Rachel, Jordan, and Megan sat in shocked silence for several seconds, as did many of the crowd. What had been a completely one-sided rush had suddenly turned into a two-hit knockout. Michael had proven to be more than competent enough for this level. That could only mean that the tall woman who had beaten him without sustaining a single injury was that much closer to mastery. Sufficiently impressed, the crowed let out a loud round of applause.

Kanora made a deep bow in Michael’s direction, then turned and padded gracefully from the arena. Two healers came out to revive Michael, pulling him onto a stretcher and carrying him, mumbling angrily, out to the medical tent. Megan leaned back in her seat, thinking deeply as she watched the victor vault over the barrier and sit beside the Nihon-Jan representative, a very old man with a long white beard. He gave her an approving nod, but made no other comment.

Not a good start for Michael, Megan thought with a wry grimace. She knew just how badly this early defeat would hurt for him, considering that he so desperately wanted to win a relic. Well, she thought, you’ll get another chance in the obstacle course. No need to feel so bad. If only she could actually convince him to think of it that way.

“I won’t envy him when he comes to,” Rachel said, echoing her thoughts. “He’s not going to be happy.”

“He’ll just have to accept it,” Jordan said. “And channel his energy into the obstacle course.”

“You expect him to be satisfied with that reasoning?” Rachel asked, looking at Jordan out of the corner of her eye.

“No,” he admitted, in the same fashion. “No, I don’t.”

The remaining two matches for that day were over fairly quickly. One of the bouts featured their upperclassman, the swaggering youth who had mocked Michael. He won his match and strolled back to his seat while casting a smug smile over at Michael, who had just returned. Michael said nothing in reply, but Megan found herself thinking that she wouldn’t want to trade places with their upperclassmen when Michael finally got the chance to take him on.

“Well, that’s it for single-combat today,” Samuel said, appearing in the middle of the small arena without warning. “We’ll have a short break now, and in twenty minutes, we will have the first group match!”

The four of them were obviously going to go watch the match, as whoever won would end up being their opponents. There were eight teams submitted to the tournament, and four would be eliminated in preliminary matches over two days. On the fourth day of the Exchange, the final battle would take place, with the four remaining teams facing off in a free-for-all. The last team to have members standing would win, and the leader of the team would be awarded the Relic.

They were able to relax considerably, due to the fact that they would be fighting tomorrow. Still, the victors of this match would be their adversaries, so it was valuable research. The prospect of gaining such important information was even enough to shake Michael, temporarily, out of the foul mood that had gripped him since the match with Kanora. Once he’d calmed down a bit, Rachel and Megan made sure to be a little friendlier with him.

The first match was interesting, but perhaps a little boring. The trio of Journeymen from the College faced off against a group of Attosian mage officers. Megan noticed that the leader of the Attosian team was the same young man who had won the first duel of the day. He was their front fighter and used his overpowering defense to shield his allies from the worst of the onslaught. It was a very quick victory, in which the Journeymen had no chance to really get warmed up.

“We’ll have to be as strong as we can right out of the gate with them,” Jordan commented, and they all muttered in agreement. “But he can’t possibly defend against all four of us at once. Perhaps brute force will serve us best.”

Megan wasn’t so sure about that idea, but she kept the thought to herself. Even after the first bout ended, she was still remembering the machine-like precision shown in the movements of the Attosian team. It was like a four-man army, she thought. Each member of the team knew exactly what was expected of them at all times, and they moved without any wasted energy. It was teamwork of the highest order, and she knew that they wouldn’t be able to come up even in that regard.

The second match was longer, but arguably just as one-sided. The five-man team of upperclassmen from Tyrman were facing off against a team of wild mages from Zaban. The Zaban students put up a good fight in the beginning and very nearly succeeded in trapping the Tyrman group under a massive pile of stone. But the tall, smug youth got free at the last second, and via a barrage of devastatingly powerful spells, knocked out the enemy team. It was just him standing at the end, but he’d received the loudest applause so far.

The crowd dispersed then, preparing for the evening meal and entertainment. Every night, there was a demonstration from each of the five schools, displaying their particular talents in an attempt to show off. It was always a good time, and the displays were talked about for months afterward. Michael ate in silence, not joining in the discussion with the others, and walked away to bed before the entertainment even began. Tired as they were, the others weren’t long in following him.

Megan’s eyes opened to reveal a concrete path bordered on either side by deep snow. She let a wide grin spread across her face, in spite of the freezing air around her. It was obviously Eric’s house, which was exactly where she’d wanted to end up tonight. She wasn’t sure if her desire had any effect in putting her there or not, but she chose to believe that the strange magic that transported her back and forth was swayed by her own convictions.

Eric answered the door almost at once when she rang his doorbell. A broad grin split his face as soon as he saw who it was, and he gestured her inside to warm by the fire. She was only too happy to comply., shuddering as the warm air washed over her, dispelling the numbing cold she’d been briefly exposed to. She sat in the same worn armchair she’d used on the last visit, grinning eagerly up at Eric as he followed her over.

