For millions of people dreams are just something we experience in our minds.  We tell ourselves nightmares aren't real, that when we wake up, they are gone.  But once every 12,035 years, a cursed child is born who's nightmares can come true!!  The last "Cursed One", as they are called, unleashed a devastating plague upon the planet that nearly wiped out all life.  Only by the courage of a young boy named Nathaniel Lazarius could Apocalypse, the demon that cursed the first child, be stopped.  It was Nathaniel that killed the "Cursed One" before he could dream of Apocalypse.  What few know of this story is that the Cursed One was Nathaniel's brother, Dimetrie.  This has been the way of the curse since the beginning, pitting brothers against brothers, sisters against sisters, nearly 200 millennia ago.

It is now the year FT 2309 (Fenton Timelog.  An inventor 2309 years ago was the first to meet benevolent intelligent life when it visited our planet.  Finding that every planet had a different concept of time, he sat down with them and created a universal time gradient.  They decided to name it the Fenton Timelog).  The world has changed dramatically since the time of Nathaniel and Dimetrie.  The technological advances of civilization have not pushed out those that still practice magic.  They now co-exist.  Though there are those that embrace magic and have created small towns on the outskirts of the technological civilization.  The horrors of an apocalypse averted have faded from everyone's minds, and the universe is at peace.  

It is 5/14/2309.  Today is your 21st birthday.  On each person's 21st birthday they talk to their local recruiting center to decide if they can join the ranks of Lazarius DuFranzes' legendary school, Rathmore.  In order for you to join, however, you will need to take a test first.  This test will decide what profession you should go into and study for the next several years, perhaps even the rest of your life.  The test only takes about 10 minutes.  After which Lazarius goes over your answers.  
  
"Yes...yeeeess...right..." Lazarius mumbles as he goes over the answers. "Hmm..that's strange...Ok.  I have finished going over this, and the results are that you seem to be most suited for being a Summoner."

"That sounds great, I've always loved magic, and I have a few pets at home.  But..What was the 'Hmm' all about, Lazarius?" you ask as he scratches his chin.

"Oh, nothing." he responds, still scratching.  "The answers just reminded me of someone else's, that's all."

"Who's?"

"We had better be going before we miss the train to Rathmore."  He says before he had a chance to answer.  "Oh, yes.  And happy birthday."

You both make your way to the station on the opposite end of town.  The town seems a little different as you pass each shop, now that you have the knowledge of what you will become soon.  It swells in your mind the feats you'll be capable of, the journeys you'll undertake.  The whole town begins to turn into memories.  You don't see the herb store anymore.  All you see is where you and your sister would play after school with the shopkeeper's kids.  Then it all fades. It gets replaced with tension, then worry, then back to thoughts of the school.  Your mind can't seem to stay to one thought at a time.  

"Here, drink this.  It will calm your nerves." Lazarius says as he hands you a bottle of what appears to be grape soda.  "See you on the other side." he says as you pass out. "Drat.  Must have used too much xycanth root. He shouldn't have turned purrrrrrpppp...."

THUMP!!

You wake up to the sound of a train whistle.  But, when you look around, there is no train.  All you see is nothing in all directions.  And by nothing, I don't mean there are a few trees, no people, no road.  I mean NOTHING, a void, a shapeless expanse in all directions for as far as you can see.  The only things you do see are yourself and Lazarius.  And the vomit you just let loose fall straight down into oblivion.  

"Calm down, boy."  Lazarius says. "Deep breaths, deep breaths.  It makes everyone do that the first time they come here."

"Where is HERE?" you ask as you wipe your mouth with a cloth Lazarius hands you. "Are we dead?  Did the train derail?  I never got to make love to a wom.." SMACK!!

"I said calm down.  You are not dead and you will have plenty of time, PLENTY, to fulfill your every fantasy.  Just not any time soon.  You have a lot of schooling ahead of you.  And to answer your question, we are at the gateway between the real world and the school."

