This story was created based off of a tabletop roleplay game known as MAGE. This RPG is based in present time where magic is far from dead.

This is the first book in a series of nine that I am writing and hope to someday publish. Advanced critique would be very helpful, however I will ignore anyone that outright flames me or my work.

DISCLAIMER: I own the character James Williams and the dimension he lives in, my brother, Geno, owns the character Tom Williams, and my friend, Biggy, owns the character Lore. The idea of this type of magic and the roleplaying gameare owned by Whitewolf.

Chapter Two: Walking In The Night

The sky was black and cloudless. Not even one star was able to be seen. James looked around himself, not being able to see any buildings or trees around him. If anything was there, it was far too dark to see. He heard a noise and turned around to meet it. A pair of glowing eyes looked back at him as they floated there in the darkness. James took two steps back and the creature began to get closer. The more James moved, the faster it got until it was in sight. First a blade, then a cloak, but there was no face to match the eyes. The creature raised its blade and struck down toward its victim.

"Ah!" James sat up in his bed, breathing very heavily. He looked to his right and at his clock. One-thirty. It was almost the same dream every night. It was hard for him to get any sleep anymore. James got his breathing under control and thought he had seen something, like a shadow. He opened his door and looked around before hearing footsteps. James walked toward the sounds and toward the kitchen and stopped just outside when he heard his brother's voice. He sounded tired.

"Well you didn't have to speed up time on me. If you wanted me tired you could have just said so." No one else was in the room with him. He must be talking to Lore. James looked around the corner, watching his brother grab up his late dinner, smile and head for the door. James brought his head back and sat for a minute. "Yes, Master, I'm leaving now." The door slammed shut and James peered around the corner again. Seeing that his brother had gone, James ran back to his room, got dressed, and left with his jacket to follow Tom. Maybe this time I'll get a straight answer.

James locked the door behind him and turned to find that Tom had already gone. He ran outside their yard and looked around. Tom wasn't anywhere to be seen. James looked back and forth and eventually picked the left street and ran. At the end of the street was a building that was never finished. James looked to the top of the building to find Tom standing on the edge and Lore yelling at him from the next building over. "No! Have you heard anything I've been saying?" Lore sounded angry, even aggravated. Tom didn't look as tired, but exhaustion definitely showed.

"I heard you." Tom replied sourly. "You told me to walk on the air."

"Yes, walk on it! Not make yourself as light as it! Those are two completely different things!" Lore shook his head and grunted. "Fine. Allow me to demonstrate." The air in front of Lore grew thick, like a fog had settled at his feet. Lore stepped off of the building and onto the cloud that had formed. A moment later, he walked back and let the cloud go. "It's as simple as that. Change the air, not yourself." Tom now shook his head. James was in shock over what he just saw. That's impossible! How did he walk on a cloud? Tom stared at the air in front of him and proceeded to form his own cloud. James stared at his brother. Tom took a step forward. He can't... Tom's foot fell through the cloud and he began to yell as he fell. Before hitting the ground, Tom managed to start floating back up to the top of the building Lore was on. James sighed in relief and watched as lore shook his head again. "It was a good attempt, but you still failed to make it solid. Thicker, yes, but not solid. We'll try again tomorrow, maybe even without the cloud to help. Go get some sleep. You look dreadful."

"Yes, Master Lore." Tom and Lore began to walk away and Lore glanced quickly in James' direction. James hid for a second behind a dumpster then peered at the spot where his brother had been standing. Both of them were gone. James lowered his head and turned around to go home. Suddenly shadows appeared in front of his feet. James looked up to find five kids staring at him with grins.

"Look at what we have here." The five boys were wearing vests with two of them wearing shirts beneath. Their clothes were all torn with their pants having random patches around the knees and heels. They all looked to be about thirteen years old, except the one in the middle, who seemed to be closer to sixteen. The one leaning on the right wall continued to speak. "It seems this kid is lost."

"Maybe he's just a homeless kid from another town." This time it was the one on the far left that spoke. He was quickly pushed toward the wall by the one next to him.

"Nah, if he was homeless, how could he afford that jacket?" James became scared. These boys were a gang that lived on the streets. The boy on the right standing next to one of the other dumpsters began to speak.

"No way he could have stolen it. Look at how scrawny he is."

"Can it!" The middle boy now spoke. The other four stopped talking immediately. The older boy straightened his undershirt and slowly walked toward James. The scared youth slowly backed away, hitting his back on the dumpster he had ducked behind moments ago. "Easy there. I'm not gonna hurt ya. Where ya live, kid?" James couldn't talk. He was too afraid of the group to give a straight answer even if he could get his mouth to work. James pointed in the general direction of his house, to the best of his ability, and the gang leader glanced in that direction. "No kidding? You live in the rich neighborhood?" James could barely move, but managed to straighten up and nod. "Well, that's not too far from here. Tell ya what. You give us everything you have and we'll lead you home." James stiffened again at the proposition.

"A... All I have... Is this jacket." Without wanting to, James reached into his pants pocket and clutched the marble and chain he had placed there the night before. The gang of thieves noticed his movement.

"Then what's in your pocket." James removed his hand from his pocket and put it behind his back, the marble still clutched in his hand. The older boy grinned for an instant.

"Grab it." The other four gang members left their relaxed poses and started walking toward James. The frightened boy shut his eyes tight then darted away from the gang, toward the unfinished building. "After 'em!" James opened his eyes and glanced behind him to find the gang in hot pursuit. James turned right heading for a covered section of the building, hoping to lose his followers. Two of the four found his hiding place immediately and began the chase again. James quickly ran out of places to hide and began to run down the street.

