At some point, I must’ve lost the battle to remain conscious because I was drifting in a sea of black.
It was peaceful; I would’ve stayed there forever if I could’ve, but a rousing sensation told me it was time to wake up.
The curtains weren’t drawn, but light around their edges brightened the room enough to see comfortably. Clair sat in a chair beside my bed, her head nodding to the side as her mouth slipped open. She must’ve spent the night watching over me.
She looked uncomfortable in the chair, so I got up and transferred her to my bed.
There was shouting in the hall outside my door. Then, as I was pulling the covers over her, my door burst open. Clair jolted and shot up, her face nearly crashing into mine.
A large group pushed through the door, after a girl with four black horns. Some of them were arguing among themselves; the rest appeared to be trying to stop her.
“What the hell are you doing?” The horned girl shouted, her words directed at me.
I was still half naked and knew exactly what it looked like, but an explanation escaped me. “I was… she was… this is my room! I should be asking you, what are you doing?”
Clair’s cheeks flushed red as she shuffled out of the bed.
The girl at the door didn’t seem satisfied with my answer. Her arms crossed over her chest and she pursed her lips as her eyes narrowed. I was trapped in her scrutinizing gaze for a moment, until she turned her attention to Riona and a horned man, both standing behind her amidst a slew of servants.
Having taken a moment to breathe, I realized I knew who she was. “Lu…Lumia, you’re alive.”
The man, her father, rolled his eyes. Making no effort to hide his disdain, Lord Andrhei scoffed, “You see Lumia, the boy hasn’t thought of you at all. While you’ve been upholding this bond like some sort of sacred promise he’s off—”
“Every chance you get you try and convince me to break the bond, but you must’ve forgotten how bonds work to say that to me now.”
Lord Andrhei’s eyes popped with surprise. “You—” he began, but Lumia wasn’t done.
“You can only see the situation as it appears, but even before we entered I could feel his intent. Silvon wasn’t doing anything wrong.” Then she turned to my mother. “But how dare you leave him alone with another woman and not allow me in.”
Riona stood firm, raising her chin at the raging girl. “You may care for him, Lumia, but I am his mother. I will decide what’s best for him and if he needs rest, I’ll not have you disturbing him.”
Standing from the bed, I cleared my throat. “Lumia,” I said approaching her, “I’m glad you’re okay.”
Lumia looked at me once more, her red eyes still glowing with rage. I noticed tears building at the corners of her eyes. Then she turned and started to stomp away.
I went to follow her, but Lord Andrhei stepped in front of me, glaring menacingly, before turning and following after his daughter.
Riona pulled me back into the room shaking her head. “Back for two days, and already getting into trouble.”
“I really wasn’t doing anything wrong.” I said.
Riona laughed. “Relax Silv, I was only teasing, but you should give it some time before you try talking to Lumia.”
Moving to the window, I nodded. As I watched her sprint across the lawn below I said, “I’m just glad she’s alive.”
The Queen nodded. “You bonded with her when you stopped your uncle turning her into an eidolon. You couldn’t feel her all this time?”
I shook my head. “I did draw some pictures of her, but I didn’t know it was her. I also drew other things from Aeros though, so I don’t think that was because of the bond.”
Riona smiled sweetly.
As usual, she was reserved, but I thought I’d try, and hope she’d answer my questions today.
“Why Earth?” I asked. “Why did you send me away?”
“I had no choice, Silv.” Looking toward Clair and the attendants who still remained at my door, Riona waved everyone away. Once the door was shut, she continued. “Your uncle, he wanted Lumia. I can only speculate why, but it was probably to use her against Lord Andrhei. Once you bonded with her there was only one way he could achieve his goal. He’d had to kill you. I chose Earth because it’s low mana atmosphere made it a perfect place to hide while your core recovered.”
“Your majesty,” Naelina said, pushing the door open gently. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but there’s a report you really need to see.”
“Right, I’ll be right there.”
“Mom,” I said, grabbing her arm before she could leave. “If uncle Vale is back—”
She shook her head. “You let me worry about your uncle. For now, all you need to do is focus on getting stronger. Strong enough to defend yourself and if necessary, to rule in my stead.”
----------------------------------------
I didn’t need to be warned about the strained relationship elves had with dragons, but my mother reminded me anyway. With a kiss, she sent me on my way to meet lady Silvia so I could find out what happened with my core—if I could still use it.
Under no circumstances was I to approach Lumia, instead I was told to wait for her to come to me.
Having begun to recognize our bond, I could sense her emotions to some degree and agreed that it would be best to give her some space.
I hardly remembered Lumia, so I didn’t mind waiting a bit longer to sort things out with her. I had strong feelings when I thought of her, but I didn’t fully understand them. As such, I wasn’t even sure how to approach her.
