Outside the building there was hardly anyone to be seen. At this time of day everyone was inside and working, or else back in their quarters and sleeping if they were working with spells best cast at night. The Wizard's Way was empty, of human beings at least. A pair of fat ginger cats were sunning themselves on the daisy speckled lawn in front of the palace, and a large white furred cat with bright intelligent eyes stared at Thomas as he passed it by.

     There were a lot of cats in Lexandria valley. Most of them belonged to wizards, either as pets or familiars; animals that were bonded to their owners in a very special way. A familiar acted as an extension of the wizard's senses, allowing him to see what it saw, hear what it heard, and so on. It could also help in the casting of some of the more difficult and advanced spells, those that required another living creature to sit still in one place while its body drew in and focused the magical energies around it.

     Having a familiar was something that went in and out of fashion in the magical community, though. It was currently out of fashion, it seemed. So far, Thomas hadn't seen a single wizard with a familiar. The main reason it wasn't more popular was that, if the animal were killed, the wizard suffered a sympathetic shock that was sometimes so great that he could be laid up in bed for days afterwards. He could even be killed if he was in frail health, and it was a monument to their usefulness that any wizard ever adopted a familiar at all.

     The adoption of a familiar was something of a gamble, though, as you could never be sure what kind of animal the summoning spell would attract, and once the bond was formed there was no way to break it without killing the animal, with all the risks that involved. If you were lucky you would get a cat or a raven, and if you were really lucky you might get a pygmy dragon or a nanurge; a strange magical creature that looked like a deformed goblin with bats wings. If you were unlucky, though, you could end up with something completely useless like a lizard or a toad. It was to avoid this unfortunate occurrence that so many wild cats and ravens were allowed in the valley; to ensure that there would always be a suitable animal in the neighbourhood if a wizard required one.

     Cats were the last thing on Thomas’s mind at the moment, though, as he strolled briskly along the Wizards' Way. It couldn't really be called a road as it consisted of nothing more than hard packed earth with no clearly defined edges, blending gradually into the rough, weed strewn grass that lined it on either side. It looked rough and untidy, in sharp contrast to the carefully tended lawns and gardens of the teaching area.

     The research wizards didn't care, though. They were only concerned with what went on inside the buildings, of which there were thirteen, all in different architectural styles representing different countries and eras in their histories. Six on the eastern side of the Wizards' Way, six in the western side and the thirteenth, the Dannil Starfinder building, rising like a dark gothic cathedral at the southern end. This building, once a small Agglemonian border fortress, was the most important of the University's research buildings, and was the permanent home of the six most important and powerful wizards in the valley.

     Thomas hadn’t had occasion to enter this building yet, and had been scared to even approach it, but now he had legitimate business here and his heart pounded with excitement as he climbed the high stone steps that led to the huge, ivy decorated front doors. A pair of proctors, posted there since the recent series of sabotage incidents, demanded to know who he was and what he wanted, and Thomas presented the letter for their inspection. They studied the seal closely for several moments and then waved him through, giving him directions to Saturn's laboratory and warning him not to stray from the shortest route. In the present atmosphere of wariness and suspicion, they explained, a strange wizard wandering around where he had no business could find himself in a lot of trouble. Thomas thanked them for the advice and hurried off.

     Saturn's laboratory was much larger and grander than Pondar's small one, and Thomas gazed around in wonder at the wonderfully crafted equipment and the multitudes of books and bottles stacked on shelves and gathering dust in casually arranged boxes shoved in corners and under tables. His magic sense was going crazy as his ability to sense the presence of nearby magical fields reacted to the number of very magical items and artifacts whose uses, despite his University education, were still incomprehensible to him.

     One magical field in particular was especially strong, and differed from the others in some strange way that he was unable to identify. He felt himself drawn to it, and a moment later he found himself standing in front of a curiously shaped lump of metal that sat on an ornate pedestal in the very centre of the room.

     It was about the size of a large loaf of bread, lumpy and ugly, looking as though it had been melted at some time and had flowed into its present shape before cooling and hardening again. He reached out a hand to touch it, half expecting it to be still warm, but it was cold. Very cold. It was damp in fact, covered by a thin layer of condensation, and he jerked his hand back as if he'd accidentally touched a toad. He knew he ought to find Saturn, deliver the letter and get out, but something held him rooted to the spot and, after a few moments of hesitant indecision, he reached out his hand again.

     This time he was ready for the unsettling feel of it and he stroked it slowly, letting his fingertips follow its convoluted outline over every bump and into every crevice. An image sprang into his mind, of a slug of white hot metal streaking across the sky with a sound like tearing paper, leaving a trail of incandescent gases behind it. He drew his hand back, staring at the meteorite in wonder. The image had been so vivid, so real, it was as if he'd actually seen it happen...

