With his school backpack braced securely over his left shoulder, Nathan pulled his bike into the opening of the old forest path. It was treacherous for walking, much more so for biking; to stray sideways from its beaten dirt meant hitting a tree or falling into a precipice, even at low speed.

Not only was it narrow and uneven, deadly downhill slopes dominated portions of its western side. Sharp rocks stuck in the ground, hidden by piles of softer debris. Branches hung low enough to tangle inside a bicycle's chains, or just high enough to swat a rider's head. Worst of all was the isolation, the path wandered off into distant woodland before curving back into the main road. At one time, it might have been a shortcut, but nobody knew where. Instead, it added three kilometers to an otherwise simple journey.

Nathan rolled up his sleeves before clenching the handlebars. This was personal. She humiliated him front of two football team all-stars he admired. His thoughts filled with unkind words. His cheeks turned red as teeth clenched while he jumped on the seat and rode forward at full speed.

Trees scrolled past. He easily avoided the first set of stones in the path. He took deep breathes. She owed him an apology at the very least, maybe he would simply ignore her. The air rushed at him, rippling the drab cotton-polyester blend shirt. The scent of fresh leaves rushed through the forest air.

The conversation replayed in his head as the sun flickered through the treetops like a strobe bulb. He did call her a gorilla girl, that was a little too far. But she'd have to get over it! It wasn't like he was the one who had been violent and stupid. A set of low hanging branches on the left forced him to ride to the severe right edge of a small cliff.

He forgot about Jody for a moment. Next was a pile of pine branches laced with poison sumac. He rode over a slanted stone that he had set there himself long ago, jumping over the pile. A huge oak branch loomed low enough to catch his forehead. He squeezed his face against the handlebars of his bike, avoiding it narrowly. The heart pounding in his chest confirmed the rush of pulling off a dangerous stunt.

He was flying at the highest speed the bike and his legs could manage when the old man in black walked from behind a tree directly in front of him. He stood blocking the way of a narrow path and looking around in confusion while leaning on the support of a cane. There was no time to stop. The path was too narrow to pass him. Nathan swerved into a tree, his bike crashing as he flew off the seat. He managed to push off the tree trunk with his palms to save his neck. His feet kicked up dry dirt in the center of the path as he skidded while landing backwards. Nathan stood angrily and faced the old man.

If he had gone a few feet to the left, it would have been a nasty ten-meter drop. He shifted his weight to make sure he was still intact, nothing felt sprained or broken. His knees didn't hurt. The old man watched him stiffly, throwing back his cape and smoothing the creases in the arms of his suit. He was a scrawny old man with a confident stance. Apparently, he had something to prove. Hanging from the left side of his belt was a worn leather-bound book closed with old rope.

"Are you trying to kill me?" yelled Nathan, retrieving his bike from the side of the tree. The front wheel was twisted beyond repair, both the tire and its ruptured tube hung loosely around a misshapen rim. Nathan clenched his teeth.

"This is going to cost me a fortune! Hey Dementia Dan, what were you thinking jumping out in front of me like that!? Do I have to walk you back into town now? I don't have time for that!"

The old man didn't respond; instead, he stretched out his arms, staring silently at the space between his hands. A red sphere of light formed between his palms.

"Neat trick," Nathan said nervously. "Are you some kind of dementia mage? Wait, are you the recruiter? Well, forget about it; I'm not interested in joining your team."

Dead-leaf shot the orb forward. Nathan ducked to avoid it. It turned back towards him after passing a distance. Sensing this, Nathan jumped behind a tree and the sphere splattered against its trunk. Flames burst from the wood. Nathan rolled from the blaze, staining his clothes with the moist black soil from under the dust.

"You're trying to kill me! Who the heck are you?"

The wizard's smile exposed a set of slimy, rotten teeth. Nathan assumed a defensive posture, watching carefully.

