*32*

"Erixsys!" I scrambled to my feet and ran towards him.

"Kyrene, wait!" A hand grabbed my wrist.

"I have to help him!" The Darkness around Erixsys dissipated, letting him collapse. "I need to help him!"

"It's too late!" Crae held me tighter as I fought to get to my Orelie brethren. "The force of that blast is something no one could survive. I'm sorry."

"I have to try!" I ripped my hand from his and ran for Erixsys. I fell to my knees beside him. "Erixsys! Please, open your eyes!"

He took in a strained breath as his eyes parted a bit. "You didn't... see me die in that room, did you?" Black blood trickled from his mouth as he smiled.

I slowly shook my head. "No, I didn't. I just... didn't want to tell you... in fear you would change the future..." a gentle hand was placed on my back as Crae joined us.

"I would save you a thousand times if it meant a new, young Orelie could walk this world again." He chuckled and coughed.

"You need medical attention!" I held my hand over him, but he held my wrist to stop me.

"It's too late for me, child." He grinned at me as more blood trickled from his mouth and nose. "I have an affinity for Light and Healing magic. Darkness is my opposite. There's no coming back from this."

I sniffed and adjusted my hand to hold his. "Erixsys, please. There must be something I can do. Anything!"

"Get rid of that bastard." I could feel his grasp loosening. "Avenge all the Orelie who fell to him and his coven. That's all I can ask for." His hand went limp as his eyes dulled in color. His once rich, honey colored eyes faded to a dark brown color.

I flinched when Rodnik scoffed, having forgotten he was there. "Pity. The old fool still had roughly fifty years left in him. Then again, that would have felt like roughly a month or two for him."

I shook with rage as I gently set his hand down. "You killed him." My voice was barely a whisper.

"Then again, it did seem like his magic was fading a bit." Rodnik went on. "We probably would have discarded of him soon. Oh well. We still have plenty of younger Orelie once we get this battle finished."

"You killed him." My voice was louder as I stood. I shook Crae's hand off my wrist.

"Kyrene-"

I turned to face him, a deep glare in place. "He killed my friend, my Orelie brother! My mentor for my magic! He must pay. Besides, the other Witches are starting to get back up. I'll need some help dealing with them."

He slowly backed away. "Of course." I faced Rodnik once more as Crae began to shift.

"Oh, are you upset?" Rodnik taunted me. "Did I kill him? I'm not sorry."

A new energy surged through me as a wild fury consumed me. "You killed him! You took my mentor from me! You struck my Orelie brother down in cold blood! I made a promise to avenge him and the other Orelie you've killed! It's over, Rodnik!"

My magic swirled around me as I held my staff tightly. The wind around us kicked up from the amount of physical magic I was producing.

"You think some parlor trick is gonna scare me?" Rodnik slid into an offensive stance. "You've got some nerve thinking you can take me on in your weakened state!"

"I'm not weak." I calmly raised a hand and touched my activation stone. "I'm not afraid. I'm not scared. I am furious. You've taken so much from me, lied to me; to all of us! You've put on your own show and fooled all of us in to thinking you were still Professor Rodnik."

I tapped all my other gems slowly, one by one. "You hurt so many people, betrayed even more. For that, you must pay the price." With new determination, I swung my staff.

A bright, brilliant beam of all the combined magic burst from my emerald in the center of my staff. Rodnik had no time to get away as it consumed him. His cry was short, but I knew it held agony. His form couldn't even be seen through the light.

I turned from his last position and began hitting every Witch I could see. If my light passed over a Professor, it instantly seemed to heal them, while the Witches were consumed. I wasn't sure what my light would do to Crae, so I avoided him as best I could.

Only a couple Witches remained when the magic stored in my staff ran out. I fell to the ground in a heap near where Erixsys laid. I gasped for air as my body screamed in protest from the Dark magic residue. If I had only been stronger, I probably would have handled it better.

"Kyrene!" Crae fell before me and carefully lifted me into his arms. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? What did you just do?!"

I glanced around the field that I could see until my sight landed on where Rodnik had been. "I... seemed to have purified the land of his evil."

"You're exhausted," he held me tighter as he stood. "We need to get you looked at. The Dark magic might have done more to your body than we can see."

My gaze traveled to where some of the professors were covering Erixsys' body with a sheet. "He would know if something was wrong with me. He was my mentor. He was the oldest of all of us there. Now..." my lip quivered, leaving me unable to finish my sentence.

Crae pulled me closer to him as more professors grabbed sheets for the other fallen fighters. I don't know how long we stayed like this, but it felt nice to be in his arms once more. Why am I feeling this way? I should be repulsed by him after everything he's done. All the lies and the betrayal he put me through.

But I feel so warm. I feel safe and protected in his arms.

