David had been taken from his quiet dinner with some new friends to a meeting with the head of Thellissandra’s order of Battle Sisters, Battle Mother Beydara.

  As soon as they were alone in one of the Temple Libraries, she took a seat, smiled and said “Please be seated David. That is your name right - David Michael West?”

  David had taken a step towards a chair but froze as she said that, his jaw dropping slightly. “Why, y-yes but?”

  Beydara’s ugh was like liquid gold spilling out into the room. “Did you think you were the first to use an Astral Projection to communicate across worlds? After the World Walker locked him there, I was Mikkledarmius’s only real connection to our world. He told me much about you and your parents over the years. He was a good man; he is deeply missed. And I suspect you have not yet had time to properly mourn him?”

  David suddenly realized she was right; things had happened so quickly since they found his corpse on the floor of his walk-up that he had not yet had time to feel grief at the old man’s passing.

  Watching emotions py across his face, her tone shifted to a more familial one as she continued: “I miss him greatly, he was the first and best friend I made here. I must admit a little disappointment when he was assigned to Nyreen,” she added wistfully. “That thick hair, those eyes, and, when he finally took my advice and grew that beard,” she sighed happily at the memory.

  She cleared her throat suddenly and brought herself back to the present: “there will be a memorial for him after the midday meal tomorrow. I hope you and Thellissandra will be there.”

  “I will have to have someone keep an eye on the time for me, as I may get lost in research here,” he replied, looking around the library.

  “This one will likely be of more use to you in your true quest; our other library is more for philosophical works,” she replied.

  “I have a feeling you brought me here for more than just this, and a fast grope?”

  Her ugh at this was genuine and seemed to take decades off of her for a moment. David suspected she had broken a lot of men’s hearts over the years.

  “I have spilled the blood out of quite a few as well,” she told him.

  He jumped out of the chair. “Did I say that out loud?” He asked.

  She smiled and answered him without opening her mouth: “You did not have to, but should have felt my Spirit Probe during what you called a ‘groping’.”

  “Spirit {robe?” He thought. “I had felt something, before the shock distracted me, but had not known what it was.”

  Her smile widened. “You are highly adaptable but untrained,” she sent as a thought. Out loud, she asked: “How much do you know about the Lost Arch Mage?”

  The sudden pivot in the conversation almost threw him off but he answered as honestly as he could: “though I did see the term on the spine of a book once, today was the first time I really heard about it.”

  “Well, I do not know a lot. If anyone knew where Darvik Henax disappeared to, he would be the best to pump for information, but he has been gone almost fifty years now. What I do know is that, about two hundred years ago, strife tore through the Great Western Kingdom, a series of rebellions that led to it splitting apart.”

  David interjected at this point, “Right, breaking up into what eventually became the Empire of D’Gar, the Mercantile Kingdom of Damar, and Estravhem, the so-called Shepherd's Republic.”

  “Very good,” the War Mother replied, nodding. “I will step out for a drink before continuing. Please wait.”

  David nodded and she rose elegantly to her feet and walked out of the room. About two minutes ter, she returned, wiping crumbs from her mouth. “Apologies, but someone added honey cakes to the pte. My greatest vice.

  “But we were discussing the Grand Rebellion that tore apart the Western Kingdom. At the center of the rebellion were two men, once close friends, the Arch Mage Aldorus, and the warrior prince Balrin Deligar. When Balrin made a deal with an Infernal Power to guarantee victory in a battle they were losing, Aldorus became so disgusted he abandoned the field of battle and came here. Then he and his mate Caitrin, fled not just our nds but our world, never to be seen again, summoning a Prismatic Gate in the mess hall, if the legends are correct, and abandoning their four-year-old daughter, also my great, great, great grandmother, as they did so.”

  David felt a cold chill pass through him at this. His father had been a big genealogy buff, and had managed to track his mother’s family back to almost the start of record keeping but his own line he was only able to trace back six generations, to one Aldus West and his wife Kate, who seemed to appear out of nowhere in Canada during the French and Indian War, and who then migrated to the United States shortly before the birth of their only son.

  “So, are you saying you and Mikkledarmius believe that somehow Aldorus of the Western Kingdom became Aldus West?”

  Beydara’s smile faltered slightly as she replied: “That was his theory. He was starting to suspect he was wrong when it seemed your only real talent was a gift for nguages, primarily those of machines that think “

  David nodded: “Computers, yes. You know, I am the first, and only, son of the seventh generation since Aldus appeared.”

  “The first son of the seventh generation of the seventh son of the first generation,” Baydera mused.

  “Wait, really? Does that actually mean something?”

  She chuckled. “Do you want the vague prophet-y answer or my own belief?”

  David ughed. “Surprise me.”

  The Mother of Battle cpped in delight at this: “Oh I can see why she likes you. Well, it is rare enough that it has happened, maybe ten times in history. If even three of those times yielded an exceptional individual, that would be…. Wait a moment,” she said, rising again to her feet. This time she scanned a row of scrolls, plucked one out and pyed with it for a minute or so before resuming: “that would be enough to trigger a ‘Confirmation Bias’ and make people believe that it did, whether it does or not. So maybe it does, maybe not.” She shrugged.

  David blinked in surprise and asked: “'Confirmation Bias'? What was that scroll?”

  Another ugh, though this tinged with sadness, came immediately, followed shortly by her reply: “Mik, I guess you called him Mike, was a big fan of psychology and attended a lot of lectures. Before he was bound to your world, he would take Memory Stones with him and return here to have them transcribed to scrolls. Until Nyreen died, he kept his travels quiet, and I think most people thought him dead. Showing up for her funeral kind of proved he was not, though, and then he met Celeora and married her, only to have her vanish in a way that suggested foul py two weeks ter. He suspected his former student and went to confront him. Since then, our only contact was through astral projection. I am one of the few women ever to master it,” she added, making a very slight effort to hide her pride at this.

