"Can I help you?" Professor Lorentz asked.

"I am Eli's tutor. I will take him for this test."

Lorentz scowled at the intruder. "This is my classroom."

"Yes, and the headmaster put me in charge of Eli."

Eli watched his teachers battle back and forth, not certain which man he wanted to win. As much as he liked Professor Lorentz, Alstair knew what it was like to be a necromancer. He could interpret things for Eli from a necromancer's perspective.

"Fine. Let me tell you the test."

Alstair made a scoffing sound in the back of his throat. "I doubt it has changed since I went here. Come, Eli."

Eli sighed as he got up and walked to his tutor. Why couldn't he do something like burp rainbows? Instead he was stuck being the super freak that teachers battled over because they each wanted to be the one to claim credit for finding him. Yeah, this was a lot of fun. As much as he wanted to complain, he silently followed Alstair up a flight of stairs. They came to a halt outside a plain brown door.

"Nice dog by the way."

"Thanks." Eli petted the hellhound's silky head. For a scary creature, the beast had soft fur.

"Now I want you to go in there first. I don't want to influence you in any way. I'm just here to observe."

"What am I doing?" Eli didn't like tests where he didn't know what to expect. The hellhound growled beside him reflecting Eli's unease.

"Nothing difficult-just talking to a ghost. You do it every day so it shouldn't be too challenging."

"And say what?" Why did he suspect there were parts of this test no one was telling him about?

"Ghosts generally do all the talking. If it doesn't speak at first, say hello."

"All right." Eli's hellhound followed him as he opened the door and walked inside. The room was empty. Eli glanced down at the dog, looked around some more, waited a bit. Nothing. The hellhound let out a disgruntled bark and flicked his ear.

"Yeah that's what I think too. Alstair?" he called out.

"Yes, Eli."

"I don't see anyone. Do you?" Maybe it had all been a mistake and he could only see certain ghosts. Maybe he just wasn't as strong as everyone thought.

Alstair grinned. "Excellent. This was the empty one. I'm supposed to test you on honesty. You'd be surprised how many students have pretended to see ghosts to get out of the final exam. I didn't expect you to lie, but it is a standard test, so I had to follow protocol."

"What's next?" Eli didn't know how much of a test seeing ghosts was since he roomed with one, but he'd play along to get a good grade. At least now he had an avatar.

"This way."

He followed Alstair back into the hall and headed to the next classroom two doors down. The floor creaked beneath his feet and a musty smell permeated the hall like no one had visited this space for years. Why would an entire floor be abandoned? A quick glance at his tutor didn't give him any clues. Eli stopped before the doorway and waited for instructions.

"Go in here and let me know what you see," Alstair said.

Eli stepped more into the room, his eyes widening. "Wow, there are so many of them."

Alstair nodded. "I did some research. A lab explosion took out the entire class."

"That's so sad." Eli tucked his hands into his pockets as he stared at the empty desks.

"Is this how you usually see them?" Alstair asked.

"Yes." Eli scanned the room again.

"You see them more clearly than I do."

Eli's mouth dropped open. "Really?"

Alstair gave Eli a reassuring smile. "Yes. This is going to be your first taste of sending people to the other side, Eli. Welcome to necromancy."

"Um, thanks." Eli wished he could be as excited as his tutor. He still didn't know if he'd be a very good necromancer, but he had to use what skills he had.

"Here, Eli, make a ring of salt around them."

Eli took the sack Alstair handed over. The ghosts ignored him as he began to pour out a proper salt circle. This was one skill he'd actually mastered from his previous classes. His lines were always perfectly formed. When he had finished, he returned the bag to Alstair. "Now what?"

"Now, I want you to send them on."

Eli bit his lip and considered the ghosts. An air of discontent hovered around the room. He had no doubt they all needed to move on. "How do I do that?"

"Well, it's different for everyone. With your skills I think you just have to will them to the afterlife."

"Sure, of course." Eli knew the theory that all magic was based on the willpower of the wielder, but he didn't know if he had the strength to send on a dozen kids at once. "Hello, everyone."

The ghosts stopped what they were doing and focused on Eli as if they had just noticed him.

"Hello," they replied in unison.

"My name is Eli Trenton and I'm here to send you on to the afterlife." Damn, he sounded as if he were trying to sell them door-to-door wares. He stifled his groan, determined to push on.

"Can we really go?" a blonde girl asked. "I'm sooo bored." She snapped a piece of gum to punctuate her statement.

Eli nodded. "I bet. I mean, how long can you have your hair braided?"

"Exactly," she agreed.

Another ghost, a dark-haired male, eyed Eli with a cool gaze. "You think you can do it?"

Eli nodded. "I hope so. Are you willing to let me try? I think you have to want to go on for this to work." He didn't know for certain, but if will was part of the equation, wouldn't the will of the ghosts play an important role?

There was a round of whispered discussions then the gum chewer nodded. "Okay, we're with you."

"Excellent."

The hellhound ducked beneath Eli's hand, startling Eli. Focused on the spirits, he'd momentarily forgotten about the beast. He scratched the dog's head as he thought about his next step. Closing his eyes, Eli imagined a light surrounding the students.

"It's time to move on and reset your destiny," Eli said. He didn't believe in an all-powerful god, but he did believe in reincarnation. Eli thought every soul recycled again so no spirit was ever lost in the cosmos. He focused his will on sending the ghosts onward, for them to fulfill their destiny and start their cycle all over again.

