Kyle and Jenny yelped in surprised and dived out of the way as Evan and Ammeline came crashing through where they'd been standing moments before.

They had just gotten to Tanya's house and used the teleport to get down to the basement, appearing in the middle of an epic chase scene. Tanya was chasing Evan, and both of them had obviously taken physical enhancement. They danced off the walls like crazed ninjas.

That was a weird thought. Had Kyle hit his head? Could he even get a concussion anymore?

“They're gonna hurt themselves!” Jenny said.

Right. Right. Time to focus. Evan and Ammeline were causing chaos.

“But it is!” Evan laughed over his shoulder. “It is time to get a look at your nodes!”

“Stop saying it like that!” Ammeline shouted. “If I could find my fencing sword I'd gut you like a fish!”

Something rubbed against Kyle's leg. When he looked down. Ammeline's sword was there, cuddling up to him affectionately. It walked on four spindly legs, with ears near the tip of the blade and a tail sprouting from the handle.

“Hey there moonlight,” Kyle said. “I'd pet you, but I think you might be sharp. Isn't it uncomfortable being a blade?”

“Mrow,” the magical familiar agreed.

“Want me to take it for now?”

The cat-sword seemed to consider for a moment, then Moonlight erupted from the sword like he was jumping out of a pool of water and landed in Kyle's arms. Kyle caught him, and grabbed the now inanimate sword before it could hit the ground.

“You okay?” He asked Jenny.

“I'm fine!” Jenny said. “Everyone seems really energetic.”

The chase had moved further down into the catacombs now, so they made their way to the usual training room where he found the others. Betty, Tanya, Trevor...and Goldie.

“How's it going?” Kyle asked. “A little surprised to see you here.”

“I was a little surprised to see a cat turn into a sword,” Goldie said. “Let's call it even.”

“It's going like you saw,” Tanya said. “I asked Goldie to come by because she deserves an explanation after the incident with Danny. And now that she's invovled too, she needs to know how to defend herself.”

“How big are these tunnels anyway?” Kyle asked. “It feels like they go further than your property.”

“Technically we're in an alternate dimension right now,” Tanya said.

“Of course we are,” Goldie sighed.

“Don't ask me how it works,” Tanya ignored her. “Spatial manipulation isn't my specialty. It was my father who did that. But yes, they cover far more ground than the house does.”

“I am glad you have taken control of the sword,” Betty said. “We all felt it was better she not have access to it when chasing Evan. And now Moonlight doesn't need to keep track of it while the rest of us are training.”

“What about me?” Kyle said. “I need to be training too.”

“Yes, I suppose you...” Betty squinted at him. “You've had sex!”

“What!?” Kevin blanched.

“You and Jenny had sex last night!” Betty said definitely.

“You did?” Trevor looked over from where he'd been practicing his stances.

“How could you possibly know that?” Kyle asked.

“Regardless of my deductive process,” Betty said, “I am correct. You and Jenny spent last night copulating.”

“Yes we did!” Jenny said proudly, raising a fist in the air triumphantly.

“Wait!” Kyle said. “Hold on!”

“Wait you did?” Evan said, screeching to a halt in the doorway. “No wait, you hadn't before!?”

Ammeline's foot slammed into the side of Evan's head and sent him flying down the hall. Ammeline replaced him in the doorway, adjusting her clothes as she walked into the room.

“Got him,” she said. “And oh look, Kyle found my sword. What were we discussing?”

“Sex!” Jenny said happily.

“No we were not,” Tanya said, flushing a little. “What Kyle and Jenny choose to do to each other...”

“To?” Betty pressed. “What exactly are you picturing?”

“With!” Tanya said hurriedly. “I meant with!”

“Ahahahaha,” Ammeline said, flushing herself and looking a little nervous. But she rallied after just a few seconds. “Yes. Rivals we may be, but we are not competing in romance. I shall vanquish you in other ways. Academics. Athletics. And now, magical prowess!”

“She is literally a genie,” Evan said, rubbing his head as he walked into the training room. “Damn, that actually hurt a little. We're all still messed up from the big fight with Denny, remember?”

“Tanya has been explaining the circumstances,” Ammeline said. “And the nature of our newfound magical abilities. I want you to know there's no hard feelings for keeping the truth of events a secret. I wish I had come to you all sooner, but I didn't anyone else had begun exhibiting powers. I should have known when you asked if anything strange was going on...but I was wrapped up in my own head.”

“It's fine,” Kyle said. “It's been a complete mess. Is everyone doing okay?”

“I'm doing alright,” Trevor said. “I got checked out by the EMTs. You know, the scary government EMTs.”

