Alissa

  The first thing that I saw when I opened my eyes was a snout. It looked like that of a large wolf. I will admit, seeing the damn thing in front of me freaked me out. I tried to reach my hand up to check that it was real, but the arm did not want to move the way I wanted it to. Finally I managed to get one of my hands up to my face.

  Only I didn’t see a hand. There was a massive paw hanging where I felt my hand was. A whimpering sound came from me as I saw this. It wasn’t long before I was panting heavy and nearly crying. My mind trying to make sense of what was going on.

  A hand lightly landed on my head before slowly moving down my body. Soothing noises came from nearby my ear as the petting continued. Surprisingly, this calmed me down. Something about the hand and voice felt, right. Like the owner would protect me no matter what.

  Finally calmed down, I could make out what he was saying. “…your mate. The council has agreed to hear me out concerning him. Given how they have been following all the rules to the letter recently, I doubt they will give us trouble. So now all you need to do is train. You wouldn’t want to lose control over yourself where he might get hurt.”

  Hearing that I might hurt him caused a whimper to escape. I knew I would never hurt him. Not intentionally anyway, but what about unintentional. Based on legends I had to guess I was some sort of werewolf. Those same legends also mentioned that they were stronger, faster and driven by instinct.

  Pulling back, I looked up at Paul. “The first thing you will need to learn is how to shift on command. I wont lie, it hurts like hell.”

  Eli

  Sitting at the front of the classroom was a bookish looking professor. Looking up as we started to enter, he said “Take a seat anywhere.” Before returning to the book he was reading. Pulling up a chair at one of the center tables, I sat. As I had time, I could at least get the storage spell going.

  Focusing inward, I found that I already had one still holding in place. No mana was flowing into it, though the amount of mana was slowly decreasing as the spell consumed it. Confused, I tried to figure out when I had cast the darn thing.

  It had to be from when I had been experimenting with multiple copies of it. If that was the case, then it had been running with little to no help from me for quite a while. Was that even possible? Sighing at the lack of information, I just focused on pulling all the mana out of the circle and using it to stretch my core out.

  The entire thing went into my core without issue, barely stretching it out at all. Recalling what Professor Olivia said, I figured I might as well get started with increasing my affinities. It wasn’t like my mana was doing anything right now anyway.

  With one thread, I formed the a fire element diagram before forming the storage diagram. Pushing mana into the new storage spell, I watched as the core filled up. The mana containing a visibly crimson hue.

  Taking my time, I repeated this spell with each of the other three element diagrams. Placing them on opposite sides of the core because it felt right. As each spell activated, the speed of flowing mana was divided between all of them.

  Opening my eyes, my head pounding, I looked around. It felt like hours had passed, but people were still trickling in. Finally, the professor gestured. The classroom door slammed, shutting the rest of the students out.

  “Welcome to beginners’ history.” He said. Placing his book down on the desk as he stood up. “I am Professor Perez. While most of you may not think this class has any bearing on you, I can promise that it does. In fact, right now is one of the historic times that will be taught in future classes. How your group does will determine the course of history. Now can any of you tell me of any important events in magical history?”

  A girl in the front raised her hand. Without waiting to be called on, she proudly said, “The witch hunts?”

  “Correct.” The professor nodded. “However, there are other factors that are kept hidden from humans. As there are magic users, there are also other creatures. One such group is the shifters.”

  “You mean like werewolves?” Someone excitedly asked, interrupting the professor.

  “Yes, werewolves are also the most numerous.” He said, an annoyed look crossing his face as he continued. “They are integrated into human society. So much so that they are able to push humans in directions they want. Can anyone think of one example where this might be useful?”

  “To keep any other group from taking over their territory?”

  “Keep themselves hidden?”

  People kept shooting out ideas until the professor raised his hand. Everyone quieted down as he continued. “All of those. In fact, that is one of the major reasons why mages and such are not able to go to Earth. There have been wars fought to push our groups back to our pocket world.”

  The professor seemed to be a bit agitated as he spoke about all of this. Stopping, he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply to calm down. During this break, one of the girls in the front asked, “If you have this pocket world, why would you want to leave it?”

  “Because it is dying.” The professor turned and drew on the board. It took a while as he drew line after line. “This is a representation of the mana flows in our universe. The closer you are to one of the rivers of mana, the more mana is present in the environment.” He tapped a place near one of the rivers with his chalk. “When this pocket world was created, the Earth was around here. According to historical texts, the ambient mana was so thick that you could cast a spell with a simple wave of the hand.”

