Alg had taken to carrying a couple new paperbacks in his bag just in case he found himself suddenly in other ashdown, just as he always carried an umbrella on him now. The author had been doing some administrative things at the college and was on his way home when he turned a corner into the cold and rain of the otherworld.
"Bollocks-" His head turned to the sky, rain splattering his glasses. Alg instinctively went for his umbrella but thought twice of it, instead attempting the magic that Jeremiah had showed him. Will, intent, and a strong vision or memory tied to it. For some reason he felt more comfortable doing things with his hands and he put one over his head, as if he were pushing the rain away. Something there flickered above him, not quite a shield, but it looked (as the rain ran over the near see-through barrier) rather remarkably like the outline of an umbrella simply hovering above his head. The rain was off of him at least and he realized with a thought he could tilt it, so the water runoff streamed down behind him.
It somehow figured, in place of an actual umbrella, he'd simply make a magical one.
Alg headed for the forest, occasionally glancing up to make sure he was successfully maintaining this, and realize when his confidence faltered he'd start to feel the splatter of rain, so instead of thinking about it he let it be, let the knowledge of it sit solidly in the back of his mind, and found he could keep it going without thinking. In his walk he tried to practice other bits of magic- making ice in his hand, or fire, but the results were spotty at best and perhaps the older man was simply too distracted.
Instead he thought of finding Heliodora as he finally reached the forest, and hoped that like always that would lead him to her.
shibrogane
