The Hermit, The Tower, The World (Vol.2 Complete)

27th of Inandyl - 4th Ivora

Calas felt more human the next day with a half a day of sleep. He was not surprised that from the moment he entered his room after the race, he was out like a light as soon as he hit the bed. The first thing he noticed upon waking was that he missed dinner last night, but it was followed closely by the tingling sensation he felt on his little finger.

It was a marvel to him that though he couldn't see the supposedly red thread attached there, he felt it as a constant presence. He found himself staring at his own hand in wonder and disbelief as if it were a stranger's. He felt it so keenly though, that his mind started to work on this new magic puzzle that Rea had given him.

Rea, he thought with a smile. The name that Jem had given her was like a glittering beacon in his chest and at that moment he wondered what she felt from the twine that connected them. It seemed rather dormant, to him. Was she sleeping, maybe? Calas shoved those thoughts away for now as he got ready and left for the Great Hall.

He picked up breakfast on his way up to the Faculty Lounge to meet Blackclaw. While he ate, the professor updated him on the faculty events over the break, as promised. The rest of the meeting was uneventful except for when Calas finally got the chance to add Rea's name to the Martial Defense class roster. When Blackclaw reviewed it, the dark, stocky man raised an incredulous brow at Calas.

"You're kidding." Blackclaw gruffed.

"Nope." Calas stated, unapologetically.

"That is who you were confirming with?" Blackclaw's voice was disbelieving.

Calas nodded and gave a hum of assent.

"Is that why you're in such a good mood today?" The Professor's voice was tinged with reproach. On the inside, Calas blanched and wondered what it was he said to give Blackclaw such an impression.

Calas tried to play it off, and shrugged with nonchalance. "I slept well last night—" More like all night, he thought. "Besides, you told me to watch her, right?"

"Yeah, for a term. One, singular term." Blackclaw held up one finger to Calas to emphasize his point. "And she confirmed with you? She doesn't exactly strike me as the combat type."

"Oh, come on. You saw her tidal wave." Calas puffed out a laugh.

"I did, but that's not what I mean by combat and you know it." Blackclaw waved the same finger at him in frustration. "How did you get her to agree?" Calas clicked his tongue at that and shook his head.

"You don't trust me, now? With this?" His tone was admonishing.

"Just answer the question, Duskwood. I know how you work." Blackclaw was not in a joking mood.

"We made a deal." Calas said it as casually as he could, but he also found himself rubbing his little finger with his thumb before shoving his hands in his pockets.

The suspicion in Blackclaw's eyes told Calas he wasn't buying it, but the professor shook his head before conceding. "I give her two weeks before she drops it."

"I'll take that bet." Calas said lightheartedly.

"It wasn't a bet!" Blackclaw barked. "Get to the training hall, for the love of the World Tree."

Calas suppressed a snicker on his way out of the Lounge at a quicker pace than normal.

There was no need to rush, though, most of the regulars avoided the morning session on Ivora. Even Dazaid, although Calas figured he was out late last night based on how he carried on trying to get Calas to come to any of the events over the past weekend.

Ironically, Calas had gone to one of those events and it was infinitely more interesting than anything that Daz had spouted at him over the past six months. What a wild few days he had had. The fact that the training hall was empty gave him time to actually think about the precarious predicament he was in.

He hadn't lied to Rea when he said that it's not the worst thing that had happened to him. In truth, there were probably more horrors than he could list that would be worse than being tethered to a cute and feisty mouse. Chou had said they were bonded, though. Did that mean by their promise? Would it go away once the next term was over? Who could say, really, it sounded like Rea wasn't all that sure what had happened either.

His instinct was to figure out this piece of magic, but if it was done with weaving, the best person, or maybe, the only person who would know the subject, was Rea. Calas thought it only fitting then, that while he was teaching her martial skills, or "the physical stuff" as she put it, he might have to coax her into teaching him more about this bond they had formed.

There were still a few glaring questions that nagged at him about the situation. The first has everything to do with the Beast of the Eldwood who wanted Rea, supposedly for some slight against his territory. There was no way he would have given her over before this whole thread business, but now it was doubly so since he had no idea what a broken promise of this nature would mean.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The second followed close behind and concerned whatever punishment Orendell might subject him to. Would that agony he felt a few days ago transfer through this bond? Was it even possible? What would happen to the thread when he shifted? In all cases, Calas hoped that Rea was kept out of it.

Calas shuddered at the thought of the mark on his ribs burning as it had only a few days ago. The memory of shifting against his will was still very fresh and he had to move as he banished them, shoving them deep into the recesses of his mind. He started his own warm-ups and breathed through every painful memory of the longest night he had had in awhile.

The slow and controlled familiarity of his martial skills helped to refocus his mind and soon Calas found himself thinking through how to explain those same forms to Rea. He paused when he reached the more advanced maneuvers, and he started again from the basic ones; the ones that he had first taught Korinna when she was old enough to want to "play" with her older brothers.

Before he knew it, he found himself daydreaming about Rea: her laugh, her smile, the tempest that swirled in her too blue eyes. He stopped when a vision of her biting her lower lip appeared in his mind.

