~~~(Kieran)~~~

The training group has finally finished basic. Caleb’s been missing ever since Teacher took him away, and we’re all worried. No one knows where Teacher’s island is, or how to contact him, and no one can figure out a way to tell if Caleb’s going to be alright.

Teacher sounded really scared about where Caleb went. I can feel it in my gut that he’s fine, but something says that he’s only barely fine.

Since this group is finally done, I figured I’m going to travel with them back to the training facility. Caleb will probably head there first, when he returns. The cadets talk with each other a lot in their excitement at passing, even if they didn’t match up to Caleb’s batch.

Noah sits by himself, looking out a window on the airship. He’s been quiet a lot, though I know he’s been thinking about Caleb most of the time. He claims it’s purely a friendship he wants, but I think it’s more like he’s jealous of my friend.

Noah shifts, looking uncomfortable, then looks around the room.

“How long have you been here?” He asks, still attempting to locate me.

“I wasn’t attempting to conceal myself,” I unwrap my aura. “You detected me almost immediately as a result.”

“What do you want?” He asks.

“Is that how you address a superior officer?” I ask.

“Sir.”

“Still not appropriate,” I state. “I wanted to forewarn you that, should you wish to see Caleb upon arrival – and don’t tell me you don’t,” he pouts. “Then know that Caleb is currently missing.”

“Missing?” He looks amused. “Caleb wanders off all the time. He always makes it back in one piece.”

“We know where he is,” I tell him. “He’s on an island. We don’t know where that island is, or how long he’s going to be there. He went on a training mission that only happens once every few decades, and while rescuing other cadets, his soul somehow ended up traveling to another realm. No one knows if he’s going to survive that realm, as pretty much everything there wants to kill humans, and passage in and out of this realm is impossible ever since the Calamity. His body is being protected by a being old enough to know the Sage, and quite possibly just as powerful – maybe even more powerful. I just wanted to forewarn you, as it means we may never see Caleb again. And when he returns, I’m going to be the first person to see him.”

“What’s your obsession with him, anyway?” He asks.

“What’s yours?” I ask back.

He stares at me.

“I don’t get why you’re so into him,” Noah finally says. “It’s not like he’s your type.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re obsessed with him,” he snorts. “You know you’ll never be good enough for him, right?”

“Caleb is my brother,” I growl, and he flinches at the force behind my aura as it swirls around me. “We grew up together. We went through hell and back together. We survived the Alkran City Massacre and though the other was dead for seven years. If what happened to Caleb happened to me, you can bet your ass that he’d be summoning up all the magic he’s got to find and rescue me. The only reason I’m not is because I’m barely on par with a regular magician, and Caleb’s power might not be enough for something like that – not unless he joined forces with Teacher. So don’t ever, ever think that anything like what went through your mind is going on. I am not in love with Caleb, I am not worshiping him. I am his brother, and I would die for him. I’m not like you – a cocky, arrogant bastard who just wants to surpass the best. No one will ever surpass Caleb – he is a god in a realm where the gods themselves have abandoned their posts. He’d be a god among gods, even. You can try to surpass him, but all you’ll do is fail, so don’t bother. Train for yourself, not for your pride.”

I wrap myself in my aura and leave his room, making my way to the upper deck.

~~~(Brooks)~~~

Flame didn’t show up to lessons today. Again. This is starting to get out of hand. It’s been two months since the incident, and while at first, Flame would only disappear in his free time, he’s been missing lessons the last couple of weeks. He’d show up to the first few, but then disappear during lunch and forget to return.

I left for a group mission a few days ago, and decided to go visit him. He should be in his third lesson at this time, but when I arrive, he’s not there. Not even close to being there. The staff has no idea where he went – other than he left the facility without permission.

Again.

He’s in danger of being kicked out because of this. He isn’t going to his punishments, he keeps breaking curfew, leaving the facility without permission, and is falling behind in his lessons. This needs to stop, but I can’t think of a way to get through to him.

“Name?” The lady behind the counter asks as I approach.

“Brooks,” I hand her my badge. “Requesting permission to leave the facility, ma’am.”

“Purpose.”

“To drag my idiot brother back.”

She stares at me with obvious disbelief and annoyance on her face.

