Chapter Twelve

I awoke in the early morning hours, wrapped tightly in Caleb’s arms. I smiled at him, watching as he slept. Obviously, it wasn’t often that I could witness him so at peace. Though, I didn’t blame him after the night he had. I had never seen him just break like that. It was like he had never truly dealt with his loss. He just pushed it down for 100 years. My heart broke for him. Something he said early on in our relationship echoed in my mind. “I learned quickly that it’s not wise for a vampire to fall in love. When you’re immortal, you lose everyone you love. They get old, or perish in other ads, but you don’t. So I vowed I would never subject myself to that again…

“Not after her…”

I was glad he gave us a chance. Though, Morgyn had also said that spellcasters could be immortal if they chose to be. I would never grow old if I drank potions of rejuvenation to keep myself young. I would never go away.

Unless I was killed.

The thought made my stomach knot up. I couldn’t leave him twice. I rested my head on him again. Did Ruby know something was going to happen to me and that Morgyn or Caleb would come to my aid? Is that why she said that?

Was I going to die if I didn’t let them save me?

I felt sick again as my anxiety rose. I closed my eyes and tried to push the thoughts away. Ruby definitely knew how this would play out, but she didn’t want to tell me. Why?

Stop it, Jade. I was protected from Death by Overload, so how else would I die? I blinked quickly, flashing the thoughts out. Now was not the time for fear. I needed to be focused. I laid in silence, gripping Calab’s jacket tightly, as if I were afraid he would disappear if I didn’t hold on. The thoughts didn’t subside. They lingered, taunting me, reminding me that even immortals could be mortal. Even Caleb. Even Morgyn. Even me.

Finally, I let out an exasperated “ugh!” I got up and started pacing in the dining room, away from Caleb. I wasn’t pacing for long when he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“What is it now?” He asked quietly, his lips near my ear. He didn’t do it on purpose, yet I still shivered a little.

“I’m nervous,” I said, turning around to face him. “There are so many ways our plan could go wrong, and I can’t risk losing you or Morgyn, or leaving either of you.” I gazed up at him. “Again.”

He closed his eyes as I touched his cheek. “That won’t happen,” he assured me. “We need to be strategic and focused. As long as we are, then everything will be fine.”

“Marco is unpredictable,” I argued.

Caleb grinned. “So am I.”

I couldn’t help but smile. He had something up his sleeve? “What are you planning?”

“I’m fast,” Caleb said. “I can easily push him out of a devastating situation, and he won’t even see me coming.”

I nodded. “Right, but if he comes at you?”

“With what?” He laughed. “He can’t just lock me away again that quickly. Not in the midst of a fight.”

I nodded. He was right. Marco wouldn’t be prepared to fight a vampire. Vampires don’t use magic to duel. He would only be prepared for spellcasters.

Lilith came in, looking angry. After seeing the puzzled expressions between Caleb and I, she spoke up. “I spent the night trying to find a way out,” she sighed. “Obviously, I failed.”

I smiled. “No need. We will be getting out very soon.”

Caleb looked down. “We have a new reason to get out.”

Lilith nodded. “Ambrosia.” She quickly hung her head. “Is her name even Ambrosia anymore? How would you find her if she has a different identity?”

The realization hit me like an 18-wheeler. She was right. What if the hunters had changed her name? How would we find her?

Caleb seemed to be just as devastated. “I-“

I squeezed his hand. I had no other words.

Morgyn came out of the bedroom. “Oh,” he said sleepily, “hey.”

“Good morning,” I smiled a little. “Ready for today?”

He rubbed his eyes. “After coffee.”

Lilith snickered and stood up, following him to the kitchen.

Caleb hung his head. “We’ll never find her.”

“Shh,” I rubbed his back. “We will. It’s just going to take some work.”

He looked at me, his eyes glassy. He didn’t say a word though.

I leaned in, wrapping my arms around him. “Please, have faith.”

He nodded slowly, burying his face in my neck. As we pulled away, I kissed his forehead. He smiled sadly. I wiped the tears from his cheeks and smiled back.

After a little while, we all went outside, ready for Dueling Day. Well, sort of ready. I still had a lot of reservations, but I couldn’t let them stop me.

“This is it,” I said, clenching my stomach. I felt sick, but I was sticking it out.

Morgyn placed his hand on mine. “Don’t worry.”

“I second that,” Caleb agreed. “Worrying will only distract you.” He caressed my cheek and smiled. “We need your head in the game.”

I nodded. “I know.”

We went to HQ, and I marched straight up to Marco.

“Dueling Day,” I said plainly. I pulled out my wand. “Allow me to be your first.”

He smiled and stood up. “How nice of you, my queen.”

Those words made me cringe. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Morgyn, Caleb and Lilith come up the stairs.

Marco stepped back and summoned magic, attempting to catch me off guard. I created a shield around myself, then shot magic at him, shattering the shield like glass.

