Darren saw them again, the two men, holding him down, tying his hands. He understood this time that he was seeing it through Silvia’s eyes. But knowing it was a dream didn’t make it any less terrifying, and meant it could change. The men’s faces seemed warped, larger, bigger features, and closer. He watched as one of their hands closed around his throat, squeezing tighter and tighter. Fear rising until he couldn’t take it.

“Stop!” he yelled and the vision changed entirely. His voice pushed everything out, until it was just empty black space around him. He looked down at his hands and saw they were his own. He turned around and saw Silvia standing there with cuts on her arms, like the ones he had received from the kidnapper. She looked up at him, covered in blood. Yet, she looked relieved.

“Thank you.” she said.

He opened his mouth to speak, but something felt wrong.

“Defend yourself!” Leon’s voice shouted.

Darren’s eyes shot open as Leon leapt at him from his own bed across the room. Darren flew out of his cot and onto the ground, just as Leon landed on it. The cot toppled over, some of the supports splintering as Leon fell to the floor and rolled to his feet.

He let out a laugh, clutching his stomach “Oh you should’ve seen your eyes. Wide as serving platters.” He doubled over cackling.

“Christ dude, you broke my bed.” Darren sighed and sat up. Getting used to this guy would take some time.

“It’s alright, they’ll have your room made up and fully prepared by this evening. Come now, it’s time for your training to begin.” Leon reached out a hand and helped him to his feet.

Leon gave him some clothes to wear for training. A thin blue canvas shirt and leather pants, they seemed to be tailored to Darren’s dimensions. He changed quickly and fell in behind his teacher.

“They will have made you a whole wardrobe by tomorrow, but these are a good start.” Leon told him, as they walked out of his rooms.

“I saw more of her dreams. You said her name was Silvia right? I don’t think she’s doin’ well. She was reliving it, but it was worse than the first time.” Darren said. He felt a small nagging feeling in the back of his mind. He concentrated on it and felt a pull in the opposite direction they were going.

“It’s a tough thing she lived through, especially without ever having been exposed to real violence. Avarith will be checking on her, but it will take her some time. Just focus on yourself for now. After the morning training we will catch up with them both and you two can meet properly.”

They walked to what looked like a metal box at the end of a hallway. They stepped inside and Leon pressed one of a few vertical symbols on the wall, then another out of a set of horizontal symbols that appeared next to the first one. The lift began to move downwards. It felt like it stopped, then Darren felt it shift and begin moving sideways. It carried them smoothly and silently before opening in another part of the castle.

“First floor, courtyard.” Leon said as he stepped out.

Darren followed him through a large walled courtyard with several planters and trees along the border. Vines climbed the inside of the walls, intermingled greens and blues overlaid over the grey stone beneath. Leon led him to the center, which had a sand filled circle with a wooden fence around it. Next to the fence was a small well maintained shack, painted purple and silver. Leon went inside and came out with two swords.

“Don’t worry, we shall start off with blunt ones. For now.” Leon gave him a wink.

It was hard and brutal, but Leon was a good teacher. For every bruise he gave, a lesson and improvement came with. Darren landed face down in the sand more times than he could count. But after an hour or two it happened less often at least.

“You aren’t completely inept, that will save us some time.” Leon laughed.

“I did actually do a little sword training back in my world. We didn’t use swords for war anymore but some people still enjoyed the practice.” Darren said, climbing to his feet and shaking sand off of himself.

“It shows, it takes me a few moments to kill you.” Leon said as he moved into a guard and slowly advanced.

Darren decided he’d had enough of swords, and insults with injury. As Leon swung Darren held his blade high, he blocked the blow and ducked under it. He dropped his sword and caught Leon in a perfect double leg and lifted him up, he turned his opponent mid air and dropped him hard on his shoulder and head. He pinned Leon to the ground and wrapped both arms around his swordhand in a lock. Darren rotated his arms to the point where anymore would break Leon’s shoulder.

“I might not know swords, but I don’t know nothing.” Darren smirked as he let go and helped Leon to his feet.

Leon let out a laugh, “That was brilliant. Stupid, but brilliant. I cannot believe you just dropped your weapon, but I won’t say it didn’t work.” he clapped his hands together loudly.

They were both drenched in sweat but only Darren was breathing heavily. The sun was high and the day was warm. A light breeze rolled through the courtyard, the fresh air felt good on his face.

