Mage's Rebirth

2.Sammy Boy

"What in the seven suns are you doing?"

My meditation was broken for the second time in as many days. This time I was much happier to see who interrupted me.

A small mousey face popped up outside. Sammy climbed through my window, much the same as he always did. The simple act of him coming in brought me back to a darker time.

Gone was the smile on the small man, instead replaced by a gaunt expression of a dying man. Eyes that were now quick and agile, darting around the room as they always did. Once empty and devoid of hope.

I would do everything I could to change that result for Sammy. He was one of the few who deserved it.

The shell he once was. That was nowhere to be seen. He walked into my room as if he owned the place. He's always moved a bit too quickly. He picked up one of the books lying on my bed.

"Introduction to the 1st Circle. How did you get your hands on this, Ganley."

I slowly got up, stretching my body in the process. This body had not learned to meditate yet.

"My mother got them for me. She wants me to enter the Forpus Academy?"

He laughed at that as he began to leaf through the book.

"She has some sense of humor that woman. I knew she was good for something."

I walked up to him. He had been there for me whenever I needed him, yet he never revealed what was going on behind his closed doors.

"She's serious, Sammy, She wants me to become a mage."

He turned on me, throwing the book on the bed in the same movement.

"She can want a lot of things, doesn't make anyone of us a Mage, don't matter what books you read."

The gentle light I summoned sent him tumbling back over my bed.

"How you doing that, Gan? What's going on?"

I picked up the books he had dropped to the ground. Stacking them once again and moving them out of the way. Not that there was a lot of 'out of the way' in this hovel. I had become an organized person, and I wasn't going to let a simple rebirth change that.

"The books make sense to me, Sammy, it feels like what I was meant to do. Thanks to my mother, I will become a mage."

His stare bored into me for a few brief seconds—his steely gaze proving his reputation on the streets right. The ferret wasn't born out of nothing.

"Well, it looks like I can be a lot cockier on the streets from now on."

His hug grabbed me quickly. His practiced body still a lot faster than this skeletal form.

"You are going to get out of these streets at last. You weren't made for the outer ring Gan."

Sammy and I had grown up together. He had always protected me. Helped me. I moved towards the window, looking out into the slums of the Outer Ring.

"Who's going up against you this week?"

His look of confusion would have got past the old me. He was far too inexperienced an actor to get past the new one.

"Don't play with me, Sammy, I have known about your gang for a long time now. Finally, I can help out."

I was stupid not to realize it in my past life. A gang called the Fanged Ferret. How could I have possibly missed what he was going through?

"Plus, being a mage isn't cheap. I am going to need something to measure up with those noble fucks from the academy."

He grabbed me by the shoulder. Turning me slightly so he could stare into my eyes. After a few seconds, he nodded.