(Niko, 16)

Everyone looks exhausted, and I know everyone is exhausted, too. I am exhausted, both physically, magically, and mentally. But the training weekend is over, and we have over two hundred dead wyverns between our two groups to show for it.

The leaders of the groups hunting beasts stay behind to give our reports and to make the arrangements for the hides and such that need to be sent to the appropriate guilds for treatment. Some will be returned to their slayers, others will simply be sold, the money distributed between those who killed it.

Wyvern hides are not easy to acquire, but have a high durability. Since I slayed fifty-seven wyverns, I have plenty of hides. I am selling the more damaged ones, but will be sending the usable ones back to Mar. We have tanners who can work them, and I know my people will be grateful for the durable leather. It works wonders for keeping feet and hands cold, too.

I am also going to have a leather vest made for Emil, to wear under his clothes as an extra protective layer. Or over, if he wishes to go that way. I doubt he would do the same as Jason and wear just the vest.

I am uncertain as to what Jacob and Alex are going to do with their loot, but they are not standing near each other. While my accidental rant at them two afternoons ago did calm them somewhat, they still bickered from time to time.

Just not in ways the other students would notice. I kept a golem near them at all times and saw their 'accidents' and the kill-steals they performed. This is ridiculous, and Jason's annoyance when he returns will likely be much greater than mine was Sorday afternoon.

The other reincarnated Magi are present, the ones who were not students already here and waiting for us to return. Though I am exhausted, I am still going to look for the Shattered Isle, so that we can see if Jason is there and how he is recovering, if so. If he is not there, then he will have somewhere I am unaware of that is hidden from the eyes of a god.

"Is everyone ready?" I ask once we have finished our duties and Sage Michael is here. The other Magi confirm they are ready to search for him, so I turn to Sage Michael. "Could you open a gate to the training camp? I can open a gate to where I need to go from there."

"Okay," he says, then opens a gate to the training camp's yard.

We hurry inside the building after stepping through the gate, and once Sage Michael enters, I face him once more.

"I will be opening a gate to the shoreline," I inform him. "You may all pass through if you wish, but it might take me a few hours to locate the Shattered Isle, and it is quite cold there, being further north and higher in elevation."

"Okay," he says. "Return here once you find it and pull me through, then take me there, and I will open the gate directly there."

"Okay," I tell him, leave the building, then open a gate and step through it.

I step out onto the cliff which Jason took me to when we were looking for Benjamin's home. The ocean crashes against the cliff below, the mountains rise up behind me. The air is chilly, but not as cold as Marran winters.

Shaking myself loose a little, I perform the flight spell Jason taught me and lift into the sky, then soar, the proper defensive spells around with my body enhanced for speed so that I can mentally keep up with my flight.

The Shattered Isle should be northeast of here, so I soar in that direction, spreading out my scanning spell as far as I can sustain with this. Were I not so drained at the moment, I could likely spread it even further, but that is not too important, as long as we can find Jason. With how long he has been recovering, Sage Elena's magic should be enough to finish his healing.

It takes me nearly four hours to locate the Shattered Isle, and by this point, I am ready to collapse. I generate a platform of ice in the ocean beneath me, using a temporary force spell to anchor it to its stop. With the landing spot for everyone prepared, I open up a gate back to the cliff and pass through, then open a gate to the training grounds and pass through.

I walk inside and greet Sage Michael. Everyone is eating, Sage Elena and Sage Elizabeth here as well.

"Did you find him?" Sage Michael asks.

"The Shattered Isle is quite large," I shake my head. "That is why everyone is coming with me. Can I rest first?"

"Yes," Sage Elena sets a bowl of stew and a couple of chunks of bread down, along with a bowl of fruit and a small platter of crackers, sausage slices, and cheese slices. "Recover some strength first, Niko. You have pushed yourself harder than everyone before undertaking that search, from what we heard."

"Thank you," I dig into the food, feeling it warm me back up.

So focused on my search was I that I did not notice how cold I had become. With the ocean hitting me and my lack of a warmth spell, I chilled quite heavily. Sage Elizabeth dries me off with her magic as I eat.

Once I finish, I stand and leave, everyone else following me. I do not want to waste any time to allow my food to settle. I open a gate to the cliff, and Sage Michael and I step through. A second gate to the ice, which Sage Michael transmutes into stone, and then he opens a gate back to the training camp directly. Everyone else steps through it and looks around. Both of the other Sages followed, though I suppose that is due to their concern for Jason as well. He is their son, after all.

"Where is the Shattered Isle?" Alex asks, his voice filled with annoyance.

I suppose he thinks I am playing a prank on them or something, since they can see nothing but ocean for miles around.

