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Magical Essence Ch. 01

By: noplex



Note from author: I was working on the second chapter to 'Dade' when I got the idea for this story. The idea came over me so much, that I decided to write the first chapter in this story before I finished 'Dade' (which should be done soon). Please leave your comments and suggestions.

Scene I: The Town of Emmert

The carriage rounded the bend that led up to the small town of Emmert, which was only a few leagues away from the the border to the Magi lands. A long trail of dust kicked up as the carriage slowly made its way into the center of the small village, stopping just in front of the only town inn. Meredith pulled back the curtains on the window of the carriage, sighing heavily, and then looking towards her sleeping Master. The two had been journeying for several weeks now since Eliza, her Master, decided to take the position of Ambassador to the Magi city of Tevrin. The two cities, although both Magi in descendant, had been having problems that neither wanted to further escalate. 

Eliza was taken into apprenticeship at a very young age, mainly because women magi develop at a younger age than males. Although most women magi ended up as field servants, or house maids, Eliza was different—she proved to be much stronger than the average male magi, and this is precisely what caused the ArchMage Esterme to train her personally. She finished her training only a few months prior to taking the Ambassador position, but was required to take on an apprentice before leaving the city. Eliza chose Meredith because she had just lost her original Master, whom was killed in a skirmish between a barbarian brigade, and because she was the only female mage that was currently enrolled in the academics. 

Meredith loathed being the apprentice of a female mage, even though she was Eliza's apprentice, whom was well known throughout all of the magic community. Eliza was only a few years older than her, and this caused some jealously to flow through Meredith. Any time Eliza gave her a task, she made sure to complete it to perfection, and even leaps and bounds past that. They had been playing games with the common folk through the past weeks of travel, and had fun at doing that. The main rule throughout the magic community was not to allow common folk to see magical powers, even though they knew that they existed, and these two skated the thin ice wearing clogs. 

Eliza stirred as the carriage stopped, raising her arms and let out a loud yawn. She moved the curtain from one of the windows looking around a little, giving a brief glance at Meredith, and opened the door to step out of the carriage. 'This girl has been cooked up too long, I need to give her something to do to keep up her interest' she though, looking around the small town. She settled her eyes on a young man shoeing a horse, and grinned.

"Meredith, come out here please, make haste.", Eliza called, watching the young man with close eyes. He seemed about Meredith's age, at least eighteen years, and was in great shape. 'This girl needs to learn a little big about charm.'

Meredith groaned as she stepped out, "Yes, Master? I have been in that coach for nearly three days straight and I expected to sleep..."

"Hush. You see that young man over there", she motioned towards the blacksmith shop, "The one shoeing the horse? Listen closely, this is what I want you to do.", Eliza breathed in deep for a second, and grinned. Meredith sighed. "I want you to put your charm on that young man, he seems your age, and bring him over to the pub over there.", she pointed down the street, "I will be getting some food and drink."

Meredith laughed, "Is that it? You really need to give me..."

"Did I say I was finished? Really Meredith, you must learn to wait to speak. Bring him to the pub, no magic, no charms, no incantations, and no skin." She grinned, "Touching, talking, and kissing is allowed." Meredith's eyes widened, "No magic, but Master..."

Eliza put her hand up, and began walking towards the pub up the street. Meredith sighed again, looking towards her mark, and taking him in closely. She guessed he was her age, maybe a year older at best, and he had to be an apprentice. She hated talking to the common folk, not because she was shy, but because she used to be one herself. She knows exactly how she was discriminated against when she was a common, and still feels the burn now that she is a magi. Eliza has helped some of that though, bringing credit to the woman in the business, but there was still some hate there. Meredith started walking towards him, watching as he finished shoeing the horse he was working on. 'Perfect timing, maybe I can invite him for some supper'

"Hello", she spoke quietly as she walked up to him, 'Wow, he really is something, the distance does not do him the justice.' Meredith looked at the horses he had finished, and realized this would probably be her way in. She smiled, "My companion and I just arrived on a coach from the western cities... we are looking for a horse or two for the ride south." She extended her hand, "I am Meredith."

The man looked up as she spoke, 'She is beautiful' he thought, extending his hand to shake hers. His head turned to survey the horses that he had penned, "Well, all of these would be good for a safe ride...", his thoughts trailed for a moment, he stared at her, "Why are you going south? Emmert is the only village before the magi borderline. Are you sure about those directions?"

Meredith cursed herself for a moment, "I meant southeast, oh my, that would have been a bad route now wouldn't it?", turning for a moment to look towards the pub. Eliza was ordering her supper at this moment, Meredith knew it, and she had to act fast. She looked back at him, "I'm sorry, I did not get your name."

The man hit his face, laughing a bit loud, "Forgive my manners, I am Gavin.", he looked at her again, taking in her full body. "Meredith, right? Well if you go to the general store you could purchase a map..."

"No, we do not need a map. Would you mind coming to the pub with me to talk further, I am a bit famished, and my companion would probably like to meet you." Meredith reached out and grabbed his hand, beginning to walk towards the pub, but he pulled back. 

"I am sorry Meredith, but I am bound here, I cannot leave without the consent of my Master.", the young man looked at her disappointed, for sure he would love to have supper with her. He cursed his situation, but reached down for his toolbox. "You go have a bite to eat, and come back after you have spoken with your friend. I will be here all night."

Meredith shook her head quickly, 'Damn, I am losing him, damn Eliza', she thought further, she was not going to lose this game simply because Eliza picked a young man who actually believed in hard work rather than sexual appeal, "But surely an apprentice has but a little time for..."

"I am not an apprentice. I am bound here. I am an slave to the Smithy that owns this shop", his voice was shallow, his eyes left hers as he started to turn away to pick up his tools. Gavin liked to avoid these situations, speaking about why he was there in the first place, and why he could not leave. All to many of these like situations have happened to him before, but this woman was beautiful, 'Four more years, just four more.' he thought to himself, 'Then I am free.'

Meredith's eyes narrowed, 'A slave at eighteen? How could that have happened? I do not think I will ever understand these common folk', she opened her mouth to speak when a loud whistle came from the entrance to the pub. She turned, expecting Eliza to be standing there smiling, waving her over, and letting her know that her time was up. But something else, a rather large man was hanging out of the door and looking their way, he whistled again, pointing directly at Gavin. The young man recognized him immediately and lifted his head.

"Gavin, you, get over here boy. Bring that lass with you, I am here with her Master right now", the man shouted, "Make haste now, don't keep me waiting boy", walking back into the pub with his glass of ale. Gavin and Meredith began a light jog towards the pub together, and they both entered the pub walking towards their Masters. Eliza was sitting at a table across from the large man, whom Meredith thought had to be the Smithy, she grinned up at Meredith and patted the seat next to her.

Gavin was the first to speak, he wanted to make his position clear, so he would not be in the wrong, "Master, I was simply being polite and dealing with business, they were interested in..."

"Quiet, Gavin, I spoke to Eliza here already.", he turned and looked at the young man, and then back at Eliza, who gave a slight smile. "She has bought the remaining four years on your contract", he took a sip from his mug, "You are released into her custody as of now." He turned slapped Gavin hard on the back, "Do you understand?"

Gavin winced in pain, but looked at these new strangers with a bit of curiosity. Why had they bought out his contract, and where exactly are they going? He nodded to the Smithy's question, and looked at Eliza whom stood up and shook the Smithy's hand. Without a word, Eliza walked out of the pub with Meredith and Gavin following close behind. He still did not understand exactly what was going on, but from his view as of right now, he was sure to be happy out of the Smithy's hands.

"We will leave tomorrow morning, the ride should not be long, I am sure of it.", Eliza spoke as they walked into the entrance of the inn. She paid for a single room, with one bed, and they began the ascent the staircase to the room. The two followed in as Eliza opened the door to the room, and threw her small bag against the wall. 

Gavin found a spot against the wall, and slid down to prop himself up against it. He found it best to never ask questions unless there was dire emergency, and it was not the time to ask questions yet. But he was sure that the morning would bring more answers, and all he wanted at this point was sleep—a well deserved sleep he thought—six years of well deserved sleep.

"What are you doing?", Eliza looked down at Gavin, her face perplexed a bit.

"Oh, sorry Master, I thought I could sleep here... I will sleep outside.", Gavin stood up quickly and made way for the door, but Eliza stepped in his way. Gavin swallowed hard, 'What did I do wrong?'

"Please, call me Eliza, I never liked the word Master.", Eliza said, and grinned at Meredith, who scowled. Eliza had made a point to Meredith a long time ago that she should be called Master, simply because it was out of respect of her authority, "The bed is for you Gavin."

"But, I don't understand...", his words were broke soon as he saw Meredith push her legs up off the ground and levitate into a sleeping position. She shuffled her weight, and ended up being satisfied on her side facing away from the two. Meredith did not like the idea of brining a common folk into the magi lands with them, and all the less, into the bedroom. 'They might get the wrong idea', she thought, 'I am the apprentice, not him, damn Eliza and her games!'

Eliza laughed, at both Gavin's gaping expression, and at Meredith, "I suppose we should have explained that all the more, but I suppose now it is quite evident", she did the same as Meredith, but decided up sleeping on her back, "I am a Mage, and she is my apprentice. You can take the bed—we leave at first light." She closed her eyes, and shifted only a slight bit, "Sleep well."

Gavin stood in front of the bed, and laid down with a hard flop. At the beginning of this day all he had to do was shoe a few horses, and make sure that the Smithy's shop was clean. Nowhere in his most wildest dreams did he expect to be sold to a female, and a mage at that! Her apprentice being a beauty in itself, but his new Master was only a few years older than himself. Even through her simple clothing, she looked great, and nobody could mistake that from her. He facial features were soft, she had a slender body with nice perky breasts, and a rear end to top it all off. 'I am sleeping in between two Magi females, who would have thought?'

Scene II: The Road to Tevrin

The next morning came quickly for Gavin, by the time he had awoken both of the women were already up and out of the room. He walked over to the basin, washing himself quickly, and moved out the door. He has not had such a good sleep in six long years, and he was truly appreciative Eliza's thought of getting him a bed. 'Sleeping on the floor does not do just, I could sleep in a bed for the rest of my years and never get old of it.'

"Ah ha, I told you, three minutes exactly.", Eliza snapped her fingers at Meredith as Gavin walked out of the door of the inn. Both women were leaning out of the carriage that they arrived in not but a day before, Eliza waved Gavin into the carriage, "We have food—bread and cheese—make haste, I wish to off soon."

Gavin stepped into the carriage and sat down next to Meredith, he grabbed a piece of bread and some cheese, eating it quite hungrily. Meredith was looking out the window as the carriage began to move, Eliza stared down Gavin for a few minutes before she broke the silence, "So how about we trade some questions Gavin, I know you must have quite a few. You are eighteen, correct?"

He nodded his head, "Yes, Master, I have just turned last moon."

"Please, once again, call me Eliza.", she took a bite from her bread, and looked at her apprentice. "Meredith is almost eighteen as well. She is a feisty one, you may want to be careful around her. She's had very little male intimacy."

Gavin's eyes widened as he looked at Meredith, who shot a look at Eliza, and turned her head back out of the window. He looked back at Eliza, "May I question why you bought my contract out, Mas...Eliza?"

"Sure. We are going to need a field hand, and instead of making Meredith all of do it, I wanted someone with a bit more muscle. I also felt a bit for your situation, I couldn't imagine how horrible being a slave was.", she spoke softly. Eliza did not want to get Gavin stirred up, even though he was a common folk, he could very easily be roused. But Eliza did not reveal her true intent for buying Gavin's contract out, and that was because she felt a magical presence in him. Even though the aura was small, barely visible, it might be able to be trimmed into something manageable. If he was any magi descendant, he most definitely should not be couped up slaving away with a hammer.

'She did not know the half of it', he thought to himself, 'I owe this woman anything she wishes of me, for four years, I suppose that can't be as bad as the Smithy' Gavin daydreamed of sexual escapades with both Eliza and Meredith, feeling their warm bodies against him, kissing their soft lips. His thoughts went further, bringing pleasure to both of them, watching them bring pleasure to each other. But his daydream was stopped short as Meredith broke the silence.

"Eliza, you cannot bring a common folk into the magi lands! What are you thinking? We are both going to be burned for this, and I have done nothing wrong!", Meredith almost screamed, she had been thinking about this for the whole night. "I do not understand you sometimes, and to think, you are representing our city as..."

Eliza reached out and struck Meredith rather hard across the head, "How many times have I told you? You are to call me Master!", she growled, leaning back in her seat and fixing her composure. She looked over at Gavin, who had pushed himself into the corner watching the two. 'The thought of two magi attacking each other inside this carriage has probably got this boy spooked!', she thought, and grinned at that. "Do not fret my apprentice, everything will be fine, and you shall not worry."

Meredith opened her mouth to reply, but Eliza uttered a series of words, and Meredith fell into a deep sleep. Gavin reached out and lifted Meredith's hand up, and letting it fall back onto the seat. He laughed, "Could I have ever used that, what a tool that would be.", he looked back at his Master, "Is she always that disrespectful? If I was ever like that I would not be here today."

Eliza smirked at his action, and nodded, "She is always like the such. I have gained her apprenticeship from a magi that has passed, and she does not seem to think I am worthy of teaching her. Quite a bitchy thing is she not?" She started speaking again before Gavin could reply, "But she is right, it was not right of me to bring you along, but I always liked to get the others to notice me. I am an Ambassador from another magi city, and they will cater to me.", Eliza nodded to herself, not really speaking to Gavin at all.

He thought it best not to ask anymore questions, this had been enough for him to laugh himself into oblivion, and the day had barely begun. He had wondered what their trip had been like before he joined, and assumed that similar circumstances had gone on. Gavin reached over Meredith's sleeping form and grabbed her food, and began eating it. Eliza just shook her head with a smile, sprawling out along the opposite seat and resting her eyes.

Two hours passed in what seemed like only a few minutes, and Gavin had drifted off into a light slumber when he was awoken by a loud crash. The carriage had been practically blown to pieces, and Gavin was now looking up from the ground at two Magi clad in similar gray garments. Eliza stood up, brushing the dust and dirt off her and stared down the two. Meredith stirred, finally waking up from the spell, and rubbed her eyes.

"What do you think you two are doing!", Eliza screamed, walking over to the two Magi guards whom had their staffs pointed at Gavin's midsection. Eliza pushed one back, and yelling loudly at him. "I am an Ambassador, and you have just committed an act of war! Do you understand what you've done, you fools, you idiots, why did you attack me?"

The guard stuttered for a few seconds, looking over at his companion, and then nodded to Gavin. "This man, this man is a common folk. We cannot allow him past us, this is the law of the land. " The second guard looked back down at Gavin, giving him a quick kick to the ribs when he attempted to shift away from the angle of the staff. Eliza gave the guard another push, 'These fools are scared out of their hides', she thought, and she began asking to signal their commander. Gavin stirred some more, he most definitely did not want to get between two women magi fighting, but now he was between Eliza and two guards. The magi guard had pushed the staff up towards his neck now, and Gavin being a little daring, had pushed it away. The guard looked down at him again, with dark scowling eyes, and began uttering a few words. Gavin heard the word, or at least, what he thought was, 'weaken', and he put his hands up across his midsection.

As the magi finished his incantation, a trail of purple flowed from the tip of his staff and hit Gavin in the midsection. But something unexpected happened, even though it was quick, a flash of bright purple traveled back up the staff and circulated through the Magi's body. The guard looked uneasy for a brief moment, dropping his staff at his side, and collapsing to the ground. Gavin attempted to prop himself up on his arms to get away, but felt something overcome him, and everything faded to black—he collapsed down where he was lying.

Eliza turned from where she was standing, her eyes widened in surprise, and she wondered what had just happened. Both were now on the ground, not moving, and she had caught the quick pulse of a Weaken spell, but almost immediately, another bright purple pulse hit the guard. She strode over towards Gavin, who was lying on the ground, and piles of sweat forming on his face. 

