Chapter 1: A Night of Conjunction

There’s something captivating about the eternal dance of the stars, the moon, and the sun above. Many cultures around the world bear testament of this, with the amount of focus on the heavens there is in archaeology. Leonidas Anderson thought so too. On this particular Friday evening, as twilight descended like a soft blanket to quash the stress of the week, a mellow energy began to build. Leonidas, or Leo, as he liked to be called, smiled to himself as the Moon tried to chase the Sun from the domain they shared.

Evenings like these always seemed to give him an extra bit of energy. He didn’t know why, but there was almost something electric in the air. All the possibilities in the universe seemed open on such special nights. He liked to imagine little sparks dancing through the air in his mind as they crashed into each other and bounced off to who knows where. His evening stroll down Magnolia Avenue brought him before a solo building in a moderate sized parking lot. His seemingly quick arrival also brought his internal musings to an end.

Leo had arrived early to his beloved place of business. While it still was a humble concrete building at the edge of a strip mall, it was all his. He was proud of owning his own business by the age of twenty three. The previous owner was more than happy to sell it off to him. Leo gave the gray haired, portly Ron Nichols a desperately needed ripcord. He had been nursing this dive along for nearly 15 years. Most nights he lost more money in heavy handed pours from overly friendly bartenders than he brought in as profit. However, it was time to let go of his passion project and finally retire ... for real this time. So, when Leo showed up and wanted to take it over, he was ecstatic. They came to an agreement without hesitation. It was on a night just like tonight with the celestial bodies above in conjunction.

As he walked around to the back of the building, he sidestepped a few alley cats that were noisily “talking it out”, and slid his key into the lock of the chipped, poorly painted back door. Despite the way it looked, the lock turned smoothly and the door opened without a sound.

Leo removed his dark brown leather jacket and hung it on the hook just inside the door. He flipped the nearby switches and the interior came alive with illumination. Leo loved the eclectic mix of the warm glow of neon, recessed can lights, the spots over the small stage for live bands and the retro, Edison style bulbs over the main bar. He had a brief mental flash from the first day he took over the bar and couldn’t help but feel pride as he morphed this space from a dingy, shadowed nook into a welcoming party space that made his little business thrive. Ron wasn’t a terrible businessman, but the stress of staff turnover and his own vices got in the way of turning this place into anything other than the hovel he knew.

That wasn’t the case for Leo. He had always been a peculiar one. Even as a child he was the black sheep of his adoptive family. Leo grew up in a loving home. His adoptive parents, Derek and Ellen Anderson, always treated him as their son. Originally, Leo was adopted because of their trouble conceiving, but eventually they gave him two sisters.

Early on it was discovered that Leo had an eidetic memory. Once Leo read something, he could never forget it. One would think this was an amazing ability, and it was, but it also caused Leo to get bored with jobs and hobbies very quickly. It was like having cheat codes on in a video game all the time. And so, focused on his studies he graduated college with a double bachelor’s degree in business and finance in only two years.

There was hardly a subject that he didn’t just absorb. This allowed his unique mind to make connections that others seemed to gloss over. He was able to master hundreds of drink recipes in just a few minutes after purchasing the bar. He eventually was able to adapt this same ability to people. As he applied his business knowledge and continued to “read” his customers, his bar was now one of the hottest hangouts, at least while the nearby college was still in session.

A few hours after opening music filled the air. The chaotic rumble of voices enjoying a night out soared through the space. The band that he hired played some great covers ranging through the 1980s and early 2000s and libations flowed from the bar.

The steady pace of the work was intoxicating to Leo. Even though it was a much lower paying endeavor than his last job in global shipping and sales, he couldn’t complain. He had come to realize that there was a certain vitality that he was drawn to, when groups of strangers congregated to relieve the stress of their week of work and school in the bottom of a glass. Leo briefly thought it was somewhat similar to how he felt looking at the sky on the way here.

And that vitality was always in full swing at Leo’s. The location of his bar put him within easy distance of a State University, a hospital, and a recently built business campus. This gave him a steady stream of beautiful coeds, nurses, and high-powered businesswomen to unwind and enjoy his hospitality.

