JOURNEY INTO THE REALM: The Spell Master (Journey into the Realm Series) (28 page)

***

The following afternoon, Nathan and I holed up in my room to practice more spells. It was becoming a routine, but I never grew bored. Learning magic was invigorating and not at all dull. And after last night’s confusing events, I needed a good distraction.

“This next spell is difficult, so make sure you focus,” Nathan advised.

“Okay,” I replied eagerly. “What spell is it?”

“It’s called a mimic spell, which gives you the ability to mimic another’s powers,” he explained.

“Can I have an example?” I almost asked if I could buy a vowel, but Nathan wouldn’t have understood the reference.

“Let’s say you wanted to mimic me. If you did the spell right, you would be able to act as a Spell Master.”

“For how long?” I wondered, making sure I sifted through all the loopholes. I found that magic had a lot of those.

“For as long as you have enough energy to support another ability, which probably isn’t very long. It takes a lot of strength to keep the spell going.”

“Wow,” I said. “That does sound difficult.”

“Like I said, focus,” Nathan instructed.

“You sound so serious,” I remarked.

“I am. Now move it,” he ordered.

“Okay, okay!” Nathan laughed as I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath before I concentrated. “Ready,” I said.

“You don’t know the motion yet,” he reminded me.

“Oops.” I opened my eyes and gave him an apologetic smile.

“Your journal says you have to point both hands toward the one you are trying to mimic.”

“Got it,” I said.

I closed my eyes again, concentrated on my thought, and pointed both of my hands toward Nathan. “Mimic,” I commanded.

I opened my eyes. I suddenly felt stronger and weaker at the same time. I could feel new strength in me, but I could also feel my energy slowly diminishing. It was very strange, like a push-and pull-effect.

“This is such a weird feeling,” I said. “What do I do now?”

“Perform an elf spell.”

“Which one?” I asked.

Nathan handed me a piece of metal. “Make money.”

I nodded. “Money,” I said.

Suddenly there was a silver coin in my hand.

“You elves have it so easy,” I said.

“Not really. We always need an object. All you fairies have to do is make a hand motion.”

“How about we call it a tie?” I compensated.

He grinned. “All right, fine. Now stop the spell before you pass out.”

I knew he could see how weak I was. I was starting to sway. “Good idea. How do I stop it?”

“Um…”

“You don’t know?” I said, raising my eyebrows.

He shrugged. “It doesn’t say in the journal.”

“Nathan!” I cried.

I could feel my energy draining by the second. What could I do to end this? What if I passed out before I could? I decided to say the first word that came to mind. “Stop!” I yelled, throwing my hands up into the air.

I wasn’t growing weaker any longer. I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

“That was close,” Nathan added.

“You’re lucky I’m resourceful,” I mentioned. “No more practice today. I’m beat. I need a nap.”

“Okay, that’s probably the safest way to go. We can practice again tomorrow and Friday,” he decided.

“What about Saturday?” I wondered, slipping my ring off my finger to put back in the trunk for safekeeping.

“Graduation and then the party Aimee’s putting together, remember?”

I took the journal from Nathan to put away with my ring. “Oh yeah. I totally forgot. Thanks for reminding me. Aimee will freak if I don’t show up,” I said, shutting the lid of the trunk when my ring and the journal were safely inside. “Are we going to practice Sunday?”

Nathan averted his gaze. Taking a deep breath, he muttered, “You will have company.”

“That’s right,” I said quietly, finally remembering. “Stellan is coming home.”

I didn’t imagine Nathan’s frown in reaction to that particular statement. “We probably won’t be able to practice again until after he leaves,” he said.

I thought about it for a moment. “Can we still meet at the tree to at least hang out?” I asked. I bit my lip, deciding on whether or not to continue my statement. I chose to be bold. “I don’t think I want to be away from you that long.”

Nathan smiled. “That was my exact thinking.”

“Good,” I said, relieved that he had taken the comment lightly. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Get some rest,” he said.

“I will, I promise,” I said.

He nodded with a brief smile and then left the house. I collapsed onto my bed and immediately fell asleep.

I woke up to the front door opening. I quickly sat up and smoothed down my hair. Whoever it was couldn’t see that I was taking a nap. Elves never took naps.

“Hey, Ramsey,” Ellie said as she strode into my room.

“Hey, Ellie, ever heard of knocking?” I asked, glaring at her halfheartedly.

“Ever heard of something called elfin customs?” she replied sarcastically. “You know elves don’t knock on doors.”

We always exchanged banter like this. Nathan enjoyed lighthearted sarcasm, but Ellie appreciated dry humor.

“Right,” I said bitterly, still fixing my hair.

“So how was your afternoon?” she asked, plopping down on Zora’s bed.

“Good,” I said, but I didn’t elaborate. I never did.

“With Nathan again?” she assumed, looking down at me with a steady gaze.