"Right here," I walk to one edge of the stone, then raise my hands up and forward as I begin to speak in the ancient tongue. "I am the Magus of Decay, Benjamin of the Gargoyles. Open, passage, so that we may enter."

A sound like breaking glass fills the air, and a darkness appears in front of us, seemingly a rift in space itself. Then light filters through, and we can see the ocean once more as the 'rift' continues to widen, the song of a divine finger circling a waterglass filling the air.

Through the opening, we can see the island, with small mountains on it, a stony shore two hundred yards away. A pair of rivers can be seen snaking their way from deeper within the island to the ocean, reaching it a few hundred yards apart from each other.

The platform begins moving somewhat fast, and I look over to see Alex concentrating. He is in a hurry to find Jason. Why does no one believe me that he is still alive? What part of me saying that is unclear?

Jason is a Magus. He cannot die. He is alive.

Yet they still seem to think he is dead just because he was fighting a god many times his power and cannot be reached or located. Hopefully, he is here so that they can see he is still alive.

The stone reaches the island and we disembark, stepping onto the shore.

"How large is this island?" Jacob asks.

"Several miles across and wide," I answer. "I am uncertain as to the actual estimates, Benjamin only entered it once, and he only saw a part of it. If it still stands, there is a base past the passage between those cliffs ahead."

Alex runs forward without warning, a look of pure panic and grief on his face. He is not heading towards the passage, though?

We follow him, though by the time we reach him, he has already stopped. He is near one of the rivers here, and is clutching several items against him, tears streaming down his cheeks. Yes, he was in pain, but he is still alive, Alex.

He is holding Jason's clothes from the battle, his vest, pants, and remaining boot. The clothes are damaged, the pants missing one leg, the vest damaged on one arm, and all three are stained with Jason's dried blood and covered in rips and burns.

"So he was here," Adam looks around. "But where did he go? I take it those are the clothes he wore during the fight?"

"Yes," I answer. "Adam, you and I will search the base. The rest of you, search the rest of the island. Jason probably shed his bloody clothes and forgot to retrieve them. Pair up. Sage Michael, please keep an eye on Alex, he seems a bit disbalanced."

"Will do," Sage Michael responds.

Adam and I walk towards the passage, the cliffs rising up fifty feet above us.

"Why is this place called the Shattered Isle?" He asks.

"I am not sure," I answer. "If Nolan told Benjamin, I do not have that memory. I do know that it is segmented into several parts by the rivers that spread out from the mountain at its center. I probably should have warned the others not to attempt to ascend it. Nolan had some defense on the mountain itself to prevent others from entering it. I think he also had a dragon living there, but with it having been three thousand years, there may not be one present anymore."

"Alright," Adam says. "Why do you think Jason is still alive, when everyone else – even his papas and mamas – say he's dead."

"What is the First Rule of the Magi?" I ask.

"Protect Midlaris."

"Wrong rule," I realize. "I meant the Fourth Rule of the Magi."

"Right," he says. "Unless their death has been verified, never assume someone or something is dead. That is a rule that saved us many times in the war. Following it allowed us to expect that a god, angel, or demon we thought dead might be the one leading an occurrence that had been happening."

"Exactly," I say. "We have not verified Jason's death. In addition, the Magi are immortal, which means we cannot die."

"If my memories serve me correctly," Adam says. "The ones I regained when Jason reached grey magical power, only our souls are immortal, not our bodies."

"Jason was alive enough to feed Enamas to a leviathan," I tell him. "Unless Enamas killed him during that, Jason is alive. Any creature or person of grey magical power will recover from their injuries, so long as they have the mana necessary for it. And we are immortal, not just our souls."

He still seems uncertain, but does not further question me. Am I not being clear? I know my Varilan still has some issues, but I was certain I was clear.

Well, Jason will clear everything up for everyone once we find him or he returns.

"How long is this passage?" Adam asks as we turn yet another corner through it. "That's, like, the tenth turn we've made."

"We are almost there," I tell him. "There are twelve turns total, and only the Magi can properly pass through it, I believe. Nolan set up quite a few defenses here in case gods attacked. Or was it that only Magi can pass through without sounding alarms? Or triggering traps? I do not remember clearly."

Benjamin was not completely lucid when he actually came here, and leaving is a straight walk out, and a much shorter one. Nolan's enchantments are strange, but potent, able to defy logic in some regards. That is magic, though – something which defies the logic of the universe.

We make the last two turns and entering the large clearing, which has several trees, their needles still green and fresh. If I remember correctly, the trees of the Shattered Isle never turn orange, their needles remaining green all year. They may fall, but new ones grow in immediately.

