Chapter Ten

I awoke the following morning to Morgyn sleepily stretching beside me. I smiled and laid beside him, resting my head on his chest. I trailed my fingertips up his chest, then back down, feeling the vibrations it caused. I felt his breaths get heavier, and I stopped. I wasn’t trying to start something again. We got up to start our day.

“I have plans to go to the realm today,” Morgyn said, putting on his jacket. He looked in the mirror and teased his hair a bit.

I looked at him, surprised. “But, you’re supposed to be resting for a few days to recoup from your literal death.”

He walked over to me and put his arms around my waist. “I’ll get stir crazy,” he laughed. “You could come with me and make sure I’m not overdoing it.” He winked a little.

“You just want an excuse to have me come with you,” I gave him a playful shove.

“You got me,” he held his arms out in a wide, overexaggerated shrug. “But I do think you could help train others. Take a load off of the sages.”

I grinned at him. “I would love to, but I’m sure people would rather learn from you guys.”

“You’ve become quite well known there,” Morgyn said, stroking my hair.

I smiled happily. “Well, I have nothing better to do until school starts again, so I’ll go.” I leaned in closer to him. “Have to keep my eye on you,” I joked, speaking in a seductive tone.

He laughed. “By all means,” he kissed me tenderly, linking his arms around my waist. 

I looped my arms under his, resting my hands on his back. I kissed him back deeply, pushing my body closer to his. The intense attraction seemed to get stronger in the moment, but I fought it back in order to keep our day productive.

“How do we tame that attraction without jumping into bed?” I asked.

He raised an eyebrow. “You think untamed magic can be tamed?” 

“I’m hoping it can take the edge off,” I chuckled a little. “Because we can’t even kiss without me wanting you.”

He grinned flirtatiously. “We take care of it later in the day,” he winked.

My heart fluttered, imagining another encounter like the one the night before. I could see the red shocks, I could feel his breath on my skin, his fingertips causing that intense vibrating misfire. I shivered.

“We should go,” he grinned. 

I nodded. “Yes, let’s.” I was glad to shake the memory, at least for now.

We teleported to the realm, and as we walked into the school, several people came over to greet us.

“Morgyn! Jade!” Grace came running over and hugged us both. “So glad you’re alright!” She turned to Morgyn. “I heard there was a close call.”

Morgyn nodded. “There was, maybe a bit more than a close call.” 

“But she saved you,” Grace gestured to me.

I smiled. “I did what I could in the moment.”

“Rumor has it, you’re a sage now!” She exclaimed to me.

I shook my head. “No.”

“She was,” Morgyn chimed in. “Briefly. When I died.”

Grace looked shocked. “Oh.” She seemed like she had lost all other words she could say.

Morgyn smiled. “Really, I’m fine.”

Simeon came over to us. “What are you doing here?” He smiled. 

Morgyn hugged him. “I can’t just sit around,” he laughed a little. “I’ll take it easy, but I need to be here.”

Simeon nodded and gestured to the wing he spent most of his time in. “May I speak with you two?”

We nodded, said our goodbyes to Grace and followed Simeon.

“L and I had thought about this, and we think there needs to be a sage of alchemy,” Simeon looked between the two of us. “We would love for one of you to hold that position.” He looked at Morgyn. “Should you take it, Jade will become the sage of untamed magic.”

Morgyn nodded.

“I’ll take it,” I smiled excitedly. “I already know all of the potion recipes, and I’m happy to help.”

Morgyn and Simeon exchanged excited glances, and Simeon nodded to me.

“It’s settled, then,” he smiled. 

“May I?” Morgyn asked.

“Of course,” Simeon stood back.

Morgyn pulled out his wand and spoke a spell, causing magic to surround me, just like when I had been turned into a Spellcaster. As the magic around me dissipated, I saw a faint yellow glow on Morgyn’s face. I looked up and saw I had my own rune, which lit up yellow and green.

I smiled excitedly, pulling Morgyn and Simeon into a hug. They laughed as they hugged me back. 

“Welcome,” Simeon smiled.

“Thank you,” I beamed. 

I immediately got to work. New spellcasters looking for potion recipes wouldn’t ask the other sages anymore, but would ask me instead. I had several people start asking me questions, and I happily answered all of them. From time to time, I would glance over at Morgyn, who seemed so happy and proud. I was thankful for him. If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t be a sage. And the first sage of my kind as well!

After a couple of hours, I had some free time. I stepped outside, inhaling deeply and staring at the vortex. The spellcasters had done a good job of pulling the islands back together after the battles. It looked the same as it did when I went there for the first time.

I decided to go up to the gardens to observe and have some quiet. All of the other sages had their own little areas within the school to escape to, but I didn’t. At least not yet. The gardens would be my escape. I continued gazing, taking in the scenery. It was dark, mysterious and beautiful. I sighed happily.

