Spells come in a variety of forms. The Society for the Study and Classification as well as Measuring of Magical Phrases, Speeches or Encantations has narrowed this down to four:
Charms: simple spells which can be activated quickly but whose immediate effects are short-term
Enchantments: intermediate to advanced spells where the effects are tied to an object or person with the intent of increasing the longevity of the spell beyond the initial cast
Conjuration: a spell which summons a person, creature, being, object or effect
Hex: an advanced form of enchantment which affect a targeted person, creature, being or object for an extended amount of time
The type of spell has no bearing on the power or the intensity of a spell. Indeed, a simple fire-starting charm may start a conflagration while an enchanted candle only provides the smallest bit of light.
Spells are not a one-size-fits-all affair. They each have a use and depending on context, the best spell may not be the best spell.
- A Beginner's Guide to Spells and Dueling, volume 1. Revised in 1973 by the Queenscourt Press.
My mother has these worry lines on her face that only appear when she's worried about my brother and I. It's especially the creases at the corners of her mouth that are a cause for concern. The last time I saw them was when I offered to go to work a full-time job to ease the burden of university tuition on my family. The creases appeared and it was settled. I'd be going to university.
Now, we were seated at the dinner table (a rare occurrence) eating eggs and pancakes that my mother had made for breakfast (a western breakfast by a Korean woman was a bad omen).
"We need to talk, Soo."
My mouth was full, so I nodded. This had been a long time coming. I'd canceled a job interview two days ago for an entry level position at an engineering institute. Technically, THE engineering institute.
So I understood the frown on my mother's face. Ken had dropped hints that I was going to get a sit down in the near future. My brother was the golden child having gotten through med school and currently in his residency. I don't know how he could be a hotshot doctor and wonderful son, but he made it look easy. Worse than all that, he was a great brother.
My mother closed her eyes and tried to relax her face. "I'm only saying this because I know how hard you've worked to get through college and with all the time you've spent at the bookshop, I'm just worried is all."
She wasn't wrong. I'd spent months inside the walls of the library reading books and exploring all it had to offer. It wasn't unusual for me to wander the stacks after my shift was over, just to see what secrets the library had tucked away between the shelves. This had the obvious effect of pure exhaustion when I got home. More than a few times, my family found me asleep on the porch at four in the afternoon.
"What about the institute?" My mother's voice interrupted my thoughts. "It's been your dream to go there since you were nine." She waved her hands over a wall of framed certificates and science fair prizes to illustrate her point. "I thought you wanted to explore the universe."
"I still do, ma," speaking for the first time since sitting down. "There's still a lot to learn-"
"At the bookstore?"
I paused. She had a point, or at least she thought she did. I'd studied astronomy as a child, grew up into chemistry and physics and then got to college where I showed an aptitude for engineering. It all felt like a beautiful painting that I was unlocking bit by bit. But if traditional science was painting, then magic was music. It wasn't just beautiful, it was a whole new way of looking at the world.
What was I supposed to do? I couldn't tell her the truth, but lying would only make things worse. Not to mention I'd have to remember the lie so I could keep up with it later. She wanted to know what was going on and every option I had was either bad or worse.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"Ma, I..." I hesitated. I looked up from my hands which were turning white. I'd balled them into fists without knowing.
"Your father and I... we didn't understand what we were doing when we moved here. We just understood that if we wanted the best for our children, this was a step in that direction." My mother rarely spoke of my father and never about their life before we were born.
Instinctively, I looked up at the photo of my mother, my father, and Uncle Marvin hanging by the TV. They were young. My mother was two years out of university and my father was a few months into graduate school. Uncle Marvin... even back then he was something of a mystery. The three of them smiled for the camera. It was our only photo of my father taken well before I was born.
I took a deep breath. She was being honest with me to a degree she hadn't been before. And it wouldn't be fair to be any less in return.
