Trey stirred awake to the sensation of Nora wiggling her firm ass playfully against his crotch.

"I’ve got to say, I love the way you wake me up, Nora," he said with a smirk.

There was no answer – only more wiggling.

“Nora?”

Silence lingered.

Curious, Trey propped himself up for a better view of the blonde. “Are you still asleep?”

Her eyelids fluttered, and she let out a soft moan in response.

“Nora?”

Her blue eyes finally appeared as she glanced up at Trey. She blinked a few times, then registered her position. For the first time since they’d met, a rosy blush crept across her cheeks. She quickly shifted her weight, rolling over to a more appropriate position.

“Wait,” he said. “Are you embarrassed?”

“Hush,” the blonde replied. “Throwing myself at you when I’m awake is one thing, but doing so when I’m asleep just reeks of desperation.”

“Really?” Trey questioned. “I would think the opposite. You don’t have control when you’re asleep.”

“Exactly,” Nora confirmed, adding to Trey’s confusion. “That means I’m subconsciously yearning for your touch. At least when I’m awake, I can always claim that I was just joking.”

Trey kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll keep your secret.”

“What secret is that?” she asked playfully.

“That you can’t live without me.”

She snorted.

“Nora,” Trey said, “I know we talked about this a little before, but there’s still no expectation of us being exclusive, is there?”

“I’m glad you asked,” Nora replied. “I’ve changed my mind. I want you all to myself.”

Trey grunted. “That normally wouldn’t be an issue, but there might be a problem.”

“Already?” Nora said, hiding a smirk. “You certainly work fast. Who is she?”

“There’s no one specific,” Trey responded, “but due to the nature of my other secrets, I may need to ‘pursue’ other girls.”

“Uh-huh,” Nora deadpanned. “And why might you need to ‘pursue’ other girls? Give me an example.”

“Well, I… might need to take someone on a date to convince them that I am not a mage.”

Nora laughed. “Did someone already figure you out?”

“Of course not,” Trey defended himself. “They just might be more suspicious than I would like.”

“Who is she?” the blonde repeated the question.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Tell me,” she demanded.

Trey pursed his lips. “Eva.”

“Who?”

“The ice queen.”

Nora’s eyebrows shot up. “No! Really?! You’re going on a date with the ice queen? Is that why she was chasing you? Braun is going to flip! She’s approved.”

“You’re approving my dates now?” Trey asked incredulously.

“Yup!” she confirmed. Then she tapped her finger on her chin. “Actually, I’ve changed my mind again. You can see other girls, but I want a threesome with Ms. Moody Mage.”

“Dana?!” Trey exclaimed. “You have a lot of confidence in my flirting abilities.”

Nora placed a hand on his shoulder. “I have faith in you. You’ll bring her freaky ass right into our bed.”

Trey tilted his head as he examined the blonde girl. Her whimsical spirit never failed to astonish him. “Nora, you truly are one of a kind.”

“Apparently not,” she retorted. “You’re already looking for other women. Oh! Another condition. Whenever you give a girl chocolate, I will require a twenty percent tax.”

“Twenty percent?” Trey questioned, rubbing his chin.

“Are you seriously negotiating right now?” Nora asked in disbelief.

“Twenty percent it is,” he confirmed quickly.

“Good,” she replied. “One last thing.” Suddenly, her expression became serious, with her blue eyes transfixed on him. “If I’m going to start developing feelings for you, you can’t keep secrets from me. That’s non-negotiable. You need to tell me what’s happening.”

Trey sighed. “I understand, Nora. I’ll try my best to be transparent with you, and I’m sorry if that’s not enough. The reason I’m here relates to Skye, and it’s a deeply sensitive matter – so sensitive that even Skye is unaware. I want to tell her, but Marvin remains stubbornly secretive about it. Given the situation's nature, I don’t think it would be right for me to tell you before Skye, but I am willing to share when the time comes.”

Nora had a surprised look on her face as she thought over his response. “Hmm. You promise you’re telling me the truth?” she asked.

“I promise.”

“Okay,” she said simply, then rose from the bed and walked toward the door.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m locking the door,” she responded.

