Renaissance Magic

Prologue

There is something you should know about me, for I am not who I seem to be. To you I may look to be a common young man living an uneventful life. I live with my mother and sister in a house nestled deep within the piney wood thickets of Southeast Texas. My trusty ten year-old Ford Ranger, Danielle, gets me back and forth to my uneventful job at Walmart where I work as a Night Receiving Stockman. I work nights, which is probably the only oddity visible in my life. I like working nights, though. There are less people to deal with.

I am basically a shy person. I've been married once and have three sons whom I never see any more. Ours was a typical Army marriage. When I got out of the Army, she got out of the marriage. The last I heard, she was engaged to a Walmart regional manager back in Upstate New York where we lived and was going to move with him to Canada. Life, it seems, is not without its little ironies. I guess that beats the "jar-head" Marine she was dating after our divorce was first finalized.

As you can see I lead a fairly boring life. I have only four passions in my life: movies, books, history, and The Texas Renaissance Fantasy Faire. Well, five passions if you include my fixation with Celtic folk music. Okay, six if you take into consideration my writing. I write poetry and short stories.

Ah,the Texas Renaissance Fantasy Faire! Home, if ever I hadone. I am twenty-nine years old and have been going to the Festivalevery year for the last twenty-five of those years. During themajority of the year I merely exist, but for those seven weekends in Octoberand November, I truly live! At the Faire there are no pretensions -I am who I am. In day to day life I am Justin Moore, lowly Stockmanat Walmart. At the Faire, however - I am Dain Thornhold, warrior ofThe Realm! I know. I know what you aresaying, "Jeez, another Renaissance geek!" Yeah, well you may beright, but then something happened that changed my life forever. Youprobably won't believe this tale that I will now relate to you, but, inessence, it is not a tale at all. It is the purest, most fantastictruth! I should know, because they happened to me! Oddly enough, thistale begins with two little words: "Mail Call!"