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Part One: The apprentice                Beads

of precipitation collected on a metal rail stretching along the bridge Wulfgang

walked upon. The otter drew his finger against the wet metal, then brought his

paw to his mouth and licked the cool dew off his smooth padded finger. He

rested his paws on the rail, stared forward and took a deep breath. A smile

spread across his face and he licked some moisture off his muzzle. The otter wore loose fitting jeans, as well as a deep blue sweater and black t-shirt. His hair was a dirty blond, not quite short, but not quite long, it rested just at the level of his muzzle.                 His

muddy-cream coloured fur stood on end as the smell of static filled the air.

The water under the bridge pulled inward on itself and then shot upward,

surrounding the Bright Corps building with a wall of water. Masked furs

sprinted toward the skyscraper, throwing glyphs into the water-wall, pushing

sections of the construct inward to freeze into bridges. A few of the attackers

shouted incantations, tossing glyph-slips to pull the water where they wanted

it to go. One looked towards the watcher and seemed ready to attack him, but

they just kept running.                Wulf

memorized the mask's etched symbols, he had what he came for and turned away.

It was difficult to push out of the monsoon even with the purple swirling

sphere the otter had created around himself. Water warped around the arcane

shield as he stepped out of area and he let the spell fade.                 "Fuck,"

Wulfgang muttered and bit onto his smoking thumb. Black charred rose petals

twisted in the water behind him, as well as scattered on the ground. The otter

shook his hand as he stormed away from the Bright Corps headquarters. He had

been looking forward to making an eyewitness account and cursed; he made a

mental note to bring more rose petals the next time. The otter himself had been gifted with a slightly higher reservoir of life energy, but even he had to substitute rose petals as the sacrifice for almost all spells.                 The

path off the Bright Corps campus was marked with smooth stone arranged in

golden geometric patterns and did not bleed seamlessly into the sidewalk it

lead to. The location was by far the most extravagant in the city- Bright Corps

was the largest company in White -and the shadow of the skyscraper fell heavy

on the surrounding neighborhoods. The area had originally been the oldest

community in White, but had been bought out and destroyed by the corporation.

There was heavy speculation on how Bright managed to keep its clientele in the

midst of demolishing important culture in the city. Wulfgang himself despised

the company and whispered with his neighbors about supposed conspiracy and

trouble brewing in the organization.                The

otter had now seen first-hand the violent opposition toward Bright and

headed to his place of work to inform his master of what he had witnessed. Wulfgang

apprenticed at a local shop which was only a few blocks south of Bright Corps.

The store offered many charms, scrolls, entire tomes, as well as direct magical

services. He and his master were the only arcana practitioners active and

working in the south east of White City, so business was consistent. Although modern magic had overcome the strict rules and limits of traditional written magics, most people viewed the old ways as higher quality, or at the very least an art to be admired.                 An old

wolf's ear perked and twitched just before the shop bell rang for Wulfgang's

entrance. The master and apprentice exchanged smiles and a brief hug. Wulf

stepped around the counter, heading into the back of the store. The master

locked up shop and followed after his apprentice. The otter had already poured

tea for the both of them, but only sat down when the older wolf did.                 Between

them was a table embossed with a complex series of symbols and circles,

interlocking in scattered patterns. The teapot rested on a metal plate

connected directly to the tea-table. The master Arcana user had hand-crafted

the table, like most of the objects in the shop. The magical circles initiated a chain reaction, where one monitored touch and then sent signals to others to instantly boil water in any teapot placed on the metal plate. Many who had seen it offered much for such craftmanship, but the master could never let a masterpiece go.                "So,

