Origin (Scales 'n' Spells 1)

“Hmm, I actually have plans. But Carla made noises about helping you learn a few things.”

“Carla?” Cameron had no idea who that was. He’d met most of the mages in the clan so far, but not all. He was given to understand they had six in total; he’d just not met the others.

“I’ll introduce you to her,” Baldewin offered, snagging two of the rolls. “She’s sitting right over there. Let’s get some more names and phone numbers in that phone of yours, shall we?”

“Sounds great.”

Gisa shooed him on with a smile. “I’ll help you train tomorrow, though, okay?”

Remembering at the last second, he used one of those German-English crossover words. “Super.”

Gisa high-fived him for that.

“Hallo, Carla, Velten, can we join you?” Baldewin inquired as he strode for the nearest table.

“Sure, do. I haven’t had a chance to meet Cameron properly yet.”

Cameron took in the woman that had answered—Carla?—and gave her his best smile. “Yeah, I got brief names and faces and nothing really stuck. Hi.”

“Hi yourself.” The man waved him to the chair across the table from him. “I’m Velten. Wilkommen, young mage. We’re very happy to see you.”

“Dankeschön,” Cameron responded and was proud of himself for mostly saying that correctly. From what he could see, Velten was definitely dragon, and another one of those good-looking types. He stole a few glances as he set his plate down on the table and got situated in the padded chair.

“I’m Carla,” the mage introduced herself, with a nod of the head to him. Her dark hair swayed over her shoulder and she pushed it back, keeping it out of her food. “Nice to meet you, Cameron. Lisette mentioned you’re taking well to the lessons. Do you enjoy it?”

“Love every second of it.” Cameron tried not to sound like a giddy five-year-old with a new pony, but he was pretty sure he failed. “It’s like this incredible puzzle where you can put all of these different pieces together and come out with different results. I haven’t had this much fun since I was introduced to Legos.”

Carla laughed outright, shaking with it. “Oh my god, that is the best description. I need to use that. So often, you know, people assume we use magic because it’s necessary. The books and movies always have us doing magic for some grand purpose. But few of them convey that it is fun. The creation of anything with magic is wholly satisfying.”

“Yes, exactly. I’m still reveling in it. Lisette mentioned each magical clan sort of had their own specialties? Can I ask what your clan’s specialty was?”

Baldewin cleared his throat and gave Cameron a pointed look. “I can see how you keep walking away from a conversation without getting anyone’s numbers.”

Oh. Ohhh yeah, that was the goal when sitting down with these two. “I would have remembered. Eventually.”

Baldewin shook his head and explained to the other two, “He’s meeting people slowly and trying to get contact information for everyone. Carla, you especially I think he should be able to contact.”

“Absolutely, I’d love to teach him what I know too.” Carla immediately pulled a phone out of her back pocket and opened it. “Cameron, give me your number first.”

Cameron quite happily did so.

* * *

With some smugness, Cameron went to the dining hall after his magic lesson that afternoon and didn’t get lost in the process, thank you very much. He could neither confirm nor deny needing Baldewin’s map once.

Dinner was easier this time as he recognized more faces, knew more names. People invited him to come and sit, and he was happy to do so. They talked more of game night, and asked how he was settling in, do you have anything you’re not sure about? Can we help with anything?

Cameron warmed to their obvious interest and concern. Their sincerity was clear, and he basked in it a little. People were just so welcoming here. And friendly. And cool. Cameron wanted to be friends with all of them.

While lingering over an after-dinner coffee, Dieter came and touched him lightly on the shoulder. “Cameron, may I have some of your time?”

“Sure, what’s up?” Cameron turned in his chair, tilting his head up to face him better. He didn’t know Dieter well; he’d talked to him maybe three times, all in passing. But he knew Dieter to be Alric’s right hand and well respected.

“Alric and I want to go over your family line with you,” Dieter explained.

Oh right, Alric had mentioned that. Tracing Cameron’s family line might help them track down other mages not in his immediate branch of the family. Considering how vital that was, Cameron had no problem helping them. “Okay. Lead the way. It was nice chatting with you guys. See you at game night?”

“Game night,” the table chorused in agreement.

As Cameron kept in step with him, Dieter explained in his gravelly voice, “We have a genealogy room specifically for ancestry research. It’s right above Gunter’s research room, in fact. Some of our records are so old there is no copy of them, although we’re attempting to rectify that by scanning them in digitally.”