“Yeah,” I admitted, laying back on my bed. I was still drowsy from my nap. “You know me too well.”

“I’ve said that you two were growing too close,” she remarked for the hundredth time.

I moaned. “Not that way, Ellie. You know that. I’m with Stellan.”

“I never said you weren’t with Stellan. But you are kind of with Nathan too.”

“How?” I asked, feeling the onset of a headache.

“You spend basically all of your time with him!” she cried.

“So? He’s my friend,” I said lamely.

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. All you’re doing is trying to reassure yourself and pretending that you’re not in denial,” she retorted, “when
everyone
sees what’s going on.”

“Ellie, I’m serious. I’m not in any way ‘with’ Nathan. Stellan is the only guy like that in my life.”

“Just hope that you are still saying that after the Winter Solstice. Stellan may turn out to be someone other than you remember. When you compare him to Nathan, I bet you will be surprised.”

I
tched
and rolled my eyes. “You don’t even know Stellan.”

Ellie sighed exasperatingly. “Of course I don’t. But I know you, and if Stellan isn’t an exact copy of Nathan, you won’t be with him for much longer.”

“You’re wrong,” I said.

“Maybe, maybe not,” she toyed.

I shook my head and turned toward my bedside table, where Nathan’s marigold still rested, although it was now dried and considerably smaller. I just didn’t feel like getting rid of it.

Ellie was wrong. I loved Stellan.
Love
…It was quite a strong word, and before Stellan, I had never loved another guy. Did I actually love him…or just care about him a lot? Had I even known what love was when I said those three precious words to him?

I woke up Friday morning to the sun shining and birds singing. It was the last day of ability school. At noon today, I would no longer be a student. I would be considered a fully-grown elfen.
Or
more like a fully grown elfen and partly grown Golden fairy.

I shouldn’t be considered fully grown until July, but since school had to end early, everyone just assumed we were adults. I decided I could live with that. Being an adult wouldn’t be too bad. Growing up was the least of my problems at the moment.

I got out of bed, put on some clothes, and headed for the kitchen. I grabbed an apple and took a bite as I put on a pot of tea, retreating to my room to finish dressing while it brewed. After grabbing my school bag and slipping on my sandals, I went outside to say good morning to the dragons and returned to sip my tea until it was time to leave.

On the way, I stopped by Nathan’s house because, in the last few weeks, we had started riding to school together as well as the trip home. I didn’t enjoy being apart from him. My place was sort of by his side, and vice versa. I felt unglued when he wasn’t around. Maybe Ellie
was
right about that denial subject….

Walking into my history class made me a little dejected. I realized I would never again listen to one of Lady Celine’s lectures. In the Human Realm, I was always happy to be done with school, but this school was different, gratifying and free of stress for the most part. I had met so many amazing elves during my time here, and in befriending them I had cast off my shyness and fully embraced my new surroundings.

I sat in my desk and noticed that Lady Celine was already starting to speak. Usually, we had a good five minutes to chat before class started. Today Lady Celine wasn’t wasting any time. I guess she wanted to tell us everything she could before we had to leave her.

Lady Celine smiled wanly at the front of the room. “The schedule I made at the beginning of the term suggests I use this class period to speak in great detail about human influence in elfin culture. This unit would take more than one class to complete.”

Every student was completely attentive to Lady Celine. The mood was somber, the air still as she regarded each of us, the students she wished she could continue teaching.

“We only have one class. So I’ve decided to revise my schedule to fit the circumstances. Ramsey,” she called.

I blinked. “Yes?” I asked, a little unsure of myself.

“You lived in the Human Realm for about fifteen years. Would you do us the honor of explaining what differences you see here from that of the Human Realm?”

Okay, maybe what I said about casting off my shyness wasn’t exactly accurate. I could feel my pulse quicken. Did she actually want me to lead today’s lecture?

“You may remain in your seat, Ramsey,” Lady Celine said, her eyes alight with amusement. “And you may speak comfortably. Talk to us like you would an old friend from the Human Realm. Explain what has changed about your surroundings.”

I didn’t know how I found the courage to speak, but I did. I didn’t hold back, either. I praised the Elf Realm for its beauty and rich culture but complained about the risky meal options and overabundance of green – the students loved that.

I learned a lot in history class, but the greatest lesson came to me when I fearlessly spoke to a class of elfin students. In the Human Realm, I would have declined. I would have blushed a deep shade of red and looked for possible exits. I would have cried to my friend Carmen later that day, hating myself for being such a coward. But not today. Today, I spoke and everyone listened.

And I felt more power in that than I did in a fairy spell.

***

“Today is your last day of school, class. Give yourselves a round of applause!” Lord Clark encouraged. We cheered and clapped like spectators at a football game. Lord Clark had always been an entertaining teacher.

