The Reluctant Mage: Book One in the Zandar Series by R. E. Donnellan

enough men to patrol the whole Empire. What was it that you two were doing out here by yourselves?”
     
    “We are going to Rau City. My uncle works for the Empire and was going back to report. He is a professor at the Universite.”
     
    The guard’s eyes got bigger. “So he is a mage, too?” he asked.
     
    “No, he does not have any magic. He lectures on history. Well, he did. Now he does research. I helped him before I knew I was going to the Imperial Orphanage.”
     
    “The orphanage? Good for you. That is where I got my start.”
     
    They spent the rest of the day talking about the war and what he should expect at the orphanage. Every mark or so, they checked on his uncle who was still sleeping soundly.
     
    Just as the sun began to set, they saw the mage and two riders camped at the side of the road. The Kaplan told Marko that he would be sleeping in the wagon with his uncle. After a quick meal he ventured back to the wagon and sat on the bench. He noticed that the mage was joking with the two men. He did not seem like the killer that incinerated two men or executed the leader in the blink of an eye. If it wasn’t for his clothes being different from the soldiers he would assume he was another guard on patrol. This did not fit with the image Marko had for Imperial Mages. He assumed they were all seven feet tall, travelled alone and conjured fire with a flick of the wrist. Well, some of his assumptions were true. He did not actually see the mage shoot fire from his hands, but how else could it have happened? He will ask the Kaplan about it he told himself before drifting off to a much needed sleep.
     
    His dream started like others. He was in a large bedchamber. The ceiling was at least twenty feet tall and supported with well-oiled rafters. Next to him was a small table with only one chair. On it was a goblet and a pitcher of what looked like water. On the far side of the room was a tall, golden mirror. Marko walked over to it. He had been in this chamber before, but he had never seen a mirror.
     
    Marko’s image stared back at him. There was nothing unusual about his face but he was wearing a shimmering, silver robe. When he looked back up at his face, he saw a smile. “Welcome, Marko, I have been waiting to speak with you.”
     
    Marko did a double take. His image talked to him but he did not move his mouth.
     
    “I know this seems a bit strange, Marko, but this is the only way I can talk to you right now.”
     
    Well, at least this dream is fun , he thought. Might as well see where this goes.
     
    “Ah, hello there. I should already know what I am going to say to myself. Let’s see, what is the secret to life?”
     
    “You can’t know what I am going to say Marko, because I am not you. By the way, no one knows the secret to life.”
     
    Marko just stared at his image and waited.
     
    “Good. I think you are starting to get it. We don’t have much time. You are going to wake up soon.”
     
    “Who are you?”
     
    “For now, let’s discuss what I am. I am that necklace around your neck. Or, more specifically, I am a spirit that resides inside the crystal in your necklace.”
     
    “If you are a spirit, then why didn’t you talk to me in my dreams when I first put you on?”
     
    “I have been sleeping for many years. There is no useful purpose in lying in a dark hallway. I awoke when you picked me up. Still, it was not until you used magic that I fully regained my senses. Until then, all I could do was influence your dreams.”
     
    “Wait. Those dreams were not mine? And what do you mean about me using magic? I don’t have any magic. Oh, wait. There was an Imperial Mage that took out some bandits and healed my uncle. Did you wake up when that happened?”
     
    His image shrugged its shoulders. “I cannot see what you see unless it is in your dreams. I am a spirit, not a ghost. A spirit can only be awoken with the use of magic. We are companions of mages, not