The following day was slow. It was Friday, and right before spring break. We were all eager to be out of college for a while, so the day just dragged on.
As lunch approached, I made my way to the student center to wait for Caleb. I only had one class left, and it was in three hours. That gave me plenty of time with Caleb, as well as study time afterwards.
As I sat down at our usual table, I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look and saw a man walking up to a nearby table, a wand in hand. Once he was seated, he flicked his wand toward the table, and a plate of food appeared in front of him. He immediately started eating it as I watched, in awe of what I just witnessed. I stood up and walked toward him.
“Excuse me?” I asked quietly. “How did you do that?”
He smiled, amused. “Magic!”
“But, magic doesn’t exist,” I crossed my arms in front of me.
The man stood up. “But it does!” He flicked his wand again, causing a broom to appear in front of him. He jumped into it, and I watched him as he flew around the student center, grinning at me triumphantly.
When he landed, he laughed at my shocked expression.
“I know more than just that,” he said. “Come to the Magic Realm, and you can see much more from me, as well as other spellcasters.”
I glared at him. “How do I get there?”
He sat back down. “Go to Glimmerbrook,” he explained. “Follow the river until you see a portal. Step into the portal, and you’ll be in the realm.”
I opened my mouth to speak again, and felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Caleb.
“Oh hey!” I smiled.
He smiled back, warmly. “Hey.” He looked at the man I had been talking to, then back at me. “What are you talking about?”
“Magic!” We both exclaimed.
“Ah yes, the realm of magic,” Caleb grinned. “Home to Morgyn Ember, probably the most well-known spellcaster.” He seemed almost giddy as he spoke of Morgyn. Like there were some feelings there.
The man I had been speaking to smiled widely. “He’s a sage now!”
Caleb’s eyes widened. “Really? Wow! Congrats to him.” He held out his hand. “And who are you?”
“My name’s Darryl,” the man said, standing up and shaking Caleb’s hand. “And you are Caleb Vatore, no?”
“That I am,” Caleb smiled.
“You’re just as well-known as Morgyn is,” Darryl grinned.
“That’s most likely not a good thing,” Caleb scowled. “Not a lot of people make a vampire well known for good deeds.”
“Well, then you’re the exception,” Darryl shrugged. “Anyone I’ve ever talked to spoke very highly of you.”
Caleb blushed a little. “Oh?”
“Yeah!” Darryl exclaimed. “Come to the Realm. You’ll see.”
I looked at Caleb, smiling brightly. “You can come with me when I go later.”
“That sounds great,” Caleb nodded, grinning from ear to ear. Darryl had clearly boosted his spirits.
“Just let them know Darryl Charm sent ya,” Darryl winked.
We all laughed.
“Of course,” Caleb agreed.
We sat with Darryl and chatted until he had to leave for class. As he took off on his broom, I grinned at Caleb and folded my hands in front of me.
“So, what was that?” I asked.
“Hmm?” Caleb looked at me. “What was what?”
I narrowed my eyes and grinned. Speaking in a flirtatious tone, I said, “Morgyn Ember.”
Caleb looked back down at the food in front of him. “He’s just well known,” he explained. “I’ve heard a lot about him.”
I rolled my eyes and giggled playfully. “The way your expression changed when you spoke about him was more than just hearing about him,” I pressed. “You’ve met him. You like him.”
Caleb smiled. “You’re reading too much into it.”
I dropped my fork, pushed my plate aside and rested my head on my folded arms on the table, looking up at Caleb with pleading eyes.
Caleb grinned, but said nothing. He just watched me, trying not to laugh at my various faces to get him to open up. Eventually, I gave up. I knew he wouldn’t tell me. That was his own secret.
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out to look at it. I had a text from Akira.
“Hey, sorry. Family emergency,” it read. “I’m not going to be able to make it tonight.”
I nodded as if Akira was standing in front of me. “Alright, no worries,” I wrote. “Maybe another time.”
I put my phone back in my pocket and looked at Caleb again. “Looks like I’m free tonight.”
Caleb grinned. “To Glimmerbrook we go?”
“Yes,” I smiled. “After my last class, meet me here. I need to meet this Morgyn guy.”
“Not just a Morgyn guy,” Caleb held up his finger. “The Morgyn Ember!”
“Okay,” I shrugged. “The Morgyn Ember guy.”
Caleb laughed and shook his head. “Close enough.”
We chatted for a little while longer, until he had to return to Britechester. I stayed in the student center, quietly reading before my next class.
I felt the ground beneath me shake and heard a rumbling sound. I glanced up to see several other students looking around in confusion. Standing up, I made my way to the window. It wasn’t thunder, the sky was bright and blue. An earthquake? I didn’t think we were near a fault line. Then again, I didn’t know a whole lot about that stuff anyway. I was studying psychology, not seismology.