“Look,” I say. “My brother keeps leaving the facility and ignoring his training, and he’s going to get kicked out. However, it’s due to an unhealthy obsession he has, and I’m trying to help him. I just need to grab him and drag him back here. I’ll probably be gone for a few hours, and if you check my history, you’ll see that that’s been my excuse ninety percent of the time I’ve left the facility in the last two months. And it’s approved every time.”

“I cannot approve you for something like that,” she tells me. “Sorry.”

“What are you wanting to leave for?” Cathy, one of the managers, walks out from behind the counter.

“To drag my idiot brother back.”

“Approved,” she immediately responds. “And remind him that he has the hearing to attend to, too.”

“Hearing?” I ask.

“You left the day he received the notice,” she nods. “He has a hearing to review his behavior. Odds are good that he’ll be kicked, but there’s that chance that he won’t be. If he doesn’t show up, he will be kicked.”

“Dammit, Flame!” I yell.

I grab the permission card and head to the front gate, inserting the card in the slot and leaving, making my way to the library Flame’s been running off to.

It’s on the other side of the freaking city, so I have two options. I take the one that causes crowds to be cleared fast – I use my bursting steps. The transit system here is too damn slow for me.

Flame has been making his way to the magician’s library near the GMDF youth training headquarters in his free time – and his lessons and discipline time – to research magic. He’s been studying furiously everything known about spatial magic in the hopes of finding a way to track Caleb down and bring him back. Every text he can get hold of relating to it, as well as to other realms, has been the objects of his obsession.

That, and becoming a more powerful magician. I don’t think the librarians there are aware he’s GSDF, not GMDF, with how much he’s been studying and training in their practice halls.

“Hey, Tucker,” I greet a GMDF cadet spinning on a chair behind the counter. “Which practice hall’s he in today?”

“Hey, Brooks,” Tucker jumps off the chair, grinning at me. “He’s over in Phoenix Six. It’s pretty funny. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Funny? What’s going on?

Wait. Aren’t the Phoenix Halls the duel halls?

We make our way to Phoenix Six in the basement, a large, spacious room with a circular dueling area in the center and stadium seating surrounding it, a magical barrier separating the two. They’re packed with people. Flame’s standing in the dueling circle, nose-deep in a book, facing a GMDF cadet who looks around sixteen, and is probably ready to graduate.

The area nullifies Abilities and aura, making it so that only magic can be used in the dueling circle. The barrier protects the viewers from harm, as well as prevents interference.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“They’re about to start dueling,” he answers. “I was waiting as long as possible, in case you showed up, since you were supposed to be back today.”

“Why are they dueling?”

“Flame pissed off Gavin and got challenged to a duel,” Tucker answers, then grins at me. “Flame told him his entire theory of magic was bullshit and to grow a pair.”

“No one actually watches Flame practice, do they?” I ask.

“No, not really,” he chuckles. “I’ve looked in on him a few times, though. This is going to be one interesting duel, considering the difference in magics between the two.”

Small, petty magics against real magic. Gavin chose to fight the wrong magician. Judging by his patches, he’s a pretty powerful cadet – but that’s in terms of modern magicians. Caleb opened us up to the real way of learning magic, and as a result, we have an entirely different skillset.

And a vast difference in power.

I observe the dueling circle. It’s a dirt floor with rocks here and there, and some grass. Designed for ground magicians to battle on, though it can be changed through a control panel on the outside of the arena, near the entrance to the pit. No one knows who created places like this, but after meeting Caleb, I think it’s safe to assume the maker was none other than Teacher.

That guy gets around.

A few more minutes pass, and the room fills even more. Over five hundred GMDF cadets – as well as probably three dozen instructors – are present. A lot of the GMDF people want to see a GSDF agent attempt to use magic in a duel.

After all – everyone knows Superhumans can’t use magic.

Right?

“Everyone!” The cadet at the control panel speaks, the room filling with his voice. “Today, we have a battle between Cadet Marcus Tensen, from the Global Magical Defense Federation, and Cadet Flame, of the Global Supernatural Defense Federation! This will be a clean, fair fight! The first one incapacitated loses! Setting is ground! One round! Begin!”

The dirt around Marcus begins to swirl around him, and Flame ignores him, continuing to read the book. I look at the spine. Sages of Magic – a collection of fairy tales. He’s reading fairy tales and ignoring the magician he’s facing. People are cheering on Marcus and telling Flame to get lost, that Superhumans can’t use magic.

