The Rise of the Spell Caster

Grace lifted her tear-streaked face to Maeve and stared at her impassively. Slowly she rose to her feet and drew her dagger. She panted with the effort but pointed her dagger at Maeve.

"You are done on this world. Leave it. You will find no other purchase here. The Realm is protected against you."

Maeve glared at her. "I'm not done yet."

"Yes," panted Grace. "You abso-fucking-lutely are, you bitch."

Maeve moved and so did Grace. There was a grunt and a gurgle, and Bitty looked to see Grace standing tall, with Maeve's severed head gripped by her hair in her hand. Maeve's body, standing on one leg behind Grace, fountained blood from the exposed neck, and dropped wetly to the grass.

Grace screamed into the sky and drop kicked the head into the grassland. They all heard her foot break with the effort. Grace collapsed to her knees holding her head in her hands. "DANIEL!!!!"

Bitty sobbed at the despair in Grace's voice. She felt her pain through the bond as clear as if it were her own, which wasn't far from the truth. She held her hand up before her eyes to look at the ritual. It still burned like a sun inside the sphere. But she could feel no heat from it. A screech high in the air came from the phoenix and it flew quickly away to the west and disappeared.

Bitty looked around at all her companions. They all openly wept in their grief. Jennifer laid hands on Glenda, tears streaming down her face. Roger rolled to his side, saw Glenda was hurt and crawled across the grass toward her. Jason helped him to position himself beside her and watched them clasp hands, their faces toward the ritual sphere.

Bitty looked over at Grace and across the bond she felt nothing but complete despair.

Chapter Thirteen

THE FIRE WITHIN the ritual sphere didn't appear to be waning. Grace and Bitty refused to leave it and sat and watched it. The Circle set up camp and joined them. Glenda and Roger made full recoveries and stayed with The Circle in their mourning.

Grace had gone to speak to the Night and Light fae queens and returned saying only that the fae would withdraw to their lands and that the cycle was forever ended. Maeve's influence was no longer felt. The queens were confused after centuries of living under Maeve's malevolent control. They parted only saying that peace perhaps was a better option for the future.

Jennifer spoke to King Arbuckle as a paladin of Syn. Sylvan had dropped dead when Maeve had died which gave hope to finding the Wilds childs and monsters dead. Just in case, a contingent of humans, selected by Arbuckle, departed for the Wilds to see what effect Maeve's death would have on the monsters there. They were hopeful her death meant their death too.

King Arbuckle was as confused as the fae queens about what had happened. Jennifer confirmed that Sylvan had influenced Arbuckle for far too long. She said Syn felt he was just as much a victim as everyone else. He turned his army around and headed back to Whitehaven, his spirit crushed.

And still the ritual sphere burned as bright as the sun.

Two weeks later the fire within the sphere sputtered. Bitty shot to her feet.

"It flickered," she said and booted Grace who slept next to her.

Grace was awake in an instant. "It did?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it."

The stared hard at the sphere. When nothing happened, Bitty sat down hard. "I was sure..."

It flickered again.

"I saw that!" exclaimed Grace. "Everyone! Wake up. Something is happening!"

Jason, Brian, Jennifer, Glenda, and Roger sat up from their bedrolls and wiped at their tired eyes.

"What's happening?" muttered Jason.

"The fire is sputtering!" answered Bitty, her eyes glued to the sphere.

The sphere sputtered again, and they all cried out in hope.

Only Bitty heard Grace praying under her breath. Through the bond she could feel all of the gathered Circle. Emotions especially.

Through the bond... thought Bitty and her eyes widened. "Hey! How come we can all still feel the bond of The Circle?"

Grace spared her a glance. "Because we established it."

"No, Daniel did."

"So?"

"So? Daniel established it. Shouldn't it be gone if he is?"

Glenda shook her head. "This is new to all of us, but we can't feel them, can we? Just ourselves. I feel they left the bond for us."

Bitty felt her massive surge of hope collapse and she sobbed.

The sphere sputtered again and then unexpectedly the roiling flames within it vanished. The sphere popped with a sizzle and disappeared. They all moved forward and looked inside the area of the ritual. The ground looked like melted glass, and it was barren with the exception of a glowing red egg sitting in the middle on its side, a visible crack running across the middle.

"Is that...?" asked Grace.

"The male phoenix egg," answered Glenda. "And burning hot."

"What should we do?" asked Jennifer.

Glenda sat back down. "We wait till it cools." Everyone could feel her disappointment.

Grace sat and sobbed quietly. "I had hoped..."

Bitty stroked her back. "The bond, remember? We can all feel the bond."

Grace raised her snot covered face. Anger flashed across it. "But we can't feel THEM, can we?"

Bitty said nothing and lowered her own head, tears streaking down her face. She thought she wouldn't be able to cry anymore, but she had never truly been able to stop.

