James_Human

“Do you weep for me, my teacher?” She whispered. I pressed my lips to her shaking hand and was transported back to when I first met her thirty years earlier.
“Yes, majesty. I weep for you.” I replied.  “And I weep for my soul. I failed to protect you, and I deserve damnation for it.”
My queen smiled, her blood-spattered face serene in the red haze of blood and smoke. “No, 
Lukas, you have fulfilled your duty. And you will serve me again in the glorious halls of our gods.”
“With all my heart,” I whispered. 
Tears glittered in her eyes, “Call me by my name?” She asked, her voice quiet, weak. “Like you did when I was a little girl.”
“Anna.”

At the end of the world, a mage held his student in his arms as the light left her eyes. At the end of the world a mage stared down his attacker. At the end of the world, a mage died. 
And woke up thirty years before the end of the world. 
He's been given a second chance. 
And this time he's going to do it right.

Spirit Speaker

The sea breeze filled my lungs as I boarded the Winter Squall. She wasn't the only ship that travelled between Corel and the Capital, but when I saw her name on the dock manifest I made a beeline for her, the princess, Rowan and Miss Rita trailing behind me.

"Ho, Captain!" I called when I reached the gangplank.

"Ho!" The captain shouted across the deck.

"You're heading to Corel? My companions and I would like a ride if that's possible."

The captain studied me for a moment, and then his mouth split into a wide grin.

"Sure thing, Master Mage, come on up."

"You remember me?" I asked, taking the princess's luggage from her, and walking up the gangplank.

"Of course I do, sir. You're the only Mage we've ever transported." The Captain whistled loudly behind him and three sailors walked over.

Chapter 33