Sort of a variation on the earlier post I made about “Modern Day Magick”. (Magick with a k is sort of an in-joke by the way for fantasy geeks, it sort of means going over the top with magical concepts).
An old man encounters a young loner, perhaps on the street. A strange feeling passes, and they move on. Later on, the young protagonist begins to manifest strange abilities to move things, bizarre visions in his sleep, etc. It all comes back to the man he ran into, so he tracks him down only to discover he claims to be a magician, a sorceror. The last one in fact. Until recently that is, he says. Our hero has in fact just become the second of the last two sorcerors left in the world. The man “transferred” the bulk of his powers to him, recognizing in his aura the potential to learn magic.
As to why, the old man claims he made a selfish choice. He was lonely and knew his time left on earth was limited and wanted someone else to talk to, especially about magic. He knew if he gave the main character this they would continue to meet. Frustrated by this burden put upon him he runs off. Several scenarios occur where its obvious these powers are growing out of control and he reluctantly comes back to learn how to keep them in check. A loner himself, he doesn’t want to have this obligation to anyone.
Slowly he learns to get them under control, and even befriends the old man, learning how painful its been to watch his fellow magic users die off. For there is something pursuing each and every one of them. The old man is vague when asked about what causes this.
The protagonist also meets a girl and hesitantly begins to open his hear to her. Eventually he tells her about his abilities. Surprisingly, she doesn’t run off frightened.
From there I’m not sure where it will go. The girl might actually be working for the enemy and betray him. So, there’s themes so far of loneliness and possibly betrayal. I’m not sure about that second one as I want the main character to learn the lesson of reaching out and trusting other people.
As for what the enemy is, I’m not sure of either. A group of evil spirits in corporeal form who want to take over the earth but want any magical resistance ground out, perhaps something else.
One idea I’m playing with is the concept of a group of non-magical humans who for centuries have been sworn to protect magic users. The old man has one as his butler/chaffeur, who happens to have a young son (perhaps around twenty or so, close to the protagonist’s age). The enemy attacks, possibly blowing up the house or car and the wizard and guardian die. Lost and afraid the hero is confronted by the son, who tells him of the guardians. He has to trust his new protector as he continues his education in the secret world of magic.