* * *

It took the egg three weeks to cool down enough to be able to handle it. They all agreed that Grace should be the one to gather it up. She stood above it looking down, hating it with all her being. The only thing keeping her going was her desire to seek revenge on the phoenixes.

Why couldn't they have waited? Why emerge right then? Surely, they had to know it would kill Daniel and his witches. It was beyond belief and beyond acceptable. So selfish. I will revenge the death of Daniel, thought Grace.

As the egg had cooled, its colour had changed from fiery red to a glossy black, streaked with other colours. Grace hated the thing. At one point during their vigil, she had gone looking for Maeve's head and couldn't find it. She blamed that on the phoenixes, too. Then she remembered Jennifer's miracle of escaping from Maeve's clutches and knew with certainty that Syn had made a deal with Maeve. She added Syn to her list.

Grace couldn't care less at that point. The Realm was protected against Maeve now. The bond Daniel and his witches had formed across the Realm still existed. Bitty said the gnome network was maintaining it. Adventurers would likely return to fighting Maeve's monsters if she brought them back. But Grace knew they would have a much easier time in the Wilds now that they were safe from being pulled into her realm.

Grace knew with certainty that she had nothing left inside of her of value. Daniel dying had made her realise one horrible truth about herself. She had loved the idiotic man with all her heart. Now she had nothing. Just a hollow emptiness that nothing would ever be able to fill again.

She was ashamed of her weakness. She couldn't stop crying and hated it. She wanted to move past it but was unable to. She clung to some stupid hope that there was hope. To lose that would be to lose herself, forever. She knew what lay beyond death. For once, she welcomed it, instead of fighting for life.

She squatted by the egg and glared at it.

"Hey, you, fuck-nuts phoenix bird. Aiden? Right? You killed my friends. First, I'm going to find your bitch Aurelia and then I'm going to crush this fucking egg with you in it. You killed my Daniel. You have no idea what that has done to me. I want you to feel my pain and you will when I kill your bitch. Got it?"

The egg rocked in place and Grace cried out and fell back on her ass staring at it.

"It moved!" she screeched.

"We saw!" said the others watching her.

"Why would it move?" asked Grace.

"I dunno," said Glenda. "Maybe because you just threatened to kill both of the phoenixes?"

"Are they supposed to move?"

"Don't think so."

"What do we do?"

"Pick it up? We need to take it to the Wilds anyway. Get it out of the Realm. Jennifer promised Arbuckle after all."

The egg rocked again, this time more forcibly.

"You don't think it's gonna crack wide open? That would kill us all!" declared Grace and then she growled. "That's it, isn't it! You're not happy with just taking the love of my life away, now you want us too? FUCK YOU!"

Grace drew her dagger and drove it into the crack of the egg. She didn't even penetrate it, so she stabbed it again and again, sobbing.

"Grace! Stop!" cried out Bitty. "You can't harm it! It's invulnerable! Nothing can harm a phoenix egg, you know that! Nothing!"

Grace kept stabbing it and then threw away her useless knife, reached out, and grabbed the egg with both hands, intent on finding a rock to bash it against.

As soon as her fingers touched it, light burst from the egg in all directions, blinding everyone. Grace cried out, dropped it, and covered her eyes.

"Fuck!" shouted Grace. "I can't see!"

"Shh, Grace. It's okay. I'm here."

Strong hands took her hands from her face and gripped them.

"Grace? Are you okay?"

"D-Daniel?" whimpered Grace, her voice almost inaudible.

"Yeah, me and the girls. We're back. Sorry it took so long. Aurelia and Aiden pulled us into the egg when she burst free. Then we had to wait till everything cooled down out here. Then Aiden said we had too much training to do. Time passes differently in there. It's been about a year for us, give or take. We missed you guys so much. You have no idea. Do you know why Aiden told me to tell you to fuck off? He can be a real ass. Truly. An unimaginable ass. Aurelia couldn't wait to get out of there. Now I know why."

Grace blinked away the lights bursting across her vision. Slowly they cleared and she spied the pure black egg, lying next to her with the crack gone. It was sealed again. Then she saw naked feet. She knew those feet. Hers eyes travelled upward across a massive cock she knew all too well, to gaze upon Daniel, smiling down at her. Behind him stood Amy, Amber, and Jasmine, equally naked, and smiling lovingly at her. They all looked different. Stronger. Older maybe, or more mature.

"You can't be real, can you?" whispered Grace. "Please don't fuck with me anymore. I can't take it. I can't."

Daniel squatted in front of her. "I need to tell you something, Grace. The girls have been explaining a lot of things to me. About our relationship, our circle, our love, but mostly about you. They think it's stupid that I don't acknowledge something with you. So here goes. I've been waiting a year to say this."

Daniel drew a breath but before he could utter another word, Grace tackled him to the ground and kissed him and held him in a breath robbing hug. She bawled like a child, holding tight, and kissing his face all over.