Marcus finishes his spell, and sends a storm of sand at Flame, who completely ignores it.

Just before the sand reaches him, it halts, slamming into an invisible barrier. Flame turns a page in the book as Marcus’s spell ends, the sand returning to dirt and dropping to the ground. That one spell took most of the energy out of Marcus. One disadvantage to modern magicians: their magic takes a long time to prepare for a bigger spell, and it drains a lot of energy.

Flame waits for Marcus to restore enough energy to attack again, and the attack falls short. They go back and forth like this for an hour and a half, Flame never once taking his eyes off the book. The crowd is silent as Marcus grows more and more frustrated.

I’m surprised he hasn’t tried a physical attack. Is that not allowed in a duel? I mean, he’d lose against Flame, but he hasn’t even tried, and all GMDF agents are trained in physical combat – they need to protect themselves when they run out of magic, after all.

Marcus seems to have three attacks: where he converts dirt into sand and unleashes it in a single blast, creating a spike out of dirt and launching it at the opponent at a decent speed (I can do faster, and it’s only been a few months – he’s been training for years? Hah!), and then one where he converts dirt into quicksand.

The third one doesn’t seem effective against Flame. Marcus got close for that one, and Flame immediately turned the dirt into solid stone, creating a solid ground that Marcus couldn’t manipulate.

After two hours, Flame closes the book, tucks it under his arm, and looks at Marcus.

“Okay,” Flame sounds bored, and that only enrages Marcus further, and his next words makes it worse. “I finished that story. Now I can fight you.”

“You think you’re hot shit?” Marcus snarls. “How are you doing all that? Where’s your artifacts?”

“I don’t need artifacts,” Flame states. “And I don’t need your silly incantations, either.”

Flame lifts a hand up, and I see his dragon fire flare for a moment before he decides against using it and switches to magical fire.

A torrent of flames bursts from his palm, rocketing out toward Marcus and engulfing the other boy’s right arm. Marcus screams as his arm burns away. It’ll return after he leaves here – the dueling arena has the same protections as the battle city for basic training.

“I could also do this,” Flame flicks his wrist, and Marcus’s left leg vanishes. Marcus screams as the wound cauterizes itself. His leg ended up on the other side of the arena – did Flame just use spatial magic to do that? “I was using that training room, and had been for hours. You could have found another training room to use.”

Flame makes a swirling motion with his hand, palm facing the ground, and the dirt around Marcus begins to swirl and lift up, sand that refuses to let up as it shreds Marcus’s clothes and skin, making the boy scream even more.

“Just because I’m GSDF,” Flame continues, his voice cold and heartless. “Doesn’t mean I can’t use magic. The best of them taught me the basics. That’s someone who doesn’t believe in the impossible. He never believed Superhumans can’t use magic, and he proved it. He lives it every day. Other than the one who taught him, there is no magician more powerful than Caleb.”

Flame raises a hand up into the air, then slices it down, and Marcus’s right arm slices off, and he screams even more as the sand rips into his wound.

Marcus passes out, and Flame looks at him in disgust.

“That wasn’t even that painful,” he spits at the ground. “Children go through worse in our village, and that pain is nothing compared to what our comrades went through in the Enchanted Forest. Your pathetic.”

Flame turns and walks away, leaving the arena as Marcus’s body restores. His clothes are still shredded, and he’s bruised and covered in scrapes, but he’ll be alright.

The arena is silent, and Tucker stares at Flame’s retreating back, then to me.

“We’ve been through a lot,” I tell him.

“He seemed almost murderous,” Tucker says softly.

“He’s like that, when he gets serious,” I say. “Let’s go find him.”

Tucker and I track down Flame, who’s back in a training room, reading the book again.

“Flame,” I say, and he looks at me.

“Brooks,” he sounds emotionless right now.

“Come on, Flame,” I say. “That’s enough training for today. We need to head back to the facility, now.”

“But-”

“When’s your hearing?” I ask.

“Five.”

“Dammit, Flame!” I snap. “It’s four-thirty! You realize they’re going to kick you out if you don’t show up, right?”

“They’re going to kick me out anyway,” he continues to read the book. “It’s not like it matters, since Caleb’s trapped in a hellish realm.”

