“My, my… youngsters these days…”
A shiver ran down Cedric’s spine, sharp and immediate. That voice—he knew it all too well.
“Ah…”
Elara reacted just the same, her breath hitching, her body tensing instinctively.
Both of them snapped their gazes to the window.
There, perched casually on the sill, leaning against the wooden frame with a knowing smile, was a woman clad in deep indigo robes. A pointy wizard’s hat sat atop her head, the brim casting a faint shadow over her piercing, unreadable eyes.
Elara’s heartbeat quickened, her throat tightening.
“Master?”
The woman smirked, tilting her head slightly, her hat shifting just enough to reveal more of her face.
“Well, well,” she mused, her gaze flickering between the two of them. “What a fiery little spat. I do hope I’m not interrupting something… personal?”
Cedric exhaled sharply, taking a step back instinctively. He had faced monsters, criminals, and beasts beyond reason, but this woman—she was something else entirely.
She had a presence, an undeniable weight to her being that made the air around her feel thinner, as if reality itself adjusted to accommodate her.
Elara swallowed, steadying herself. “Master,” she repeated, her voice quieter this time, the sharpness from before entirely gone. “Why… are you here?”
Elara’s breath hitched as she stared at the woman before her—the woman who had shaped her, broken her down, built her back up, and molded her into the mage she was today. Eveline Draycott. Archmage. Enigma. The one person Elara still couldn’t fully understand, no matter how many years she spent under her tutelage.
The very air in the room seemed to shift around her presence, crackling with something unseen yet undeniable.
“My, my… youngsters these days,” Eveline mused, her tone laced with amusement. She leaned casually against the window frame, her indigo robes swaying lightly in the ocean breeze. The shadow of her wide-brimmed hat cast an angular veil over her sharp, knowing eyes, but the smirk on her lips was unmistakable.
Elara took an unconscious step forward, her hands tightening at her sides. “Master?” she breathed.
Eveline’s smirk widened. “Why the hesitation, little apprentice? Surely, you didn’t forget about me already?”
Elara opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Her mind was racing. Why was Eveline here? She had sent Elara on this test—this grueling, unforgiving test of survival. Wasn’t she supposed to see it through? To learn whatever lesson her master had intended?
So why was she here now?
As if sensing the turmoil in her apprentice’s mind, Eveline hummed and flicked her wrist dismissively. “Oh, don’t look at me like that,” she teased. “Can’t I come check on my precious student? After all, I was the one who sent you here. Surely, I should see how you’re holding up.”
Elara stiffened, unable to argue with the logic but also unable to accept it. This wasn’t just her master stopping by out of curiosity. There was something more, something that didn’t sit right.
Cedric, who had remained unnervingly silent up until now, exhaled sharply. He was tense, but he knew better than to speak against someone like Eveline. Even he, with all his training, knew that the woman before them was beyond reason if she chose to be.
Elara finally found her voice. “You gave me this test,” she said, her words more stable than she felt. “A test I haven’t completed yet. Why are you here now?”
Eveline’s gaze flickered toward her, sharp and searching. Then she sighed dramatically, adjusting her hat. “Fine, fine. If you want the short version—I came to pick you up.”
Elara blinked. “…Pick me up?”
Her master’s smile softened slightly, though the glint in her eyes remained unreadable. “Your test is over.”
Elara’s breath hitched. “But I—”
“You’ve already surpassed my expectations,” Eveline continued, tilting her head slightly. “I knew you were talented. I knew you’d hold your own. But even I didn’t expect this level of performance. For someone who had never stepped onto a battlefield before, you did… quite well.”
Elara’s fingers curled into fists. “You were watching.”
Eveline chuckled. “Oh, my dear Elara. I always have my eyes everywhere.”
The words sent a shiver down her spine. Of course. Of course her master had been keeping tabs on her. It was just like her—watching from afar, letting things unfold, but only stepping in when she deemed necessary.
Then, as the realization set in, something in Elara hardened.
“No,” she said firmly.
Eveline arched a brow. “No?”
Elara squared her shoulders, meeting her master’s gaze directly. “You must have seen what happened to Luca.”
Eveline’s smirk faltered for just a fraction of a second. It was barely perceptible, but Elara caught it.
She did know.
“Then you should know why I can’t leave yet,” Elara continued. “I owe him. If you were watching, then you know that. I can’t just—”
Eveline lifted a hand, cutting her off. “I understand,” she said smoothly. “Truly, I do.”
Elara stilled.
For the first time since this conversation started, Eveline’s voice lacked
For the first time since this conversation started, Eveline’s voice lacked its usual teasing edge. There was something weightier beneath her words, something final.
“But our time here is over.”
Elara’s heartbeat quickened. “I don’t under—”
“You don’t need to understand,” Eveline said simply, her gaze steady, unwavering. “You just need to come with me.”
Elara took a step back, shaking her head. “No. I can’t just leave. Master, please—just give me time. If you know what happened, then you must have a way to—”
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Eveline sighed, as if she had expected this reaction. Without a word, she flicked her wrist. The air crackled, a ripple of energy spreading outward as a soft hum of magic filled the room.
The space behind Eveline shimmered, and in an instant, a portal began to form—a swirling vortex of deep indigo, rimmed with intricate runes that pulsed like the heartbeat of the arcane itself.
Elara’s breath hitched. “No! You can’t just—”
“Enough, little apprentice,” Eveline said, her voice still calm but undeniably firm. “I don’t have time to argue. You’re coming with me.”
Elara felt her body stiffen, magic coiling around her limbs like invisible chains. She struggled, but it was futile. The air around Eveline was absolute. The authority of a true Archmage left no room for rebellion.
“Why?” Elara whispered, frustration and desperation bleeding into her voice. “Why are you doing this? You know what happened. Can’t you find him?”
For the first time, Eveline hesitated.
Then, slowly, she lifted her gaze to the sky beyond the open window. Her eyes, usually filled with wry amusement, suddenly gleamed—not with power, but with something vast, something distant.
It was as if stars had settled in her irises.
“Not yet,” she murmured. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it carried a weight that sent a chill down Elara’s spine. “Not yet, yet.”
Elara froze, her lips parting, but before she could demand an explanation, before she could even process what those words meant, the magic of the portal surged forward.
Just as the swirling energy began to engulf them, Eveline’s gaze flicked to Cedric.
“Little knight,” she mused, almost absently. “It appears that you need some more training.”
Cedric tensed. A shiver ran down his spine, not from fear, but from the truth embedded in those words. He didn’t argue. He didn’t even move.
Because she was right.
The last thing Elara saw before the portal consumed her was the unreadable expression on Cedric’s face, the glow of magic swallowing the room whole.
And then—nothing.
Just like that, Stormhaven disappeared.