It was stressful and a bit overwhelming just thinking about it, so I was glad to have something else to worry about. Finding out what happened with my mana core seemed easier to deal with. Riona said that Silvia would be in the library, so that’s where I went.
I found her quickly, sitting at a table between towering bookshelves.
I was surprised the book she had was written in English, although I guess I shouldn’t have been since everyone spoke English.
The book, a tome on shadow magic, looked quite advanced. I hardly understood any of the concepts, though that could also be because I came in at the middle as was reading over her shoulder.
Seeing that Silvia hadn’t noticed me yet, I tapped her on the arm. “Good morning, are you busy?” I asked.
“Sam! You’re awake.”
I nodded. “And I have questions, if you have the time to answer them.”
“Sure, but first we should go to my office.” Silvia closed the book then it vanished into thin air. She rose and I followed her out of the library.
We walked silently until reaching her office, which was located on the third level of the palace. I had expected her to take me to the academy of magic.
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The office, a small round room, had a balcony overlooking the rear gardens. A desk rested under the window, but unlike most desks hers was small and round. There were three chairs set around it, each with a different color cushion and patterned fabric.
As soon as we entered, Silvia flicked her wrist, causing a ripple in the ambient mana.
“What did you just do?” I asked.
She motioned for me to sit and smiled. “Just a simple trick. If you felt it, that’s good. It means your core is fine.”
I had assumed as much already. I didn’t feel any pain and I’d been able to sense mana, so I figured my core must’ve been alright. What I didn’t know is why I couldn’t stop myself from pulling in mana or if that would keep happening when I tried.
“Okay…So what happened to it anyway? Is it safe to use or will I keep losing control when I use magic? And what about my uncle…why did I see his face?”
“Slow down Sam, let’s take it one thing at a time. Your core isn’t broken anymore, after you passed out, I did a full examination and your core was completely fine; however, there were traces of a dark magic lingering in your core. That being said, I doubt you’ll experience issues but we need to be cautious. There could be lingering effects from what happened six years ago…” she paused, hesitating before she continued, “The issue of seeing your uncle is more complicated.”
“How so?”
She paused for a moment, closing her eyes as worry lines compressed her face.
“I think your uncle has given himself over to dark magic. He isn’t the man I once knew, and it appears in his exile, he’s only sunk further into the abyss…” she opened her eyes. “…Sam, your uncle may have used you to renter Faerelle. The Queen doesn’t want you to worry, but I believe you need to know. We don’t know what Vale’s goal is, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume he is still after Lumia.”
My stomach knotted as she spoke. My heart thudded in my ears as concern and gilt gripped me. If I’d brought my uncle back into Faerelle—if he hurt Lumia or anyone else—I couldn't stomach the thought. But how could I have known? It took everything within me to stay calm.
From somewhere deep within me, I felt a soothing wave wash over me. It calmed my nerves and gave me strength. When I glanced up at Silvia she was smiling warmly, her hand resting on my forearm.
"Don't beat yourself up Sam," she said softly, "we'll figure this out."
At first I thought it was her that calmed me, but the feeling lasted even after she took her hand away. It continued to build and envelop me like a warm blanket, until I felt like I could move mountains.
“Lumia,” I whispered, “thank you.”
I wasn’t sure if she could hear my words, but I hoped at least my feelings reached her.
Silvia was thumbing the pages of a book when I returned my focus to her. It was different from the one she’d been reading in the library and I was certain it hadn’t been on the desk or anywhere near her before, instead it seems this one had been conjured up from nothing.
“What’s that?” I asked absent-mindedly.
Just a conceptual study guide. It’ll help you refamiliarize with basic concepts, but first, did you get the ring I selected for you?”
Showing her the silver ring on my finger, I asked, “Is this it?”
Silvia shook her head. “The one I’m referring to is more ornate. It’s a dimensional storage ring.”
“Then no, not yet, I guess.”
Showing me hers, she demonstrated how it worked by storing and withdrawing several items at random. It seemed fairly simple and I was eager to try it out for myself.
When that was done, she said, “It’s time to begin your lesson,” and turned the study guide so that I could see it’s contents. “You need to practice molding mana, but first read this. It might help you grasp the concept a bit faster.”
I began reading and immediately recognized the text. It was a beginners tome detailing the basics of mana manipulation. It explained that mana enters and leaves the core through a network of veins, similar to how a heart pumps blood through the body.
The simplest spells—bullet magic—work by channeling mana through these veins, and out from the fingertips.
This wasn’t exactly mana manipulation, but I hadn’t even used this most basic of spells since my core recovered.
Pointing out the window, I fired a mana bullet without concern for its specific element. It was a good way to gauge my natural affinity and also served to reassure me that I could use magic safely.
“A fire bullet,” Silvia said, “I thought you preferred wind.”
I shrugged. “I guess my affinity changed.”
