Rhysel awoke curled up on the floor in the middle of a large pentagon drawn in red chalk. A human girl of about twelve years of age and dark olive-toned complexion, and a blond elf who looked to be a few years senior to the other, were peering at her. They wore identical blue and silver tunics with matching skirts. The room looked like a double dormitory room - two beds, two desks, two bookshelves, two closets, and the usual accoutrements to indicate occupation.

Rhysel whirled around, bewildered, her red braid whipping about with the motion. "Where am I?" seemed a good question to ask, followed by, "and who are you?"

The girls looked at each other and spoke rapidly in a language she didn't recognize, seeming excited. The elf went over to one of the bookshelves, retrieved a volume, flipped through it, and mumbled some nonsense, accompanying it with a few flicks of her wrist. "That should do it for now," she said. "Sorry, could you repeat what you were saying? We can understand you now."

Standing up, the halfblood repeated her questions. "Who are you? And where am I?"

"I'm Korulen," said the elf.

"I'm Saasnil," the human said. "You're in our room."

"That doesn't help much. Where is your room? What city? How did I get here?" Rhysel's tone was more indignant than fearful.

"Saasnil, you're being unhelpful." The elf - Korulen - turned to Rhysel. "We summoned you here from your world. Our room is in the Binaaralav Academy of Wizardry and the city is called Paraasilan."

Rhysel looked down to see if she was in her nightclothes or dressed as she had been at the disaster site the night before, somewhat distressed to note it was the former. Last thing I remember is going to sleep. Stupid kids. What're they playing at? "Fine. Send me back."

"No!" said Saasnil.

Rhysel's face darkened and she opened her mouth to deliver a scathing reply, but Korulen threw Saasnil a look and said to Rhysel, "We need you for something. We'll send you back afterwards."

Lovely. "Do tell," the kama drawled. "And don't be all day about it." She attempted to step over the pattern on the floor, encountering an impenetrable barrier extending upwards from the chalk lines.

"We're going to show you to Nemaar to prove that we can do high-tier spells," Saasnil said. "Don't try to get out. You can't."

"Is that really necessary?" Rhysel indicated the lines on the ground.

"We didn't know what we were going to get. They're in case you were something dangerous-or in case you are something dangerous," Korulen explained. To her roommate she said, "Do you know when Nemaar is supposed to show up? Mother's probably starting to wonder why I won't answer her."

Rhysel sank back to the floor, leaning against the barrier. "Hurry it up then, and get this Nemaar person and send. Me. Back," she snapped.

Saasnil sighed. "I'll go see what's taking him so long." She went to the door and opened it to reveal a tall elf man with long hair who looked rather like Korulen. "Er - Ar Inular-" the human gulped.

The man looked at the girls in disapproval.

"Daddy - I - how did you know?" Korulen managed, shrinking visibly under his gaze. Rhysel rolled her eyes; with some effort, she kept her temper.

The older elf replied, "Korulen, you may have refused to answer your mother, but that doesn't mean that I'm not a competent enough wizard to notice a summoning spell going off in the dormitories. Do you realize what you've done? And do you have a translation spell on the demon yet? She's going to need an explanation."

From her position in the pentagon Rhysel piped up at that, indignantly. "I'm not a demon."

"Yes, you are," he said dismissively. "Any summoned creature is. Good, at least my daughter knows the basic procedure of a summoning - I'm afraid I have some very bad news for all of you." The girls looked worried.

"We'll send her back, Daddy -" began Korulen placatingly.

"You can't. That's the bad news."

"What?!" both Rhysel and Saasnil exclaimed in near unison.

"The pair of you shared channeling capacities to perform the spell, right?" asked Korulen's father.

"Yes -" Korulen said.

"I suppose you slept through the class when it was explained that a spell reversal doesn't allow that?"

"Great. So I'm stranded here thanks to a couple of amateurs playing around with powers they don't understand fully?" Rhysel spoke up from the confines of her magical cell.

He looked at the imprisoned woman. "Hello. My name is Kanaat Inular. I'm the headmaster of this school and the father of one of the amateurs in question. Who are you?"