“Isn’t it already locked?” he questioned, confused.

She unlocked the latch and then shifted it back into the locked position.

“Yes,” she replied, “but it feels much more official now that I’ve locked it.” Then she launched herself at him.

{Author's Note: To comply with the rules of the Writathon, this scene will be censored by me, the author, until the end of the event (December 6th, 2024). At the conclusion of the Writathon, I will return to this chapter and edit the scene back in and then add the explicit content warning to the story. If you wish to witness Trey and Nora's special bonding time as roommates and lovers before then, you can visit my Patreon (patreon.com/shawarma768) and request the full scene. I will happily provide it free of charge to my readers. Thanks for your understanding, and thanks for reading!}

***

After an enjoyable first half of the day, Trey and Nora emerged from their room to get some lunch. They were scarfing down their food in the cafeteria when Skye found them.

“There you are, Trey! I’ve been trying to find you all morning.”

“Sorry, Skye,” he responded. “I was… busy.” A hint of color rushed to his cheeks.

“We need to find teammates before all the good ones get taken,” Skye continued, not bothering to dig into Trey’s excuse, which he was grateful for.

“I’m done eating,” Trey offered. “Lead the way.”

“Are you coming Nora?” Skye asked, already walking away.

Nora frowned and turned to Trey. “I might need to head back to the room.”

“What for?” Trey asked with a mischievous smile.

“I’m a little worn out,” she quietly and reluctantly admitted. “I think I need a nap.”

“Did I win the endurance competition this time around?” Trey teased.

Trey stifled a yelp as Nora's hand gripped his upper thigh, perilously close to his groin. “I look forward to our rematch,” she said, her voice quiet, her voice low but laced with a competitive edge. Without waiting for a response, she slipped away, presumably heading back to her room to rest.

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Trey caught up with Skye, and she pulled him to the dorm building where they planned on meeting with a few prospective teammates. It was the first time Trey had been in the housing area for the magic users. He noted with some bitterness that the accommodations were a bit nicer. There were no communal bathrooms, the rooms had sofas, and the mattresses appeared to be thicker and fluffier.

For the most part, Trey let Skye do the talking. They were successful in recruiting an earth sorceress named Cara, but still needed to find two more magic users and an artificer before they turned in their registration.

“I’ll ask Papa about a dark mage,” Skye said, handing out an assignment to herself. “You talk with Kronar and get him on board. By the way, where is Papa?”

“He had an urgent trip he was called away on,” Trey replied. “He should be back either tonight or tomorrow morning.”

“Where could he possibly need to go?” Skye inquired, puzzled.

Trey shrugged.

“Ugh!” she exclaimed in frustration. “You never tell me anything.”

“You can ask him when he comes back,” he suggested.

The mid-afternoon sun shone down as Trey returned to Guardians Keep. Coming from the dorms, he approached the ancient fort from the back. He saw an enormous stack of logs along the back wall. He meandered over and picked out a few pieces of wood, then headed up to his room. As he neared the door, it swung open, and a newly rested Nora emerged. “Hey, Trey!”

“Hey! Did you enjoy your nap?” Trey asked.

“It was delightful,” she responded with a smirk. “It really hit the spot after you spent all morning hitting a different spot.”

Trey stifled a chuckle. “Where are you headed?”

“Lizzie wants to talk about something,” Nora said with a shrug. “I’d say I’ll be back soon, but it sounds like it might be one of those girl talk sessions, so who knows how long it’ll take.”

“Do we need to talk?” Trey asked. “We had quite the conversation last night, and we kind of skipped over it this morning.”

Nora sighed. “I’m doing fine right now. I do hope we make progress soon.”

“Me too,” he replied. “I’ll at least see you at dinner.”

Nora nodded and then noticed what he was carrying in his arms. “Why do you have logs?”

“No reason,” Trey answered mysteriously with a smile.

“You and your secrets,” she scoffed playfully, then brushed past him.

Trey entered his room and dropped his haul onto the ground. Pulling out his canteen, he began wetting the wood. He decided to lock the door for good measure before starting his late afternoon activity.

