Aleksandr Sokoll

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Name
Name: Aleksandr Sokoll
True Name: Aleksander Petr Conlith Sokoll

Age
Birth Date: [—]
Age: 18

Identity
Race: Human
True Self: Wizard
Gender: Male
Orientation: Heterosexual
Status: Single

Appearance
Hair: Aleksandr wears his hair stylishly long, just to the base of his head, and keeps it clean and neat. It is dark brown, very nearly black, and has a natural curl to it that is loosened by its length. His eyebrows are identically dark, thick, and kept neat. His face is kept shaved.

Eyes: His eyes are the color of polished iron, cold and dark and gray.

Face: His face is too angular to be considered handsome, but too strong and defined to be unattractive or bland. His eyes are notably Eurasian, not quite slanted or slitted but definitely large and exotic. His lip color is bland, and exposure to heat, cold, and sun has chapped them all but indefinitely. His skin is tanned to a light bronze, but the color is highly indicative of his pale natural pallor. His nose is straight, slightly upturned, and fits the proportions of his face.

Body: At almost precisely two meters tall, perhaps a centimeter shorter, he is quite tall, but he weighs no more than eighty-five kilograms. His build is tall and narrow. His musculature is flat athletic muscle for running and various other exercises, but it does not have the hard quality that a trained soldier or a martial artist would attain. His hands are large due to long, slim fingers that are precise and not at all weak.

Clothing: He wears generic-brand clothing. A simple black T-shirt devoid of any logo, kept clean and fitted well enough that it would show off the muscles on a more physically fit man, keeps his upper chest covered. He wears black fatigue pants with large pockets low on the hips and dual-layered fabric for the lower legs and black lace-up combat boots. He wears a "Snowy River"dark brown Akubra and an ankle-length coat of the same color with a split up the back and a large collar that can be flared up in the rain.

Accessories: He wears a silver band earing in his left earlobe.

Items
Staff: Aleksandr carries a heavy staff carved from an oak tree. It has thirteen ancient Welsh scriptoglyphs carved into the wood in a double-helix spiral from the topmost glyph to the bottom; these are symbols of his magic, intricately bound to magic, force, and necromantic energy. It is a magical focus designed to channel energy into spells, much like a circuit, and allows Aleksandr to use his magic more precisely with less mental focus on his spells. It is highly versatile, as his primary focus, but as a result it is not quite as precise as a focus devoted to a specific kind of energy would be.

It is approximately two meters long and about five centimeters thick. The entire length is hand-carved from the trunk of a young oak tree, but the rich brown color has been weathered into a duller, more gray-brown due to exposure to varying temperature and humidity. It has a few nicks in it and the bottom ten centimeters or so is coated with dirt and dried mud. The runes glow when they are channeling magic.

The energy of the magic infused into the staff makes it nigh unbreakable. It is a nexus of energy, having been a channel for magic for almost seven years, and a spiritually aware person would be automatically aware of its power. Ordinary people would not be able to recognize any special significance to the staff, but it carries a kind of energy that makes it automatically distasteful to them, much the same way a spear used for human sacrifice tends to make people uncomfortable. It is typical for people to avoid touching the staff whenever possible.

Rod: Aleksandr carries an iron rod encased in silver and carved into a magical focus. The tip of the rod is a spike, but the rest of the surface is carved with ancient Welsh scriptoglyphs linking it to aeromantic energies. It is his evocation focus, useful for creating limited shields or directing his aeromantic spells in an aggressive manner. It is a specific, precise focus and helps his precision greatly with aeromancy.

It is exactly forty-one centimeters long, and is about the size of four index fingers pressed against each other. Looking at it from the tip, the rod is a blocky oval shape with a more rectangular shape than most ovals. It is kept polished and clean, but the silver does not shine like a mirror. The rod of iron in its center keeps the silver strong, but the nexus of energy inside it renders it almost indestructible.