“Hey yeah!” Evan said. “We're part of the conspiracy now! That's actually pretty cool.”

“The Spooks aside,” Tanya said, “this kind of thing happens all the time. Well, this might have been a little more dramatic than normal. But there's definitely going to be more trouble. Magic seems to attract it.”

“So we get ready,” Evan said. “And that starts with...”

Ammeline glared at him.

“...determining the nature and extent of Ammeline and Goldie's reserves of mystical power,” Evan said. “Why, what did you think I was going to say?”

“Nodes,” Ammeline said.

“Just the word nodes?”

“From you, it's enough. Now, you've explained what nodes are to me, but how do I check them?”

“Over here,” Tanya said, guiding her towards the crystal on the wall. Ammeline put her hand on the crystal, and her constellation appeared glowing over the room.

“Large nodes,” Tanya said.

“YEAH they--” Ammeline slapped Evan on the back of the head with her free hand.

“Four of them,” Tanya continued. “Very respectable. Looks like you've already assigned one to physical enhancement.”

“And one of them to energy emission,” Ammeline said. “Right? From the explanation you gave me I must have.”

“Not quite,” Tanya said. “Why not try it right now? Reach out a hand and try emitting energy.”

“You told me that was dangerous,” Kyle said.

“She's not doing it with a colossal node,” Tanya pointed out. “And we're in a room designed to take it. Besides, I'm sure I'm right.”

Ammeline reached out a hand and focused. Nothing happened.

“It always works with my sword,” Ammeline said.

“Exactly,” Tanya said. “Kyle, give her the sword.”

Ammeline took the sword and thrust with it. A spiral of energy fired from the tip and crashed into the wall.

“Object enhancement,” Tanya said. “Normally it takes decades of training with the kind of object you want to enhance, carefully honing your magic. But you seem to have a natural talent for it. Natural or wish-born, either way it doesn't matter. And you've already spent years making a fencing sword in your hand part of your body. I think you'll find that as long as you're holding it, that sword is almost impossible to break.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I see,” Ammeline made another couple of thrusts, firing more spiraling attacks to splash against the far wall.

“More than that,” Tanya said, gesturing to the constellation that still hung over the room. “Look very carefully. See those lines?”

Kyle had to squint, but eventually he saw them. Three of Tanya's nodes were connected by silvery threads to the fourth.

“That node the others are connected to would be the node you've assigned to object enhancement. All of your powers will be very much enhanced when you're holding the sword, including your physical abilities. Combining nodes like this is a very advanced and risky technique. I shouldn't even be surprised anymore.”

“And all this because of Kyle's wish?” Ammeline said, squinting at the constellation of her own nodes.

“Or something like that,” Kyle said.

“Don't worry about it buddy,” Trevor said, flexing. “You didn't ask for this...”

“Yes I did,” Kyle said. “Technically, I did. And the truth is...”

He reached out and put an arm around Jenny's waist.

“Now that I've got it I wouldn't trade it for my old life. I'm sorry if that's selfish, but...finding Jenny was just too amazing.”

“Awww!” Jenny said, resting her hand on Kyle's shoulder.

“Don't worry about,” Trevor pointed out. “I already said. You know what I meant about not asking for it. And I'll admit, getting to know everyone better has been pretty cool. Especially Betty.”

“I find the situation agreeable as well,” Betty said. “Although unlike Kyle, Trevor has not yet let lust overcome him.”

Ammeline looked from Trevor and Betty to Jenny and Kyle.

“We are not competing in romance!” She told Jenny firmly, turning away.

“I'm happy I'm dating Goldie now too,” Evan put in.

“Shut up,” Ammeline glared. “For what it's worth, I was quite pleased myself to discover I had gained super powers. That your wish was the likely method doesn't matter one bit.”

“Is there any chance I have powers?” Goldie asked.

“We'll find out now,” Tanya told her. “Go ahead and put your hand on the crystal.”

Goldie obliged, looking up at the constellation that appeared in front of her. Except it reminded Trevor more of an early morning sky. Mostly clear, with just a few tiny pinpricks of light.

“Three tiny nodes,” Tanya said. “All inactive.”

“So....no magic,” Goldie said.

“Not necessarily,” Tanya said. “Your nodes are inactive, but they're there. You could train them. You might never be an archmage, but magic isn't all about raw power. Don't let these freaks confuse you, this is more potential power than most people have. Kyle, your turn.”

“We already did me,” Kyle said.

“Yes but I want to see it again,” Tanya said. “A lot happened in the fight with Danny.”

“Alright,” Kyle said, putting his hand on the crystal. The constellation appeared, but it had...changed.