"Rhysel Camlenn. I'm a caster of some skill myself. Although I have no idea if my magics will work here."

"Try something?" he suggested.

"Will it work within the summoning barrier?"

"If it works at all, yes. The barrier will prevent any object or magic from passing outwards, but any small magic will function within."

Rhysel held out her hand and a small globe of cool fire, perhaps six inches in diameter, appeared, hovering over her palm.

"You're a light!" exclaimed Saasnil.

Rhysel shrugged. "It's just handfire. Now, will you let me out of here?" she asked, standing up and dismissing the globe.

"Well, we need to be quite sure you won't be a danger - if you're something else and in that form only temporarily, or inclined to use your magic in any dangerous way, or skilled in some form of physical combat, or anything else that could endanger my school or my students, you will have to remain in there until we can get you moved somewhere else," said Kanaat.

"I don't suppose you'd let me out if I promise to not hurt anyone?" Rhysel asked.

"There's a less fallible method of finding out on the way." He looked at the girls. "You two need to be somewhere else right now. I'll decide what to do with you later." They scurried out as he sat down in one of the chairs. "My wife has a variety of mental abilities. She's going to come here and see if you have any malicious intent. If she doesn't find anything we'll let you out and discuss what to do with you."

"How long is that likely to take? And is there any chance of getting food or water between now and then?"

"She will be here by the time I finish this sentence."

A pretty human woman with bright jade green hair peered around the doorframe. "Hello," she said.

Rhysel tapped at the invisible barrier with one finger. "Hi. Can we hurry this up so I can get out of this cage?" Although her tone betrayed only impatience, she fought anger and rising panic.

Kanaat walked over without any outward indication from the green-haired woman one way or the other and smudged the chalk line.

"Thank you." Rhysel said. As she stepped out of the lines, her emotional turmoil was overwhelmed by a wash of calm. "Rather interesting, that. Where I'm from, the summoner stands in the circle," she remarked.

"That," said the woman, "would allow the summoned creature to wreak havoc on anything that was not the summoner if it turned out to be hostile. Do a lot of summoners wind up with wrecked houses in your world?"

"Not usually. We have a lot more control over our constructs than your children had over me."

"Only Korulen is ours. Saasnil's a regular student," Kanaat clarified. "May I introduce my wife Keo?"

Rhysel bowed, her palms extended before her in the ritual greeting familiar to her.

"Nice to meet you too," said Keo, a trifle bewildered.

"Let's get out of the girls' room and find somewhere better to talk," said Kanaat.

Rhysel plucked at her nightdress. "Any chance of getting some more appropriate clothing as well?"

"I'll loan you something of mine until we can get you some things of your own," Keo replied.

The pair of them beckoned for Rhysel to follow them out of the room and down the hall, at the end of which was a door. Kanaat opened it, and when all three were inside the small closet-like room it revealed, he closed the door and said sharply, "My office." The room lurched to the left, dropped several yards, traveled backwards, and then proceeded upwards rather far and a bit to the right. Rhysel blinked, startled, as she regained her balance from the unexpected movement.

"Sorry about the lift. It's been rather temperamental lately," said Keo, opening the door and holding it until Kanaat and Rhysel were out.

"I've not seen its like. Unusual," the halfblood said. She looked around curiously at the office in which she found herself; the walls were completely covered in full bookshelves. A large desk covered with more books and papers stood in the center of the room. Kanaat sat down behind the desk. Keo sat on a clear corner of the desk and gestured at another chair facing it. Rhysel seated herself in the chair, raising one eyebrow in silent question.

Keo sighed. "We of course appreciate the disruption that our daughter and her roommate have caused in your life, but since there is nothing that can be done about it until one of them acquires a familiar - impossible for years yet - we need to find something for you to do in the meantime."

"So in all your lore, there's no way to send me home?" Rhysel asked.

"A spell can only be reversed by the original caster or casters," explained Keo. "Neither Korulen nor Saasnil has the channeling capacity - without a familiar - to reverse that particular one on their own, and the spell won't allow them to combine their capacities for the reversal the way they did for the casting. So no."

"Lovely. So what are my options, then?"

