Chapter 33

CHAPTER 33

D ropping hard on the steps, Solomon lowered his head in his hands, braced his elbows on his knees, and let out a long sigh. He felt completely drained from creating that massive bubble and the inevitable fight against…

No, he would not call that man his father. Or even think of him in that fashion.

Moving his fingers through his hair, he grimaced at the rather icky sensation of grime and other stuff. Lowering his hands, he noticed they were stained and dirty. The rest of him was probably scuffed up from the battle.

He looked around to see if he could locate any of his friends. They all split apart when he burst the bubble. Only Andre was in his sight. What happened to Emrys and Julian? Where they safe? Did they fight? The fighting had become intense. Far more than he expected.

Cormac… Where was Cormac? The battle ended. Was Cormac moving through the fallen to see how he could help?

Reaching out for a tiny bit of magic, he grabbed a water pouch from a hidden magic pocket and pulled. Popping out the cork, he tilted the pouch until he could drink deeply.

Cool. Sweet. Refreshing water.

Then he poured some water over the back of his neck. A humming noise of pleasure escaped him.

Andre crouched down to watch him while Finlay dropped on the steps near him. “What else do you need?”

“Just to see Cormac. Julian. Emrys. I lost sight of them in the battle. I want to see them. Especially Cormac.” Solomon sipped more water. “He’s… alive? Right? I can feel that he is.”

“Oh, yes, that idiot is alive,” Andre said with a shake of his head. “Even though he was raring to dive in the mess with his staff and magic, we warned him to stay put because he was more valuable as a healer. Gray had to snatch hold of him multiple times to stop him from darting into the battle.”

“He still dove in. Didn’t he?”

Andre shrugged. “Can’t keep a good druid down. Managed to leap onto the field when Gray got distracted.”

“Did he hit someone with that staff?”

“Multiple times.”

“Bonked on the head?”

“Nope. He’s got a little evil in him. Went for the balls,” Andre said.

Solomon broke out in laughter. He could definitely picture Mac using his staff to nail bad guys in the balls. “What about the others?”

“I caught sight of them. Julian and Emrys are safe. They’re assisting Grayson and Cormac with the fallen.” Rising, Andre studied what was around them. “Things are a mess. Let me go help the agents round up the Carmine. Need to get back some sense of organization. Plus need to see what happened with Lennox and his crew.” He lowered his gaze to Solomon and Finlay. “My messenger will lead Cormac back here. Finlay, stay with him.”

“Will do. Until I can hand him off to someone else we trust,” Finlay said while he pulled out his own water pouch and drank.

“Good.” Andre pointed to Solomon. “Don’t enter the temple until I return. Hopefully I can grab Lennox and bring him here.”

“Not moving anywhere. Promise.”

With a nod, Andre walked off.

“So… Cormac?”

Solomon lifted an eyebrow at the not so subtle question.

“Just asking.”

“Cormac Wyn. Co-owner of Cad-Wyn Laboratories in Adenata, Gledinium. He’s druid trained and a brilliant scientist and doctor. One of the Cadogan family,” Solomon said.

“Sounds a little too perfect to be true,” Finlay said. “Got any more of those nutrition bar things?”

“Oh, he’s real. Just need to find him again in all this mess.” Solomon waved at the field stretched out before them. Then he dug into a pouch and pulled out several nutrition bars. He split them up between them.

“Sweet. This will help.” Finlay munched away.

Several deep emerald vines poked up and waved in front of them.

“Looks like we got some visitors,” Finlay said.

“Those are the Meltosse vines. The sentient protectors here. Meltosse, this is my friend, Finlay Medlin. Hold out your hand and allow them to touch you and make a connection. You have enough arcane in you to connect,” Solomon said.

