The Nightmare King

I may not be the best mage, but even I can usually pull off a basic Bounce spell. It’s just hard to concentrate when you’re plummeting off the roof of a hotel... but I’m getting ahead of myself.

My name is Rowan. I’m a student at Phoenix Academy, one of many seemingly ordinary human colleges that just so happen to offer secret courses in the arcane arts. 

Magic is a fickle thing. Glamour magics hide the magical and strange. My pointed half-elf ears, for instance, pass unseen by mortal eyes. But spells are more obvious, harder to disguise. 

Casting around the mundane is a grave mistake, best avoided. Magic is the world’s most carefully kept secret, buried beneath centuries of law-bound silence. Somewhere, there exists a book thick with consequences. I was already trembling beneath the weight of it all, long before they caught me mid-descent.

I was at this building for the Arcainia convention, a new fantasy RPG drop I’d been hyped for all year. 

Tav, my best friend and roommate, had come along. He was one of the few humans who knew the truth of this world because his family crafted and traded magic gear and constructs. He’s technically human, though with his height and obsession with tinkering, he could be easily mistaken for a gnome.

Enticed by the promise of full moon magic, we found a rooftop to sneak onto. The subtle glow of moonlight had just begun to twinkle above the city skyline, casting silvery streaks across the streets below. The scene was too beautiful to notice the intrusion. It wasn’t until the streets rushed toward me that I had even suspected a thing.

Somewhere in the panic, I remembered my training: spell components, incantations, intent. But magic isn’t just formulas, it’s emotion. Power fueled by feeling. I yanked a rubber ball from my pocket and gripped it like a lifeline. Mana surged through my limbs, fever-hot. I could feel it gathering, sparking. I tried to speak the incantation, but the wind ripped the breath from my lungs. Panic gnawed at my focus. I reached for calm and came up with chaos. The spell faltered. My thoughts spiraled back to the first time this had happened. Back before I knew magic was real.

I struggled a lot in regular human school. I was always a bit of an anxious kid, fidgeting in my chair and picking at every little imperfection in my skin. My attention bounced around (if you haven’t noticed already), and I mostly kept to myself. My face was buried in a book or a video game every chance I got.

One night in late middle school, I dreamt I was under a lake, the cool blanket of water enveloping me. It was almost peaceful. Then the air in my lungs ran out. Water rushed in through my mouth and nose, burning from the inside out. My head pounded. I struggled to find the surface, but I couldn’t swim or find my way up and out. A hand reached towards me. I thought it was trying to help me, so I took it. Then I saw his face.

A single, glowing green orb reflected through the fog, the creature’s eye. The other was an empty socket. It was thin, barely more than a skeleton. Black spikes made a ring around its head. It was a cruel thing of dark metal inlaid with emeralds. A crown. He wasn’t trying to help me. He dragged me deeper into the water, spindly fingers like a cage around my wrist. An eerie voice like wind whistling through the trees permeated my brain, “Give up,” It whispered, “Let me in.”

I closed my eyes, but the image of the skeleton had burned itself into my brain. I felt a rush of heat in waves over me. There was a loud splash, and I suddenly began coughing violently. The water expelled itself from my lungs. I was back home in my bed.

My sheets were soaked, and a chill sank deep into my bones. My head pounded with pain as I experienced my first mana sickness. Without any knowledge of magic, I had cast a teleportation spell. My whole body tingled with numbness as if I had been shocked with electricity. My parents rushed in, nearly snapping my door off its hinges. My coughing fit must have woken them up. Our family dog, Leo, jumped up into my lap. He began lapping up the excess water from my face. My mother quickly wrapped me in a towel. 

My dad raised his hands, which glowed with golden light. I felt a rush of warmth spread through my body, expelling the terrible cold. Though I did not know it at the time, he had magic, too. My eye started to burn with pain. I clutched it, screaming in pain, then suddenly it all went dark.

I don’t remember much else from that night, or if the whole thing was just a dream or something more. In the morning, my mom made me some tea and told me I could take the day off from school. There was no evidence that my bed had ever been wet, but my dad had this worried look on his face that wouldn’t fade. My parents exchanged a glance, then he left for work, and my mom stayed home to take care of me.

I learned later that my dad worked as an exorcist for the Order. He specialized in abjuration magic, the power of protection.

It's up to the parents whether to tell a kid about magic before they turn 18. Giving them a head start on their magical education could help, but it also made them a bigger target for demons and other monsters. I imagine it was harder for other races that didn’t blend in with humans as well, but my parents waited.

I’m getting off track again. Heart hammering, I clenched my fists and tried to summon that same protective instinct. I focused my mana on Tav, rather than trying to save myself.

Then… everything stopped.

We hovered, suspended inches above the pavement. My stomach flipped. A sharp pain lanced through my skull like a blade, and then the spell broke.

We hit the ground hard. And just before everything went black, I swear I saw that emerald eye watching me again, glowing with a terrible promise.