"You, get your commander down here now, your guard attacked my field hand.", Eliza leaned down and checked the boy, and then she looked up at Meredith, who was still recovering from her sleeping spell. "Meredith, girl, get over here and tend to Gavin. He was attacked, did you not see, they first attacked our carriage, and then they attacked our field hand. Poor boy. I hope he does not die. I would not want to see the look on the Head Magi's face when he hears about this.", she shook her head.


Magical Essence Ch. 01



The remaining guard looked down at his friend, and shook him for a few minutes. He looked up at Eliza, then to Meredith, and finally to the boy lying on the ground. He was most definitely not going to get yelled at for this—the guard waved his hand at Eliza, "You may go through, I will speak to the commander about what has happened", he looked at Gavin, "and your field hand."

Scene III: The New Home

The beauty of magic is that many things can be reconstructed, and that is just what Eliza did with their carriage. In less than an hour, they arrived at their new home, a small cabin just outside of the city's limits—this was something that Eliza had requested, she loved her peace, and she wanted to make sure that she had a good amount of area to defuse Meredith's attitude. As they approached the cabin, the trees seemed to part as they entered the "drive way" which lead up to the entrance walkway of their grounds. Many beautiful flowers of all sorts lined this drive way, and the walkway to the front door of the cabin seemed to have each stone laid by hand. The second that Eliza stepped out of the carriage, she knew that she was most definitely how home now, and this was exactly—more than—she had expected upon arriving.

By the orders of Eliza, Meredith had pulled Gavin out of the carriage and laid him down on the couch that was inside their cabin. Eliza told her to tend to Gavin, and that meant making him food, making sure he was comfortable, and basically being his servant until whenever Eliza said otherwise. She grunted, 'Damn that Eliza, bringing a common folk into these lands, and then giving me the displeasure of tending to him.' Her thoughts strayed for a few moments, 'Although, he his kind of cute, and very polite.' She traced her hand down his clothed chest, 'Very good shape.', she thought.

Eliza walked in and looked at Meredith, she smiled, and looked down at Gavin with slightly concerned eyes. The signs that he was producing were not signs of the Weaken spell, for, he would most definitely be awakened by now. Eliza was not too sure about what he was experiencing, but from all that she could tell, it seemed to be some sort of magic drain. If she was indeed correct, this boy had some sort of magical presence about him, and he was not a commoner at all. But when looked upon, his aura was as gray as all others—absolutely no sign of magic—but she was trained a little bit harder in looking for signs. Her mentor was a ArchMage, and he had taught our other ways of detecting magic besides the normal methods. He did have an aura, faint, but it had grown as they have entered the lands. Her attention was broken when she saw Meredith looking down at him, 'This girl, she really does need to learn a bit about intimacy, I left her alone with a boy for an hour and nothing has come of it.'

"Meredith, I have a task for you, and you will do it yes?", she looked down at her apprentice, and Meredith looked up confused. "Meredith?", the girl nodded, and Eliza grinned. "Take off the boy's pants, this is the best time as any to learn about the male reproductive system."

Meredith's eyes widened, and she looked up at her mentor pleadingly. "Master, I don't, he's not, we shouldn't...", Eliza had already cut her off, leaning over and unbuckling the boy's pants. She pulled them down, leaving Gavin in only his undergarments.  

"We are not going to do anything, get that straight", she looked at Meredith, "You, you, Meredith are going to do this.", she pointed at his underwear, "Now, take those off, and I do not want to have to repeat myself."

Meredith groaned, she looked back up at the boy, 'Come on, wake up, put a stop to this', but he did not rouse. She followed through, and slowly pulled down his undergarments revealing his limp member. Meredith immediately turned her head, looking back up at Eliza, "Master, I don't wish to..."

"Save it Meredith. Now, grasp hold of it, and rub it until it hardens.", Eliza said, 'This is exciting me more than I thought, why have I not thought of this before? We have been on the road for weeks.' She watched as Meredith did what she was told, a little warily, but after a few minutes she got Gavin hard. 'My, my, I have picked a good one. This boy is well off down there.'

Meredith did what she was told, and even though she felt ashamed, she enjoyed it. Her eyes were transfixed on Gavin's penis, which was now standing a good seven or eight inches fully erect, and the boy was still sleeping. She almost did not hear Eliza give her the order to begin jerking him, but she did hear out of the back of her mind, and she began the process. Her hand slipped on his warmness, and slowly slide up and down. Meredith began to pick up her pace, she was so memorized that she did not see Eliza step out of the room, and more importantly, she did not see Gavin's eyes open.

Gavin stirred, and groaned as he felt himself erupted from Meredith. His fluid shot into the air, landing on Meredith's clothes, her hands, and his clothed stomach. He looked at Meredith, and her eyes met his—she blushed deeply, unable to speak or move. She was waiting for Eliza to say something, but soon realized, that Eliza was not there. Meredith, without a word, bolted out of the room, and out of the cabin. Gavin looked down at himself, his lower half unclothed, and his upper half covered his own semen. He shook his head, not sure of why he was lying there, or why Meredith had done what she did. 'This is going to be one crazy four years.', he thought, 'But damn, if this is any indication to how it will be, I am going to enjoy it.'



Magical Essence Ch. 02



Thank you everyone for commenting on the last story, my apologies for taking a little too long to post the second installment. I have been working on the next chapter for Dade as well (which should be up soon too). Please leave comments. Enjoy.

Scene I: New Beginnings

Eliza grumbled something to herself as she pushed open the cabin door, 'These people here, all crazy, more than one apprentice...', she shook her head. The trio had now been in Tevrin for a few weeks, and everyone had started to get settled. Eliza had eased over the small fiasco about Gavin, but he was to stay concealed on their grounds, and only to leave escorted by herself. She looked towards Gavin, he was cooking at the stove—he had proved to be an exceptional cook, better than both Meredith and herself. The three had been eating better than they had ever before, partly due to Gavin's ability to cook, but mostly due to Eliza's Ambassador position.

The Head Magi had asked Eliza to choose at least one more apprentice, because of the influx of growth in Tevrin, there were not enough Mentors for new magical students. The town had passed a new law mandating at least two apprentices for each Mentor, in some cases when approved, a Mentor could have up to four. This was something that Eliza was totally against, in the old days, something like this would have been thought as a "dark magic" calling. Unless a Mentor was attempting to create his own small army, there was absolutely no reason to have more than one apprentice, but it seems that law prevails over tradition once again.

But something else had perplexed Eliza since they arrived in Tevrin, Gavin's aura had been growing, ever so slightly, but still growing. Back when the guard attempted to weaken him, she thought that the spell had just misfired, but was now believing that Gavin had inadvertently reflected the spell back on the guard. Gavin had been experiencing a severe case of magical drain probably from the lack of use of his magical powers. Even as she was walking home, it had not struck her, but her eyes opened up when she came across the solution to her problem, in fact, two of her problems.

"Gavin, come over here, right now", Eliza looked over at Meredith, and beckoned for her to join them as well. Meredith was most definitely not going to like this, she had already been tormenting Gavin for the past few weeks, but that was probably mainly due to what Eliza had made her do. Eliza had a long laugh after she found out that Gavin woke up, and Meredith had not talked to her for nearly a month. "The Head Magi, in all of his brilliance, requires me to choose at least one other apprentice. They passed some absurd law about a minimum of two apprentices to Mentors, I do not agree with it, but I can't argue."

Meredith groaned, not only had she been dealing with Gavin, but now she was going to have to deal with another apprentice. 'Direct competition, I hate competition.', she thought. Meredith stood out of her chair and began towards the door. Eliza called after her, but Meredith was set to be in one of her moods for a few hours. The best thing Eliza thought, was to let her vent, and then get ready for the big change. She was going to appoint Gavin as her new apprentice. 

"Gavin, I am going to choose you as my new apprentice," Eliza mused, she was wondering why it took her so long to actually come up with this. Gavin's mouth was stuck open, he was not able to respond, so she just continued. "Of course, they are going to require you to show them some sort of demonstration to make sure that you are of magical essence", she shook her head, "But no problem. We'll have a bit until that." Eliza looked outside to where Meredith was standing, practicing a spell on one of the targets they have set up, "Go tell Meredith the news, and we'll begin on your first training shortly. Supper is still a bit off."

Gavin could not believe it, but he could not even comprehend it. 'I am going to be a mage? I am going to be an apprentice?', he shook his head, 'No, I am just a place holder.' He walked out to Meredith, she was surely beautiful, dressed in green robes due to her apprenticeship, her hair was tied back and she seemed focused on the task. She uttered a few incantations, pointed her wand, and a purple haze hit the target directly on. The next spell was green, and sprialled just how a bird would if struck down by a hunter. The third was a small blue orb, traveling at a fast speed, and hit the target with enough force to push it to the ground. He walked up behind Meredith, not sure what to say, so he stood there for a few minutes before she broke the ice.

"What does Eliza want now? Has she chosen my replacement yet?", Meredith scowled, firing off another 'Weaken' spell, the target glowing with a purple haze. Gavin did not speak, as he was not sure how she would react, and Meredith got frustrated turning towards him. "What did she say? You would not be here if she had not told you to tell me something! Speak!"

Gavin did speak, in a low voice, "Me", his eyes trailed off looking at the targets lined up. Meredith did not understand what he meant, and pushed him lightly to get him out of his daze. He shook his head, looking at her directly in the eyes, "Me, I am the new apprentice." Meredith's eyes almost budged out of her head.

"You! YOU! First she brings you here, a commoner, and then she appoints you her apprentice? What next? Are you going to be her lover?", she yelled, firing off many quick 'Missile' spells, striking all the targets directly on and pushing them on the ground. "I am tired of this. I am no where near up to par with these others, and I am now second to a commoner." She shoved him hard, and he tripped and fell on his back. "What can YOU do?", she pointed her wand at him, "What? Tell me? I want to know! Why did she choose you?"

Gavin swallowed hard, he was now looking up at Meredith whom was pointing her wand at him, he had to make sure not to tempt her, "I do not know Meredith, you are in the dark as much as I am!" He watched for her to change her posture, but stood immobile like a rock. "Meredith?", Gavin looked towards the house and saw Eliza striding towards them. "Eliza, she was just, we were having a conversation..."

"Why do you feel the need to defend her?", she removed the wand from Meredith's hand, "She has been nothing but a bitch to you as of late, I still do not understand why you put up with that." Eliza handed the wand to Gavin, "The easiest spell to learn, the very first that all magi learn, is the spell called 'Lighten.' As you may have guessed, this spell is used to create an instant light from the tip of your wand. The incantations are not hard to remember, nor speak, and it should be fairly easy for you." Eliza opened the palm of her hand, and began reciting the following.

"Aster—bron—kana Light—anta", the words seemed to roll off Eliza's tongue like it was a word that she has known for her whole life. In the palm of her hand, an orb slowly began to form pulling in particles of light from around, and after a few rotations rose into the air where she expertly guided it just in front of her face. Gavin stared, he was simply amazed that she expected him to try this, but he was not sure if he could even recite these words. Eliza once explained to Meredith that the incantations were like a recipe for food, if not done right, something awful would come out of the batch. It might not be totally off, but enough to make the result unusable. 

Gavin held the wand out, slowly reciting the incantation over in his head, and he spoke the words out loud, "Aster—bron—kana Light—anta" The wand erupted into a blinding glow, Gavin immediately dropped it and shielded his eyes. The ball of light grew around the wand, three, four, five times larger than Eliza's had, six, seven, eight—Eliza yelled out an incantation and the ball of light winked from existence. Gavin rubbed his eyes with both of his hands trying to remove the image from them, and then looked up at Eliza who was merely staring at him with a gaping mouth.

"Mast...Eliza... my apologies, I have never done this and..," Gavin spoke quickly, attempting to regain his composure and explain himself, but Eliza cut him off with a wave of her hand before he could speak anymore. She was impressed, well beyond impressed actually, and she knelled down picking up the wand. It was hot to the touch, she threw it down on the ground as the extreme heat dissipated from its shaft.

"Gavin...that was very...how did you do that?", her eyes were transfixed on his face, waiting for a reply. 'This boy is powerful, and he does not even know it', she thought to herself, 'His first spell, and he nearly blinds both of us. Got it right on the first incantation.' But the most interesting thing that Eliza found was that the spell increased in power when Gavin had already dropped the wand on the ground. She could feel his magical aura stronger, but still, nowhere near even the power that Meredith was even giving off in her immobilized state. 'Meredith!', she almost said aloud, and with that she removed the immobilization spell. Meredith rubbed her eyes hard, for she had seen everything, but being unable to shield herself had nearly burned her eye sockets out.

"How did he... I don't understand... a commoner... he just... and it blinded..," Meredith was talking a mile a minute, furiously attempting to rub the image from her eyes. Her mind was moving even faster than that, wondering if Eliza had known the whole time about Gavin, and then further—had she tried to set her up with him—why would she have done that? Meredith had so many questions, but before she could even ask all of them, Eliza had something else planned to test Gavin further. 

"Meredith, pick the wand up, and walk a few paces that way," Eliza motioned towards where the targets were standing before Meredith had her fit of rage. It took a few moments for Meredith to find the wand on the ground, she tested it to make sure it was not going to burn her, and then picked it up. Meredith was just as eager to see what Gavin could do, even though she hated to have someone that was going to be competition, it intrigued her enough to not worry about that situation yet. Eliza handed Gavin the wand that she was carrying with her, it seemed like the same design, but it was a bit lighter when held. The wand was a decorated wood with black etchings all the way to the tip.

Gavin watched as Meredith walked to a dueling length, knowing full and well what was coming, but not understanding how he was going to attack back. The Magi of Tevrin often held duels between Mentors, and Apprentices to settle disputes. There was even an Olympic-style event that pitted equal-knowledgeable apprentices against each other until a ring-out, or a submission occurred. Gavin had been in Tevrin long enough to catch the glimpse of some of these duels, but there was always so much magic going on that he could not follow them. The incantations were fast, and most of the Apprentices that participated were in their later years of training. Nevertheless, he knew what a dueling position was as soon as he saw it, and he looked at Eliza pleadingly.

"Gavin, you have seen us practice the Block spell several times have you not?", Eliza really did not even need to ask, she knew for a fact that Gavin had always been listening in on their training sessions. Meredith, at first, had a problem with the Block spell and it caused them to practice it for a week straight. Gavin would often watch their progress while he was pretending to tend to the vegetable garden. He nodded, really unsure of what she was telling him, but that's the only response that he thought he could give. But before he could realize exactly what she was asking of him, Eliza nodded to Meredith, and she sputtered a quick incantation.

Gavin searched his mind to remember the words to the incantation, but he could not find them, and he found himself looking up at a laughing Meredith. The spell had hit him hard, and he put his arms at his side pushing himself up off the ground. Eliza gave Meredith another nod, and she raised her wand up at Gavin again. Meredith started her incantation, pouring all of her power into her missile spell, which traveled towards Gavin much quicker this time.

Gavin knew what was coming though, and he braced pointing his wand outward as he started to recite the incantation for the 'Block' spell in his head. A force field of bright blue surrounded his form, almost making him disappear totally from view, and Meredith's spell hit Gavin's force field dissipating on contact. Meredith fired three more spells off, frustrated that someone who had never picked a wand up before was able to defend her with ease, but she eventually gave up as Eliza raised her hand.

Eliza was indeed amazed, because Gavin's magical aura instantly sparked from something barely visible to that of Meredith's stature. This was unheard of, Gavin seemed to be so disconnected with his magical presence that it erupted from him only when called upon. She was most definitely amazed at this commoner boy, but the thing that had caught her off guard was that he never recited the spell. Eliza did a double take, but she did not recall him uttering a single word. Eliza was most perplexed by this, 'Maybe I did not hear him? He said it under his breathe? That had to be it!' She shook the thought from her head, 'Impossible!'

Gavin's perspective started to shift and his vision meshed together into a grayness. The weakness that he had felt before was overcoming him again. He had used all of his energy to block Meredith's attack, but because he was new to magic it had drained him greatly. He attempted to balance himself out by extending his arms, but soon fell to his feet as the world began spinning around him. He felt himself being lifted up by both arms as Eliza and Meredith helped him towards the cabin.

