I was right on the edge of calling it off when something caught my attention. The wind had grown even colder, my ears had gone numb, and the first spots of a new rain shower had started to fall. I was towards the north end of the platform, and most of the futures I could see led to nothing but damp and frustration—but beyond the platform was a future that was different. The end of the platform was fenced off with a big sign on the gate reading Danger: High Voltage—No Admittance Beyond This Point. I pushed the gate open and walked down the ramp between the sets of railway lines, tufts of scrubby grass growing between piled gravel.

The thing (whatever it was) was lying in the midst of the damp stones. It was small and spherical, about the size and shape of a marble. But it had a trace of magic—just a tiny, tiny trace—and now that I was closer I could sense something from it. A weak one-shot, or a very weak focus. If my magesight hadn’t been better than most mages’, I’d never have noticed it.

I picked the thing up—it felt like a marble too—then straightened and looked around. Spitting rain was falling onto the railway lines around me, the drops briefly visible in the orange glow of the station lights. If there was anything else here, I couldn’t find it.

To my right the rails were vibrating: another train was coming. I walked back up onto the platform. This time, when the train pulled up, I got on.

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Back home, I took a hot shower, then once I was warm again I sat down at my desk and studied my new find. It seemed to be a glass marble, a little bigger than my thumbnail, pale green and translucent. Under the desk lamp I could see little white flecks floating inside. Now that I had the chance to study it, it was definitely a focus. It didn’t have any energy stored—what I’d sensed was the residue of its previous uses. The magic felt universal rather than living or elemental, but it was pretty generic. It didn’t seem closely tied to any of the magic types.

I ran it through a few basic tests but came up blank. It didn’t respond to any standard command words, which given that it didn’t have any energy storage was exactly what you’d expect. It was tougher than glass, but not indestructible. My best guess was that it was designed to respond to some sort of magical input, but channelling into it didn’t do anything. Maybe it needed a type of magic I didn’t have.

I thought about calling it in but decided against it. I’d show the thing to Caldera when she got back on Monday. With that settled, I left the focus on my desk and went to bed.

chapter 3

“. . . and unfortunately I don’t think it’s going to open up any time soon.”