A loud boom reverberated through the classroom. Windows exploded outwards, shattering into a million bits. Eli was knocked off his feet and slammed onto the hard wood floor. His breath whooshed out of him, leaving him gasping on the floor, desperate for oxygen.

Ouch.

The smell of sulfur burned Eli's nostrils and his entire body ached from the impact. He suspected he'd have bruises on his ass tomorrow. A soft whine and burning licks across his face added to his discomfort. He shoved the hellhound away. A whimper from the beast had him sitting up to wipe the dog slobber off his face with his sleeve. "We need to talk about you being a little less affectionate."

"My Master! Powerful Master!"

Groaning, Eli climbed to his feet despite the hellhound's help. Brushing at his jeans, he soon abandoned the futile task of getting off all the debris. The floor hadn't exactly been clean. Eli coughed as particles of dirt made their way up his nose.

"Are you all right?" Alstair asked.

Eli coughed. "Yeah, I think so."

"I knew you were powerful but this exceeded my expectations. Do you know what you did?" Alstair asked.

The excited tremor of his mentor's voice snapped Eli's attention to the necromancer.

"I hope I banished the ghosts." If he'd done it wrong, Alstair was strangely happy about his performance.

"You banished over a dozen ghosts at one time!"

"I thought that's what you wanted me to do?" Had he missed the point of the assignment? Had he failed because of his desire to get them to pass over together?

Alstair gripped Eli's upper arms. "I thought you'd do one, maybe two of them. I didn't think you had the power to send them as a group. You're amazing, Elijah, truly amazing. Take the rest of the day off. I'll tell the headmaster you deserve it."

Eli would've argued, but his head hurt, his back ached and no doubt sported several new bruises. His ears rang from the explosion. "I'm sorry about the windows."

"Forget it. I'll have one of the janitors fix them."

"Oh, okay, thanks."

Eli walked out of the room, eager to get away from the scene of the explosion. "I don't know if I'm cut out for this necromancer stuff," he told the hellhound as they made their way back to his dorm.

Chapter Six.

Devin frowned when he spotted Eli passing him on the quad. "Eli!"

Eli paused. "Hey, Devin. How are you doing?"

A dazed expression filled Eli's eyes.

"I think I'm doing better than you." Devin wrapped an arm around Eli only to have a vicious dog snap at him. Before he could react, his avatar burst out and a large gecko stood between Devin and the dog.

"Easy, pup," Eli said, scratching the beast behind the ears.

"You're not allowed to have dogs in the dorms," Devin said. He hated to break the news to Eli, but that vicious beast couldn't be around the other students.

"He's not a dog. He's my avatar and he's a hellhound."

"Seriously?" Devin stared at the creature, noticing for the first time the burning coals of fire glowing in its eyes. Devin's gecko gave a little hiss. No wonder his gecko had freaked.

"Makes sense if you think about it. I'm a necromancer-what is a better match than a hellhound?"

Devin had no words for that. Eli was right. "What did you name him?"

Eli eyed his avatar. "I think I'm going to name him Reaper."

Without fanfare, Devin's avatar disappeared as quickly as he had come. "You're going to keep him with you during the day?"

Eli frowned. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Doesn't it drain your energy?" Devin's gecko avatar sucked the energy right out of him. His magic had dipped even in the short time his gecko had appeared. His avatar didn't do much other than climb up the side of buildings and turn in papers that were late. He hadn't explored the entire lizard thing, but he liked the coolness factor of his enormous gecko. Avatars were often larger than their natural counterparts, but Eli's beast didn't have a normal comparison. Most dogs couldn't breathe fire and didn't lead to imminent death.

"He doesn't seem to. Why? Is that what normally happens?"

Devin hesitated before answering. "It depends on the person," he answered honestly. Eli seemed a bit hung up on his differences. Devin didn't plan to crush him with the news that the only other person he knew with that kind of power was Jaynell. Invoking the name of the powerful wizard and Devin's friend might cause further panic.

Eli visibly relaxed. "Oh, good. I don't need something else to worry about. I'm going to take him to my room. I've never had a dog before."

The happy grin on Eli's face had Devin holding back any arguments. He didn't want to give Eli the whole 'avatars aren't pets' speech, not while Eli beamed with happiness. Besides, Eli had corrected him when Devin had called Reaper a pet. Maybe he wouldn't need his lecture.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, and on the plus side, you won't have to walk him."

Eli laughed. "That is a good benefit. I don't especially want to clean up fiery poop."

Devin cracked up. "No that would be bad. I don't think they sell fireproof dog bags."

"Eww." Eli laughed. "I'm heading up to my room. Good to see you."

Devin had tried to be careful the past few days and give Eli space to get used to being a necromancer. He'd been waiting for any sign that Eli wanted more of a relationship but Eli seemed happy keeping things at their current level. Devin frowned when he noticed Eli's shirt was dusted with powder. "What happened to your clothes?"

For a minute he didn't think Eli would tell him, but without further prodding, the story spilled out. Devin stared, open-mouthed in shock. "I'm not sure what to say."

"Yeah, me either."

The fact that his dream corresponded to Eli's banishing tale brought up questions he couldn't answer. Could Devin be seeing into the future? He pushed that thought to the back of his mind to examine later. Right now he needed to concentrate on Eli. "You really had no idea about your skills, did you?"

"No." Eli gave a frustrated groan. "And the more people point out that I should've at least had a hunch, the stupider I feel."

"Hey, don't take it that way." Devin stepped forward and cupped Eli's cheek. "You're smart. I dare them to have the same ability and do a better job."