Chapter 1: A Private Conversation among Mages

Mental communication yields a great deal of information very rapidly. The danger is that someone can slip up and say what they mean without filtering it first. Hence, true practitioners tend to speak both formally and clearly. And it’s not polite to drill beyond the surface of the person you are communicating with. Which is why communication between Senior Mages and Wizards are so seldom done without careful boundaries and rules. And a bit of an agenda as well.

“So, Sir David, I hope you don’t think it’s gauche of us to say that I’m happy that Hank is clearly in your area rather than mine” Reginald Van Houten said mentally. As the President of the Mage Council for the America’s, with over two hundred and fifty Mages and apprentices, he was a fairly powerful figure in the world of magic.” I admit that he is an amazing individual, and that he has demonstrated amazing things for the community, but we frankly don’t have the infrastructure to educate or manage him.”

“I can see your point, Mr. Van Houten.” Sir David Drummond replied. As the senior leader of the Wizards, a small and very powerful selection of Mages who demonstrated strength and abilities far in advance of any Mage or apprentice, they were granted a great deal of respect. And in some cases, fear. “A Wizard as unique as Hank has demonstrated to be is somewhat of a mystery to us as well. I would say that your simile of a child with a loaded gun is an apt description, and his evolution so far is both frightening and amazing to even us. And the European council of Mages is not entirely happy with his handling of the Matsuko affair. We have a few people who say he is a Typical Yank, with no respect for our traditional methods.”

“I’m afraid that was in part due to his mentor. A man that I personally would not think capable of developing a hedge witch, much less an emerging Mage. Do you know that he has copied in situ the entire American Library of Spell. Including the documents we inherited before the revolution. And all the missives written between the European and American councils? He calls much of it rubbish, but recently he showed me his complete translation of a 13^th circle grimoire from Italy written in the 15^th century. And with foot notes of adaptation to the spells.”

“Not the Da Vinci grimoire? Really? I thought that that the Papal library had that under seal. How did he get it?”

“He said that it wandered into his bedroom in Augusta while he was looking for Ley line management techniques. Along with many of the drawings including the Vitruvian man. With details that the Papal library has not released to the public.”

“Good Grief. Can he read it?” Sir David asked with some shock.

“According to Pat, Hank can read it. It’s translated itself for him, and he made a duplicate on current paper before he sent the original back to the Vatican before they went looking for it. He showed the copy to me, and I could read the modern English text with no problem. It seems that many of the original drawings and writings were spell bound by the author to not make all the hidden notes visible. He has a lot of stuff that is labeled “Property of the British Museum” as well. Are you guys missing anything?”

“Good heavens. I must check with the Archivist. You know we keep all of that under secure lock and key.”

“I know. We do too. But the documentation seems to have an affinity for emerging Wizards. Do you happen to know anything about document migration to Wizards?” Reggie asked with a snark.

“Well, it does seem that this has happened in the past. Da Vinci was rumored to have a great store of documents that were in Aramaic and a lot of Keltic materials in his possession. The Church gathered all of that up and set it in store as Heretical Documents, best kept out of the hands of the commoners or the Illuminati.”

Within his own mind, Reggie thought to himself “Just what we need. The books running to the student and saying, “Read Me, Read me”. Reggie thought aloud with a laugh. “It does put a different color on mandatory education. I am just wondering what sort of use Hank will make of all this material, and how it will be reflected through the lens of his innate ability to manage Power.”

“It does seem to have an impact on his social skills. “Sir David thought aloud with a grimace.” I notice that, since his interaction with Arno and the mess in Armenia, he has taken to speaking with a much more mature language use, at least with me” Sir Edward mused. “My greatest concern is that he seems to be maturing very rapidly. I cannot help but wonder what direction he is going to take with this increase in education and power. We don’t have any real guidance for him. The cultures of the Wizard community are pretty diverse, and we are given to be self-regulating. We don’t have a governing body like the Mage Council.”