"Ma, I get it. And I know that you sacrificed a lot to bring us here, but... I'm just trying to do what I think is right." I laughed to myself. "If only I knew what that was..."
And we sat quietly for a while. I realized that most of our conversations were loud and full of laughter or sometimes yelling, but this was the first time either of us didn't quite know what to say.
Finally, my mother broke the silence. "There are no certainties in this world. Our family knows that more than most. So I won't ask for that from you. But do you feel like this is a step in the right direction?"
Was it? The library held more secrets than anything else. Yes there were answers, but to questions I didn't know existed. It was like a cheat sheet for a test in a class you didn't register for. But I knew there wasn't any turning back. No matter what happened next, I needed to move forward.
I nodded.
"Okay, then that's enough for me." She smiled. "For now."
My mother swiftly gathered the dishes and busied herself with picking up around the house. That was my sign that our conversation was over and I was free to go on with my day.
The sun was setting and the air was cold. My scarf might as well have been made of tissue paper for all the good it did against the cold wind. The buses were still running, but I preferred a night walk to let my mind settle. By the time I got to the Leatherbound, small icicles had settled in my scarf and I'd lost feeling in my ears, but my mind was at ease.
I entered swiftly and shut the door behind me, locking the cold outside where it belonged and made my way to Maria's office where Hanna was waiting for me.
"Maria asked me to come in late today. I assume this is something to do with interlibrary loans?" I asked. My normally working hours were early afternoon or late morning. I'd never been asked to work past sunset.
I assumed vampires. Not necessarily that there were vampires in the library or that someone was a vampire. Just the existence of them.
"Oh, we'll be working with a library in the middle east. They have staff around the clock, but the person we need to talk to gets into the office around now." Hanna smiled, she seemed genuinely happy to be here today. But, still... I suspected vampires.
"This way," she said.
We walked a bit beyond Maria's desk to a nearly hidden hallway. Oil paintings of different shapes and sizes covered the walls covered in a not-insignificant layer of dust. Hanna drew a ring of keys from her pocket and picked out a particularly rustic one to open a correspondingly rustic lock.
Click!
The latch made a satisfying sound as the bolt drew back and Hanna pushed open the door.
I could assume the name of the room by the contents. Atlases and painted charts of the world covered the walls. I could see special shelves and drawers along the walls of the room, undoubtedly for more maps laid flat instead of rolled up.
"Welcome to the Map Room, Soo."
I laughed and sighed at the same time. "Not much imagination among magical librarians, is there?"
Hanna giggled at my joke. "I suppose not, but then again what would you call it?"
I smirked and then... nothing. Not much imagination among engineers either, it would seem. "Ahem! I assume we're delivering a map to another library?" I asked, hoping to change the subject.
Hanna smirked back. "Quite the opposite. We're picking one up."
As Hanna spoke, I let my vision wander the room and I saw. Each map had focus points. I could see air flowing in and out of the maps almost like smoke did with cracks in a window. Each map, atlas and globe acted as a gate to different places throughout the world. Sometimes more than one.
"You've been through tunneling gates so this won't be much different," Hanna went on. "The only prerequisite for going to a place is that you've been there before."
"Okay, fair enough," I heard myself say. Actually, I'd been doing that a lot lately. Just agreeing and moving with the flow got me through quicker than unlimited objections and concerns. "What do we do now?"
"First, I have to find the correct map," Hanna said, already peering into drawers.
Eventually, she came to a set of drawers housing wrinkled maps. Each one looked more fragile than the last and they all looked ancient.
Hanna liked to hum while she worked. I don't know what the tune was, but it sounded like jazz. It was all melody with the occasional pop and hiss until she found what she was looking for.
"Now, I just need to set the glyph." I felt the need to ask what a glyph was but I fought it down and watched. She placed her palm on the map and I felt a low hum go through my bones. Satisfied with her selection, she turned to me and held out her hand. "Okay, are you ready for the next step?"