A Wizard of the White Council Read Online Free PDF Page A

Lithon Scepteris and an old man named Alastarius.” 
    The old man grunted. “Never met either of them, so far as I remember.” 
    “Then I will continue to look.”
    The sidewalk intercepted with a broad black road. The old man stopped, staring at metal pole topped with a glowing red light on the far side. The light looked like the burning eye of a winged demon, and Arran’s hand twitched toward his sword. The red light winked out and a green light lit up beneath it. The old man grunted and started across the road.
    “You a vet?” said the old man. 
    “A vet?”
    “You know. A veteran.” His voice thickened. “My brother and me, we were in Vietnam together. I came back with a bullet through my knee.” Did the people of Earth fight wars amongst themselves with guns? “But my brother didn’t come back at all. I was lucky. A lot of guys got it worse than me. Never learned to deal with it.” He gave Arran a fixed glance. “You look like a vet, one of the guys who never learned to deal with it. Were you in Iraq or Afghanistan?”
    Arran closed his eyes. “I do not know any of these places. But yes. I have been in war. More than I care to remember.” 
    The old man grunted. “Here.” He handed another of the small green letters of credit to Arran. “Buy yourself something to eat. And a shower. You really could use it.”
    “What is this?” said Arran.
    “Twenty dollars,” said the old man. “You really are addled. You want to come with me? The hospitals are a joke, but there are places where they can help you.”
    “A dollar, you said,” said Arran. “What is a dollar?”
    “It’s…you know, a dollar. A hundred pennies. You buy stuff with it.”
    “So it is money,” said Arran. “Listen. I am not quite what you think I am. But thank you for the aid. And for the answers. It is more than anyone else has given me thus far.”
    The old man gave him a sad nod. “That’s how it is for us vets. We have to stick together.” He held out his hand, and Arran shook it. The old man shuffled down the sidewalk. 
    It seemed the people of Earth had likewise suffered from the guns and bombs.
    Arran watched the old veteran go, and then resumed his exploration.

Chapter 3 - Regent

    Anno Domini 2012

    “Right. Um. So…right. Where was I?” The instructor, a young grad student in jeans and a ragged t-shirt, paged through the notes piled on the lectern. Ally rolled her eyes. “Now…uh…the science of the art of appreciating music. Music is, uh, an art. So is listening to music, too. But it’s a science...ah…also. A precise one. Like making a clock that…um…makes noise.” He turned a page and managed to spill his notes all over the front of the lecture hall. “Oh…damn, damn it.” Those few students still paying attention laughed. The instructor squatted and began scooping up his notes. 
    Ally made up her mind to drop the class. 
    She suppressed a yawn, fighting her heavy eyelids. She had stayed up too late last night finishing an assignment. The second week of school and she already had homework. 
    She wondered how Mary was doing. Mary had found part-time work at a bookstore. At Katrina’s recommendation, Mary had gone to a tech school for systems administration. Granted, Mary didn’t know anything about computers beyond solitaire and Facebook, but maybe she would learn. 
    The grad student restarted his lecture, and Ally gave up trying to stay awake. She closed her eyes and began to doze. 
    Images flashed through Ally’s mind, one after another.
    She lay bleeding in a courtyard of cold stone, flames rising up all around her. Pain shot through her body in agonizing waves. A winged nightmare of shadow and wickedness landed above her, iron claws reaching for her…
    Ally groaned and shifted in her seat.
    She stood on a dead plain of gray stone and dust. A colossal tower of black stone loomed over the plain like a citadel of nightmares. An old warrior walked besides her, two swords hanging from