Gauntlet: Aleksandr wears a gauntlet on his left hand. The gauntlet is a heavy, black leather glove with plates of blackened silver-and-iron splinted onto the back of the forearm and hand. It reaches just short of the elbow. There are a total of thirteen plates, each one forged from iron and overlaid with silver, and every plate is inscribed with three ancient Welsh scriptoglyphs. The glyphs are symbols of defense and defiance.

The gauntlet is a focus for his basic shield, and as such can channel any kind of energy into a shielding wardspell. It is a nexus of defensive energy, but it is a relatively new focus and does not carry the same mystical resilience as the staff and the rod. It is only as tough as the glove and metals allow it to be. All the same, it is enchanted for defense and the iron does not allow it to be easily broken.

Magical Accessories: Aleksandr carries on him a variety of magical accessories, most of them innocuous items that would never be considered magical. Chalk, a Gideon Bible, a curved carving knife, a large clear-glass marble, and a silver thimble are with him at all times.

Attributes
Strengths: Aleksandr has an extremely high natural reserve of magic. He manipulates it instinctively, and is something of a genius when creating and using spells. He is a good runner when it comes to long, hard endurance runs. Though inexperienced in combat, he has a variety of spells that are designed to accommodate combat purposes.

Weaknesses: Aleksandr is extremely vulnerable to psychic assault. His inexperience in combat cannot be compensated for by knowledge, and he has no skill with non-magical weapons. He is mortal, human, and anything that would kill a normal human man would kill him; likewise anything that would maim or cripple a normal human man would maim or cripple him. His social skills are strained, and if confronted verbally he has difficulty reacting. Insults strike him much harder than they strike normal people. He is more vulnerable to verbal abuse, especially threats, than a normal person.

Magic
Wizarding Basics: The basics of wizarding are a collage of various magical theories, physics principles, personal beliefs, and simple facts. They were gathered over a very long time at the cost of a great expense to the various ancestral members of the Sokoll family, and have been altered slightly to fit with the beliefs and intentions of Aleksandr Sokoll himself. Generally, the basics can be altered and the rules can be bent or broken, but magic tends to be much more effective when spellwork applies the wizarding basics.

The first wizarding fact is simple: magic is not standardized. Any one wizard is likely to use different kinds of energy in different ways, rooted in their own grasp of basic magic and their own beliefs and intentions. Presuming that one wizard will use the same kind of magic as another is a dangerous presumption, one that could get even a skilled spellcaster killed in no more than a moment. Therefore, since standardized magic cannot exist, Aleksandr does not assume that he understands or can analyze the magic of other spellcasters.

The first basic wizarding theory is that of will: magic can be bent to mortal will, but will must be cultivated and trained for this purpose. As a wizard, the ability to gather will and use it to propel magic is a generic part of the art, sometimes the most important part. Aleksandr believes that will is the product of focus, determination, intention, belief, and—above all—the natural capacity to sense and touch magical energy.

The second basic wizarding theory is that of belief: magic cannot be effectively used unless the spellcaster believes that his magic should be used for that purpose. As a wizard, using magic means believing, on whatever level, that the spellcaster believes something should happen. That kind of faith has an effect. A wizard who uses his magic to bend others to his will, to destroy, or to end life must first believe that others should be bent to his will, that something should be destroyed, or that a life should end. Aleksandr believes that anything can be justified.

The first physics principle that applies to wizardry is the First Law of Thermodynamics: in any process, the total energy of the universe remains the same. This applies to magical energy as much as it applies to any other kind of energy. A wizard can change energy from one form to another using the power of his own raw will, he can change his own raw will into another form of energy, and he can move energy using his own raw will, but he cannot create or destroy energy. No matter what a wizard does with his magic, neither the magic energy nor the energy he uses or causes to be used disappears.

The third basic wizarding theory is that of magical energy: magic is the energy of life, but it is neither generated by life nor naturally possessed by all living things. As a wizard, magic is a type of energy completely apart from that of, for instance, auras. Aleksandr wields magic in various forms, including the magic of his own raw will, but that magic is unique and separate from all other types of energy.