Scene II: Recognition

Several weeks had passed since Gavin's first experience with the use of magic, and Eliza had officially designated him as her second apprentice to please the Head Magi of Tevrin. Meredith had grown impatient with Gavin and started to skip their practice sessions in favor of hanging out with Magi that she considered "up to her par." This was the second time that Gavin had felt alienated from the world of magic, and now more so, because he was now part of it.

Meredith was laughing as she walked down the trail to their cabin with three other Magi. The three were apprentices of the magi Derek, who was known for bringing up the best dueling apprentices each and every year for the Olympics. Eliza had told Meredith to stay clear of this crowd, but as stubborn as Meredith was, and as much as she was resenting Eliza she decided otherwise. The crowd of three was led by Derek's best apprentice, Jordan, a tall slender boy with a light complexion. Jordan had his sights on Meredith as soon as she entered Tevrin, and for the whole five months they had been there was attempting to court her. He was very pleased when Meredith all of the sudden had asked him for some dueling lessons, and that is how their "friendship" had started.

Eliza had told Gavin to finish the yard work as she went to deal with her Ambassador duties in the main part of Tevrin, and he was ahead of the game. Gavin found his solace in manual labor, he had done it all of his life up until this point, and he found it now relaxing from his magic training. Gavin often over exerted himself while casting spells, and Eliza had told him to use meditation techniques to bring train his mind, which he did try, but was unable to sit still for such a long time. Gavin was not fond of Jordan and his crew, but even though Meredith had been treating him horribly the past few weeks, he was always thinking for her best. 

"Meredith, where is that runt of a mage that your mentor is keeping around?", Jordan mused, looking from side to side as they came upon the cabin. They often played tricks on Gavin, and messed up his yard work so he would have to get it done all over again. But as of late, Meredith had been easing off Gavin more so than before, and he did not want her to get soft on him. Gavin was not able to fight back because Eliza would not let him carry a wand, not because she did not trust him, but because she believed his magical powers were not under control yet. She did not need Gavin exploding on someone, and injuring them to the point where they could not be healed. 

Meredith shrugged, "He is probably around the grounds. Eliza gives him chores to keep him busy." She did feel jealous of Gavin, Eliza had been spending most of her practice sessions teaching Gavin the ropes, and less time helping Meredith out with her spells. She had to go to Jordan for advice in dueling spells, because Meredith planned on entering the Olympics the next month as a contender. Jordan was obnoxious, but he knew his dueling skills, and that was the only reason she was staying around him. 

One of Jordan's crew had pointed out Gavin on the far east end of the grounds, and Jordan raised his wand up, casting a quick 'Missile' spell hitting Gavin square in the chest. Meredith watched as Gavin struggled to stand, but he finally made it to his feet. She was starting to feel sorry for what they were doing to him, he was too proud to go to Eliza about the treatment, and these instances had been happening for weeks now. Jordan motioned towards Meredith, "Your turn, come on, hit him with a hard one!"

Meredith's need to be "one of the crew" had overcome her feelings against treating Gavin this way, and she hit him with a weak 'Missile' spell, barely causing him to stir. Unlike the others, she did not wish to hurt him, but she also wished to stay part of this new group of her friends. She down casted her eyes as Gavin looked towards her, and Jordan grunted at Meredith's weak spell.

"Meredith, what was that?", he pointed his wand towards Gavin again, uttered another incantation, this spell levitated Gavin in front of him and caused him to grasp at his throat in pain. "You need to make sure your enemy never has a chance to strike back Meredith! In a duel the pattern can change in all but a second!" Gavin gasped for air, attempting to loosen the invisible rope from around his neck, and he struggled in the air as Jordan laughed loudly. 

Meredith watched in horror as Gavin was choking, she pleaded with Jordan to let loose the spell, but he refused and only levitated Gavin higher into the air. This drove Meredith over the edge, and she fired a quick 'Missile' spell at Jordan causing him to lose his focus on Gavin. Meredith rushed over to Gavin, coughed loudly but was finally able to breathe again. Jordan had already regained his bearings, and stood up pointing his wand at Meredith.

"You dare attack me wench? The one whom has been teaching you? For what? To help this commoner? This runt? I will show you, bring forth your wand, and we will duel right here!", Jordan screamed aloud, but Meredith did not move. She was not an idiot, she knew very wisely that Jordan was much better at dueling than her. He grunted, and the two other boys grabbed Gavin by the arms. Meredith was now in the middle of something she could not win, and she looked over at the helpless Gavin for support. She knew in her heart that he was ready to take anything they would throw at him, but this was her doing, and she did not want him to suffer any further maltreatment.

Meredith walked to the dueling length, and raised her wand at Jordan. The experience at dueling was shown at this point, and Jordan disarmed Meredith of her wand before she could react. Gavin struggled to get free of the grip from the two boys, but they jabbed their wands into his neck as a warning. Meredith fell to her knees, she was had been defeated, and without so much as a fight. Jordan walked over to her, grabbing a fistful of her hair and pulling it hard. Meredith let out a loud wail of a cry, but Jordan just pulled harder. 




Magical Essence Ch. 02



"So what should we do with her boys? Make her our slave? I'm sure she looks very pretty without these clothes on," Jordan laughed, and the other two joined in with him. He reached down and tore her robes revealing her covered breasts. He pressed the wand under her chin and lifted it up, "You should not have attacked me Meredith, before I was going to let you come around to me, but now I am going to have to force you to come around."

That was precisely what sent Gavin over the edge, but something very unexpected happened. Without uttering a word, the two holding Gavin suddenly flew head over heels into oak trees. Their loud wails of pain hit Jordan's ears, and he stared down Gavin while taking a step back from Meredith. Gavin's aura had all of the sudden jumped, but this time it had skyrocketed well above Jordan's. 

This had caught the boy off guard, and he raised his wand at Gavin, firing off three quick 'Missile' spells. Once again, without a word uttered, the familiar blue force field surrounded Gavin's form absorbing all of Jordan's 'Missile' spells. The boy had absolutely no idea what to do from here, and attempted to cast a 'Weaken' spell directed at Gavin. As the purple haze spiraled through the air towards his target, the spell lost its speed and stopped just short in front of Gavin. The spell was suspended in the air, slowly multiplying its size until it was the size of a decent water melon.

It was Gavin's turn to attack, raising one hand Jordan lifted off the ground, and began reaching for his throat and gasping for air. Gavin lifted the boy higher, higher, and higher into the air before finally bringing him back down to eye level. The purple haze encompassed Jordan's body as he fell limp to the ground, and Gavin looked back at the other two boys who had just begun to stand up. 

"You two, get him out of here, and never return. I do not want to have a repeat situation," Gavin spoke clearly, and the two hustled grabbing Jordan by the arms dragging him off down the trail. He looked down at Meredith, who was staring up at him with a gaping mouth, but once again everything slowly started to fade from his view. He had overdone himself again, and he fell forward into Meredith who braced herself to hold his weight. She took a long time, but was able to carry him inside the cabin and lay him down on the bed. 

Meredith ran her fingers through her hair, she did not understand what had just happened, and Eliza was nowhere in sight! She could not handle this, Gavin had just showed a display of powers that Meredith had never seen before in her life, 'How am I going to explain this to Eliza? What is she going to say to me? What about Jordan and those boys? What about their mentor?' A thousand questions railed through Meredith's head, but none of which she had answers for. Her eyes settled on Gavin, 'He saved me. I have been a bitch to him for the last month, and he saved me.' She felt a new attraction towards Gavin.

A few hours had passed until Eliza had arrived back from Tevrin, and she was bushed. There had been a meeting with all of the Ambassadors and they were speaking changing trade guidelines, and the tax on different magical supplies. It had been a long day, and Eliza had decided that she was going to forgo the magical lessons for today. She wanted sleep, and that's all she wanted. But she was not ready for the mess that Meredith was when she opened the door.

"Eliza! Where have you been? There is so much... We were attacked by these boys... Gavin saved me... He is lying in bed... I did not know what to do... its my fault..," Meredith wanted to pour out everything out too quickly for Eliza to comprehend. Eliza groaned, 'What had these two got themselves into this time?', she grasped her head. Meredith took this as a sign to slow down, and started from the beginning. 

"Jordan and the boys were messing around with Gavin, and I attacked Jordan to stop them from hurting Gavin. He wanted to duel me, and had the other two hold down Gavin," she shook her head, looking over at Gavin still lying in the bed, "He... he... I don't know how, but he was casting spells without a wand." Eliza's eyes grew wide, it took years upon years of practice for an apprentice to reach the pinnacle of their training—which was the ability to cast spells without a wand—this was impossible. He had been only introduced to magic a month prior. Eliza shook her head.

"Impossible. Meredith what are you spouting? There is absolutely no way he could have done this!", Eliza spoke back, she looked over at Gavin, but he was indeed weakened as he always was. She reached into her robes, checking to make sure that she still had the wand, 'Its still here. Impossible. He could not have done that.' Her eyes looked over the boy, and she reached down to feel his head, 'Yes, definitely cool, he is drained.' Eliza put her hand back to her head in an attempt to make some sense of this situation. She was considered one of the fastest apprentices to ever go through the ranks, and it took her a good five years to get to the point where she was able to cast without using a wand.

"There is something else", Meredith had just remembered, and this was the thing that perplexed her the most. This was something that she had absolutely never seen before, nor had she ever heard of such a thing. "Eliza... he casted the spells without a word." Eliza looked up at Meredith again, and cocked her head sideways as if to take in what she was being told.

"No, Meredith, you just did not hear him," but Eliza was cut off.

"He spoke not a word, Eliza, not a word. I would not lie to you Master," the look on Meredith's face had convinced Eliza that she was telling the truth. They both looked down at Gavin, but Eliza was thinking deeply. It all had suddenly made sense, there was only one logical conclusion, and even though she did not want to believe it that was the only possibility.

"He is an ArchMage," the words flowed out of Eliza's mouth almost sounding as unconvinced as her mind was, but it was the truth. The only Magi that could cast spells simply by thought were the ArchMagi, and she knew this for a fact, because her mentor was an ArchMage. It explained perfectly why Gavin was so powerful without barely knowing magic, and why he was able to cast spells without a wand. She repeated her words, still disbelieving what her mind was telling her, "Gavin is an ArchMage." 



Magical Essence Ch. 03



Thanks for all of the feedback guys! I'm sorry it took so long to get the third chapter of this story up, but I'm going to try to keep them coming as quickly as possible. I know my writing style is a little odd, but let me know if I need to change it! "Dade" will be up soon as well, I have the second chapter halfway finished.

You should definitely ready the first and second chapter before you read this! More comments, please, and make sure to enjoy!

Scene I: Unleashed

The whole ordeal had left Gavin very tired, and several hours had passed before he finally woke up from his deep slumber. It took a few seconds, but everything slowly came back to him, and he remembered what had indeed happened. Meredith was exactly what sent him over the edge, he exploded, and something that Eliza had taught him from the beginning –he had let himself lose it—the emotions took hold, and everything flowed from him like running water through a clear brook. The images of Meredith struggling were flashing through his head, but then, something else had come to him. Ever since Eliza had appointed him as her second apprentice, Meredith had treated him worse, and at all of that had set in. 

'She does not care for me as I do for her', he shook his head, 'Why did I bother?' Gavin removed his shirt, and touched the new bruises on his body from the spells that he had taken earlier in the day. He walked up to the mirror and looked into it, turning his body so he could see the scars on his back, they were pulsating a light yellow color. He reached up, placing his fingers along his upper back, and they burned at his touch. His previous Master had used a whip on him at his early age, but when Eliza had first brought him to Tevrin nearly half a year ago, the scars had begun to glow. At first Gavin thought that it might have been the whip used, some sort of binding magical power, but he was getting another impression. Everything related to magic was new to Gavin, but he was not stupid, he recognized it when he saw it. This was magic, but he was not sure if it was his magic.

The cabin appeared in a total haze to him, at first he thought that he was having some sort of an out of body experience, but he realized that the two women were attempting to cook. Gavin groaned, he was not a chef, but he decided early on that he was going to cook the meals when Meredith nearly burned down the cabin. He could not comprehend how they ate before he had come around, but he tried his best to please his Master. Both women turned around as he walked out of his room wearing no shirt, Gavin never walked around without a shirt, but he did not care at this point. He felt a change coming over him, and he was not going to worry about subtle things as explaining to his Master about some glowing scars. He sat down at the table, running his fingers through his hair, for some reason he had a splitting headache. 

Eliza was the first to speak, she could see that his was irritated, but in his current state she did not want to anger him. An angered Magi was one thing, it could be managed, handled, and a solution to the problem would eventually be found. But Gavin was different, an angered ArchMagi was something she had only see once, and she did not wish to see again. These were the crucial points in his training—his powers were just starting to grow, like a flower, but they had not even reached their peak yet—Eliza would not be able to handle him if he was to blow up on her, Meredith, or anyone else.

"Gavin, how are you feeling, I heard you gave quite a beating.", she chuckled as she spoke, her plan was not to let him know exactly how powerful he was, yet. She could see that something was on his mind though, but she could not figure out what. "Meredith owes you a lot, since that boy attacked her, and you helped her out."

"Attacked her?", Gavin pounded down on the table, and the room shook. He looked over at Meredith, realizing that she had not told Eliza the whole truth, well Gavin was going to let that out right now. "Attacked her?", he repeated, "She was with them! For the past few weeks I have been dealing with their games, and she was in on it the whole time." Gavin was living in some type of dream land before this encounter had happened, he believed that Meredith was, in some way, showing her affection towards him. But the release of his powers had unlocked something inside of him, maybe more than just what was seen, but it was a realization about the number that Meredith had been playing. He was not going to put up with it anymore, he saved her, but as far as he was concerned they were square now. 

Meredith lowered her head, she knew that she was about to get drilled by Eliza, but she deserved it. He was right. She had brought them there, and she had been treating him horribly the whole time. She was a critic of herself though, when she saw what Gavin could do she felt as if she needed to prove something, and she sought help in Jordan. Meredith knew she was a horrible judge in character, but she wanted to impress Eliza. 

Eliza turned her head, watching Meredith and immediately knowing that it was true. She shook her head, Eliza knew how Meredith was feeling right now, but she had just turned against her own Master. When they had first arrived in Tevrin, Eliza had warned Meredith about Derek's group of apprentices, mainly Jordan, and how they thought they ran the town. Derek was a bright mage, very powerful, but all he focused on was dueling and attack spells. It was the closest thing that she had ever seen towards the sanctioned teaching of 'Dark Magic', and from what she had seen of these boys, they were going that route. It was not Eliza's place to say anything though, this was not her land, she was merely a visitor. "Meredith I am so disappointed...", a loud banging on the door had stopped her from speaking, and she looked up to where Gavin was standing. 'Where did he go?'

"Eliza! Eliza! Are you there?", Merik yelled as he banged harder on the door, "Eliza open the door!" Merik was a fellow Ambassador from the western coast, and he had been helping Eliza get acquainted with the practices of Tevrin. He was a young Mentor like Eliza, a little older though, but he looked good. Merik did not have any apprentices, because he was considered a new Mentor. Merik had arrived a few months prior to Eliza, and he was fresh off his apprenticeship. When he applied to become an Ambassador, he did not think he had a chance, but Tevrin was considered a "young" town by most, and this was precisely the reason why they sent a young Mentor. It took a year from Mentorship before they were allowed to take an apprentice, and Merik still had a few more months before he was required to do that. He was amazed by Eliza, she was a few years younger than he, and already had two apprentices. But what attracted him the most was that she was a woman Mentor, this was something that even Tevrin had not fully accepted yet. 

The word had spread through the ranks that there was a brawl over at Eliza's plot, and Derek had went straight to the Head Magi as soon as he saw Jordan's condition. Derek was in tight with the Head Magi, whom had been his Mentor, and he was widely considered to be the next Head Magi. Derek did indeed not have the full story, the two of his boys were rambling on about something, but he could not believe that his prize apprentice was just taken down by Gavin. As soon as Derek put in the pressure, the Head Magi caved, and they started making their march out to Eliza's plot with some guards. Derek wanted him thrown into jail attempted murder, but even the Head Magi could see through that. 