“Screw your damn attitude,” I grab his arm and try to pull him to his feet. “How do you think Caleb would feel if he returned, only to find you’d been kicked out of the GSDF because you didn’t go to the meeting? He’d give you kudos for studying magic as hard as you’ve been, but also be a little upset that you didn’t at least try to give your case at the hearing. Caleb would be extremely disappointed in you, Flame. Extremely.”

Flame sags his shoulders, and I can see my words working. The only way to get him to see reason here was by telling him how Caleb would look at him if he didn’t go to the hearing.

“Alright,” Flame stands up, looking at the book, then looking at Tucker. “Could you return this, please?”

“Sure,” Tucker takes the book. “How did you do all that magic before?”

“I just willed it into existence,” Flame answers. “Caleb said that that is the true way to magic. We all do it.”

“Superhumans?”

“Our team,” Flame’s chest puffs with pride. “Caleb, Brooks, Jared, Kieran, and me.”

The team which is divided. Kieran’s sulking about Caleb leaving on a mission without him and now about the fact that Caleb’s probably going to die, Caleb’s on Teacher’s island so that Teacher can be there when Caleb does finally die, Jared’s stuck at his father’s estate, forbidden from contacting any of us, Flame is focusing on learning magic on a fool’s journey to leave this realm and bring Caleb back – something Teacher made very clear is impossible for even him, and I’m the only one left focusing on trying to actually protect this world and do my duty as a member of the GSDF.

“I’ve never heard of Superhumans who use magic before,” Tucker says. “When I saw you doing it before, I thought it was weird.”

“Caleb makes it easier to understand,” I shrug. “His confidence, his no-doubts attitude about it makes it impossible to not believe him, and the four of us all learned magic through him. He doesn’t bother with incantations or gestures, though we all need the latter. He said that most of the time, the incantations are wrong or use extra things, and that’s part of why they use such large amounts of magic.”

“Use extra things?”

“The language you use to incant,” Flame says. “Is an actual magical language. Caleb understands it perfectly fine, and actually knows a lot more in it. He could probably break down that sandstorm attack Marcus used and have the exact same effect for a tenth of the mana. Actually, he could probably break the incant down to far less mana than that. He could probably create a sandstorm on his own with that amount of mana, and probably a bigger one – no using outside objects needed.”

“You can talk with him later,” I tell Flame, then look at Tucker. “Sorry, but we really need to get there, or he has no chance of staying in the GSDF. He’s just really depressed about Caleb, our leader.”

“Most people say ‘fearless leader’.”

Flame snorts, and Tucker looks at him curiously.

“Caleb’s got fears,” I explain, doing my best not to laugh at the comment. “He suffered something pretty traumatic some years ago, and has been dealing with that ever since. See you, Tucker.”

Tucker dips his head to me, then Flame and I leave, both of us putting on our bursting steps to make it back to the facility. Flame’s uniform is decent, even if not perfect and up to standard. It’s not dress uniform, but we don’t have the time for that.

We arrive at the courthouse to find Cliff standing there with Flame’s dress uniform.

“You still have ten minutes,” Cliff tells Flame. “Enough time to get changed and fix your hair and head over to the hall your hearing is in.”

Flame takes the uniform without a word, and we follow him to the bathroom. Five minutes later, he steps out of the restroom, and Cliff takes his uniform and stuffs it in a bag, which then disappears.

“Caleb gave me a bracelet that has a spatial storage in it,” he explains, twisting the bracelet to show me. “Let’s go.”

We walk with Flame to the courtroom, taking seats at the front. Not many people are here to watch this, probably because he doesn’t really have a lot of friends.

They interrogate Flame for over an hour about what he’s been doing and why he’s been leaving, but I can see on their faces that they’ve already made their minds up. A panel of three cadets, three staff, and a full agent from outside the base are those who are reviewing him.

“Flame,” the agent, who leads the hearing, says. “Do you have any defense? Any reason you would like to give us as to why we should allow you to remain an agent?”

Flame doesn’t answer. He keeps his head high, shoulders straight, face emotionless.

“All in favor of allowing Flame to continue to train here,” the agent says, and no one reacts. “All in favor of terminating Flame’s training with the GSDF.”

The other six raise their hands.

“Very well, then,” the agent says. “Flame, as of now, you are no longer a cadet within the GSDF. You have until nine tonight to collect your things and vacate the premises. Do you have anything to say?”