"Technically," said Keo, "the school is responsible for you. We are obligated to provide for you until you can be sent back to your world. You don't have to do anything. But that would probably be boring after a while, so what are your interests?"

"My studies, mostly. Although since all my research is, unfortunately, back in my tower, I don't have access to anything beyond what I can remember."

"I don't suppose you'd have any interest in studying things that will be of no use to you when you return," mused Keo. "Which is all we have here."

"Well, that is uncertain, isn't it? After all, if my magic works here, it would stand to reason that some of yours may work back home. For that matter, perhaps I can share my skills with those here."

"Do you know what the source of your magic is?" inquired Keo.

"Myself, mostly. I draw some power from the local environment, but most of it's internal. For instance, when I summon handfire, the heat comes from the ambient surroundings, but the will to shape it is my own."

"Well, internal power sources aren't likely to be duplicated here," Keo said.

Rhysel looked at the other woman curiously. "Really? How odd."

"Not really. Magic takes different forms in different worlds. The kinds that rely on internal power are usually still functional in other worlds; ones with external power sources can sometimes adapt, but usually can't. People with internal magic here probably do different things with it than you do."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Your student said I was a "light". I'm not sure what that means, but that indicates some overlap of powers, does it not? It would be interesting to determine."

"Lights are so called because they can conjure up little globes of light, by means of which they can perform healings," said Keo.

"Ah. Well, I guess it's not quite the same. Handfire's just a light source, not a healing working."

Kanaat spoke up. "We can likely offer you a teaching position, if you have any interest. We do some study on other worlds, and as a native of one, you could probably teach several classes on your home. Perhaps publish some books."

"I suppose it's worth considering. I can't imagine I'll get too many other options. Although I'm not much at writing."

"There are all kinds of things you could do. If, for example, you're interested in learning about our world, you could do some traveling - I'm sure my brother Narax would be pleased to take you around; he's something of an explorer these days," Keo said.

Rhysel sat in silent thought for a few moments. "Could we perhaps see to some more immediate needs?" she said. "Like proper clothing and something to eat and drink?"

"Oh, yes," said Keo. She walked through a wall and came back with a blue sundress. "Does this look like it will fit you?" Rhysel took the dress and looked at it quizzically, but nodded. "You can change in our room," Keo offered. "Just walk through the same wall I went through; it will sense that you're trying to go through and dematerialize."

Taking the garment with her, Rhysel walked through the wall as instructed and changed into the dress, reentering the office feeling more properly, if strangely, attired. "Thank you," she said to Keo.

"You're welcome," said Keo cheerfully, from her perch on the desk.

Retaking her seat, Rhysel added, "While the idea of travel sounds intriguing, it does pose one rather severe - to me at least - problem."

"What would that be?"

"From what you tell me, those two children are the only people who can send me home. I'd rather not be on the other side of the world from them. If something were to happen to them, then I'm stuck here, forever, am I not? I would prefer to stick a little closer to them."

"Well, Korulen is our daughter. I assure you we're doing our utmost to keep her safe. And Saasnil is a student at the school - we are responsible for her safety as well. Furthermore, in the unlikely event that both of them die, you will be sent home immediately as all of their magical workings dissipate."

"Interesting. It's a good thing they summoned me and not something more malicious, then, if their deaths would send me home." She shook her head to clear it of the image. "Be that as it may, rest assured that I would never deliberately harm them."

"If they had summoned something more malicious, I would have sensed that and we would have left the malicious thing in the circle indefinitely. That's why I had to check before you were let out," Keo said.

"Well, aside from being immensely inconvenienced, I've come to no lasting harm, so I'll just have to make the best of it. So, travel and teaching. Any other options?" She looked at the pair curiously.

Keo and Kanaat both appeared to think for a moment. "Really, there is little that is not open to you," Keo said eventually. "Although given your stated focus on studying those are the most obvious choices."

"I'm certainly open to other options. I enjoy my studies, but I don't cloister myself away from the world either. What sort of work is there for someone of my talents? While I understand your responsibility over me, I would prefer to earn my own way, at least to some degree."