“Avarith saw that.” Leon said “He’s watching with Silvia from the windows.”

“Told you in your head?” Darren asked.

Leon nodded and tapped his temple “Give it a try.”

Darren closed his eyes and concentrated on the strange pulling feeling he had noticed earlier. He noticed it behind him at a steep upward angle. He turned and looked directly at Avarith and Silvia at a window talking, watching them.

“I felt it, I feel the direction she’s in.” he said in disbelief. Even after experiencing the shared dreams and visions, using it consciously was different.

Silvia locked eyes with him for a moment, and he felt the buzz of energy coming on. He could see books, symbols, hear bits of Avarith’s voice explaining something but couldn’t make out the words. He got a slightly foggy view of himself and Leon from the window. The buzzing was still climbing and started to make his mind feel fuzzy, like static was playing in his brain. Then his eyes began to see the static. He saw Silvia through the window take a step back as Avarith steadied her. She broke their gaze and he felt lightheaded, like he stood up too fast, but his vision began clearing. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

“It’s quite a lot at first.” Leon put a hand on his shoulder “Try not to lean into it too quickly or too often for now. I have seen mages and guardians go unconscious from it when they aren’t accustomed.”

“It’s amazing. I saw us from up there.” Darren said, still shaking off the feeling.

“Good progress. Now concentrate through the distraction.” Leon bent down and picked up Darren’s training sword, he flipped it in the air and caught the tip of the blade and held the handle out “We go again.”

They kept training through the day, servants brought them a meal which they ate standing before going at it again. Over and over they drilled, Leon showed Darren new concepts with the sword and Darren did his best to memorize them. They felt natural and flowed through his body, he felt faster and stronger, better in every way. And he realized he was smiling the entire time. Every exhilarating moment.

****

Silvia had seen the men attacking her again, but heard a voice yell “Stop.” As it did everything melted away, she saw her guardian standing before her. With the fear and adrenaline she felt all she could manage was “Thank you.” before he disappeared in a shimmer. She felt more adrenaline from him which woke her up out of her dream, just as a knock sounded on her door.

“Silvia, get up, it’s time to begin.” Avarith’s voice carried through the door.

She flew out of bed and immediately threw on some clothes. She brushed her teeth and splashed water on her face, everything else could wait until later.

She walked into her sitting room and tried to clear the dream from her mind. She could swear she still felt their hands on her as she reached for the door. She stopped and closed her eyes, trying to push it down, down to where she wouldn’t have to face it. Her skin crawled and she felt her cheeks grow hot as her jaw tensed, tears tried to well in her eyes. She took a deep breath and refused to let them come. She shook her head and tried to think about magic. She reached out, grabbed the handle and pulled the door open to see Avarith leaning against the wall, sifting through the dark purple index floating out of his arm.

“Alright, let’s take a seat.” he said walking past her, pulling a small wagon full of books.

“Take a seat? Aren’t we going to go outside and start casting?” she asked.

“No ma’am.” he said as he lifted a particularly large tome and dropped it with a heavy -thud- on her desk. “Just as in infancy, we crawl before we walk, cousin.”

They combed over books and notes she had already read before, but with the added benefit of being able to study the symbols in her own index alongside them. Avarith taught her of different applications of spells, of how to find them quickly, and how to hold her concentration to make them have a stronger effect.

Avarith told her of the differences between focused magic and unfocused power. She could choose a symbol from the Index to use as a concentrated force, but she could also use pure magic in its shapeless form to do many things. Such as feel out a spell or barrier, sense magic and magical items around her, and to dispel another mage's magic. By sending the pure unformed magic at it her unfocused power could consume and break apart another spell, weakening it by the amount of power she put in or dissolving it altogether.

After a few hours Avarith decided she was ready to try something easy.

“Pull up your Light spell, a safe one we can practice indoors.” he said, leaning back in his chair.

She pulled the index out of her arm and scrolled through until she found it, she grabbed the symbol out of the air and squeezed it tightly in her fist. The symbol became visible on the back of her hand as well as her palm.

“Now you can either emanate the light, or launch it to stick to a location. If you hold it and concentrate you can create a light bright enough to temporarily blind others.” Avarith explained “Try throwing it up into that corner.” He pointed to a dark corner past her bed.

