Amadeo takes a moment to breathe deep, sitting in the foyer of Yuri's tower. "I missed this place." He mumbles to himself.

"Is that so?" Yuri turns a page in his book, settling on a spell and sitting back. "I remember you had so much trouble when you first came here. You barely slept, you hardly ate. You poured every effort into studying, but you could barely concentrate on actually maintaining focus when weaving."

"Yeah. That first few months was hard. But you whipped me into shape."

"You did that to yourself. All I did was encourage you." Yuri smiles softly. "Yours was my favorite class. I only hope the others are out there working on their studies just as hard."

"It's become less about my studies lately. I'm enjoying getting to use my skills in helpful ways."

Yuri smiles, looking down at his book for a moment before turning to Amadeo across from him. "I'm glad you're taking my lessons seriously. I remember the one time you-"

"Oh Master, do we have to go over that again?"

"Go over what?" A copper haired wood elf woman leans down over Amadeo's shoulder curiously, having entered through another door. Her arms wrap around him in a tight hug and he shakes his head.

"The one time Master Yuri ever got terribly angry with me."

"Cassandra, you'll want to hear this one for sure. This nimrod decided he wanted to try casting a spell to blind or deafen a person. He thought he was ready for more powerful spells...Tell her what happened, Amadeo."

The wizard lays a hand to his face with a sigh. "The spell backfired. I was blind for two days, and Master Yuri didn't stop berating me from the moment I woke up till the moment I went to sleep that whole time."

"That's your own fault, stupid." Cassandra laughs. "Bet you gave it to him good, right Master?"

"I may have gone overboard, to be fair. I think by the third time I made a crack about 'See what I'm talking about- oh wait', he probably got it."

"Bah. I got it after I blinded myself, but I wasn't about to shout you down." Amadeo chuckles, leaning back in his chair. "I was just glad he didn't throw me out. That was the one rule he made abundantly clear, and I broke it within a few months cause I thought I wasn't learning fast enough. Turns out that for wizards, ours is a slow and arduous process."

"Yeah, so I've learned." Cassandra sighs. "Just learning basic spells is slow going. But at least I'm Master's only student, so I get all of his time...except for today, apparently."

"Sorry, Cassie. The spell I'm learning is important to a deal I've brokered with Nelos Ondra."

Cassandra snorts. "That greedy snake. I've told my father to do something about him, but as long as he's not technically breaking the law and there's no proof, his hands are tied."

"Well, I found something the snake is keenly interested in, more than money." Amadeo takes Yuri's spellbook, studying the page carefully, scrutinizing every detail. He picks up his quill, dips it in ink, and begins to write.

Across from him, the door to the front opens. Hope strides in like a woman on a mission. "Yuri, is Amadeo-...here?" Seeing Cassandra, arms still draped around Amadeo's neck and shoulders, the devilkin locks eyes with the wizard. For a long moment, she stands in place, suddenly unable to speak or move. Her teeth clench, her skin heats up. "No one's ever ready", the words of the dwarven woman echo in her head.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"Hope, are you alright? I know it's your natural tone, but somehow, you look a little flushed." Amadeo tilts his head, and Hope's breath catches in her throat before she nods slowly. "Yeah. Just, uh...making sure you weren't off galavanting while we've got work to do."

"You know me better than that. Sorry to say, but this spell's gonna take me a few hours to copy down." He raises an eyebrow at her.

Yuri gestures to the couch. "You're welcome to stay. I've got cookies."

"Master of the sweet tooth, everybody." Cassandra snickers at her own joke, standing upright. "Who's your friend, Deo?"

"Deo?" Hope thinks, trying not to contort her face with simultaneous confusion and disgust as she steps up to them. "Hope of Loheim."

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Cassandra Sharda." The wood elf holds a hand out, which Hope takes, resisting the urge to squeeze the poor girl's hand.

"So you must be one of the group who came to town with Deo. Thank you for escorting him home. Maybe now he can stop this ghost and not have to leave again."

Hope remains stone faced. "Well, if he still wants to travel-"

"-Well sure, but I'd really like having my best friend back." Cassie interrupts. "It was so boring without him. And we can study together!"

Amadeo waves a hand dismissively. "You're better off studying alone under Master Yuri. Besides, when my work here is done and everyone's safe, I plan on continuing as an adventurer."

"Oh? That's surprising. I thought it was only temporary until you got strong enough to stop her." Cassie grabs her book from the table and stretches.

"It was. But I've since found a certain kind of joy in my life that comes from going into the world and using the skills I've learned. Besides, we made a promise." Amadeo's eyes lock with Hope's, and the stone mask breaks as she smiles softly.

"Yeah, we did..." She mumbles, hands instinctively reaching for her tail.

Cassie looks between the two of them, raising an eyebrow. "Oh really? That promise didn't involve a little...you know?" Her pinky extends and she crooks it a few times.

Yuri, midway through sipping his tea, snorts and begins to cough, the steaming liquid flooding out of his nostrils temporarily as he chokes and laughs in equal measure.

"Master, please don't die on us. There's too much I need to learn and I can't learn it from Mister 'I wanna travel the world' over here." Cassie moves to Yuri's side and rubs his back gently.

"No, no, I'm quite alright. Just caught me by surprise is all." Yuri coughs a bit and sighs as he finally catches his breath.

Hope and Amadeo look at each other, puzzled, before shrugging. She sits down, pouring herself a cup of tea and grabbing a cookie. "So how long do you think you have left on that?"

"It's a low ranked spell of a school I chose not to specialize in, and I've been at this for only a few minutes, so...Six hours, tops."

"That's a long time. Any way to shorten that? If there isn't, that's ok, but-"

"Well, hold on a sec and let me see." He reexamines the spell, making mental notes. Hope can practically see the mental gymnastics he performs in his head before he nods after about two minutes. "If I cut a few corners here and there-"

"You think that's wise?" Yuri utters, folding his arms, but Amadeo merely nods.

"Alot of this is just filler, the writer's personal touch. If you keep the basic mechanics of the spell, the required symbols and words and instructions, you can cut the time to copy it down by half at best."

"Wow! That's pretty cool!" Cassie looks awestruck. "Maybe he's a better teacher than you, Master."

"Not at all. It was Master Yuri who taught me to examine details and reconsider everything until I knew the best course of action."

"Guess and second guess. Always study your environment, because the most obvious solution is not always the easiest or the best." Yuri smiles and bows his head, reciting a teaching Amadeo has heard many times. "It seems that today, I am the student and you are the master."

Amadeo turns a little red and looks away. Hope smiles a bit. "You earned that one." Sipping her tea, she sits back. "So what's the plan once we contact these kids?"

"I let Ondra know. Then I see what he's got in the works that may or may not be related to our ghost troubles."

"You think he has a plan to stop her?"

"Or weaken her. Maybe a ritual, maybe something related to her life. I can't be certain until I speak to him again. Let's only hope he doesn't decide to go back on his word."

"Gods help him if he does. Tyrion's got an itchy trigger finger."