“Are you okay, son?” Lain's eyes groggily opened to Ned standing over him.

“Mmmm–I think so,” Lain looked around. He was in a different room and he was lying down… in a bed? “Where am I?”

“You’re in the backroom of my shop. Another customer helped me move you here after you passed out,” Ned took a seat next to the bed. “You’re the first person to pass out it in my shop,” he chuckled wryly.

“What happened?” Lain shifted himself up in the bed, his mind felt foggy.

“I’m not completely sure. I’ve been wracking my brain. You touched the stone on the book, and you’re breath caught…” he paused as if he was remembering something traumatic. “Your eyes, they went black… whites and all, like the night sky had consumed them. Then you fell.”

“My eyes…” Lain said under his breath gently touching his face. “Wait… how long was I out?” Anxiety wrenched in his chest. The meeting!

“You’ve been out for a few hours. I’ve been monitoring you, your pulse has stayed steady, but any longer and I would’ve had to call someone in the Mage’s Guild to see if you’d been cursed.

“Did you say a few hours?” Lain finally had enough brain power and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Five missed calls. He was late! “I’m late! He said jumping out of the bed. “I uh–I’ll be back. I have an important meeting I’m already late for. Thank you for watching after me, but I’ll be back this evening I promise!” Lain walked as quickly as he could to the store’s entrance and started running.

~~~~~~~

“I’m–I’m so–so sorry,” Lain gasped out between breaths. He’d run top speed through Kinden to the restaurant where the business meeting was scheduled to be happening. He’d found the representative walking out of the restaurant before stopping him. “This has never happened before! I had some sort of medical episode.” The representative was a tall plain man. He wore a simple gray suit, with his dark hair parted to one side.

“I’ve been waiting for almost an hour” the man replied curtly.

“Please allow me to explain,” Lain said, still huffing. He bowed low to show his sincerity. The man eyed him with disdain.

“Fine. This had better be a good explanation.”

“Thank you so much,” Lain replied, still bowed. Lain followed the representative back into the restaurant, and they sat at a small table in the corner. The restaurant was small, quaint, and cozy. According to what Lain had learned, it had become famous for their unique style of grilling different meats. Lain had gathered his breath and tried to shift into a professional demeanor.

“My name is Higure,” the man said motioning to himself. “Please, Mr. Dredgewood, explain your tardiness. Our business does not look kindly upon those who do not take our time seriously.”

“I know my family will be tremendously grateful to hear you allowed me a second chance,” Lain said. This man was far more intimidating than he’d hoped, especially for a dinner meeting. “I had arrived in town last night to be here for this meeting. I know your company has been corresponding with my uncle, Henrik, and I assure you he runs a very tight ship.

“He would be here right now instead of me if his wife wasn’t due to deliver their fourth child at any moment. My mother, Melia, is running the shop in his stead, otherwise, she’d be the other individual here instead of me. Since I normally assist with the work in the shop, I volunteered to come to this meeting to help both of them out. I assure you, this meeting has been of the utmost importance.

“Earlier today, I was spending some time exploring the city. I’d happened upon a bookstore, and I don’t know what happened, but I passed out. The store owner was kind enough to keep an eye on me until I came to, but that obviously put me way behind in my plan to arrive before you. So I can only ask for your forgiveness, and ask that my example doesn’t… illustrate how you view our shop as a whole.” Lain let himself breathe. He’d been mentally prepping for this meeting all week. He knew exactly how important it was, without the constant reminders. He didn’t want to let anyone down.

“I see,” Higure said. “You’ve never had an episode like that before?”

“Never before.” That was the truth. Higure eyed him skeptically for a long moment.

“Hmm. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. With the magic that flows through this city, unexplainable things have been known to occur.”

“Thank you for your grace in this,” Lain said bowing his head as he felt relief blossom in his chest.

“Let’s get some food shall we?” Higure smiled raising his hand for service.

“Please!” Lain smiled.

~~~~~~~~~

“How did it go?!” Lain’s mother asked. Lain had called her immediately after seeing Higure off, of course thanking him profusely for the opportunity and second chance.

“There was a slight hiccup at the beginning, but it went well in the end.” Lain was walking back through the city. Dusk was quickly turning into night, but no one seemed to care. The city bustled just as busily as it was earlier in the day. Such a huge difference than at home in Izlira, Lain thought to himself. If anything, Lain would argue that the city had grown more boisterous since the sun had fallen behind the skyline.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“What kind of hiccup?” his mother’s voice suddenly stilted.

“Nothing to worry about,” he lied. “I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow. I’m heading back to the Inn, I’m exhausted.”

“If you say so. I’ll pass the news on to Henrik and Sarai. I know it’ll give them a bit of relief,” his mother said.

“Please do.”

“By the way, are you seeing your sister tomorrow?” He could hear the melancholy in her voice. He knew she missed seeing her, he did too.