***

Practicing fire magic was a much shorter endeavor than he had intended. Smoke quickly became an issue, and Trey didn’t think Nora would appreciate the new scent that was lingering in their room. He had done his best to air out the room and took a quick bath before heading to the cafeteria for dinner.

He filled his plate and then spotted Nora sitting near Lizzie. He walked over to them, eyeing the seat next to Nora.

“Speaking of the growing legend,” Lizzie said, seeing Trey approach.

“Whatever Nora told you isn’t true,” Trey said, jumping into the conversation.

“I don’t know,” Nora said. “After this morning, I was singing high praises—”

“Stop!” Trey said, trying to stop the smile from reaching his face.

“You two are so funny together,” Lizzie commented, with a hint of jealousy in her voice. “We were actually talking about last night. The boys never figured out where you’re staying. It’s become a bit of a competition. Where’s Trey’s room?”

He groaned. “Great.”

Lizzie giggled. “I have to go, but I’ll see you around. Thanks, Nora.” The brunette guardian left their table.

“Is everything okay with Lizzie?” he asked.

Nora shook her head slightly. “This Derrick guy makes Braun look like a gentleman.”

Trey frowned. “Do I need to get involved?”

“No,” she responded. “At least, not yet. Long story short, Derrick offered Lizzie a spot on his capture-the-flag team in exchange for… favors.”

Trey grimaced. “What a pile of goblin shit. Isn’t he the one that needs a guardian on his team?”

Nora shrugged. “Lizzie initially found the prospect extremely distasteful, but she thought about it more and was starting to consider the idea. She needed someone to talk things out with.”

“Is she still considering it?”

The blonde looked thoughtfully over at Trey. “I’ve already said too much.” Then a playful grin crossed her face. “And perhaps it's about time someone kept a secret from you.”

Trey resisted the urge to cheat. “Of course. I didn’t mean to pry. I just didn’t want her to be pressured into anything.”

“She’s fine for now,” Nora assured him.

Trey and Nora enjoyed the rest of their dinner, though Trey was alarmed when he spotted a crumpled slip of paper nestled in his mashed potatoes. Puzzled, he used his fork to fish it out and discreetly unfolded it.

Meet me in my office after dinner.

Trey groaned. There was no need to wonder who the note was from – Marvin’s eccentric delivery system made it obvious. He finished off his plate, deliberately taking his time with the last few bites just to spite the old man for tampering with his mashed potatoes. Bidding farewell to Nora, he made his way to the fourth floor of the Arc.

Marvin opened the door almost as soon as Trey knocked. “Took you long enough!” the dark mage exclaimed, ushering the boy inside. He motioned for him to take a seat before settling into his own chair behind the desk. As he surveyed his young companion, a bemused smile graced his face, despite his initial greeting. “I hope you managed to stay out of trouble for the couple of days I was gone,” he said, chuckling.

Trey tried his best to keep the guilty look off of his face. “Marvin, I need to tell you something—”

“Oh! I need to tell you something before I forget. There’s an elf on campus that you need to stay very far away from. She’s from the Heavenfalls Enclave, and is easily recognizable by her white hair.”

“What if there are other elves with white hair?” Trey asked, dreading where the conversation was headed.

Marvin furrowed his brow. “Stay away from all of them! I’m not kidding, Trey. She represents the greatest risk to our mission. The headmaster is training her specifically to uncover any lurking mind mages. Avoid her at all costs! Understand? Now, what did you want to tell me?”

Trey cleared his throat.

I tried to read the mind of the girl you just warned me about, and she’s threatening to tell the headmaster.

I revealed to Nora that we are working together and she might be willing to not kill you, but she is still mostly undecided.

Bree teased me with her impressive fire magic until I revealed that I’m actually a mage.

“Uh… Skye found a dumpling shop in Greshelm,” he said dumbly. “It’s really good.”

Marvin scoffed. “Don’t spend all your money. You won’t be getting a single blue from me.”

“I’m well aware,” Trey replied dryly.

“Enough about your trivial weekend,” Marvin said. “We have much to discuss.”

“Your trip was fruitful then?” Trey asked hopefully.