Eliza opened the door, and was surprised to see Merik, "What are you banging on my door for Merik?", she peeked out, "Is Gavin out there with you?" Eliza considered Merik a friend, but nothing more at this point, she was just too overwhelmed with work to start any type of relationship. Her main concern right now was Gavin, and where he had gone off to. She turned behind her and looked back at Meredith, who was sitting at the table with her head down, and she slipped out the front door and closed it. "Merik, we have a huge problem here."

"Tell me about it, Derek is looking for blood now that his poster child has been mopped up by Gavin. He has the Head Magi coming down here right now with some guards", Merik said, looking back up the trail. He shook his head, "Eliza, you know the rules of apprenticeship, he is not allowed to carry a wand around this early in his..."

"He did not have a wand Merik, that's the problem.", Eliza sighed, looking over the garden, and out towards the fields. "Where has he gone off to", she thought aloud, her eyes moved across their whole plot looking. 

"What? No wand? Are you even listening to me?"

"Yes, yes, I hear you. I am looking for Gavin.", she paused, Eliza did indeed trusted Merik, and she could not help the slight attraction she had towards him. "Merik, I need your help, we need to get this off his shoulders. He is a lot more than he seems."

"What do you mean? I'm not following you Eliza. You said he did not have a wand with him, then how did he cast those spells?"

She shook her head quickly, and put her hands up, walking out towards the fields. "We do not have the time to get into specifics...", the truth was, she did not want to get into the conversation that he could indeed be an ArchMage. Gavin was found in these lands, and by Magi law, he would be to rule these lands as soon as he chose to do so. He would be considered royalty in most cultures. Eliza did not fully trust the Head Magi, mainly because of his involvement with Derek, but she could not put off the fact that he never once looked for the ArchMage. 

There was not one person who could explain how exactly the ArchMagi came to be, but they always seemed to appear when the time was needed for them the most. There was never more than one at a time in a specific area, and they always were sought after for battle and war purposes. There had not been a war in the lands for hundreds of years, so the ArchMagi had taken the roles of government leadership, and that was how it has been for the past few hundred years. Tevrin was a relatively new city, only a few hundred years old, and it spawn after the last war to break up some of the tension between the dueling sides. Tevrin was to act as a buffer between the two, sort of a mediator state, but it ended up becoming a whole new way of life for the people living there. The rules in Tevrin were much more lax than most other Magi states, mainly including multiple apprenticeships, and their Olympic dueling ritual.

She pointed out towards the end of the eastern field, "Gavin!" she yelled out after him, he did not move at all. As Merik and Eliza ran out towards him, the realized that he was floating slighting off the ground, and he seemed to be meditating. Eliza scowled, "I could never get him to do that, and now, look at him!" She looked up at Merik, who deserved some sort of answer if he was going to help her, so she decided to drop it on him. 

"Merik, you know my Mentor was an ArchMage right?"

Merik nodded, 'How could I not know?' This was something that had been a main topic before Eliza had arrived, alongside the fact that she was a woman, and the fact that she was probably the quickest single mage to come out of apprenticeship. Eliza was also one of the only people ever known to be an apprentice to an ArchMage. "Of course, everyone knows that, I am not following you?"

"Then you would say that I have first hand knowledge on the matter, yes?"

Merik nodded again, "Where is this going? You are confusing me."

"Gavin", she spoke quietly, nodding towards him. 

Merik looked at Gavin, "What about him?", he was just not getting it. To be in the presence of an ArchMage would be considered to along the lines of being in the presence of any type of government leadership body. But to believe that an apprentice was an ArchMage, would be, like finding out that your son was the President of the United States at the age of nineteen.

"He is an ArchMage."

Merik started laughing, he knew that Eliza was known for joking around, but this was going a bit overboard. He looked at Eliza, and his laughter slowly faded, "You are serious?" His eyes trailed and watched Gavin. The aura that was coming off the boy would suggest that he was nothing more than a commoner, Merik shook his head, "No, Eliza, his aura..."

"You have seen him use magic. Think about it."

Merik had indeed seen Gavin use magic, he had taken to it like a fish in water, but the odd thing about him was that his aura had never spiked. Most apprentices' aura spiked when they were in intense training, but Gavin's did not even move. It was like that the training they were doing did not effect him. But still, Merik could not believe it, he shook his head.

"No Eliza, I can't believe it, and I will not back you telling the Head Magi that."

Eliza sighed, she would just have to prove it to him then, and she walked over to Gavin and shook him. His eyes opened up, and he looked up at both Eliza and Merik. Gavin adored Merik, he was a nice guy, and only a few years older than himself. Merik had started stopping by to talk with Eliza about some of the happenings on the council, but his attraction towards Eliza was rather blatant, although he was not sure if Eliza could see it herself.

"Yes Master?", Gavin spoke in a low tone, he had known he sort of rushed out of the cabin while Eliza was talking to Meredith, but he did not wish to hear her explain her reasoning for doing so. So he decided to take a walk, and then he decided to take a stab at meditating, and found that it actually worked this time. He was able to relax himself, pulling his emotions back into him, and leveling his head out some. He had only heard the term 'ArchMage' before when Eliza was talking about her Mentor, but he would never had thought it applied to himself. 

"Gavin, quickly now, I want you to show Merik what you can do", she looked at Merik who's face changed slightly, and he looked at Gavin now. Eliza searched her pockets for Gavin's wand, as a force of habit mostly, but then remembered that it was inside of the cabin. 

Gavin had already started walking a few paces away from the two of them, he was not sure what Eliza wanted him to do, but he decided to have some fun with it was well. He also wanted to see how he would fare against a Mentor, Merik was a rather strong Magi, and Gavin had a lot of respect for him. He moved into a slight dueling stance, facing Merik, whom did the same. Merik looked over at Eliza who gave a nod, and he just shook his head. But he turned back to look at Gavin, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Merik's eyes searched the field, but he could not pick up Gavin at all, he had indeed vanished! He turned back at Eliza who seemed just as surprised as him, and scanned the fields as well. Just as Merik was about to put his guard down, he caught the sense of spell cast, and put his hands up to block the incoming 'Missile' spell. The force from the block sent Merik sliding back a few meters, but he regained his composure quickly and scanned again for Gavin. Another 'Missile', and another block by Merik, another, and another. Merik was starting to get aggravated, "Gavin! Show yourself!"

Gavin laughed slightly, and he let himself be seen once again. Merik let his guard down as soon as he saw Gavin, and that was when he took the blow to his chest. Merik did not even see the spell coming, let alone hear it, but he was indeed on his back. The all too familiar pain was in his chest, and he groaned as he stood up. Merik was ticked off now, as he did not want to be showed up to Eliza while her apprentice schooled him. He was fighting for Eliza's approval right now. 

Now Gavin was not trained in many spells at all, and even though he was able cast spells just by the thought of them, he could not cast spells he was not aware of. Merik uttered a quick incantation, and Gavin put up his blocking spell—but this was something that Merik had planned on—the 'Root' spell took effect. Gavin found himself unable to move as his feet were stuck to the ground. 

"ArchMage", Merik laughed slightly, looking over at Eliza whose face seemed transfixed on Gavin. Merik turned around, and his mouth gaped open. Gavin's aura had gone from just barely visible to the height of Merik's own, and still growing! Both Merik and Eliza shielded their eyes as Gavin's aura hit the height of a bright white, at this point he was not even visible through his aura, but just as quickly as it was turned on it winked from existence. 

Gavin was standing next to Merik, patting him on the back, "You need to teach me that one, old man. I've never seen that before", and he started walking towards the cabin. The scars on his back began glowing a solid golden color, and both Merik and Eliza watched in awe. The two of them followed Gavin back to the cabin, not speaking to each other, before Merik finally broke the silence.

"Okay, I believe you now."

Scene II: Secrets

Derek had indeed called out the calvary once he found out what happened to Jordan, but somehow he was not prepared for exactly what he was coming up on. His two other apprentices could not explain to him exactly what happened, and he was not exactly sure if Meredith and Gavin were the only other two there. Nevertheless though, he was not about to let this commoner one-up his best apprentice, especially a few months before the Tevrin Olympics. 

The Head Magi had called upon a few guards to come with them just in case the situation got out of hand, he did not expect any trouble, and did not expect to arresting anyone today. Even though Derek was his apprentice, he had his doubts about him, and rarely took his words as the truth without hearing both sides. He was not a stupid man, but he was a proud one, and sometimes tried too much to keep that pride intact. 

The Head Magi stepped up to the cabin's door and knocked on it lightly. It was early in the morning, but he hoped that everyone was awake already. The door opened slowly, and Meredith peeked out. They had conjured up a simple plan while walking back to the cabin, and had managed to tell Meredith her part just before the mob arrived. Gavin seemed to brush off the plan though, he was different now, but after a little bit of arguing he agreed to follow Eliza's order. 

"Oh, sir, my apologies I am not dressed properly...", Meredith spoke quietly as she opened the door, Derek had pushed past Meredith before she even had a chance to finish her sentence. The Head Magi was a little more decent, and followed slowly into the cabin, which smelled of the poorly cooked breakfast food they had attempted earlier on. 

"Where is he?", Derek demanded, searching the rooms without regard to privacy at all. He wanted to see this boy, speak with him, and not have to worry about any interaction between Eliza. After Derek had checked all of the rooms, he stared down at Meredith, "He is not here, where is he?"

"They are out back, if you would have asked more politely, I would have told you", her voice was stern, even though she was talking to a Mentor that most people regarded as the the closest thing to an evil wizard as Tevrin legislated. Meredith called out the door as the mob left around back, "Merik is back there with them. They are training on dueling skills right now."

Gavin shouted the names of a few spells, pointing his wand, and sending them towards Merik's direction. He decided it would be best to listen to his Master, and not break the news just yet about what he actually was. Merik proved to him that he was most definitely not ready for any type of real dueling, let alone announcing to all of Tevrin that he was their long lost Arch Magi. He was not ready for that pressure, and he was really not sure if he wanted that pressure. Everything seemed to happen so fast, Gavin barely had a few seconds to himself, and he found that the only time he was at peace was when he was meditating.




Magical Essence Ch. 03



Merik blocked the spells with ease, glancing over towards where the guards, the Head Magi, and Derek were standing. He put his hands up, signaling to Gavin to stop the duel, and began his walk over to the group. Eliza had already begun walking towards them, already engaged in a conversation, and waving in Gavin. As Merik reached the group, he made a slight bow, and the Head Magi acknowledged him with a curt nod. 

"Sir", Merik focused on Derek, who was watching Gavin intently as he jogged over to the group, "and Derek. What is the pleasure of this visit?" The plan was to act as if the two Mentors knew absolutely nothing about the attack, and Gavin would come in and explain their side of the story. As the story would unfold, Eliza had no doubt that Derek would dispute it, but she would confirm that he indeed did not have a wand. Gavin would explain how Meredith took the upper hand, casting a spell on the boy, and the other two scurrying away with his limp body. The story was believable, of course, mostly true except for the small white lie. 

"You know why we are here", Derek gave a lopsided smile, he really thought that he had the upper hand, and he was going to use the arsenal behind him at his disposal if need be. "There was a skirmish yesterday, and your apprentice attacked one of mine incapacitating him. He is still recovering from the spell", Derek continued, making his words clear and forward, "We are here to reprimand him, and you Eliza, for leaving a new pupil with a wand unsupervised."

Eliza pretended to be offended, "I would never leave Gavin with his wand unsupervised", she looked over at Gavin, "He did not have his wand at all yesterday." Once again, the truth was in her statement, although a little deception was being applied with care. "What are the allegations? I have witnessed your apprentices—all of them start trouble—I am sure that they were the ones to throw the first spell."

Gavin stirred, he did not enjoy this pandering around, and he enjoyed less that he could not simply tell his story. He did not care if anyone knew who he was, but throughout his hard childhood, he was brought up never to lie, and he had the scars to prove it. Eliza told him not to speak unless he was spoken to, or told to speak, and he had has got neither as of yet. He looked through the door way at closely watching Meredith, 'She'll get what's coming to her', he thought, 'I went through hell and she got her laughs'

The Head Magi put his hands up, looking intently upon Gavin, this was the first time that he had actually seen Eliza's new apprentice. He was angered when Eliza brought a commoner into Tevrin, and angered even more when she revealed that he would be her second apprentice, but he never expected the mage to actually have a calling to the arts. 'He stands strong, and proud, nothing to hide', thinking to himself, 'Something is different though.' The others looked between the Head Magi and Gavin, both standing their own and neither flinching, but the Head Magi broke the silence.

"He has not an aura of a new apprentice", the Head Magi said, directing the statement to Eliza, "It is just barely above that of a commoner, and yet, I just witnessed his magic flawlessly... very interesting... Do you have an explanation?"

"Sir, we believe it is because of his childhood, and being enslaved for such a long period of time", Eliza said, looking over at Gavin who was looking rather agitated. "I have witnessed his aura flare during a dueling session, but I do agree, it is a rather interesting phenomenon." 

The Head Magi nodded, glancing over at Derek, "I do not believe that he could have done what you say of him", he continues on, even after Derek attempts to protest, "And Eliza is right, your apprentices often do start and finish such quarrels. But nevertheless, speak your peace, and I will hear his rebuttal." 

Derek scowled, "Sir, my students would not have touched him if not attacked or provoked first", his eyes turned on Gavin, "I would like to know who casted that spell though, Sir, it was a rather powerful one. Jordan still rests as we speak now." His eyes follow Merik's gaze, and they both lock their sights on each other, "The spell was of Mentor caliber."

Merik and Derek had a history of being enemies, and most of Tevrin often regarded them as such without ever knowing the full story. Most of the population believes that Merik holds resentment because of Derek's win over him at the last Olympics, but the feud goes back further than that. Derek had always been tight with the Head Magi, and when Merik had first arrived in Tevrin as an Ambassador, Derek attempted to snowball him. His master plan was to manipulate Merik, and force him to be the swing vote for any of his proposals. When Merik refused the offer, Derek threatened him, and even attempted searching his past for black mail material. Ever since this period in time, they both had equal hatred for the opposition, and Derek was even jealous about his relationship with Eliza—even though nothing was going on between them—most of the council believed that to be so.

Gavin knew exactly where this was going, and he would not let Merik be put up on the stake for this. It was time that he spoke, even though he promised Eliza that he would not unless asked, but his friend's reputation was on the line. The only friend that Gavin had was Merik—whom he looked up to as a big brother—and he would not jeopardize this because of a little skirmish that went sour. 

"I was being held down by two of your apprentices", Gavin spoke to Derek, not flinching a bit with his gaze, "Jordan was readying up to attack Meredith because of her refusal to do attack me." Gavin recalled the memories of the event, watching Derek's reaction, which seemed not to be what he expected. "I struggled, freeing myself from the grasp of the two others, and Jordan fired off a Weaken spell. Now holding one of their hands, I was able to cast off a reflect spell back towards Jordan, and at the same time Meredith casted the same Weaken spell."

Derek shook his head, looking back at the Head Magi, "He is lying, making this up, how can you actually believe that such an event would happen? The synchronization of those spells would have to have been precise..."

"He has a story Derek, and it seems he is sticking with it", watching the boy, and giving him a slight nod. "I am satisfied with his recollection of the the event", looking at Eliza and Merik, "Because of the obvious confusion though between the truth, I believe that the course of action for both should be a community service."

Derek tried to argue against this, but the Head Magi waved him off. He had put up with Derek's attitude long enough, and believe that he was attempting to go a little too far this time. 'Gavin's story does sound legit, but I have a feeling there is more to it', he thought, 'Too much in his past is unknown.' He made his way back towards the pathway to Tevrin, the guards following close behind, "We will discuss this further another day. We need not bother Gavin with his training for the Olympics."

Gavin made a sidelong stare at both Eliza and Merik, a grin forming on his face slightly, 'Oh, this is going to be interesting indeed!' He had not planned on joining the ranks in the Olympic duels, but it seems that now the Head Magi was expecting him to be there. 