I grabbed my bag and decided to further my reading outside. I wasn’t about to be inside a building if there was an earthquake. Sitting on the bench, I heard what sounded like a roar. Now I was really confused. A crowd had gathered outside, as we all tried to figure out what the sound was and where it came from. After about fifteen minutes of silence and calm, we all shrugged it off and went about our business. I finished my reading and headed to my last class.
Just like the rest of the day, my class seemed to take hours. I was excited to travel to the magic realm. Up until today, I hadn’t guessed there was magic in any world, let alone a completely different realm where magic existed. Also, seeing Caleb talking about Morgyn had me wanting to play matchmaker and get the two of them together. It made me happy, knowing that Caleb might finally find what he deserved; a love interest.
I drifted off into a daydream, picturing a strong, powerful man who could rival Caleb if the man was a vampire, but so gentle and kind, stealing Caleb’s heart and living out his life with an equally gentle vampire. I knew it was silly, but Morgyn could look like anyone, and I wouldn’t know. He could be someone I had already seen.
I heard rustling and snapped out of my reverie. Class was over, and my classmates we’re heading out of the room. I quickly stuffed my books into my bag and followed them. I was excited for my upcoming adventure.
Caleb met me at the doorway of the student center, gleaming.
“Ready?” He asked.
“Yes,” I smiled. “Are you?”
He shifted his gaze away from me and smiled nervously. “Yes.” He started to walk. “This way.”
We took the train from Britechester to Glimmerbrook, which was only the next town over. Once there, I remembered what Darryl had said. Follow the river. Caleb was one step ahead of me, already walking toward the calm, crystal water flowing just below the path we were on. I saw a large rock that the water was breaking on, and as we kept walking, I noticed a blue/green glow emitting from it. It got brighter as we got closer. That was it. The portal.
My stomach knotted up. I had no idea what to expect, but I was excited nonetheless.
Caleb stopped in front of the portal and took a deep breath. The sun had disappeared behind the rocky embankment on the other side of the river, leaving us in only the glow of the portal. Caleb and I looked at each other and nodded in unison. We stepped forward into the portal together. I closed my eyes as I stepped in.
When I opened them, I was on what appeared to be a floating island in a starry night sky. Like we were in space.
“Whoa,” I said, in awe as I looked at the sky around me. It lit up purple, then red, then blue. Debris was everywhere, littering the sky, but just floating in place. The world really was just a set of floating islands, all broken apart from each other, yet still fully functional.
“Hello!” I heard. “Welcome t-” A man with semi-short, curly, golden hair stepped toward us. His eyes were a bright green, his skin fair, and he wore a dark red duster jacket, a gray turtleneck and black pants. He had a rune over his head that lit up red and yellow. A look of shock filled his face, but quickly shifted to an overjoyed smile. “Caleb!” He exclaimed.
I was drawn to this man. He was very handsome and nearly took my breath away. It didn’t even register that this was probably Morgyn Ember. I just stared at him as he hugged Caleb.
“Morgyn,” Caleb smiled, hugging him back. “It’s been a long time.”
“It has,” Morgyn agreed. “And why haven’t you come to visit, hmm?”
“This is no place for a vampire,” Caleb said.
“It’s a place for everyone!” Morgyn exclaimed. His eyes sparkled with excitement. “Regardless, I’m glad you’re here.” His gaze shifted to me, as I still awkwardly stared at him.
“Hi,” he smiled, holding out his hand. Each finger had a gold ring, with the pointer, middle and pinky rings having chains leading to a bracelet under his jacket sleeve. One of the chains was lined with rubies. Several of the rings also had rubies. “I am Morgyn Ember, sage of the untamed magic here in the magic realm.” As I went to shake his hand, I felt a powerful shock.
“Ow!” I jumped back. Morgyn had done the same. We just stared at each other, Morgyn with a look of disbelief, and I with a look of confusion.
“I’m sorry,” Morgyn said, hesitantly, as if he was trying to find the right words to say. “Perhaps I didn’t fully discharge since I was helping to mentor someone.” He laughed nervously, as if he was intimidated by me.
“No,” I spoke up. “I’m sorry, I brushed against something which probably caused static electricity or something.”
“No,” Morgyn disagreed. “That was clearly-” he stopped himself. “You’re right, yes, most likely static electricity.” He smiled.
Caleb glanced between the two of us, looking just as confused as I felt.
Morgyn cleared his throat. “So, you’re a spellcaster,” he smiled.
I shook my head. “No,” I said quietly. “I didn’t even know magic existed before today.”
“Oh?” Morgyn narrowed his eyes, intrigued. “Who made you think otherwise?”