“Which frightens a lot of the American Mages. After the mess in New Orleans in January, and his performance in Armenia, there is a three-way divide between Mages who want to worship him, ban him, or swear fealty to him. He has made the greatest impact on young and new Mages. Like I said, a child with a loaded gun” Reggie said with chagrin.

“It does the Europeans too. His growth in capability is frightening to us.”

“It is to us as well. I guess we must wait and see what impacts this has on Hank and on all of us.”

“Would you like me to reach out to offer a friendly few word of advice?” Sir David asked.

“I would greatly appreciate it. And any ideas you may formulate that will help us to guide our young tank in the direction we all want.” Reggie replied.

Senior Year. I wonder what’s Next?

Lots of sudden growth. My dad said that boot camp made a man out of any boy. I think my last year has been my own boot camp. I realized that nothing I do is ever not going to have an effect. The “Ripples on the Pond” comparison that my English teacher said last year really sank in with me this spring. With Alicia becoming pregnant, my sister moving to college, and all the things that were so important to me suddenly taking a back seat to the things I could do.

I have come to a turning point. What is the value of college to a Wizard? What is the value of a trade in automotive mechanics or builder to someone who can make an impact on the hidden world of Magic? What value is a Tradesman who works in Wood compared to the elegance of elven or Mages working with the likes of magic herbs and plants? If college is a Trade school for adults, what trade do I want to be in? And more important, what value is traditional education when compounded against the education of Magic? What are these effects on my life?

And so far, it all adds up to a lot of effect.

For instance. So far, in the last eighteen months, I have:

1. Lost my virginity. In a Pool of water that was filtered through a Ley Line.

2. Emerged as a Mage. (Actually, not just a Mage but a Wizard, but more on that later.)

3. Discovered my affinity for Power upon which all magic is based. (This was a real big mind set change because that meant that I could do Magic.)

4. Marked my initial territory South of Augusta Ga.

5. Got into screaming match with a Senior Mage of over two hundred years of experience, and shredded her ability to communicate with other Wizards, Mages, or her own collection of slaves. (All by accident. I never realized that the threads I saw in my mind were the different connections between Mages and others.)

6. Preserved and extended the lives of my family and close friends.

7. Got into a Duel with a senior Warlock. And killed him twice with his own powers reflected into his own body. (And used CPR to bring him back to life twice. That got me talked about. A Lot.)

8. Saw my older sister and her friend off to college (after giving both a spell that extended their lives, gave them great health, and allowed them to read immediately and remember everything of every book they ever opened. (guaranteeing them top grades in any subject they ever took.)

9. Helped to put down a revolt among Mages that included the Senior Warlock, his lover, and an assortment of other Mages. (Which caused my Mentor to have to Move from Augusta to Atlanta, and made me the de-facto Wizard for Augusta. )

10. “Led the engagement with the Fae which resulted in the first ever treaty between the world of Mages and the Fae living in the Human world.” (That’s what the American and International council of Mages both released to their membership.)

Oh, and as I went along, I freed a Mage from a captive stone that kept her from being able to leave her home for over forty six years. And succeeded in pissing off a few of the “Old English” Mages by my interfering with their version of Justice. And I also helped filter water on a Indian property in the American Southwest that kept poisonous uranium out of the drinking water.

So, not so many ripples in the pond or in the stream. More like an Asteroid falling into the great lakes and blowing water all over the world. Its’ been an eventful two years. And I’m not even eighteen yet.

And while I was cruising along, I learned a lot about material science. As it applies to gemstones. And their relationship with magical Power. And how to make a Powered Artifact. Something very few people can do quickly.

Which I and my mentor turned into a successful commercial business, recharging other people’s artifacts with power, and in building my own Charged Gemstone business. Which gained worldwide interest from Mages and Wizards. And continued to amaze my former mentor and business partner.