“For our last hour together, we will spend time demonstrating all of our abilities. Each elf and elfen will come up in front of the class and display their self-control and new understanding of their powers. We may need some volunteers for part of the demonstration. Who’s first?”

The class ended after everyone showed off their new skills, whether it was just to their volunteers or the entire class. Daran came up to me at the end and gave me a high five, a “human thing” I had taught him at the beginning of the year.

“What a great class, huh?” he asked.

“Yeah, it was awesome,” I said, gathering my things.

“So…you maybe want to be my date to the party tomorrow?” he asked, raising his eyebrows in what he probably called seduction.

I called it hilarious. “How many times have we gone through this, Daran? I’m with someone. And you’re so not my type.”

His mouth dropped open in mock-shame. “You’ve wounded me so!” he proclaimed dramatically, hand over heart.

I laughed. “You asked for it,” I retorted.

He smiled and I could tell he was trying to look smoldering and irresistible, but he couldn’t keep the real humor behind it from reaching his eyes. “One day you will look back and regret not giving me a chance,” he told me.

“You want to bet on it?” I asked.

We both shared another laugh and then parted ways so I could get to my self-defense class on time. My friends were all waiting for me when I arrived and I immediately joined them. After talking for a few minutes, Lady Brianna had us compete in one last archery competition. This time, the top three students would each win a prize. Tavis won first place, I won second, and another elf in the class won third. I was proud of myself for accomplishing such a feat on my last day of school. My prize was my own bow and ten complimentary arrows, the same as the other two winners. I loved my prize, and I was pleased that it wasn’t a dumb piece of candy or something. I would have expected that in the Human Realm but not here in the Elf Realm.

Nathan tried to steal my bow and arrows, but I wouldn’t let him. I told him to get his own. The prize was mine.

We didn’t learn anything in my last class. We just spent the time talking about our favorite parts of the school year. I said my favorite was making so many new friends. Lord Asher even turned into a dragon again to amuse the elf students. It was a great way to end the last day of school.

Brielle and I shared a tearful goodbye after class. I had no idea when I would see her again. She wasn’t planning on returning to Aubrey or Birchwood for a while. We hugged a few times and said our goodbyes, and then she had to leave the school and the city with Danica at her side. Before she left, she promised again that she would speak to Eder on her return. She would write to me when she received any information. I just had to wait.

I hoped waiting would be enough.

***

“This will probably be our last practice for a while. Make it count,” Nathan told me later that day.

We were sitting on my bed, which most would perceive as an intimate scene, but for Nathan and me, it was natural. I sighed and nodded somberly. I was in a melancholy state. School had ended and I didn’t feel like doing anything.

“I feel like crap, but I’ll get over it,” I muttered, hugging my knees to my chest.

Nathan’s expression softened. “I feel the same way. We lost something important today. But spells will cheer you up; I guarantee it. Now try the invisibility spell.”

His words gave me the encouragement I needed. I nodded and closed my eyes. I pictured Nathan, waved my hands over my face, and said, “Invisibility.”

The spell obviously worked, because Nathan was beaming. “You did it! I can’t see you at all.”

“Great, but this isn’t easy. I feel a little weak,” I admitted.

“It shouldn’t be easy. It says in the journal that this spell consumes a great amount of energy. But I think your ring helps.”

I nodded, then realized he couldn’t see me. “You are probably right,” I agreed.

“Okay, say your ‘stop’ thing, then we can try another spell.”

“Stop,” I commanded.

I knew that I wasn’t invisible anymore because Nathan nodded and turned back to my mother’s spell journal. “How about a truth spell?” he suggested.

“Sounds good,” I replied, ready for anything now that I wasn’t feeling so low. “What do I do?”

Nathan read from the journal: “Place your hands on my shoulders, close your eyes, and say ‘tell me the truth.’”

“Okay.” I placed my hands on his shoulders and for a brief moment, our eyes met. I suddenly went into a trance, unable to look away from his eyes. They were so green, so beautiful. The silver slashes were like some kind of weird portal. I couldn’t look away, nor did I want to.

I knew that what was happening between us was risky. It didn’t feel wrong, but in the back of my mind, where I was still thinking sanely, I could feel guilt creeping in.

Like always, he was the first to blink, which brought me back to reality. Before any more awkward silences could happen, I closed my eyes.

“Tell me the truth,” I commanded, a little shakily. I released my hands from his shoulders. “How do I know if it worked or not?”

“Ask me a question that you think I would lie about,” he suggested.

I thought about it for a moment. Then I decided to ask a question that I hadn’t dared to ask him until now. I was afraid to hear the answer, but I tried it anyway. The truth was that, deep down, I
really
wanted to know.

“Do you wish I wasn’t
with
Stellan?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said plainly.

He said it like it wasn’t a big deal. He was just telling the truth. It was my fault because I had asked for it.