by J. J. Green
Carina gasped. What had happened to Jace? He’d been alive when the troops had been approaching. Had they shot him or spared him like they had Darius?
“Looking for me, Carina?” said a deep voice behind her.
She swiveled around. The large man was sitting on the grass, entirely unburned and very much alive.
“I forgot,” said Bryce. “Darius brought Jace with him too. I was kind of focused on you at the time.”
They were all there: all her brothers and sisters, Bryce, and even Jace. But how many of the young mages had died in the Dirksens’ attack?
“Do you know if most of the mages managed to get away?” Carina asked Jace.
The burly man’s expression was sad as he replied, “Not all, but most, thanks to the help of your family.” He paused. “It’s strange how things turn out sometimes. I didn’t want you to leave and take Darius from us, yet if you hadn’t left, you wouldn’t have found out about what the Dirksens planned to do. You wouldn’t have warned us, and many more people would have been lost. So that is something to be thankful for.”
“I’m sorry that Magda died,” said Carina.
“So am I,” said Jace. “Perhaps more than you will ever know. She was everything to us. She was our history, our culture, our future. She had barely begun to pass on all she knew to Darius. Now, I do not know what will happen. How can we continue when we’ve lost so much?”
Carina’s heart ached with remorse and sadness. She had been so wrong about Magda. She had misinterpreted the Spirit Mage’s deep need to safeguard mage lore as a desire to monopolize Darius. Carina realized how blind she had been, and now there was nothing she could do about it.
“Do not blame yourself for what has happened,” said Jace, reading her expression. “The Dirksens are responsible for Magda’s fate , not you.”
“What should happen to Darius?” Carina asked.
“Though he is a powerful mage, Darius is very young, and he doesn’t know anywhere near enough to take over as our clan’s Spirit Mage. Everything has changed. A new era in magehood has begun, and I don’t know what will happen to us. Perhaps it is the beginning of our end.”
“Or perhaps it’s the beginning of something new,” said Carina. “Maybe we can find a different way of living where we no longer need to skulk and hide.”
Jace looked downward and didn’t answer.
“It’s kind of empty and lonely out here,” said Oriana. “Are we going to leave soon? Where are we going now?”
It was a big question, both for their immediate future and their long-term plans. The first thing they had to do was to go somewhere far from the Dirksens’ soldiers. But then what?
“Maybe we should head into the city,” Parthenia said. “But what about returning to Ostillon eventually? Castiel might go back there.”
“Castiel?” said Carina. “I don’t think we need to worry about him anymore. I’m pretty sure he isn’t a danger to anyone. His plan to gain power and privilege has backfired spectacularly.”
“Maybe that guy, Reyes, will take care of him,” said Ferne.
“They certainly didn’t seem to be best buddies,” Bryce remarked.
“Are we going?” Ferne asked, standing up.
He was right to hurry them. The morning was wearing on. Dirksen soldiers would be scouring the prairie, hoping to find stray mages.
Carina sighed. “Yes. Let’s go where we always go: somewhere safe, out of sight, where we won’t attract too much attention. Then we’ll have to see what we can do to leave Pirine without any Dirksens or Sherrerrs on our tail.”
“And then what?” asked Oriana.
“I’m not sure,” said Carina. But in fact, she was. She had always been sure, deep down. She took a breath and said, “Maybe we should try to find Earth.”
Jace gave a shake of his head. “You’re chasing a dream, Carina.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“No,” Jace replied. “I have to admit I don’t.”
“Then a dream is better than nothing.”
Carina’s story continues in Star Mage Saga, Part 2.
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ALSO BY J.J. GREEN
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SPACE COLONY ONE SERIES
CARRIE HATCHETT, SPACE ADVENTURER SERIES
THERE COMES A TIME
A SCIENCE FICTION COLLECTION
DAWN FALCON
A FANTASY COLLECTION
LOST TO TOMORROW
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Copyright © March 2019 J.J. Green
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No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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