He started his own business in metal-based artifacts (Rings, necklaces, etc.) that needed stones for power over time. And there was money in that business. He was able to create spells (with the help of other Mages he knew) that would provide things like the ability to teleport, or to do any of the thousands of things that Magic spells could do, as runes on the metal. When you added small gemstones to this to power the runes, you had an artifact that allowed even the least powerful Hedge Witch to do amazing things. (They just had to make sure they never lost the artifact.)

Which meant that I had to make a workshop and a formal business in the inherited city of Augusta, after Pat had been rehomed to Atlanta.

And All of this before I entered my Senior year in High School.

So much for an uneventful secondary education experience in public schools.

So now in the middle of August I am standing in line looking to pick out the classes that I must take for my senior year. And wondering what I should focus on and study this year, and after this year. And wondering what I really wanted to focus on going forward.

I was also mulling over the conversation from last night. It was with Sir David Drummond, the Senior Advisor to Council of Europe for all things Relating to Wizards, and it was part condemnation, part critique, and part compliment.

“Really, Hank, you are one amazing person. And we don’t quite know how to deal with all your quirks. It would have been more advisable if we had a longer apprenticeship to help you grow into your full stature, but I suppose that’s out of the question”.

“Sir David Drummond, I realize that I am a bull in the China shop with respect to my diplomatic behaviors. But really, I haven’t hurt anyone who was not trying to hurt me first. And except for Ms. Mitsuko’s imprisonment I have worked to try to be respectful of the feelings of others.”

“There is some truth to that, Hank. However, it was somewhat impetuous of you to take the actions you did against a Gea’s laid against her in by the agreement of English Mages for the damages she caused our society”.

“Sir David, I don’t doubt that damage was incurred. But the punishment didn’t fit any crime that Ms. Mitsuko committed. It was the theft and malicious use of her memory stones was what resulted in that damage. It’s obvious that she had no intent to damage anyone, and in fact was the victim of a theft, and prior damages from a host of predatory men taking advantage of a submissive woman. Unless of course, you intend to have the creation of Memory Stones become a crime. Which would probably cause you to lock up most of the Mages on the planet.”

“Hank. There is a lot of value in your statement. But there are emotional attachments to what the woman did when she was sleeping around with most of the nobility, Wizardry, and royalty in England that caused a lot of domestic turmoil. And Mages have long memories.”

“Sir David. I agree that what I did I did without consulting the people who were damaged. However, if these same people were to be consider the facts of Mitsuko’s condition and the cultural weight placed on her before she was bought by her husband (And it was slavery of a sort) then I think they will reconsider. And if not, then it’s on them. My Conscience is clear.”

“There are others, my mother included, who have a different perspective on this entire situation.” Sir David said with some force.

“I realize that. But you seem to have held her responsible for things stolen from her. That’s kind of like holding a homeowner responsible for loss of his car that was used in a robbery. Isn’t that kind of unfair?”

“That depends on how responsible the owner of the car is. If the keys are in it, surely there is some shared responsibility” David replied.

“Not if you burgle the garage to get to the car inside. Private Property means Private Property.”

“Well, then, I supposed you have made up your mind on this issue.” Sir David said with a grimace. “With that behind us, what other issues are on your mind?”

“Slaves. Specifically, mine. I have agreed to help Pat with redistribution of some of the slaves that he had inherited when he took over Atlanta, beginning with my business manager, Paula. But there are a number of others that need reintegration into society as free people. And I am wondering if you know of any spells that exist that can work with the 10 and 15 generations of servile breeding that has been used with this group of people.”

“Well, Hank, as you know we English took a firm stance against slavery in the 1840s including having our fleet blockade and impound ships carrying exports from North Africa and the Carribean. That may have been the root cause of the feelings that we encountered with the Mitsuko situation. We had lost understanding and had inappropriate expectations of human behavior. Frankly we don’t have any method of dealing with that systemic hereditary behavior. We have enough of that with our own immigrants from Africa.”

“Well, I guess I will have to keep doing some research.” I replied.

