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

Anna and I sat in the pavilion, watching a butterfly flit between the flowers.

"I think so? It's difficult because it's a living thing."

"That's why we're starting with a butterfly. They're not too complicated. Close your eyes, and focus on the image in your mind."

"Excellent. Now, just like with a spirit, I want you to channel how you feel into that image."

The butterfly paused between the flowers and fluttered to the princess.

"Okay, highness, open your eyes."

I was impressed. Not surprised, but impressed. This was grovekeeper magic, druid magic, and just like everything else she set her mind to, Anna got it right first try.

She opened her eyes and smiled brightly at the butterfly flittering above her upturned hand.

"Very good. Remember, things have spirits, and living things have souls. Druids work with the souls of animals, just like we work with spirits."

The Spirit Within