Flame doesn’t respond.

“This hearing is concluded,” the agent says. “Goodbye.”

Harsh. Cold. Jackass.

I think he’s missed the look in Flame’s eyes. He could have been a little less heartless with that – I know they’re supposed to wish people luck, even if they’re being booted for stuff like not attending lessons and training and missions.

“Let’s go, Flame,” I say, and he doesn’t react, just stares at the board as they stand up and exit. “Flame!” He jumps, looking at me. “Let’s go. Now.”

Flame follows me out, muttering under his breath. His GSDF formal uniform burns away, a new outfit underneath.

His new outfit is a mix of darker reds; pants, combat boots, and polo, his hair turned a darker shade of red. That, combined with the fury in his eyes, warns everyone we walk past not to look at him. We can hear them, though – they know the result. Everyone knew he was going to be kicked out.

He could have fought it. Had he fought it, there was a chance he would have been allowed to stay. Why didn’t he fight it? That’s the same result.

Instead of going to the dorms, he walks toward the gates. I follow him, but look at Cliff and Gale when they do.

“No,” I say.

“When he’s like this-” Cliff begins.

“It’s better if it’s just me,” I interrupt him. “You know how volatile Flame can get. I’ll make sure the damage is minimal.”

Reluctantly, Cliff and Gale stay behind.

I follow Flame through the town. He’s looking for a fight. He needs to let out the assassin in him, with his current mood. If Marcus hadn’t challenged him earlier, he wouldn’t be like this right now.

“Flame,” I say after twenty minutes of Flame looking for a fight and no one being stupid enough to challenge him.

It takes me thirty minutes to get him to acknowledge me.

“What?” He spins around, glaring at me.

“There’s an illegal drug cartel base not far from here,” I tell him. “I would’ve redirected you before, but you were heading in the right direction. Bounties on their heads. You’re authorized to collect. They typically have about forty to fifty people in the building on slow evenings.”

“How do you know about it?” He narrows his gaze.

“I know several places that could use cleansing,” I respond. “I made a note of them awhile back, just in case you got into one of these moods.”

“Where?” He growls.

I lead him to the warehouse, which has a couple of men sitting on a bench outside. Their threat assessors and door guards.

“You kids shouldn’t be wandering alone down here-” one of the guards begins to say.

He never finishes, mostly because Flame rips his heart out. The other guard begins to draw his gun, but before it’s out of the holster, Flame has sliced his head off.

Lost in his bloodlust, Flame enters the warehouse by blasting the doors off with his fire. I follow him inside and watch as he wields fire on a level I have never seen before, and it takes me a minute to realize that he’s manipulating his dragon fire with his Ability.

How in the hell?

When did he become S-Rank?

Flame destroys everything. The drug forged of the dust and crystals, the paperwork involved, the devices they use for it, the people running the operation, the kids who sell it for them, the people making it…

Everything.

Flame shows no mercy, makes no distinction between victim and criminal. He kills them all, not hesitating in the slightest. When he finishes, he stands in the middle of the burning warehouse, breathing calmly, evenly, and looks at me.

“Been awhile.”

“Do you feel better, now?” I ask, and he nods. “Cool. How’d you figure out the outfit change magic?”

“Caleb taught it to me before we left for the Enchanted Forest,” he answers. “Even added in the fire to make it look cool for me.”

Of course he did.

“I’m going to get something to eat,” Flame says. “I’d like to be by myself now, Flame.”

“Alright,” I put a hand on his back. “You know where to find us. I’m sure you can get through their security and make it to us if you need to talk. We’ll be out here all the time anyway, so just find us.”

“Of course I can,” Flame smirks. “How do you think I keep getting out without permission?”

“How are you doing that?” I ask as I remember the barriers on the facility.

“Spacial magic,” he grins. “When I figure out how to get on that island, Caleb’s going to be so happy for me.”

“On the island?” I frown. “You know he won’t be able to see you until he returns, right? I thought you were working on a way to travel between the realms?”

“That’s absurd,” he rolls his eyes. “Teacher said no one can do that, and it took Caleb doing something funky. Besides, Caleb’s not even in the other realm.”

“Yes, he is.”

“He returned a few hours after leaving.”

I stare at Flame for several long minutes before I can react.

“He was only gone a few hours?”