  Dragging the chalk across the line and near a large void, he continued, “This is where the Earth is now. As you can see, it is just entering a place with little mana. That would be fine, except this pocket world uses mana to keep it stable.”

  “How will our being mages affect the amount of mana?” I asked.

  “It makes the situation better and worse. More people using and storing mana means less for the pocket world to use. The ability for us to travel to and from Earth without issue does allow us to pull mana from there and deposit it here.”

  “So, the mages traveling to Earth are acting as mana mules?” A teenage boy said, laughing.

  “Yes, but we have permission thanks to an agreement with every group on Earth. In return, we must train you.”

  Confused, I asked, “I thought we were required to learn magic from you? Are you saying that mages were not the ones requiring us to do so?”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Honestly, it was the only thing that kept the group calling for your death from going through with it, even after the council voted to train you.”

  “Which camp were you, professor?” Came someone’s hesitant voice.

  He took a few seconds, looking around the room before finally saying, “Training, but only because I know how history treats those that kill large groups. Just know that quite a few of the professors here do not agree with me or Professor Olivia.”

  The room was so quiet that a pin would have been deafening. Professor Perez turned and wiped the board as he spoke. “Each of you has access to this classes reading material on your device. Tonight, I want you to read the first chapter. Dismissed.”

  Deciding to avoid the large rush of people, I stayed in my seat. Instead focusing inward on my four spells. Each was filled to about a quarter. Curious, I attempted to pull a thread of mana out of the storage that held fire mana. Twisting it around, I connected it back to the fire element input.

  Mana trickled out of the storage spell and into the element input. I watched the storage for any signs of change. It took a few minutes, but it seemed like the red was deeper and brighter than before. Quickly, I repeated this with each of the other elements.

  Finally standing up, I realized I was not alone. Two people had hung back near the door, talking amongst themselves. As I went to walk around them, the girl spoke up. “You seem to have a decent hand on this magic stuff. Do you mind giving us some help?”

  I froze, trying to understand what she was saying. Me, having a grasp on magic? What had I done to give anyone that idea? Hell, I was trying to stay low and talk to as few people as I could. My goal was to learn magic enough to be allowed out and to head back to Earth. Shaking my head, I replied, “I am sorry, you must have me confused with someone else.”

  “Dude, you think no one was watching you as you cast that weird fire light spell earlier? Even Professor Olivia and Professor Bennett were watching you closely.” He must have seen some confusion on my face because he then added, “Professor Bennett is the Physical teacher. He was watching our magic class from a distance.”

  Shrugging, I said, “All I did was add another fire element in series with the spell. Nothing special.”

  They both looked at each other before the girl spoke, “Wait, you can just add to and modify the spells like that?”

  “Yeah, why wouldn’t you be able to?”

  “We just never thought to do that. Those are the kinds of things that we want to learn. So do you mind if we tag along with you and discuss magic?” She asked.

  Shrugging, I said, “Sure. My name is Eli.”

  Starting toward the cafeteria, they quickly caught up. “Joanne, and the big guy is Robert. We have been friends since high school.”

  Alissa

  That morning, all I did was focus on shifting. It was harder than Paul made it sound. According to him, I just needed to push away my wolf form and pull my human shape to me. When I finally did shift, the process had nothing to do with pushing or pulling. Instead, I just talked to my wolf.

  I say my wolf because she felt like she was both me and not me. Apart of me, but separate. Paul said that he had heard of wolves having their own opinions and personality, but that it was uncommon. Shrugging, he just congratulated me as he dropped a soft robe around my shoulders before walking out of the room.

  Moving as if to follow him, I found that I had a hard time leaving the room. It had become my home. A sort of safe area for me in this new place. Grumbling, my stomach made its opinion known. Paul had said that he wouldn’t bring me food anymore. I would have to eat with the rest of the pack from now on. Shaking my head, I pushed the fear to the back of my mind and forced myself to follow Paul out.

  The hall was long but well-furnished. A feeling of soft carpet on the soles of my feet surprised me. I figured that everything would be rustic. Hardwood floors or even plastic tiles. Quickly padding after Paul, we exited the hallway and through a brightly lit door.

  Blinking rapidly, I waited a few seconds for my eyes to adjust before looking around. Windows covered the far wall and the ceiling, letting tons of light into the large room. Looking around, I noticed that the place was full of people. All of whom were looking over at me.