Silvia squeezed the hand again and in one smooth motion opened her fist as she pointed her palm towards the target. A glowing misshapen orb of light slowly launched from her hand and floated towards the corner. Very slowly. It lost its speed rapidly and came to a halt in the air a few feet from her, before fizzling out entirely in a small tuft of smoke. Silvia furrowed her brow.

“That’s alright, Sil. That’s why we use light first instead of, say, fire. Your mind controls the magic, your movements just help your mind see it happen.” Avarith patted her arm gently. “Again.”

She tried over and over. Getting different results, some fizzled out quickly, some floated the wrong ways, one flew straight into the corner but splashed into a bright dazzle of purple-white light forcing them to take a break while their eyes recovered. She felt herself getting frustrated, but Avarith kept her calm. Always reassuring and talking her through the process many times.

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Finally she was able to get one to float, a bit slowly, but in the right direction. The ball of light touched the ceiling and lightly bounced off before attaching to it with some wispy strands. It sat there and glowed, bathing them in light and illuminating the entire room. It lit up the paintings on her wall and the books on her shelves. The various knick knacks Avarith and Leon had brought her from their trips all over the country had small shadows dancing around them. It was magnificent.

“Excellent, Silvia. Just excellent.” Avarith gripped her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“I actually did it.” she said in disbelief. She still couldn’t get over how much had changed in just one day. Everything was upside down. Or maybe everything had been upside down and now the world had finally righted itself. “Can we do fire next?” she asked, staring at the ball as it began to dim and fizzled out in a smoky puff.

Avarith let out a laugh “Not quite, let us take a break and give you a moment's rest. You might not feel it yet, but magic takes a very physical toll on you, and this is only your first lesson. It seems Leon is giving your guardian quite the introduction to swordplay. Let’s watch and see how he does, hmm?”

They stood and walked to a window in her room that faced the courtyard. They watched as the two men in the circle of sand fought time and again. Suddenly Darren lifted Leon and slammed him into the ground. Silvia’s eyes widened. She couldn’t think of a time she had seen anyone handle Leon like that, besides Erol.

“Oh, that’s good, take some of the steam out of that cocky rapscallion.” Avarith said “Good to see after Leon has been battering the poor boy all morning.”

Silvia could feel a prodding in the back of her mind, like something was tugging at her. The men in the courtyard looked up and she met Darren’s eyes. She hadn’t been able to tell him how much she appreciated him interrupting her nightmare. But she could feel him now, as if he was much closer, as if he was right in front of her. She could hear the familiar sound of steel clanging together, and feel sweat dripping down her forehead. As if she was training with Leon right now. She felt the heat of the sun and the exhaustion, and exhilaration, of combat. Her eyes began to roll back and she fell back a step. Avarith caught her and gave her a small shake.

“Careful, you’ve already used a bit of energy casting the light, and linking to him will take quite a lot until you get used to it. Practice in small bursts after you’ve taken some rest.” he told her. “For now we should get back to studying more symbols and applications.” Avarith sat back down at the table and opened a book, placing it in front of her chair.

Silvia tried to clear her mind and sat back down across from him. They studied until her eyes felt as though they were going to fall out of her head. She developed a headache and started losing the ability to focus, but she didn’t want to stop. After all this was all she ever wanted and she was determined to make up for lost time. They continued on until the sun had started to set.

“That’s all for now.” Avarith said as he closed the book she had her nose buried in.

“But I can keep going.” Silvia protested.

“I’m sure you can but I cannot. I’ve had enough of books for today. Besides you will need to be ready to do this all again tomorrow.” he stacked the books back on the wagon and wheeled it into a corner. “Make sure you get rest tonight and don’t stay up reading these. I expect you to be ready in the morning, not groggy from lack of sleep. Now come, it’s time for dinner and to meet your guardian properly. Now that you’ve both used so much energy, it should be easier to see him without linking accidentally.”

They stood and left her suite, heading for the private family dining room hidden away on the floor they all resided on. Avarith walked in and found Leon sitting at the head of the table with Darren sitting next to him at the corner, laughing and eating, drenched in sweat. Going over the sword plays they had practiced, as Leon told stories of times he used them in actual combat.

“Don’t listen to him Darren, half those stories aren’t even true.” Avarith said as he walked into the room.