Scene III: Mind Games

The sound of a whip hitting raw flesh filled the room, and a loud scream from an expecting individual echoed throughout the small room of the stone hut. With each successive strike from the whip, the future scars forming on the boy's back began to glow. The sounds continued to fill the room a few dozen more times until the Master finally got enough of punishing his slave, and walked from the room with whip in hand. The boy leaned forward, his head touching the cold stone floor, but not a tear shedding. Never did a single tear come from his eyes, but rather, the look of a deep, dark, and cold hatred filled what was left of his soul. 

Gavin woke up from one of his nightmares, a cold sweat had formed over his body in his sleep, and he moved to sit up on his bed. Over the past few weeks he has been getting more and more of these nightmares, but they seemed so real, like memories, but when he attempted to recall them they just seemed void.

It had been a week since the visit from Derek and the Head Magi, and Eliza had cursed at Gavin because of the Head Magi's expectation from him. Eliza did not want Gavin to attempt the Olympics for obvious reasons, but mainly because she knew that Jordan would seek some sort of revenge. She knew Gavin could handle himself, but she was not sure if he could handle himself without unleashing the full force of his powers. Eliza wanted to keep everything under wraps until they could travel back to her homelands, and meet with her Mentor—the only other Arch Magi that she knows is still living—to get some more answers about the development of Gavin's abilities.

It seemed as each day passed Gavin found more and more he was able to do with his new found strengths. He had practiced with some projected illusions, and hallucinations on Meredith when she was unsuspecting. He as repaying her for the weeks of harassment that he received from her, Jordan, and the rest of Derek's apprentices. So with that in mind, he decided to use her as a guinea pig for all of his new mind tricks, and it was working much to his advantage. Even though he had not been able to successfully speak or read the minds of his victims, he could project some very interesting simulations.

Gavin sat down at the kitchen table, staring out into the moon light, and after a few minutes of silence he groaned in pain as his scars began acting up again. 'My thoughts must be traveling to magic', he thought, 'They only seem to act up when I am thinking of magic.' He swallowed, his mouth was dry from the nightmare session, and he walked outside to get a drink from the well. After lifting the bucket of water and spooning some into his mouth, the thought hit him, and he grinned inwardly. Gavin rushed back into the house, and sat at the kitchen beginning a deep meditation.

Eliza stirred in her sleep, the past few days have been a toll on her, and she was getting every second of sleep that time would permit her. Her eyes opened slightly as she heard the creak of her door, and she stared up at the looming figure above her. 

 Meredith leaned down and pressed her lips against Eliza, her hands moving over her Mentor's beddings in an attempt to strip them. At first Eliza was finding herself about ready to send Meredith across the room, but she felt herself slipping into the mood, even if unwillingly. Eliza returned Meredith's kiss, her hands moving across the girl's body grasping at her breasts, squeezing them lightly, and feeling her nipples harden. 

 Meredith let out a loud moan, kissing down Eliza's neck gently nipping at her skin with her teeth. She herself could not believe what she was doing, but just as Eliza, she found herself quickly enjoying what was happening. She made the move, pulling the blanket slowly from Eliza's body, and pushed her hands under the blanket and over Eliza's body. Eliza groaned, she knew there was a reason why she slept naked, and now that choice was paying off years after she began it. Eliza began breathing heavily as Meredith kissed down her body, taking care with her breasts, giving them soft and thoughtful squeezes. 

 Meredith's mind was elsewhere at this point, she was not sure exactly why she was doing this, but right now she did not mind. She focused her attention to every detail, flicking her wet tongue over Eliza's hardening nipples, giving them soft bites, and gentle squeezes at the base of her breasts. As Eliza moaned into her touch this just drove her more, and slipped down her body, stopping just before her bush. Meredith slid her hands under Eliza's body, opening her thighs, and breathing in the aroma of Eliza's arousal. 

 Eliza let out a sigh as Meredith breathed on her sex, she let her hands rest on the girl's shoulders gently squeezing them urging Meredith to continue. As Meredith moved in to kiss her pussy, she felt a surge of energy move through her, and rested her hands on the back of the girl's head. She let a moan escape her lips as Meredith slipped a finger into her, slowly flicking her tongue against her swollen clit, and starting a rhythm moving her hand. 

 Meredith felt like her body was moving without her mind, she has never been in this position before—with a man or woman—and it seemed she knew exactly what to do, and when to do it. Her hand slipped between her legs, rubbing herself softly as she continued her assault on Eliza. After what seemed like hours, and two fingers later, Eliza's moans were getting louder, and her breathing quickened to the point of almost wheezing. Meredith readied for Eliza's orgasm, feeling her muscles contract on her fingers, and giving her clit one last hard suck.

 Eliza gasped, going quiet as her orgasm hit her like a freight train, pushing Meredith's head against her as she began shaking. After the euphoria passed, Meredith moved up her body, straddling her stomach and leaning down to give her a wet kiss. Meredith wrapped her arms around Eliza's neck, kissing for what seemed like hours, and Eliza's hand slipped to squeeze Meredith's ass. 

 A loud and clear voice came next, something that neither expected, and they jumped as Gavin spoke, "Looking good Ladies..."

Both women woke up at the same time, breathing heavily and looking around their beds to see if the scene actually happened. The thoughts of each other raced through their minds, and they both rubbed their eyes as the sun peeked through the windows. Somewhere else in the cabin Gavin leaned back in a chair, laughing slightly, putting his hands behind his head and dozing off into a nap.



Magical Essence Ch. 04



College ramped up on me. After seeing how the last story was rated I decided to give the series a bit of a rest, but now with a good amount of time (and due to a lot of people's requests) I am writing the series again. Thank you for all of your comments, and I am glad that the chapters thus far have piqued this much interest.

Unfortunately (or not, depending on how you look at it) my writing style seems to be hard for some people to grasp. I am considering editing some of the previous chapters (for both my stories) in order to clean them up a little bit. But this is as long as time permits. I am not going to sacrifice new chapters for that. Enjoy, and thanks for the support! Be sure to keep voting and most of all leave comments!

Scene One

Gavin struggled to sleep as much as possible, but the events from the past few months have caused him to become an insomniac. The nights where sleep does overcome him only last a few hours at a time, usually lasting less than four hours, and always ending with a failed forced attempt to fall asleep. He stood up in the middle of his room and looked into the mirror noticing the subtle changes to his appearance. He had allowed his hair to grow long, and now carried various scar-burns from spars with Eliza and Merik. The muscles on his body were more toned now (not that he was scrawny before) and his childhood scars glowed as bright as ever. He brushed that thought from his mind, and caught himself gendering a bit too long at reflection in the mirror. 

As he shook it off he leaned into the cabin's door pushing it open and started his jog out into the fields. Eliza had warned him never to leave the compound (as he referred to it) without being escorted by herself or Merik. 'The risks outweigh the rewards', he thought to himself shaking his head. Eliza was only a few years his senior and she was already sounding like an old woman. These past few weeks have really been a test to his patience. Meredith was allowed to roam around Tevrin without any type of supervision and yet Gavin had never actually been into the city. 

"Meredith", he mumbled. She had been on his thoughts for awhile now. Ever since the incidents with Jordan he had not spoken with her for more than a minute's time. Then tension had built up so much that Eliza refused to train them together, and they were both now split apart. On several occasions (even though Gavin refused to see) Meredith attempted to apologize to him, but each time he brushed past her consumed in what task had to be done at the time.

Meredith felt abandoned. Before Gavin was discovered to be an Arch Mage Meredith's training was the center of attention for Eliza, but now, she was simply on the back burner. Even though Eliza participated in training she could always sense the mentor's thoughts being about Gavin.

He approached the entrance to the compound and slowed down his pace. As he looked at the iron gates a rage built up inside of him, something that has seemingly been happening more frequently lately, and he looked past the gates towards the city. 

"Why should I be locked up in here?" he said to himself. "I did not ask for this, I did not ask to be an Arch Mage." He muttered some curses to himself, and pushed the gate open with two open palms. The city was only a few miles and given his condition it would take him less than an hour to jog there. He started walking up the road thinking his actions over and over again to himself. Before Meredith and he were fighting she spoke of Tevrin's night life which included several bars, sparing rings, and other events of interest to unwind the apprentices.

That settled it for him, and he started a quickened pace towards the city. There were several hours left before he needed to be 'awake' in the morning, and he was sure that he would be able to get back by dawn. The chill of the December air hit his skin hard, and he pulled his cloak around his body as he continued to jog. He had lost several pounds of fat over the past few weeks from his jogging routine, and has become more cut and defined.

Eliza and Meredith have both noticed the subtle changes even if neither would mention it around him. Meredith watches his meditation and exercise routines from afar. Her feelings were split between envy and lust which caused more than a fair share of sexual tension. Meredith was by far not ugly herself, though being the only female apprentice did not help her situation at all, and many of the male apprentices feared her more than ogling over her.

Gavin reached the city limits in just under an hour. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and proceeded to walk through the gates. Before he realized it a guard had emerged from the gatehouse pointing a staff in his direction. Gavin stared down the guard for a few seconds, and put his hands at his sides. The guard signaled from his perch and two others surrounded him.

"Where are you going to these late hours apprentice?"

"My apologies to rouse you I am merely walking", Gavin replied.

"You do understand that there is a curfew for all first degree apprentices such as yourself. We are in our full right to take you into custody."

Gavin thought quickly, "I am not a first degree apprentice, and I am insulted that you would think so because I simply picked the wrong tunic in the middle of the night. I am nearly a fifth degree."

There are six degrees to apprenticeship. The first and second degree apprentices are bound to their mentors at all times, and were not allowed to carry possessions with magical enchantments, or magical properties. Some of which include staffs, wands, and spell scrolls. The third degree apprenticeship marks the start of the schooling routine which lasted up until the end of the fifth degree. The sixth degree of apprenticeship could take years to accomplish, and requires an applicable quest to be completed which is given by both the mentor and The Council (which includes the ambassadors, and other delegates from Tevrin.)

The two guards looked between each other but neither lowered their staff. At this Gavin simply put his finger into the air, and casted a spell creating a small light source which floated above him. This satisfied the two guards, whom bowed, and returned to their posts. The ability to cast all spells with one's hands marked the move to the fifth degree apprenticeship. Most fourth degrees learn this early on, but take time in order to learn how to cast all spells in that manner. 

It only took a few minutes but Gavin quickly found his way to one of the night clubs that he heard about from Meredith. The club was named 'The Grail' and seemed interesting enough to venture inside. Inside was something that Gavin had not even imagined to see. There could have easily been a few hundred gathered around the dueling ring, and several more scattered around at various tables. He passed his hands across his face and distinguished his spell as he moved to sit down at one of the tables. He watched the duel in progress taking note on the two fighting styles of the two Magi.

"What can I get you?" an attractive young woman seemed to appear from nowhere to take his order. Her eyes were a deep green color, and she had long red hair that stopped just short of the bottom her perfect hourglass figure. 

"What would you suggest? This is my first foray into this whole club scene", he gave a small smile, and looked up into her tantalizing eyes which seemed to beckon his gaze. 

"We have a lot on our menu", she returned the smile brushing a piece of hair from her face, "but on a cold night as the such I would suggest a warm cup of hot chocolate."

"Then I accept your suggestion", he nodded to her as she began her stride towards what had to be the kitchen. Gavin caught her talking to a few other of the young women whom worked at club, but decided to return his attention to the dueling match. He had never seen an actual dueling match before, and generally was wondering what it entailed exactly. The two Magi rounded the ring in an attempt to disarm, cause a submission, or force their opponent out of the ring. Generally all three rules apply but only one needs to be in play for it to be an official match. 

Tevrin took dueling seriously, and all official matches were recorded for statistical purposes. In order to be even recognized for a sixth degree quest a apprentice must have at least one hundred dueling matches under his belt. This does not include any matches that are during Olympic sanctioned events including the preliminaries and training. 

"Your cup of hot chocolate has arrived sir", the waitress had once again had been able to sneak up on him. He looked up from the match, smiled, and placed the money on the table. She shook her head quickly, "There is no payment tonight someone has picked up your tab."

"Oh, really? Could you please point them out to me?" he looked around the room intently before realizing that the person was already standing in front of him. His face caught a hint of redness, and nodded slightly in approval.

"Would I be able to find out her name so I could properly thank her?"

"Her name is Sophie. May I sit?" without waiting for a reply she took up the seat across from Gavin. There was something about this apprentice that interested her, but she could not grasp exactly what that was. She took him at face value: a complexion that proved that he had indeed been outdoors, a hidden muscular physique, and a plain face. The abnormally long hair most definitely interested her. He was not afraid to let himself go, but yet, was in tune enough to keep his body in shape.

"Please to meet you Sophie. I am Gavin", he replied taking a sip of his hot chocolate. The warm liquid traveled directly to his stomach causing him to warm from the inside out. This cup seemed a little too good though, and Gavin ventured to think that there might be a sort of spell on it. Either way, though, it was not stopping him from finishing the mug. He took the sleeve of his shirt across his mouth to rid the excess froth.

"Gavin? You mean, the Gavin?" Sophie said a bit loudly, but she leaned in closer to speak a little more privately, "You can not be serious." Her eyes widened with wonder and awe that some children are able to achieve. She was not waiting for an answer though, her facial expression demanded it, and her hands moved to interlock with his wrists in a subtle embrace.

He hesitated a moment considering her reaction to his name, "How exactly do you know my name?" This, of course, was not the reaction that he expected, in fact, it was the direct opposite. This was the type of reaction that would have normally caused him to immediately get up and walk out of the room. But he generally was intrigued about how exactly she knew his name. The thought of the grapevine had never crossed his mind.

"Where have you been the past few weeks? The news about you putting that Jordan in his place has spread across all of Tevrin. You're a star among stars", Sophie was most definitely interested in Gavin now. Her elbows were propped up on the table, she indeed broke the embrace, but did not lead her hands far from his. "Jordan is here right now, you know, across the club", she pointed in the direction, "at one of the private booths over there."

Gavin's eyes followed her gesture to confirm that it was indeed Jordan. He was sitting with a group of people that included his two apprentice-mates that were with him that day at the compound. He spent a few moments studying Jordan and the rest of his posse before taking another long sip from his mug. He turned back to Sophie looking directly into her eyes. There were many parts of his body right now telling him not to do what he was about to, but the mind grasped a hold and he moved to bid her farewell for the night.

"I believe it may be time for me to retire for the evening. Thank you for the mug Sophie, and you were a darling, but I think I will take a walk outside in the fresh air", and with that Gavin stood up pivoting directly into the path of Jordan. It seemed that one of Jordan's mates had informed him of Gavin's presence, and he had immediately made a stride over to his table. Gavin calmly put his mug down on the table watching the other mage walk towards his vicinity.

"You! How dare you show your face here", Jordan nearly screamed, causing the low roar of cheering to slowly quiet down. The spectators were now watching the confrontation between Jordan and Gavin. The dueling match had almost instantly become irrelevant, and all eyes were now on two Magi. 

Gavin turned his head slightly and tipped the mug with his finger, "Great hot chocolate. Almost hard to pass up." was his only reply. One of the things that he had been taught in the past few weeks that one can never have enough patience. Gavin most definitely did not want to cause a scene on his first night out of the chicken coup. Eliza would already not be pleased with the escape from the compound, but if a conflict arouse he most definitely would never be let off the lease again. 

"You, runt, have caused us great embarrassment over the past month and a half. Do you think I am just going to let you walk out of here?"

Gavin studied the spectators, and now the duelists whom of which had simply stopped their match. He reached for another sip of his mug before remembering it was empty and finally looked directly into his adversaries' eyes. Eliza was going to freak, but the scene had already been created and Gavin was not about to get crucified for no reason: Go big or go home.

"What do you suggest? I am all ears."

This took the other mage by a bit of surprise, and a grin spread across his face. The boy pointed behind him at the ring which had already been cleared from the prior duel. It had indeed seemed that the whole club was eagerly awaiting the spectacle that was about to happen. There were several cheers coming from various tables surrounding the two, and Gavin took the time to look around. 

