“Oh Souladonis. Come back to me.”

I can hear a voice calling me. I have consciousness but no strength in my body. I’m not even able to open my eyelids. I try with all my might to force my eyes open, but my efforts are in vain.

The voice speaks again. “Oh Souladonis. I miss you so much.”

I feel the soft touch of a hand on my hand and my awareness increases. I realize that somehow I’m both conscious and asleep at the same time. I have to wake myself up, but trying to move my body doesn’t work. Maybe if I try circulating mana through my body it will give me the necessary strength. Infusing my body with Soul Magic, I force life into my body and sit up calling out, “Katherine!”

My eyes snap open and I regain sense in my body. I find myself sitting in a bed with purple sheets pulled over my legs. There’s a light blue wall to my right and a wide open door in front of me. I look over to the left and realize that I’m in a bedroom. But unless I’m mistaken, this room is...

“Souladonis you’re awake!”

I stare at the person standing next to the bed until my eyes can focus enough on her face to recognize her. After a few seconds the hazy blur fades away and I see her face clearly.

It can’t be! I know this woman. Esmeralda Christina Rosengarden. My mother!

She hastily runs to the open door while I struggle to get out of the bed. “Alphonse!” she shouts. “Come quick. Souladonis is awake.”

Oh no. I’ve got to get out of here. I scoot to the edge of the bed to stand, but my knees buckle and I fall right back into the bed. Again, I try to stand, but my mother runs over to me and pushes downwards on my shoulders forcing me to remain seated. “Don’t try to move son. You’ve been unconscious for eight days. I’m sure you’re feeling weak.”

“I didn’t mean to come here!” I tell her.

I try to break free from her grasp, but she’s right about me feeling weak. Before I can escape, the worst thing imaginable happens, my father Alphonse Amadeus Rosengarden enters the room. Right away, he comes towards me shouting, “Souladonis! My son!”

“I didn’t use your name!” I blurt out. “I didn’t use your name…”

My parents share a look of confusion. Then they push me down on the bed making me lay down flat. “It’s okay Souladonis. You’re safe now son,” my father says.

“I didn’t mean to come here,” I say again.

“Relax son. Just breathe and calm down.”

I feel completely caught off guard seeing my parents again. Not only am I physically weak, but also my mind is blown from being in this unforeseen situation. After the shame that I brought to my family’s name, I never planned on coming here again. Out of options and completely helpless, I just lie in bed and wait for my parents’ words of condemnation.

Unexpectedly, my mother leans over, wraps her arms around me, and begins weeping. “My son! I’m so happy that you’ve come back.”

“You’re happy?”

“Souladonis son, what are you saying? Your mother and I have missed you terribly.”

“But I got Nadine turned into stone, dropped out of school, and ran away from home. I thought that you’d never want to see me again.”

“Son, your mother and I love you very much. We will always love you.”

“Welcome home son,” my mother says before weeping even harder.

I wrap my arms around my mother hugging her tightly. “Dad, there was a girl. She has light brownish skin, and brown hair. She should have come to town with Nadine.”

“Katherine, you mean? She’s at the academy right now. She should be back in an hour.”

“And Nadine?”

“Nadine’s back at her house with her parents. She was pretty shaken up when she learned that she was frozen in stone for six years. Apparently, from her perspective the six years were only a second. She’s not taking the shock too well.”

“That’s what I was afraid of. I’ve got to go apologize to her.”

I try to slide out of bed, but my mother stops me again. “You must be hungry Souladonis. Let me make dinner for you.”

My stomach grumbles at the prospect of food, so I agree. An hour later, dinner is ready, and Katherine returns from the academy. Along with my father, she helps me out of bed and walks me to the dinner table. They place me in my father’s usual seat at the head of the table and then take the immediate next seats with Katherine on my left and my father on the right. Next to my father is my mother who has prepared a salad for each of us accompanied by shrimp scampi and rice pilaf. Before eating my parents say a prayer of gratitude for my return and then divvy out the food.

I look down at the plate in front of me and at the smiling faces of my parents and Katherine. None of this seems real. I’m starting to think that maybe I’m dreaming. I ask, “Katherine how is it that I’m here at my parents house? I should have died at the top of the Forbidden Tower.”