I couldn’t place his name all of a sudden. I was so smitten by Morgyn, I could barely even think of my own name.
“Darryl Charm,” Caleb said.
“Ah, yes,” Morgyn nodded. “The Charm family.”
“Yeah, he was on the college campus and took off on a broom,” I explained.
Morgyn nodded again. “I see.” He seemed almost distant now, like he didn’t even know what to say to me. Like he was throwing a house party, and I was an unexpected, and uninvited guest.
Caleb noticed this tension and smiled at me. Looking back at Morgyn, he introduced me. “This is Jade. My best friend.”
“Funny,” Morgyn said. “You never mentioned her before.”
“I met her after I was coming around here,” Caleb clarified.
Morgyn nodded, but I caught his eyes drifting to me, then looking back at Caleb quickly. I furrowed my brow. What the hell was his problem?
I opened my mouth to say something, but Morgyn and Caleb kept their conversation going. Frustrated, I walked away into the building in front of us. I had seen several people go in and out, so I just decided to go in and see what it was. Neither Caleb or Morgyn seemed to notice as I left.
As I walked into the building, I immediately saw that it was a sort of training school for spellcasters. Knowing that I wasn’t invading anyone’s privacy certainly helped me feel a bit better. I sat down in the kitchen and dining area and observed the surroundings, while still trying to figure out what was up with Morgyn. He was fine with me until the shock. His whole demeanor shifted after that. But why did I have such a strong attraction to him? The moment I saw him, it was like something pulled me to him. Something much different than just normal feelings.
“What do you mean it was let out?” I heard someone shout angrily. It snapped me out of my thoughts, and I got up to see what was going on.
“I didn’t mean for it to happen. I didn’t even know that it could happen!” It was Darryl. He looked terrified as another man almost towered over him, glaring angrily at him. The man had a rune like Morgyn’s above his head. It was a different symbol and was blue and green.
“You can’t just leave it free, now, Darryl!” The man growled. “Find it. Contain it. Destroy it.”
“But Simeon,” Darryl protested. “The dragon is my familiar! I’ll find a way to bring him back down to size. I promise.”
Simeon waved his hand, turning around and causing Darryl to stumble backwards and fall as a burst of magic hit him.
“If you don’t kill it, I will,” Simeon said angrily, but strangely calm. He faced Darryl again. “You know what happens to dragons who roam free!”
“Yes, sir, I know,” Darryl nodded, standing up.
The doors opened up and Morgyn came in.
“What’s going on?” He asked.
Simeon stood tall against Morgyn, as if proving he was stronger. It wasn’t in a threatening way, but more of jealousy. He didn’t even need to. Morgyn was skinny and non muscular, but Simeon had some meat on his bones and could easily take Morgyn down. He was threatened by Morgyn’s power.
“Darryl’s familiar, a dragon, got loose and returned to full size,” Simeon said. “He says it’s in Britechester.”
Britechester. So that was the roaring I heard?
Morgyn sighed. “I see. Darryl, please go find him and return him to familiar size.” He looked at Darryl far less threateningly. His eyes were pleading. “You know they can summon others. We can’t let that happen. Please go find him.”
“Yes sir,” Darryl nodded solemnly. He walked out, hanging his head.
I watched Morgyn. He didn’t seem to notice I was there. I breathed a quick sigh of relief, until his eyes met mine. My heart jumped into my throat. Everyone had gone about their business, so we were alone in the corridor. I shrunk as he approached me, backed against the wall. His eyes were trained on me, like he was ready to attack. Where the hell was Caleb?
Morgyn raised his arms, placing his hands on the wall on either side of me. I wanted to run, but I froze in place, looking at him. I knew he was angry with me, but I was still so intoxicated by him, I couldn’t move.
“What are you doing here anyway?” He growled. Yet, at the same time, it was like he was putting on an act. Like he was forcing himself to appear angry.
“I met Darryl today. He was talking about magic, and I was interested, and I just wanted to come here and learn more about it like he told me to. I didn’t realize it would be a problem. Please, just let me leave and I’ll never come back! I–“
“Shhh,” Morgyn held a finger up to my lips. “Stop.” He looked at me, his expression soft, but focused. Like he was reading me.
“How do you do that?” He asked.
“D-do what?” I looked at him, perplexed.
He lifted a hand off the wall and held it in front of me, gesturing with his eyes for me to do the same. I placed my hand against his and there was another shock, though it was expected this time.
“That.” He narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t know,” I said quietly. “I didn’t even know that would happen!”
“There’s something about you,” he said. “I can’t place it. It’s strange. But you have Spellcaster power. It rivals mine.” He relaxed and stepped away from me. “I felt threatened by you. But you’re telling the truth, aren’t you?” He looked me up and down. “You aren’t a Spellcaster.”
