A Wizard of the White Council Read Online Free PDF

his hip, a small boy riding in his shoulder harness. 
    The image changed.
    Ally ran, clutching the boy in her arms. Legions of demons chased them through a vast vaulted corridor. A door of black stone loomed before her. Fear hammered in her heart. She had to reach the door…
    The dream blurred. 
    Now she stood in a kitchen. Katrina and Simon sat at the table, Katrina younger and Simon thinner than she remembered. A grim-faced man in a suit stood over the table, leaning on a long black staff. Ally could not take her eyes from that staff. Power crackled just beneath the black wood, and words of white fire crawled up its length. 
    The kitchen door exploded. The man whirled, raising his staff. A great dark beast leapt through the door, claws digging grooves in the linoleum…
    Ally gasped and jerked awake, sweat beading on her face. The students had begun to file out of the lecture hall.
    Ally had slept through class.
    She climbed out of her seat, dug a drop form from her backpack, and walked to the podium. A long line of students had formed up by the desk. The instructor scribbled signature after signature. Ally joined the line.
    She reached the instructor and put the form before him. “My reason for leaving is…”
    The instructor scribbled a signature on her form and handed it back to her without looking up. 
    Ally went on her way. 
    At least had gotten out of class ten minutes early. That meant she had time to get to the administration building, drop off her form, and eat lunch before her next class. Though the necessity the drop form annoyed her. It was 2012, for God’s sake. Couldn’t the university let her do this over the Internet?
    She wove her way through crowded sidewalks of the University of Constantina’s campus. Students on bicycles zigzagged through the press, sometimes darting over the lawn. A male student on a battered red moped that looked as if it had been manufactured around 1973 chugged past. Ally crossed the street, hurried up the front steps to the expensive-looking administration building, and went inside. University employees in suits and polo shirts walked through the corridors of the administration building, many of them tapping on iPads in a self-important fashion. A long line of students stood at the door to the registrar’s office. Ally sighed, got in line, and waited. 
    Fifteen minutes later she got to the head of the line. A young woman with a severe ponytail in a black business suit sat at a computer terminal. Her nametag proclaimed that her name was Suzie and she worked for the registrar’s office. “Can I help you?”
    “Yes,” said Ally. She handed over her drop form. “I’d like to hand this in, please.”
    Suzie took the form and laughed. “Oh, yes. Him. I used to date him, you know.”
    “You did?” said Ally. “I’m sorry.” 
    “Biggest mistake I ever made,” said Suzie. She typed on her keyboard. “Let me just verify this in the system and you can go on your way.” She worked on the computer for a few moments and then frowned at the screen. 
    “Something wrong?” said Ally. 
    “You are a student here, right?” said Suzie.
    Ally nodded. “Yeah. I’m a freshman.”
    “Okay.” She typed for a while more. “Um…sure you’re a student here?”
    Ally gave her a weird look. “I just came from his class, didn’t I?” 
    “Right,” said Suzie. She gave Ally a suspicious look. “You’re not showing up in the system.”
    “Did you spell my name right?” said Ally. “It’s Ally Wester.” 
    “Is Ally a nickname?” said Suzie.
    “No, it’s my name,” said Ally. “Ally Wester.” 
    Suzie typed some more. “I’m sorry. You’re not showing up.”
    “Why not?” said Ally. “I mean, I’ve got a schedule, I’ve got a dorm room, I’ve got an ID card, I’m taking classes, I have the meal plan, why am I not in the computer?”
    Suzie picked up a phone. “I’m going to have to call tech support.” 
    Ally sighed and waited. 
    A portly man