Jasmine snorted. "Pay up Amber. I won the bet."

Amber pursed her lips. "She hasn't said the words yet."

Amy pointed at them. "Look at them? They're madly in love with each other. You don't need words. You can feel it across the bond. Wow. That's pretty strong."

The others swarmed them and engulfed them in hugs. Across their bond their love exploded in pure joy. The mourning dropped from their tired psyches and was replaced by a sense of renewal. A breath of new life. And hope. The whole Realm felt it as one.

Lying in the middle of it, wrapped up in each other's arms, were Daniel and Grace, smiling at one another.

"I love you, Grace Gales."

"And I love you, Daniel Davies."

"..."

"If you ever do that to me again, I will cut your fucking balls off."

The End.

The Cast

I find it helpful to know who everyone is. The cast is growing larger and I'm having a hard time keeping them straight. For your edification, here are the players:

The Circle - Party of Adventurers

Amy Albright - Witch, heart of The Circle of witches.

Amber Aine - Witch, extremely powerful.

Bitty Beatrix - Gnome Emissary for Daniel Davies.

Brian Bitmyth - Gay cleric of the Goddess Syn. Mountain dwarf.

Daniel Davies - Spell Caster.

Grace de Moroingi - Night fae-Assassin. Only known fae mixed blood. Goes by the last name Gales as an adventurer.

Jasmine Juniper - Witch.

Jason Jackson - Fighter-Guru. Openly gay.

Jennifer Jousts - Paladin of Syn.

From the small town of Acron:

Amanda Aine - Witch and mother of Amber Aine.

Bill Albright - Father of Amy Albright. Owner of the Acron Trading Post. Married to Betty Albright. Marked by Syn.

Betty Albright - Mother of Amy Albright. Married to Bill Albright. Marked by Syn.

Kevin Kelly - Merchant and friend of Mark Marshall.

Mark Marshall - Owner of the restaurant in Acron, and a chain of restaurants across the realm.

Peter Partridge - Waiter at the restaurant in Acron. Nephew to Mark Marshall on his mother's side.

King's Men

Reginald Arbuckle - King of the Human Realm

Sylvan Castigon - Head of the King's Bureau of Intelligence (KBI). Wilds child. Deceased.

Night Fae

Morgaine de Moroingi - Younger stepsister to Grace de Moroingi, Princess in line for the throne of the Night fae.

Pwyll de Dyfed - Night fae husband to Rhiannon, stepfather of Grace.

Rhiannon de Moroingi - Queen of the Night fae (Unseelie Court).

Light Fae

Oberon - Light fae husband to Titania.

Titania de Feywild - Queen of the Light fae (Seelie Court).

Wild Fae

Aillil - Consort and husband to Maeve.

Eithne - Sister to Maeve.

Maeve - Queen of the Wild fae, aka the Witch Queen.

Adventurer Academy in the capital city of Whitehaven

Bill "Just Bill" - Phantasmologist.

Denal Macron - Spell caster student, son of Duke Macron, deceased.

Gwydion Bainbridge - Former witch instructor at the Adventurer Academy, deceased.

Johnson Peters - New headmaster, former registrar and sometimes bailiff.

Maron Denibris - Spell caster student, son of Duke Denibris, deceased.

Reginald "Reggie" Cray - Spell caster student, brother to Ronald Cray, deceased.

Ronald "Ronnie" Cray - Spell caster student, brother to Reggie Cray, deceased.

Others

Aiden Ryu - The male phoenix.

Amanda Davies - Mother of Daniel Davies, apothecarist. Deceased.

Aurelia Ryu - The female phoenix.

David Davies - Father of Daniel Davies, apothecarist. Deceased.

Eric Garcia - Spell caster, son of Duke Wilhelm Garcia of Lanceshire. Former party member with Grace Gales. Deceased.

Glenda Gables - Seer witch, married to Roger Rockstone.

James Garcia - Nephew of Duke Wilhelm Garcia. Deceased.

John Garcia - Nephew of Duke Wilhelm Garcia. Deceased.

Karen Clingstone - Gnome elder. Leader of the Gnomology religious group.

Quinten Cuirass - Former headmaster of the Adventurer Academy, high-level paladin to Loki (formerly The One God), deceased.

Roger Rockstone - Ranger, and husband of Glenda Gables.

A Quick Word from Lana

That's it. This arc is done. I'm a sappy author. I love happy endings. I hope this tale met your expectations.

I can't promise I will return to this world. I admit I called it a series rather than a trilogy, but I am satisfied with where this ends right now. And now that I've completed the "trilogy" that started everything for me in erotica, it's time to take stock.

In many ways, this tale finishes the journey I started as an erotic author. I will still write erotica from time to time. I have some unfinished writing business to wrap up. After that, who knows?

But I guess that depends on you.

Stay sexy, my friends,

Love,

Lana Ocean

December 2023

Canada