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get to see many other nightcrafters while I trained with
Kellar. But whenever I did happen to witness a meeting between him and some
other crafter, they always spoke to him in reverent tones. A lot of people
asked him for help and advice, which he always gave, but everyone seemed very
cautious of him. I can’t say I blame them for that. One time, I saw him get in
a serious fight with another nightcrafter. They never did find the other guy’s
body.”
    “What
did you do to earn the attention of such a prestigious instructor?” Dominique
asked as she scribbled in her notebook. “Why did he pick you as a student? How
did he even know you’d be able to learn?”
    “I
passed the test,” I said.
    “The
test?”
    “Let
me lay it out for you,” I said, leaning forward on my elbows. “Nightcrafters
aren’t born, they’re made. Nobody comes out of the womb with a natural talent
for this shit. So when the nightcrafters want to expand the ranks, they have to
train people for the job. But most people aren’t cut out for this kind of
stuff. That’s where the test comes in.”
    “Go
on,” Dominique said.
    “Your
average nightcrafter who’s looking for an apprentice is going to look for
somebody smart and mentally tough. But, most of all, they have to be
ambitious.”
    “Why
ambitious?”
    “Because
the student will need to have incredible drive to keep going. The craft is far
from easy. Intelligence helps, but the most important trait you need is
persistence. You’ve got to be willing to fail a thousand times before you get a
spell right, and the only way most people keep up that kind of persistence is
if they’re fiercely competitive and ambitious. You’ve got to want this power so
bad that nothing else in the world matters — not sleep, not food, not love, not
even your own safety. You have to suffer for your craft. But during all that
torture, you know you’re getting close to being special.”
    “So
where does this test factor in?” Dominique asked.
    “The
test is designed to see if a prospective student has the traits needed to
master the dark,” I said. “But the trick is, you never know that you’re taking
the test. For me, the test was a simple manipulation of the strange matter in
the Rift. All I had to do was move a few pounds of metal with the power from
the Rift.”
    “Sounds
easy,” Dominique said.
    “It
wasn’t,” I said. “When I first met Kellar, I had no idea who he really was. He
was teaching theater at the local community playhouse in my neighborhood. It
was not the kind of place you’d expect to find a master of magic.”
    “What
were you doing there?” Dominique asked.
    “My
mom sent me. She wanted to keep me out of trouble, and I had showed no
potential for sports, so she figured drama would be the next best outlet for my
teenage angst. I was not happy about the idea of spending my summer with a
bunch of emo kids who couldn’t act their way out of a paper bag, but the
theater had air conditioning, which made that hot summer a lot more bearable.
    “Kellar
was the creative director there. He handled everything: acting lessons,
lighting, sound, and music. Hell, I think he even cleaned the place since I
never saw a janitor. At the time, we all wondered how one man could handle all
that work. In hindsight, it’s obvious he was using magic to do most of it.”
    “Why
was he teaching drama to a bunch of kids?”
    “He
liked it. The man was a natural at teaching. He had a way with kids — a kind of
magic that I don’t think had anything to do with nightcrafting. He made us feel
like we could do anything.”
    “Was
the drama class just a front for his nightcrafter recruiting efforts?”
Dominique asked.
    “I
don’t think so,” I said. “I think he genuinely just wanted to teach some city
kids how to channel all the emotion and strife in their lives into something
positive. I don’t think he ever really planned to find an apprentice.”
    “But
that’s exactly what he found