It shook him, thinking that it might have been from Orendell, but no, it was just his own mind, wandering where it should not. Yeah, right, he thought admonishingly to himself, dream on, Cal, 'cause that's never going to happen. No matter what the Drakonys pair had planned. He admitted, though, it was a nice fantasy.

After locking up the hall, he found Jem at the Cheerful Hearth in town like they used to when Calas was still in the Arcane Club. They greeted each other with their normal series of handshakes and laughed about how they both just assumed where to meet without discussing it yesterday.

Lunch was decent, but catching up with Jem brought a true smile to his face. He told Calas about how the Club wasn't the same without him and that because of Calas, all the events ran way more smoothly now. Calas highly doubted.

"Seriously, Cal," Jem was saying over a piece of grilled fish, "You've been sorely missed these past few months, I tell ya."

"Hmm. Not sure Kay has the same opinion." Calas harrumphed as he took a bite of his spiced wrap.

"Kay? She got over it the week after you left!" Jem waved a fork at Calas from across the table.

"Either way, it doesn't matter now, Jem. I don't have time."

"Well, Kay would have you back in a heartbeat if you ever decided to find the time again, ya know what I mean? She blew a gasket when you left! Ranting about how the Club would never recover financially."

Calas chuckled over a mouthful of food.

"Yeah, laugh it up, Cal! I should be just as angry as Kay was at you, but then I heard about what you did to solve our little dilemma." Calas stopped mid-chew to stare at the hedgehog, who shrugged, and picked at his fish. "It was hard to blame you after you went to all that trouble to recover those funds, I tell ya."

Calas swallowed and sighed while he gave Jem a flat expression. "It was probably the wrong thing to do."

"Maybe. But it was the wrong thing ending in the right result. Especially when that result was in coin." Jem shook his head which set his quills to ripple behind him. "So you had to ruffle a few feathers, didn't you say you were used to that kind of thing?"

"Yeah," Calas rubbed his face in embarrassment at the past Duskwood side of himself. "That's not the norm here though, Jem. It wasn't what I wanted to do, but it was the only option I had at the time. How are things going for you now? Ya know, this year."

"Oh, lucrative! Very lucrative, thanks to you and the rules we adjusted. Kay has been beside herself with what to spend it all on. She had to make a committee to decide, can you believe it?" Calas' eyes widened at that information.

"Uh, no. She let someone else make a decision for once?"

"Right? Pretty crazy, I tell ya."

"Yeah, seems out of character."

"Oh yeah," Jem started again in his nasal tones as he leveled a sharp toothed grin at Calas. "Speaking of 'out of character', I meant to ask you before. Who was that girl you brought with ya yesterday?"

"You mean Rea? She's a friend, I guess. I helped her in basic combat last term." Calas smiled, somehow embarrassed for a different reason than before.

"Just a friend?" Jem sounded disappointed. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." Calas scoffed, but it came out as a laugh. Except he wasn't sure at all what to call her as he focused on the light tingle in his pinkie finger. Jem's nose wiggled quickly sending his long whiskers trembling, as if sensing the half-truth.

"You two looked awfully close before the race." He said in a slightly slower tone, but slow only for Jem. "You could tell me, ya know. I wouldn't say a thing to nobody! And you know I can keep a secret."

"I know, I know. It's just that the odds are not in my favor in this particular situation." Calas raised his hands defensively with a placating tone.

Jem's large ears twitched with excitement and his voice matched them, "So there is something there!" Jem's small hands rotated in the air as if to propel Calas to action. "You should know better than anyone that odds'll only get you so far. Come on, Cal! If you like this girl, you should go for it!"

Calas deflated, a hand to his forehead as a sense of defeat washed over him. How could he explain it to Jem to make him understand? Not only was it a bad idea for him, it would be a disastrous idea for her. She already had Greyson who came after her for just being Calas' combat partner last term. Who else would try to use Rea to get back at him? And that wasn't even taking the Duskwood part into consideration.

"Unfortunately for me," Calas responded in a forlorn tone, "I'm pretty sure the feeling is one-sided."

"Really?" Jem's voice was flat, disbelieving, and Jem folded his thin arms across his fluffy middle. "That's not what I saw. Before you give up, I hope you're damned sure."

Calas paused, his hands in a ball that propped up his chin while he mulled over what his friend had said. It was solid advice. He hadn't said anything out loud to her or anyone. Well, he supposed Orendell didn't count. That was different.

This was the first time he had even skirted around the actual discussion of how he felt about her. Despite all of the reasons why he shouldn't, Jem had given him the one thing he had never considered before: why he should. Calas found himself nodding when he focused back on Jem.

"Ok.", he said slowly, "I will be damned sure, then."

They parted ways shortly after and Calas headed back to campus to continue reading "Empires of Eld". The conversation with Jem distracted him from really paying attention to the book. All he could think about was how to prove that Rea didn't feel for him more than this friendship they had formed.

And dreaded, quietly, what would happen if she did.