"Whoa," Adam says as I assess the clearing. "This place is beautiful. Not my kind of setting, but still… whoa."

A waterfall cascades down the cliff, forming a series of smaller waterfalls on its way down to the pond below, a river cutting through the area, passing out at the other side. A series of wooden buildings stand on the other side of the river, reminding me of Jason's own home, back in the Unwild Lands. These are the same buildings from my memories of this place, so their enchantments are likely more powerful.

Winter flowers in whites, purples, and greys grow around the space, a thick, dark green grass covering the ground that was not converted into stone. Several stone tables are arranged in the area as well, with benches at them and around the stone fire ring.

"Strange," Adam says as we cross the stones across the small river and approach the fire ring. "I can feel the warmth."

We reach the fire ring, which has the remains of a fire in it, charred logs and ash. There is no smoke, however, but when I move my hand close, there is a faint warmth.

"I would say this was put out maybe an hour ago," Adam tells me.

"I told you Jason was here," I say. "We must have just missed him. He may be inside, though."

We enter the buildings, several of which are houses. One of them is a medical building stocked with supplies, none of which of need replacing. Jason must have replaced things while recovering.

Another building is a storage supply building, and Adam frowns as he looks at the stuff in the room for smithing items.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Look at these," he gestures to some of the ingots on the shelves, as well as barrels of ore. "Star iron, mithril, adamant, godsteel, and isivinite. Nolan had such an arsenal of supplies?"

"He has them in all of his safe places," I inform him. "Though I did not expect him to have so much godsteel and isivinte. What is that?"

I indicate a shimmery, crystal-like ingot sitting on a shelf. There is only the one of it.

"I'm not sure," Adam shakes his head. "Elise never worked with the rare stuff. Some of this stuff can't even be found, really, and the ones that can are far more expensive than her family could ever touch."

"Someone is attempting to contact me," I pull out my comm plate and answer it. "Alex?"

"Jason is gone," he is sobbing.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Jason's gone!" He cries. "There's a spirit here who says that Jason is no longer with us! That he was here, but recently left us! He showed up last Felday, missing his arm and leg and dying! That he's just been laying around ever since, unconscious! And then he woke up earlier, but was only conscious for a short time before he was gone!"

Alex breaks down completely, and I am about to end the call when Sage Michael speaks. He must have taken the comm plate from Alex.

"They conversed in the ancient tongue," Sage Michael informs me. "So I do not know her exact wording, but it seems as if Alex did his best to verify, considering how many questions he asked her. He was barely able to contact you before breaking down, it looks like."

"Keep searching the island," I say. "But the most likely occurrence is that Jason returned home. I will contact Sage Alyssa to check. See if Sage Elena and Sage Elizabeth will return to your home and check there and his own house."

"Niko," Sage Michael says. "Jason is gone. He is dead. We have confirmation from a spirit who was here when it happened. Chances are, she turned him into flowers or water or something."

"Jason is still alive," I state. "He is a Magus. He is immortal. He cannot die."

"Niko!" Sage Michael says firmly. "You need to accept the facts! Jason is dead! He fought a god and was given severe injuries that claimed his life!"

"No," I say. "You need to accept the facts. Jason is a Magus, which means he is still alive. If you will not contact the other Sages, I will do so myself."

"I will tell them your request," he says. "But Niko, there will not be a result. Jason is dead."

I end the call and send my comm plate back into my spatial storage. Why is everyone so insistent on not believing me? Jason is alive. If the spirit told Alex Jason departed, then all he did was leave the island.

"Let us continue to explore this area," I tell Adam. "See if we cannot find clues as to where Jason might have left for."

(Michael, 81)

"Alex is sleeping," I sit across from Alyssa. "Today was a stressful day for him."

"And there is no doubt?" She asks.

"Unless you are Niko," I answer. "We had the other reincarnates speak with the spirit as well so that we could receive confirmation from someone who had not broken down. She confirmed it to them. 'Is Jason dead' is the question they asked her, and she confirmed it, according to all of them, including Niko, though he claims that she was mistaken. Either way, the other confirmation questions resulted with him no longer being with us."

"How did Elena take the news?"

"She took Jason's ruined clothes with her," I answer. "She may have returned to her roots for some time."

Elena was the only one of us who had actually tried for a child, and she had failed many times. Though she and Jason were often antagonistic to each other, we all know she treasured him dearly. He was a gift to us. Losing him cannot be easy.

"And Niko refuses to believe he is gone?" Alyssa asks. "Even after confirmation from a spirit who saw him die?"