"I thought finding you would be more difficult but you were stupid enough to use your pendant earlier, and I saw the power it gave you. My associates call me the wizard of the Dead Leaves. You can call me Dead-leaf. Call yourself Dead."

"Could you at least tell me why you want to kill me?"

"That would spoil the fun."

The wizard coughed before squeezing his fist tightly and circling it like a lasso. Another red sphere formed in midst of his motion. This one was brighter and larger than the last. Nathan slid down into the precipice for cover. Fingers clung to a rock and allowed him to climb down to a smooth outcropping.

The sphere split the trunk of a huge maple tree, half of which fell toward Nathan. He dodged in time to avoid being crushed. The harsh lashings of its branches ripped his shirt about the shoulders and scratched his cheeks and arms. He emerged from the debris with a numb right shoulder from a minor blow.

He hid at the bottom edge of the rocky precipice, hoping the old man would think him dead. Dead-leaf sniffed before his wooden staff pounded the ground, loosening rocks with a shockwave. They were sent tumbling down to force Nathan from his hiding place to avoid being stoned to death.

That was it, Nathan clasped his pendant with one hand while quickly climbing up the rocky cliff, grasping holds that were too sharp or almost nonexistent with his left hand and feet while dodging another hail of stones to reach the top. With the pendant's power, it was as easy as a quick jog to get back on the path.

Legs coiled before he jumped. A single thrust of his leg jammed a foot in the wizard's face. The old man fell back as a trickle of blood squirted from his mouth and oozed onto his chin. Nathan rushed in for a second attack while in close range, hoping for an uppercut, but he flinched at the thought of hitting the now tottering old man.

The wizard grabbed his wrist with boney wrapping fingers that made a snapping sound as they curled. A paralyzing electricity surged through Nathan's body. The pendant deactivated as Nathan kicked the wizard backwards before dropping on his knees. Only a rush of adrenaline saved him from immobilization. The wizard also recovered slowly, taking several seconds to stand.

"You should have been out cold after that first kick," Nathan muttered.

"I'm not one of your peers you violent brat. My race is not that easy to conquer, even though so many of us are beyond our prime."

More blood fell from the old man's jaw, he pressed it, and one of his teeth fell backwards. He yanked out a dank, yellow, bottom tooth.

"A wizard's tooth contains great magic," Dead-leaf spit, "You've done well to destroy a portion of it. No mind, I'll restore it soon."

"You attacked me, I had to defend myself," Nathan said, slowly backing away as much as he could manage. "Look, do you want me to get help? I don't know what you are, but nobody's going to believe you attacked me first, and I'm going to have a reputation for beating up old men with dementia! That's what you wanted anyway, right?"

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"No! You will lose something far greater than your reputation."

"Give it a break! You haven't had enough?" Nathan certainly hoped the old man was finished because he didn't feel like he could dodge another attack like the first two, not with this strange electricity wrapping his body. It felt like wearing a heavy chain.

"I will make sure you gain no more power from the artifact around your neck."

"Are you talking about my grandfather's pendant?" Nathan asked, "How do you know about that!?"

"It's capable of creating great power in the hands of a Guardian," the wizard said, panting himself.

Nathan felt his muscles cramp so he fell to his knees.

"It seems all but the last of my power has been exhausted by your blow, so there is no way I can hurt you properly for now. Yet you are only suffering a temporary paralysis and will soon be ready for another round."

Nathan smiled, but he didn't feel the electric chains getting any lighter.

"Why are you telling me I have the upper hand?"

The wizard detached the large book from his belt, "Because you would if I didn't have this book. This book will... well... I'm pretty sure it will steal your youth and vigor and give it to me. Then, I will take your pendant from your dry corpse. I will restore myself to my former glory!"

The old wizard slowly approached Nathan, who struggled with great effort to crawl away, but he couldn't move fast enough under the electric paralysis. The wizard sprinkled blood from his wounded jaw over Nathan's forehead. It was sickening, but Nathan found himself too paralyzed to resist.