"Well, in this country at least, your apparent facility with the elements doesn't appear to be anything unusual," Keo said. "Although our mages are all single-element focused, lights can easily duplicate everything we've seen you do, as could any graduated wizard. There are other countries where magic is rarer, but Esmaar lends itself to magic in general."

Rhysel looked surprised. "Only one element?"

"Yes. Mages in our world are tied to a single element each and awaken their power when they would otherwise die as a result of that element - air mages awaken their powers and float to safety when they fall; fire mages survive fires; water mages fail to drown; earth mages survive being entombed under the earth," Keo said. "There are wizard spells to find out if someone has the potential, though, and often people deliberately expose themselves to those things in order to awaken the magic when they turn out to have it," Keo added. "Magery is useful stuff."

"How odd. I'm conversant with all of them."

Keo smiled. "And I assume you didn't drown, get trapped underground and in a burning building, and plummet from a great height."

"Not at all. If I remember correctly, my first manifestation was burning the switch I was about to be disciplined with."

Keo looked rather horrified at the idea of Rhysel being hit with a switch. "That's a useful thing to do," she said.

Rhysel smiled, "It certainly startled my father."

"I'd imagine."

She shook her head. "Such a foreign world."

"Well, they do have such practices in other countries," Keo said wryly. "We aren't all one political unit in this world."

"In other countries mages master more than one element?"

"No, magic comes in the same forms everywhere, although with varying frequency," Keo said. "I meant - the part about - er, switches."

Rhysel laughed. "Ah, I see. Spare the rod philosophy, then?"

"I - just - we -" Keo seemed unsure how to respond.

Kanaat took over for her. "We would never dream of hitting our children. The idea that anyone could is rather alarming to my wife."

"Well, I confess a very strong desire to give the two who brought me here a well-deserved thrashing, but it's not my role to act as disciplinarian." Keo shut her eyes tightly. Rhysel held up a hand to pacify the parents. "Relax. I won't do it. I have far greater self-control than that."

Kanaat smiled slightly. "I would not recommend it. And it would have unpleasant repercussions. Saasnil, despite appearances, is a talented little wizardling, and Korulen can defend herself as well. Not to mention what I expect Keo would do to you."

"I don't doubt it. Rest assured, I don't wish to harm anyone. I tend to aid those near me when they need my aid. It's not a practice I intend to drop anytime soon."

Kanaat smiled more broadly.

"Which comes back again to the question: is there gainful employment for me? Or am I dependent upon your good graces?"

"Well, as we said, there is teaching available. There are people - wizards, generally - who make a living by casting spells for fees. It's not an intellectually stimulating line of work, and I'm not sure how many customers you could command by advertising an otherworldly branch of magic anyway."

"Can I have a few days to make a decision, then? See what's around here? My experience with your world is solely limited to a dormitory, a hallway, an office, a bedroom, and some strange transportation room."

"The lift," supplied Keo, opening her eyes. "And of course. We can put you up in an empty dorm room for the time being. There's one in Esaaral Hall. And my brother Narax, who I mentioned, happens to be visiting, so I'm sure we can get him to show you around town," she continued.

"That would be fine. Although breakfast would be much appreciated at this point as well."

"Breakfast?" asked Keo. "It's noon."

"I was asleep when I was pulled here. I gather it was close to my normal waking time, since I don't feel sleepy."

"Ah," said Keo. "Well, I'll take you down to the cafeteria, but they will be serving lunch food."

"I don't care what it is, so long as it's edible. I do hope that the food here isn't poisonous for me. I can provide water for myself easily enough, but food would be much more difficult."

"What species are you?" asked Keo. "You look like a half-elf but looks can be deceiving with offworlders."

"That would be an accurate assessment, assuming by half-elf you mean the other half is human. The term we use is "halfblood". Although I wasn't sure if each of your resemblance to either half of my bloodline was coincidental or not."

"I don't know if I'd call my looking human a coincidence," laughed Keo.

"Why's that?"

She led Rhysel into the lift as they conversed and barked at it, "Cafeteria!" It lurched along its way.

Rhysel arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "Such a bizarre mode of transportation."

Keo let the comment about the lift pass. "Well, I got to decide and everything. It's not like someone rolled a die and decided I should look human when I'm being bipedal," she said.

