Page 30 of Jade Lion and the Witch Boy
“Uh, hi.” Seb leans out the window and shows the card that was given to us. “I’m here because Luther asked us to come. I’m Sebastian.”
The black etching is silent for five seconds. Seb clears his throat and continues, “I’m with Kai, the Jade Lion.”
“Enter,” the voice says abruptly. With some whirring noises, the gate moves on its own accord. I sense no enchantment, so this must be technology. Seb drives us forward into a small driveway. The mansion before us has a cream-colored façade and is at least double the size of Boysen House.
After we park, I get out and gaze up at the structure. “Wow,” Seb says as we both close our doors. “Wizard life is fancy. But how do hundreds of members live in here?”
“Most likely, they have empowered their own portals,” I reply.
“They can do that?”
Flashes in memory reveal open gateways to other locations, each powered by significant amounts of magic. I shake my head. “Yes. Space and dimensions are…complex, but can be navigated with the right type of sorcery.”
“Really?” Seb puts his hands in his brown coat pocket. “I guess this Union place is already doing wonders for your memory.” He seems almost disappointed in himself. I cannot accept that.
“No one has done more for me than—”
“You made it!” Luther walks down the front steps. His smile is bright, and he seems so at ease here. If this is some trap, my claws will tear apart anyone who might hurt Seb.
“Welcome, Jade Lion.” He gives a short bow, and his trench coat moves forward as he does.
I exchange a perplexed look with Seb. “I don’t think you have to call him that. Or bow,” Seb says.
“And what of my friend?” I say in a firm tone.
Luther looks between us, then nods at Seb. “Right. Hello, Seb. Shall I take you in?”
We walk up the steps to the front door. When Luther unlocks it, the first thing I notice is how barren the mansion is. There are barely any pieces of furniture, and no one is around. I expected various tables of workers using magic to protect the world, as Luther pointed out.
“What the…?” Seb asks.
“Follow me down here,” Luther says, pointing to a doorway.
“Why should we?” I ask. I raise my hand and let a single wisp of green arcana menacingly hover above my skin.
Luther looks alarmed but steps backward with his hands up. “All will be revealed, I promise you. The rest of the Union is down here.”
I exchange a confused look with Seb before we step down the staircase. What we see in the basement confirms my memories.
It’s a portal: an archway made of black stone bifurcates the room. Luther waves his hand over one side of the portal, infusing magical energy into the black stone. In seconds, the air in theroom shifts, and I’m overcome with warmth. The black archway lights up with streaks of blue and gold.
The portal is active. The basement now resembles a doorway to another, brighter location. Just like in my memory, before the two of us is a portal to another place entirely. In it, we spot several people, presumably wizards, walking about and congregating.
“Wow,” Seb says, breathlessly.
“After you two,” Luther says with a smile. “I have to close the portal and rush in as it shuts down. Don’t wanna leave it on in Virginia and sap all my energy.”
I touch Seb’s shoulder. “Go on. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
He smiles that beautiful smile, his face glowing in the rays of the portal. After another moment, we walk through.
Seb showed me an online video of what an airport looks like. It seemed so busy, but that is exactly what the Union of Mages resembles. Pink sunlight streams in through the domed glass ceiling. There are statues of globes made of gold rotating along certain walls. Wizards of all genders and ethnicities walk about or line up at other portals. One particularly long line winds down a main corridor. It all feels like magical bureaucracy.
“Hold,” a man before us says. He dons a dark blue uniform, like the police of the United States, and he wields a magical shard. Seb and I stop on instinct, unsure of who he is.
When I turn around, Luther steps through the identical portal, and it disappears, just as he said it would. Luther approaches us and waves the man off. “They’re with me.”
The man in blue salutes, then says, “Sir!”
