Kenan looked around. Confused. He knew he had looked at his uncle, and shared an uncertain moment. But the door was open. Doco hadn’t touched it, he hadn’t either. To the side were the horses, still both hitched. Jefned certainly didn’t. Then he did a double take. Inside was a huge, sprawling library with hundreds of books. Tomes of magical instruction. But there was a blur. Like he looked through water and all the details were skewered. He looked around the door, past the building. Behind it too before he landed back at his previous spot.

“It's smaller on the outside,” Kenan said. Dion, who now resided on his master's shoulder. Yapped in agreement.

“Huh. I said it’s bigger on the inside.” Doco commented.

It was like his inhibitions, his fear was peeled back. His ignorance was no longer a factor of trepidation but a multiplier for a thirst for knowledge. Kenan took a step, then another. He was just at the threshold. Then a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. “Hold Ken. I know. Trust me, I know. Come here. Look. What do you see? How do you think it works?”

“I’ll bet you three chickens it’s magic,” Kenan said. Dion yowled in a burlesque laugh.

“Aye. You’ve been spending too much time with your sister and her sarcasm. Look, really look at it.” Doco gave his nephew a hard stare. “Kenny.”

Kenan returned the glare with just as much vehemence. “You swore.”

“The rest did. I said I’ll try.”

There was an extra long agitated sigh and eye roll. Then Kenan focused. He tried to. But the metaphysical sense he tried to grasp slipped right out of his clutches. There were another three attempts. Each ended in another failure. It was easy before. Now something was gone. No, there was a disconnect. He didn't understand why. Now whatever sight he had was like trying to catch a scared chicken. Elusive and frustrating. The avian was kept at fingertip length, so close but never caught.

So he did what he would do if this problem had feathers and pretended to have his attention elsewhere. Then strike when the chicken had its guard down. Kenan looked past Magia Cougulam, focused on the movement of some burgmann. At the edges of his mind, just beyond his sight. Kenan saw, felt, smelled, and just understood. On the limit of the door were orange and bright blue sparks of power. They flickered in and out. There but gone in a blink. It felt like the entire building wanted to move or be moved. Kenan wasn’t sure. But grey runes carved in incorrect isometric shapes that felt like they anchored it all down. “It feels like it’s barely here. Is it even here?”

“It sure is. I’m impressed Ken. The Sight is hard to pin down. Harder when it’s new.” Doco smiled with a proudness behind it. “You don’t know what Lu’s magic is right? Well, it’s this. Not exactly the same, but they share a school. Enchantment. A very hard branch of magic.”

“Enchantment? School? What are those… Hey!” Dion jumped from Kenan's shoulder and into the doorway. Kenan followed instinctively. The world flipped, turned left and right, inverted. Something cracked and twisted then Kenan wobbled on his feet. In front of him was an unchallengeable repertoire of books. It stretched farther than he could see and it sickened him.

“Of course deary.” Kenan heard a voice behind him. It was in a drawl. Slow and foreign. He turned to see the door gone. Instead, there was a break in the bookshelf scene with a solemn desk. Behind it was an older woman. She had too-large glasses on her face. Bright gray hair pulled back into a bun. The look was finished with a turquoise robe and a golden insignia on its chest. It was a M and W overlapped circled with more gold.

She patted Dion on the head. Who was perched on the desk as he wagged his tail. “You go on ahead.” Then the fox jumped onto the ground and sped off into the endless tomes. Kenan tried to lunge after him but the furred rocket was gone. “Oh well! Look at you deary! Come on over here. Let me have a look at you.”

Kenan looked back behind him. Just leatherbound paper. His gaze went back and he jumped. His uncle was there. Doco leaned on the desk and gave Kenan a warm smile. Followed by a small nod. With no little hesitation, he walked up. Doco leaned in and whispered. “Just call her Granny.”

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The older woman, Granny, grabbed Kenan’s cheeks in a vice grip. Smushed them and wiggled them around. “Ohhhhhh. Well just look at you! You're so grown. You were just a little sprout since the last time I’ve seen you. That was for your sister, yes? Hmm, what was it? Nature enchantment I believe.” Kenan side-eyed his uncle. Who smothered a barely hidden chuckle with a cough.

