“You’re a dark mage,” he muttered.
Ren’wyn clenched her jaw at Esrin’s words, the too-familiar weight of being seen pressing against her ribs.She had spent years at Spyre learning how to wield her magic, and yet every time someone realized what she was, their first response was hesitation—fear.Dark mage.The words carried the stigma of a hundred horror stories, of myths twisted into warnings told to frighten children.Even at Spyre, where students of all six magics trained together, her kind were the ones watched most carefully.
She let out a slow breath, forcing her shoulders to relax.
Magic, in its rawest form, was woven into the fabric of the world, manifesting differently through those born with its power.Masters trained students across all six disciplines of magic, encouraging understanding between different power.But understanding did not mean acceptance.
Druids, like Esrin, were easy to admire.Their power was tangible, visible in the way they stirred the air or wove moisture into the wind.Esrin’s aura, bright and green like springtime, was proof of his affinity, and he moved with the grace and surety of the elements woven into his spirit.
Berserkers were breathtaking in their own way.Bodies forged into weapons that could endure impossible pain, they burned with an intensity that terrified and fascinated, controlling both strength and fire at will.Their wild power could just as easily consume the wielder as their enemies.
Ren’wyn couldn’t help but love empathic magic.Empaths manipulated emotions, guiding the feelings of those around them with an unseen touch.Peria’s magic was subtle and pervasive, a tide pulling at the heart, shifting it without notice.She could ease pain, fuel hope, or crush the will of an opponent with an invisible thread of willpower.
Wights lurked in shadows, like living ghosts.They bent light, sound, and sometimes even physical substance, slipping unseen through the world.Spies, assassins, and informants—at least they had been at one time.Their power made them unpredictable, forgettable, and deadly.
Oracles were the rarest of all, the ones who glimpsed the threads of fate.Some read the past with perfect clarity, while others saw moments yet to come.Most oracles went mad long before adulthood, consumed by knowledge no human mind was meant tohold.
And then there were dark mages.
Herkind.
Magic rooted in death.They were the only ones whose power was spoken of in past tense—extinguished, eradicated, slaughtered.People feared dark mages not just because they wielded the Void, but because they had once been many.Because their power had shaped history in ways still whispered about infear.
She saw it now, the moment Esrin realized what she was.The way his aura had recoiled, the careful way he measured his words.It was the same way her fellow students flinched from the shadows when they whispered to her.The same way even the Masters seemed unsure with how to treather.
She had been through this before.She would go through it again.
Peria’s delighted and wicked laugh shattered the tension, easing Ren’wyn’s discomfort.“She’ll eat you and your family for breakfast, and your souls will fuel her connection to theVoid.”
Ren’wyn couldn’t help giggling, though Esrin’s gaze remained wary.She knew she was so unassuming that she confused people.His aura pressed against hers, bright and green like a spring day, and her darkness welled up to meet it.The Void stirred within her, recognizing Esrin’s subtle probe.Her pupils darkened, and frost prickled at hertoes.
“Gods,” he whispered, drawing back slightly.“I thought you were all slaughtered in the last uprising.”
“We almost all were,” Ren’wyn replied, her heart heavy with shared memory.“My family survived—a secret kept with blood and death.”
“I only know the legends and myths,” Esrin admitted.“I’ve never met a dark mage before.”
With a cool smile, she tilted her head.“I’ve met too many druids,” she said, voiceeven.
Esrin laughed, easy and rich, but she saw the calculation behind it.The shift in his posture, the way he measured her.She was no longer just a woman he had met in class.She was a darkmage.
She felt it settle, the unspoken question that always followed:What will you do with that power?
And, as always, she swallowed the truth.
I don’t knowyet.
Esrin studied her, then let out a slow, considering breath.A grin tugged at the corner of his lips, something warmer than wariness settling in his eyes.“Well played, Ren’wyn.”
After a pause, his smile widened.“Would you two join me for supper this evening?”
Peria’s glance conveyed the silent agreement born of three years of shared friendship.
“We’d love to,” she replied with agrin.
Ren’wyn and Peria brought a bottle of wine and met Esrin at the men’s dormitory.Ren’wyn couldn’t help but wonder who they were dining with as she regarded him.His clothes were expensive and well-made—a teal tunic the color of the sea and tight brown leggings—and he leaned nonchalantly against the doorframe, exuding effortless confidence.
“Ladies,” Esrin greeted them with a smile.“Follow me.”