Darren laughed before realizing Silvia was walking in behind him. He coughed on his food but managed to get it down as he stood. Not sure how to react, he looked to Avarith.

“This is lady Silvia Dominique D’Chevalier. She is your mage, you two had to be exhausted to meet or you wouldn’t have been able to be in the same room just yet. We noticed your bond was about to topple you when we first had you together.” Avarith said.

“This, Silvia, is Darren Kelly. The hardened warrior who will risk his life to protect you. And, having seen him fight, will most assuredly lose his life protecting you.” Leon said with a smile as he ripped a piece of bread from a loaf and tossed it in his mouth.

Darren kicked him under the table before turning to Silvia “It’s an honor, I guess, uh to meet you.” he fumbled over his words.

“Likewise.” she said just staring at him. The buzzing didn’t come in too hard, she felt it but it seemed like background noise compared to how it was earlier.

“Gods, you two have some work to do.” Leon laughed. “Both of you take a seat and get some food in you. Maybe then you won’t be so awkward.”

Avarith squeezed Silvia’s shoulders before walking past her and sitting next to Leon. He took two plates and filled them with food, placing one in front of the seat next to him.

Silvia walked over and sat down, her and Darren still staring at each other.

“It’s nice to see you and not almost pass out.” Darren said

“It is.” she said again, before silence overtook the room.

Leon and Avarith looked at each other with raised eyebrows, before bursting out laughing again.

“Shut up you two!” Silvia said as she punched Avarith in the arm. “This is a big day for me. I thought I’d never have a guardian. It’s a bit to take in.”

Darren felt her embarrassment and awkwardness ease slightly, and felt his own melt away a bit. He didn’t know what to say and could feel that she didn’t either. At least they had that in common.

Not knowing how to address her Darren just turned to Avarith with a question he had been wondering about “So Leon said your dad is Archard Chevalier, so why is she D’Chevalier?” he asked.

“For the same reason I’m Avarith D’Chevalier. The master of a family, the patriarch or matriarch voted in by members of the family, is the only one with the true family name. The rest of us are below that person and have the prefix, it means ‘of’.” he replied.

“Voted in, so is that just you two and your brothers?” Darren proceeded.

“No, there are quite a few of us. We have cousins and uncles and aunts all over the province. They work in different positions within the Magestry as well as the governing bodies, and artisan guilds. As mages we do our best to help the people around us that have no powers. We serve the ruling class and help them look after the citizens. This could be helping construct new buildings, deal with fallout from a natural disaster, or deal with dangers of any sort that threaten the public.” Avarith explained.

“What’s the Magestry then?”

“It’s the coalition of the nine families. We have representatives that communicate between houses and help us coordinate our efforts. One family lives in each of the nine provinces where we help oversee operations for the governors and the king of Gardelia. Which, before you ask, is the country you find yourself in.” Avarith went on.

“So who’s the king?” Darren asked.

“Leon’s father.” Silvia interjected.

Darren’s eyes went wide as he looked at her, then to Leon, who was still stuffing his face.

“I spent all day getting my ass handed to me by a prince?” Darren asked in shock.

Leon laughed and nodded his head “Yes sir, yes you did. And expect more of the same tomorrow.”

Darren’s mind went to his own dad. The small argument they had over school was the last time they spoke, might be the last time they ever could speak. He felt guilt and a flame of desperation.

“Is there any way for me to speak to my family?” Darren asked flatly, not looking at anyone in particular.

They stopped eating, and stopped smiling. Leon just patted him on the arm.

Avarith spoke reassuringly. “We do not know Darren. We do have people looking into it already. There are no records of such a spell being cast before though. We have no symbol for it and are not sure how Silvia managed it, or if she ever could again. I promise you though, we will do our best to find that out.”

Silvia felt the hollow feeling in Darren’s chest as he took in the answer.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have any memory of it even happening.” she said looking down at the table.

“Don’t be sorry, Sil.” Leon said “Doing that saved your life, and I’m sure Darren does not blame you in the slightest.” he looked at Darren from under his brow.

“No I don’t, I just wish I could tell them I’m okay.” Darren said hastily.

Silvia could feel that there was a hint of a lie in it though. That he did hold, not resentment or blame, but assigned some responsibility with him being there to her.

“I think I’ll go to bed.” she said suddenly, standing to leave.

Darren opened his mouth to speak, but Avarith looked at him and shook his head slightly.

