I spent the following day with my mind racing, every thought circling back to the mysterious message that had appeared on my window. I could barely focus on my professors’ lectures, their voices blending into a jumble of words that barely registered. Which sucked ass, considering there was absolutely nothing I loved more than a magical lecture. 

By 11:45 PM, I was back in my dorm, practically vibrating with nervous energy.

I could hardly stay still in bed, my leg bouncing up and down despite the textbook on Magical Urban Development and Deforestation I was attempting to read for fun. Don’t judge me, it’s actually super interesting! But no matter how hard I tried to concentrate, more questions just kept racing through my head. 

Should I really go meet this mysterious person? What if this was some kind of trap? But then again, I’m nobody special in this reality (or any reality, really) so why would anyone want to trap me? But by that logic, why would anyone want to meet with me either? 

“Oi, Nibo.” Lucian’s head popped up from behind a bubbling concoction, his goggles fogged with green steam, obscuring his eyes. “You okay?”

“It’s Niko,” I said, giving him a pointed look over the edge of my book. “And, yes, I’m fine.”

Lucian casually uncorked a vial of pearl dust. As he poured it into the bubbling mixture, the potion fizzled and hissed, releasing a cloud of mint-scented smoke that spiraled upward. “Then why are you making your thinking face, Neato?”

My eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry, my what?”

“Your thinking face,” Lucian repeated, tossing a handful of glistening snake scales into another beaker. "Whenever you start worrying, you get all lost in thought and scrunch your face up like this."

He contorted his features into an extremely unflattering facial expression. I made a mental note that if my face actually looked like that, I should schedule an appointment with the soonest available hitman to just take me out.

“Plus, you’ve been completely out of it all day.”

I snapped my book shut. 

“I told you, I’m fine. ” With a sigh, I swung myself off the bed. “I’m going to the library to study now. I would really appreciate it if you didn’t follow me this time.”

"Are you seriously still mad about that?" Lucian muttered, wiping the steam off his goggles with the back of his hand. 

He kept his focus on the bubbling beakers in front of him, where the liquid inside shifted through a spectrum of colors, from deep blue to fiery red, tiny sparks popping and fizzing on the surface. He picked a breaker up, then placed it down, then picked it up again, then put it back down, then picked up another. I realized he was just fiddling with them to avoid looking at me. 

“But… like… Lucian mumbled, eyes glued to the beaker, “if you’re really that upset I won’t do it again…or whatever.” 

It wasn’t an apology. And all things considered, it was a pretty-piss poor attempt at making amends. But at least he’d done something. Besides, what was the point of staying mad at my best friend for being a dick when he was literally written to be a villain.

My heart skipped a beat when I realized I had just thought the words ‘best friend’ to describe my relationship with Lucian Darkona.

Maybe it was because I’d never actually had a friend before I was applying the label to him so quickly.

But we weren’t friends, not really. He was using me for some evil plan and I was using him to save Owen Thorn. No matter what we labeled ourselves, our alliance was completely transactional. Exploitative, even. 

I mentally remind myself of that over and over again as I at last slipped from my dorm, creeping out to meet the mysterious stranger waiting for me in the Thunder Gardens. 

With the hoodie I’d affectionately started calling my ‘sneaking hoodie,’ scrunched up once more around my face, I made my way across the bridge to the School of Physical Arts. The building loomed ahead, the lightning cracking from the dark clouds swirling around its spires illuminating the building in flashes. 

I ducked behind a row of bushes as the massive stone statue of a thunderbird, Adonis, stirred above the door. His powerful wings twitched, and his beak lifted high, glowing blue eyes scanning the horizon.

“Hark!” His deep, booming voice echoed through the night. “Is someone there? 'Tis past curfew! If thou art there, I demand thee reveal thyself at once, lest thou face the consequences thusly!”

I held my breath, the sharp pokes of sticks prodding into me as I army crawled through the bushes. 

Adonis’s glowing eyes swept over the area once more. But seeing no movement, he slowly stilled, the crackling energy around his stony feathers fading until he was a lifeless statue once more.

Letting out a silent sigh of relief, I broke into a sprint. I darted through the darkness, at last slipping into the Thunder Gardens, located behind the School of Physical Arts.

You could literally feel the power in the air, a steady buzz that radiated through my bones the moment I stepped into the garden. The plants there weren’t just for decoration; they were there to amplify magic itself. 

Glowing flowers in every imaginable color surrounded me, their petals pulsing with light, casting an ethereal glow that bathed the space in a rainbow. Bioluminescent vines twisted and curled up arbors, their tendrils humming with latent magic. Little sparks of light danced around the leaves, floating through the air like falling stars. 

Standing at the center of the garden, bathed in the soft, otherworldly light of the flowers, was a figure I would have still recognized blind. The plants’ multi-colored glows danced across the perfect lines of his face, making his white hair shimmer. He turned, the light catching in his eyes and turning them to deep, ruby pools as they locked with mine.

"Hey," Owen Thorn said, his voice soft as velvet. "Thanks for coming."

I think I deserved a freaking medal for not fainting a third time. 

“To be honest, I wasn’t sure you’d actually come,” Owen continued, absently rubbing the back of his neck. “I know I didn’t have the most orthodox way of inviting you here.”

