The library of the Spirits was in an uproar.

Everywhere one looked could be seen the brown robed humans shouting, giving orders to the lower wizards under their command.

"Find a way to keep that portal open!" One of the arch-mages yelled. Her eyes were alight with inner fire. Her mind raced as she tried to think of a spell that might hold open the shimmering passage and give her comrades enough time to return to Neddel.

A middle-aged man came diving out of the portal to land in a heap on the stone floor.

An elderly male in brown robes stepped forth, calling upon his power in an incantation. A bolt of red energy fired from his hand to strike what would appear to the casual observer as a large patch of glowing mist that gradually shrank with each passing second. The red energy spider-webbed across the portal. The rate of the dimensional gap’s closing slowed with the thunderous noise of the spell booming against the marble walls.

"Get them to hurry!" The old mage shrieked. "I can’t do this much longer!"

Two women in tailored dresses ran from within the enchanted gateway.

The woman in the blue dress panted wearily for a brief second. She spoke with the strain of both excessive spell-casting and physical exertion. The other woman, this one in green, wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Arkin’s still back there!" The woman in blue yelled raggedly to the wizard still casting his spell into the portal.

"I can see him!" A young voice called from beside the gate. This was one of the lower mages wearing the blue and purple robes of his position. "He’s off the other side and halfway across the portal."

The old man in the brown robes collapsed to the floor, spent from the drain of casting the spell which had given his friends more time to cross the void between realms. The red bolt gave one last crackle of life before it faded from existence. About five of the lower mages ran to the unconscious man on the floor.

The woman in the blue dress ran to the portal. The other woman wearing the green caught fellow mage before she cast herself into the limbo existing between the worlds.

From within the depths of the portal, one could see an endless field of white light. In the center of it was a thin man wearing the brown robes of a Spirit. He was running feverishly to reach the realm that awaited him.

"Arkin!" The woman in blue shouted from where she was held. "Yes, I’ll marry you. Just get back to us!"

But it was no use. With its closure now unimpeded, the gate resumed sealing itself. The portal shrunk down even more. Then, just when it looked as if the running sorcerer was only five feet away, the hole in time and space vanished in a noiseless flash of light.

"Nooo!" The mage called out to her love.

The other woman released her, the Spirit in the blue dress fell to her knees before the space where the portal once stood and sobbed violently.

Mages of both the brown robes of the Spirits and blue of the uninitiated stood in silence, unable to find words for the loss of one of their own.

The moment of sobering grief would have continued, had not a new Spirit come charging into the main room from one of the side doors.

This man had dark, closely trimmed hair and a square face that inspired both respect and ease at the same time. He looked down at the crying woman and the empty space in the middle of the room and suddenly knew what had happened.

"It’s over, isn’t it?" He asked.

"It’s over, Turoth." Croaked the elderly man who had held open the portal. He was supported on either side by two mages.

"Who did we lose?" The one called Turoth whispered.

"Arkin, I’m afraid. Also, they had to leave behind a number of spellbooks, staves, and other items."

"Maybe Arkin could cast open a portal back on Earth." Turoth suggested desperately. "We both agreed that it might be possible to do even if the one here closed."

"Arkin was inside the portal when it closed." A woman in brown robes said bitterly. "He’s lost to the void now."

"I should have gotten here sooner." Turoth said with regret. "I was busy sensing the energies that have been building up on our own world."

"Did you find anything out?" The female Spirit inquired.

"Yes… And it scared me, Faira." Turoth took a look down at the crying woman on the floor, still overcome with her own loss. "Though first, Cillia needs rest." He then pointed to a youthful mage barely past his twentieth birthday. "Help her to her room."

"I’ll go along." Volunteered Faira. She then went with the mage to escort Cillia out of the main study.

"Somebody should take care of Hirret as well." Turoth suggested.

"I just need to get my second wind." The old man straightened up slightly. "I want to know what has you scared. It has to do with the portal closing, doesn’t it?"

"It does, and worse. If what I think is correct, Neddel, Earth, and all the rest of Existence may be damned. I need you all to listen closely. I just pray to the Soul that we can stop what I think is coming."

* * *

In a future we have only to wait for, there came part of a new beginning.

Segments of Existence coasted into each other, and reality as we know it took a small trip out the window.

Beings from a world unknown to us came to Earth. They were of a realm in which magic is not only a known force, but also a controlled one for those few who could understand it.

The ones who came to Earth called themselves "the Spirits" and claimed to be the greatest spell-casters of their world.

The humans of Earth and the alien wizards had varying degrees of respect for each other. For while Earth knew of magic only in legends, it was found that modern technology was beyond the Spirits’ very comprehension.

Some people said that the Spirits signaled the end of the world. The wizards were labeled as both angels from Heaven and demons from Hell by those willing to believe.

Life was in a state of utter confusion as everyone was left asking questions with no available answers.

As to what allowed the Spirits to travel between worlds, that remained a mystery to Earth’s people.

Then, as suddenly as the Spirits came to Earth, they vanished.

Over the span of two years following the Spirits’ disappearance, a prosperous corporation used its power to seize control amidst the confusion. In time, the entire world was reined in this company’s grasp, and an uneasy peace settled over the world. But it came with a heavy price. Freedoms that were seen as basic rights were stripped. Minor infractions were viewed by the new government as serious offenses.

Thus, this world’s populace waited from some light to grasp hold of.

One night, a spark flew into the darkness.

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