The fourth basic wizarding theory is that of energy binding: magical energy can be bound to other types of energy. In this way, magic is a catalyst and control device. Aleksandr believes that every magical art has its root in a some type of magical or elemental energy.

The second wizarding fact is simple: magic is uniquely bonded to its wielder. As such, a spell used by another spellcaster may, and probably will, fail. Likewise, a spell designed and employed from the mind and will of one spellcaster is more likely to succeed for that spellcaster than it would if he based it upon the spellwork of someone else.

The third wizarding fact is complicated: to create an effective spell, a wizard must keep in mind what he wants the spell to do, where he wants the spell to go, how long he wants the spell to last, what the spell can effect, who the spell can effect, and he must channel the energy of his spell through his own thoughts and body. The resulting spell if any of these things are not done can backfire or create an unexpected effect. Aleksandr takes this fact very seriously.

The fourth basic wizarding theory is that of spellwords: spellwords shield the mind of a wizard from the raw psychic energy of a spell. Rather than channeling magic directly through thought and intention, spellwords provide a verbal focus. In this way, any psychic or magical backlash from a failed spell is scattered harmlessly into the air, rather than reverting directly into the mind of the spellcaster.

The fifth basic wizarding theory is that of foci: foci direct and channel the energy of a spell. rather than channeling the energy of magic directly from raw magical energy into a spell, a wizard may choose to create a focus, a physical item associated with energy. Such a focus is often, but not always, marked with symbols indicative of the energies it was meant to contain and channel. Aleksandr uses traditional phallic-shaped and misogynist-male-oriented objects as foci, because he identifies with phallic-shaped and misogynist-male-oriented objects.

The sixth basic wizarding theory is that of containment: circles can be imbued with energy for containment. Complex spells and summonings must be contained, much the same way nuclear energy is contained within special chambers and electricity is stored in safe capsules for later use. A complex spell, one that uses a great deal of power and must occupy all the thoughts and senses of the spellcaster, is focused and contained by a properly constructed ritual circle. Summonings, especially demon summonings, must be contained for safety, and a circle allows a wizard to do that. A properly constructed circle can also be designed to keep things out of the circle.

All the physics principles relating to energy, movement, and thermodynamics apply to magic. Most of the other physics principles that apply to science do not apply directly to magic, though they do typically apply to the effects of magic. Only in rare cases is a spellcaster not forced to accommodate basic laws of physics.

In addition to the basic theories, applicable physics principles, and facts, there is a terminology associated with the magic Aleksandr uses. These terms are generic, and apply to almost all areas of the magical arts. When Aleksandr says these things, they tend to have a completely separate connotation than they would have in ordinary conversation.

Hex: A hex is any spell that is designed to specifically target mechanical devices with the intention to disable. Hexes are effective against any mechanical device, but especially so when they are cast on a device that relies on more than simplistic mechanisms and chemical reactions. Older car engines, for example, would be more likely to survive a hex than the engine to an expensive new sports car.

Spell: A spell is any working of magic that is fueled by the power of an individual. Spells are usually cast on something external, and do not typically effect the spellcaster unless there is a backlash of energy.

Shield: A shield is a spell designed to provide a quick, if not instantaneous, defense against something. The most basic shields are hard shells of pure will that deflect incoming objects, but a magical shield created by a skilled wizard or sorcerer can defend against all kinds of energy and damage.

Ward: A ward is a spell designed to provide defense over a long period of time, often without being renewed or altered. The most basic wards are simple circles of blood-and-will-powered magic, but almost any wizard can create a ward capable of protecting a door, a building, even entire city blocks. Wards almost always require some kind of preparation.

Evocation: An evocation is a spell designed to provide a quick, if not instantaneous, attack against something. The most basic evocations are blasts of pure will that simply push or pull something, but an evocation created by a skilled wizard can call up and direct any number of elemental and non-elemental energies.

Ritual: A ritual is any working of magic that is fueled by the power of a traditional ceremony. Rituals are usually aimed, rather than cast, and tend to have their roots in some kind of folklore. Typical rituals call spirits associated with a specific effect to accomplish something in return for payment. The most powerful rituals demand blood sacrifice.

