A man walks through a forest seemingly searching for a magical pack of wolves. This was by far the weirdest thing he had done, and possibly the dumbest. The last few weeks he had been bumbling through the magical community, finding Fae, witches, ritualists; thankfully none of the sacrificing kind, and a cooky knife salesman who Nicki was now sure sold more than knives. He had spotted him selling a crystal ball at the commune, and deciding he might be a good contact he got the man’s contact info. Not to mention the psychic dogs. He was only thirty percent certain of the creatures he was looking for.

He was following rumors of a pack of wolves in a park, smarter than other animals, and hard to be seen. Also, one of the elves in the commune mentioned seeing their fur glisten and shine like the moon. He may have also hallucinated the conversation, Nicki was pretty high on whatever was in that cupcake.

It was a bit flimsy excuse, for him to search out a pack of wolves, something he never thought he never thought he would do, and probably shouldn’t be. He was musing on the ridiculousness of it all when a low growl came from behind.

He turned to see a massive wolf, long canines exposed, and silvery gray fur that seemed to shine. He blinked realizing it was shinning. Mana was flowing through each follicle making it shine, and shift in mesmerizing patterns. The silver light of the moon reflected in its fur. Another growl joined the first that was when he realized he was surrounded.

He should have been terrified, like a sane person would. There was no thought in his head saying he could take on this pack. Sure he’s had the fantasy like a lot of people do. Expecting them to take on a wolf pack and win. Seeing it in real life he knew that was just a fantasy. Yet, he wasn’t afraid; in fact, he was thrilled. Here they were, truly magical creatures he found in the woods. Like a fairy tale gone wrong. He was thrilled. There is something wrong with me.

The wolves seemed to notice Nicki’s strange reaction as their growls slowly stopped, the lead wolf turning its head curiously.

Seeing this as his chance, “Hello, I am Nicholas Knight.”

The pack leader’s ears twitched, and nothing else.

“So, Hi. I was hoping to introduce myself to your pack. I’ve been going around introducing myself to the magic community.”

None of the animals replied, they just looked on curious, their heads no longer lowered ready to lunge.

“Well…Uh.” Nicki didn’t think he’d get this far so he wasn’t really sure how to talk to them. “I was hoping—” What was he actually hoping for? They wouldn’t be able to track the book. It had been weeks, any scent would be gone. Unless there was some sort of magic smell tracking. When Nicki tried a spell like that he was completely overwhelmed with all the smells. Maybe they might. “I was hoping your pack or maybe one of you. If you have the time could help me find something.”

The wolves just stared at him.

When the silence dragged on a thought finally occurred to him. Are they just normal wolves with a touch of mana? A touch of fear crawled into his voice, “If you could. I’ve lost a very important book—”

He could have sworn the lead wolf rolled his eyes before it turned away and disappeared into the woods. After a few seconds, the others joined them, leaving Nicki alone in the woods. “I guess they won’t help.

#

In a place that sits just behind a door. A place perfectly within reach if you just know the right directions. Here a doll is spinning in a chair trying to decompress after dealing with all her own emotions.

“Weeee” She yelled as she spun but she wasn’t quite feeling the fun yet. Her head was light, but her heart was heavy. Which was something to say since it was made of plastic, or even she wasn’t sure if she had any internal organs in doll form, anymore. With that thought, she started to have a mini existential crisis about her existence while she spun.

“Hello.” A woman’s voice startled her.

She jumped trying to stop the spinning chair only to fall out of it onto her face. “Ow?”

“Did that actually hurt or are you saying that because you think you should?” The voice asked as Drystia scrambled to her feet, straightening out her suit. She had spent a long time finding just the right ensemble that was professional, yet approachable. The fact she got it off a teddy bear that was bigger than her, was just a fun bit of trivia that made her smile.

She kept straightening her outfit biding her time until her eyes stopped spinning. Remembering the question she answered, “Wounded pride is a kind of pain.”

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“I supposed it is.”

Drystia finally looked to see a woman, a person she could only describe as a woman. She pushed the thought behind her finding it irrelevant as she climbed back into her chair searching for the woman’s file. Which she quickly found was not there. Looking up she looked at the woman who smiled a laugh held back.

“Did you grab the file off my desk?”

“What file?”

“Your file.”

“My file?

“Yes, your file. Did you take a file off the desk?”

“I did not but I don’t think we know each other yet for you to look at this.” In her hand a manila folder appeared, radiating a strangely familiar power. The air in the office seemed to resonate with me. Then all at once the file was gone.

“Well, that’s new.”

“Hi, I’m Ge. And it’s time for your performance review.”

