The Continuing Adventures of Draco Moonbeam

He entered the front door, shut it behind him, and set a bolt across the doorframe. The bolt wasn’t necessary since he had much stronger protections in place, but it added an additional sense of security.

The lights came on automatically, the balls of light hovering along the ceiling not far from the corners. They weren’t attached to anything, but rather floated in the air, the soft glow illuminating each room as he entered.

He removed his scarf, his hat, cloak and coat and hung them on pegs on a rack by the door. He then removed his boots. Removing his boots at the door was definitely a custom from his upbringing since no one in this world did such a thing. They might track mud and dust inside their own homes, but Draco preferred clean floors.

The damp chill of the air outside didn’t enter his home. Inside, it was comfortably warm constantly.

Simple spells combined with permanence magic provided the home with security, warmth, and light. Although Draco was capable of much more powerful magic, he didn’t consider it a waste of talent or time to provide himself some of the comforts that homes should have.

He crossed his front room which really served only as an entrance, and went through a doorway on the opposite wall. The lights disappeared behind him even as the ones in the next room suddenly started glowing.

Now in the kitchen, Draco could smell the wonderful aroma of dinner awaiting him. On the large wooden table lay some books alongside bowls, utensils and something that looked like a steaming stony crockpot.

The large stone pot had a wooden lid which he lifted by the knob at the top. Steam gushed out and the smell of a fully cooked roast bathed alongside chopped carrots and wild rice made his taste buds water.

There were no electric cords, in fact no electric utilities of any sort. Simple spells provided the low heat required for cooking.

Draco ladled some broth into a wooden bowl. He cut off a generous portion of the roast and laid it in the bowl as well, careful to not spill any.

He sat on a low backed wooden chair and began to eat.

The books on the table were smaller leather bound books containing information on useful plants of Gaia, and creating potions. He hadn’t mastered the art of potions yet, but he was interested in adding that style of magic to his collection of energy conducting spells. Some of those plants would be necessary ingredients.

He taught classes at the local college. They offered him a position where he could apprentice some few curious minds in exchange for a decent salary. The students were often children of minor nobles and artisans. Their parents paid well. Mastering the arcane arts took talent, skill, and a lot of time.

He thought of how he had made himself comfortable in his adopted world. The home was nicely furnished. And he lived alone, which suited him fine.

He arrived in Gaia for the first time some 35 years prior. His early days were spent in various adventures with his friend Darkstar. But they had had a painful falling out after a few years of traveling together. Somehow women always caused these problems.

Correction, falling for the wrong women at the wrong times caused these problems. And such was the problem at the heart of their splitting up.

Draco had loved over the years. He even married. Twice. He had four children now. The first ex lived in the distant Blackstag City. His kids with her were grown. And that was about as much as he knew since they didn’t have any desire to communicate with him. And admitting that he couldn’t change their opinions of him, he resignedly didn’t push to find out.

The second ex lived in Cloudgate with two more of his children. He saw them regularly, but not too often. They now had a stepfather. And Draco didn’t always feel welcome.

At his current age, Draco had sworn off ever falling in love again. He would enjoy their company for a brief time, but he just didn’t have the desire to become entangled in a relationship again. He was getting too old for the drama.

Speaking of drama…

His home world was Earth. He left it for the last time in Earth year 1991. It was a broken world. A large meteor strike caused a worldwide catastrophe followed by weather upheavals which decimated the planet’s population in the early 80’s. The survivors had no central government to protect them. Cities defended themselves from neighboring cities, and warfare was constant. It was a very chaotic place, full of madmen and power hungry warlords. Definitely not conducive to a long life. He had fought in some of those battles.

His early misadventures as a teen on Earth led him to become acquainted with the elderly world-jumping wizard Xak who brought him and Darkstar to Gaia to assist in some problems there.

His initial years in Gaia saw a series of adventures that often revolved around Blackstag City near the western nations. Over the years he had bargained with marauding barbarians, fought a terrible dragon, travelled with trolls, escaped the clutches of dark forces a few times, and rescued more than one fair maiden.

But his adventuring days were long behind him now.

He came to Cloudgate City at age 35 at first to assist with the new public works programs that Queen Semna had ordered, then later stayed for the teaching job. The transition to a sedentary life was not difficult.

As he mused on his past, he looked at the books that reminded him gently of his studies. He needed to keep learning, to keep progressing. He sensed that evolution was coming. But he didn’t know when or how.

As he ate, a knock on the door brought him back to the present, to this rainy evening.