Soul: A soul is the presence of an individual, the living manifestation of their existence. It is not energy, because it can be destroyed and created. It tends to grow into a person as they develop their own personality. Depending on the religious beliefs of a person, the soul can do a variety of amazing things, including enhancing faith-based magic.

Spirit: A spirit is the magical imprint of a mortal person who has died. They are created when an exceptionally willful mortal dies. Spirits are not actual people, but imprints of a person as they were exactly at the time of their death. Spirits develop souls and memories of their own over time.

Enchantment:: An enchantment is a magical enhancement of an object that would otherwise be non-magical. Enchantments are usually built through spells, though rituals and wards can also create enchantments, and are most often enhanced through the use of power symbols.

Raw Will: Raw will is the most basic magic. It is the most commonly-used magical art used for any kind of unspecific magical purpose. Wizards typically choose to use their raw will if they are attempting an evocation unconnected to the elements or if they are casting a spell that is very simple to power. Aleksandr uses raw will for his most basic evocation spell, for his shield spell, for his hex spell, for curses, and for the bulk of any wards he creates.

Raw will does not always deal with the laws of physics, but at times it does. If used to create a kinetic blast, the energy output of that spell must conform to the laws of energy and kinetics. If used to hex a mechanical device, however, it is most often enough to simply cast harmful magic and the result will be attained. Raw will is, by far, the most malleable and versatile of all magical arts. It can be used for a list of magical uses so long that no one person could ever hope to remember them all. Nonetheless, raw will is also one of the easiest types of magic to use because it is always the power of the wizard using it, drawing directly from their own magical powers. As a result, an evocation created by raw will is often more taxing than one created with the aid of elemental forces.

Dreisio: Aleksandr uses a basic kinetic blast as his most readily available evocation. It is non-lethal, intended to batter and force something away or off-balance, but he can push enough power into dreisio to create a battering ram of raw kinetic force. It is a highly simplistic spell of raw force.

Felltith: Aleksandr uses an anger hex as his typical hex spell. It is harsh and effective, designed to cause malfunction in the internal workings of electrical devices, but it has little to no affect on simple mechanical devices, such as car engines and revolvers. It is a rather simple spell propelled by raw will and infused with anger.

Adbelydra: Aleksandr uses a reflection spell of congealed and hardened will as his shield. It is designed to reflect energies in the opposite direction from which they came and stop physical impacts directly. It is naturally strengthened by the gauntlet he wears as a focus, and depending on how much power he pushes into it, the spell can be anywhere from weak enough to cave against snowballs to strong enough to stop or reflect bullets. It is a relatively simple shield.

Curse: Aleksandr has a variety of words and phrases he can call upon for his curses, but his curses are generated through anger and determination. The amount of power their effects have is largely dependent on the amount of power he expels into them. A death curse, particularly, is a curse that uses the entire power of his magic, his body, and even his soul to fuel a final curse. Such a curse, however, is a one-time attack, as it does result in immediate and irretrievable death.

Aeromancy: Aeromancy is an elemental magic. It is a commonly-used magical art used to call up gusts, gales, and lightning strikes for various purposes. Wizards typically choose to use aeromancy as their evocation and warding magic. Aleksandr is not an exception, as he uses it for his most powerful evocations.

Aeromancy, like other elemental magic, must deal with the laws of physics. If a spellcaster is trying to channel a lightning bolt through a bar of rubber, the spell will fail. If a spellcaster is trying to channel a lightning bolt through a bar of pure silver, the spell will have a high chance of success. Likewise, magical wind can no more move through a brick wall than any other type of wind and a lightning bolt will be automatically attracted to metals if it is not directed otherwise. As a general rule, aeromancy tends to be more complicated than basic will magic, which is why a majority of spellcasters use some kind of focus for their aeromantic spells.

Awel: Aleksandr uses a simple gust of focused wind as his typical evocation. It is non-lethal, intended more to knock something away or off-balance, but he can push enough power into awel to do a great deal more damage than the average gust of wind found in the worst parts of a hurricane. It is a simplistic spell with a direct purpose.

