professed to not knowing who to contact to come get her, she had asked for a room and been given one.
Her hosts were forgetful but kind, and a little clueless about modern technology. They had a missing, and presumed dead, granddaughter Erin’s age, and whom she reminded them of. The result was treating her like family and doting on her, especially on learning that she was lost. They didn’t ask too many questions, to which they sometimes didn’t remember her awkward answers anyway, and that had allowed