     He almost jumped out of his skin as a hand fell heavily on his shoulder, gripping him hard and turning him around. "Who are you and what do you want?" demanded an old man with an eyepatch, almost bald except for a fringe of silver hair above his ears. He was wearing a wizard's lab robes and the hand that still gripped his shoulder wore a large ruby ring that radiated a faint magical field. Thomas marveled that he was suddenly able to sense such a feeble magical field. He was sure he wouldn't have been able to just a few moments before. Had the strange magical meteorite done something to him?

     He produced the letter, guiltily expecting to be reprimanded for prying into what didn't concern him. "I've been sent to give this to master Saturn Vasil Mon-Morchov," he said nervously, showing it to him. "Can you tell me where to find him?"

     The wizard took the letter, tearing it open before Thomas could protest. "Er..." He began, but the man's attitude of confident ease gave him pause. It had to be Saturn himself, or he wouldn't be so casual about opening someone else's mail, a serious offence in the University where private letters were often protected by magic spells.

     "He works less than a hundred yards away," the man muttered to himself. "You'd think he could just come over and tell me himself. Oh well, no matter." He crumpled the letter into a ball and spoke a word that made it flare up in a brief burst of flame. He let the glowing embers drop to the floor and dusted his hands. "Tell him I understand. Just that. Understand?"

     "Yes, master," said Thomas. "I'll tell him immediately." He turned to go, but gave the strange magical meteorite a last puzzled glance as he went.

     "It is interesting, isn't it?" said Saturn, indicating the meteorite. "I spend hours looking at it sometimes, thinking about the amazing journey it underwent. The years spent just drifting through space until good fortune brought it to a landing here on our wet, green world. Do such things interest you as well?"

     "Yes, they do," replied Thomas. "I own a couple of meteorites. Small ones traded as curiosities, but I've never seen one like this before. How did it acquire its magical charge?"

     The older wizard gave a start of surprise. He stared at Thomas with an intensity that made the younger wizard wilt with fear. Oh Gods! he thought. Now what have I done? Why in the name of all the Gods can't I learn to keep my mouth shut?

     "You can sense its magical field?" demanded Saturn, gripping Thomas’s upper arm painfully tight. "You can sense it?"

     "Well, yes," admitted Thomas. "All wizards can sense magical fields, can't they? It's something that comes gradually as we grow in our mastery of the art."

     "That's right," agreed the older wizard. "You can probably sense, as I can, that many of the objects in this room are intensely magical. Almost everyone coming in here for the first time comments on it. However, most people, including people twice your age, capable of magics you can only dream of, agree that this meteorite carries no magical charge whatsoever."

     "But that's ridiculous!" protested Thomas indignantly. "It's emitting so much magic even a mundane must be able to sense it! Now that I know it, I could probably sense it from outside the building."

     "I know it's magical," agreed Saturn, still staring at him intently. "I know because I have carried out tests that prove it. However, my magic sense registers nothing from this object. Nothing at all." He pulled the younger wizard closer until their noses were almost touching. "What I want to know is, how is it that you, a much younger and less developed wizard, can sense what I cannot?"

     Thomas gulped nervously and glanced back at the craggy, pitted lump of metal. "I don't know," he said, trying to pull away, but Saturn was holding him much too firmly. "I can just sense it, that's all. I don't know how."

     Saturn scowled and muttered the words of a mind reading spell. The University had laws forbidding the reading of another person's mind without permission, but Saturn cast the spell without bothering to ask and studied the younger wizard's thoughts for several minutes, looking deep into his eyes as he did so. Then he nodded and released him. Thomas rubbed his arms, which immediately began to tingle as the blood flowed into them again.

     "All right," said Saturn, picking up the meteorite and handing it across. Thomas staggered back as he accepted the weight. It was far heavier than it looked. "Tell me exactly what you sense."

     Thomas looked down at the ugly lump of iron cradled in his arms. "Power," he said after a moment. "Vast, incredible power, but all scrambled up like an egg beaten with a whisk. Whatever it used to do, I don't think it does it any more."

     Saturn nodded. "We think it used to be an artifact of some kind. A made thing. When it was melted by its passage through the atmosphere its magics were corrupted. Scrambled is a very good word for it. All our attempts to divine its origin and purpose have come to nothing. It is a mystery. An enigma." He stared at Thomas again. "Do you know the Identify spell?"

     "It's in my spellbook, master, but I haven’t read it for a long time. It's probably changed since then."

     "Read it tomorrow. Memorize the new version and then come straight here. I want you here by sunup. With your sensitivity to this object's magical field, the spell may work for you where it failed for us."

     "But Pondar Walton, my master..."

     "I'll square it with him. From now on you work for me, not him. He'll rant and rave for a while, but he'll do as he's told if he knows what's good for him."

     Thomas could only stare in astonishment "But, but..."

     "But nothing. You'll like it here, this is where it's all happening. Pondar's just tiddling around the edges." He gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. "A chap of your talents belongs here. So far as I know, you're the only one in the whole valley who can sense this thing's emanations. Your arrival could be the breakthrough we've been waiting for." He took the meteorite back and replaced it gently on its pedestal. "Now hurry along, and make sure you're back bright and early tomorrow morning. We've got a lot of work to do."