“I’ve got a lot to tell you today,” she said eagerly. “I met someone very interesting, and they knew you well. They’ve got a message for you.”

“Who was the message from?” Eric asked at once, his eyes curious and bright with interest.

“Master Ehran,” she said. “He said to tell you that he is proud of you. If you ever manage to find a way back, he looks forward to continuing his lesson.”

“That sounds just like him,” Eric said with a quiet chuckle. “Hopefully he’s doing alright since I left. I wouldn’t want him to be too sad after my death.”

“He seems very purposeful,” Megan said. “He seemed a lot happier when he was discussing you, though. You must have been one very good student.”

“I wasn’t that good,” Eric said with a slight shake of the head. “I still had… I still have a lot to learn.”

“Fair enough,” Megan agreed. Then she froze in the act of brushing her hair out o her eyes and slowly turned to face him. The particular way in which he’d been speaking had pinged something in her mind. “Wait. What do you mean? Can you remember your time in Ahya now?”

That broad grin spread across his face again as he looked at her. “Yep. It just came over me suddenly, all at once. I remember everything. Emma, Samuel, Ehran, even the corrupt trader who was the first to hire me.”

“Wow,” she said slowly, her eyes wide. “That’s amazing. I’m so happy for you!”

He nodded eagerly. “I was waiting for you to come to visit again so that I could tell you. Been waiting almost a week now. I could hardly focus on work.”

“Samuel will be very happy to hear that you’ve regained your memories,” Megan said, just remembering. “He was very upset after your death in Ahya.”

“Ah, that’s right,” Eric said, jumping to his feet suddenly. “I’ve got to show you something.”

He raced away into the depths of his house, leaving a perplexed Megan behind. But she had only a few seconds to wonder at the strange change in his attitude before he was back, holding a piece of paper folded into thirds. He practically leaped back into the comfortable recliner and thrust the paper at her. It was thick and yellowy, she realized. Not paper at all. It was parchment. She took it with a look of confusion, and when he nodded encouragingly, she unfolded it. It was a letter to Eric, written in Samuel’s hand. At the bottom, just before the signature, one line stood out.

I can only hope that, in some distant future, you can regain the memories you made here. If that time comes, you will know how to reach me.

Megan looked up from Samuel’s slanted, scrawling writing with a smile. “So you can get in touch with him now! That’s great!”

“Well,” Eric said, drawing the word out most hesitantly. “I don’t actually.”

“Don’t… what?” Megan asked blankly. “You don’t know how to reach him?”

Eric shook his head. “I don’t know if I’m still missing something or not, but I really can’t remember him teaching me any way to get in contact. I wasn’t very good at magic, you see.”

Megan leaned closer to the fire and put her chin in her hands, humming thoughtfully. Surely there was some spell she knew that could span the distance between Earth and Ahya, to let Samuel know that Eric’s memories had returned. A simple spell, most likely. Then she had it and clapped a hand to her face in embarrassment. Grinning at the slightly alarmed Eric, she explained.

“It’s very simple,” she said confidently. “We literally just have to call him. He’ll hear us, or maybe you, across the distance. I’m guessing he’s got some kind of magic that could allow such a thing.”

“You really think that would work?”

Megan nodded enthusiastically, actually leaning towards him, gesturing for him to try it. Looking distinctly uncertain, he opened his mouth and spoke tentatively into the silence.

“Samuel?”

Almost at once, there was a flicker of movement in the air beside the fireplace. It wasn’t the creation of mana or even the strange distortion of space that was the sign of a teleportation spell being used. Rather, it seemed that the air was being forced out of the way to make space for something else. A very tall figure, with shaggy black hair interrupted by a single white streak, and bright violet eyes appeared, grinning ear to ear.

Eric jumped to his feet in surprise as Samuel straightened up, brushing a little dust off his blue robes. His grin still firmly in place, he also showed a great deal of suppressed sadness in those purple eyes. They shined with emotion as they eagerly scanned Eric’s features, and the smile wavered somewhat.

“I was starting to fear I’d never hear from you,” Samuel finally said, his voice oddly croaky. “It’s been well over a year, you know. I’m glad to see that you’re well.”

Looking more than a little befuddled, Eric lifted one arm to shake Samuel’s hand. The Archmage ignored this gesture, and instead pulled him into a rough embrace. Eric returned the gesture, his face showing great confusion, but he patted Samuel’s back awkwardly all the same. When they finally broke apart, he looked at the tall, thin mage in some confusion.

“What’s wrong, Samuel?” He asked. “My death wasn’t that bad, was it?”

“No, that’s not it,” Samuel admitted. “I just realized that I rather messed a lot up when it came to you. You suffered a great deal, due to my intervention.”

Eric looked slightly annoyed now, but a slight hint of eagerness overlapped it. “I already told you, Samuel. I was more than happy with my time in Ahya. In fact, I want to go back. Can you transport me over again?”