Author's Note: Hey all! Sorry that I didn't update sooner. I've just been really busy with school... Anyway, here's my latest update. I hope you all enjoy it! But before I go, I just wanted to say thanks to the following people who have taken the time to read and review my story: f-zelda, viking-ulf, Milia Alexandros and Evergreen Friendship. Also, a special thanks to GilShalos for all the help and support.

Chapter 7: Jeraine

The sun seemed to have set earlier than usual, but maybe Majic was just imagining things. When Hartia and Orphen had returned, Orphen seemed to be in a better mood. I hope he's holding up, Majic thought in concern. Just a few hours earlier, Azalie had departed to go to the Tower of Fang. She had told the others that she would report the events, check in on Childman and Lai, then come straight back.

Since Cleao had gone, Leki had spent his time with Majic and moped around. But they both comforted each other. Majic sat in a large, red chair by the fireplace. He sat there and let his mind wander as he stared into the ambers of the fire. He lost himself in the flames and it was like time had stopped.

There was a knock on the door bringing Majic back to reality and Leki woke from his deep sleep.

"Come in!" he called out. The door slowly opened and Orphen entered. Leki looked up for an instant, closed his eyes and then went back to sleep.

"Hey, Majic," Orphen greeted then sat opposite to his apprentice.

"Master."

"How are you… with everything?" Orphen got straight to the point.

"I'm ok. What about you, Master?"

"I'm holding up."

"That's good."

"Yeah. You shouldn't worry about it, Majic."

"About what?"

"Cleao."

"Ohh… I- I can't help it, Master. She's like my older sister. I know she's only been gone a day, but I really miss her."

"I know. I miss her too." Orphen replied.

"Really?" Majic's teal eyes widened, shocked at Orphen's confession.

"Yeah. Everything's going to be ok though. We'll get her back."

Majic nodded and smiled, feeling brighter at his Master's reassuring words.

"Anyway, about your lessons… it'll be a bit delayed."

"Oh that's ok, Master."

"But just because I'm not teaching you anything new, doesn't mean you get to slip from your rune studies," Orphen added sternly.

"But-"

"No 'buts', Majic. We'll focus a bit more on the theory part of sorcery. Tomorrow, you'll have all day to study and in the evening you're going to have a test."

"Tomorrow! That's not fair!" Majic complained.

"Life's not fair, kid. " Orphen smirked, " Get some sleep, you have a big day tomorrow," Orphen closed the door behind him, leaving a sandy haired boy grumbling to himself.

The power surged through her body like an electrical current, making her tingle. But even though she had dark magic pulsing through her, she had no real desire to use it- at least not at the moment. She just wanted to be by herself and had avoided Jeremy all day long by shielding her presence with a concealing spell.

Cleao found herself at the ruins of Kohan, where she first saw Orphen. An image of her "partner" pooped into her head and all the pain she felt came rushing back to her. She became angry and a black flame erupted from her hand. She suddenly felt like destroying the tower that had made her think of Orphen in the first place, but she knew that it wouldn't rid her of the pain that she felt. She quenched her anger slowly and the flame evaporated. Cleao walked through the water, its sharp coldness refreshing her. She walked deeper into the lake until it was waist deep. Just standing there, she closed her eyes and let the water flow around her.

"If I wasn't looking for you really hard, I wouldn't have seen you in the darkness. Your hair and your clothes camouflage you," a voice called from the shore.

"You found me," Cleao replied flatly keeping her back turned.

"You sound disappointed, Cleao," Jeremy observed.

"I am."

"Well, isn't someone touchy today?" Jeremy replied, unfazed by Cleao's attitude towards him. There was silence. "You're in pain. I understand. But if you get rid of the source of the pain, then you get rid of the pain itself," he continued.

"You're hinting that I should kill Orphen." Cleao said and faced her creator.

"How perceptive of you," Jeremy smiled dryly.

Cleao snorted in disgust, "Do your own dirty work."

"Why give me the satisfaction?" Jeremy asked sourly, not liking the way the conversation was going.

"Don't tell me what to do- ever."