“Really? I can talk to them?” Finlay grinned and held out his hand. His mouth dropped when the vines caressed him and made the mental connection. “This is crazy…”

Giving them time to talk, Solomon finished another nutrition bar. Then a vine caressed Solomon’s hand. /Hello. Sorry, just a little tired at the moment. The temple is beautiful. There are some here who will make absolute certain that it remains. No one will ever forget./

::We know that we are part of the reason for your exhaustion. We thank you for the arcane gift.:: The vines swirled around his lower legs, the ends caressed him in gentle pets. Two more vines rose right in front of his place on the steps and curl around at the tops. :: You will remain and protect the temple. You, our arcane mage, will stay and become our protector and guardian. We have lacked a protector these many generations. Since the dark times.::

/I’m not from this realm. My home is in the eastern realm, Nucira. You can speak with the Gloriosa. My position is in the Lunore Academy. That is where I will return once I’m satisfied all protections are in place./

::We don’t want another. We chose you.::

Sol dropped his head in his hands again.

“The Central realms aren’t that bad,” Finlay said.

“You hearing all this?”

“Yes.”

::Arcane mage is strong and steady. A friend.::

Rubbing the back of his neck, Solomon thought about what the vines said. Then he remembered what the Gloriosa said to him about a choice being offered all the way back in Nucira. This is what the Gloriosa meant. Staying here in the central realms was not one of the things he considered. Yes, he would be much closer to Cormac, but…

Were they even together?

What was the status of their relationship? Could what they have even be called a relationship? That was why Mac left the way he did a few weeks ago. Sure, they spent time together when he finally left the East. Even though, they did it through high emotion and activity. Adventures. Dangers. Multiple portals. Not the steadiest way to reconnect. Now that the Carmine was gone, he could visit Mac outside of the summer months when Mac moved the mobile lab to campus.

Going back to the main issue.

Did they even have a relationship?

Besides what would he even be doing in the realm? He was a professor of mythology. Well, he was an arcane professor, but that…

Would no longer be kept a secret.

The removal of the Carmine opened up so many closed doors. There was no more need for protective secrets.

None.

He was free to live how he wanted. Where he wanted. With whom he wanted.

But did Cormac want him?

::We do not understand human relationships. That is far too complicated a subject. Even for the Gloriosa.::

/Didn’t expect sentient vines to give me relationship advice. I need to figure out that part for myself. What would I do here? My life is in Nucira./

::There are plenty of rooms within the temple for students to study. A library filled with scrolls and books. There is a dormitory in the back for students to sleep and live. A suite of rooms for our protector.::

/What do you mean?/

::The temple was designed as a memorial, but secretly to create an academy for purely arcane studies.::

/The building isn’t large enough for all that room inside./

::Look beyond what your eyes can envision and what magic can create.::

Lowering his hands, Sol twisted to look behind him at the building. “Fin, did you mention to Lennox something about an expansion spell inside this place?”

“Yes. Though once you do whatever you need to by standing on that circle, I think there’s going to be more. Why?”

“I have no idea how to run an academy,” Solomon said to Finlay and the vines.

“Academy for what?”

“Arcane students.”

“They’re all spread out at different academies.”

::There are others who know how to run an academy. Only you have the power and skills to properly teach arcane magic. Retrieve all the young students from the other academies. They can all travel and transfer to here. They can study, learn, live in the dorms, and feel safe.::

/I… This is not the path I imagined for myself./

::No, but this new path can be far more inviting.::

Solomon looked to Finlay.

“That’s a pretty solid invitation and idea. If I considered leaving RASI, I would definitely do it for something like they describe,” Finlay said.

“Leave RASI?”

“Two annuals plus. Stuck deep inside the Carmine. I don’t want that again, but with government organizations—” Finlay trailed off with a shrug.

::Your partner is approaching. We enjoy the sensation of his magic. It is clean and refreshing with a healer’s gift of warmth and caring.::

“Hold on. Tall dark and handsome alert,” Finlay said with a whistle. “Whoa… Two of them! Holy flames!”

“Solomon, there you are! I received Andre’s message and tried to get here faster, but had to wait for slowpoke.”

“Hey!”

“How are you doing? Do I need to check you over?”