“That brings up something else of consequence. Have you been collecting manuscripts and documents that are of historical significance? Like Grimoires from Wizards long past?”

“Not really collecting. They come wandering into my home at odd times. I thought you were sending them. Some of them have “Property of the British Royal Museum and The Property of the British Royal Library on the covers.”

“And have you seen any that are in Italian?” Sir David probed carefully.

“Oh yes. One of them tacked itself to my bedroom wall. It’s a drawing of a Man in a circle. Bernie said that it was a copy of a famous drawing by Da Vinci.”

“Hank. Do be careful with those. They are the originals. And The Royal Library, the British Museum and the Vatican would like to have them back undamaged.”

“Sir David, I didn’t go after them. I was struggling with some things that I wanted to properly connect with power and they appeared. I thought that you or someone else sent them. Since I got the earring from Graf, all of it seems to translate to me when I look at it.”

“I’ll tell you what, Hank. Why don’t you copy the contents locally and send the originals back to me. I’ll forward them back to their respective archives. That will give me an idea of your course of study and we can talk about how to apply your own talents to the grimoires of historical significance”.

“That’s what I have been doing. The problem is that I need more space for the books. The number of documents and artifacts are growing almost faster than I can do duplication. Not to mention scrap paper to make my own library. And that’s not counting the time I have to take to read them”

“Well, Hank, let me know if you need any kind of help. And I guess having Pat close to you as a business partner is a good funnel and filter for you. Perhaps you should continue doing business with him. I may have been presumptive in advising you separate yourself from him totally.”

“We are still in commercial relationship, Sir David. And I still look to him for some advice.”

This was the conversation that was on my mind when I went to school to look at what I wanted to study for my senior year. Auto Shop was not on the list. History and economics courses were. I had made my mind up to study things which helped H. Lambert, Custom Jewelers grow as a business, and for the employees to grow as well.

First, I had to fight with Ms. Julliard. Our new Student Consular. Who was looking at my past class selections with some interest.

“So, Hank, what made you want to move away from the auto shop and other trades and toward these management courses you have asked for?”

“Well, Ms. Julliard, I have a part ownership of a business in Augusta, and I want to move toward that interest from a management perspective, as opposed to automotives.”

“What is it in?”

“Estate Jewelry. Rings, necklaces, antiques. All of the sort of things that are a small market, small volume, high markup entity”.

“Do you have experience in that?”

“I have some and I have two senior partners who are mentoring me in the valuation of goods. There are a lot of places that do some of that, but not many who work with niche items. I have a ring here that was made in the 1830s that was made in England. Depending on condition and classification, it can be worth from $200 to $500.”

“And how did you come by the experience in this field to know so much?” she asked with curiosity.

“I’ve been playing around with old artifacts for several years. And my father has been to almost every Flea market and estate sales around the area. Augusta is just a large location for a venue like this. And there are enough people to share interest in pieces of American history. Like this ring. I have provenance of it going back to Colonel Samuel Chase. It’s a little large, but I like it.”

“So, you intend to pursue this interest in History rather than something more useful?”

“Actually, I intend to pursue objects that have a history and make it pay. I can also craft items that are close simulations of historical artifacts, and sell them to collectors, reenactors, and a host of other interested parties. There’s money to be made in this. I already have earned enough over the last year to fund fully opening my business in Augusta.” I said with a smile. I knew that Julliard had an interest in history (It was her major on the wall of the office).

“So you see yourself as a Profiteer of History? I’m not sure that is a good endeavor to enter. It smacks to me of pillaging history.” The disgust was fairly dripping from her lips as she looked at me. I figured that she was going to bounce it out as soon as she could. “I am not sure that is the wisest choice for a career.”

“Actually, I see myself as finding new homes for objects of great value that may grace a new place while gaining their former owners needed value to use to make their life more comfortable. And these class selections will help me to make that business successful.” I said in response.