“Yeah,” Flame looks annoyed. “But he hasn’t come back. I can’t locate the island, either, so I’ve been trying to figure out a way to travel directly to him. Teacher wasn’t as strict with the rules regarding the training facilities as he was his island, wherever the hell that is. Anyway, I’m going for food. Bye.”

~~~(Flame)~~~

“Hello, Flame,” a man sits down across from me, and I continue to dig into my dinner. “I am Professor Tem, of the Global Magic Defense Federation Youth Training Facility. I’m one of the lead recruiters, and I was at the match earlier. I will admit to having hoped to see Marcus tear you down, but was quite surprised to see the magic you used. Those are magics spoken of in our texts, yet no one has managed them – and you did so without incanting. I’d estimate you to be a B-Rank magician. If that’s true, then you’re more powerful than any magician in the entire GMDF. By the time you graduated, you’d probably be S-Rank.”

“So you want me to join the GMDF, then?” I raise an eyebrow. “I’m not going through basic training. Besides, I’m happy how I am. I can just collect bounties and crap. When Caleb returns, we’ll still be a team.”

“They haven’t introduced you to the Hunters’ Association yet, have they?” He asks.

“The what?”

“Association of magicians, aura users, Superhumans, and so on who take on jobs much like what we offer to cadets. You can find more challenging jobs there. Teams of official Hunters take on quests every day. If you’re not an agent of an organization cleared by the Council of Dreams, then the only way you’d be able to form any form of official team with Caleb is to go through the Hunters’ Association. Of course, you could always go through both methods, though I think Caleb joining the Hunters’ Association would be a bit overkill – don’t you?”

Caleb? Joining a group of hunters? Uh…

I don’t want to think about being on a team where people aren’t giving us missions to do, if Caleb’s the leader. We’d probably never make enough money to live off of. Not that any of us actually need to make money. Caleb, Brooks, and I can all live wild, Kieran will do whatever Caleb says and will learn how to live in travels quickly, and Jared would probably complain until Caleb told him to stop whining. Then he’d probably learn.

We’d better not let Caleb have control of our finances, though. We’ll probably never see the money if we do.

Would they even allow me in the GMDF?

“Would you like to join us?” The professor asks. “You won’t have to go through basic training again. Our magicians do not often go through physical trials, like Superhumans, so ours is a more mild version of what you went through. We tend to be guarded by aura users, soldiers, and GSDF agents. You wouldn’t be able to come onto the property today, but if you come to the gate tomorrow morning, I can get you through the screening and the assessment. We’ll count the time spent in the GSDF for your training period, so your two years won’t be restarting just because of this.

“There is one restriction,” he says. “You’ll be on probation, due to having been kicked from the GSDF. This means that you are not to break any rules, violate curfew, leave without permission, get into fights, miss classes, be late from or absent for missions or training, or any other such things.”

“Okay,” I respond. “When do I show up?”

“No further questions?”

“I do this,” I say. “I learn more magic. I don’t do this, I have even more free time to learn magic. Eventually, I’ll figure out how to breach Teacher’s barrier and find Caleb and drag him back. You guys will only help me, if I have access to your resources. When do you want me to arrive?”

“Be at the gates at 0600,” he answers. You’ll be given a brief tour of the facility, then briefed on necessary information and assigned your room, among other things.”

“Thank you, sir,” I say. “I’ll be at the gates at six.”

“Military time,” he says.

“It’s not as if it gets used in casual conversation,” I stand up. “And besides – I’m the most powerful magician in the GSDF. Are you really going to try to make me use military time when I don’t want to?”

Sort of like making Caleb do something he doesn’t want to…

“Thank you for the opportunity, sir,” I say when he doesn’t respond. “See you at six.”

I leave and look for a hotel to book a room for a night. They’re reluctant, but they let me, and I go straight to bed. Better to be rested for tomorrow than show up tired.

~~~(???)~~~

Caleb is napping against the Rift Wolf, who has curled up around him. It’s been almost two months since Caleb returned from the other realm, and I still find it hard to believe that Caleb could befriend a Rift Wolf.

Standing, the beast is five feet at the shoulders, with thick, fluffy fur swirling with reds and oranges and purples and greens and blues, reminiscent of a starless galaxy. His eyes – though closed now – shine gold in all lights.