"So, what are you planning?" Nathan asked, still trying to weaken the chains of flickering light numbing his body.

Dead-leaf smiled, "The spell I'm using is quite different. It's called 'The Hand of Death' in your tongue."

The wizard dipped his fingers into his mouth, covering them with bloody saliva which he smeared on the binding ropes. It acted as an acid, eating through the fibers, yet never affecting the leather binding. The wizard sat the book down in front of Nathan and opened it.

The inside was hollow; and the pages had been cut through to create a compartment. Inside, there was a severed hand, dried with age; its fingers moved, and the hand crawled out of the book like a big slow tarantula. Slowly it crawled up Nathan's leg, past his belt, then clutched his uniform on a slow climb towards his neck as Nathan squirmed backwards.

Dead-leaf smiled, "Since you are paralyzed it can easily strangle you. And since it is weak your death will be slow and painful," suddenly the old man's smile faded. "Wait a minute, that isn't a hand of death."

Deadleaf attempted a fireball aimed at the withered hand with dusty fingers as it crawled over Nathan's face. A ward blocked the magic and it all dissapated into nothing. Nathan's adrenaline pumped enough so that he could overcome the paralysis to manage lifting his arms, which were held in the air without doing much else. The hand roosted atop of Nathan's head while giving his scalp a gentle pet.

It made his head itch. Finally, Nathan managed to crush the hand between his upright palms. It was crumbly, like a dry leaf, and became a shimmering dust that fell over his body. Then there were long black strands of shimmering hair which fell over Nathan's shoulders, in front of his face, and down his back.

"What the..." Nathan said, pulling the hair from his eyes while taking a deep breath.

Dead-leaf laughed derisively while wiping sweat from his brow as his skin became sickly pale. The hairs on the back of Nathan's neck straightened, "That hand would have barely been able to pinch you had you left it alone." He took a deep panting breath. "See here now, I allowed your fear to activate a curse that is purely voluntary. You are powerless... against me." Deadleaf wheezed and coughed, "Now I can withdraw my precious life energy from your body without fearing your retaliation."

The wizard stood as the electricity passed out of Nathan's fingers, and back into the wizard's palm. Once the remaining paralyzing force of Dead-leaf's life energy was gone, Nathan jumped to his feet defiantly. He pushed back the annoying hair, then focused his power. He felt it flowing through him as always.

"Don't feel any different from before," he said, "I don't believe in hurting senior citizens, so if you go away now, we can both forget this stupidity ever happened."

"Maybe it needs more time," Dead-leaf muttered while recovering some of his color, "No, I'd prefer to keep you here for a while longer."

With his life energy returning, Dead-leaf could launch a small burst of energy. It changed into a gum that wrapped Nathan's legs, hardening around them. Nathan merely stretched and the constraint cracked before it crumbled into dust. He stared at the wizard pensively as a vibration tickled his vocal cords, which he felt throughout his throat.

"You're weaker now." Nathan said, the pitch of his voice higher as it cracked, and the tone much softer. He coughed, considering it an aberration, but even his cough was unrecognizable to him. Through peripheral vision he noticed the hair again. He felt its weight on his scalp and back. He pulled it from both sides, feeling the tug on his scalp. As he pulled at it, he noticed the hair on his arms receding into his skin somewhat.

"I don't understand," Nathan said, "What's happening to me?"

"Hmm," Dead-leaf mumbled, "Is this the beginning of a process? It's not working the way I expected."

"Make it stop!" Nathan screamed.

Nathan moved forward with a punch ready only to flop flat on his face with arms flailed outwards. The joints in Nathan's fingers cracked and popped as he got on his hands and knees. The muscles in his hands vibrated. The same sensation began in his toes and worked its way up his feet into his ankles. His wrist snapped while the muscles of his palm and fore-arm jumped in response. He pulled his right palm close to his face and watched as the fingers narrowed, the palm shrunk. Skin tightened with the shrinking form seamlessly, gaining a smoother more delicate texture.