"What do you need a gateway for?  I can understand for security, but this seems like overkill."

"Think about it this way: You go around the world finding the most talented boys and girls you can and teach them very powerful skills and techniques.  Not every student leaves here with a diploma.  Some leave in a cage.  With shackles.  And magical locks.  And armed escorts. And.."

"Ok, ok, I get it.  You have to keep out the bad element."

"That's what most people think, but the ones who leave in a cage, shackles, magical lo..."

"OK, OK."

"Sorry.  Anyway, the ones that leave 'early' aren't necessarily evil.  Just that they took what they were taught and thought that they were gods, that the power we gave them could rule the world.  The power drove them mad.  We had to dismiss them.  In a cage.  Anyway, enough of that.  We better be going, we don't want to stay here too long, you might vomit again."

With a wave of his arms, Lazarius dispelled the darkness and opened a door to the outside world.

"There you go, step on through."  Lazarius says as he waves his arm in the direction of the newly formed door.

"OK.  One more thing though.  Why did you have to knock me out?"  You say as you rub your head.

"Another precaution to the safety of the school.  Can't find us if you don't know where it is."

"Ok.  Glad to see you care so much about your students."  You say, both sarcastically and honestly, as you step through the newly open portal and are whisked to a countryside.  As you gaze out across the expansive field, you see a huge castle seemingly carved directly from the mountain face around it.  It stands about as tall as the mountain, just coming short of the peak.  The tops of each of the ramparts are even covered in snow.  You guess it's about a mile high by half as wide. The field stretches on for miles in front of the castle and is riddled with bushes and small trees.  It's strange that this area would go straight from field to mountain range with no in-between, slightly hilly area.  But, that is the last thing on your mind.  For the time being all you can think about is how you are going to get across the field.  You still feel groggy from the sleep smoothie you had before the trip.  "Is there anyway aside from walking the whole way to get to the castle?"

Three hours and 15 miles later...

"That wasn't so bad, was it?"  Lazarius says as he stretches his legs.  "I needed the exercise."

"Huff...Huff...Are you telling me all that experience you have with magic and... huff... all you have seen and you don't have a transportation spell or... huff..huff.. something?"  You say, exhausted.

"What?  I have all kinds of spells like that.  Like I said, I needed the exercise.  And from the sound of it, you do, too."

"Whaa?!?!?" you say right before you collapse, again.

"Get up.  It wasn't that bad."

You get up and take a look at the now much closer castle.  It's front consists of an ornate gate with gargoyles adorning the majority of the framework across the top, with pillars etched with the pictures of fireballs, beasts, and a smattering of other pictures representing the other professions that are part of Rathmore's history.  Then, just as you finish admiring the masonry, Lazarius reaches out, and with a wave of his hand, opens the gates to reveal the city inside.

"Welcome to Rathmore, lad."

Once inside the castle walls, you see how massive the school actually is.  It is a self-contained city slash school.  It has shops, restaurants, everything a large town would have.  "This place is huge." you exclaim as you look around yourself.  "This place is a school?  It's more like a city."

"It has to be fully self-contained.  Going back to the topic of security, we have to have everything we need here at the school.  The less we have to go outside, the less chance of invasion."  Lazarius responds.  "Would you like the tour?  You'll be living here for a while, you might as well know where everything is."

"Sure." you say, still looking around is amazement.

For the next several hours, Lazarius gives you the grand tour, everything from the shops where you will get your initial supplies for school to the dungeon they lovingly call "Detention".  With every passing location he shows you, you get a little giddier with excitement.  You find that the outside of the school is in stark contrast to the inside.  Once indoors, the school has running water, and in some rooms, electricity.  The tour finally ends with your new dorm room, where a good deal of your time will be spent.  Once inside, you get a good look at your dorm and find that it is in fact closer to the size a small home.  It has four bedrooms, two baths, and a study with room for your books and then some. It is definitely a step up from your small cottage back in your hometown.  Your dorm also houses another surprise, or should I say surprises, your new roommates.  Before you stand three people, two girls and a boy.  