Rift Wolves… the only creatures in existence with power truly on par of a dragon, save the phoenixes, whose power only rivals dragons in that they’re truly immortal.

To think that one would just accept a familiar contract – especially when the magician didn’t know he initiated it – is baffling. I’ve racked my mind as much as I can, yet can find no logical reason for it.

“I can see why you like him,” an ancient – yet young – voice speaks from behind me.

“Father,” I turn and face him, bowing slightly.

“Hello, son,” my father says, and I scrutinize his appearance. “What?”

“Why do you stay in that ridiculous form?”

Father’s natural form is that of a boy around seven or eight, so he looks like he could be my little brother. Caleb’s, too, for that matter. I’ve long wondered if there was a dragon of my kind around whom I was not aware of, and Caleb and Kilmar bringing up Caleb’s draconic half only confirmed it. Father’s eyes are their true violet color, and I’ve reverted mine back to violet from blue. Caleb’s eyes really are blue, though, despite his draconic heritage.

“What?” Father looks down at himself, then back to me. “I like my natural form. I’m not going to age it a few years just because.”

“Your voice sounds ridiculous coming out of that body.”

“Whatever,” his voice now sounds like a child’s. “I’m one of the original beings, you can’t expect me to remember to fix everything. Plus – can you honestly tell me that you haven’t slipped back into your actual voice while in human form?”

The moment he says that, an embarrassing memory surfaces. Caleb was eight at the time, and still very, very easily frightened. He’d done something stupid, and I was trying to scold him without scaring him, and he freaked out. It wasn’t until after he’d run off and disappeared that I realized I was using my natural voice.

Deep, ancient, powerful. My voice filled the air and permeated it with magic. That was when I realized Caleb had a natural gift for magic. He somehow conceals his magic without being aware of it, and I’ve never been able to read it.

“He has an interesting mana pool,” Father says. So he can hide his mana from me, but not Father. That’s good. “Does he know he’s your son?”

Coming from anyone else, I would assume that’s a joke. Actually, coming from Father, I could assume that’s a joke, due to our looks, but…

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“You weren’t aware?” He raises an eyebrow. “You have the power of Lineages, son, and you couldn’t tell he’s your own son? Plus, did you expect anything else when you banged a woman?”

“I never slept with a woman!”

“Fine,” he huffs. “Banged a girl.”

“Father!”

“What?” He asks.

“Never. Ever. Happened.”

“Then how do you explain him?” He indicates Caleb, and while the boy is asleep, the Rift Wolf is most definitely smiling. “Because unless you’re just powerful enough that your stuff can impregnate a woman by itself… you had to have slept with her.”

“They have artificial ways to do that,” I say. “And no, I haven’t done that. Wait – what?”

“What?”

“Powerful enough to do it on its own?”

“Yeah,” he chuckles. “How do you think you were conceived? I’m powerful enough that it has a mind and will of its own, and sought out a suitable woman to be the mother.”

“So Caleb’s my son?” I ask.

“You really can’t sense his heritage?”

“Never been able to,” I shake my head. “I can’t sense the dragon in him, either, and nor can I sense his mana pool or aura. He has to flex his aura just for me to try to read it.”

“Really?” Father snorts. “He gets that from you.”

“I thought dragons couldn’t mate with other species?” I ask.

“You’ve been in human form so much,” Father shakes his head. “That your powers adapted. My blood in you allowed that to happen.”

“What are you doing in this realm?” I ask. “I haven’t seen you in almost twenty thousand years, unless I went to visit.”

“You haven’t been visiting,” he pouts. “Two centuries without a single visit from you. I’m upset.”

He’s seriously pouting about that?

“Father,” I sigh. “Have you not been paying attention to the news anywhere out there? Passage in and out of Tulm is impossible ever since the Calamity. Something happened during it blocking it out. I can only take on my draconic form on this island chain, and that’s because of my magic. I had to wrap it in a special form of Reality Marble. Speaking of – Caleb can do that without being taught. He also figured out flight magics all on his own. Draconic flight magics.”

Father looks at Caleb thoughtfully, then approaches him. I follow, watching as he places a hand on the boy’s forehead, his violet eyes looking within. Several long minutes pass, and when Father at least stands and looks at me, he’s got a massive grin on his face.