One colossal node now glowed a bright, bright purple. His smallest node, the eternal node, glowed a deep calming blue. There were odd connections snaking their way through half of his constellation, in patterns he couldn't understand.

“That's what I thought,” Tanya sighed. “You bound a genie as your familiar and basically came back from the dead. That was bound to change things.”

“What does this mean?” Jenny asked. “Is Kyle okay?”

“Probably,” Tanya shrugged. “It doesn't look like he's in danger of hurting himself with his own nodes. But I have no idea how you should train now. This is way too complicated for me.”

“Well we've got time to figure it out right?” Kyle said. “After all, we're hopefully done with trouble like Danny O'Brien for a good long time.”

Benny Gold, thanks to Danny's bullet, had slept through all the chaos.

He might have been surprised how many visitors he'd had while unconscious in the hospital. Many of them were former bullying victims, some people he'd never even interacted with before. He had no idea about magic, or what had happened with Danny, or anything that had occurred since he'd fallen into his dreamless slumber.

Which was a big part of the reason it took so long for him to get his bearings when he woke up.

He opened his eyes in an unfamiliar room. It took him a while to figure out it was a hospital room, but that was the easy part. Hospital rooms have a certain recognizable look, after all. The much harder part was figuring out why he was in a hospital room. That took a little bit longer. What had he been doing right before he passed out? What did he remember?

Danny. Danny had a gun. Danny had gone nuts. From there it was pretty easy to take the next step. Danny O'Brien had shot him. As he reached up and felt the bandage on his head, probably in the head. Which explained just about everything he'd taken in so far.

“Danny O'Brien you absolute bastard,” Benny grumbled out loud.

“Ah now there I can't be making comment,” an unfamiliar voice said. “Didn't know the man well enough to make a judgement, y'see. But as ye were one who knew him well, I've doubt at all yer absolutely right.”

Benny turned his head to look at his visitor. The man sitting in the chair beside the bed had long, deep red hair tied in a ponytail underneath a wide brimmed black hat. The hat matched his long black coat. His limbs were long and thin, and his skin was pale. His face gave off the impression of an imp, or an elf, some kind of mischievous spirit, with twinkling green eyes and a hooked nose. He looked to be in his early twenties, but gave off the impression of being older.

“You're not a doctor,” Benny said.

“Quite right!” The man said. “Quite right at that! Can't fault a man when he's right, can ye? The name is Cromlaire. Taliesin Cromlaire. And it seems there's nothing wrong with your brain at least, me boy. Always a worry, after a head wound like that. But seems to me you're right is rain! I am indeed not a doctor by any stretch of the word.”

“Right,” Benny said. “Right. Have we...we've never met before, right?”

“No,” Taliesin shook his head sadly. “No I'm afraid we have not. A failure on my part, I'm sure. But we have an acquaintance in common, or at least we had half of one that I'm aware of. And it's that I've come to ask about. It's a bit impolite when you've just woken up, and all, but I'm afraid we do need to talk about Denny O'Niel.”

“Are you a cop?” Benny asked.

Taliesin stared at him. For a second Benny was afraid the strange man was about to attack. Then he burst into laughter, loud, booming, gut-shaking laughter.

“A cop?” Taliesin cackled. “He think I'm with the constabulary? Oh no me boy, no never that. I've got a heap of problems with laws and rules and suchlike. No you'll not find me with badge and truncheon, perish the thought! No, this is more about where Danny O'Brien got his power. This is about Kalshadd.”

“Kala-who?” Benny asked.

“Another who used be in my employ,” Taliesin said. “An efreet. Not the brightest bulb in the box, by any stretch, had a tendency to solve problems with fire and fists. But he did have an eye for talent, and I could trust him with a job. Which raises the question of why he spent so much tim in yer charming little town, when it wasn't where he was meant to be going?”

“I don't know,” Benny said. “I don't even really know what you're talking about.”

“Now are ye telling me the truth there lad?” Taliesin said. “Are ye? Because I've been hearing you were in close with Denny O'Brien. And for Danny to do all he did, he had to be in close with my man Kalshadd.”

“Are you...” Benny blinked. “Did you give Danny the gun?”

“Now the question I need answered,” Taliesin ignored him, “is why was Kalshadd here at all? And why would he partner up with a local tough to take out another young man? Kyle Anderman, that's the name I was looking for. Would ye happen to know why he was so interested? I've got theories of me own, you understand, but it would be nice to have some conversation before I start breaking fingers. I wouldn't want to start breaking fingers if I can avoid it, lad.”