"Allow me to introduce your new roommates." Lazarius says as he waves the three to come closer.  "The boy is Malcolm Rathmore, a descendent of the man this school is named after.  Though he doesn't act like it.  He is a very good student and a very humble person.  He insists that he earn his grades here, much to his father's chagrin.  The two ladies are Elvin, something you are probably not familiar with, given where your town is located."  

"Hi, I'm Xanthera Markos." She says, extending her hand. "And this is my sister, Thylonia.  We'll be studying Summoning with you."  It is only now you notice that their ears are slightly pointed and that they are a little taller than most girls you know your age.  Aside from that, you see no other differences between them and humans.

"Glad to meet both of you." You respond, extending your hand to both of them.  You first shake Xanthera's hand.  It's softer than silk and her nails are well maintained.  You find out later that the Elvin put a very high value in their presentation.  The rest of her is evident of this.  Her clothes hang on her perfect, as if they were made especially for her.  They consist of a white long-sleeved undershirt with gold trim around the collar.  Over that is a soft black leather vest that slowly comes to a point at the bottom, front and back, all held to her body by a black belt.  She also has on black pants, tucked into calf-high light brown leather boots laced all the way up.  Her skin is a flawless milky white, which stands in contrast to her light red lips.  Her white hair is pulled back in a ponytail, leaving just enough out to hang two locks down each side of her face, about cheeks length.  Her eyes are a sky blue with hints of white here and there.  She smiles with warmth you have never seen before as you let go of her hand and reach towards her sister's.  Thylonia, like her sister, has hands like silk.  You also notice that they are both wearing nearly the same outfit, save that Thylonia's vest and pants are a deep crimson.  She is also an inch or two shorter than her sister, and has different colored eyes, almost jade, but a little lighter.  Other than that they look nearly identical and she too smiles warmly as you release from your handshake.  They then both get back to their unpacking.

"Hello."  Malcolm says to you, it being his turn for pleasantries.  He is wearing all royal purple with gold trim everywhere there appeared to be room to stitch it on.  The only exceptions were his boots; they are a very deep black and looked freshly buffed and polished.  He too had an undershirt and over that a purple shirt with squared fringe around is arms and the bottom of the shirt.  A black belt with a golden buckle bound this.  In it he looks like royalty, though he seems uncomfortable.  He keeps wriggling about after getting his hand back.  He then goes back to his unpacking, which brings up an interesting matter.  You brought no luggage at all.  You have nothing to unpack.  As you look to Lazarius to ask what to do, you see that he realizes what you have as your eyes meet.

"If you'll excuse us, Malcolm, Thylonia, Xanthera, we have one last thing to take care of and then you can get properly acquainted with your new roommate."  Lazarius says as he ushers you out of the room.

"Sorry about that."  says Lazarius as you make your way down the hall.  "I guess I forgot you didn't bring anything.  We can fix that though.  We actually have an account for this very situation set up.  Not surprisingly Malcolm's older brother, who shares his brother's views on obeying the golden rule and helping others, started it.  We can get you everything you will need, thanks to the Rathmore brothers.  And one more thing before you go.  Everyone that goes to this school will have a part-time job at one of the shops in the business district.  That is another one of the niceties of our dorm system; your roommates are also your fellow employees.  This hasn't been thrown together all willy-nilly, either.  We have a specialist that matches students together for compatibility.  We know before you even meet if you will become the best of friends.  He is that good.  You will spend a great deal of time together, so we don't want students biting each other's heads off.  We find it easier to adjust if you have people you can count on in a new environment.  But I'm getting long-winded.  Let's head to the shops to get you everything you will need."

After trekking back down to the shops, a distance you didn't realize was so long while on the tour, you make your way to each shop, picking up new clothes, books, and various other necessities.  Before long, you have nearly everything you will need.  