“There was almost nothing to report,” Marvin admitted. “I arrived in Goltenberg only to discover that Darius was away on an extended business trip. While it wasn’t ideal, it did grant me the freedom to explore his artifacts shop after hours. I combed through the entire place twice, but I found nothing of interest.”

“Did you check underneath the rug in the back corner workshop?” Trey asked.

“No,” Marvin answered. “There was a large table on it with lots of tools on it. It would have been too much of a hassle to put it back exactly how it was.” He squinted his eyes at the boy. “How did you know about the rug in the back corner workshop?”

“I was talking with Nora about her father’s business,” Trey said casually. “When I asked her if there were any secret spaces, I used mind magic to see what popped into her thoughts.”

Marvin nodded approvingly. “Well done. I’ll need to return to investigate further, but I can’t do that right away; Gordon is already growing suspicious of my activities. Anyway, back in Goltenberg, I was starting to think my efforts would come to nothing until this morning, when I noticed something intriguing. Do you know who I saw leaving the artifacts shop?”

“The Grand Oracle,” Trey said randomly.

Marvin frowned. “No! Why would the Grand Oracle be in Goltenberg?”

“I don’t know,” Trey responded defensively. “Why would you have me guess who you saw on your mission? Just tell me!”

“Aribelle Forswick.”

There was a pause. “Am I supposed to know who that is?” Trey asked.

“Yes!” Marvin shouted in frustration. “She’s the fire magic teacher that fled with Harold Greene.”

“Oh, she’s Bree’s predecessor?”

“Exactly!” Marvin exclaimed. “There’s no way that is a coincidence, and unfortunately, it gives credence to the idea that Grimstone is out there scheming from the shadows.”

“You think it is all connected?”

Marvin’s expression looked grim. “Yes, I trailed Aribelle all the way back to Greshelm before I lost track of her. Something is in the works. I know that for sure. Gordon mentioned the potential of an attack on Windrake. I thought the idea was crazy when I first heard it, but now…”

Trey contemplated the information that Marvin was sharing. "An attack on Windrake? That's quite daring. They'd need a compelling reason to risk such an operation. Marvin, what if it’s here?”

“They wouldn’t attack just for that,” Marvin said, “but you raise a fair point. There must be a target that draws them here.”

“So what’s next?” Trey asked.

“Continue to gather insights from Nora and keep attending Professor Leek’s class. I have to contemplate what to share with Gordon, if anything. If there’s a connection between Professor Greene and Grimstone, perhaps we should see if he left anything behind.” Marvin narrowed his eyes and lifted a finger for emphasis. “Above all else, stay clear of the elf.”

Trey left Marvin’s office with a storm clouding his mind. He meant to tell Marvin. He really did. He wandered down the hallway, biting his lip nervously as he gazed at the ground in front of him. I’ll just make sure to clean up my own mess.

“Hey,” a voice called to him. “Null guardian who’s definitely not a mind mage.”

Trey looked up, startled. He almost laughed at the sight in front. “Hi Eva.”

“Do you know where Professor Kalo’s office is?” the elf asked.

Trey’s jaw dropped. “Who?” he asked, trying to keep his heartbeat under control.

“Professor Kalo?” she repeated.

“Why do you need to see him?”

Eva huffed. “If you don’t know where it is, just say so!”

“Second door down,” Trey said, pointing his finger. “That one on the right.”

She smirked. “You know, the reason I’m seeing Professor Kalo might be very relevant to you.”

Trey was initially very alarmed, but then he realized the elf was trying to bait him. “Oh yeah!” he exclaimed. “I’m supposed to be able to read your mind. Hold up.”

Trey re-enacted his fake mind-reading motions, rubbing his fingers on his temples. “Ah! You want to learn dark magic so you can read my mind!”

“No!” Eva responded, exasperated. “That’s not how it works.”

“Are you telling the mind reader how mind reading works?” he teased.

“It’s mind magic,” she corrected him, “and it’s a different affinity from dark magic.”

“Whatever,” Trey said, casually brushing her comment aside. “Have fun learning mind reading.”

Eva pursed her lips. “What’s your name?”

He winked at her. “You’ll find out once you can read my mind,” he teased, and then strode confidently past her, continuing on his way. See? No need to bother Marvin.