Drowynt Awel: Aleksandr uses a cyclonic gust of focused wind as his more advanced evocation. It can be lethal, but it is more intended to disorient and batter than it is to cause death. He can push enough power into drowynt awel to create a miniature tornado if necessary, with winds harsh enough to make harmless items dangerous projectiles and toss even heavy objects. It is a relatively simplistic spell with a variety of uses.

Baria: Aleksandr uses a bolt of focused electricity as his most individually dangerous evocation. It is quite lethal, intended to immobilize fleshly creatures and destroy their nervous systems with harsh electricity. He can push enough power into baria to create the equivalent to a full lightning strike or can use it as a simple taser. It is a complex evocation, but it has a very direct purpose.

Necromancy: Necromancy is a black magic. It is an uncommonly-used magical art used to reanimate the dead, binding spirits, and gather power from spirits of the dead. Wizards brave enough to use necromancy tend to use it as a way to aggressively bolster their natural power and gain otherwise unavailable information.

Necromancy is one of the few arts that does not conform to the laws of physics, being purely metaphysical. Necromantic energy is the energy of life manipulated in such a way that it can bind the dead, and it is the only type of energy that can power a necromantic spell. The basic principle of reanimation has two points: the older a corpse, the more powerful it will be; and the more intelligent a corpse was in life, the more powerful it will be in death. The basic principle of spirit binding is simple: subvert the will of the spirit and bind it. The basic principle of gathering power from the dead is simple and dangerous: draw only what energy the dead have, no more, for to draw more is to die. Aleksandr employs all kinds of necromancy.

Bywha: Aleksandr uses a simple animation spell of constructive necromantic energy to construct a magical body for decomposing corpses and animate them into life. He substitutes his own intentions for theirs and simulates a heartbeat by creating regular pulses of necromantic energy through their hearts. It is a highly effective necromantic spell that allows him to create and manipulate many reanimated corpses at once, but the larger the amount of flesh created the more energy consumed. It is a simple spell that requires great mental and magical fortitude.

Caethiwa: Aleksandr uses a direct painbinding spell of necromantic energy to grasp and metaphysically control any spirits in his area. The more powerful the spirit, the more magical power he must expel to hold an effective binding over them. Once in place, this binding remains in place until he dispels it or it is interfered with by another wizard. This is a complex neurological spell that requires a great deal of personal will.

Ufuddha: Aleksandr uses a direct obedience spell of necromantic energy to force his own will and intention onto the spirit he has bound. Regardless of the power of the spirit, this spell creates a direct link between his own mind and the will of the spirits he has bound and forces the spirit to fuel the spell with its own magical energies. This is a highly complex neurological spell that requires a great deal of personal will, absolute determination, and basic foreknowledge of the spirit being forced to obey.

Power Ritual: Aleksandr uses a direct power ritual of necromantic energy to gather the power of dead souls into his own. This ritual takes time, focus, preparation, and must be used in conjunction with at least one binding spell in order to succeed. The spirits that are used to make this ritual effective are consumed in their entirety, their souls passing into the soul of the spellcaster. This is a complex ritual spell requiring a magical circle, a preparatory cleansing, and at least one spirit to be consumed.

Chartomancy: Chartomancy is an informational magic. It is a rarely-used magical art used to gather information, make predictions, store power, and enchant objects. Wizards typically choose to use chartomancy if they are interested in predicting their future. Aleksandr chooses to use chartomancy for enchanting and storing power for later use, though he occasionally taps into it to gather information.

Chartomancy unlike many kinds of magic, does not deal with the laws of physics. It is the result of purely magical energy infused into some kind of script, usually script that has been written on paper. It can be used to enchant paper, usually symbolically well-made parchment, with special properties. Unlike elemental magic, which can be volatile if misused, chartomantic magic is not a direct threat if a spell fails. In addition, chartomantic spells are spells of preparation, and as such they cannot be used for more violent magic such as evocations or shields. Though the preparation of chartomantic spells can greatly increase other kinds of magic, the only direct purpose for it as an art of its own is to empower the written word.