“I haven’t heard of that happening before, but I suppose it is possible. There are a lot of unique things about your situation.”
I nodded and continued skimming the page.
Creating different spell forms requires a mage to also manipulate the shape and type of mana. Mana manipulation wasn’t exactly straightforward though as it was more about maintaining a specific mental image rather than actually molding the mana into the form you wanted.
I was familiar with this concept as well, the more I read, the more I recalled about magic and how it worked. The book outlined another easy spell that could be cast with any basic element.
Pulling mana from my core, I drew a line in the air, forming the mana into a blade as I pushed out from my fingers. Like the air bullet, it shot forward, cutting a straight path through the air. Again, I didn’t worry about the type of mana. I excepted a flame blade since the bullet had come out with fire mana; instead it was a water blade.
“Congratulations, looks like you got it down.” Silvia clapped her hands together, a smile spreading across her lips.
After testing my ability with other elements, I tried using a more advanced type of magic, object creation. At first I struggled, but on the fourth attempt I managed to create a spear-like object made entirely of ice.
“Impressive, Sam. Ice magic is considered an intermediate level. It usually takes a fair amount of skill to master, but you seem to be picking it up easily.”
A sense of pride at my accomplishment bubbled up inside of me. Even though I barely knew anything about magic, having learned new skills already filled me with confidence.
“I thought it would be more difficult, but it feels like I learned all of this already.”
Silvia furrowed her eyebrows and nibbled the corner of her lip.
“Is something wrong,” I asked.
She sighed. “You’ve studied magic before, but you weren’t able to use fire magic when you were younger, and you hadn’t learned creation magic either; you definitely hadn’t reached element variants, like ice, yet. I’m just worried that maybe this has something to do with—no…nevermind.”
‘No, please tell me, whatever it is, I can handle it. Is it what you said before, about dark magic in my core? Or something to do with my uncle?”
Silva shook her head. “It’s nothing. Forget what I said.”
“That‘s not very convincing.” I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair. “You’re acting like the queen…like mom—” making direct eye contact, I finished sharply. “—but she’s better at hiding it when she lies.”
“That’s not fair!” Silvia said in protest. “Neither of us is deliberately trying to deceive you, we just…We want to protect you—keep you safe.”
“Then why are you keeping me in the dark?”
With a sigh, her shoulders dropped. “It’s nothing important, I promise.” Perking back up she said, “Instead of worrying about the speed of your progress you should be proud.” Silvia pointed at my chest. “First of all, your mana core is already at the fourth stage. There are many mages that take an entire lifetime just to reach that kind of core strength. Among elves, it’s more common, but only dedicated mages make it that far. I’m at the fifth stage currently, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you reach the sixth before me.”
“Is it really that rare? How long did it take you?”
She glared at me, reminding me that it was rude to ask questions that might reveal a ladies age.
Changing directions, I asked, “What about Vorlin?”
Silvia chuckled. “He’s a magic swordsman. He focuses more on swordsmanship, so the comparison isn’t really fair, but as far as I know, he’s at the third level. That doesn’t mean he’s weak though, his skill set is just different.”
I nodded in understanding. “You said ‘first’ before, so what else is there?”
“Well, if you need me to spell it out…” she paused and made eye contact as if to ask if I wanted her to go on. I nodded so she continued, “…you’re a quadra-elemental that learned the basics of object creation experimentally, and in just a few hours. To top it all off, you’re bonded with a dragon. Most mages your age, even the talented ones, haven’t even started working on object creation yet.”
“When you say it like that, I guess I do sound pretty amazing.”
“Don’t get cocky, Sammy. you’re still behind in other ways. Body enhancement being one of the more important ones.”
“Right, speaking of which, I should probably be getting to the training field.”
Silvia shook her head. “Not today—” with a nod, she drew my attention toward the door. Lumia was leaning against the frame, her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl etched on her face. “—looks like you’ve got something more important to take care of.”
Earlier I’d been too panicked to notice, but the sight of Lumia made my heart beat stop. Her silky black hair fell in bouncy waves around her four onyx horns and down to her shoulders. Her eyes, both piercing and gentle, glimmered like red rubies and were complimented by her plump pink lips. Her skin was pale—delicate—and she wore a white dress that seemed tailored to fit her curves perfectly.
Her breasts were rounder now too, causing me to realize she wasn’t the same Lumia from my dream. She had aged, as I had and was no longer the young girl I remembered. However, she still exuded the same aura of beauty that captivated me six years ago.
Shifting her weight and looking me in the eyes, she asked. “Is staring like that some kind of earth custom? Because if so, I don’t like it.”
“No, sorry. I didn’t mean to stare, I was just…you’re beautiful.”
She smiled sweetly. "Come on, let’s go."
Lumia turned and walked away leaving me stunned.