you've seen the protestors first hand?" The old master said and took a sip of

rosebud tea. Wulf pulled a slip of paper from under the table and began to draw

out the symbol he memorized, being careful to be as accurate as possible. "Yeah,

but they're not just protesting anymore. They've erected a monsoon wall around

the Bright building. They could be storming the place right now." Wulf said, to

which the wolf chuckled in a soft way and shook his head. "That

asinine skunk would never let them into his headquarters." The master said and

took the symbol his apprentice drew out. He turned the paper around once, or

twice, put it down on the table and scratched at his chin. It was a simple

symbol, three circles arranged in such a way you could draw an equilateral

triangle between them, with a line between each circle outstretching. "A

trinity? This is the symbol that those triplets adopted, isn't it? I don't

suppose that they're affiliated." Wulf remarked as he gulped down tea. The wolf

shook his head again and tapped at the paper.                "I

don't think so, the Grey have always been the lone vigilante type. The

activists might have chosen it as a symbol against tyranny, since the triplets

are romanticized as having these ideals." He spread his paw out on the page and

crumpled the paper. "Oh well, we'll just have to keep an eye on them." The

master shrugged and took his tea back up, sipping ever so slightly. The old wolf, however, harbored concern in his eyes. The Grey had gallivanted across the city for almost ten years, reeking havoc among those who might cause havoc. Many lauded them as heroes, but they caused a lot of damage while they 'rescued' the city. Most people thought of the group as siblings, perhaps triplets (though they do not appear the same age) who have access to overwhelming magical artifacts that grant them great power. The young male of the group, Richter, possessed an unknown spacial magic that the group used to evade police custody. "Ah,

master," Wulf said, scratching behind his neck. "I don't understand, why are we

involving ourselves in this?" The master said that Wulf would learn a lot from observation, but he saw nothing that he didn't already know. The old wolf rubbed his paws together, his long

whiskers wriggled along his greying muzzle and he started to sniff at the air. His eyes fixated on Wulf's fidgeting thumb and forefinger, he could weakly smell burnt fur.                "Why

are you rubbing your thumb like that?" The master asked and reached over the

table to grab Wulf's hand. The otter recoiled a bit and stopped subconsciously

trying to sooth his stinging digit. The wolf furrowed his fluffy brow, "I told

you to bring more rose petals, it smells like it's burnt!" The otter rolled his

eyes and said he was fine.                "It was

just a shield, it wasn't even a strong one." Wulf said and flicked his wrist in

no particular direction. The old master shook his head, crossed his arms and

turned away. "Wulf,

it's dangerous to rely on your reserve. I understand you seem secure having

more to expend than others, but it's not that much of a difference." The wolf

turned to the otter and squinted, an eyebrow perked. "Besides, that spell is

made specifically only to draw energy from rose petals." Wulfgang smirked, arms

crossed as he stared down to the side. "I told

you I was getting better at reading the arcana." The master grunted at Wulf's

words, though his eyes opened wide. He started on, about to reem his student on

possible mistakes, but the sound of a bell rang clear through the shop. Both

master and apprentice cursed under their breath and stood, saying the shop was

closed.                 "Didn't

you lock the door?" Wulf asked and nudged the master, who shrugged and shook

his head. The pair of arcanists shuffled to behind the counter, where a young

raccoon girl stood waiting for them. She stood a few inches taller than Wulfgang, about 5'11'' and wore her dark hair down to billow across her shoulders. Her fur was predominantly dark, a deep chestnut, her 'mask' and rings were

very light, almost white. She typically wore a thick sweater, the kind with a

puffy collar.                "Oh, Clara,"

Wulf said. "We're closed, didn't you see the sign?" He said, annoyed, but

dissonant with relief; the master looked between the two before he rested his

paws on the old wooden counter. "It's

alright, we are the only practitioners of our kind in this area. What do you

need, young lady?" The wolf said with a smile and turned both his paws up.                 "I've

gotten into a little mess and I'm gonna need your help," The raccoon said. Wulfgang knew her as a model student, as well as the type to be

quiet in public, but extremely vocal when she got to know you. The wolf and

otter, together, knew she also had a penchant for getting into magical trouble. The

arcanists exchanged a knowing glance, the wolf's excited and the otter's

already worn. "You know we're always interested in your little cases," said the

wolf. Clara nodded and dropped a tome on the counter. Wulfgang recognized it

immediately, a unique item that was quite famous among the city.                "That's

Ka-!" Wulf began, but the wolf quickly struck the side of the otter's muzzle

with his back-paw. The master shushed Wulf who rubbed at his sore muzzle. "Yeah,

you're not gonna believe where I found it, so I'm leaving that out. In any

case, I knew you'd be very interested in this, Belenus." She said with a smirk

and drew her fingertips across the leather binding. The tome was of an ancient

design, the base symbol of arcana was etched into a metal circle attached to

the center of the volume. A circle of glyphs surrounded the small plate, many

similar to theorized 'ancient symbols' for magic. The book was also perfectly

preserved. "Which

figures for a magic tome of this caliber," The wolf said. The otter picked up

the powerful tome and turned it, interested in the design. The arcanists and

the enthusiast migrated into the back room to discuss the nature of what they

were doing. The wolf poured a cup of tea for each person.                "I'm

sure that the owner of this book is going to come looking for it," Clara said.

