He opened his eyes. He felt thirsty. Before his eyes was a hazy memory of a dream in which he was looking at Felix's naked body, spread out on white sheets in some unfamiliar place... like... a chamber? The soft morning light fell on the wizard's dark skin, and the man looked straight at him and smiled so... tenderly. He rubbed his eyes because for a moment he had no idea where he was. Not much light reached the interior of the tent, but out of the corner of his eye he could see his friend's profile. They were alone in the tent; Felix had disappeared somewhere. William reached between his thighs, driven by a sudden urge. He touched himself and bit his lip to keep from making an embarrassing sound. He moved his hand several times, quickly, to get it over with as soon as possible. However, after a moment, he heard Ryan's grunts, who soon opened his eyes and looked straight at the boy with a surprised, though still sleepy gaze. And Will wanted to sink into the ground. He took his hand away and turned his back to his friend, completely embarrassed.

“And you didn't wake me up...?” He chuckled a little, then added, “Mhmm... That's so like you, William...” Will snorted quietly under his breath, though he still felt a burning shame that only doubled. Ryan grabbed his shoulder and turned him toward him. William looked at him, completely embarrassed. Seeing those brown eyes, now black as night, he saw so much emotion in them.

He was afraid of them. He was terrified by the thought that he didn't look at Ryan the same way Ryan looked at him. He knew it was unfair. He got angry when someone else was interested in him, and he always tried discreetly to get his attention. And worst of all, he learned to be gay around him. Sometimes after everything, after moments of intimacy, he would turn away, remain silent, and not let him touch him. Sometimes he would break down completely and snuggle up to him, whispering apologies and keeping him awake until morning with his childish behavior. It was pathetic, but Ryan never reproached him for anything. Will took advantage of his weakness for him, and he often felt bad about it, but he needed him because he knew that no one else would be as understanding as he was. Ryan unzipped the sleeping bag, very slowly, never taking his eyes off his friend's face. A moment later, he touched him. Will shuddered violently but refrained from moaning until Ryan brought his face close to his neck and kissed him lightly. Hearing the boy's quiet sigh and interpreting it as encouragement, he pulled him closer with his free hand and rubbed against his thigh impatiently.

“Tell me,” he whispered in his ear. He straddled Will and leaned down to his lips, kissing them passionately. He was clearly excited. The boy beneath him barely had time to respond to the kiss before Ryan pulled away. Instead, he stared intently at his friend's face, waiting for an answer. He reached between the boy's thighs. William glanced at him, slightly confused, arched his hips slightly, and then asked:

“What do you want me to tell you?” Ryan smiled at him with the corner of his mouth and stroked his cheek with the back of his free hand. He slid it down his neck, over his smooth chest, and stopped at his nipple, rubbing it lightly with his fingers. William breathed and moved restlessly. He wanted to get up and kiss Ryan, but Ryan held him down and pushed him onto the sleeping pad. He brushed the hair from his forehead.

“Tell me about what woke you up.” Hearing this, Will blushed violently and looked away. Feeling the pressure increase, he gasped louder and tilted his head back.

They whispered. But Will still couldn't admit what he had dreamed about.

“I won't tell you,” he replied and buried his face in the sweatshirt he had been using as a pillow all night. Ryan took off his boxers. He rolled their intertwined bodies to the side and pressed his lips against the boy's so they could muffle the sounds of pleasure.

Afterwards, they lay exhausted under one sleeping bag, and Ryan stroked his shoulder with the fingers of his free hand. Will lay passive, not resisting what Ryan was doing, though he didn't respond in kind. This time, he didn't feel much. He certainly wasn't disgusted by what they had done, though he didn't feel any particular satisfaction either. Maybe it was because, as he climaxed, he had recreated the image of naked Felix in his mind? At the very thought of it, he blushed slightly, which did not escape Ryan's attention. He smiled slightly to himself, still blissfully unaware and thinking that it was only thanks to him that Will was doing so well. He lay down on his side, facing the boy, and kissed him on the temple, then asked:

“Are you okay? How are you feeling?” Will glanced at him. He looked into his eyes for a moment with a strange, even disturbing expression on his face. Ryan furrowed his brow and was about to ask what was wrong when Will snuggled up to him with all his might. With his face against his chest, he tried to suppress the urge to cry.