“Hank. I want you to rethink your choices here. I don’t want you to end up in a dead-end career where you have no chance of improvement. Please think this over carefully”

Dead End Career. Like high school guidance consular? I can clearly see the Master’s degree award from U of Georgia in Athens. I wonder how she ended up here. No openings in Law school?

I got my sign off and beat feet out of that room with a smile and careful plan. Pillaging History? Not on your life. How about bringing Energy to objects on a scale never done before. H. Lambert will become the Premiere provider of Power objects to the world. Now all I must do is get this infrastructure thing on track. And do some housekeeping.

First on the list was a short trip to the Pool and waterfall where all of this began. With two of my “Pets” (Batteries?) I drove out to the encircling plant of thorns and passed into the area where it all began. It was August so swimsuits were clearly on order for the afternoon.

Lynn and Bernie had both grown into fine figures of young women. And both were perpetually horny. Especially at the waterfall. Where it had all begun with Maggie (My Sister) and Carrie (her best friend). Losing my virginity at the waterfall to Carrie had finished the transformation of me from a sensitive human to a full-blown Wizard. With power that grew exponentially. And I think that the Laziness of my initial mentor’s guidance allowed me to research and try things for myself that were totally outside of the magical population with respect to power. I have the capability to infuse power into ordinary gemstones, and into other objects, and dictate that Power move from one place to another, as well as work to power my personal shields. And unlike all other Wizards, I don’t need to drop one shield to engage another. I can engage multiples simultaneously that act to shield me against Fire, Flood, Cold, wind, offensive magic, and even objects. And these shields reinforce each other and take the energy of the attack, and use it to reinforce themselves, making them stronger.

This was a key in the Mage revolt, the Fae battles, and even personal attacks from other Mages. I am “The Tank” that other Mages hide behind. When Mike Newell, the enforcer from the Mage Council came down to assassinate me (Under council guidelines that he rewrote to his own benefit) I stopped him cold the first time I met him. The second time was in the Revolt against the council where I turned all his attacking energy inside of a shield so that the attack reflected into him. (It must have been potent because it reduced him entirely to ash. And it ate up a 250-year-old Power artifact. That didn’t bother me, I just made another one.)

So, I am the Powerhouse. Artifacts and gems get sent to me from around the world to be charged to capacity (For a fee, of course) as well as the cute items that Pat makes as custom jewelry. Jewelry that (in the hands of a Mage or Magician) can allow things to be done that the Mage could not do by him or herself. There was a lot of interest from beginning and even advanced Mages about availability. And cost of recharge when they became depleted. This was a business that no one had evidently tapped.

“Hello Bernie. Where’s Lynn? Are we all going to the pool this afternoon? With school starting soon, there won’t be many more opportunities.”

“Hello Hank. No, we are both going to shopping here in town for the things we want for school on Monday. How about we do a trip to Augusta this weekend to get some clothes? Maybe leave tonight and come back Sunday?”

“We can do that. How about we meet at my house after you finish shopping, and we will jump to Augusta.”

Touching the stones on my watch, later that evening, I joined hands with both girls, and we switched to the living room of Pat’s penthouse condo in the Lamar building in Augusta. Just in time for dinner and bed with two lovely ladies.

Augusta, Ga.

Well, if my new home is to be Augusta, I guess I must get familiar with the area. Especially ley lines in the area. The traipsing back and forth to home to charge gems is not hard to do but it is a pain in the buns. I had been spoiled at Reggie’s home in New Orleans where the Leyline was in the basement. And with the gemstone business picking up, having a more concentrated work environment seemed like a good idea. The only question is “Where is there a ley line that comes close enough to the surface and is large enough that I can easily grasp the power, focus it, and charge Gemstones quickly.”

I think I had the solution. And a need to call in a favor.

“Sylvia, I need a favor. Do you have some spare time for a trip down to Augusta?”

“Anything, my dear boy. What do you need”?