Taliesin caught Benny's eye, and Benny did not doubt at all that while he did not want to break fingers, he certainly would break fingers, if he felt the situation called for it. He was sweating when he answered.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Benny said. “I saw Danny with the gun, and then after that...I don't even know how long I've been out. I never heard of your friend.”

Taliesin examined him like a bug under a magnifying glass, his face a mask. Then the strange man's mouth split into a wide smile.

“Well, then, no sense in me hanging around here bothering your rest!” Taliesin said, clapping his hands together and standing up. “I'll leave ye to yer rest. I bet ye've friends and family be wanting to come in. Thank ye for yer time, Benny Gold. Get better soon, and keep yerself out of trouble's way. It's going to be staying in town y'see, trouble. I'd hate to see ya get trampled while it's wondering around.”

Taliesin left the room the. Benny never heard the door. But when he looked around, the strange and terrifying man was gone. Once he was sure that was true he lay back on the bed, his brain racing.

Danny what the hell are you into? Benny thought. It occurred to him that the way his visitor had been talking, Danny might be dead. That was...a complicated thought. Had Danny gotten in with the mafia or something? Was that what that was? And he hadn't been able to place the strange man's accent. Foriegn gangs, or something?

And for some reason, they were interested in Kyle Anderman.

He was still trying to figure out what he should to do about that when his parents burst in, sobbing and hugging him, and he let himself take solace in family, even if he couldn't get the eerie man's smile out of his mind.

Taliesin Cromlaire leaned back in a chair an ocean and half a continent away from the town of Rolling Hills and let out a long, slow sigh.

“That spell does take it out of ye doesn't it?” He sighed. “Never been a fan, meself. But I had to talk to someone in person, or as close to in person as ye can get through a spell.”

“So what is it?” a gravelly voice asked from the shadows. “Did he find the lamp?”

Taliesin looked around the room. His organization had thousands of members all over the world, but the only ones who truly mattered were all here in this room. He had gathered what he liked to refer to as a motley group. Other words could come to mind. Eclectic. Odd. Bizarre. Strange. For some of them, the best descriptor would be beautiful. For others, horrifying. Less than half of them were human, most of the humans were only half human. It was a weird little bunch he'd gathered, but when he looked at them the only thing Teliesin saw was bosom friends. And since he'd begun his crusade, comrades in arms.

“Don't rightly know,” Taliesin said. “He found something right enough, ye can be sure of that. But if it was the lamp...I can't rightly tell ye. Sending images of meself isn't going to do the job, friends. Someone's going to have to go in person and see what it's all about.”

“Who do we have in the area?” Grumbled something shaped like a small hill in the corner. And it was a grumble, low and slow and muttering. Whatever made that hulking shape in the darkness spoke with the slow inevitability of a mountain rising from the ground. Its eyes glowed red in the darkness too, perfect circles of glowing red light.

“We don't have anyone,” a slender man complained. His clothes were woven from golden thread that matched his hair. “No one as good as Kalshadd anyway. Our power base in America is...thin. And it's not exactly a population center.”

“That's because they're too far from Uzbedi,” Complained someone from a chair in the corner, it's back turned to the rest of them. “And they've got that little Spook organization of theirs taking care of them. The Americans are far too soft and pampered.”

“And they shouldn't be,” a figure in a hooded cloak said. “They ought to be on our side. Their government isn't any happier with Uzbedi than we...”

“Is this relevant?” Yet another asked in a bored voice. And then another complained, and so on. It was the way of families, they fought. But things needed doing, so Taliesin raised a hand. The room quieted down immediately.

“No lads, no,” Taliesin said. “No another catspaw or minion simply won't do. It's got to be one of us. This is too important, and Kalshadd was too close to a trail. Question is who? I'd go meself, but when I move around people tend to notice.”

That got a laugh from the other occupants in the room, strange shadows and glittering presences alike. It was true after all. If Taliesin Cromlaire were to switch continents, anyone with any magic at all would take notice. The Uzbedis would be the least of it.

“I'll do it,” came a voice from the rafters, one that hadn't spoken before. All eyes (and related appendages) turned up to look at a woman sitting on a wooden beam and leaning against a high window. “It's been a long time since I went back to the states! Besides, I'm bored. I don't actually run much of the organization, isn't this what all of you keep me around for?

“Now don't be running yerself down lass!” Taliesin said. “Yer a valuable companion! We'd keep ye around just for the company. But ye do have a point, this kind of thing is yer specialty...”

“So let me go!” she says. “I'll check out what that idiot was investigating, blow some stuff up, kill a few people, it'll be great! And I bet it'll really piss off the Uzbedis. Which is the whole point of everything, right?”