The light blinded him for a second but once he was able to see again he found himself in the spirit world. Like the strangeness of seeing himself from outside his body still felt new, so did the astonishment of contemplating the spirit world. It was nothing he had ever seen in the mortal realm and always made him wonder what Rain’s true form would look like. Everything that surrounded him seemed to flow like water, and had its own source of light or energy. But that wasn’t the case, Olivier remembered, although the spirit world was made of pure energy, like Rain, that energy had to be taken from the mortal realm. That energy is what he’d learned to know as mana.

“Okay, let’s get this spell started.” He cupped his necklace in his hands and started charming the tracking spell. It took a lot more mana than what he thought originally, after all, he didn’t have any possession of that person but his vague memory from the New Year Festival. The same sight he had seen countless times in his dreams since that night. He staggered backwards a little when a wave of electricity went through his body, coming from his necklace. “I can’t believe this actually worked.” In front of him there was now a trace of blue light connecting to his necklace, it was time to find out who the mystery person was.

He followed the light, careful of not being perceived by any other spirits. The environment around him didn’t change much, except that the intensity of the mana seemed to grow stronger progressively, a sign that he was probably walking deeper into the forest in the mortal realm. He caught himself reaching for Rain’s mind a couple of times fruitlessly, it was odd not having the constant presence of his familiar’s mind inside his own.

Olivier felt as if he’d been walking for hours, although he knew that time in the spirit realm didn’t follow the same structure as the mortal realm, when he finally reached the end of the light stream. So far he had managed to stay undetected by other spirits, actually, he had barely seen any along the way. This made the sight of the two dragons as large as a skyscraper even more impressive and threatening.

He immediately ducked out of sight but he knew that it would be useless if he didn’t come up with something soon. He ventured a hesitant look in the dragons’ direction to see what he would be up against if he even managed to get past the dragons’ guard. Olivier had never seen a mental palace like that, its giant doors covered with intricate designs and symbols. Wards, he reckoned, but unlike any he had studied or even heard of. He knew there was no way he could get into that person’s mind, at least not tonight.

He was ready to turn around and make his way back when he saw his path blocked by the snake like body of one of the dragons, its head turned toward him and its eyes burning with blue flames.

“Shit,” he breathed, he’d been found out and trapped. He spun around to see the other dragon staring at him too, except this one seemed more docile in a way. Their eyes weren’t burning as intensely as the other one and the flames were a paler shade of blue, like the sky in a sunny day.

“We’ve found ourselves a mortal.” The strength of the second dragon’s voice made Oliver cover his ears instinctively, but it was useless as the voice was in his head. “What should we do about him, brother?”

“Burn him, he was lurking around the master’s palace,” answered the first dragon, his voice, though higher in pitch, all the more threatening than his brother’s. “He’s a witch, I can tell that much, he was probably trying to break in!”

Olivier froze were he stood, he had assumed the guardians were protecting the palace from there spirits the the persons mana wouldn’t be stolen, to keep it for themselves. But to know that two spirits of such power were not only at the service of another person but also expecting that someone would try to break into that persons mind palace both terrified him and intrigued him even more.

“You’re not fun brother, why don’t we play with him for a while?” The second dragon was only now a meter away from Olivier’s face, which burned from the heat emanating from the dragon’s mana against his own. He knew then that he wouldn’t stand a chance if they decided to get rid of him. “After all, it’s been a good couple of centuries since we had a visitor,” he added as his tongue darted out licking Olivier’s face, a small but noticeable fraction of his mana taken away instantly. “And his mana is so delicious too, it’d be a waste to simply burn out his essence.”

“You dare consume mana from someone other than our master! You disgust me brother,” the first dragon growled, a column of fire coming out if his mouth and barely missing Olivier while hitting the other dragon directly on his face. He didn’t react, unaffected by his brother’s flames, more evidence of the power he had.

“I was lost!” the words coming out of his mouth before he could stop him. The fear for his life pushing out a half truth he hoped they would bite. “I was trying to track a memory, a person from a memory!” If they discovered that he knew exactly where he was it would be the end in a fraction of a second. “I’ve only been practicing for seventeen years, I still have much to learn. The spell clearly went wrong and brought me to the wrong place,” he blabbered, if the dragons were as ancient as they seemed they would know that seventeen years is nothing for a witch. “Please have mercy on me, it was a mistake to think I could manage magic this difficult so early on.”

“Aww, he’s a baby! No wonder his mana is so pure,” the second dragon replied, licking his fangs. “Regardless of it being a mistake, you were indeed lurking around our master’s palace. We can’t just let you go that easily, how will we be sure that you won’t return?” The hint of mockery in his voice somehow managed to make him even more intimidating. “I’m afraid we might just have to kill you.”

A shiver went down Olivier’s spine, He couldn’t help reaching for Rain’s mind, but it was useless. There was no way he could outrun the two guardians to the gate he’d entered, and looking for a different gate was out of question right now. If he had any hope of getting out of the spirt realm he needed Rain to pull him out, for that he needed to get closer to his gate and then hope he could reach his familiar. He needed to distract them, but how?