“Impressive, for someone with limited power,” he smiled.

I narrowed my eyes. “It doesn’t matter what power level I hold as long as I know how to use it.”

Marco raised an eyebrow. “That reminds me of a joke.”

“You’re sick,” I growled.

He conjured a large ball of magic, shooting it at me. I teleported away from it. I grinned and folded my arms in front of me. “Is that all you’ve got?”

He scowled. I insulted him. “No!” He barked.

I shot magic at him, surrounding him. He couldn’t move. I grinned. “Did I bruise that ego of yours?”

He roared, breaking the magic surrounding him. He lunged at me, full force. I smiled as I ducked out of his way. This was exactly what we wanted. The more force he used, the more power he used, and therefore, the more charged he got.

I summoned another shield, which he ran into and fell backward. I stood over him with my wand pointed at him. “Are you done?”

He grinned. “Never.” He conjured magic that lifted me into the air and sent me flying back down to the ground. I quickly summoned magic to cushion my fall. I stood up quickly and sent a magic beam at him, which he dodged. He shot a ball of magic at Maorgyn to distract me. I teleported in front of Morgyn, dodged it and teleported right in front of Marco.

“This is between you and me,” I growled at him. “You’ll have your turn with Morgyn when we are through.”

“Commanding me now?” He asked, getting in my face.

My heart began to race, but I stood tall. “No. I’m encouraging you to fight fair.”

Behind me, a spike made of magic began to rise off the floor. Marco was conjuring it, and I didn’t see it.

“Haven’t you learned yet?” He smiled. “I never…fight…fair.” He raised his arm, and I turned just in time to see Caleb dart between the spike and me. It hit him, and he fell to the ground. He looked up at me and motioned for me to pay attention to Marco. I glanced over at Morgyn, who was rushing to help Caleb, so I turned to Marco, seeing red.

Marco was distracted. “Fucking vampire!” He screamed. “You always get in the way!”

I used this opportunity to use all of my power to conjure magic. I rushed toward him, crashing into him at full force and completely subduing him. I won the duel.

I stood over him. “Don’t mess with my ‘fucking vampire’.”

He looked at me with a shocked expression. I didn’t see it for very long. I teleported away from him and over to Caleb, Lilith and Morgyn.

“Impressive,” Lilith smiled.

I smiled back and looked at Caleb. “Are you alright?”

He nodded. “Yes. It stung a bit, but I’m fine.”

“It would have killed you,” Morgyn said. “He fights dirty. We need to warn the others.”

I nodded and teleported away, rounding up the spellcasters to tell them.

One by one, the spellcasters offered to duel Marco. Simeon, Morgyn, Caleb, Lilith and I always stood nearby to aid them in their fights if Marco did decide to pull unexpected punches. Most of the time, he didn’t. He really only seemed to want to kill Morgyn and I.

As time went by, I could see electricity-like magic sparking and crackling around Marco’s arms and legs. As predicted, he didn’t even notice. He continued to fight.

Jay emerged from the shadows. He was almost never involved, so I had completely forgotten about him. I knew nothing about his power or anything. He had never tried to use it. Yet, I wanted to test my luck. As he eyed me, I approached him.

“Duel,” I narrowed my eyes.

He grinned menacingly and nodded. Pulling out a black bone wand, he faced me. I stepped back a little. “I’ll let you go first.”

He conjured magic, sending it straight toward me quickly. I dodged it, and created a counter attack; a magic beam like I had used with Marco. It pushed him back a bit, but basically did nothing. He was powerful, like Marco. But I supposed I wouldn’t have expected any less from a fellow sage. He just didn’t use his power as often and as boldly as Marco did. He preferred to stay in the shadows and come out when he was needed. He was quiet and dangerous.

I started to feel nervous and uncertain. This was reflected in my magic. I struggled to hold my hand steady, not confident that my spells would even do anything to him. I raised my hand, trying to ignore it, and I attempted to dodge his next attack, a fire orb. It hit me, burning my hand momentarily. I counter acted with another beam, which he dodged easily. My eyes widened. I couldn’t get out of this, and he could kill me if I didn’t get my head back in the game.

Marco, once again playing unfairly, decided to join Jay in fighting me. Now I was downright scared. I glanced over my shoulder at the sages and vampires, hoping they would see I needed help.

They didn’t. They couldn’t see what was going on, because Marco had ducked behind Jay.

Pay attention, Jade. I narrowed my eyes at the two of them, conjuring another attack to disable them briefly. Marco summoned a shield around both of them, while Jay conjured an attack to stop mine before it even reached Marco’s shield. Together, they created an attack. With Marco’s power, I knew it would stop me immediately, or maybe even worse.

“Morgyn!” I shouted, realizing I couldn’t win this. He rushed to my side, blocking their attack quickly.