The halfblood blinked. "This isn't your natural form?"

"Nope," Keo said cheerily.

"How odd. Shapeshifting is a rare, and difficult to control, ability on my world."

"Really?" the other woman said. "I'd cause rather a lot of property damage if I tried to walk the halls in my natural form. I'm a dragon. We can all shapeshift. I don't have as many forms as most because my color-abilities are unusually good, and there's a tradeoff there."

Rhysel froze stiff from shock. "A-dragon. Truly?"

"Yep. Variety jade."

"Fascinating. Are all those in this school also dragons?"

"What? Oh, no. There are a few, but this is a school for younger children, and dragons of the corresponding age are usually still in their parents' homes. The two enrolled are both orphans, poor things," said Keo.

"What's the dominant species on this world, then?" Rhysel realized she'd stopped still, and started to relax again.

"Well, in terms of population worldwide, humans," the dragon said thoughtfully. "Most other species have such long reproductive cycles or limited geographical ranges that we just can't compete with them."

"And you co-exist peacefully?"

"Most places," Keo said placidly. "There are a few nations of xenophobes."

"Intriguing."

Keo smiled. "Here we are." The lift opened to reveal a bustling cafeteria. Several tables displayed hot food, a salad bar, and pitchers of beverages. Many tables and associated chairs filled the majority of the space, several of which were occupied with children of varying age and species-including many unfamiliar to the halfblood. The trays were square, and the plates rectangular, taking up half of the space on the tray so one could take two, or take one and a drink and a bowl of something. The utensils included forks, spoons, and knives, as well as some sort of pincerlike things.

Rhysel looked to her guide. "So, what's good?"

Keo had taken a tray, a plate, a cup, one of each utensil, and a bowl. "Oh, everything," she said. "We have an excellent cafeteria staff. Are you allergic to anything?"

Rhysel imitated Keo's selection of dishes. "Nothing from my world."

"Well, I'll just tell you what everything is then," the dragon said, walking over to the hot food. "Those are taro chips. That's garlic rice with carrots. That's roasted hare with onions and pepper. That's fried beetle. That's grilled sole." She took some chips, some rice, two beetles, and a helping of sole.

Rhysel scooped up some of the rice and hare. "What's taro?"

"They're almost exactly like potatoes," she said, moving on to the next table full of hot food. "Stuffed eggplant, sausages, mashed cauliflower, green beans, bread with nut paste." She took some mashed cauliflower and a piece of bread with nut paste. "Interesting." Rhysel selected a slice of the bread, but bypassed the rest of the choices. "This will probably tide me over for now. Aside from something to drink."

Keo moved on to the salad bar. "Three kinds of lettuce, beans, shredded jicama, grated cheese - oh, okay. Banana juice, skimmed milk, unskimmed milk, water, sparkling grape juice, and pineapple juice," Keo rattled off. She poured herself some pineapple juice.

Rhysel filled a glass with water and one with grape juice. "I find it interesting that many of these foods are familiar to me."

"Yes, there tends to be an odd confluence of speciation crossworld, although of course there is some variation and how the species are used varies," Keo said chattily, glancing around for a table. She spotted one with a pale dark-haired young man who appeared to be holding a bundle which might contain a baby. "Oh, there's my brother!" she said, and went over to sit with him. Rhysel followed.

Keo sat down next to her brother. "Hello, Narax, how is my little girl behaving for you today?" She peeled back the coverings on the bundle to reveal a tiny baby dragon fast asleep. She looked as though she had been carved from a single piece of jade.

Rhysel took a seat opposite, and looked at the baby with fascination.

Keo smiled at her child in a very motherly fashion, then turned to her meal. Narax grinned at her. "She's behaving like a ciella in the sun," he said. "Who's this?"

"This is Rhysel. Korulen and Saasnil summoned her."

"But why is-oh. I'm so sorry," said Narax sympathetically.

Rhysel forced her features into a wry smile. "I'm not too pleased about it myself. Still, it appears out of my hands for some time to come, so-"

Keo used the pincer utensil to pick up one of her beetles and ate it with relish. Narax looked at her with one eyebrow raised and shook his head slightly. "I will never understand your taste for beetles," he said.