He laughed slightly, "Well then, I guess I should not keep my fans waiting, right?", and be broke rank to start walking towards the ring. The crowd bellowed. The whole experience was surreal to Gavin. He had not expected to be entering into a duel with a fourth degree apprentice and especially the one that he had indeed embarrassed. This was sure going to be a night he would soon not forget, and Eliza make sure of that the next morning. There was no use stopping now he had already been spotted by a few dozen people and she would find out one way or another.

The stage was indeed set. Gavin had produced his wand from within his tunic and went through an elaborate stretching routine that gained both laughter and cheers from the crowd. He spun his wand across his fingers a few times waiting for Jordan to enter the ring, and as he did, the spectators erupted into a loud cheer. It seemed that Gavin might have underestimated Jordan's popularity a bit, but nevertheless, the show would still go on.

"Are you ready runt? This is going to be quick and painless."

Scene Two

Merik walked through one of the side streets of Tevrin. It was hard for him to sleep with the burden of Gavin on his mind. The mere fact that he could be in the presence of an ArchMage was enough to make him ecstatic but that was the bonus that allowed him to be around Eliza. He had never felt such feelings for someone before.

'She is amazing', he thought to himself as he pulled the robes around his body. The night chilled quickly and the streets of Tevrin were known for gusting every once and awhile. He could not get his mind off Eliza. She was the first female Magi that he had ever met and she could very easily bury him in a duel within the first few seconds. He admired the great strength that she had simply for taking the ambassador position. Tevrin had strict laws about Magi and one of them resided around gender.

In the olden times any person with magical prowess was permitted to go through the proper ranks of training which included females (whom more often than not proved to be the better of the three genders). One of the principals of the Magi were that they held themselves to higher moral standards than any normal human. Magi were expected to admire, respect, and understand all forms of nature. The 'originals' mentioned nothing about the gender of a Magi and thus this is something that held true for several hundred years.

Unfortunately there were always bad apples in the bunch. As the human race evolved and further developed the role of women was seen as being in the home. Women were seen simply as vessels for the bloodline, and a means to take out repressed feelings (be it sexual or not) of their mate: a counter-balance of sorts. The woman was a nurturer not a fighter, and thus man became the central icon of human civilization. The king ruled the land and the queen simply stood at his side.

The Magi community despite declaring themselves independent of human civilization indeed soon followed the same logic. The woman were slowly phased out of all official training programs, and were simply used as work-slaves. This happened with the majority of Magi-populated cities except Eliza's home. Tevrin was one of the first to follow the newly discovered discrimination, and enacted several laws against woman utilizing magic. It was not until the recent pressure from Eliza's home-state where some of these laws were revoked.

But Merik did not just admire Eliza for her mind. Eliza had long brown hair that stopped just past her waist line, and great blue eyes that reminded Merik of getting lost in the sea. She carried herself well and never under-dressed for any occasion including a simple leisure activity. She hid the majority of her olive skin under various assortments of robes, cloaks, and ribbons. He never understood this and thought that a woman of such beauty should be free to show without worry. 

He shook his head clear of his thoughts. He indeed thought about Eliza too much, and it began spilling over into some of his real responsibilities. He had requested to make a journey back to his Darque (his home-state) to search for a suitable apprentice for next term. 

Merik heard some cheering from inside one of the clubs, and walked inside. He avoided the club-scene simply because he wished not to be held accountable for anything that happened while inside. Being an ambassador meant he had had to watch over the populous and help enforce laws. He believed firmly that apprentices should have the proper time to unwind in whatever fashion they decided, but the majority of The Council did not agree (including Eliza.) The first two degrees of apprenticeship had a strict curfew; third, fourth, and fifth degrees were allowed out until 2AM.

He walked through the colorful beaded entrance while scanning the area for the two combatants. The whole room had rushed the ring and were readying for the bout that was starting. Merik made his way towards the ring as the knot in his stomach grew deeper, 'Is that Gavin?' he thought to himself. The fears that were bubbling in his deep insides were soon verified as he saw the focused face of Gavin. 

"Gavin!" Merik tried to yell above the crowd. He pushed his way as quickly as possible through the hordes of people. "Gavin!", he yelled once more, but the sound of the crowd had muffled his screams. 

The match had already begun.

Scene Three

The crowd roared as Jordan begun the match with a quick take-down attempt. The spell was aimed square into Gavin's chest, but his unique reaction times allowed for an immediate dismissal. He quickly answered with his own missile spell followed up by lightning shock which briefly grazed Jordan's shoulder. The older apprentice shrugged off the pain.

'He is quick', Jordan thought to himself between the exchange of casts, 'almost too quick.' Jordan threw a quick disarm attempt and followed up with the slow spell. This was something that Gavin had never encountered and the blue aura coursed through his veins.




Magical Essence Ch. 04



Gavin's heart pumped slower and his senses followed. The sounds of the crowd around him slowed and his vision began to ghost the images in front of him. In attempt to fight the effects, Gavin casted a shroud of protection across himself in a quick hope to deflect off the follow ups. The shield proved to stop nearly everything that Jordan could throw at him and it gave Gavin time to attempt several dispel magic attempts.

Gavin opened his eyes which were now glowing a dull white. Jordan stopped his assault to look into the eyes of his adversary in an almost entrancement. The crowd quieted as Gavin's wand pointed out towards an undefended Jordan. This was the moment. The slow spell had burned off into thin air which only created a quick blue flash.

The tip of Gavin's wand sparked violently just before he caught a direct hit from Merik. This sent Gavin off into the crowd which thereby stopped the match. The crowd surrounded the fallen Gavin as he stood to his feet and met Merik face-to-face.

"What are you doing here, Gavin?"

"MERIK! Why did you do that!", he yelled not realizing exactly who he was talking to as his temper flared. The crowd quieted as Merik showed his ambassador's badge. He waved his hands to split the crowd and ordered Gavin towards the door. The young apprentice stood up and stormed off as the command was given.

Merik gave Gavin a hard shove out the door as they both exited the club. They both began the walk back towards the compound not speaking to each other until the near end. As the city grew smaller the familiar ground, trees, and landscapes that Gavin had cultivated over the past few months came into view. The huge arch of flowers that he had only planted a few weeks prior seemed to catch the moonlight guiding them towards the path home.

"Boy you are going to be castrated. I hope you don't plan on using that at all. She's going to burn it off you with a hot iron."

Gavin mumbled something incoherently, and pushed the door open to a black void. He quickly turned around to find himself standing in a deep blackness. His breathing quickened and he put his hands out in front of him defensively. His heightened senses alerted him of absolutely no danger, but his intuition told him otherwise. After a few seconds of silence Gavin felt an immediate burning through his body.

The pain went from his head all the way to the deepest part in his toes. He felt his bones nearly melt and his eyes were popping out of his head. At this point the eerily familiar voice drummed through his head. The voice was not near, nor far, but inside of him!

"Gavin", a pause before the voice continued, "You provided a rather impressive show tonight my dear friend." Gavin tried to groan but his lungs burned when he tried to breathe. 

"Do not try to speak, boy, you are here to listen. You have a gift my friend, and if you continue to use it so sparingly someone might just come by and pluck it from your grasp."

The pain shot further into his soul.

"I have plans for you my dear, dear, boy."

As his eyes opened and his lungs gasped for air Eliza, Meredith, and Merik were standing over him. The burning sensations slowly ebbed from his body but the voice still rung in his head. The sounds around him were still muffled, but his vision quickly came back.

Gavin locked eyes with Meredith just before he felt the consciousness slip away. Her eyes were filled with love, with worry, and most of all with the desire. He had neglected her for the past few weeks because of the cruel prank that she pulled on him. But she could finally she how scared he was.

Someone wanted him.



Magical Essence Ch. 05



I am glad that the last chapter was received well. My apologies for taking so long. I cannot promise quickness because my schedule does not always permit me to write so freely. I have a few stories that I want to get going but I promise to always put this one at the top of this list. We are not all too far from the end yet.

Oh, and I didn't forget where I am writing. Here is what some of you have been waiting for. I am glad that you enjoyed the series thus far and I thank you for waiting so long for this chapter. The intimacy is alive it just took a bit long to get there.

I hope that you can feel for the characters as much as I do. I purposely set my writing style up like this for a reason. I want you to get to know and love the characters. There is a reason for everything. Their feelings are just as important to the story as the actual events happening to them. Keep that in mind. 

I attempt to proof read my work myself. I am my worst critic. If something is not exactly how I want it the story will be held up. I give each story attention and read the over before submitting.

*

Magical Essence Chapter Five -- The Perfect Timing

Gavin looked out onto the land that he had so gingerly cared for nearly a year now. He took a few steps out into the cool February night looking into the sky. He was at the point now where he rarely slept for more than an hour or two. It was very frustrating but he was rarely left tired. He accredited it another one of his abilities, but he could still hear the voice echoing through his head. It was the first real thing that has ever scared him before. He felt so weak, useless, and being an ArchMage didn't give him any comfort.

Gavin shook it off. His relationship with Meredith was getting better and better as the days went on. He finally allowed Meredith to give him a formal apology, and the lines of communication had evolved into actual conversations over the past two weeks. He felt himself once again being attracted to Meredith, and allowed her to be closer to him as a result of that. They began training together for the Olympics even though Meredith was not going to be competing. Gavin at least had someone to keep him company during his long sessions with Eliza and Merik. There was a lot more he needed to learn.

After a few minutes of staring into the dark sky he took his familiar position in the fields to start his meditation rituals. In the very beginning the idea of meditation bored him. He did not see any reason to sit silently for long time periods thinking about a particular subject. But it grew on him as it did with most apprentices. Gavin was streamlined into the apprentice program and was learning at a highly accelerated pace. This was partly due to the fact that he was indeed an ArchMage, but also due to the fact that he was being taught by two different people. Eliza knew exactly how the ArchMagi worked as being taught by one herself, and Merik was an incredible professor himself. Gavin cherished his lessons from his mentors but understood that ultimately the burden was being put on his shoulders. He knew he was being called upon for a reason. The ArchMagi existed for a reason. All his predecessors had a purpose. He has a purpose.

Meredith awoke in the middle of the night as she had done so many prior nights before. Once she learned that Gavin was mediating in the early morning hours she quickly attuned her schedule to watching him do so. Over the past months she has watched him evolve from "normal" person to someone of great importance. At first she was jealous of him. He was getting all of the attention from Eliza, and when Merik was not paying attention to Eliza he was helping out Gavin. The whole community knew that Gavin was something special, but they did not know the whole story. There were buzzwords flying around from several directions and Meredith was left in the middle of it all. She had to defend her mentor but also had to defend her apprentice-mate. This was something that she found so hard to do up until a few weeks prior. When she looked down at Gavin's lifeless body on the floor that one morning she saw everything.

It was as if his soul had shot up and revealed itself to her. He was scared. This was something that she never actually had labeled him. Gavin was scared of something that he could not explain and it was enough to break down the walls that he had built up so cautiously between them. At that point she had great respect for him. He was attempting to keep everyone focused on the Olympics and made sure that Eliza did not see what Meredith saw. Merik and Eliza were both so busy with ambassador duties that they did not see the personality change. He was more focused on learning his abilities. There was no more showboating. Something had made him determined to see everything through. This scared her as well.

She looked out at Gavin as he began his meditation. There was something different tonight. She too had noticed that their strained relationship had slowly begin patching itself up and both were more willing to speak with each other. A few days ago they even shared a healthy embrace. Not one of friends or family, but one of lovers. She could not read him though, really, she was never able to read him. But it hurt her even more that he did not want to speak about his troubles. There was something weighing heavy on his heart. With this set in her mind she decided to walk out to where he was preparing to meditate. 

Meredith clutched her blanket around her as she walked out into the field. It was the middle of February and with the wind chill the night air was brisk. The moon brilliantly turned the fields from the somber pitch-black into a soft grey hue of which a seemingly glowing pathway emerged from the tall grass. It was almost as if a higher being was calling her to make that trek to Gavin. As she neared him she slowly felt the wind die down and everything seemed to come to a dead stop. The howls ceased and the night froze itself in all of its brilliant moonlit glory.

The scars on Gavin's back shined even brighter tonight. They were glowing a soft yellow against the white hue of the moonlight. Meredith had noticed these scars from the beginning but she never got a straight answer from her mentor. She knew the stories that Gavin had told them and believed them to be half-truths. Indeed they were and but most likely the ten-fold of what he was able to verbally communicate. He was beaten as a child in order to be put in line. This was a form of punishment just as much as a form of control. The scars themselves were formed over years upon years of whippings and beatings. For most people the pain slowly ebbs away, but for Gavin the pain is felt throughout his body each and every day. Exactly like a trickle of water slowly falls down your face the pain inched its way down his back from each and every morsel of dead tissue. The scars on his back represent who he is and where he has come from. Each person has stories about their lives but Gavin's revolve around the scars on his back.

As Meredith reached Gavin she placed her hands on his back. Her gentle fingers traced slowly down the glowing scars. She could feel the warmth emitting from them and followed each one with both of her hands. Her eyes closed and she could almost see his past flooding through her fingers. The pulsations started from her fingertips traveling slowly through the nerve-endings and into her head. The visions were real. The arguments were clear and the end result was apparent. The peril of a young boy was clearly evident. Each and every crack of the whip on Gavin's back caused Meredith to wince herself. Even though the visions were only that the emotion flooded through her. 

Meredith opened her eyes and looked around her. She was surrounded by darkness except for a dimly lit oil lamp scattering light just far enough to make out the words on the parchment below. Her eyes fell upon Gavin's recollections. Each and every time a beating had happened he hid under his bed and repeated endlessly his faults. They were written out on the parchments several times in neat fashion. One after another and again after another. The same lines copied to reinforce what he had done wrong in his head. She flipped through some of the pages reading off the cause of each and every beating. Something as insignificant as forgetting to ask to use the bathroom all the way up to eating after what apparently was several days of starvation. A simple request for a drink of water at one point warranted a whipping. Meredith felt her tears well up in her. She began to read more parchment that had been written more recently.

"Never cry. Emotion is a weakness. Be relentless. The time will come. Steadfast."

She reached up to her face to wipe away her tears. Upon opening her eyes again the field had reappeared and Gavin's scars had dimmed from their yellowish color. Meredith reached around and put her arms around him feeling his heartbeat quicken and he slowly awoke from his trance. There was no exchange of words. The touch was enough to answer the deepest of his questions. He turned his head around and met her lips with a warm and long kiss. His whole upper body turned and embraced her. The passion flowed between the two from head to toe of each of them. 

Gavin closed his eyes and breathed past his battered face. The blackened burn marks up his arms were enough to warrant immediate medical attention. But tearing himself away from the pain he shifted his attention towards the matter at hand and scorched the ground of the arena encompassing the whole perimeter with twenty-foot tall flames. The figure in front of him turned his head back and forth looking around at the fleeing spectators. The broadest smile Gavin had ever seen was painted across his face. The wicked smile and the laugh of a hyena was the only comparison that could be made. The tournament had gone wrong -- horribly wrong -- and Gavin had to fix the problem that he was faced with. There were thousands of people counting on him. He could not let them down. He could not fail. He will not fail. Remembering this he pushed everything out of his mind and repeated his mantra to himself.

"Never cry. Emotion is a weakness. Be relentless. The time will come. Steadfast."

His hands traveled down her body. Meredith wore very little while sleeping and this proved to be one of the better decisions on her part. He tugged her shirt from under her sleeping bottoms and planted kisses slowly up her abdomen. His tongue traced around her navel and up her front. Both hands hooked around the fabric of her shirt and slid it over her head. Meredith let go a sigh and leaned her head back to enjoy his kissing. Gavin's teeth scratched up to her hardened nipples as he took one into his mouth. His tongue rolled around and gently pulled her between his teeth. Meredith let out moans of joy as she reached to rub him through his pants. The explosion of these emotions had taken both of them fully and the end result had already been dealt. 