"What I want is for you two to figure out as much as you can from it before we

have to return it." The wolf could hardly conceal his grin, he tapped his

fingertips together in sequence as he stared at the tome. "Clara,

for all the trouble this might get us into..." Belenus was at a loss for words. A

smile crept along his worn face, wider than any live soul had ever seen. The

raccoon gave up a smirk and sat back against the chair. Wulf sat next to her,

in a slight hunch over the book.                 "Where

will we even start? I barely recognize half of these glyphs."  The otter said as he rubbed at his chin, he

tilted his head a slight. The master arcanist chuckled and picked up the

ancient volume. "That

is why you are the student and I am the master. I recognize... Well, maybe a good

two thirds of these glyphs."The tome certainly confirmed speculation, the oldest

Grey sibling had in her possession an ancient tome of untold power, or

at least a powerful artifact. Katelyn was characterized by her use of

arcana that seemed impossible, people often pointed out that her symbols

would fly off pages, were much darker than normal and that she would

use her powers without the use of sacrificial flowers. He set the book back down and nodded to Clara. "Thank

you very much, Clara, I'll have Wulf start copying pages immediately."                 "Oh

come on!" The otter groaned and hung his head, Clara giggled and stood up. She

handed Wulf a large book bound in black leather, presumably with blank pages.

He begrudgingly took the blank tome, set it on the more ancient tome and picked

them both up. "I'll

be in the drawing room, I guess," he muttered as he headed into the hallway

leading into the rest of the building. He heard his master thank Clara for

providing a blank book, but their chatter became faint as he entered the most

important room in the shop.                 The

walls were a deep red and lined with various symbols and inscriptions. In the

center was a table, painted the same red colour. Lines from the ceiling to the

floor wrapped around and onto the table, completing a loop. It was all part of

a special system of protection designed to contain anything in case something

went wrong. Wulf

placed both tomes onto the table, opened each and took hold of a fountain pen

on one side of the table. The otter took a deep breath, rolled up his sleeves

and got to work. Wulf took great care in transcribing the text, the first page

of which he guessed as some kind of instruction. This was the bulk of his work,

along with simple incantations and the creation of lesser spells. His

penmanship always resembled a neat style, since he had to copy glyphs in exact

form.                 "Huh..."

Wulf perked a brow when he lifted the pen from the last symbol. The page took

on the same beige hue of the older tome, the text seemed to smoke and burn into

a deep purple. "This is way beyond me," he said and scratched his head. The

mere student decided he should show the master, but he had a burning curiosity.

Surely his teacher would take the tome and he would never see it again, so he

resolved to take a flip through the pages.                Many of

the pages contained styled illustrations of magic casters, glyphs flying off

pages and around the user. Other pages contained complex circles and diagrams,

which Wulf had actually seen before. The student was a big fan of the Gray

triplets, particularly Katelyn who was the owner of this tome. He speculated that she used the mythical 'true arcana,' the hypothesized version of arcana script used by ancient populations. The otter looked up to Katelyn and even drew his initial interest in arcana from her.                "This

is amazing," he muttered, staring at one circle. He recognized the mechanic in

this series of glyphs, it was a commonly theorized formation that no one had ever

been able to pull off. When an arcanist creates a spell it must be specialized,

including one circle with instructions around the circumference along with some

modifiers in the center. Some talented users had managed to create spells which

include two circles that intertwine, creating a multifaceted spell with

multiple functions. No one had gotten any farther than this, except maybe the

creator of this tome. "Four

sets of glyphs intertwined with a larger circle, modifiers in each set with the

four smaller sets acting as modifiers themselves..." The student had an

unconscious grin as his eyes glazed over the masterwork. His fingertips brushed

briefly against his lip and he reached out toward the page. The student made a

beginner's mistake and touched the page.                The

instant his pawpad made contact with one glyph, his whole hand was pulled onto

the page. The otter screamed expletives and grabbed his wrist with the other

paw, pulling on it in vain as the tome was cemented to the table and his hand.