Caught in a lull in the activity, Leo stepped away from the bar as Jennifer and Hank, his other bartenders, continued to bark orders to the barbacks. Hank was a short, but stocky build. His salt and pepper hair and deep blue eyes commanded respect. His barrel chest and scarred cheek gave pause to the roughest of customers, but his fatherly demeanor for the female patrons made him one of the best bartenders Leo had ever seen. Jennifer was much the same for the men that frequented the bar. Leo paused his musings and took a long draught on a glass of ice water when he caught an odd sight from the corner of his eye.

At the end of the bar sat a raven-haired woman. She sat forward with her collar turned up on her black leather jacket. She was leaning forward on her elbows with a drink in hand and an intentional glare that seemed to say, “fuck you” to any approaching hopeful suitors. As she brought her glass to her lips, Leo noticed her skin was glowing! From a few feet away he could tell she had extremely fair, flawless, and milky skin on her exposed forearms and upper chest. Even beyond this whiteness she glowed.

The supple upper curves of her modestly exposed cleavage poked out of her jacket and black satin, v-neck top. What looked like a combination of something like tribal scrawl and Nordic runes adorned her flesh. These softly glowing symbols seemed to flow out of her half-sleeved jacket and down her arms in a mesmerizing pulse of a midnight black-purple that handsomely paired with her black attire. Before he knew it, Leo was standing in front of her, his mouth dry and knees locked.

A strange force seemed to wash over him. He felt hesitant to approach her. Almost like he was intruding on her space, even though he owned the building. However, a pleasant pressure that started at the back of his skull gradually descended into his spine with fuzzy pin-picks of pleasure. He automatically reached into the fridge just below the bar and drew out a beer. Popping the top, he stiffly set it out for her to enjoy after the drink in her hand was drained. She noticed the gesture and looked down at his hand with a frown. As the dark-haired mystery woman spoke, she lifted her gaze to his.

“What’s this for?”, she asked dryly.

Leo was floored. Her eyes were a deep cobalt blue that seemed to dance and swirl as he gazed into their unknowable depths. Staring into those beautiful orbs he noticed they faded to a purple halo that ringed her irises. He’d met thousands of beautiful women in his life and never had he been struck dumb with just a look and a few words. The woman before him was his embodiment of perfection. Her melodic voice floated into his ears and caused a warmth down his neck to his chest, that set his heart racing.

Leo realized he had been silent too long as he looked over her perfect high cheekbones and luscious lips. She raised her eyebrows at him waiting for a response.

He coughed out, “I ... don’t know. I can get you something else if you like, but for some reason I thought you’d like it...”

“You know nothing about me”, she coldly responded, turning away.

“True, but...”, he said.

“Look,” cutting him off, “I’m sure you’re a great guy. Hell, I’m sure you can talk up a new woman every night and never have your bed empty. I’m just not interested.”

Leo was shocked. While he wasn’t a virgin by any standard, and he did have some moderate success with women, he wasn’t some chick magnet. Her assumption bothered him more than it should have. Why did he care so much about what this strange woman thought of him anyway? He wasn’t going to push and cause a scene. It was his bar afterall

He nodded once and planned on ducking back over to the other side of the bar to get back to work, but stopped, looked over his shoulder and half-heartedly muttered, “Well nice to meet you anyway ... and nice tats”.

The woman almost choked on the first sip of the beer he had just given her. With eyes wide she turned and stared into the back of his head as he walked away. What the hell!?

It was another wasted night. Her patrols hadn’t turned up any new leads and she was getting tired of being away from Iridinia. She knew why her mission was important, but without anything to show for it, she knew she would have to justify being in the non-magical world for longer. Deciding she was done for the night, she walked over to the nearby bar, drawn in by the bright lights and music.

She had never been to this particular pub, but all non-magical bars are the same. The spirits were boring since they didn’t have the same alchemical enhancements as home. The music was lackluster without rune enhanced instruments that could broadcast the emotions of the artist playing them. However, stress is stress and thirst is thirst. She figured something was better than nothing.

A few minutes after she took her seat at the bar, she could see and hear the regular bar flies trying to approach her. She quickly ordered a drink from the woman behind the bar nearest to her and fixed her face into an unattractive sneer to dissuade these idiots from coming near. They must have sensed the small amount of her aura she pushed out because they quickly gave up. Just as she was starting to pull her focus inward to enjoy her drink and recount the activities of her patrol, the unexpected happened.

