ooh and aah and believe the nightcrafters
were children of the gods, or gods themselves. Of course you would have some
posers trying to capture some of that glory for themselves. Clever people
figured out how to replicate magic with tricks and mirrors and lies. But you
know the really funny thing about that?”
“Those
fake magicians later ended up getting hanged or burned as witches?” Newton
said.
“Well
. . . yeah that too. But what I was talking about was the fact that the fake
magicians started adding stuff to their acts that nightcrafters couldn’t actually do. Take the old trick of pulling a rabbit out of a hat, for instance.
Nightcrafters can’t do that.”
“Why
not?” Newton asked. “I’ve seen you pull stuff out of the Rift.”
“Inanimate
objects, yes. But if I tried to put any animal into the Rift, when I pulled
them out they’d be dead. I’m not sure exactly why that is, but Kellar made it
very clear that it was impossible. Any creature that gets put into the Rift
doesn’t survive the trip. The spell just doesn’t work that way.”
“That’s
actually pretty damn fascinating,” Newton said. “I’d love to test that.”
“I’m not going to help you put poor little animals in the Rift.”
“That’s
not what I meant, man. I meant like bacteria and viruses and microorganisms. It
would be interesting to see if they’re affected too.”
“When
we get back I’ll consider it,” I said.
“Good,”
Newton said. “So, with all this fascinating crap happening in the past and magic
playing a part in the development of mankind . . . why do you want to give it
up?”
“We
don’t need magic anymore,” I said. “We have forklifts and electricity and
satellite communication and UN sanctions. We have science. We have scientists. ”
I pointed at Newton and smiled.“The world doesn’t need magic anymore.”
“Then
why are nightcrafters still around?”
“Power,”
I said. “Plain and simple. It’s hard to give up that kind of power. Even if it
isn’t needed for the greater good, it still serves the lesser good. It still
keeps a handful of people at the top.”
Newton
laid his head on a pillow and covered his eyes with his right forearm. “I feel
like I’m going to pass out.”
“I
should get back to my room,” I said.
Newton
peeked out from under his arm. “You don’t have to. You could stay here.”
It
took a few seconds for those words to soak into my alcohol saturated brain. In
the meantime some other, more primal, part of me almost made me say yes. But my
brain finally got around to processing the whole situation and saved me. “I
should really get to my room. If I’m going to puke, I want to do it privately.”
“Good
point,” Newton said.
I
got up and headed to the door. My fingers had just touched the handle when I
heard, “Kal.”
I
turned and saw Newton still on the bed, nearly passed out. “Yeah?”
“This
was fun. We should do it again some time.”
“Sure.
Maybe once we get back home. Goodnight.”
Newton
gave me a sleepy salute and closed his eyes. On the way back to my own room I
wondered if the odd nervousness in my gut was just the beer, or something else.
By the time I was sitting back on my bed, I decided that the fluttery sensation
had nothing to do with alcohol.
Damn
feelings. Pesky things.
CHAPTER 3
The
next day, we got word from the home base that the map data checked out and the
work was excellent. Newton and I tried to be as excited as we could, but the
headaches and nausea dampened our moods a bit. But, considering how much beer
we drank, overall we weren’t doing too badly.
I
had thought that we’d be returning home after the map was finished, but there
was still more work to be done. Dominique sent instructions for me to sniff out
as many other nightcrafters as I could find without getting detected. There was
a problem with that: I couldn’t find any signs of a magic user out in the
boonies where we were. So we left
were children of the gods, or gods themselves. Of course you would have some
posers trying to capture some of that glory for themselves. Clever people
figured out how to replicate magic with tricks and mirrors and lies. But you
know the really funny thing about that?”
“Those
fake magicians later ended up getting hanged or burned as witches?” Newton
said.
“Well
. . . yeah that too. But what I was talking about was the fact that the fake
magicians started adding stuff to their acts that nightcrafters couldn’t actually do. Take the old trick of pulling a rabbit out of a hat, for instance.
Nightcrafters can’t do that.”
“Why
not?” Newton asked. “I’ve seen you pull stuff out of the Rift.”
“Inanimate
objects, yes. But if I tried to put any animal into the Rift, when I pulled
them out they’d be dead. I’m not sure exactly why that is, but Kellar made it
very clear that it was impossible. Any creature that gets put into the Rift
doesn’t survive the trip. The spell just doesn’t work that way.”
“That’s
actually pretty damn fascinating,” Newton said. “I’d love to test that.”
“I’m not going to help you put poor little animals in the Rift.”
“That’s
not what I meant, man. I meant like bacteria and viruses and microorganisms. It
would be interesting to see if they’re affected too.”
“When
we get back I’ll consider it,” I said.
“Good,”
Newton said. “So, with all this fascinating crap happening in the past and magic
playing a part in the development of mankind . . . why do you want to give it
up?”
“We
don’t need magic anymore,” I said. “We have forklifts and electricity and
satellite communication and UN sanctions. We have science. We have scientists. ”
I pointed at Newton and smiled.“The world doesn’t need magic anymore.”
“Then
why are nightcrafters still around?”
“Power,”
I said. “Plain and simple. It’s hard to give up that kind of power. Even if it
isn’t needed for the greater good, it still serves the lesser good. It still
keeps a handful of people at the top.”
Newton
laid his head on a pillow and covered his eyes with his right forearm. “I feel
like I’m going to pass out.”
“I
should get back to my room,” I said.
Newton
peeked out from under his arm. “You don’t have to. You could stay here.”
It
took a few seconds for those words to soak into my alcohol saturated brain. In
the meantime some other, more primal, part of me almost made me say yes. But my
brain finally got around to processing the whole situation and saved me. “I
should really get to my room. If I’m going to puke, I want to do it privately.”
“Good
point,” Newton said.
I
got up and headed to the door. My fingers had just touched the handle when I
heard, “Kal.”
I
turned and saw Newton still on the bed, nearly passed out. “Yeah?”
“This
was fun. We should do it again some time.”
“Sure.
Maybe once we get back home. Goodnight.”
Newton
gave me a sleepy salute and closed his eyes. On the way back to my own room I
wondered if the odd nervousness in my gut was just the beer, or something else.
By the time I was sitting back on my bed, I decided that the fluttery sensation
had nothing to do with alcohol.
Damn
feelings. Pesky things.
CHAPTER 3
The
next day, we got word from the home base that the map data checked out and the
work was excellent. Newton and I tried to be as excited as we could, but the
headaches and nausea dampened our moods a bit. But, considering how much beer
we drank, overall we weren’t doing too badly.
I
had thought that we’d be returning home after the map was finished, but there
was still more work to be done. Dominique sent instructions for me to sniff out
as many other nightcrafters as I could find without getting detected. There was
a problem with that: I couldn’t find any signs of a magic user out in the
boonies where we were. So we left
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