“Of course. I’m heading to the university in the morning.”

“Wonderful. Give her my love.”

“Absolutely. Love you.”

“Love you too Lain, stay safe,” his mother said and ended the call. Between the meeting with Higure, and whatever happened to him earlier had left him exhausted, but he needed to get back to the bookstore to see Ned. At minimum, he needed to properly thank the gentleman for looking after him.

A quarter-hour later Lain stood back in front of Ned’s Nook. It was dark inside, Ned had closed up shop. Lain tapped on the window and peered inside.

“Oh, you’re the young man from earlier,” Lain turned around to see Ned walking up behind him. “I wasn’t sure you’d come back.”

“I’m sorry about leaving so abruptly,” Lain said. “I had an important meeting to get to.” He genuinely felt bad for having to dash out so quickly after his recovery, but if he’d been any later he was confident Higure would have left, and the business deal would have fell through.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m glad you're back,” Ned said walking up to the door.

“Thank you so much for taking care of me after my episode,” Lain said and bowed deeply. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”

“I bet you haven’t,” Ned said as he removed a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. “I’m sure we both have questions. Come on in.” Lain followed Ned back inside the store.

“After your… episode earlier I reached out to an acquaintance of mine,” Ned continued as he guided them through a door in the back and up a flight of stairs. “Make yourself at home,” Ned said as they entered the small apartment.

“Thanks for taking care of me earlier,” Lain said as he entered the apartment. It was well-lived in, yet well-organized. Everything had its place. It was homey. It was becoming obvious to Lain that Ned was a very neat fellow. It featured a prominent window facing the street below, a small den for sitting, and what Lain guessed was a kitchen off to the side.

“Please sit,” Ned said motioning to a chair near the window. “Would you like some tea?”

“Yes, please,” Lain replied. Anything to help keep the fatigue at bay for a little longer.

“Just a moment, please.” Ned disappeared behind a door to the kitchen beyond. Lain quietly observed the plethora of pictures and knick-knacks furnishing the room. He spotted a few skulls from small creatures he didn’t recognize, a modest hoard of books, and several photos of what he assumed were family. “Here we go,” Ned said emerging from behind the door with a tray, a small kettle, and two cups seated atop.

“Thank you,” Lain said as they both sat.

“I’ve a feeling you’ve got some questions yourself. Why don’t you start?” Ned handed him a steaming cup.

“You said my eyes turned black?” The whole ordeal had made Lain anxious, the longer he’d thought about it the more anxious he felt, but his eyes turning black was probably what frightened him the most.

Ned looked out the window up to the night sky. “Your eyes were as dark as the sky out there.”

Lain peered out the window up the sky.

“Anything else?” taking a sip of his tea. He’d hoped there wasn’t.

“Not really,” Ned stated plainly. “You fell down, and I became solely focused on making sure you weren’t dying.”

“Did you happen to hear anything before, or while I touched the stone?” Lain figured it was a long shot, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“Like what?” Ned asked, sipping from his cup.

“Like a voice?” He hoped it didn’t make him sound crazy, despite how crazy the situation already was.

“A voice…” Ned thought for a moment. “I realize now, that you and I don’t know much about each other. I don’t even know your name.”

“I never introduced myself, did I?” He’d been so consumed with the books, then his meeting with Higure, and even now with the whole situation hanging over his head, he’d never even told the man his name. “I’m Lain Dredgewood.”

“Nice to meet you, son. I told you before that my name is Ned, and that’s true, but my full name is Nerrick Gondrin,” he said setting his tea down.

“That name is familiar.”

“Which is why I use Ned.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m just an old arcanist.”

“You’re a mage?”

“Oh no, my boy. You could say I have a knack for magic, but little talent for the arts. I focused on studying magic and how it worked. I became well-known for working with magicians and helping them better understand how their magic worked. Most people assume magic is completely natural, but it’s something you need to understand if you want to wield it well,” Ned smiled fondly. “You may have read my name in one of your books.”

“Then I’m doubly glad you were the one watching after me,” Lain smiled.

Ned chuckled in reply, “Like I said, I have little actual talent with magic. But you said you heard a voice?”

“I, uhh…” Lain was hesitant to explain what he’d heard, despite the fact that Ned had only been nice and even caring. He supposed that with everything that had happened, possibly getting some answers might be a good idea. “I started hearing a voice this afternoon. I thought perhaps it was stress, but once I saw the stone in that book, it was like the voices were consuming me. It just was repeating the same phrase over and over again.”

“What was the phrase?”

“It kept saying, ‘We come from Oblivion.’” Ned’s face paled and grew gaunt and Lain’s anxiety turned to dread.

“You’re certain?”

“Without a doubt,” Lain replied.

“Then we have no time to waste,” Ned said, shooting out of his chair. “The countdown has begun.”