“If that is what you wish, I will come by again in the morning and we will continue your training.” Avarith stood and walked with her to the door.

She stopped and turned back to Darren and Leon “Good night.” she said and gave a small wave.

“Good night.” Darren said awkwardly, Leon just nodded to her with a smile.

She stepped out the door and headed back to her room, feeling strange. Sorry for Darren but excited by her day and of things to come. She had so many emotions lately she could hardly keep track. She worried about going to sleep though, every time she closed her eyes it seemed she was taken back to the moment this started. With those men.

“Good job, fool.” Leon smacked Darren on the arm lightly after she had gone.

“Hey, I wasn’t trying to make it weird, I just thought about my family. I’ve been here like two days and I spent one of those in a cell, give me a fuckin’ break, man.” Darren replied.

Avarith walked back and sat down “Really, it’s alright Darren. You’ve both been through a lot and it will take you both time to adjust. Just try not to let it get in your mind and don’t treat her delicately or act strange. Just be yourself and you two will get along in no time, I’m sure.” he said as he pushed his plate back.

“If you say so, dude.” Darren shook his head.

“You said that word this morning. What does it mean?” Leon asked as he rose from the table and walked over to a small box set against one wall.

“Oh ‘dude’? It’s like man, or guy, a thing guys call each other in my world.” Darren explained.

“Want an ale, ‘dude’?” Leon asked, emphasizing the new word as he opened the box and reached inside. It had runes all around the interior and cold air blasted out as he opened it and pulled out three glass bottles with corks in the top.

“Oh, fuck yes.” Darren said sitting up in his seat “Y’all got refrigerators too?”

“You curse quite a bit.” Avarith noted “That will take some getting used to, try to watch your language if you’re ever meeting anyone of import.”

“Yeah, sorry, just a habit me and my friends always had.” Darren said as he took a bottle from Leon. With some effort he pulled the cork from the top and took a swig. It was sweet, and tasted of honey. He had never been much of a drinker, but with nothing to smoke this would have to do.

They sat up late, drinking and talking. Avarith and Leon wanted to know more about Darren’s world, and were enamored by the idea of satellites and that people had traveled off of the planet. They got so caught up in conversation that they didn’t realize how late it had gotten.

“I think Silvia fell asleep.” Darren said, noticing a change in the pulling feeling in his mind.

“We should all do the same. You’ll be sore tomorrow from the thrashing Leon gave you.” Avarith smiled. “Come, I’ll show you to your room.”

Darren followed him from the small dining room in the direction the feeling in his mind told him Silvia was in. Avarith stopped at a door and pointed to the next one down.

“That is your training room, it will be unlocked for you at all times. The door beyond leads to Silvia’s chambers. You both have a door that leads directly into the training room between. If you keep accidentally linking together and cannot sleep, you can stay in Leon’s room again, it’s a bit farther away.” Avarith explained.

“He broke the bed in there.” Darren said

Avarith sighed and closed his eyes for a moment “Of course he did, but there is always another one. If you need anything else, just come knock on Leon’s door, or mine.” Avarith opened the door to Darren’s room and patted him on the back before turning to leave.

Darren watched him go before stepping into the space. He reached for a light switch and felt a small square plate, as he touched it the room lit up brightly from an overhead symbol. He covered his eyes and slid his hand downward on the wall plate as they had shown him, dimming the lights to a lower level.

“Holy shit.” Darren exclaimed to himself. He thought he would have a room, but this was as nice as Leon’s suite. A full sitting area with a fireplace and shelves of books. A desk against one wall with a window that would look onto the courtyard. To the left a bathroom and a door that led to the training space, to the right a small doorway leading into his bedroom. There a large soft bed was set against one wall, opposite another window with a table and some chairs under it. More books and a few paintings of nature scenes, as well as one of what appeared to be a royal procession. He took it all in and marveled at how nice it was. The thick rugs on the stone floor felt soft under his feet as he took off his shoes and leaned back on the bed. He saw his bag and phone sitting on the table by the window.

“I’ll mess with all that in the morning.” he yawned as he rolled onto his side. His body was sore, but he had been used to this aching from the gym. He was exhausted, full of food, and just a little bit tipsy. In his mind he could barely feel Silvia maybe a hundred feet away. He tried to focus on the feeling but almost instantly fell asleep.