Every corner he took, the gang got closer to him. They were almost breathing down his neck as he ran from them. James ran into the market district and started to throw the carts at them. The carts brought them to a stop long enough for James to get to the other side of the street. The four boys picked themselves up and continued to chase the youth. James, nearly out of breath from running, turned another corner and was pulled into a dark ally and quickly gagged by another hand. Being shushed silently, James watched the street as the gang members ran passed, still trying to get his charm. The hand left James' mouth as he slowly turned around to see a boy around his age. The boy stood up and held his hand out to James. James took his hand and was pulled to his feet.

"Really shouldn't be walking around at night." The boy was wearing torn pants and a white shirt, both dirty. He looked like he was homeless, but still happy. "Come on. They're going to be looking for you for a little while still." The boy started to walk away and James began to follow. He almost had a British accent, but spoke amazingly well. "What's you name kid?"

"Uhh… J-James." James lowered his head for a second and continued walking.

"My name's Mickey. Don't refer to me as a mouse and we'll get along just fine." James wasn't paying much attention to Mickey, but was trying to keep track of where they were going. "Don't worry, we'll wait out that gang and get you home. You got a home, don't ya?" Mickey looked back at James, who nodded his head. "Thought so. You didn't look homeless to me. But it might have been your first day, ya know? No one looks homeless their first day." Mickey lead James through more passages and alleys and eventually came to a stop in front of an old cellar door. "You can hide from them down here." Mickey opened the door and the two boys began to climb down the stairs inside. The stairs, like everything else outside were made out of metal, but the walls were now concrete. Never seen this kind of rock before. James ran his hand along the wall as they walked down the stairs. "Why were they chasing you anyway?" James looked down toward the other boy.

"I… wouldn't let them steal my jacket." James lowered his head farther.

"Really? All that for a jacket? Didn't look all that great to me." The two boys finally reached a room at the bottom of the stares. "Here we are! Home, sweet home!" James looked up and noticed a very large cave in front of him. The walls were lined with torches and people were moving about everywhere. A small group of men started to walk towards them.

"Well, now. Who is this kid?" Mickey walked over to join the men who were staring at James.

"This is James. He was being chased by Rider's gang." The man farthest left began walking up to him. "He says they were after his jacket."

"Heh, not likely. It's okay, son. We're not gonna take anything from you. My name's Miguel." The man stuck his hand out. James stood there, unable to force himself to move. "Back to work, guys. Give our new guest some room." The other men and Mickey walked away, eventually merging with the rest of the people in the cave. Miguel walked over to James' side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You can stay here for as long as you like, but the gang should go home so enough. Until then, welcome to Tunga Link." Miguel removed his hand from James' shoulder and began to walk back to where he had come from. James stared off into the cave, noticing more people than before. He started to walk around, looking at everything. There were houses everywhere made out of concrete, their setup creating streets to walk on. Every house had plant life surrounding it, all of them with their own lamps. James heard footsteps behind him as Mickey ran up to him.

"I was wondering where you took off to." James looked at him, noticing he had a big smile. "Follow me, Jimmy. I got something to show you!" Mickey started to run ahead.

"Jimmy?" James chased after Mickey. After a while of running, the boys stopped in front one of the houses toward the back of the cave. Mickey unlocked the door and walked it, with James following behind. It was a one room house, with the bed doubling as a chair in front of a bow that was being used as a table. The house was very small, but seemed fitting for a ten-year-old. Mickey walked over to the table and opened it, pulling out a small box.

"Here ya go." He gave the box to James. It had a grate on the front and a button on the side. There was a sliding door on the back that held some batteries. "It's a two way radio. We make them here. I have one too. If you get into any more trouble or would like to talk, just push the button and talk into the box. I always have mine with me. It's my job to make sure people who know about us stay out of trouble."

"Know about you?"

"Yeah, we're kind of a secret to the other people." Mickey walked back to his table and closed it.

"Why?"

"Trust me, the less you know, the better." He walked over to James and put both hands on his shoulders. "You gotta promise me that you'll tell no one about this place, though. Okay?" James looked up at Mickey, their eyes staring into each other. James nodded in response. "Good!" Mickey smiled and let go. "Guess we get to be friends then!" He walked back to the door and opened it. "You should get home. It'll be mourning soon. Your family is probably worried about you."

"Yeah…" Mickey led James back to his house and waved to him as he ran back to his home. James walked up to the door and, finding it to be unlocked, walked inside. Tom heard the door open and ran into the kitchen. As James was putting up his jacket Tom ran over to him and nearly clobbered him as he gave him a hug.

"Where've you been? I was looking all over for you! Lore said you were okay, but I was worried…" Tom let go and looked at his brother.

"I'm fine, Tom… I was just…" You gotta promise me that you'll tell no one about this place, though. Okay? "out for a walk, that's all." Tom looked at James strangely.

"Are you okay?" James stood there for a moment.

"Yeah… I'm fine."

"Okay… But don't be walking around at night. You know how dangerous it gets." Tom straitened up and headed back for his room slowly before turning around to look at his younger brother again. "You look tired. I can take care of myself tomorrow. You try to get some rest, alright?" James nodded and continued to put away his jacket and shoes. Tom waited for a moment then went back to his room for the night.