"Correct," I nod. "If he continues to refuse to believe it, or Alex continues to be affected this badly, by the end of the week, we will reach out to Elena and see if she would come to speak with them, give them some counseling. It would do all three of them good."

"It would," she says. "Have you informed Samuel and Harold?"

"I have," I respond. "Harold will be arriving here in Varil City tomorrow, while Samuel would like to come."

However, with the situations in Mar and Kelrar, none of us feel comfortable without either him or myself present. Things can quickly go wrong, especially as we know there are plenty more ogres in that region.

"In other events," I say. "How did things go here while the twins were occupied?"

The new form of training session, which will occur each term, had several purposes. One of which was to allow the lower-skilled students to train alongside those with greater skill and be given advice by their peers in a practical setting, in addition to giving superior combat training experience they ordinarily would not have.

Another was to have Jacob and Lina in an unknown location while the palace wards were temporarily disabled – though no one was informed that was happening. Alyssa was implementing new, more powerful protective wards throughout the entire palace, and doing that required a complete shutdown of the entire defensive system. There were also suspicions that assassins would show up for Zachary, and none of us wanted the twins there for when that happened.

"The assassins showed up," Alyssa answers my question. "They were dealt with quickly as well. Their route took them through a section I was working on, and while I might not be you or Samuel, I am still quite talented."

"Yes, you are," I smile. "I take it they're under interrogation now?"

"They are," she nods.

"That is good," I say. "Any other news?"

"No," she answers.

"Alright," I say. "Where are our guests? I didn't notice their presences in my scanning spell."

"They went outside of the city to hunt for a little while," she answers. "They should be back sometime tonight."

Our conversation is interrupted by Alex descending the stairs, dressed in light pants, his boots, and a coat, his hair ruffled from bed, his eyes red and puffy from crying.

"I'm going to the crew," he tells us. "I don't want to be alone right now."

"Would you like me to open a gate to their place?" Alyssa asks. "Jason had me visit it so I could, just in case."

"No," Alex answers. "I'm going to walk."

"Okay," she says. "You can be excused from university tomorrow if you need a day off, so do not worry about waking early."

"Yeah," he says.

"Be safe," I tell him.

"Sure," he says, then leaves.

Before Alyssa and I can resume our conversation, Tiger Alpha charges down the stairs, his fur sticking out in multiple directions. He jumps up onto the couch beside me and begins licking his fur back into position.

"Everything alright?" I ask.

"Alex stuffienapped me and was squeezing me tight," Tiger Alpha answers, miffed. "Crying a bit, too. I had to use hypnotism to get him to stop. Convinced him to go to the people he considers a family. He seems like he could use the support for whatever he's going through right now. I hope Jason returns soon, he'll be able to cheer Alex up."

Alyssa and I share a look. No matter what happens, we are to avoid telling Tiger Alpha that Jason died as long as possible. We made sure Alex knew that, too. He was reluctant, but accepted it. Tiger Alpha is a violet-level golem mage that acts a bit like a child and was extremely close to his maker. Finding out Jason died could be even more disastrous than the relationship Alex and Jacob have now.

If anything positive happened between the two of them, it was agreeing on using that spell. I couldn't understand what they said, but that's the only thing I can think of. It seems to have affected the memories of everyone who was present, and Alex went through and did more work once everyone went to bed.

Which means that only the two of them, Niko, and myself are aware of the fight that occurred. The real fight. I plan on telling Zachary tomorrow, while Jacob is in university. Hopefully, we can avoid such an event from occurring again. Jacob seems to be protecting Alex, as he could have easily told the Royal Mage what Alex did, but didn't. The same thing happened with the bridge – Alyssa figured out what really happened, even if the god altered everyone's memories to prevent that.

I can understand Jacob's reasoning, though. He sees Alex as a friend and wants to shield him from being punished for actions taken in his grief. Hopefully, Alex will make amends soon, even if he still grieves.

(Alex, 16)

"Alex?" Barry asks as I enter their apartment. "What are you doing here?"

He barely finishes before I break down again. Jason and I crushed on each other in three lives, managing to get together in the third, and then he dies against a god. He dies only a few months after we get together, still a teen.

We fought gods in our first life, and he never died. Not until long after the war ended, after we had gone our separate ways, to return to our roots, our original homes. In our second lives, we lived shorter lives, but still made it out of the teens.

And then in our third, we date, and he dies after only a few months.

Why? Are we meant to never truly be together? Why?

"Hey," Barry pulls me against me as the others file into the room. "Whatever it is, Alex, it's okay. Jeddy, get him something to drink. Sarah, get some blankets and pillows out here. Mikey, help her. Peter, Collin, put some pants on."