Afael Am ‘m Allu: Aleksandr uses an imbuing enchantment spell for his most basic enchantments. It allows him to bind his magic into written words, usually ancient Welsh pictoglyphs, and give otherwise innocuous pieces of paper a great deal of power. It can be used to enchant parchment to release a specific spell at a later date. It is a complex spell that takes time and focus to properly use.

Amlyga: Aleksandr uses an imbuing command spell for his information spells. It allows him to channel his magic into a tome, usually a highly religious text of some kind. If successful, his magic reacts to the intention and desire of its caster, selecting passages that apply to the knowledge he seeks. Passages, words, and phrases selected by this spell glow a dull white color, while those that are related simply shimmer with the same color. It is a highly complex spell that takes preparation, time, and focus to use properly; even cast properly, it is common for amlyga to fail.

Personality
Presenting Self: Aleksandr is quiet, reserved, and polite. He has little sense of humor, and the rules of society seem to bend and break whenever he is involved in something. He is distant, as if he is spending his life staring into another world through a window no one else can see. It is difficult, almost impossible, to find his true self among the illusion and the enigma, and even harder to understand it. He never explains himself or his actions, and avoids questions about his past through distraction or retreat.

Perceived Self: Aleksandr is wounded and insane. He was exposed to a psychic trauma at an early age, and as such that trauma grew to be part of his nature rather than being shoved out by his nature, as an established adult mind would have done. As a result, various parts of his personality are missing. His conscience has been completely destroyed, leaving his super-ego to govern most of his life. Most of his egotistic defense mechanisms have been destroyed as well, leaving only fantasy, intellectualisation, rationalisation, dissociation, and reaction formation. The result is a mind that is almost entirely dominated by his id and his super-ego. He is a psychopath.

Biography
Aleksandr Petr Conlith Sayer-Sokoll was born in Wales precisely eighteen years before this text was written, almost to the minute. He was born at a small clinic in a small town that no one has heard of unless they were born there or brought there, because no one has ever been there unless they were born there or brought there by someone who was born there. The umbilical cord was severed and tied, the baby was cleaned and wrapped in a warm blanket, and he was given to his mother for the first time. It was a completely normal birth, and the most major moment in all his life. It was also the only major moment in his life until he began school.

The first day of school, for Aleksandr, was much the same as the first days of school are for all young children. His mother kissed him on the forehead and watched worriedly as he left. Most children are not wise enough, at such a young age, to recognize that motherly worry. He was not most children. Elementary school taught him to read, write, and decipher basic arithmetic. It was the second major event in his life, and was considerably more boring than the first. Apart from a few run-ins with young bullies, which seem to inhabit even the most well-to-do schools, he passed into secondary school without any hazard.

Middle school saw the third, and second most major moment in his life. It was on a sunny Monday morning in January on a four-day holiday weekend, about three days before Aleksandr's eleventh birthday.

[] Back In Time []

The sunny blue skies filtered down in swathes of color, blocked in places by the green of thick deciduous forest, and lit the old forest in fun and mysterious ways. Aleksandr Sokoll stood in a patch of shadows deeper than most, his friend Lilith Trokowski standing to his side and slightly behind. They had their backs to a rather large, particularly gnarled tree trunk and they were staring at something disturbing.

It was big. It was dark. It had fangs and claws and horns. Sulfurous white fumes bled from the dark maw of its gaping mouth. Seething hatred speared from its glaring, glowing white eyes. It lurched closer to them, the shadowed darkness of its muscle-laden body contorting and twisting in a manner totally inhuman. It was totally inhuman. From the blunt, large claws of its two-toed feet to the tops of the blackened rams' horns adorning its blocky skull, it was inhuman.

Lilith was absolutely still, quiet, and staring with the calmly collected fear of a girl who not only recognized terror from afar, but had experienced it intimately. Her blonde hair fell across her face, moving only slightly when the wind touched it. Her hands, small and delicate, were curled into fists at her sides.