  David gave her a faint bow at this: “It’s exhausting. Easier than I had expected, but very draining,” David replied.

  “Ah, so it was you who set off those wards. I suspected as much, but had no proof until now,” she replied, smiling.

  “Wards?”

  Beydara nodded: “Yes. At one time there was an effort to protect the Temple from all gate and projection effects but that proved inefficient and hard to maintain. A system of alerts to identify when one is active and where has proven far more practical. And it allows us to send Warriors out via Gates without having to leave the grounds.”

  It was David’s turn to ugh. “Ah that was how people knew that we were in Thellissandra’s room so quickly?”

  “Exactly. But it is te, and I feel we both need some rest. Also, I must yet visit Thellessandra myself before retiring so I will leave you for now. Most nights I retire here after dining for at least an hour; you are free to visit this chamber at any time.”

  David stood and bowed to her. “Thank you, Battle Mother.”

  “Beydara, please, David,” she said. Then smiled. “At least in this library. You may even shorten it to Bey if you wish; Mik often did. But only in this room - outside, I am Battle Mother, and you are Grand Mage Thengarian - at least until you pass the Trials.”

  He nodded and rose as she did. She walked to the door and, to his surprise, gave him a quick wink before stepping out in the hall. He heard her voice through the almost closed door: “I believe the Grand Mage wishes to spend some time here alone. See if he needs the dishes cleared or desires more refreshments and then make sure to lock the door after he leaves.”

  “Yes, Battle Mother, it shall be as you will it! And a good night to you, too!”

  David looked over a few scrolls. At first, they were easy to read but, as fatigue set in, the symbols moved away from the alphabet that he knew to unfamiliar runes, and he decided to call it a night himself. As he made this decision, the guard opened the door and asked if the ptes outside could be cleared.

  “I’ll take a cup of water and be on my way to my chambers, thank you,” he replied.

  “Very good sir. And a good night to you,” the guard responded, bowing slightly.

  Two wrong turns deyed his return to his assigned rooms, but eventually he found his way through the massive complex. He recalled that it had a long and complex history that he had never paid attention to as a pyer. It was built in stages over nearly a thousand years, had at least two levels and nearly one hundred rooms - it was recognized as an independent city-state by the neighboring realms. And that was really all he could recall. Yet another thing to research tomorrow, he mused.

  Finally, he turned a corner he recognized and knew he was in the right pce because the rat-faced young man who challenged him earlier was leaning against the wall beside the door.

  “Off to te night meetings already? You found another woman so soon, Grand Mage?” He asked. Somehow, his tone made “Grand Mage” an insult.

  David smirked: “What makes you think I was not with Thellessandra?”

  A sinister smile covered the rat-faced man’s features: “Dalrinjian is spending the night with his woman. Probably making her forget you ever existed. You consider our offer? The value goes down tomorrow and drops every day until we find out she bears his child, then it drops to zero, and we may even demand you pay for having insulted Dalrinjian.”

  David smiled and shook his head. “I have given your offer all the consideration it merits. If you wish, I can help you shove it up right where it belongs. Or you can just walk away and let me go to my bed in peace.”

  The rat-like face somehow became slightly more menacing. “The offer goes down daily. Just remember that. And that she is his, for the next two years.” And then he hurried away.

  David just shook his head and went into his room. Except that there were some new robes in the closet and a fresh pitcher of water by the bed, everything was just as he had left it. He poured himself a gss of water and found a note under the pitcher. “Remember that though not all love you, you do have friends here.” It was unsigned.

  He sighed. “More politics,” he muttered under his breath, then y down on the bed without moving the sheets. He was asleep almost the second his head hit the pillow.

  He never found out if this was a dream or if he was awake, but at one point during the night, he seemed to be visited by a transparent man who bore an uncanny resembnce to himself but with long gray hair. The figure studied him, then spoke in a deep, echoing tone: “Sleep well my heir. You must recharge. And find more allies, as your enemies also grow in number” and then it was gone.

  The next day was retively uneventful - he met Thellissandra and some Battle Sisters for breakfast, and found that Dalrinjian had tried to spend the night with her but had been rebuffed, especially since two of her sisters had decided to spend the night in her chambers - though one of them had offered to take the Apprentice to her rooms if he really needed female companionship, as she had been impressed by his dispy earlier.

  After that Velik’Hai and Keldrin met him and gave him a quick tour of the main floor of the temple. They also filled him in on some of the history that he had heard but ignored during gaming sessions.

  At lunch, he arrived in the mess hall to find Dalrinjian seated very close to a very uncomfortable looking Thellissandra, and noticed that Dalrinjian’s people, including the rat faced man, were milling around, keeping anyone from approaching the table. He just shook his head sadly and ate alone.

  He was again prevented from joining her during the memorial service by Dalrinjian’s crew. The service was held in three nguages, only one of which he understood clearly, even after tapping out a new Transtion spell. It was a brief, but beautiful service. He and Sandra exchanged sad gnces several times but that was the closest they were able to get to each other. He realized that ‘Uncle Mike’ had touched a lot of lives and was a very popur man in this world and David even felt a few tears welling up at several points before it was over.

  After that, he decided to give the library he had been in the evening before another try. At the door the guard asked: “You are the visiting mage, correct?”

  “Well, one of them at least,” David replied.

  “You have free access here during daylight hours, or at any time the Battle Mother is present and not holding meetings,” the guard informed him, and opened the door.

  He plucked a scroll at random and began reading. This time the words remained legible. The scroll covered an obscure element of psychoanalysis, so David barely understood what he was reading, but the style was captivating, and he made it through most of the scroll before he realized he was not alone.