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Officer Gaetani that,” Sam said. “What’s it mean?”
    May flexed her gloved hand.
    Sam let out a small sigh. “Right, gripping.”

    “We have a way of tracking these hiccups. Actually, we have a person, and you will study with him. His name is Bariv.”
    Sam gave her a skeptical look. “What kind of name is Bariv? Russian?”
    “Names have existed for a very long time and many are forgotten. But just because they are forgotten does not mean they don’t exist. In our society you will find many names that are unique. Normally, when Bariv feels the hiccups of new sorcerers, they are quite small. Things like making objects change color, or moving small amounts of water just by thinking it. We then offer to help these young people grow into their gift, but like I said, it is quite rare for new sorcerers to spring up. You are sort of a first.”
    “But I thought you said flathands, or whatever, can have magical children.”
    “Not a first for that. A first for what you have done.”
    Sam raised an eyebrow.
    “You seem to have tapped into an extraordinary amount of the Veil for your first time. You made thousands of people literally stop moving, prisoners in their own bodies. It’s something not even I can do.”
    Sam tried to hold back a smile. He could feel the hilarity of the situation bubbling up in his chest. “So what are you saying? That I’m some sort of super-sorcerer?”
    “No.” She shook her head. “I’m saying that you could be great if you want to be. Gripping the Veil while unfocused and unlearned is dangerous, and it can start something awful. One must work to control the power that comes from it.”
    Sam sighed. “Can I just wake up, already?”
    “I could pinch you, but I doubt it would do anything other than sting.”
    Sam took a deep breath and let his muscles relax. He squeezed his eyes shut and smoothed his eyebrows with his thumb and forefinger. “So, are we flying? Does this machine, like, blast away the dirt and then float through the crevice?” The question sounded absurd to him as soon as it was asked.
    “If that was the case, we would have been caught by now.”
    Sam rapped the metal door a few times with his knuckles. “I didn’t realize my subconscious was so cryptic.”
    “I will tell you something concrete then.” She stared at her glove. “There are three types of magic that come from the Veil. There are natural magics,” she waved her hand through the air, “mystical magics, and power magics. Every sorcerer has an aptitude for one of these disciplines and they usually choose to study that path. I excel at natural magics: things that have to do with the world around us, born of this Earth, not from the minds of men. I have used my talent and mixed it with this technology to create a path for us underground. Things like dirt, roots, and rock are bending themselves to allow us passage to where we are going. They are closing after we pass so as not to leave a trace of where we have been.”
    “Of course.” Sam rolled his eyes again, turning away from May in the process. For the next few minutes, the only sound in the vehicle was the groaning from the metal walls. “So what kind of magic will I be doing?” Sam’s low voice just barely broke the silence.
    May continued in the same jovial tone as before. “That remains to be seen, but I have a pretty good idea. It—”
    Sam interrupted with a sharp exhale. “This is ridiculous.”
    All of a sudden, the light above them flickered and then turned blue.
    “Ah!” she exclaimed. “We are past the protective borders. I think we have some breathing room. For now, at least.”
    She stuck her gloved hand back in the compartment and Sam felt the vehicle decelerate and begin to rise.
    Then, with a loud thump and a jolt, they hit the ground.
    “Here we are. Take a step outside and get a good look.” She bit her bottom lip and then gazed at the painting on the roof of the vehicle. “I wish I could go back to my first look.