“Uh... no...I mean...err….uh…I came!” My face went hotter than the boiler Sal was imprisoned with. “I mean...not that I came...that sounds super weird...what I meant to say was, uh...I’m here now. So...err…” I awkwardly flung out my arms, “tada!”

Someone please shoot me. 

What the hell was I even saying? Like seriously, I might have been better off if I just went full exorcist and started speaking in tongues. At least then I’d have a demon to blame it on. 

Being the literal angel that he was, Owen didn’t comment on the fact that my face currently resembled a sundried tomato. 

“I actually asked you to come here so I could thank you in person,” Owen continued, his expression so warm I thought I might melt just from looking at it. “Things were escalating really fast with Lucian yesterday, and when I get upset I can lose control of my magic. So if Lucian had actually hit me, I think I might have exploded on him. Which would have been, uh… ” He chuckled, the noise slightly strained at the edges, “really, really bad.”

“It was no problem,” I blurted. “I don’t mind being a human meat shield. I’ll be your human meat shield any time you want.”

Get it together, Niko, I mentally screamed at myself. Stop being so anxious talking to him. Just picture him in his underwear or something. 

Obviously, that image had the opposite effect. 

“I’m glad we’re finally getting a chance to talk,” Owen said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

For a moment, I forgot how to breathe. “About… me?”

“Of course,” Owen said with a laugh. “I mean, you fainted in front of the entire school your very first day. That’s a little hard to forget.”

I prayed one of the bolts of lightning from the school spires would just strike me down. 

I bowed my head, my hair tumbling into my eyes as if trying to shield me from further embarrassment. “Well, uh… other than that, I’m actually pretty boring.” 

“Boring?” Owen gasped. “What are you talking about? You’re absolutely fascinating!”

I couldn’t bring myself to meet his gaze because I knew if I did I would definitely faint again.

Owen’s eyes searched my face, and when he noticed my reluctance to make eye contact, his tone shifted, dipping into something flatter, almost dejected. “You seem really nervous. Is it...is it because I’m… y’know… me?” 

I blinked. “Huh?”

Owen fidgeted in place, one foot bouncing. “Are you scared of me because I’m Owen Thorn?”

I frantically shook my head. “No, no! Not scared. More…” My jaw worked, searching for the right word. “Overwhelmed.”

Owen laughed weakly. “I get that sometimes. People think there’s some invisible barrier between me and them because I’m the Chosen One. That’s why I only have two real friends. But there’s nothing about me to be overwhelmed by, I promise.”

Then, out of nowhere, Owen flopped backward into the grass at the center of the garden, spreading his arms wide. 

I stared at him, confused. “What are you doing—” 

Owen grabbed my arm and pulled me down beside him, the soft grass cushioning my fall. We lay side by side, surrounded by glowing plants, the streaks of raw magic swirling through the darkness above our heads. 

“No matter what title they give me or how many stories or legends they tell, it’s still only me. I’m nothing more than a regular kid.” Owen’s hair was tousled, fanning out around his head like a halo as he stared upward. “Minus all the power inside me, I’m really nothing special. And half the time, I don’t even know how to control it.”

“I think you’re really brave for putting up with all of it,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “Some people might try to run away from their destiny, but you… you decided to take on the responsibility of being Owen Thorn. I mean, you’re a living figurehead for hope.” My gaze darted away, heart pounding in my ears as I struggled to articulate the infinite depths of my feelings. “That’s why, um… you’ve always been my hero.”

Owen's crimson eyes widened, and for a heartbeat, the world seemed to pause. A breeze rustled through the magical flowers, sending colored light rippling around us.

Then Owen shook his head.

“But I’m not a hero,” Owen said softly. “That wyvern attack last year... I should have stopped it. People died because I did nothing.”

“Everyone knows if you exert too much power, the Great Darkness can enter your mind,” I said. “If he had tried to influence you, even more people would be hurt.”

Owen sat up, his legs pulling against his chest as he rested his forehead against them. “Still, couldn’t I have found another way?”

“Listen,” I said, my voice surprisingly firm, even in my own ears. “Didn’t you just say you were a regular kid? That kind of responsibility should never fall on your shoulders. So don’t blame yourself for deaths you had no control over.”

“Then why do I still feel so guilty?” Owen let out a dry chuckle, looking away. “I’m sorry. We’ve only just started talking and I’m suddenly getting into all this personal stuff. I must seem like a real creep.”

I shook my head furiously. “No, you don’t! I promise!”

“It’s just…” Owen sighed,, “I don’t really have anybody to talk to about this stuff. Ferula and Wesley are my best and only friends, but they never want to hear about it. And I have to keep up the perfect hero act around everyone else. Which is why I…” Owen’s smile was both beautiful and heartbreaking all at once as his eyes met mine. “I really appreciate you listening, Niko. It means a lot.”

From the amount of heat radiating through me, I might as well have just burst into flames. 

Owen got to his feet, his form bathed in the plant’s glow as he extended a hand to help me up. Don’t faint, I mentally yelled at myself as I took it, don’t faint, don’t faint, don’t faint. His fingers were so warm. I could practically feel the magic radiating off them. 

Owen’s gaze darted around the garden, as if to confirm it was really empty. Then his voice dropped to a whisper.

“I have to admit, thanking you for saving me from Lucian wasn’t the only reason I asked you to come here.”