"That's because you have that recurring nightmare," says Keo primly. "I wish you'd just let me get rid of it for you." Narax shook his head with a half-smile.

Keo ate her second beetle and started on the mashed cauliflower. "Did the baby eat?" she asked Narax. He nodded. "Sometimes," Keo said, leaning back and sighing, "I get tired of spending all this time on food and I feel like just turning into a mouse and nibbling a little and getting on with life. But it's so hard to keep nutritional balance that way."

Rhysel quirked a curious grin. "A dilemma I've never had to face one way or the other." She seemed to be slowly regaining some measure of equilibrium.

"Anyway," said Narax, "I think it's about time that you take your hatchling back, Keo. It's been lovely, of course, but I've had her all morning." He handed Keo the baby.

Rhysel observed this exchange with interest. "What do you do when you're not playing tour guide to - ah, student mishaps?"

"Oh, I mostly help Kanaat with things," Keo said vaguely.

"And he heads this school?"

"Yep," she replied, adjusting the blankets around her baby.

Rhysel nodded. "And what about you?" she asked Narax. "Do you also work here?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I'm just visiting my sister and brand-new niece." He paused. "Technically I'm retired. I invented something that people rather liked about twelve years ago and I'm living in Imilaat, although I do plenty of traveling."

"Imilaat? Another country?"

He nodded.

She shook her head in amazement. "I am so far out of my element. I should probably be gibbering in a corner somewhere."

He looked concerned. "I'm really sorry," he said. "Maybe someone should be keeping a better eye on her daughter."

"She wouldn't answer me, all right? She's at an age where I shouldn't need to check up on her every five minutes. You can be sure I'm checking in more often after what happened, though," Keo said irritably.

"I'm sure I'll adjust. I just hope that dragons here don't outlive my own species by too much, or I'll never get back." Rhysel said. "What does that have to do with anything?" asked Narax, confused.

"I was told that they could send me back when they were old enough to have a familiar, but that was a long time away. I have no idea what the relative lifespan is, or how long that 'long time' is."

"Oh, it has nothing to do with lifespan," Narax said. "Years of study. Probably four - what tier are they, Keo?"

"Saasnil's five, Korulen's six," Keo responded.

"So maybe four years until Korulen can manage it."

"Well, that's some relief, at least. That was my initial assumption, but when I learned she was a dragon, I assumed it would take decades at best."

"Oh, that would be horrible if it took longer to learn things just because one was a dragon," said Narax, appearing distressed. "I'm a wizard myself. I was hardly slow in class."

Keo laughed. "Slow in class? Narax, you were a prodigy."

"What focus, if you don't mind my asking?" Rhysel looked at Narax curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"What aspect of wizardry did you study?"

"Wizardry doesn't come in-aspects," replied Narax, seeming puzzled.

"Well, I was told that, for example, a person who's a fire mage doesn't learn water magic or whatever else."

"Mages, yes. Wizards, no," said Narax. "Completely different things. I didn't have to almost drown to learn how to cast spells."

"What's the difference?"

"Mages do elemental magic exclusively," Keo explained. "Wizards learn all kinds of different spells from books. There are other kinds of spellcasters also."

"Really? Magic is magic where I come from. It comes in several forms, but anyone who studies can learn any aspect they choose, or several, if they have the capacity to learn it at all."

"Just about anyone can be a wizard," said Narax, smiling. "Some kinds of magic require inborn talent. Some kinds require only training."

"Clearly another thing I must acquaint myself with."

"None of the wizard spells here will work when you go home," Keo pointed out.

"I'm still not certain that is true, as my magics still work here-at least to some level. I've only tried minor tricks so far."

"No, this has been tested," said Keo certainly. "Our wizard magic relies on tapping the specific magical reservoir of our world. The reservoirs of different worlds, if they exist in the same form at all, won't respond to the same tapping mechanisms."

"But if one knows how to tap into the magical reservoir of another world, then the same effects could still be produced, just with a different source-couldn't they?" She looked interested in this new - to her, at least - branch of magical theory.