"There is one last thing we will need, lad."  Lazarius says as he points to a shop with a live tiger in the window.  "You have to get a summon stone.  Without it, you will be unable to summon anything until you have had at least three years training.  We just have to pick one out that suits you."  You and Lazarius step into the shop and have a look around.

"What about this one, Lazarius?"  You say as you pick up an amber colored stone with the picture of an eagle on it.

"No, that one won't do.  That is a second year student's stone.  You won't be able to control it.  Try to find one with either a more timid or smaller creature on it.  Though the color is about right for your personality."

"Ok.  Timid and or smaller."  You say to yourself as you pick up and examine a few stones one after another.  "Maybe a pet of some kind will due, a dog or cat.  Maybe a small bird would be ok, but they are messy.  I need something bigger and cleaner.  A house cat would be ok, maybe."

"How about this one?"  Lazarius says as he holds up an amber colored stone with a tiger cub on it.  "This should be right up your alley.  The tiger cub is a small animal and is, as they say, nice as a kitten.  One of your first classes you will be taking will be summoning. Plus, as your power as a Summoner grows, so will the tiger, it will grow up as you go through school here."

"That sounds perfect, Lazarius."  You say as you take the stone in hand.

"We will take this one, shopkeeper."  Lazarius says.

You and Lazarius both make your way back to your dorm.  By now, night has fallen and it is time to turn in for the night.  Tomorrow you will start your first class at Rathmore.  You can hardly contain yourself as your eyelids get heavier and you eventually fall asleep.

The next morning you awake, ironically, to a train whistle.  This time, though, the sound emanates from an actual train, a model one, but a real train nonetheless.  This one belongs to Malcolm.  His father owns a train and Malcolm used to ride it all the time.  The only thing that could wake him after riding on it was the train's whistle, so now he has a model train alarm that wakes him every morning.  "Sorry about that."  Malcolm says as he tries to shut it off.  "I didn't realize I'd left it on.  We had better hurry and get ready, Thylonia and Xanthera have been up for hours already."

"What?  Why so early?"  You ask as you rub your eyes.

"Elvin don't sleep that much.  Only about four hours a night."  He responds.  "Besides, we have to get to class.  It starts in a half hour."

You and Malcolm proceed to get your acts together, and leave for your first class, Summoning 101. "Don't forget your summon stone. You'll need it."  Malcolm says as you leave.

A half hour later, you arrive at Professor Durthman's Summoning 101 class, and take your seats next to your roommates.  "Welcome everyone to Summoning 101.  I am Professor Durthman, your instructor for this class.  I hope everyone brought their summon stones as per the requirements of this class.  If you didn't, I do have extras at the front of the class."  The lanky Elvin says as she points to a rack against the front wall of the room.  A few students go and pick up a stone and then return to their seats.  "With that out of the way, let's begin class.  First let me tell you about how the stones work."  The professor then goes on to explain, ad nauseum, how to use the stones.  About an hour later, the class is called up, one by one, to showcase what they have learned.  The first few have a little trouble, but they soon get the knack and all of their summons go off without a hitch.  Then it is your turn.

"Ok.  Just concentrate on an image of what you are going to summon.  In your case picture a cat, then add stripes, and continue in your mind until you have a clear image of a tiger."  The professor says as she takes a few steps back to give you room.  "Do you have it?  Are you ready?"

"Yeah."  You say.

"Ok.  Now take that picture in your head and add this class.  Picture the tiger right there in front of you and ask for it to come forth, using whatever words you want.  The thought and request are all that matters, not fancy wording.  Go ahead, give it a shot."

You concentrate as hard as you can and speak the words you practiced in your head.  "To my side, loyal friend!"

And with those words you can feel the energy of the stone release, but it doesn't feel right, it's too much.  The stone becomes hard to hold.  It starts to burn your hand.  It hurts so much you drop it.  It hits the ground and sends out a concussive blast that sends you flying against the back wall.

"Not again." you mutter as you begin to slip into unconsciousness.  

Right before you go completely out, you see a tiger cub hovering over your body.  "Hi." it says.  Then darkness.