Every joint in Nathan's body cracked as he approached Dead-leaf, but he was barely able to clasp the collar of the old man's cloak when a fierce set of simultaneous snaps sent waves of pain through his back. There was a gasp followed by an astonished cry. Nathan fell on his hands and knees again in front of the exhausted wizard, who watched patiently with an upraised eyebrow.

Slowly, Nathan pushed back to his feet. A wounded warrior with scratches across his arms and torn pants stood ready to defend himself. Standing ready was the best Nathan could manage because every bone in his body vibrated after his hips abandoned their sockets with a snap. The hip bones expanded outwards while continually finding and abandoning their sockets with modest pops. Nathan couldn't move well until the popping and pressure ceased.

Did the old wizard look taller? He could move again withoug falling! Dead-leaf was simply watching so an attack would be easy, right!? Slender fingers curled for a punch from a hand that didn't seem like his own. Nathan tripped again. Palms hit the dirt without skidding. His left sneaker fell off because it was far too big for his foot. His socks fit like cloth sacks over now slender ankles.

Dead-leaf approached, but a pulse of energy repelled him from the quivering boy. Nathan remained focused on his opponent, pushing to stand in stocking feet. The rocks on the path hurt a little bit.

"What is going on?" Dead-leaf mumbled, "Ambrosia, you had better not have lied to me!"

Nathan formed another punch despite a sudden searing pain in his lower abdomen. This time he didn't fall over, but the punch was poorly aimed. Dead-leaf found it quite easy to throw up a ward and block it with his wrinkly hand. The force Nathan had demonstrated earlier was greatly diminished, but Dead-leaf sensed an unrefined nimbleness in the attack.

It didn't help that Nathan was in some obvious pain. Things just didn't feel right as he backed off after the attack. His legs pushed together as his hands pushed down his abdomen. Nathan found himself disoriented as gentle weights began to bud across his chest. Something bounced when he adjusted his stance for the next attack, so he looked down instead of attacking.

"No way! No!" he cried, "What kind of joke is this!"

Dead-leaf blinked, "So, when are you going to die so I can absorb your youth and power? You are supposed to be becoming a mummified corpse. So why are you still alive!?"

"Shut up! This can't be real!" he cried, as he pulled at his bangs, "This. Can. Not. Be. Real. You did this didn't you!?" He suddenly burst out laughing, "No, this is just one of those weird dreams. This can't even anywhere near be real! I'm going to wake up and forget any of this ever happened! Right?"

Dead-leaf spit, "So, it seems I've been tricked, but Ambrosia is the true fool. Hand over your pendant. I will accept nothing less for all my hard work."

Nathan remembered his bike. He thought about how he landed, and concluded that he must have hit his head. The old man with dementia was probably wandering down the path trying to find his marbles. Nathan pinched his cheek, pulling it away from his teeth.

"This is some kind of sicko dream, isn't it? Do you know what the guys would think I was if they knew I had dreams like this? Please wake up soon!"

Dead-leaf simply frowned, "The guild will not be pleased. I require the pendant now, if you value your life."

"I'm not going to let you take that," Nathan yelled, "Even if this is a dream, I have to beat you until you agree to reverse this."

Nathan jumped for a branch, but miscalculated his height as he was five inches shorter now. The pain of his butt hitting the soil hard recoiled up his spine. There was a panicked gasp, his eyes went wide. He grasped the pendant, gathering power to deflect the ball of electricity forming between the wizard's palms.

"Pozalm Zabarias," he said emphatically.

A purple vortex opened underneath him. Nathan gasped and went wide eyed. A schoolbag and a rope-bound book fell inside along with him as it closed. The wizard released his energy into the trees with a curse because his target was gone. As he was breathing heavily, he sat by the hillside cross-legged. Withered hands reached into his bag to retreive a few vials of recovery potion and a long pipe stuffed with tobacco.