“It's okay.” He cuddled for a moment longer, saying nothing, just breathing deeply to calm himself. Ryan stroked his hair, somewhat concerned by his behavior. After a long moment, William whispered, “But I'm thirsty.”

After breakfast, once they had struck camp and were ready to continue their trek, William told everyone about his dream. Not the one that had haunted him early that morning, just before the incident starring Ryan, of course. About that dream, he intended to remain silent until his grave. Instead, he mentioned the nightmare where he saw his brother, Patrick, and the enraged demons circling above them. Felix was clearly disturbed by this. After all, he had cast a protective spell, so how had they managed to break into the Prince's mind? He exchanged knowing glances with Lola and Sophie. It wasn't the best omen for the coming weeks.

“If you dream of something like that again, you must tell us,” Felix said. Will nodded toward the sorcerer, who sounded very serious. “Don’t let them deceive you, Will,” he added. “No one knows why they are searching for you, but I’m certain they don’t have good intentions.” He paused for a moment before adding, “As soon as we set up camp in a new spot, we begin training. There are ways to pull yourself out of a dream like that before the demons find you. We will practice it; if necessary, you won’t be completely defenseless.” Will wiped his slightly sweaty palms on his trousers and nodded without a word. Ryan watched him with concern. He couldn't imagine how heavy a burden it must be for William to carry. However, he held a firm resolve within himself to stay by his side until the end, ready to support him as best as he could.

Hours passed as they pushed steadily onward to find a secluded spot that would offer shelter from the strengthening wind. Finally, they reached Thorofare, and William felt as if the world he knew had ceased to exist. They were so far from civilization that even the sky seemed different here—deeper and clearer. Though such open space offered no cover, they were surrounded by nothing but wilderness. Paradoxically, there was no safer place for him now than this desolation.

Finally, when they managed to find a suitable spot for camp, they set up without haste. Ryan took care of starting the fire and preparing chocolate oatmeal. It looked like their diet for the near future would be somewhat monotonous, but luckily, they hadn't grown tired of it yet. Once the food was ready, each of them sat by the fire to warm up a bit and fill their empty stomachs with a warm meal.

“Why can’t we go to Sarihmas sooner?” Ryan asked. “Not that I mind all this camping—on the contrary, it’s great—but I don’t understand why we’re delaying.”

“It’s because of the portals,” Sophie replied. This didn't mean much to Ryan, however.

“Meaning what? What about the portals?” he pressed. Sophie had just stuffed her mouth with chocolate delight, so she wasn't eager to explain further. Finally, Felix took up the subject.

“Portals open infrequently, and it is very difficult to predict where the next one will appear. We must wait until Michael contacts us; he will have that knowledge from other rebels in the kingdom. Unfortunately, I haven't received any news from him yet,” the sorcerer explained. He stood up to collect everyone’s aluminum oatmeal bowls. One by one, they handed him the empty dishes with spoons inside. Felix decided to rinse them in the river immediately before the remnants could stick and dry. He hated dried food scraps. Disgusting. Before he walked off toward the river, however, he turned back toward Ryan, who asked:

“Who is Michael? How will he contact us?”

“Don't you worry, boy. All in good time. For now, we must focus on the Prince’s training. He cannot arrive in the heart of Sarihmas as such an unfledged greenhorn,” Felix said, smiling slightly at William. The boy huffed under his breath and looked away, his lips curling slightly into a mocking smile. He couldn't deny it, though—for now, he was a total greenhorn.

Once they had rested a bit, Felix ordered magic training. William was a little nervous. He knew nothing about magic, and on top of that, he had to take lessons from someone with a vast amount of experience in the subject. Some seven centuries worth. He promised himself, however, that he would give his all to master what was necessary as quickly as possible and end this unbearable state of uncertainty and fear.

“Before we move to practice, it’s worth saying a few words about the nature of magic itself. Most people imagine it as waving a wand and reciting dusty words in languages that are dead today,” Felix began. “While that sometimes works for the magic practiced by sorcerers, in your case, it won’t. The true magic of the Fairies is imposing your will upon reality.”