Light poured from each character forming holographic versions of themselves

which wrapped around his arm. He could feel energy being pulled from his soul,

tugging at his very being. As the dark purple characters took hold of his arm,

his whole world started to become dark.                 Throughout

the pain, he could hear an ethereal whisper in his ear of some kind of ancient

incantation. As the spell came to its height, the room's defenses activated. A

powerful shield surrounded the room to contain Wulf's mistake. He could barely

perceive the sound of alarms and wondered if this would be the end. His

mouth dropped slack, dark violet light poured from it, his eyes glowed bright

as well and his fur started to burn. Much like the text burnt into the pages, a

purple smoke billowed out of his shirt collar, a seering pain drew down his back. The sheer pain would have made

anyone pass out, scream and thrash, but Wulf could do nothing and stood

stiff, hand stuck to the circle as light poured out his mouth and eyes, a

purple line being singed into his tail. As the line drew close to the tip of

the rudder it tapered out into a circle. The smoking colour slowly filled in

the rest of his tail until it reached the tip and stopped. The light dimmed and

ceased, his hand let up from the page.                Wulf

was dizzy, his whole body shook and he backed away from the tome. His teeth

grit and his back stung like a sunburn against his clothes, he pulled his shirt

off and looked back at his now-purple tail. His thighs stung as well and he was

ready to pull his pants off, but he heard banging on the door.                "Wulf!

Wulfgang! We can't break the shield!" He heard Clara and Belenus yelling. He

put his paw to the weak spot, still shaking, and whispered the incantation to lower

the shield. He fell back and twisted around to land on his stomach, the otter

writhed on the floor. Belanus and Clara pushed into the room and stared down at

Wulfgang. The master and customer whispered to each other, examining the mark

burnt into Wulf's skin and fur. Two

crescents swung down from the back of his neck to form an opening. Below were

two perforated crescent lines which surrounded a vertical 'eye' symbol. The eye

was simplistic, two long crescents formed an open shape, one circle surrounded

another which had a 'pupil' hole in it. The iris had a thin line trailing off

it, which grew wide when it hit the small of the otter's back and trailed down

his tail. The entire group of symbols flickered in a faint way for only a few

moments. The

otter groaned out, sprawled across the floor, a pool of drool collected at his

head. Clara helped Belanus carry him into the upstairs bedroom.                 "He

looks like he's had his soul drained out from under him," Clara remarked.

Belanus nodded in a grim way and sighed. "He's

lucky to be alive, lucky that he was born with his gift." The old wolf said and

Clara asked what he meant. "If he's this drained, that was a hell of a spell.

Anyone else would be dead, but he's got a little extra reserve. It's obvious it

was meant to impart him with those symbols, so it makes sense that it would

drain him, but you know the legends. The people of the past were supposed to be

much more powerful." Clara and Belenus let Wulf down gently on the bed.                 "So

that's his trick," Clara said and smirked. "He'd used to light matches on fire

without touching them, or without using rose petals and say he was a

pyrokinetic." Belenus chuckled softly and sat on the chair at the end of the

bed. "I

suppose that I ought to check out the tome and the page that did this to him." The

wolf said and stood back up, staring over his unconscious student. "Would you

keep an eye on him, Clara?" The raccoon nodded and sat down at the edge of the

bed.                 Wulf

stirred and groaned, Clara watched closely as the symbols on his back pulsed

with faint purple light. She stood and backed away, though leaned in to observe

the magical phenomenon. Like a series of waves, the light pulsed brighter,

washing the room in its arcane brilliance. Each pass grew longer until the

light would not fade. Clara nearly fell back against the wall as Wulf convulsed

and spread out, he pushed up from the bed, he hacked and wheezed.                "F-Fuck!"

The otter cursed and wiped his mouth, turned around on the bed and sat cross

legged. He stared vacantly at Clara, who squinted at his eyes, awash in bright

purple light. "Your

eyes, they're... The same colour as the symbols," she muttered, perhaps to

herself. Wulf blinked and rubbed his eyes, his tail curled around his side. The

glow of purple light slowly faded from the room.                 "The

symbols? What do you mean?" He stared down at his tail and grabbed it. "What in

the hell?! Did you dye me purple?!" He yelled and Clara slapped his arm.                "No,

you idiot, you stupidly activated a spell in that ancient tome!" She retorted

and crossed her arms. He let his tail go and rubbed his arm, the otter shook

his head and stared to the floor. "How are you feeling? You were soul drained a

moment ago, I can't believe you're awake." Clara chewed at her index claw, her

eyes stayed stuck to Wulfgang's.                "I...