The younger of the male bartenders walked right over to her. She already had a drink so she wasn’t sure why, other than the obvious. He was going to try his luck too. Another non-magical casanova that thought he had a shot. Yeah right. But after he gave her a free beer, he turned and said the one thing that would grab her attention in a place like this. He noticed her ink.

Nikki lurched forward awkwardly on her padded stool leaning over the bar. She craned her neck looking to get a good look at the man she was just talking to. The bar was too busy now and she couldn’t see him clearly through the crowd. One thought kept repeating in her mind. He could see her void runes. It didn’t make sense though. She was outside the magical barrier. She was begrudgingly enjoying a night amongst the normals.

She found the non-magical world was mundane but sometimes there were moments. Like having a good beer while alone with your thoughts. She looked down at the long neck bottle in her hands. It was her favorite aside from the enhanced brews back home. A slight chill crept up her spine. His words echoed in her mind, thinking that she would like it. How the hell did he know that? She could see over a dozen different brands and varieties in the coolers behind the bar. Was it just a lucky guess?

About thirty minutes later, her mind kept returning to these questions but she couldn’t come up with an answer. Non-magical people couldn’t see, feel, or manipulate arcane energy. There was no reason he should be able to see the markings that marred her skin. She knew she needed to talk to him again, but she was worried. Had she lost her chance by being such a bitch? She sighed, knowing it was just her automatic response. A defense mechanism carefully honed by nearly all women; especially those that are categorized as attractive.

She glanced up and noticed he was looking at her from down the bar. Now that she really looked at him, she felt even more conflicted. “Nikki, you idiot, he’s fucking gorgeous!”, she thought to herself. He was a little over 6 feet tall, with broad shoulders and well defined chest. His plain black t-shirt spread taut over his shoulders and tight at the arms. His arms weren’t overly muscled but perfectly lean with just a hint of the veins below showing through. His skin had a slight tan that handsomely complimented his dark brown hair. His eyes, so light brown they looked like liquid gold haphazardly mixed with flecks of green giving a playful and mischievous glint in those mesmerizing orbs.

Leo raised a dark eyebrow at her and she raised the bottle he had dropped off as a sign of thanks. Her heart hammered in gratitude because he had inadvertently given her a chance to answer the questions buzzing in her head. She waved him back over.

“So was I right”? He asked flatly before a coy smile touched the edges of his mouth...

It took her a minute to realize what he was saying. She had lined up her thoughts and was prepared to take the lead in this conversation so she could coax out his secrets. She nodded in response and took another swig. She kept her eyes locked to his and held out her hand.

“Sorry about earlier. It’s been a long ... week. I’m Nikki”

He waved off her apology. “Don’t worry about it. I get it. Believe me, even though we keep a close eye, I still see a lot of guys acting like creeps in their quest to get laid”, huffed Leo as he shook her slender hand. “I’m Leo”

bat her long lashes and flirtatiously asked, “So you like my ink?

“Oh yeah definitely. I’ve never seen these types of designs. And how do you get it to glow like that? Is it some type of fluorescent ink?”

Stunned again, Nikki cracked a wide smile to hide her alarm. “Oh no, it’s nothing like that. It’s an uncommon process though, so not a lot of people know about it,” she lied. In actuality the tattooing process for her runes was completely passive and not really something that could be controlled. However, she needed to figure out who he was and what he knew about her world. Nikki’s instinct guided her to ask, “Can you read what they say?”

She held her breath as Leo looked over her chest. For some reason his leer caused her nipples to harden and her cheeks to flush. Damn he was hot! Something about him seemed very dangerous. Little did she know that Leo was thinking the same thing about her.

Leo was still holding her hand, so he rotated her extended arm over a bit until one of the glowing tattoos filled his vision. He stared at it for a few moments while Nikki watched his eyes. His lips moved on their own as if he was whispering to himself. When he glanced back up and met her eyes, she couldn’t believe it when he asked, “What’s a guardian ... of ... void?”

