chalk

[alicornucopia]

In Paraasilan, Esmaar, a pair of roommates are about to break a rule that, compared to the one about running in the corridors or even the one about unlicensed teleportation, is there for a good reason.

In unison, they complete their shared spell.

~~~

with Adarin (Aestrix)

with Ekador (kappa)

with Brilliance (kappa)

with the admin (kappa)

with Teah (kappa)

with Katran (lambda)

with Hall (kappa)

with Joy (kappa)

with Kalinda (Christy Hotwater)

Comments

[alicornucopia]

Keo waves to the light, leads him into the hall, and then into the lift, which she directs to a residence hall. The lift moves.

[or_the_broken]

He observes the lift moving.

"Damn strange," he repeats.

[alicornucopia]

"Is it? Your language has a word for this," says Keo. "It's a lift."

[or_the_broken]

"Different functionality at home, different aesthetic," he says. "Different mechanism, too, I bet."

[alicornucopia]

"Well, yes, this one's magic. I'm getting the sense you don't have magic at all where you're from."

[or_the_broken]

"Correct."

[alicornucopia]

The lift comes to a stop and opens up. Keo leads him into the hall and knocks on a door, and a kid who looks like a humanoid lion opens it. "Hi, Keo. Hi, offworld person."

[or_the_broken]

"Hi," says the offworld person. "I'm Dr. Hall."

[alicornucopia]

The kid looks confused.

"He's the nonmagical version of a trained light," Keo says, "not a psychologist."

"Oh," says the kid. "Anyway, I called my mom and she says I can go as long as it's safe and I'm going to learn things."

[or_the_broken]

"It's safe. And there's plenty to learn."

[alicornucopia]

"Okay. Keo said you'd write me a letter?" The lion-kid produces a piece of paper and a stick of graphite.

[or_the_broken]

"Yeah."

He accepts these instruments, thinks for a minute, and then starts writing. His handwriting is very neat, despite how fast he writes. At the end he signs it, then folds the page and addresses it to the head of his hospital's administrative staff.

"That should cover it. Lily's pretty adaptable for a bureaucrat."

[alicornucopia]

"Okay. Um, I'm packed for a couple days, Keo, but after that can you bring me back for a change of clothes and stuff?"

"By then there should be a grownup who can go for a longer stretch," Keo says. "I've given you my dragonsong, go ahead and make sure you can sing that now." The leonine sings fifteen pretty syllables, and Keo nods. "Okay, sing that if the sun tastes wrong or something else happens that means you need to come home."

The kid nods.

[or_the_broken]

Dr. Hall listens with interest to the dragonsong.

[alicornucopia]

"Do you want to watch my husband send him?" Keo asks Dr. Hall.

[or_the_broken]

"Might as well. Where are you gonna put him, exactly?"

[alicornucopia]

"I was thinking where you were when you were summoned. Will that not work?"

[or_the_broken]

"It'd work fine. Just outside Lily's office would work a little better if your targeting will do that."

[alicornucopia]

"If you'll come along and provide focus for the spell we can do that, yes. Since my husband and I don't know anything about Lily we can't aim at her office like that."

[or_the_broken]

"Makes sense. Sure."

[alicornucopia]

To the lift, to the headmaster's office, Kanaat is already drawing a diagram on the floor.

"How many patients am I going to see a day?" wonders the leonine kid. "Oh also the letter might need to have my name in it, so they can get my attention. I'm Kensath."

[or_the_broken]

"It varies," says Dr. Hall, making this amendment to the letter. "Some days I don't get anything serious at all; some days there's an industrial accident and I spend all day reattaching limbs. Averages maybe one bad case every day or two, small stuff the rest of the time."

[alicornucopia]

"Okay," says the kid. He waits until Kanaat (and Keo, who is now helping in silent tandem) have finished the circle, then goes and stands in the middle of it.

"If you could just put your hand there and concentrate on the point where he's meant to land," Keo says, indicating the focus loop for Dr. Hall, "we can send him along now."

[or_the_broken]

He puts his hand there; he focuses.

[alicornucopia]

Keo's husband makes a gesture and speaks a word, and the leonine kid disappears.