I hung my head. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into, did I? But now it was too late. This was exactly what Ruby had warned me about. I had to remain focused, but it was hard due to my fear.

Jay summoned a bubble around us. I glanced around, confused, but scared. What was this? What was he doing? I watched in horror as it closed in around us. Marco raised his arms, readying an attack. As he started to aim toward us, Caleb charged at him, tackling him onto the ground. Marco shot the attack and it launched into the sky.

Jay, being sidetracked, let the magic around Morgyn and I dissipate. I turned my attention to Caleb, who was pinning Marco, his hand on his throat. He was angry. His eyes glowed red.

Jay focused on us again, summoning another bubble, but Morgyn stopped him, holding his hands together with magic. I conjured an attack, hitting Jay right in the chest with it. I started to feel more confident.

Marco teleported away from Caleb and back over toward Jay, but he kept his attention on Caleb, who stood up. He made his way toward Marco again, but not as fast this time. Marco formed a shield around himself. Caleb stopped walking, but glared at Marco, just waiting for his opportunity.

Simeon moved closer to us as well, but Lilith stayed behind, biding her time. She didn’t want to rush in. It would be too crowded.

Marco grinned, and I saw Morgyn take a step back, having a sudden realization. I glanced over at him, keeping my eye on Marco and Jay.

“This is his end game,” Morgyn warned quietly.

A wave of nervousness flooded every cell in my body. My hand began to shake, but I tried to keep my focus.

This is it. I conjured a strong orb, sending it soaring toward Jay to distract Marco. To my surprise, Jay wasn’t looking. It crashed into him, knocking him down. He tried to get up just in time for a spell Morgyn had cast to hit him again. It slammed his head into the stone floor. Morgyn almost immediately felt remorse. I could see it in his eyes. Once again, I glanced at him, shaking my head. Now was not the time for that.

Marco didn’t seem to notice that Jay was knocked out. Adrenaline surged through my veins, wondering exactly what Marco had in store for us. He released his shield. His eyes began to glow bright as he crossed his arms in front of him. He was going to use all of his power to attempt to destroy us. I was not about to let that happen.

I quickly summoned a shield around Morgyn and I, but my power wasn’t strong enough for it to reach Caleb and Simeon. I hoped Simeon would follow my lead, but he wasn’t even looking. He, Caleb and Morgyn had their eyes trained on Marco. Yet, they had no idea exactly what he was planning. None of us did.

Marco stood like that for several moments, and I started to wonder exactly what he was doing. I stood straight, glancing between him and Morgyn, confused.

Morgyn looked around, and as he looked up, his eyes widened.

“Jade.”

I looked up. “Oh my God.” He was harnessing power from the vortex, pulling it in on us.

“No, no, no, no, he can’t do this,” Morgyn said quietly. His voice got louder. “He can’t do this!”

I glanced around nervously. I saw Simeon look at Morgyn.

“Morgyn! Focus! We know how to stop this,” he called.

Morgyn shook his head. “We need L!”

Only the sages could bring balance. Somehow I knew that. I tried to recall. I had read it, when I was just learning how to be a spellcaster. But wait. I shouldn’t have remembered that. My memory was wiped, right?

I had a newfound determination. Marco was dying. My memories were coming back. I grabbed Morgyn’s hand like he had done with me when we fought the stray dragon. There wasn’t too much power between us now, as Marco had all of mine, but I hoped it would work somehow. I held my wand steady and shot a beam at Marco, hoping it would throw him off at the very least.

It hit him just as the vortex fired a massive wave of magic at all of us. We all fell to the ground.

I opened my eyes, my surroundings fuzzy. I looked around. Morgyn was getting up, as was Simeon. Lilith was nowhere to be found. Caleb was still on the ground, knocked out.

I growled angrily and charged at Marco. I knocked him down to the ground and held him there with a spell.

“I swear to God, Marco, if you killed him, I will kill you with no goddamn mercy!” I shouted at him.

Marco laughed, choking as the magic held him firmly against the ground. “Funny how you treasure the life of a man who’s already dead.”

I struck him in the face, glaring angrily at him.

His face twisted into anger as well. He used magic to pull himself up and out of my magical grasp. “You really shouldn’t have done that.”

I glanced over at Caleb, who was still on the ground. Morgyn was beside him, trying to use a healing spell.

“And what will you do to me?” I taunted.

He pushed me down to the ground, pinning me with his body. I didn’t know how I could even try to subdue him now. I used a different approach. I poked him in both of his eyes. “Get off me!”

He jumped back. “Aaagh!!”

I stood up, moving away from him and over to Caleb. Simeon lunged at Marco, magic at the ready. I ran back to help him. Morgyn had Caleb covered.

I hope.

Marco charged one last attack, sending it shooting toward Simeon and I. I was too weak to block it, but Simeon did, sending it fizzling to the ground. I watched it, and when I looked back up, I saw Marco fall to the ground beside Jay.