"Revenge would be sweet if you did," he persisted.

Cleao flicked her ebony locks indignantly, " I'm not stupid. I know you're using me. Using me to get to Orphen. You can't kill him yourself can you? And you're meant to be a reincarnation of Him. You're nothing."

"The transformation hasn't been completed yet," Jeremy retorted defensively, "Wait, how did you know-"

"He spoke to me when I was changing," Cleao answered, referring to her own transformation. "He told me of His greatness, your greatness. How He would walk the earth once more, blah blah blah…" Cleao said dismissively. "Some greatness," she scoffed, "You can't even kill Krylancelo yourself."

"I told you that the transformation isn't complete yet," Jeremy said through gritted teeth.

"You're annoying me, Jeremy. Wouldn't killing you make me feel better? Getting rid of the source right? Just leave me alone." Cleao suddenly disappeared, leaving Jeremy fuming.

I thought you said that she would be of service to us! What good is she is she won't even listen to me! Jeremy exclaimed once Cleao had left.

Enough, a voice silenced Jeremy's mental whining. It has only been a day. Give her time.

Jeremy grumbled.

For the plan to work, she must be on our side. Be nice and let her come to you. Then you will use her to your advantage.

Jeremy considered this and grinned slyly. Then once I have her, Orphen will fall. Jeremy paused, They were all wrong. Orphen wasn't the greatest sorcerer at the Tower of Fang… I was.

Over many leagues of land, a prestigious university of sorcery stood. It was a few hours till midnight and all the students and staff were asleep except for all the Elders and a gifted seer.

Azalie stood in the circle of Elders, recalling everything that had happened and they all listened intently, Lai listening in the background.

"Cleao still hadn't been seen the last time I was with them all," Azalie finished.

" You mentioned Jeremy Verdhel," an Elder among them spoke.

"Yes, is it of any importance?" Azalie asked. There was a long silence.

"Jeremy Verdhel is a renegade sorcerer… just like Krylancelo."

"What!" Azalie exclaimed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout."

"Your reaction is understandable."

"So you're telling me that Jeremy was a sorcerer at the Tower? Why don't I know him?"

"He came to us after Krylancelo left the Tower in search for you," an Elder explained, "It was a time after your funeral and there was a thunderstorm. It was the night we met Jeremy. He came to us- injured- so we took him in and Rox Roe healed him. He sensed potential in Jeremy and asked him if he had ever considered becoming a sorcerer. The Elders thought that it would be impossible to draw the power out of Jeremy at such a late stage," the Elder paused momentarily, "but Rox Row got his way and Jeremy was left in his care."

"If he was under the Master sorcerer's teaching, why would he leave?" Azalie became confused.

"At that time, it was only a month or two after the Bloody August incident, so there was still plenty of talk about it. Jeremy became interested and asked Rox Roe for details. So Rox Roe told him the story. He spoke of the power you and Krylancelo both possessed. Referring to you as the Sorceress of the Dragon and calling Krylancelo The Gifted One.

"After that, Jeremy wanted to delve deeper into the black arts, but Rox Roe forbid him. Jeremy kept to himself after that day, and we later discovered that he was experimenting with black magic. So we expelled him. Jeremy left, cursing at us, saying that he would come back and destroy us all. Saying he wasn't who we thought he was."

"If this is so, why didn't the Tower do anything about it?"

"We didn't think of Jeremy as a threat, but an over-ambitious boy. But I see now that we underestimated him greatly."

Azalie remained silent as she processed all the details revealed to her. There was something missing in all of this, yet she couldn't put her finger on it!

"Azalie?" an Elder queried.

Azalie didn't respond and suddenly it came to her, "Hartia!"

"What about Hartia?"

"Hartia has met Jeremy. Why didn't he know it was him?"

"Ah, I knew something slipped my mind. We didn't use his real name. Instead Rox Roe gave him an alias. He was called Jeraine. He believed that it was an honour to be named by our Master sorcerer."

"Jeraine… doesn't that mean 'Drifter'?" Azalie asked.

"That was what he was when he came to us, so Rox Roe thought it appropriate."