"No, not with the same gestures and words," Narax said. "They address our reservoir specifically. It has a - a personality almost. It needs to be asked things in specific ways. It won't react to similar mechanisms designed for other reservoirs, and vice-versa."

"Do you have ley-lines or power-wells here?"

"Nope. The reservoir is omnipresent," Narax said promptly. "It isn't affected by geography in any way."

"But you are familiar with the concept?"

"Yes. We do summon beings from other worlds, or send researchers. That's why I suggested you could teach; we find other worlds fascinating," Keo said brightly.

Rhysel nodded. "Well, I can produce the same effect by accessing a ley-line or power-well, or doing it internally. Lines and wells produce a more powerful result, but it's dependent upon location, so I've never much preferred it. Same effect. Different source."

"Same world, though," Narax pointed out. "Magic within a world usually interacts in standard ways. It's very different from world to world."

"I confess, the study of other worlds has not been my focus. But if this were the case, would it not follow that I couldn't work magic here either?"

"You said you had a personal magic source. Since you were brought here, you can access yourself, obviously. Your world wasn't brought along with you," he replied.

"And you can't do the same with your magics?"

"Not my wizardry," said Narax. "That accesses Elcenia's reservoir, which I wouldn't bring with me if I went to another world. But I could still shapeshift, hear my dragonsong, and maintain my empathic abilities and so on, because those are all natural powers that spring from an internal source."

"Fascinating. I wonder if my summonings would work here. They're independent of both ley-lines and myself, drawing their power from the natural elements surrounding me. You appear to have the same elements here. Would be something to try at some point in time."

"That would be an interesting experiment," said Keo. "Are you all done with your food? We could get rid of the dishes."

"Yes, I believe I am. It was good, thank you."

Keo smiled and knocked on the table three times. The trays and dishes vanished.

"Useful," Rhysel remarked, after recovering from her surprise.

Narax laughed.

"Anyway," said Keo, "now that you've been fed perhaps we should find you a room. Bye, Narax!" She kissed her brother on the forehead and led Rhysel to the lift, where she said sharply, "Esaaral Hall!" and the lift lurched its way along.

"What exactly did you mean by prodigy anyway? I take it he's exceptionally skilled, but I still don't know enough about your world to grasp in what way," Rhysel asked.

"Oh, he's got an exceptional memory for spells, and a very high channeling capacity," Keo explained. "And a knack for inventing new ones, and a good mind for intentional components. Plus he's fast. He can get out the words to a spell and do all the gestures right in quite a hurry."

"So wizardry is ritual magic?"

"What does "ritual magic" mean?" Keo asked, leading the newcomer down the hall and opening a door. "Here's an empty room." "It's magic conjured through ritual-the right words have to be spoken, the right materials have to be used, and the right gestures have to be given. It's terribly cumbersome, although I've studied the aspects of it that relate to my personal magics - summoning an elemental, for instance, is a ritual magic, but conjuring handfire isn't."

"Well, according to that definition, wizardry is ritual magic, although most of the spells aren't too cumbersome," Keo replied. "For example..." She waved one hand casually and said a single syllable and the walls all turned green. She repeated both gesture and utterance and the room returned to its original color.

"I see." Rhysel looked around the room, noting the similarity to the one in which she had appeared in this world. "Not quite like home, but it should be fine."

Keo's baby woke up. "Saaa?" she said curiously.

"Oh, good," said Keo, distracted. "Hello there, little parunia, you're awake now, aren't you? Did you have nice dreams about flying? You're going to be big enough to fly very soon! Yes you are!"

"Eeiiiinnn," the baby cooed.

Keo continued conversing with her baby in motherese, completely oblivious to the surroundings.

"How old is she?" Rhysel interjected.

"She hatched last week," Keo said, not taking her eyes off her little jade infant.

"She's quite beautiful."

"Thank you!" Keo beamed, stroking the scales on the baby's head. The baby made a purring sound. "Anyway, I'll leave you be - if you need me, think my name very clearly and I'll pick it up, all right?" she said, sidling out of the room and closing the door behind her.

---

Home Table of Contents Dramatis Personae Setting Gallery News About Us Contact Us