Oh Shit.

#

#

A pack of semi-magical wolves ran through the woods until they reached a clearing. The pack circles up gathering for a discussion. One, larger than the rest steps forward, “Who talked?” It was very rare for them to run into a human out there let alone one looking for them. Even less one that knew they were magical. Yuma looked out to his pack looking for one of them to say something. As his gaze passed over one who refused to look at him he sighed. “ Jerry.” His voice filled with disappointment.

“I didn’t say anything.” He defended himself still refusing to look at Yuma. Yuma for his part stared at Jerry till he caved. “I just may have been seen by someone.”

“That shouldn’t have alerted someone. Let alone give them the information to find us.” Yuma said confused at how just being seen would lead to this.

Jerry for his part didn’t say anything.

“He went to the commune. You know the one with the elves and Dryads.” One of the other wolves piped up. Jerry looked at his sister annoyed.

Yuma could only shake his head. “Jerry.”

“The food is just so good, and they’re all so nice. They always have a lot of treats too.” His mouth started to drool as he tried to defend himself.

“Ug Jerry. You haven’t spoken to them, have you?” They had worked hard not to talk to the other races. They really didn’t want to get mixed in with the psychic dogs. They were kind of assholes.

“No.”

Yuma felt relief at that. “Thats fine then. Now Jerry.”

“Yes?”

“What kind of treats?”

Jerru blinked giving a big doggy grin.

#

Somewhere in a coffee shop, a woman is bothering her friend at work again, when she should really be sleeping. She had bags under her eyes and her body was hot, and her muscles sore. She just couldn’t sleep there was too much on her mind. Especially after watching Lilly read the book. Her eyes had been glowing, and her hair grew longer and became more vibrant, before passing out. She was a tiny bit jealous, she may have gone to the mirror trying to compare her hair length to photos she had from before. She couldn’t see any difference, maybe her hair was darker, possibly longer, but without anything to compare it to she couldn’t tell, and ended up staying up all night wondering what else she could do. Then began to read the book more, and she just became even more conflicted.

“Lilly, what am I doing?” Alice said leaning over the counter.

“Interrupting me at my job again.” She said shaking her head while making a drink. “Seriously, you’ve gotten clingy since you’ve become a wizard.”

“Do I even want to become a wizard?” It was an option. What could she even do with magic? Could she win the lottery? Would she be allowed to? Were their safeguards in place against magic?

“And you’re completely ignoring me. Maybe I should ignore you.” Alice looked over at Lilly with a cheeky smile. Waiting knowing she was- “But why wouldn’t you want to be a wizard? Always wanted actual magic.” She said checking out her hair in a mirror.

“I mean it would be cool. Not to mention I could do my job a lot better.” She was already thinking of the ways she could use her magic to help her with all the paperwork. Could I make a magic pen that just writes it all down?

Lilly snorted. “Oh yeah.” Her voice changed to a mocking tone, “Of course, your honor I was able to collect all this evidence with magic.” Deepening her voice she continued. “Oh really so all this evidence just appeared?” Returning to her normal voice she said proudly. “No, I cast a spell.” Switching again, “Take the crazy woman away.”

Alice felt her face heat. It hadn’t even occurred to her to use it to help find evidence. Lilly did not need to know that. “I wouldn’t just summon evidence. I’d use it to find already existing evidence.”

Lilly continued making her a drink frothing the milk. “So you gain the reputation of finding dead bodies and murder weapons. Your career rises and you get promoted and stuck behind a desk, or refuse and stay as a detective, once you reach that rank, forever. Or maybe you just become the suspect in a lot of serial killer cases and they let you go to make themselves look better or avoid press.”

Lilly was making some good points. A lot of them were obvious to the point she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of them first. “Wow, those were just off the top of your head?”

“I like crime shows. So what spells do you already know?”

“None.” She hadn’t gotten that far, or at least she hoped. So far the pages she could read were simply a primer for future knowledge and a way to circulate mana to increase her mana. It was all quite fascinating so far.

“Then what was that girl in the house?”

“Just moved mana into her so you could see her.” It was the closest thing to a spell she had learned so far.

Lilly stepped up to the counter, “Back up.”

“Huh?”

“You’re in the way.” She said as Alice to a step to the side, “Large Mocha Latte for Jane!”

A woman stood and grabbed the drink.

“Have a great day!” Lilly said to the woman leaving the shop.

“Oh yeah, you’re working.” She had been so caught up in herself she kind of forgot.

Lilly narrowed her eyes. “And so should you.”

Alice looked at her phone, “Shit!” She was late and ran out the door.

* * *