“I need you and Mr. Hughes to come to Augusta for some prospecting. With your Monocle Lens. I’ll even host you here in the city in a great apartment while you do a bit of searching for me. I’ll even furnish the occasional bottle of McCallan to go with dinner every night.”

“Oh My. You must need something really bad to bribe me with gifts that expensive.” Sylvia laughed.

“I want to map all of the local major ley lines here in Augusta. And what was the most power, that is either close to the surface, or that I can drive a copper pipe down to and act as a reverse grounding rod to bring access to Leyline energy to the surface. And I need the help of a mature earth Mage to bring it up as a wellspring.”

“You are looking to duplicate the stream you have at your parents’ house; I take it.”

“Yes. Since I must move to Augusta for a while, and since my financial source is gemstone refilling, I want to have a large pipe available. Something like Arno has with his place in the Ukraine.”

“Well, my dear boy, I suppose we can make the time to cruise around Augusta and see the sights. Visible and not.”

And for the next two weekends, I began to look seriously for some House hunting. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the Lamar Building (it really is nice ever since the downtown development authority started working on it). But it was Pat’s Place. My old mentor lived there for years, and before being forced to assume Atlanta, he had done a lot of work. I felt I needed to reach out on my own, and I needed a place that was not just a house, but a workplace (and a garage.)

So, for the next two weekends we drove around Augusta with Sylvia Groton, her reunited partner Nathan Hayes and her monocle looking for signs of Leyline power. I asked that they bring along Michael Fitzhugh, the earth Mage as well, in case we had to do some underground migration of any ley lines.

And boy did we find some. Many were in places that were not real choice, but others were ok. The nicest (with massive indicators of power) was located along Broad Street in the ten hundred blocks. There were a lot of storefronts with apartments over them that were sitting on a wellspring of a ley line. And the greatest thing was that redevelopment money was available to use to bring the buildings up to code. Tall, stately office space in “Mixed use development” with apartments on the second, third and fourth floors that could be easily secured. With restaurants and other businesses within walking distance. A real downtown life in a good neighborhood.

It was the second weekend in September that I sat down with my Business Manager (So, what seventeen-year-old kid has a twenty-five-year-old business manager?) and we put together a set of business plans for the future of Hank Lambert, Jewelers.

“Well, Paula, I want to ask you to do me a very big favor.”

Paula is my business manager. Paula was good looking, intelligent, articulate, educated, and a hopeless slave. I inherited her from Abigail Andrews (via my old mentor, Pat) who was exiled to the Greek islands for her part in the Mage uprising. She had over two hundred slaves in Augusta, some with pedigrees of slavery going back almost two hundred years. She had an extensive breeding program that hid the results from everyone. When Pat took over, he tried to free them all, but some were so ingrained in servitude, that they committed suicide rather then be “Free”. Paula ended up as my “Office manager”. Which was a misnomer. She had a MBA from Duke, and could type 80 words a minute as well as take shorthand. She was vastly overqualified for what she had to do with my small business, but we had no choice. We were afraid she would suicide unless remastered. And I don’t believe that positive talent should go to waste. Besides, I needed a businessperson. (Pat is too consumed with his new city and all that goes with it.)

“I am feeling guilty about our residence here in the Lamar. I know that Pat spent a lot of money setting this up, and that he still regards this as his home. But now that I must take over Augusta, I only feel it is right that I should set myself up with my own place for the business, and for you and the other guests that I have occasion to work with. And it should be a mixed use with office space and residences as well.”

Paula’s shocked reaction was immediate. “Really? Move into our own place and each of us with our own spaces?”

“Yes, and I insist that I have my business manager do the detail work of finding and contracting and purchasing the new home of Lambert Jewelers. And I also want to run a traditional retail business there to make sure that there is a screen to protect us for tax purposes.”

“That’s very smart. It will help us to hide in plain sight.” She nodded.

“And you know that Sylvia and I have been running around the city on the weekends looking at places. What we were looking for was Ley Line access in addition to all the other basics.”