Aleksandr, by comparison, was starkly more aggressive. He stood firm, appearing taller than he was, his eyes fearful but his expression set and defiant. His hair trembled with his body, his own small hands bunched into fists just like those of his friend. He was afraid, terrified even, but his was a fear augmented by determined, defiant anger. It would have been more intimidating, had he not been the shorter and lighter of the two children, had he not been a fifth the size of the creature, had he not been a mere mortal puppy, not even adult by the standards of mere mortal puppies.

The creature, the demon, wheezed out a rancid-smelling sound, half-hiss and half-roar, swinging his arm around to slam down at the pair of children. Lilith did not so much as flinch, but she heard the sound and let out a weak gasp. Aleksandr, again, was a violent contrast.

His hand moved up, reacting like a mirror to the swing of the demonic appendage, and his own small, quavering voice screamed defiance. The demon hiss-roared more angrily, brought its closed fist down to smite the helpless children. The roar of glee and sadistic triumph in its voice was met with a resounding, reverberating crack of thunder. It lifted its arm ...

... and Aleksandr stared back up at it. His face was sheet-white, his eyes violently angry, but he stood with his arm up and ready. A sheet of translucent, harshly glowing white light spread between them, defying the demon to strike again. It did. Cries of outrage followed on the heels of more thunder, each time louder and more angry as it battered at the intangible barrier between them.

All at once, the cries and the blows ceased. The creature toppled, headless, and Petr Sayer, father to Aleksandr Sokoll, strode from the shadows and into the light. The creature sizzled into a mist of black and white and, finally, disappeared entirely. They were safe.

[] A Time Between []

An ordinary child living in an ordinary town as part of an ordinary family would have thought the next few months and years of the life of Aleksandr Sokoll to be less than awe-inspiring. His eyes and mind were opened to a new world of things both beautiful and frightening. Magic was a very real part of his new world, and his parents were the most clear and present examples that he could find. They were wizards themselves, magicians of such caliber that the abilities of the petty magicians and sorcerers of the town paled in comparison to their own. Few in the small town had as much raw strength as them and fewer still could match them for experience and talent.

Secondary school became a memory. Aleksandr became the sole student at a secondary school of his own, learning wizardry from a pair of wizards who awed him into obedience and whom he could trust with his life. His parents were the mysterious, powerful role models that a young child wishes to have, and they taught him things that other children wished they could believe existed. It was a time of discovery, of learning, of activity. If he was not reading a book of magical theory in the woods, his father standing watch and answering his questions, he was indoors practicing the construction of ritual circles as his mother watched with an eagle-eye for detail.

It was, quite simply, the happiest time in his life. He was coming to know his parents in ways that he had never known them before, seeing them in the light of their magic. He was attaining levels of knowledge totally unfathomable to most children, learning magic and science from teachers interesting and, at times, even from spirits long-dead. He was thrusting himself forward into the world, bright and curious and full of aspirations.


It was bound to come to an end, of course. It happened on a cold Sunday in winter, when the schools in the United States had just closed for their Christmas vacation. It was the middle of the afternoon, after the town church had already let out, on the second day of Lilith Trokowski's return from the United States of America.

[] Back In Time []

"Aleksandr, wait for me!"

Aleksandr Sokoll turned to see her running towards him, her short bob of curly blonde hair bouncing with every step, and stopped beneath the awning of his forest. The remaining leaves of the old oak stand were gold, cold, and lonely. There could not have been more than three of the golden-brown leaves left on any one tree. The old forest was considerably brighter in the winter, when the sun was left unhindered by the pesky leaves until spring returned the deciduous trees to their green glory.

Lilith Trokowski had changed quite a bit. Her hair was shorter, clipped to a punkish length that made it much harder to avoid staring at the lovely features with which she had been born. Her skin, so pale when she left, had colored in her absence to a rosy complexion. The whip-thin little girls' body had been replaced with a young woman's body of subtle, graceful curves kept hidden under long skirts and baggy mens' work shirts. The biggest change, though, was in her eyes and in her manner. The frightened, haunted blue eyes had apparently been left somewhere in the past, replaced by crystal-blue eyes that caught the sunlight in the most fascinating way.