Gavin focused on massaging her back with the utmost care as he kissed her deeply on the lips. He broke free and looked upon her exquisite body. Through all the clothing and robes it was very hard to judge her frame. As he now laid his eyes upon her with the moon lighting her pale skin he saw her true beauty. His heart was now complete. He loved her and he could see the same feeling in her eyes. Gavin pulled his pants off and kicked them into the grass. He helped Meredith do the same and he feasted his eyes on her neatly trimmed womanhood. Gavin breathed in her scent as his face sunk to suck gently on her budding clit. His hands immediately found themselves rubbing down her swollen pussy lips. Meredith moaned in ecstasy and her eyes shut immediately. She felt the ground under her slowly dissipate as Gavin began eating her. They both slowly lifted off the ground past the grass and into the black night sky.

His eyes focused on the robed figure. He reached up to wipe the blood from his lower lip scanning his surroundings. The five lifeless bodies of the guard bled from every orifice that had a vessel. Gavin shook his head back and forth quickly to push their screams out of his head. The dismembered bodies were writhed and twisted with the explosion of power from the other Mage across from him. Once he was sure that Meredith and Eliza were clear from the warpath he planned to engage this battle. As quickly as his eyes were able to scan for the signs of them one of the bodies was hurled in his direction. Gavin put his hands into the air immediately turning the body into ash. 

The darkness that flowed from this Mage was enough to send chills down Gavin's spine. The hooded figure had only spoke a few words before initiating the attack on the others. Gavin had stepped in front of the assault to protect the contenders from harm. He put as much power as he could into deflecting the spells away from the group behind him. Eliza was holding Meredith and Jordan with his cohorts had already taken cover. But he had to take into account the spectators, guards, ambassadors and senate members that were all watching the spectacle. The numbers were against him as he made the decision to channel the energy through himself and into the ground. The power ran through every inch of his body and was channeled into the earth. The upper layer on his skin slowly charred further and further as the exposure lasted longer. He himself started to bleed and fell to his knees but still holding strong. The group behind him scattered out of the arena. Gavin flashed back and sent his attacker sliding across the arena. He stood up igniting the ring around him to keep out any bystanders. Gavin stared down the face of his foe.

He entered her slowly putting his arms around her body. Meredith cried out aloud, her virginity had just been given to him and she wrapped her legs around his body bringing him deeper. At first the motions were awkward to the couple but they soon fell into lovemaking like two rabbits. The grunts and moans filled the air and the sweat trickled down onto the grass below them. Meredith's hands reached behind Gavin's back and dug into his skin as he achieved deep penetration. She could feel herself slowly arriving close to something that she could only imagine being her climax. The primal instincts of both of them had taken over and all civility was out of the question. Gavin sunk his teeth into her shoulder as he shot his seed deep into her. Meredith, almost anticipating this feeling hit her climax shortly before him and closed her eyes in absolute bliss. The couple descended into a soft landing in the cool grass where both slipped off into the best sleep they have had in weeks.

Gavin stood up from his knees breathing out deeply looking into the shadowed eyes of his adversary. The ground around him was dead -- dehydrated -- from taking the channeling of the magic. It cracked beneath his feet as he planted them firmly. 

"You came here to kill these people. You killed many already. I cannot allow this," he spoke loud and firmly although knowing it would not be enough for a white flag. "I do not know who or what you are but I was put here for a reason. I am here to stop you. I know this now."

There was that laugh again. A laugh that spoke nothing except evil intentions. The same type of laugh that needed absolutely no explanation about context. The figure stretched and mocked the young man in front of him. 

"I came here for you Gavin. You just happen to be around these people. The old man did not tell you about the opposing force, then?" The harsh voice spoke. The same voice that he had heard when he blacked out over a month and a half prior. The figure raised his hands and lifted the hood of his head revealing his identity.

The couple had made their way back into the cabin after the lovemaking session. Eliza looked up at the two of them as they came walking in. They both had the big smiles across their faces. The type of smile that needs no explanation of context. Eliza just shook her head and laughed quietly to herself. Even though her duties often kept her away from her apprentices she was not dumb. She had felt the attraction from day one and knew Meredith better than the girl knew herself. 

"You two," she paused formulating her words, "get ready to head on off. We are heading out early for mid-term break. The ride is a long one. I do not wish to arrive too late." She gestured to their rooms in an attempt to tell these two lovebirds what to do. She knew exactly what they planned on doing but the words needed to be said at least one prior to yelling at them. 

Meredith and Eliza's hometown were expecting them back for the mid-term break. This break happened just before the Olympics each and every year. All of the ambassadors went back to their respective residences and spoke with their superiors. This was a time of festival and feasting. All across the lands the community gathered together and celebrated as a single unit. Even when common ground could not be found with politics it was found through unity. A unity that was cemented with the Festival of Magic. This festival celebrated the barriers that have been hurdled which brought their community above the normals. The old war stories were told and tales of great epic battles between good and evil. The battles were long and a victor always emerged war-torn but alive. This was something that had always bothered Eliza. There was no glory in war. This is why the political system existed. This is why she puts all of her time in keeping the agenda of the community away from the petty differences that can sometimes cause deep rifts. As a direct representative of the most powerful Mage known to currently live she had more influence than the other ambassadors.

Because of the importance of Eliza's hometown (the last known ArchMagi residing there) and the even more utmost importance of Gavin she wished to travel early. The quicker that she made her departure from Tevrin the quicker that she could get Gavin to speak with Esterme, the ArchMagi and her mentor. The boy needed to speak with someone that could understand him better and guide him through everything that he was dealing with on his own. Eliza could only coach him to a certain extent. The past few weeks Gavin has been taking his training into his own hands. With little help from both her and Merik he was able to accomplish a more focused and attuned training schedule. Meredith had also been working with him where she can. She served as a good sparring partner and, in turn, he was helping her with her own skills. Eliza was grateful that these two had mended and patched their differences. They had both evolved into something that had seen potential in from the beginning.

After much though and speaking with the council Eliza set their departure date for two days in advance. In the best of weather it would take just over three days time to travel by carriage. Even though there was a faster method she could not trust Gavin to apparate the three of them without ever attempting the spell before. It was too risky. Apparition is not exactly a spell either. The magic that is used, even by ArchMagi, can only be utilized to change and shape the physical world in front of them. This was seemingly a law of magic that was first found out to be true in the early days. There have not been any known instances of breaking this law of magic, except for Apparition. But this is precisely why apparition is not considered a magical spell; instead, it is considered to be more of a transfer of power. More specifically, a transfer of one's state being to another place along with anything else in desire. The previous state being is then destroyed. Because of the danger of apparition it is rarely performed with more than the ArchMagi themselves. Even though the transfer of more than one is merely just another order of magnitude it can be dangerous not to just the parties involved but the parties on the receiving end. The carriage ride therefore was a necessity. 




Magical Essence Ch. 05



The trio left the combine in the early afternoon and set off for their destination days ahead of them. They would make exactly two stops on the way back. The decision was made early on about skipping Gavin's hometown of Emmert, at least, on the first pass through. They would stop at two larger towns and stop at Emmert on the way back. Even though Gavin had absolutely no family there he wanted to take care of some unfinished business.

The trip went quickly for all three of them. The relaxation was exactly what Eliza needed. She had been spending more and more hours worrying over the happenings of the council. After months of badgering, the council had finally accepted her proposal and Esterme would come speak after the festival. The Olympics marked the end of the Festival of Magic for the residents of Tevrin. The weeklong tournament pitched the best apprentices against each other in a battle royale style of fighting. The tournament was a round-robin sparring match for the first three days. The best of each division would then go on in a single elimination tournament style. The final match would be held on the final day as a grand spectacle. After the final match all parties represented during the tournament would have a final chance at glory in one single large-scale reenactment of a prior battle.

The festival was to take place at separately at each individual home state. Upon arrival back the parties would become reacquainted with each other and the Olympics would start within the first few days. Gavin would go through his final training sessions while they were on break and then would take the days just before the Olympics to relax. This was both Eliza and Merik's recommendation. They had long since stopped ordering him around when it came to his training regimen. 

The carriage stopped at the last town for one final resting period. Gavin and Meredith walked off into a room of their own and Eliza went off by herself. She splashed some water from the basin onto her face. The drive had dried up her skin beyond all belief. After spending a few hours grooming herself in front of the large mirror she settled down. Her thoughts traveled to her two apprentices in the room directly next to hers. She was envious of Meredith. This was something that upset her more than anything. The girl had a partner. She had a great partner. They meshed so well together that it was almost impossible to split them apart at this time. 

Eliza floated back into a resting position sighing before drifting off into a deep slumber. The coming day would be great. She was going home after all these long months. She just hoped that not too much has changed since she had left. 

In the room next door Gavin and Meredith made love all night long.



Magical Essence Ch. 06



Thank you again for all of your support! Here's the next chapter. I hope your appetite is slowly filling up -- because we're approaching the climax of this series. I promise that it'll go out with a bang and you won't know what hit you. Just a few more chapters left to go!

Magical Essence Chapter 6: Destiny

Gavin stood outside waiting for the two women to finish up inside. They had neared the final leg of their journey back to Eliza and Meredith's hometown. Gavin walked around the small town watching the shops beginning to wake up. He closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh hair that was carried from the east wind. They were traveling to a harbor city on the coastline. Gavin had never seen the ocean before but had heard stories his whole life of boats that were swallowed up by waves forty and fifty feet high. The ocean was a relentless terror that not even magic could stop but only deter. He took another deep breath as he headed back towards the carriage that had been carrying them to their destination. He turned his covered head and walked towards a child that was staring at him with amazement. Gavin bent down to the child's level, his brown robe covering him underneath and he stared the kid directly into his eyes.

"What's your name buddy?" Gavin spoke with a friendly smile on his face. 

"Sir, my name is Galen, sir," the child stumbled with his words. He had could not have been any older than five summers but was already working hard for his family. He would be a strapping young man when he matured into an adult. 

"Are you a fan of magic?" the Mage said as he took pulled his hand in front of his face creating a spectacle of sparkling colors. He patted the kid on his head and turned away to leave before receiving and gentle tug on his robes. Gavin looked down to look and then behind him. He turned to look up the road but there was no sign of the young boy. He took a step forward and the landscape changed dramatically. The houses were scorched and burned to rubble. The ground, which was once green with healthy grass, was now dried up and brittle. Gavin turned his head as he noticed the same small boy. A black aura was radiating around his body and with a quick flash the boy disappeared from his vision along with the rest of the precognition. Meredith's calling voice drew him away from the center of the town. He pulled his robes together tightly around him and walked directly to the carriage. He had many questions for Eliza's mentor, the other ArchMage and he wanted to get there as quickly as possible. He knew in his gut that something was about to break loose. 

The carriage took off with blazing speed and grace as they entered the home stretch of their journey. Gavin looked out the window and watched as the landscape slowly changed to a craggy and rocky as the neared the costal city. The smell was the first that he noticed. He could almost taste the salt in the air from the ocean. Gavin pulled back the shutter on the window and put his feet him. They were at least an hour off and he decided to spend that time resting his eyes. Meredith was already sleeping peacefully at his side and Eliza had her nose in a book that she had brought along for the trip. He had spent most of his time admiring the different landscapes as they moved every so slowly to their destination. His face was perplexed thinking about what he had seen at their last stop. He was recalling his initial walk through the town. He did not remember seeing the child the first time around but it caught his attention. He was not sure exactly what to make of the premonition but somehow it would all mesh together soon enough. 

"What irks you Gavin?" Eliza had looked up from her book and been studying him over the past few minutes. She had always been able to read him, but over the past few weeks the workload had left her detached from the two of them. Meredith was spending more time training with Gavin and he seemed to spend all of his time out on the battlefield honing his skills.

"Just something that I have been pondering over the past few weeks now, you know, since my little incident," he turned his gaze to look at her with a solid focus. He quickly decided that this would be the best time to break the news. "I do not plan on participating in the Olympic events. I figured I better tell that to you now."

Eliza did not seemed surprised by this at all. She had watched this boy, of which whom was only a few years younger than herself mature from an adolescent to a responsible man. Even though he had acted out over the past few months she knew he would handle he situation well. In fact, she had expected this of him even though he was the one who created the dilemma in the first place. She could tell that he had made the decision by himself and had not even informed Meredith by watching his stares over at her sleeping form. 

"You do understand what this means..." she was cut off short.

"Absolutely. I have trained with her for the past few weeks. She is more than ready," he reached out and brushed the hair from Meredith's face while she continued to sleep. "I have full faith in her, Eliza, or else I would not put the burden on her shoulders. But I cannot do this. I belong outside of this fight."

He took a few moments to pause and consider his next thoughts. Gavin knew very much that Eliza could handle the words he was about to tell her, but he did not know how she would interpret them. She was, in fact, a politician. Gavin had long since decided that politicians were not the ones to be trusted even if two of his best friends were both politicians. He turned to stare her down.

"I do not trust the council. There is something brewing and I have a feeling it is going to happen during the events. Someone else knows about what I am," his voice was clear and straight to the point, "have you told anyone?"

"Gavin, what, absolutely not! I believe I understand this more than..." again she was cut off before she could finish her line of thinking.

"And Merik?" his face had gone stone cold showing no sign of emotion whatsoever. Eliza was not enjoying this line of questioning. She was more concerned about what had prompted him to begin asking. He awaited a reply with a relentless stare.

"Absolutely not. Gavin, what is going on here?" she started talking in her raised voice demanding an answer to these obtrusive questions.

He pulled gently on the shutters and looked quickly around judging their surrounds a bit more before proceeding. He was being not only cautious but leaving Eliza on short leash information wise. He did not want her to become worried too soon. He needed to find out more before continuing with this conversation.

"Not now Eliza. I need to speak with Esterme first. Then we will talk."

She was floored by this and was about to raise her voice louder before she fell into a deep sleep. Gavin had cast the spell quicker than she was able to even react. He cracked his neck slowly on each side and looked back at Meredith lovingly. He could feel her love of him radiating through her body. Each and every time he saw her smile it melted him on the inside. Gavin did not understand what this girl was doing to him but he did not care nevertheless. She was beautiful. She was magnificent. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her. But now, he was throwing her to the sharks. They had been training for weeks and she was keeping up with him as well as could be expected. She was going to be forced into a situation in which she was not prepared for mentally. This would be her weakness.

Gavin closed his eyes and his form blinked slowly from inside the carriage. He had apparated his body back to Tevrin and after a few seconds of limbo was standing on the rainy streets of the city. He pulled his heavy brown cloak across his body and began walking up the street towards the club that he had been to a few months prior, 'The Grail,' where his little incident with Jordan was subverted by Merik before it could escalate. He pushed through the doors and scanned the surroundings. He could see Jordan and his cohorts at a far table. Gavin walked in the immediate direction of the table slowing down as they realized who was walking towards them. Jordan immediately stood up crossing room to meet him.

"What are you doing here? You want me to mop you up again," he laughed and the others behind him followed in key. Gavin cold stared into his eyes and then smiled back at the mage. 

"I want to speak with Derek. Jordan, Where can I find him?"

The face on the mage changed to a contorted expression and the other two stood up from their position at the table joining Jordan by his side. Gavin searched their eyes one by one until settling his gaze back on the leader of the pack. When another mage asks to see your Master you are obligated to provide such communication. This was the law of the land -- as long as you were still an apprentice you had to follow the laws or you could face the dire consequences. Jordan sneered and pushed past Gavin walking towards the door. Gavin followed the two henchmen out the door and into the streets.

The rain was cold and pounding hard like miniature ice needles hitting the skin. The walk was not too far and there was no worry about ill conversation. After a few minutes the three had started to mumble between themselves but Gavin paid no attention. They had been specifically warned not to attack him, and nevertheless, they could not do anything even if they fully exerted their powers on him. At this point in his training he had little to worry about when approaching any normal mage. The walk through the streets had proved to be a little longer than he had anticipated looking up at the sky as sort of guidance for the time of the day. The heavy rain clouds masked the sun and he stopped as the trio turned around to look at him. 

"What do you want with him?" Jordan had asked in all seriousness. There was no malice in his voice and he was generally concerned. If Gavin felt the need to speak with his Master then Jordan was expecting a rather stern talking to shortly afterwards. Gavin merely nodded towards the door and they pushed it wide open. He stood in the foyer of the building as the three ascended the staircase to their Master's quarters. 