Nikki clenched her teeth and her heart nearly stopped. It took all her self control to stop herself from crushing his hand. He could resist her aura. He could perceive her runes when they should have been completely invisible. He could even READ THEM! What the hell is going on!? So much for being off patrol. She needed to keep him in her sight the rest of the evening. While she had these thoughts she knew that she had to maintain her cool exterior. While they hadn’t been too flirty, the fact that he held her hand longer than necessary and was gazing deeply into her eyes told her to take the next step.

“Well ... that might be a conversation for a more ... private setting,” she smiled, adding a little wink.

Leo flushed slightly at her boldness. He liked women that knew what they wanted. And while he was sure she thought she was in control he was reading her the whole time. While she might seem perfectly relaxed to anyone else, he knew she was wound tight like a spring. She was hiding something that was very important to her and that made him want to dig deeper into her secret even more. He decided if she was going to be so bold, then he would be too.

“Well, I do have an office in the back. It’s in the loft above the bar if you want to head back?” he smirked.

“Actually that would be great. But only if you get me another one of these,” Nikki mused as she tapped the now empty bottle against the bar.

“Sure. I’ll have one with you. Just let me tell my bartenders that I’m slipping away”

As he walked back down the bar to speak with the others Nikki was wracking her brain. She didn’t see any visible tattoos on him, so he was not inked in an obvious way. She definitely didn’t sense any active runes on him, nor concealed runes when she whispered a few words of power and tapped into a small symbol on her right wrist. It just didn’t make sense. And damn, he was so hot. If she wasn’t so on edge about these strange occurrences, she would definitely jump his bones right on top of the bar. God knows it’s been weeks since she had some good dick.

He was walking back to her and came out front of the bar with two beers in one hand while holding out his other to her.

“Are you ready? The stairs are back here”, Leo explained.

“I’m ready, but are you?” she asked coyly, trying to diffuse the unease that was building.

Leo smiled at her as he grasped her hand and guided her around a partition into a small hall and up to the office-slash-loft via the stairs. As they entered Nikki looked around and was pleasantly surprised.

The space wasn’t huge, but it was bigger than she thought it would be. Along with the space having a desk and normal office furniture, there was a door to the right that led to an attached bedroom. On the opposite wall, near the desk, there was a comfortable looking couch. Nikki could feel Leo guiding her there so they could talk. As they neared, he dropped her hand and asked if she wanted to sit as he sank into the couch. As he leaned back, Nikki narrowed her eyes and whispered an incantation under her breath. From the shadows behind the couch, purple glowing tendrils slithered up the back of the couch and locked onto Leo’s arms.

Leo’s eyes went wide. “What the hell are these things!?” he yelped in alarm. The more he tried to fight them off the tighter they got, until he was completely pinned on his back against the couch. He looked up at Nikki and could see she had her hand stretched out toward him and her eyes glowed with a deep purple like her tattoos.

“Did you do this? Did you create these things? How is that possible? What do you want?!” Leo rambled, chest heaving and volume increasing with each question.

Nikki laughed, “Oh Leo. You can drop the act now. We’re going to have a little chat, and you’re going to answer all my questions. If you lie to me, I’ll know. Those binding shadows help me to discern the truth. So please be good, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt”.

Leo’s eyes went wide as saucers as the improbable answer to his last questions were all but confirmed. So he nodded his head as he didn’t know what this woman was capable of if she could overpower him so easily. Admittedly, he was quite turned-on by her ability to take control so quickly.

What Nikki didn’t tell Leo is that the tendrils that bound his arms were already sending her all the information she needed. They had tapped into his nervous system in such a way to share his memories with her. He had no idea about her world. He didn’t even believe in magic until he just witnessed her use it. He was completely in the dark. His mind was nearly the same as all other non-magical people. However, she found what she needed. The missing puzzle piece. His memory. Nikki now knew why he could see her runes, and resist her aura. She knew how he could read a language of artifice without having any formal training.

Leo has an eidetic memory. While most people think this is just a genetic phenomenon resulting in a parlor trick, what they don’t realize is that this is a side effect of coming in contact with strong arcane energy while in the womb or as a small child. On top of this, Nikki learned through her binding spell that Leo was adopted.