“It really is a waste,” the dragon continued. “your mana is really deli–“ he was cutoff by another column of fire to his face.

“You are a disgrace brother, how dare you act as if this witch’s mana is in any way comparable to master’s?!” The first dragon growled, spitting yet another column of fire before lunging toward his brother, throwing Olivier backwards. The contact with the fiery skin of the dragon burned his mana away, it was clear now more than ever that if he didn’t escape he would die.

Olivier looked at the dragon’s previous position, a wall of fire in his place blocking his way home. It was now or never. With the guardians going at each other’s throats he could make a run for it. He focused his mana on his legs with a quick spell and bolted towards the wall of fire, its heat increasing with every step. When he was close enough he jumped several meters off the ground with the help of the infused mana, but it was not enough. The wall of fire rose as he passed over it, depleting his mana even more. He landed with a roll, flinching as he noticed the embers on his body. He didn’t feel pain, but he could feel himself growing weaker by the second. He started running again after cutting off his mana supply to put out the magic flames. There was no time to waste, the guardians would soon realize that he had ran away.

“Celeritas!” Olivier yelled, infusing his legs with even more mana than he had previously. Running as fast as the magic let him, with his mana reaching dangerously low levels, he recognized that he was close to the bridge he had crossed. “Shit!” he exclaimed with his cheek on the floor, his legs had collapsed, he couldn’t feel them anymore. He reached again for Rain, if he couldn’t move it would be a matter of moments before the guardians, or any other spirit for that matter, found him. “Please, Rain. Where are you?!”

“Olivier?!” The witch finally felt the familiar’s presence in his mind. “Are you okay?”

“I need you to pull me out,” Olivier answered, it was taking everything he had to remain conscious. “I can’t move, you have to get me out of here now!” He couldn’t tell if Rain had heard him, the presence in his mind was barely noticeable. His breathing was ragged, becoming increasingly shallow and short at the realization that if Rain couldn’t pull him out now he would die.

“It’s done,” Olivier heard Rain’s voice and immediately lost consciousness.

Olivier woke up disoriented and trying to stand up, a terrible mistake. He barely managed to turn on his side as he started to gag, his mouth stinging slightly with stomach acid. After a minute of nothing coming out of his mouth he managed to catch his breath and lean back on the bed, closing his eyes and willing to memory what he had seen in the spirit world.

“I see you’re finally staying conscious,” Olivier re-opened his eyes to a tall man walking into his room carrying a tray with fruit and water. “You’ve been out for almost three days. Woke up a few times, but didn’t last long.” The man added while setting the tray on Olivier’s lap and sitting next to him on the bed, immediately offering him the glass.

“Thank you, Rain,” Olivier muttered, he could never get used to his familiar’s human form, especially since he barely ever used it. Hearing his voice outside his own mind was also weird to him. “Sorry you had to take over business,” he added after drinking half of the water.

“It’s been quiet, you’re lucky Helen didn’t come to get anything or it wouldn’t be a plate of melon what you’d be getting when you woke up,” Rain responded watching Olivier eat a piece of melon. “What happened? I could’t separate what was real from feverish delusions.”

“I found their place, it was guarded. I’ve never seen anything like those wards and the guardians were ancient. They really didn’t want me there, they were going to kill me,” Olivier blabbered while Rainier paid close attention to him, analyzing the witch’s memories now that he was lucid.

“I’ll get you the books you need from the library, I’ll get you the bath ready,” Rain stated picking up the tray and walking out of the room.

Olivier closed his eyes again, although a bath was the last thing in his mind, he knew he needed it. He opened them again when he felt Rain’s arms around him as he carried him to the bathroom. The usual warmth that emanated from his familiar’s body seemed to have almost vanished, Rain was also low on mana.

Once in the bathroom Rain sat him on the edge of the tub and helped him undress and into the water. The room was lit by the open window near the bath, the scent of candles and medicinal herbs in the water drenching his senses. All of it would help restore his mana.

“Do you wanna get in?” Olivier asked after a couple of minutes in the hot water.

“Fine, but I’m not taking any of your mana right now. I just took a supplement,” he said as he undressed and Olivier moved forward giving space to the familiar to sit behind him, once he did Olivier leaned back again, resting his head on on Rain’s chest. His skin was cold compared to the water. Olivier looked up noticing that Rain was reaching for a small container with fresh water. which he then proceeded to pour over the witch’s head.

Rain continued continued washing Olivier’s head while both remained in silence, each of them focused on their own thoughts. When Olivier was finally clean he leaned back again onto Rain’s chest, the familiar hesitantly putting his arms around the witch.

“I don’t deserve you,” Olivier mumbled, feeling completely at peace in Rain’s embrace. “I wish you’d let me give you mana, it’s been a week now…”

“I told you,” Rain interrupted him, “you’re not strong enough yet, I could kill you if I fed right now.” There was no use in arguing.

Olivier barely remembered getting out of the water and into his bed before exhaustion took him again.