Sort of remember, I was writing out the pages... It hurt a lot, but now I

actually feel pretty good." The otter clenched a fist and opened it, he

pictured a series of glyphs and his hand lit up, bathing the room in heat.                "Wulf!

Put that out!" Clara screamed and backed away. Wulfgang ended his concentration

and let the fire die, a grin spread across his face.                "That

was a pretty intense spell, Clara!" He said and Clara shook her head in

disbelief.                 "Your

eyes were lit up brighter than the flame! Even your tail!" The raccoon chewed

at her claw with a smile.                 "I

gotta say, I feel like a new otter," Wulf said. He stood from the bed and stretched

out. "Where's the master, anyway?" Clara told him how they brought him to the

room and that the master wanted to check out the tome. They both headed back

into the hall and down the stairs where they ran into a frantic Belenus. He

bumped into Wulf and gasped, the otter put his paws on his teacher's shoulders

and tried to calm him down.                "Master,

are you okay? What's wrong?" Wulf said, but Belenus just shook his head and

stepped away. He leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths.                 "When

I... Entered the room, there was a women waiting there. She had the tome in her

hands and demanded to know... Where was the body? I said there was none... She was

Katelyn Grey, she took the book and just... phased through the wall!" His speech

shook as his jaw did and he wrapped his arms around his student.                 "You

nearly died, Wulf, you nearly died..." Belenus whimpered. Wulf hugged his teacher

tight and frowned, Clara didn't know what to with her hands as she stood and

watched. "She knew what spell you used..."                 "It'll

all be okay, Belenus, I feel great now. I don't think they'll bother me," he

gave an empty promise. The old wolf broke away from their hug and looked his

student in the eye. Dark purple had replaced Wulf's old blue eyes and it left a

bad taste in Belenus' mouth. "Whatever this is, it's a gift. My gift let me

survive this and it's made me more powerful."                Clara

sighed and shook her head, Belenus backed away a pace or two. "What do you

mean? More powerful?" Wulfgang smiled and beckoned Belenus to follow him out of

the hall and into the back alleyway. He stood away from the others and rubbed

his paws together. Belenus stood in skepticism, wary of whatever this was. Wulf

took a deep breath and concentrated, his eyes began to glow and a dark shell

flickered into existence around him. It was a thick shield, The kind that took

fifteen petals a second.                "Wulf!"

Belenus ran into the shop and came back with a vial of red fluid. He whispered

an incantation, summoning a fireball to him, which he threw at the shield. The

molten charge glanced off of his shield, not causing as much as a flicker. Wulf

let the shield go and panted, he shook his head and ran his paw through his

hair.                "I feel

like I just ran for miles!" The otter laughed and smiled at his master. "And I could run miles more! It's

just like I'd imagine, remember? I have so much energy!" Belenus still shook

his head and approached Wulf.                 "Wulfgang,

I never taught you that shield. That's a very high tiered spell." The master

said and put his paws on Wulf's arms. The otter looked confused and visualized

the circle again, trying to remember where he learned it.                "I... I

must have read it somewhere, I don't understand what you're implying." Wulf

said and rubbed his eyes, at a loss for words. "Are you saying it's not just an

amplifier? What else could this be than the mythical amplifier?" Belenus

shushed his student and ran his fingers along the symbol, the dark purple fur

would light up wherever he touched.                "A mana

font, a knowledge font? Whatever it is, the Gray know. Perhaps you should seek

them out, Wulfgang. We don't know whether or not they'll come back looking for

you, but they've definitely got answers. Katelyn warned of consequences." Belenus said and Wulfgang's smile

faded. They both headed back into the shop to discuss their next course of action and Clara told them she would keep in touch.                 The raccoon left before her friends could protest and headed down the street. She

stepped into the shadow of a building, took a slip of paper from her pocket and the paper to the wall. Clara slipped

into the darkness, as if seamless with the shade. This was not what Erika had expected, but it certainly was exciting. It was a nasty trick of Erika to play on her sister Katelyn,

but she knew it was time to stir up some kind of trouble in this city. Now a being existed that could rival her group, whether he knew it or not.  Besides, Erika thought, it's her fault for leaving that thing on the

table in the morning.