Katherine answers, “After I got Nadine back to her house, I went to get Arch Lord Aerolyso. We rushed back to the tower to see what happened. We found you unconscious and in bad shape. Your injuries were critical, but not beyond Life Magic. After that Arch Lord Aerolyso and I carried you here and put you in your old bedroom. He said that you were suffering from the worst case of mana shock that he had ever seen in his life, but that you would wake up eventually. That’s pretty much it.”

“Oh,” I say dumbfounded. I still can’t believe that this is real. I thought for sure that I wouldn’t see another day. I practically felt myself die at the tower. But then I guess that was actually severe mana shock and not death. Coming to grips with my survival, I make the most of my fortune and enjoy my dinner. Afterwards, I begin to feel weak again, so I go back to bed. Katherine quietly sits at the edge of the bed next to me until I fall asleep.

The next day more of my strength returns. I’m able to walk on my own, so around midday I travel to Arch Lord Aerolyso’s office. He readily lets me in and I hobble over to the chair in front of his desk. “Master Aerolyso thank you for coming to the tower and saving me.”

My words surprise him. “Me saving you? I didn’t save you.”

“Didn’t you heal me with your Life Magic?”

“No, not me. Katherine healed you.”

“Really? She didn’t tell me that.”

“Yes, she displayed a great deal of magical power. I was extremely impressed. I haven’t seen a life mage that powerful since an old friend of mine. Shaman Terranostra.”

I try not to react to guard Katherine’s secret, but my intrigue gives me away. “That girl,” Master Aerolyso says. “Is she the daughter of Terranostra?”

I nod reluctantly. Master Aerolyso pounds his right fist in his left palm. “I knew it!”

I decide to change the subject from Katherine. “Master Aerolyso, I ended up surviving against all odds and expectations – especially my own. For six years all that I’ve done is dream about finding a cure for the petrification curse and defeating the gargoyle familiar. Now that my dream has come true, I feel completely lost. I don’t know what else to do with my life.”

Master Aerolyso leans back in his chair and thinks. “Well, you could always reenlist here at Winterspring Academy. Of course, I’ll have to give you extra homework to make up for the six years of classes that you skipped. How about a book report? Write me a complete report of your adventures over the past six years. Then we’ll call your academic debt settled. Deal?”

“Deal. Thank you Master.”

I start to stand up from the seat, but he stops me saying, “Wait. Before you go, there’s one other thing.”

He reaches under his desk and pulls up the golden staff that the gargoyle Cornelius had been guarding. “This is yours. But before you do anything with it, I have to ask whether or not you read Arch Lord Horatio’s note.”

“No, I didn’t see a note.”

He hands me a slip of parchment, which reads, “If you are reading this note, then you have acquired my staff, Sophia. Please, you must destroy it or hide it where nobody will ever find it again! Such a dangerous weapon was never meant to exist in this world. However, I owed so much to it that I did not have the heart to destroy it myself. Please, act wisely. If this staff were to fall into the wrong hands, then it could cause the downfall of all of human society!”

I raise my left eyebrow glaring at the staff. “It doesn’t look that dangerous to me, but I wasn’t familiar with its affixes. Did you see its tag Master?”

“I did and I had to look up the affixes myself. Apparently this staff causes its holder to learn everything three times faster than normal.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

I carelessly tap the staff’s head against the floor. “That doesn’t sound like the ultimate weapon to me. Although it could be just the thing that I need to catch up on my studies. Silvia’s gotten way ahead of me. This staff will help me to catch up to her.”

Arch Lord Aerolyso sighs. “Yes perhaps, but Arch Lord Horatio’s warning scares me. I suppose I don’t mind if you keep it, but promise me one thing Souladonis.”

“What Master?”

“Never tell anyone about what that staff does.”

I have to think his demand over for a moment. It seems excessive, but I suppose that I could see the danger of some maniac stealing it and then using it for evil. “I promise Master.”

“Good. I’ll expect your report before the end of the next semester.”

“Yes Master.”

Using my new staff, Sophia, as a walking cane, I head back home. On the way I encounter Nadine walking in the opposite direction. I freeze like a deer in front of her, but then my desperation overrides my hesitation. “Nadine!” I shout. “It’s me Souladonis. I’m so sorry for what happened at the Forbidden Tower. Please forgive me.”

Nadine walks on, pretending to neither see nor hear me. “Forgive me Nadine!” I plead.

She still ignores me. I hang my head low and return to my house.