Faster than Kenan thought Granny could’ve, she switched targets. His uncle's smile turned into a frown as he tried to squirm his ears out of her iron grasp. “That's a face I haven't seen in a long time either. Hmmm… yes yes… you use telekinesis. Ahh well. Reggie did pick good.” She smiled softly.

As fast as lighting Granny was back to Kenan. “Well well well. Hands on the desk, knuckles down.” Kenan obeyed. She put her hands into his. “Oh yes. Thirteen years old? Have you decided what magic is your fancy?”

“No, ma’am… er.. uh...Granny.”

“Well. The first thing we have to do is to see if you got any natural spunk in you.” One of her hands reached up and grabbed something behind Kenan's ear. In a grand gesture, she revealed a grey stone. Kenan resisted the urge to flatten his ear and tried to keep his jaw closed. “This is a Finder. It takes just a tiny-ity-bity thing of mana. It travels through your arms and goes into the stone. Then if you have a natural affinity. It will glow!” She gently put the stone in Kenan’s hand and guided them into a bowl shape. “Ready deary? Head up and eyes closed, please. This might sting. Only a little.”

He felt nothing. He wanted to open his eyes, but Granny’s request felt like it needed to be met. Then something swirled and churned inside of his stomach. It moved up to his chest. He felt a shudder and something cramped. It felt like his muscles. But that wasn't right. It went deeper. Took something greater than his physical strength. It stopped.

He opened his eyes. The stone was gone. “No affinity my dear. It’s quite all right.” Kenan was disappointed but not surprised. He hadn’t much knowledge of sorcerers but he knew they were powerful. They didn’t need to be taught magic. They were magic.

“Now. You say you don’t have any idea what you want?” Granny smiled sweetly. Kenan shook his head. “Now, normally I might give you some choices. But I think it would be best if you explored.”

Kenan gave a glance at the library. The impossible winding halls that he didn’t think ended. “I might get lost, Granny.”

Her smile turned to a full-fledged grin. “Ohh nonsense. You’ll find your path.” Counter to any of Kenan’s expectations. She disappeared. Then the woman came around the desk. Almost below it. She was small, incredibly tiny. Kenan looked and found she had been standing on a stool. He felt the light push of her hands on his legs. He let her move him. He saw Doco frown, but give a small nod. “You might find that fox of yours too.”

“Al-alright. I’ll be back.” He stepped into the maze of books. “I hope.” He muttered

***

They both watched the boy leave. It wasn’t until Kenan's back wasn’t visible did either take action. Granny waddled back to her seat and Doco spoke. “The boy. He has an af…”

She slapped him on the back of the knee. Hard. “Hush you! I don’t go around denying children what they are. Not without proper cause at least.” She pulled out the stone. Now solid black, with white and blue spots that swirled inside. “Now. I am gonna double check. I warn you the result may not be favorable.” Her tone was harsh but whispered.

She ducked behind the desk. Then she struggled to put a larger, huge even, book on the table. The leather was old and cracked. Its page is in similar disarray with its white yellowed and dust-covered. The title was simple and straightforward. “Affinities and their meanings” She opened it up, and a cloud of fluff shot out. Doco used telekineses to waft it away. She looked up and down the table of contents. She stopped and flipped to somewhere in the middle of the book. Went another few pages and stopped. More magic was used to clear the air.

The page had the same black rock. Below it had the words. “Mortem Comedenti.”

“Oh, deary. This isn’t good. Oh, deary.”

“What's wrong Granny?”

“The boy. Oh, poor boy. He has an affinity with death.”

“Death!? Necromancy!”

“Quite lest the boy hear you! No not Necromancy. That is the binding and contracting of souls. This. This is worse.”

“Worse?! What in the abyss is it?”

“The boy can use the souls of the dead. Feed on them like a vampire. But instead of blood and being cursed. It’s who he is and souls. In the old tongue, it is called a Mortem Comedenti. In the new common. A Death Eater.”

“Death eater? You mean like…”

“Oh yes, sweetie. Those stories.” She frowned. “I'm sorry. I have to report this to The Standing.”

“What does that mean for the boy? What do I tell him? His parents?”

“Nothing. They only require to know of any. With your… standing… the poor boy can go unquestioned. Just, don’t tell him. Once he knows, that's a door that can’t be closed back up. Watch him. His power is no danger inherently, but has terrible temptation.”