The young wizard swallowed and jerked his eyes away from hers as they fell into step alongside each other, moving deeper into the forest that had been so important to them. He was silent, she was silent, and the tension between them was uncomfortable in a matter of moments. He glanced down to see her watching the trees, the ground, the sky, keeping her eyes away from him. It was difficult to do the same.

"I hear you've just recently returned from the United States," he commented. The lame attempt at conversation was an understatement, at the very least. His father and mother had talked of her return for weeks before her actual arrival, spurred by the sudden death of her mother. Neither of them had said anything in front of Aleksandr, but a vague sense of disturbance lingered over the conversations. There was something they did not want to share with their son, and it worried him.

"Yes!" she replied, her voice breathless, eager. "I was living in California. It's so different being here again."

"Are the Americans really that different?"

"Yes!" she replied again, a grin stretching her mouth. "But it's hard to explain why."

"Well, try not to strain yourself trying," Aleksandr commented, his voice sotto. She looked at him strangely for a moment and looked back out into the forest. He got the impression she had been about to ask a question. "What?"

Lilith glanced at him again, this time sharply, before responding. "Have you seen my father?"

Lewis Trokowski had disappeared shortly after his wife and daughter left for the United States. Aleksandr had wondered a few times where he had gone, but he always assumed he would have kept in contact with his daughter. "No. He's been missing for several years."

A faint worry crossed her face so quickly that he almost missed it.

That was when it happened, of course.

"I'm right here, Lily," rasped a voice nearby.

The young people both flinched and turned, Lilith's eyes filled with an old, old fear, Aleksandr's with sudden surprise. The sight that greeted them was at once sad and frightening. Lewis had aged visibly and leaned on an oak staff that was disproportionally large and heavy against his slim, withered frame. He smiled at Lily, but Aleksandr saw his eyes. They were white within white, glowing harsh.

When the old man turned to look at him, Aleksandr took a single breath, sharp and harsh, then everything was a nightmare.

[] To the Present []

Aleksandr Petr Conlith Sayer-Sokoll changed. Not noticeably, not externally, but his friends and his parents saw it happen. That walk in the woods was one of the last times he was ever seen in the company of a person other than his parents. It was the last time he was ever seen without his staff. It was the last time he walked in the forest during the daylight hours. It was the last time he smiled a smile that reached his eyes.

His parents recognized the signs on him of abuse, his friends noticed his reticence and the sudden change from a lively young man full of curiosity and strength to a distant young man who no one seemed to truly understand. He became slowly and more solidly obsessed with death and began developing his magic alone. The wizards in the community gradually became more and more concerned for him, worrying that his parents allowed him too much information at too early an age. Petr and Sonya knew better. Their son had always adjusted, always understood. They knew it was something different, something they dare not ask him.

The only person who knew, Lilith Trokowski, was as tight-lipped as Aleksandr. She retreated into study of her own, became obsessed with anything dead and gone, anything ancient, and her obsession earned her a scholarship. The University of Washington, in the United States, accepted her application a year early and she left Wales a second time to study ancient tribal cultures. No one from her hometown spoke to her since then.

Aleksandr left home a few weeks after Lilith, with the permission of his parents and the blessing of the town. No one said it, but almost everyone had come to see him as a threat, an explosion waiting to happen, a killer waiting to be pushed over the edge. He traveled Europe first, spending time studying the internment camps in Poland and Germany and other curiosities, such as the mass graves spread all across the continent. He sent postcards back to his parents, usually with no more than one line of politely clipped explanation of where he was and what he was seeing. It went like that for a few months before the postcards stopped, abruptly.

The young wizard had boarded a ship in France and traveled to South Africa, and from there to Australia, in pursuit of a letter he had received from Lilith Trokowski. It carried a simple message.

Aleksandr,

I am in Australia. Please come. We need your help.

Lilith

~*Re-Approved*~

(Stupid so-called Hackers.)