Everyone shuffles about to obey as Barry leads me to the couch. Jeddy hands me the mug of ale, and I down it completely. All it does is warm me up from the inside, as alcohol does to people. As we gather and snuggle together, sharing drink after drink, I tell them what happened to Jason.

We move to the ground, the six of us wrapping the blankets around us and using them and pillows as cushions to sit on. A group sleep, something we always did back in Varilar, when something bad happened and someone needed the comfort. We always feel safer in numbers, especially when those numbers include knives hidden in our nightclothes.

As I talk about Jason – a drunken ramble, really – someone knocks on the door to the apartment, and we all look at it. Barry gives us an uncertain look, and whoever it is knocks again. All of us tense up as my magic starts removing the alcohol from my system, sobering me up. An automatic defense my body has that I can't control. After whatever this is passes, I'm having something stronger than ale.

Barry stands and walks to the door, his knife appearing in his hand at some point, pulled from wherever he kept it. He opens the door a crack.

"It's three in the damn morning," he says. "Who the hell are ya, and why the hell are ya bothering me this early?"

"I wish to speak with Alex," a heavily-accented voice says. It takes my tired brain a moment to recognize the voice of the woman from the Dragon Clans. "May I come in?"

"What makes ya think he's here?"

"Why do ya want to speak with me?" I raise my voice.

"The Sages informed me of what occurred," she responds. "And knowing the story of the old pairing, I know how it must be affecting you."

The old pairing? What does she mean by that?

"May I come in?" She asks. "I want to tell you a story. It may make you feel more comfortable, it may confuse you, or it may simply lull you to sleep. It is a tale of something that happened to Alorovos, a young man from our Clans."

A story of the Dragon Clans from three thousand years ago?

"Let her in," I tell Barry, who opens the door all the way so that she can enter.

She and her two grandsons enter the room, and Barry closes the door. Miranda takes her seat across from our snuggle bundle, her legs bent to her side as a proper lady should, especially with her dress, while her grandsons sit beside her, their legs crossed in front of them. Barry rejoins us, though he does not move back under the blanket, just in case. He wouldn't manage anything, but at least he's prepared to try.

"When Alorovos was fifteen," she says. "He met his first god. The god was personally scouting out the dragons which ruled over the Clans, and he came across Alorovos, who was hunting down a rare frog which lived in a nearby swamp.

"Alorovos was startled," she continues. "The aklarv was unaware that he was in the presence of a god, as the deity was suppressing his aura at the time. The young man asked the stranger who he was and why he was there. The other person was trespassing on Clan territory, after all. As one of the clan's aklarv, he had the authority to question those acting as the being before him was

"The god," she continues. "Not wanting his presence to be revealed, attacked Alorovos. He drew his divine sword and cut off the man's head, before ripping out the heart for good measure. You see, Alorovos possessed grey magical power. So long as someone with grey magical power is not slain, they will heal from any injury. One must ensure they are dead before abandoning their corpses, or they may come back to stab them in the back. So the god did what he felt was necessary to ensure the aklarv's death."

A memory bubbles to the surface, and I realize that she's talking about Jason. About Nolan. Jason mentioned once that was Nolan's name, before he abandoned the Dragon Clans.

"Alorovos was special," Miranda tells us. "He was not an ordinary Delvarkari. The god left him there to die, and the young man healed, recovering from the lethal injuries as if they were nothing fatal. With how powerful he was, it took him only a day to do so. Healed, he tracked down his slayer, drew a sword inherited from his brother, and killed the god, unaware that the god was anything but a spy."

Maybe there is still alcohol in my system, because I'm not really comprehending her tale.

"And here I thought Alex told weird stories," Jeddy says after several moments of silence. "But that? That topped the entire list! And it's a long one, too. Like, there are hundreds of his weird stories on the list, and yours is above them all."

Jeddy finds a lot of my stories from the war and from Earth to be weird. He ain't wrong, looking at 'em in this life.

"That is the story," Miranda stands, her grandchildren standing as well. "It is up to you whether or not you believe it, Alex, but it is one my grandfather passed on to me. I trust it to be true. It could be, it could not be. I hope it gives you something to think about, though."

She leaves, her grandsons following her out, and everyone stares at me as I try to figure out what she is saying. Was her story some sort of parable? Especially since she isn't aware Jason was Nolan?

I don't understand it at all, though. It's like she was saying the same thing as Niko, but that's not possible. It is our souls which are immortal, not our bodies. The story is hard for me to figure out, so I just look at Barry.

"Since ya ain't under the blankets," I tell him. "Fetch a bottle of the strongest ya all have."