Spell Weaver [Book 2 Complete]

Alex leaned over the small hand-drawn map that was laid out on the folding table under the tent. Several others stood to either side of him, and while he was hoping for more information, the drawing didn’t show too much.

He moved away from the table to return to his team, standing a short distance away. Taking a deep breath of cold air, Alex looked around the abandoned supermarket parking lot. News vans crowded between old shopping cart corrals and dirty patches of half-melted snow were piled up in the corners of the lot.

Alex found it surreal, standing there in his robes while reporters did interviews and moved back and forth, only casting an occasional wary glance at the blue portal. He had to assume that the Rift opening near the portal contributed to its looting and complete abandonment, but it looked like it hadn’t been doing very well even before the New Year.

The entire situation boggled his mind, and he was surprised to see such a shift in what was accepted and publicly tolerated. Just a few months ago, when he’d stepped into his first Rift, people had been fleeing the scene in a panic and then law enforcement had shown up and blockaded the entire area. News outlets were shut down and not allowed to record in the area, and the only source of media was from people posting online. Even then, what was leaked was seen as fake or doctored video for a growing conspiracy theory.

Now, some of the most reputable reporting sources were on site and interviewing the present adventurers as if they were professional athletes.

It’s amazing what people can accept as a new norm and adjust to fit their current lives.

He knew that there was more to it than that, but as he looked back and forth at the gathered groups, he was impressed by the general population’s resiliency.

Just as his thoughts were drifting to his family and how his dad might be handling taking the changes, a woman wearing elaborate robes approached him at the same time he walked up to the rest of his group. She carried a staff that had a small red crystal set into the top of the wood.

“Heading in soon?” she asked in a serious tone. “We should coordinate paths so we can avoid getting in each other’s way.”

Alex felt his friend’s eyes turn to him and fought the urge to look to Olivia for help. “We, uh…” he cleared his throat. “We haven’t really talked about it yet, but I think we’ll take the left side. There was a ridge on the map they have up there, we’ll probably follow that.”

The uncertainty in his voice made him wince internally, but the woman just nodded. “Works for us. We’ll take the central path. I’m Maya, by the way.”

“Alex,” he replied, offering his hand.

She shook it and smiled at them all. “Good hunting.”

As Maya moved back to her team, Olivia nudged Alex’s shoulder. “For someone with such high Willpower, you looked ready to bolt there for a second.”

“Willpower doesn’t help much when you have no idea what you’re doing,” Alex said with a weak laugh. He scratched the back of his head. “I mean, I can be determined or use my quick thinking all day long, but that doesn’t mean I know which decisions to make.”

“You do fine in combat,” Sarah pointed out, adjusting her quiver awkwardly.

“That’s different. I’ve trained for that, lived through it a few times now. But this?” He gestured vaguely at the surrounding scene. The news crews, other teams, the Rift, and even their own group, “Leading? Making a tactical decision or deciding what we’re all going to do? Making decisions for you guys, instead of asking everyone what they want to do? I feel like I’m making it up as I go.”

“That’s literally what everyone does,” Mark said, adjusting his shield. “You think she knew exactly what she was doing? She’s probably just as nervous.”

Alex shrugged and looked for a way to change the subject. He looked over Sam’s head toward the shimmering blue portal and nodded toward it.

“Ready?” He asked his group of friends. After receiving nods all around, “Then let’s-”

“Wait!” Mark interrupted, fumbling with his spatial storage. “One more thing!”

Sarah groaned. “If this is another-”

“Team photo!” Mark called while lifting his phone from the pouch. “Come on, first official mission! We need to document this.”

Sam bounced over, and his enthusiasm was infectious. He moved his staff from one hand to the other so that it wasn’t hidden behind Mark. “Where should I stand?”

“You’re like a puppy,” Sarah muttered, but she was already moving into position.

Sam’s eyebrows came together in a frown, and Mark laughed. “Our team mascot! The healing puppy!” He threw his arm over Sam’s shoulder, causing the much smaller teen to bow under the weight.

“I am not the mascot,” Sam said with some embarrassment. “That’s Val, for sure.”

“I’m not standing here all day,” Olivia warned, but she took her place next to Sarah. Her attempt to look annoyed was undermined by the smile tugging at her lips.

Alex looked at his friends on the screen of Mark’s phone as he held his arm out. He felt a good deal of his anxiety melt away as he joined them in the center of the photo between Mark and Sarah.

Mark held up his hammer with a huge grin, and Alex felt Sam poke him in the side with his staff. Everyone chuckled as Mark snapped way too many pictures, the loud clicking sound making it all too obvious.

“Everyone say ‘Teams Event!’” Mark called.

Only Sam said it, his excitement making Sarah laugh mid-eye-roll. Olivia managed a tight smile, clearly uncomfortable with such a public spectacle.

Mark checked his phone screen for a moment before beaming. “Perfect. That’s going on the wall at the new house.”

“We are never doing that again,” Olivia stated flatly, but Alex caught her fighting back a proper smile.

Together, they regrouped, ignoring the onlookers, and stepped through the Rift’s entrance. The transition was smooth, almost unnoticeable, except for the slight tingle of mana across their skin and the momentary loss of weight.

Then the new world opened up before them, and Alex heard Sam’s quiet, “Wow.”

The blue windows popped into Alex’s vision and rather than dismiss them, he used a trick that he’d been working on in the last week. He focused his attention on the blue windows and mentally pushed them to the right of his vision.

The windows shifted without noise or complaint, though Alex could only do it when he pushed his intent toward the windows. So far, no one else in their group had been successful in recreating the feat, so he assumed it had to do with his Willpower.

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With the blue screens out of the center of his vision, he did a quick scan of their surroundings and made sure that they weren’t at risk of being attacked. When he saw they were safe, he looked to the quests, nodded, and dismissed them.