Morgyn crept up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. He kissed my neck softly, lovingly.

I jumped, but then giggled. “Just couldn’t resist?” I rested my hands on his.

“How could I?” He asked. “We do have that shocking attraction.” He kissed my neck again, and I felt a shock run down my body. I shivered.

He grinned playfully. “See? It doesn’t take much.” 

I giggled. “No teasing when we have a job to do.”

He folded his arms in front of him. “Well, look at you, all professional sage like over here!”

I playfully pushed him, starting to walk away. As I turned, he was gone.”

I glanced around. “Where did you go?” I asked, confused. There was silence. I put my hands on my hips. “Morgyn, where are you?”

He jumped down from the tree branch above me, attempting to scare me. We ended up falling over, right into the pond next to us.

Jumping up to the surface, I gasped. “Morgyn!” I shouted, a combination of frustration and terror in my voice.

I heard him laughing behind me. I turned to look at him, giving him an angry glare.

“That went a lot better in my head,” he giggled.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, no kidding,” I grumbled. “I’m soaked.”

He held out his arms, showing that he was too. “Water tends to do that.” He swam toward me, wrapping his arms around my waist. 

I glared at him. “What do you plan to tell Simeon? Or L?” I asked.

He grinned. “We slipped?”

I couldn’t help but giggle as he gave me a big smile, acting innocent. I splashed him.

“You act like they are the head sages here,” he said. “None of us are higher than the others. If I feel like falling into a pond with someone I…have a strong connection with, then I’ll do that.”

I caught onto that pause. “Someone you what?” I demanded, playfully.

He glared at me. I splashed him again, causing him to splash me as well. We giggled.

“We should get out,” I said.

He nodded. “Break time is over?”

I grinned. “Break time is only over because you pulled me into a body of water.

“I didn’t really expect that to happen,” he smiled at me. He stroked my hair. “But I’m not complaining.”

I crossed my arms in front of me. “you totally expected that, Morgyn.”

He giggled flirtatiously, but said nothing.

“Well, now we have another problem,” I moved my hands down my sides, gesturing toward my wet clothes.

Morgyn held up his hand and said a spell. The clothes were completely dry. “What do you mean?” He winked.

I giggled. “Nice one.”

I fixed my hair, tossing it up into a ponytail to mask the wetness. I stood before Morgyn as he straightened his jacket. I teased his hair. “They’re going to know we were up to something.”

“Nah,” he waved his hand. “It was an accident.”

“Mhmm,” I rolled my eyes. “An accident.”

We headed back to the main building, walking in casually. A few spellcasters turned to look at us, and Morgyn hid his cheeky smile.

“You’re being suspicious,” I giggled.

He grinned, then stood tall, making me giggle harder. We were like two school kids who just skipped their first class.

A couple of men I didn’t recognize came down the stairs, facing us. They weren’t regulars here, but I started to walk over to greet them. Morgyn quickly grabbed my arm.

“No,” he said. “They’re coming to us.”

I found his response odd, but I walked back to where I was, at Morgyn’s side.

“Morgyn Ember,” one of them smiled. “It’s been a long time.”

Oh, that’s why. I smiled at them, letting Morgyn speak instead of trying to greet them.

Morgyn smiled, but it didn’t seem genuine. I almost sensed fear in his eyes. “Yes, it has been quite a long time.” He held the man’s gaze. “What have you been doing all of these years? And what brings you to the magic realm?” He reached for my hand, and I took it.

“Raisin’ hell!” The man replied. “And we are in this magic realm because we heard you’ve made some changes.”

That was quick. I had only become a sage earlier that day.

Morgyn nodded. “Yes, we have made a few changes.”

The man smiled at me, warmly. “And she seems like she’s doing well.” He held his hand out. I reached mine out as well, shaking his hand. “I’m Marco,” he said.

“Jade,” I replied.

Marco glanced between Morgyn and I. “And you two are an item.”

“That’s none of your concern,” Morgyn narrowed his eyes.

“Whoa, temper, temper,” Marco smiled. “No need for hostility.”

Morgyn smiled. “I’m not getting hostile.” He shrugged. “Some things are better kept private.”

“That’s a yes,” Marco grinned. His grin was almost menacing. I was having trouble reading him and seeing his motives.

Morgyn shrugged again, still not confirming.

Not getting the answer he desired, Marco looked me up and down. “Right. We’ll be on our way, then.” He and the other man walked past us and out the door.

“Who are they?” I asked after the door closed. 

Morgyn sighed and held his hand out in front of him. It was shaking.

My eyes widened. “Morgyn,” I looked at him. “Who are they?”

“Spellcasters from another realm,” he explained. He furrowed his brow. “Not good ones.”

I sighed. “Let’s go home. You don’t need this stress when you’re recovering.”

He nodded. He still looked fearful. We teleported out without hesitation. 

Chapter Eleven (click here)