“No, I’m not,” I agreed. “And if you feel I’m a threat,” I looked down, hurt. “I don’t want to be one.”
He smiled at me, tilting my head up with his fingertips. His smile was genuine. “I want you to be,” he said quietly.
I looked back at him, unable to speak. There wasn’t a shock, but I noticed he had a strange glow. He must have put a protection spell on himself so there wouldn’t be a shock.
“You would be quite the asset to us, I think.” He put his hand down and looked at me, eagerly awaiting my response.
I nodded slowly. “Then yes,” I said. “I want to be a spellcaster.”
He smiled happily. “Good.” He paused. “And I’m sorry for my frustrations.”
“I understand,” I nodded. “I’m sorry I was threatening you.”
“As long as you promise to not try to overthrow me as sage, I think we will be just fine,” he winked.
I giggled a little. “That sounds fair.”
“Come,” he gestured. “I’ll send you on your journey to being a Spellcaster right now.”
“Now?” I asked, looking around nervously. “Where is Caleb?”
“He’s outside,” Morgyn gestured toward the window. “He has always loved it here, in the vortex.”
“Vortex?” I asked.
“Yes, we exist inside of a vortex,” Morgyn nodded. “Magic holds this place together, like glue. Otherwise the vortex would have destroyed us like it did everything else.”
I listened to him, my mouth agape. That was fascinating! “So the magic here is powerful, yeah?”
“Between the three sages, Simeon, L and myself, yes.” Morgyn nodded, smiling. “And with you on our side, we would all be even more powerful. The four of us alone could keep this place in balance.” He held out his hand. “But are you ready?”
I gave him a determined smile and took his hand. “Absolutely!”
“Great!” He grinned, pulling out a wand. He started to speak a spell and I saw magic surround me. As he stopped, it stopped, and it was done.
I felt magic energy surrounding me, and I realized just how powerful I was. I smiled at Morgyn, telling him without words that I was ready for this.
He smiled happily and started walking away. “This way!” He exclaimed excitedly. “There’s so much to show you! We need to rank you up as quickly as possible!” He practically ran up the stairs.
“Wait, Morgyn!” I shouted after him, running to catch up. I stopped at the top of the stairs as we approached a beautiful garden on the balcony. “Whoa.”
Morgyn laughed. He started to say something, but I stopped him.
“Why do you need to rank me up so quickly?” I asked.
“You are now our biggest asset,” he repeated. “And, I’m afraid we may end up with a large problem if Darryl can’t contain his dragon.”
“Oh,” I said, suddenly worried. This was a lot of pressure so soon. “What will happen?”
“Dragon war,” Morgyn sighed, speaking solemnly. “It wouldn’t be the first time, and we need to nip it quickly before the dragons multiply and become stronger.”
“That’s why Simeon was angry,” I nodded, piecing it together.
Morgyn nodded. “Yes. I assure you, he is actually a very happy, easy going man. You just happened to see a side of him none of us enjoy seeing, or being, as was my case.” He hung his head. He was clearly very sorry for the way he had acted toward me.
“Morgyn,” I said, approaching him. “I understand.” I touched his shoulder, causing another shock.
“Ahh!” I exclaimed, jumping back. “I’m sorry!”
Morgyn laughed. “Don’t be! It’s fine. It’s just a reminder of the good we can do.” He saw my worried expression. “Don’t worry, I won’t push you too hard.”
I nodded, putting on my best smile. I saw the rune above his head again, and my face turned serious. “What is that?” I pointed.
“Oh, this identifies us as sage here in the magic realm,” Morgyn said. “We all have one. Each symbol represents the type of magic we specialize in. Simeon’s is blue and green for practical magic, and L’s is purple and pink, for mischief magic.” He thought for a moment. “There isn’t one for alchemy yet.”
“Yet?” I asked.
“Well, I don’t know if there ever will be,” he said. “It makes sense that there would be, but there isn’t.” He shrugged. “Maybe one day.”
I nodded, understanding.
He walked over to some bookshelves and pulled a few tomes off of them. “Here,” he said, turning toward me. “Take these and read them. They will teach you new spells. And you don’t need to do it here, so you don’t get overwhelmed.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
He smiled back, warmly. “Of course. Welcome aboard.”
We headed back to the front door.
“I don’t need to stay here,” he said to me, quietly. “I can come to you for training if it’s easier, or better.”
I nodded. “That would be nice,” I agreed. “I am a bit overwhelmed here.”
He smiled and gave me a slip of paper. “My phone number. Call any time, okay?”
I smiled back. “I will.” I started to head out the door.
“And,” Morgyn stopped me. His eyes met mine again. “I really am sorry.”
I giggled. “Stop it.” And with that, I walked out, grinning back at Morgyn as he laughed at my response.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.