All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or in any means – by electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used factiously. Any resemblance to actual places, events, and people, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

The Great Realms felt the penetration of the Well of Wyrding as one maddening collective. Rivers of malaise crept into the minds of every human wyrder the Realms over. Corruption flowed into the repositories of wyrd inside the body, and when used, they poisoned the mind. Their link to wyrd was now like a cancer, rotting away at their power until nothing was left but complete Chaos.

In an attempt to slow the corruption, the Realm Guardians sent notice to all academies and all wyrded establishments. Use of wyrd was to be kept to a minimum. What bit of wyrd
was
used was done so at great risk. With the unpredictability of wyrd, even a simple wyrded candle flame, if it worked at all, could burn down a home.

The Wyrd Academies were kept open, but the students and teachers weren't allowed to use wyrd. Instead what workshops there were changed from hands-on to book learning.

Beverly Stonch taught wyrd history to the novices in the wyrd academy in the Ivory City. Currently she stood looking out her tower classroom towards the eastern horizon, where her mind was often drawn these days. It was thought that the Well of Wyrding was in that direction, but as far as she knew, no one knew where it resided any longer.

"Mrs. Stonch?" a first-year girl named Elizabeth asked her. "Can you tell us about the Well of Wyrding?"

Beverly tore her eyes from the horizon with a grimace. She rubbed the lemniscate at the back of her neck. Lately it had taken to burning, and when it burned her eyes were inevitably drawn to the horizon.

I hope it’s cleansed soon,
she thought with another glance over her shoulder. The problem was, Beverly didn’t think anyone knew where the entrance was.
Well someone must; they poisoned it, right?

"Very well," she said. "The Well of Wyrding is a large well filled with wyrd," she told them. As she spoke, her thoughts lingered on the well, which she had never seen. She could imagine it, though, and she described it to her students. The Tree of Life, Evyndelle, was supported in the wyrd of the well, fed by the wyrd, and recycled used wyrd into the basin.

"The Evyndelle is made of every tree ever known to man, and some that haven't come into being yet. It is thought the food of Goddess grows on its boughs." She gestured widely. "The tree represents the stages of life. The trunk symbolizes the earthly plane, and the topmost branches represent the afterlife, the Ever After."

"What about the roots?" Tommy, a second year, asked.

"Is it true the roots hold the fate of all mankind?" Elizabeth turned back from Tommy.

Beverly nodded. "It’s like a giant family tree. You have systems of roots for each family, and then a branch for each person. When someone dies, their root stops."

"You act like you've seen it," Jared scoffed.

Beverly scowled. She hated that kid. She closed her eyes and turned her head, easing the kink she felt there. Her lemniscate flared, and she pressed a hand to the base of her neck.

"Mrs. Stonch, are you okay?" Margaret asked.

"Where were we?" Beverly asked. She felt it again, like the night the well had been penetrated. The slight vibrating in her stomach, like nerves running rampant. A small twisting of her mind, and nausea. Her upper lip started sweating, and she had to sit down to stop the vertigo.

Elizabeth was speaking.

"Yes, the well—" but her words were cut short by a startling cry. Beverly crumpled to the floor, but what stood up again was no longer Mrs. Stonch, only a shell of who she had been moments before. Letting her mind linger too long on the well had allowed the corruption easier access.

The children screamed as wyrd licked out of her body, striking random spots around the classroom. But their screams were like a beacon to the Chaotic black wyrd flashing here and there from their teacher, and soon Beverly Stonch was the only one left standing.

Jevic eased the door open and looked into the room from behind its security. The crazed teacher had done a number on the classroom. None of the students had gone through their change yet, so the Chaotic wyrd she released on the tiny room had been sufficient to kill them all.

He was worried she would still be in there, but he didn't see any evidence of her.

"Maybe she's behind the door," his partner, Caleb, whispered behind him.

"Don't be foolish," Lydia said, and pushed past both of them. Shoving the door open, she stepped in. And then jumped back as a bolt of black lightning struck the floor.

Jevic slammed the door as a battering of wyrd attacked the other side.

"Happy now?" he asked Lydia, narrowing his eyes at her.

"What? At least we know she's in there now, right?"

"You are going to get us killed someday," Caleb complained.

"And to think, you're our investigator," Jevic said.

Lydia laughed.

Jevic frowned. "What are we going to do about her?" he asked when the attacking eased.

"Cut her head off?" Lydia said as if it was something really simple to do.

"Be my guest." Jevic motioned to the door.

"This is why I think wyrders should be allowed on the force," a brunette said from behind them. "Constables, please step aside."

"But you can't use wyrd!" Lydia protested.

Headmistress Faith rolled her eyes, unsheathing a short sword from her side. She pushed open the door, and the black wyrd found her. She cast up a shield that allowed her to near Beverly Stonch.

The three constables ducked behind the door, sure that Faith was about to meet her end. Inside, the maelstrom continued for several seconds before cutting off abruptly. Something thumped against the floor, and was then followed by another, heavier thump. Jevic was sure it was the sound of a head, and then a body, hitting the floor.

"Now," Faith said, leaving the classroom and tracing her way back down the stairs. "Continue your investigation."

Jevic Andrews swallowed hard and followed Lydia and Caleb into the room.

Other books

Dead Island by Morris, Mark

Homecourt Advantage by Rita Ewing

Tapas, Carrot Cake and a Corpse (A Charlotte Denver Cozy Mystery Book 1) by Sherri Bryan

Jimfish by Christopher Hope

Crete by Barry Unsworth

California: A Novel by Edan Lepucki

Addicted to Nick by Bronwyn Jameson

Syn-En: Registration by Linda Andrews

Ray Bradbury Stories, Volume 1 by Ray Bradbury

A Long Way from Home by Alice Walsh