Stepping through the blue portal, my foot lands in soft, fluffy snow. I close my eyes, breathe deeply of the frigid air, and savor the crunching sound that accompanies my every step. I move slowly and deliberately, absorbing every second into my soul like a man lost in a splendid dream. Said dream comes to an abrupt end when Katherine wraps her arms around my right arm with her teeth chattering and her body shaking from the cold. I take off my outer coat and wrap it around Katherine. “We’ll get to shelter soon. The inn in Winterspring is close to the entrance gate.”

After a short march through the snow, we come to the town’s front gate. It’s magically sealed to keep outsiders from entering freely. I place my hand on the gate’s lock. Then channeling my mana into it, I recite the magical pass code, “Tears don’t freeze in paradise.”

The gate clanks open and we pass through. I start to turn towards the street with the inn, but Sidney tugs me in the opposite direction. “Instead of the inn, let’s go to Silvia’s house.”

I don’t have any objections so I let her lead the way. When we arrive at Silvia’s humble single story house, Sidney knocks on the door while Katherine and I hang back. After about ten seconds, Silvia opens the door. Sidney stands in front of her big sister saying nothing at all. Silvia gazes at her mutely for a moment and then throws her arms around her. “Sidney! What are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story. I also brought some friends. One, you might recognize.”

I step forward and let Silvia take a good look at me. She stares closely at me and eyes me from head to toe. “It couldn’t be. Souladonis Rosengarden?”

I bow my head slightly. “It’s good to see you Silvia.”

A bit confused and overwhelmed, Silvia invites us inside her house. We follow her into her salon where we make proper introductions. I present to her Katherine and she presents her fourteen-year-old apprentice Heather Byrdzyc. Apparently, in the time that I’ve been gone, not only has Silvia become Arch Lord Aerolyso’s right hand man, so to speak, but also she’s become a successful teacher in her own right. By her own admission, she is in fact Winterspring Academy’s most popular teacher as voted by the students. But when I look at her wavy shoulder length blonde hair, her violet eye shadow, magenta lipstick, sleeveless white blouse, and sensible black skirt, I can’t help but think that she may have an unfair advantage at obtaining popularity points. I mean even when we were kids Silvia was attractive, but now she’s just downright gorgeous. Looking like a goddess incarnate couldn’t hurt her popularity. That’s all I’m saying.

At Silvia’s command, Heather merrily skips off to cook us all dinner. Sidney removes her white veil and reveals her bald head to Silvia. Then she tells the whole story of how she became a death mage, was used and abused, kicked out, and nearly had her head chopped off in Magali. Silvia listens attentively, while struggling futilely to choke back her bitter tears.

For whatever reason Sidney overly lavishes my role in the whole ordeal, making me sound like some sort of guardian angel or something. I assure Silvia that I did very little for Sidney that she couldn’t have done herself. Furthermore, I remind Sidney that I still owe her my life for saving me from Master Simon. All the same, in her gratitude, Silvia invites Sidney, Katherine, and me to stay with her for as long as we want.

An hour into our conversation, Heather skips back into the room to tell us that dinner is ready. We sit down to the dinner table to find a luxurious dinner composed of steak, crab, asparagus, and mashed potatoes, all prepared by Silvia’s apprentice. “Does Silvia ever teach you magic or does she just make you do stuff for her?” I ask Heather.

“She just makes me do stuff for her,” Heather replies without the least mental reflection.

“You’re so bad Heather!” Silvia snaps. “Heather is Winterspring’s most promising young Falconer class mage. I teach her all that there is to know about falconry.”

“So then you’re a Falconer class mage yourself?”

“Actually, a Master Falconer: the ultra class form, but yes. How about you Souladonis? What class did you end up joining?”

I smile politely to hide my deep shame from my former academic rival. “I still don’t have a class. I’ve learned Life, Illusion, and Summoning Magic in addition to Elemental Magic, but I never joined a class.”

“Oh. I see.”

I shovel food into my mouth as an excuse to not look Silvia in the eyes. I always figured that my former classmates would have gone on with their lives to become happy and successful. It seems that I was correct. I’ve traveled the entire world, battled great monsters including one of the four immortal beasts, become rich, and mastered new magic spells, but the only significant things that I have to show for my life are my servant-for-three-months and the golden elixir in my pocket. Still, I’m glad to see Silvia again. It will help me to have closure in case things go wrong in my imminent battle against the gargoyle familiar.

With that thought in mind, I cut to the chase. “Silvia, I’ve come back for Nadine. Is everything the same with the Forbidden Tower?”

She uncomfortably stabs her fork at the piece of steak on her plate. An awkward silence fills the air, but I wait for her to answer. “What happened back then Souladonis…everyone’s moved on. You don’t have to…”

“I’ll take that as meaning everything is the same. I’ll go in the morning then.”

“You’re going to die!” she shouts all of a sudden, slamming her fist on the table.

All eyes fall on me in silence. I know what they’re thinking. I know that she’s probably right. But none of it matters. I have no choice. “Nadine lost her life because of me. I have no right to live on happily and forget about her. Unless I do this Silvia, I’m as good as dead already.”

Silvia holds up her hand to stop me from saying anything more. “Fine Souladonis. If that’s what you feel like you have to do, then I can’t stop you. All that I ask is that before you go to the Forbidden Tower, talk to Master Aerolyso first. He may know some way to help you.”

I accept her advice. True to her nature, Katherine asks Silvia a million questions about Winterspring and lightens the mood in the room. We then have a pleasant meal together, share some more stories, and then settle in for the night. Heather returns to her own house, Sidney shares Silvia’s room, Katherine takes the guest room, and I’m stuck with sleeping on a couch in the salon. I don’t really mind though. I’ve spent countless nights sleeping under the stars. Having a roof over my head is more than enough for me.

As I lay on the couch by myself, I reflect on Silvia’s words. She’s likely right. Logic says that I can’t win against the familiar of the first Arch Lord. I’ve come a long way with my magic skills, but I’m far from ready for this fight. The best that I can do is distract the gargoyle long enough for Katherine to pour the immortality elixir on Nadine. I’ll do everything in my power to protect them until they can escape. Also, unlike before, if the gargoyle projects the petrification curse towards them, then I’ll jump in the way instead of out of the way and take the hit for them. It’s the least that I can do to make up for the six years of life that Nadine has lost.

Any way that I look at it, tomorrow is likely my last day. Somberly, I summon a note pad and a quill pen. Then carefully I write out my last will. Afterwards, I meticulously construct a new song for Katherine. I think about fully confessing my feelings for her in the lyrics, but I only manage to make an ambiguous expression of them. I rationalize my lack of courage as sparing Katherine’s feelings. There’s no point in telling her that I want to be with her forever when I only have one day left to be with her. That would be cruel. For both of us.