He paused for a moment and pointed to the stream flowing down the valley. “Mages like me draw power from the outside. We are like vessels that fill with the energy of nature, giving it the appropriate shape. But you...” Felix turned to William, and his eyes, usually mocking, were now serious. “You are not a vessel. You are the source.” Ryan, who had been listening in silence until now, remarked with amusement:

“I always sensed that William was electrically dangerous.” The boy rolled his eyes, looking at his friend with pity. Felix snorted under his breath, then continued:

“Something like that, Ryan. William, your blood is a tangle of two powerful forces. As a half-fairy, you have access to intuitive, wild magic that reacts to emotions. As a half-angel, you carry within you a spark of order and light that can tame that wildness. That is why some claim your magic is ‘refined.’ You don’t have to ask nature for power. You possess it. The problem is that if you don’t learn to control it, that ‘electricity’ Ryan mentioned will never spark.”

“How am I supposed to control it if I can’t even feel it?” he asked, unable to grasp the concept.

“You will feel it when you stop looking for it in your head and start here,” Felix replied, stepping closer to the boy and touching his hand to his chest. “But before we move to practice, you must understand the First Rule of Magic and Spells: nothing comes from a vacuum. The more powerful the spell, the greater the cost you pay.” It all sounded very serious, and William had to take a heavy breath to release some of the tension accumulated in his body. Felix waved him off and began to move slightly away from the campsite.

“Theory is important, but you don't have time to read books,” he announced, shedding his light cloak from his shoulders despite the piercing cold. “We’ll start with something that seems banal, though I assure you it is not.”

He pointed to a small, flat stone lying on his palm, which he had picked up from the ground.

“I don’t want you to lift it with your will. I don’t want you to set it on fire or crush it,” Felix said, handing the stone to William. “I want you to feel its weight. But not the physical weight. You are to sense its energy.”

William furrowed his brows, tightening his fingers around the cool rock.

“Energy? It’s just a stone.”

“Wrong,” the mage cut him off. “Everything that exists occupies space and possesses an energy proper to itself.” Seeing that the boy wasn't very convinced, he only sighed quietly and stepped closer. He took Will’s hand in his own and started again:

“Close your eyes. Separate everything you feel and hear from one another. Name each of these experiences in turn. You must feel where your hand ends and where the surface of the stone begins. Until you feel that boundary, you won’t be able to cross it to pour your will into it.” William stared at him, not having a clue what he was talking about. He knit his brows slightly and shifted from foot to foot.

“Felix, but...” he began. The sorcerer cut him off immediately.

“Close your eyes, Will. And don’t try to ‘do’ anything. Just listen to what you feel with your hand." Will obediently closed his eyes and tried to follow the man's instructions. Initially, he felt only the roughness of the rock. The wind blew through his hair, the fire crackled somewhere behind him, and the waving grasses rustled continuously, effectively distracting him. He tried to push these stimuli away, but the more he tried, the more the stone seemed like just a dead, cold object.

After a moment, incredibly subtly, he felt something. A delicate vibration, a kind of quiet hum that permeated the skin of his palm. It wasn't the stone; it was something in the stone, pulsing like a muffled heartbeat. The heart of something old, dormant, but powerful. He focused on it, ignoring the shiver running down his spine. Then it happened. Warmth. A small, yet distinct warmth spread from the stone straight into his hand. But it wasn't a pleasant warmth, like that coming from the sun.  Suddenly, darkness swallowed him. From a distance came the shriek of thousands of demons, so intense his ears burned.

Felix grabbed his shoulder, but it was too late. William snapped his eyes open, struggling for air. He screamed and threw the stone away as violently as if it had burned him with living fire. He hurled it ahead of him, and the small piece of rock cracked in half.

The boy staggered on his feet, paler than usual, his eyes wide and terrified, staring at the shattered stone.

“W-what was that?” he gasped, pointing a trembling hand at the shards.

Felix nodded.

“You saw an echo of the past, Will,” he replied simply and walked over to the shattered piece of rock. He picked up one of them. On its surface, a glowing sign bloomed, one Felix knew all too well. ᚺ—the rune of destruction and change. “Looks like your ‘power plant’ just fired up, boy,” Felix said with a smile, patting him friendly on the shoulder. William smiled uncertainly, still shaken by the whole experience. This is that refined magic...? he whispered to himself in his mind.