“So he’s more powerful than you,” Father says. “Much, much more powerful. Like, insanely powerful. That explains the massive boost to my power I’ve had the last thirteen years.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“On top of my own powers,” Father explains. “I also have all the power of those of my blood. Caleb, it seems, has the power of his ancestors, leading back to the origin points. It appears that with him, every generation will have the same.”

A growing lineage, a bloodline that truly becomes more powerful with each new generation. Something we all hoped would never happen. If it did, it would become very, very difficult to stop, even for a Dragon of Creation.

But with what Father said…

He will always be more powerful. Eventually, they might reach close to his level, but he will always be that much more powerful than them.

“What do you want to do about it?” I ask. “End it, before it could become a problem?”

“No,” Father shakes his head. “I had a vision, when I looked within my grandson.”

“A vision?”

“The world will need his bloodline,” Father nods. “Caleb, not so much, but after… yes, the bloodline is needed. We should leave him be. Passage in and out of Tulm isn’t possible? I did it just fine, and I’m pretty sure Caleb has been to at least three others.”

“To there and to hell,” I say. “And… where’s the third?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Father shrugs. “I think he made it on his own. He opens a passage to it all the time. It’s filled with turtles. It’s actually a series of interconnected islands surrounded by water that merges into an ethereal sea. One’s filled with turtles, one’s an animal reserve, one’s a storage island, one’s got mines on it, and I’m not sure what one of them is supposed to be...”

“I knew he had island,” I look at Caleb. “I didn’t realize they were in another realm, I thought he created them much like I did for this chain. Wait,” I look at Father as I realize what he said. “He merged his realm into an ethereal sea? Which one?”

“Tavos.”

“The fuck?” I look at Caleb. “How did he even find Tavos?”

“Why does everyone think Tavos is so hard to find?” Father asks. “Anyway. I came by to visit. This was fun. I left you a present in your bed. Bye!”

Father vanishes, and I do a quick scan of the island.

He can be such a child sometimes.

I look back at Caleb, and come to the conclusion that he has way too much of my father in him.

Way too much of him.

I take a step forward to walk toward Caleb when something grabs my ankle, and I fall to the ground.

The Rift Wolf starts howling with laughter as I spit out the sand, and I glare at him to find Caleb grinning. I break apart the sand hand gripping my ankle and shake my head as I walk over to the duo.

He’s smiling again…

It is probably time for him to return, then.

“So was that your little brother?” Caleb asks as I approach him.

“I don’t have any brothers,” I shake my head. “That… that was my father.”

“Auriauror?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s younger than I expected.”

“That’s his natural body,” I answer. “Though I think it matches his mindset.”

“Wouldn’t that make your body old and wrinkly?”

I stare at Caleb. He asked that so seriously, and I can’t tell if he’s joking or serious.

“Dragons,” I decide to explain. “Tend to have a single form when they’re in human form, usually that of a child. I’ve aged mine from ten to sixteen. How much of our conversation did you hear?”

“Doggy woke me up right before he left,” Caleb looks disappointed. “He didn’t leave because I woke up, did he?”

Caleb wanted to meet my father? I guess I can understand that, seeing as he’s a Dragon of Creation. That would definitely warrant some bragging.

“No,” I answer. “Though it’s honestly not a good idea for the two of you to be around each other.”

“Why?” Caleb asks.

“He’s a Dragon of Creation,” I respond. “He has to maintain a certain distance from most beings.”

“Actually,” Kilmar looks at Caleb. “Allmaker doesn’t want the two of you around each other because you two would get along a little too well for his sanity.”

“How so?” Caleb is so innocent.

“Trust me,” Kilmar says. “You and Auriauror have very similar attitudes when it comes to fun.”

“Teacher doesn’t like games.”

Having you two with each other isn’t good for my sanity, either. I really can’t wait for Caleb to finally be ready to return to the GSDF.

Speaking of the GSDF…

It appears they have finally given Flame the boot. With Caleb teaching him true magic, and him joining the GMDF, it’s only a matter of time before true magic becomes common knowledge again.

All according to the prophecy. Give it a decade, and the world will change dramatically in ways no one could have foreseen.

Watching as Caleb wrestles with Kilmar, I have to wonder what, exactly, he is going to go through this next decade, to turn him into the being he will be.

Caleb Rivers… Lusvar Nomari. The Bringer of Light and Darkness.

I need to protect him from the trials he will face.