"Well, I suppose Jeremy has changed a lot for Hartia not to recognize him."

"That is a likely possibility."

There was still something that didn't add up, something important. "One more thing," Azalie added.

"Yes?"

"The prophecy that Hartia found…" she paused, " It's like it was waiting for him. Waiting to be found. It is too great a coincidence to ignore, someone must have put it there."

The Elders considered this notion, "This is true. The Heavenly Ones work in mysterious ways, Azalie. But it could be that someone has managed to plant it there undetected. Does it matter how it got there? All that matters is that this situation be dealt with immediately."

Azalie nodded, "If that is all, I would like to return to Childman."

"Very well. We can discuss things further tomorrow if need be."

"Yes," Azalie agreed and turned to leave, gesturing for Lai to follow.

Childman was sleeping peacefully when Azalie and Lai returned. Exhaustion taking over, Azalie slumped in the large armchair by the window overlooking the school grounds.

"Azalie, if you're tired…" Lai started slowly.

"No, no. I'll be ok. I don't think I could sleep anyway."

"Everything is slowly connecting," Lai stated thoughtfully.

"Have you found anything in your divinations?"

"No, but I'll try once more tomorrow. Maybe with all this new information, I can see more," Lai replied and sat opposite of Azalie, relaxing.

"Did you know Jeraine, Lai?"

"Not really. I mean, we weren't friends, but I kept my eye on him."

"What kind of student was he like at the Tower?"

"He was the perfect student. He was polite, a fast learner and a hard worker. Everyone began to look up to him after you and Krylancelo were gone."

"Keep going."

"Jeraine received an abundance of praise, I suppose it got to his head. After hearing talk of the Bloody August and Krylancelo, he became interested in the black arts. I remember I found him in the archives one afternoon, trying to open the forbidden bookcase where we kept everything we knew about black magic. Of course, I kept myself hidden from his eyes."

"He sounds like he would have made an excellent sorcerer," Azalie said observantly.

" Ah yes, that would seem so. Rox Roe said he had great potential- that he did, but he wasn't as gifted as Krylancelo. I'm just not sure if that's the case now. He may have been a hard worker, but if my memory serves me well, I do recall him having difficulty in spell casting."

"He seems like quite a character," Azalie said thoughtfully.

"Right," Lai agreed, "I suppose you'll be leaving tomorrow morning?" Azalie nodded her confirmation. "Well, you should all be careful. We may know what Jeremy was like in the past, but he may have changed. We don't know what we're up against," Lai continued.

"All we know is that we have a very hurt sorceress on the loose. A combination of pain and power is never good."

"I don't think that Cleao will be much of a threat," Lai said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you think about it, Jeremy has just given her powers that react to her emotions. Once her pain is gone, the power she has won't have anything to feed on."

"That makes sense," Azalie replied with a small yawn.

Lai smiled, "I think we better get some sleep."

"Good idea."

"Goodnight, Azalie," Lai said and stood up.

"Goodnight," Azalie replied, "Lai, before you go… I just wanted to say thank you."

"What for?"

" For looking after Childman while I've been away."

"That's ok. It's no problem at all," Lai assured her with a warm smile that showed Azalie his pearly whites. "Goodnight," he repeated and left her chambers.

Azalie crossed to the cot where Childman slept. She gently stroked his face and smiled down at him. Yawning, Azalie quickly got dressed into a comfortable nightgown. She slowly got under the covers of her bed and drifted to sleep as the glowing embers of the fire slowly died away.

Orphen tossed and turned in his sleep. All he could see was a pair of haunting black eyes that pierced his heart. And in the darkness that surrounded him, Cleao's scream would echo. Orphen bolted upright in a cold sweat. It was the second time he had had that dream. He sighed to himself and lay down once more and stared at the ceiling of the four-poster bed. I'll find you and I'll get you back Cleao, Orphen promised to himself, once you're safe and sound, I'm never letting you out of my sight. He exhaled as his eyes slowly closed. Thoughts of Cleao filled his mind as he fell into another uneasy sleep.