The room was surrounded with spell books and alchemists' gear. There were vials upon vials of liquids -- some transparent and others ranging from all the colors and hues of the rainbow. There were very few that were labeled and as he examined further they seemed to be abbreviated with some form of a notation. Gavin had never been taught anything about alchemy. His studies had been solely on learning spells and executing them. He was training for war, it seemed and Eliza forgave his inabilities to create concoctions out of a book. She was not the best alchemist herself either and did not even bother teaching Meredith beyond her initial studies. Gavin reached out and touched a few of the ornaments hanging on the wall before he heard the yelling above him.

One of the younger apprentices ran down the stairs first before the other younger apprentice quickly followed and they rushed out the door screaming at the top of their lungs. Gavin had heard part of the conversation as they were leaving which he took to understand that their Master had been murdered. He walked up the stairs to take a survey of the scene. Most of the doors had been pushed open. Gavin quickly looked for Jordan's aura and followed his sense to what seemed to be a sparring room. He found Jordan on his knees grasping at his hair. Gavin looked around the room to find exactly what the three had found.

There were spell burns across some of the walls, which were obvious signs of a struggle, but not enough to be of much merit. There were parts of Derek's body littered across all four corners of the room. His torso was pushed up against he wall. The spray of blood had been minimized for some unapparent reason. The struggle, if there was one, did not last for long. Someone vastly more powerful had done this deed. Gavin looked up at Jordan for a few brief moments worrying about the young man. His aura was radiating with the brightest glow that Gavin had ever seen come from him -- he surely was a powerful mage. This had even taken Gavin by surprise. He looked straight up at Gavin with a dark glow in his eyes.

"Do you know who did this?" his voice cracked a little but was strictly to the point. Gavin stared him down for a few seconds and shook his head. He was not sure what Jordan wanted to hear from him. But they both knew it was not mere coincidence that Gavin came around wanting to speak to Derek. The mage had been murdered and Gavin was sure that it was because of him. 

He had come to suspect that Derek was on to his secret a few times after speaking with him. In the beginning Gavin really did not take notice to it, but after a few conversations the mage was surely suspecting something was up. The rest of the community was already spreading buzzwords like wildfire. Gavin had been immediately propelled into the limelight of the community as soon as it was announced that he would be attending the Olympics under Eliza's apprenticeship. Even though none of them have ever seen Gavin fight they immediately took the side of whom seemingly was the underdog. He laughed this off but it soon became to be an annoyance. 

"He was fascinated with you," Jordan finally admitted and Gavin did not respond at all. The young boy continued, "He kept asking me to stir some things up with you. I did not understand at first. But now..." Jordan looked around the room for any signs of who might have done this. At this point both young men felt a slight bond. Gavin nodded slightly to him.

"I have to get back to Eliza," he looked around once more and then nodding slightly to the other mage, "You take care of yourself. Who ever did this might not stop with Derek." With that Gavin disappeared from the room just in time for the Guard to come running up the stairs. They were five strong and more had been roused by the screaming of the young apprentices as they ran down the cobblestone street way. Jordan just stood back and looking out he window wondering what was going to come out of this whole situation. 

There were seemingly problems with Gavin and carriages. He had arrived back in the carriage just in time to deflect an immediate assault from the right side. The wooden box splintered exploding from the outward in. He did his best to protect the two women as they both were wrestled to a groggy awareness. Gavin floated down from the debris looking across the rocky enclosure at the black robed figure.

Almost as quickly as the spell was cast Gavin deflected and quickly returned the fire back at their assaulter. The other mage had done the same and moved parallel to Gavin's stance. Meredith and Eliza had quickly retreated from the carriage watching the two magi stare down each other. A few more exchanges of similar spells occurred with no effect on either of the men. Gavin started the assault and began running full sprint toward the figure deflecting his attack spells to the left and right of him.

The rocks cracked around them as they clashed and their power flowed straight through their bodies into the ground. Eliza ran out from her observing point and moved closer to the battle. Gavin was struck across the body with a lash of magic causing his robes to ignite immediately. The hooded figure caught one of his own spending him sprawling back into a rock formation. Gavin retreated back towards Eliza and Meredith scanning the rocks in front of him. He was bleeding from his side and quickly bit the pain and burned his wound shut. He yelled towards Eliza to take cover but she refused his order. The next spell was meant for her but Gavin stood in front of the spell taking the brunt of the attack and rolling off into the grass. 

Eliza put her hands up backing up from the advancing man. He had been wounded as well from Gavin's last assault and he slowly made his way towards the grass. He had seemingly no interest in either of the women at the time being and was focusing his attack on the strongest of the three.

Eliza closed her eyes as an arch of the two Mages clashed together creating and amazing and unreal scene. There were all colors of the spectrum clashing with the dark energy of the unnamed mage. Gavin stood up from one knee focusing all of his energy into blocking the attack. Flows of energy arched from the central point of the two snapping limbs off trees and causing small brush fires around the perimeter of their battlefield. 

Meredith joined alongside Eliza as they both screamed out spells launching their attacks towards the black robed man. He put up one hand to deflect the spells back towards the women but it gave Gavin enough time to overcome him causing the energy to surround him. The robed man had disappeared inside of vortex of colors and darkness and Gavin was left standing around the single chunk of preserved green grass for the whole field. The myriad of merging colors had left the two women speechless. It was almost something that could not be explained. 

He breathed out but felt nothing except pain escape his body and collapsed into the grass. He could feel the onset of his drained body coming over him and he struggled to keep himself awake as the voices of both Meredith and Eliza fell on his deaf ears. Gavin looked down his body at the wounds across his torso. Even though they were not deep they were enough to cause the seeping blood to pool and stain his brown robes. He laid his head back taking in another breath as a flash of white light blinded his eyes for a second.

Gavin faded in and out of consciousness as an older man leaned over his body examining his wounds. His white beard was long and neatly trimmed and he wore white flowing robes that covered every single inch of his body. Nothing except white emitted from this Mage that Gavin had only guessed to be Esterme. 

He felt his body being lifted slowly off the ground and the last thing he remembered was the unfamiliar smell of vanilla.



Magical Essence Ch. 07



You can stop salivating already. Here's the next chapter! I hope that you are enjoying the series. Please don't be too sad when it ends. I'll still be around, and hopefully, on a better schedule. School sure is a downer when you are trying to keep readers satisfied. 

"You will be the death of them," the voice croaked through the perceived darkness of his veil. The black robes that he once worn were tattered, torn and charred at several distinctive places. The voice came through his burnt lips again past the increasing gurgle of the thick red fluid building up on his lungs, "To deny that fact would deny your existence."

The weight of Gavin was firmly planted on his right foot. The same foot that just so happened to be lodged in the throat of his assailant. Gavin's face showed no emotion. There was absolutely no mercy and would be no repent for this action. The decision was made and the gears were set in motion.

He looked up at the crowd forming around him as the body below him slowly burnt to a delicate crisp. Gavin let out the breath he was holding inside of his chest and pushed back his bangs so his face was in clear view.

....

"I know what you are thinking," the old man spoke as he cracked open a walnut with a specialized tool. Gavin blinked his eyes once or twice looking up from the bed towards the unknown man. His beard was a single shade of white with absolutely not a single speck of peppered gray in sight. The most immediate and prominent feature was the chiseled face in which seemed to dispel any wrinkle in sight. Gavin propped his upper torso up on his elbows and studied the room a little further. There was nothing special about this room, but the feeling of security seemed to radiate from the careful craftsmanship of its walls. This was a safe harbor.

"As I was saying, I know what you are thinking," the old man spoke again after giving the young ArchMage a chance to take in his surroundings, "Why am I using this nutcracker when I could just as easily slice it open with one snap of my finger." The old man shook his head back and forth looking down at the tool in front of him and the basin of walnuts. He spoke again after a few moments of silence, "After so many years sometimes you just want to do something the old fashioned way."

Gavin tilted his head slightly before he spoke, "Are they okay?"

The old man tongued a piece of walnut from his gums, "Of course they are. Did you have any doubt? That in and of itself would be the most interesting," He stood up from his seat and walked over to the side of the bed while looking down with his cold gaze, "Gavin, you have been given a gift, but with any gift of such magnitude there are rules," he paused to scratch his nose, "And of course a trial run to be sure that you are suitable for such gift."

Gavin looked at the old man and his cryptic comments with a blank face. The man put his hand on Gavin's shoulder and winked, "We will have time to talk later. But now, you have a certain someone that wishes to see you." With those words the old man made an immediate departure from the room leaving nothing but a soft blink of light. The opening door creaked as if the hinges had not been oiled in a thousand years. Meredith walked through the thin opening and closed the door behind her.

The smile of relief was one of the most beautiful things that Gavin had ever seen in his life. It was a genuine sign of love. He leaned up to embrace Meredith with a tight hug further evolving into a passionate lashing of tongues. With one strike of the second hand on a face of a clock the two lovers showed their love for one another in that single moment of time. 

His hands found their way down her modestly covered back and gripped on to her round bottom. Their tongues were tied together creating mischief Meredith's hands trailed down the front of his body. The outcome of the prior ordeal had left him scantily dressed although wearing the proper attire for the current occasion. She had to make little effort to get her hands wrapped around his growing manhood as a coy smile crossed her face.

"Our little friend here has been waiting to get out for a few hours now hasn't he?" Meredith planted kisses down his chest as her hands began to massage his balls. She had become a very quick learner and picked up these techniques quicker than Gavin could even imagine. Half of the time he thought he was dealing with a sex goddess in the form of Meredith. She knew exactly what buttons to push, when to push them and precisely what he outcome would be.

The knock on the door startled the both of them and Meredith quickly regained her composure as Eliza peeked in the room. She shot a quick gaze at the two of them and pushed the door wider open walking in without any though. Gavin let out a loud sigh while blinking quickly to allow his eyes to adjust to the newest light source. Eliza made a quick motion for Meredith to shoo off the bed as she led in the same old man that appeared before.

"Gavin, I want to introduce you to someone special. Someone that you can relate more towards," Eliza moved aside as the old man gave the young man a quick and subtle wink, she continued, "This is Esterme."

Esterme gave a quick nod and smiled at Meredith, "Would you mind darling, could you give us a few moments in peace? We must speak about some things that might be sore to your ears." Meredith glanced at Gavin questioningly but would not defy an order from Esterme himself. She had seen the wrath of an ArchMage before, not only from what Gavin had shown her, but also from Esterme himself. There had been more than one occasion in which the old man had to teach a lesson to some young apprentices and even some mentors themselves. The truths had been lost and turned into nothing but stories. Eventually, all that was left was the folklore of an ArchMage that had a healthy and verbose heart but an iron clad fist.

As the door shut Gavin glanced between Eliza and Esterme and he planted his hands down on each side of his body twisting it until his feet crossed over the side of the bed. He let them dangle for a few moments allowing the blood to rush to them. After feeling the numbness evaporate from his muscles he tested his feet and stood up on his own. This whole process took no more than a minute, but in his mind it could have been an eternity.

"I see that you have healed quickly," Eliza shuffled around the room finding a seat to pull for her mentor. Esterme broke a smile and sat down slowly, as an old man would, and squeezed his white palms around the armrests of the chair. Gavin took a few moments, looking between the two and finally let out a sigh. 

"Listen, I don't think its safe for you and Meredith to return with me Eliza," he barked the statement out as a slight order that he knew would be contended. Eliza did not have the time to file her complaint, because Esterme broke in suddenly before the two could exchange their words.

"That would not be a wise choice," Esterme reached again for a walnut from the pewter bowl, cracking it instantly with his magical grip, "you may be ten fold powerful than the two of them, but you need someone with the wise of the land on your side." 

Gavin shook his head vigorously, looking down at his feet and then back up at the ArchMage whom of which had changed, briefly. The chiseled face had been replaced with an evil ear-to-ear grin that quickly faded when Gavin gave a forced blink. He shook his head back and forth looking towards Eliza for some confirmation of the sight, but none was there.

"My boy, there are things about the gift that you do not quite understand yet," the elder ArchMage waved his hand towards Eliza motioning her towards the door. "Let me have little while with Gavin, privately please, we will meet you and Meredith in the courtyard for breakfast."

Without the slightest form of resistance Eliza moved towards the door and Gavin felt his wall of inhibition slightly crumble. This was the first time he truly got a glimpse of her beauty. She was no longer wearing the heavy ornamental robes that were required in Tevrin; instead this outfit was more liberal in both the design and exactly what was shown. Her figure was nearly perfectly curved and she had the most amazing natural body that Gavin had ever seen. The door shut with an audible thud, and his line of thought went with it. 

"This world is in a forever balance of both good and evil," the ArchMage stood up quickly from his chair. The figure of the old man quickly loosened and he gracefully walked over towards the window that Gavin was looking out of, "we must balance ourselves accordingly as well, my friend." The older mage grabbed the boy by his shoulder in an embrace, "Oh, this shall be delightful!"

...

The crowd roared as Meredith wiped her sweaty hands against her own garments. There was blood flowing freely from an open wound on her left shoulder, but while training with Gavin she had learned to put pain to the back of her head. He did not understand how hard he was on her, and she decided not to let him know. She wanted to be the strong woman that he hoped she could be, and thusly, she overexerted herself past the point of exhaustion. This time was no different. Eliza had sprung the news on her when Gavin was nowhere to be found on the ride back to Tevrin. 

"That Jordan, he is on a warpath," Eliza watched the young mage tear into the opponent that was in the ring with him, "girl, do you think you can handle him?" 

She had taken down six opponents to get to the position she was now standing in. The mage that she would be facing, almost indefinitely, was seemingly gunning for her. At the start of the Olympics she was made a mockery of in front of the crowd of thousands. Jordan had publicly humiliated her, Gavin and Eliza. 

The crowd roared louder as Jordan received medical healing after the brilliant finale. The poor opponent of his had no chance and was forced to physically crawl out of the rink writhing in pain from the curse that Jordan had casted upon him. The mythical announcer walked into the middle of the rink and announced the grand finale.

Meredith vs. Jordan.

"He's mine," Meredith fumed, breathing heavily through her nose, as she broke past Eliza and moved towards the center of the battlefront. 

...

"Boy, you will have to do better than that!" Esterme said quickly, expelling the attack spell that Gavin had just casted. He had been playing this mind game with the elder mage for what seemed like eons. Every time that Gavin thought he had obtained the upper hand Esterme simply pushed him aside with a swipe of his hand. 

"How is this helping ME any?" Gavin breathed heavily, his body was now visibly scarred from head to toe with spell burns. He had been channeling some of the attacks against him directly through his body. This was an ability that perplexed Esterme. The spells that he had been attacking with were some of the strongest that he had ever used on an opponent, and as a result had been getting hit with spells of near equal strength. 

The strength of Gavin was nothing of a mystery to Esterme. Normally, the power of a Mage is a product of his (or her) mentor. There are very few Magi that are able to achieve an absolute power from nothing. These tend to be the magical prodigies, such as Gavin and Esterme. These ArchMagi, as the have been coined by the community, are simply the remainder of the equation. As there exists "all powerful" Magi such as Gavin and Esterme; there exists someone at the opposite end of the spectrum that contains absolutely no magical essence whatsoever.

"Each and every individual in this land contains the ability to perform magic, Gavin," Esterme deflected another one of his attacks into the abyss, "there are some more adept than others and then there are the polar opposites: You and I. We are consumed with magic. We are one with magic."

Gavin was listening, but grunting and groaning as he was forced to dig deeper into himself to keep up with the more attuned Mage.

"Don't be mistaken; there are evils in this world and we must be aware of them," the older Mage put his hands up to signal a stoppage of play. The room slowly faded in around them and they both were as they were when they left, "You do have a purpose here."

"What is that purpose," Gavin's voice echoed into the hallway as the old man made his way to breakfast. He shook his head, slicking his hair back moving towards the door himself. The old man never answered him. 

Gavin sat down to eat breakfast with the three of them. The meal was amazing, but the whole while he had something on the tip of his mind he just wished to scratch. Esterme was involved in conversation with Eliza and Meredith as he reached for the walnut from a bowl in front of them, cracking it magically with his hand once again, and winking back at Gavin.