His eyes widened as shocks and magical electricity surged all over his body. “You killed him!” He tried to stand, with his eye on me. “You killed him!”

I grinned. It wasn’t long now. Marco was surrounded by electricity, teetering on the edge of overload. His next attempt to stand was successful, and he summoned more magic. He trapped me in it and grinned menacingly at Morgyn, stepping toward him. He glanced at me, then at Caleb. “What a shame, Morgyn Ember. You’re going to die before all of the people who love you the most.” He raised his hand as it glowed white. “It’s a shame Caleb can’t actually see it.”

Morgyn’s eyes widened, and his hands rushed up to his neck, trying to grasp something that wasn’t there as he was lifted off the ground. Marco was choking him with magic. This was his way of getting back at me for Morgyn and I killing Jay.

I jumped between them and shot a beam at Marco, stopping his magic and pressing him onto the floor again. I held the magic there so he couldn’t get up. As the magic around Morgyn dissipated, I grabbed his hand, and together we shot one final attack at Marco. He tried to summon a shield, but he was taken by overload before he could. He was thrown into the air, then back to the ground.

I stood over him, emotionless. We knew this was the only way.

The world around us shifted. The thrones disappeared, the walls and bookshelves moved back in place. HQ was slowly being put back together. The only problem was the threatening vortex. It was too close to us, as if it would destroy us in an instant. Simeon went to find L, who hadn’t been up here for the battle. I went over to Caleb to tend to him. As I crouched beside him, he lifted his head. I sat on the ground, pulling him toward me so his head was resting in my lap. I smiled at him.

He gave me a weary smile in return. “You did it.”

“We did it,” I reminded him.

He nodded. “Well, I was down for the count for a bit there.”

I stroked his hair. “It’s all over now.”

He nodded and closed his eyes. I held him for a few minutes until he decided to get up. We stood together, happily embracing the feeling of victory. I looked over at Marco’s motionless body.

“There’s something I have to do,” I said, looking up at Caleb again. He nodded as I stepped away.

I crouched down and placed my hand on Marco. There was a small shock as I felt my power surge back into me. I looked down at my hands. A red glow was emitting from me. I smiled and stood back up.

L, Simeon and Morgyn stood together, eyeing the vortex. I watched them as they raised their wands to the sky together to set it back in balance. But nothing happened. It just stayed there. They all glanced at each other, confused. My eyes widened. I couldn’t imagine having another problem on our hands.

Morgyn looked over at me and motioned for me to come over.

“This is why it won’t work,” he smiled. He took my hand. “We were missing a sage.”

I smiled back at him and pulled out my wand as well. Together we tried again, raising our wands to the sky. A white glow surrounded all of us as our power merged and brought the vortex back to where it belonged. The realm was fully restored.

Morgyn faced me. He placed his hand up, and I did the same. Just like before, there was a shock. He laced his fingers with mine and we let our hands fall to our sides as we kissed.

“I remember,” I said as we broke the kiss.

“We did it,” he smiled.

I smiled happily back. “Yes, we did.”

Caleb and Lilith walked over to us, also smiling.

“That was awesome,” Lilith praised us.

I smiled brighter. Morgyn and I thanked them together.

We went down the main floor, where the spellcasters were happily cheering and hugging each other. I saw that the portal was fixed and functional. Spellcasters were coming and going freely again. I smiled. We had our realm back.

L came up to us. “Morgyn, Jade, Simeon,” she nodded to each of us. “I am so sorry.”

I hugged her. “You were brainwashed.”

She nodded. “I’m glad it’s over now. I felt trapped in my own mind. I could remember everything, but I couldn’t say anything. It was like my mind and my body were separated.”

I was surprised. That was quite unexpected. I just assumed that she had been completely brainwashed. But it made sense. Technically, they used her own magic against her. It wouldn’t have taken the full effect if she was the master in that school of magic.

We all happily chatted together, thankful and liberated that we had saved the realm and everyone in it. Seeing everyone’s smiling faces made our efforts completely worthwhile.

As conversations died down and people started to leave to go back to their actual homes, Caleb and I decided to do the same.

“I’m going to stick around here for tonight,” Morgyn smiled.

I nodded. “Alright. I’ll come back tomorrow.”

He took my hand and pulled me into a hug. “You were phenomenal out there.”

I blushed. “Well, I’d say it was all skill, but let’s be real here; I had a phenomenal teacher, didn’t I?”

He laughed. “Yes. Yes you did.”

I gazed at him lovingly, like I was seeing him for the first time again. I kissed him slowly. He followed, wrapping his arms around me. As we broke the kiss, we looked into each other’s eyes.

“We’re free,” he smiled.

I nodded happily. “We are.”

Chapter Thirteen (click here)