"Excuse me," Crae held me tighter at the voice. "I'm a Healer at this academy. I saw her using Dark magic, and I want to make sure she's okay."

Hesitantly, he let me go. I turned and sat before the Healer as she held her hands over my head, then slowly trailed them down. A soft, golden glow followed her movements. I stayed as still as possible as she checked me over and healed any injuries I might have.

A few moments later, she leaned back. "The Dark magic left no presence in you. Your staff helped absorb most, if not all, of the magic Rodnik cast. You will be just fine." Her kind smile made me relax as Crae's arms snaked around me once more. She then left to check on the others.

Crae took a shaky breath as he sat me on the ground facing him. "Kyrene, there is something I must tell you."

I blinked slowly, seeing the visible fear coming off him. "I'll first start with a question. Do you... are you afraid of me?"

I couldn't stop the small flinch as he reached for me. He pulled his hand back. "That's all I needed. Now, what I wanted to tell you. Kyrene, Demons aren't supposed to feel human emotions. The only thing we're to feel is the need to feed."

"But with you..." I met his gaze just before he looked away. "The first real emotion I felt... was shame."

"Shame?" I moved a bit closer.

He nodded. "That first time I fed from you. I felt ashamed that it had happened. Your blood... it just called to me. I was doing alright with keeping the urge at bay. Then that night happened. I didn't think I would brand you, but when I saw it that morning..." he sighed heavily, burying his face in his hands.

"Soon after, more emotions started coming to me." He continued. "Fear, concern, joy, pride, and pure happiness. Watching you grow stronger as you walked and practiced your magic brought out the most emotions I'd ever felt. I was filled with so much fear when you were in the sycamore."

His small smile that had formed as he spoke dropped. "After I saved you from the Witch... I was nervous. I didn't want to show you who I was. I was scared you would reject me. When you said you wanted to live with Mystic and never see me again... I was filled with so much sadness and experienced something I'd never thought I would feel; heartbreak. Ever since I dropped you off with Mystic, I've been trying to cope with the heartbreak. I don't think I've been doing too well, though." He shook his head.

He took in a shaky breath. "I've been doing a lot of soul searching. It's an odd concept, seeing as though Demons are soulless. I looked deep within me to try and understand all the emotions I've ever felt. There's just one that I can't understand, or put my finger on. Being with you, helping you grow, watching your eyes brighten when you perform magic... it made my heart lighter. I smiled more, but it wasn't a normal smile. It felt... different."

A flash of a memory came to me. "Mystic noticed the same thing. She said she'd never seen that kind of smile on you before. I didn't understand it at the time, but now I think I do. Mystic called it... love. I don't know what love is, but she could see it."

"Love..." he tested the word. "I don't understand it either, but it feels right. The word flows so naturally. Kyrene, I want to understand this emotion with you. You may not want to now, but could we eventually?" Hope shined in his misty eyes.

I swallowed hard, a lump in my throat making it hard. "Crae, I... I don't know. You betrayed me, lied to me, hurt me... I felt the same way after a few days with Mystic, but I don't know if what I felt for you was love. You destroyed my trust! It's going to take a long time for that to build back up, if it ever does."

"But," he looked up again as a lone year slid down his face. "Maybe... I can come back."

"When? Now? No, not now. I need to clean the place up, buy food, get your room set back up-"

"Stop." I cut him off. "I can't go back now. I still need to graduate. I've already started out strong here, and I want to finish strong."

He nodded slowly. "Three years isn't too long. I can wait. But, can you promise me something?"

"What is it?"

He reached into his pocket. "Can you promise to think of me? Reflect on everything we've done together and always remember the good times?" A small, delicate ring sat in his open palm.

"What's this?" I carefully picked it up.

"I've seen some couples with these on, usually the women." He said softly. "When I asked, they said it signifies a promise they made to each other. I saw this ring the other day and before I knew it, I had bought it in hopes we can make the same promise."

I turned the ring over. "All I have to do is promise to reflect on the good times we had?"

"Correct."

I hesitated for a quick second before slipping it on. "Then I promise."

"Actually, it goes on this finger." He slid it on my left ring finger. "Thank you." We stood to help in any way we could. The rest of the day was long and dragged on as we prepared to tell families and dispose of the Witches. The sun was starting to set by the time we were finished with everything.

Crae and I parted without another word. Myla and Striker walked me to my room. My body was weak and it was difficult to move. All the magic I had used today was finally taking its toll.

They helped me get into bed and covered me. I was asleep soon afterwards.

My dreams weren't pleasant. I kept seeing what would have happened if I hadn't defeated Rodnik and the Witches. More than once, I woke up to Myla and Striker trying to calm me down from screaming.

None of us got any sleep that night.