  Paul seemed to ignore them. Instead, he gently grabbed my wrist and led me over to a wall with a window set into it. “One burger Alfred.” He said as he let go of my hand. I didn’t know who he was talking about until someone popped their head up into the window.

  I had to assume it was this Alfred person based on Paul’s lack of reaction. The guy was short and had mousy features. His voice was high-pitched and rapid. “All the fixings as usual? Oh, is this the newcomer that you had locked up? She is pretty. All of the other wolves are going to try and mate her. What do you want to eat?”

  Taken aback, all I could think to ask was, “What?”

  “I know, all of this can be a bit jarring. Especially to those born as human with no knowledge of our world. Just remember to trust your instincts. Now, what can I get you to eat?”

  “Alfred, while not all that great at hunting, or anything else really, he can cook anything. For now, we have enough stuff to make nearly anything you could want.” Paul said, his hand coming to rest on the center of my back.

  “How about a chicken burger?”

  “Sure.” Alfred dropped out of sight. Though his voice was a bit muffled, I could easily make it out as he asked, “What do you want on the burger? Also, what about sides?”

  “Lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, grilled onions, the typical stuff you would find on a burger. Oh, and fries, please.”

  “Coming right up. Find a table, I will bring both out in a few minutes.”

  With a subtle push from Paul, we walked over to one of the tables lining the wall of windows. A lake stretched out from under the building and off into the distance. “What do you think of the place?”

  “I haven’t seen much, but it seems peaceful enough. What is he anyway?”

  “Just so you know, it is a bit rude to ask what someone is. Some people will take it as you looking to find out what weaknesses they have so that you can exploit them.” He held my gaze for a few seconds, letting me know exactly how serious he was being. Turning his head to look out the windows, he continued, “But he is a nice guy, and no one wants their cook as an enemy, so he doesn’t mind anyone knowing. He is a shrew. One of only a few. Their clan was nearly wiped out when another clan decided to move into their territory.”

  “So, most shifters are born? Is there any other way of becoming one?”

  “You mean like those fictional stories or even the legends?” He laughed, I heard other people laughing as well, letting me know our conversation was not private no matter how many tables separated us from the closest group. “It is extremely hard to be changed. A person has to be ravaged by one of us and then survive the viral additions to their DNA. It is hard to watch as the body and mind fight the transformation. Very few try to make the change.”

  “Wait, you said viral additions. Is it all because of a virus?”

  “Yes and no. It is a virus but not one that humans are capable of isolating, let alone studying. Mages managed to isolate it. From what they have said, it is a purely magical virus. Not physical but able to affect the physical world.”

  As he was talking, Alfred walked up with two plates of food. Sticking out of his mouth was a stick of jerky. Thanking him, I picked up the ketchup bottle. Adding it to the plate for the steak fries. We ate in silence for a bit.

  I was the first to break the silence, “Any idea what is going on outside of this place?”

  Taking a minute to finish his bite, he set his burger down. “It is becoming harder to move from our compound to the human safe zone, so messages are getting harder and harder to get through. News is bleak, though. Aircraft have to be escorted by multiple mages, and even then, they may not make it from Paine field to Lewis-McChord.”

  “What about driving? The trip should only be a couple of hours at most.”

  “Ah, but cars are unpredictable, and fuel is a limited resource. If that wasn’t bad enough, the road is becoming just as dangerous as the air. There is talk of creating a guild to deal with the monsters and shipments. For now, the humans are using mage portals to make the trip.”

  “Portals sound like a decent solution. Why not keep using them?” I said as I wiped my hands on a napkin. The fries and burger were great, though they were both a bit messy.

  “Mages never do anything for free. Just for that distance, they are probably asking for tons of resources or money. It is a great solution for short-term or even immediate needs, but not for anything long-term. Now, let me introduce you to my betas.”

  His gesture let me know there were people behind me. My back stiffened, and I tensed because I had not heard them approaching. Slowly turning, I smiled. My teeth showing.

  Paul stood and walked around the table to my side. Gesturing to the woman, “This is Barbra. She deals with most of the logistics,” she scoffed at that. “Right, she leaves most of that to the group assigned to do that job. They are under her, though. She also deals with any interpersonal issues.”

  “Usually, that means I am a counselor, though I have had to beat the sense into more than one member of the pack.”

  “And the man next to her is Gordon. He deals with everything security related.”

  “I look forward to training you and hope that you will be able to help us defend the wall.” I nodded, not knowing whether to look forward to his training or not.