It was spring break, and we were making the most of it. Sitting outside, on the cracked roof of apartment 49, I stopped Myra’s ink brush. “You’re doing it wrong again, and you almost blew us sky-high!” I said, as Myra sighed and began again on another sheet of rice paper.

  “Tell me again why I’m learning this?” she asked, linking several runes for protection with an element, creating a small barrier seal.

  “You need to learn protective measures in case I can’t get to you,” I said, grasping her hand for a minute, and then letting go. She squeezed my hand reassuringly. I could still feel Myra’s blood leaving her body. Feel her last labored breath. It wasn’t something I would allow again. God or no, Amel was not killing her again.

  No one was, not on my watch! Then again it was on my watch she was killed by one of my good friends, Nero,an Ether kin. That made me as guilty as my friend, for not being able to stop him. Then again, as I constantly asked myself, how did one fight a god? You didn’t, even I knew that, but there had to have been something I could have done!

  I watched as she linked in the rune for strength and another element, Earth. So she was trying to make the wall barrier? Strange. That one didn’t start like this unless...oh. Ingenious as usual. She was linking two barriers to work with one containment shield.

  As usual, I’d never think of doing such a thing, but she was at a literal crossroads. Normally a barrier was made of one element whether Water or Earth. A containment shield varied since the linking matrixes depended on whether you were containing life or things.

  Both guarded against foes and used a bit of the castor’s energy. On Earth, she had none, and frankly, it worried me she wouldn’t have it on Sapherine either. I now saw what she intended to do and led her through the Matrix verbally.

  “Never link the rune of power with the eight-pointed star of radiance,” I pointed to her runes array and mimed an explosion smirking. She paled slightly as she linked her last runes together. Earth and the root, making Earth stronger. She picked her ink brush off the paper and stared at her creation blowing me a raspberry.

  I grinned and stuck my tongue out at her. Being silly was a pastime I would never get tired of.

  “What do you think? Do I pass?” she asked, as the wind played with dark strands of hair. She had cut it to shoulder length not too long ago.

  It was just the right length to run my fingers through. Not that I did any of that! We are good friends now. We hang out together, and we train together. That’s it.

  Sapherine had been a whole six months ago, but we never forgot that eventually, we’d have to return. The slaves and children had only one chance to survive, the savior of Sapherine: Myra.

  I was the sidekick willing to risk it all to see her back home, to Earth, safe and alive. The council could kiss my ass. They’d never torture Myra again.

  Myra hadn’t been the kick-butt type, but since she came back something within her changed, and now she’s taking taekwondo and wanted me to train her to use a sword.

  We often trained late, so I usually stayed for dinner at her apartment with her family. Mige, her ten-year-old brother, and I got along great. Juaquin, the older uni grad, and I on the other hand, well he thought I was there to steal Myra, and he’s very protective of her.

  “You look like meat, and you’ll be ground meat if a hair on her head turns up missing,” had said the large and muscled, glasses-wearing, suit and tie-wearing guy as I had arrived to pick Myra up for our usual sword training, disguised as hangouts. Older brothers were not my forte.

  Myra had gone home with a nasty cut, well several, as I had used wind on her and well I nearly died that night. Her mother had not stopped cursing at me even if Myra had said I wasn’t to blame. Her mother could be scary. I’m pretty sure she knew I used to bully Myra. How she figured it out remains a mystery to me but she took one look at me and the threats flew.

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  “Harm my bebe and they’ll find not even the bones when I’m through,” the small, plump, dark-haired and-eyed woman had said at the dinner when Myra first invited me over. Needless to say, I felt like running. There was something in that dark gaze that told me to take her threat as seriously as I took my mom’s!

  On the other hand, Myra stayed at my house one time. It was enough with who my father was. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell her the good news.

  “Hey, My? My parents are separating,” I said, smiling. No more would my dad hit my mom and me, and no more bad role models to emulate. My days as a bully were done…mostly.

  Myra’s eyes widened, and a smile broke out on her face. “For real?”

  “Yeah!”

  She frowned. “Wait. Does that mean you’ll have to move?”

  “Nope. The house is under Mom’s name. She owns it, and since I’m staying with her, I ain’t going nowhere,” I said. She squealed and knocked me over hugging me to death. I slammed into the concrete ground with her on top of me. I chuckled and hugged back used to her hugs now.

  “Ok, My. Let me up before Juaquin kills me for inappropriate behavior,” I muttered as she blushed and sat. I followed her, and we were back to sitting on the roof of her apartment complex.

  She slid some of her hair behind her ear and smiled. “I think we’re done here today unless I need more work on my rune array?”

  I glanced down at the array and shook my head. “Ingenious as always. It’s like you were made for runes or something,” I said, eyes tracing her clean lines on the rice paper. She may not have the power to make these work here, but I’m sure they’d work perfectly on Sapherine.

  I smirked. “You know this spell marks you as a Medium right?”

  She kicked her feet against the roof sill. They were hanging down over the ledge. She knew I could catch her if she fell. Unlike her, I had all my abilities, including my wind and ether elements. A cool breeze blew toward us. She zipped up her hoodie.

  “Really? No special tests or anything?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “If we were on Sapherine there would be, followed by a grand celebration. Not many pass beginner's level,” I said, watching her eyes light up like fireworks. I’ll never get tired of seeing that happen.

  I smiled. “Congrats on becoming a Medium. We should celebrate.”

  “Well, it’s early still. I bet Juaquin could drive us to the mall for some ice cream?”

  I raised my hands in surrender. “Hey it’s your graduation,” I said smirking.

  “Yeah, and you’re my mentor. You get to pick too!”

  She hopped to her feet and fell off the roof. I caught her an instant later with the wind. It was an exercise to work on our reflexes. Her physical ones and my magical ones. It seemed to work because I was a tad faster than a few days ago.

  “Almost instinct by now right?” she said, grinning

  “Yeah, but I wouldn’t attempt it again,” I said, depositing her on the roof on her butt and laughing when she glared at me through her messy hair.

  “Reflexes, My,” I chuckled and stood, walking to the roof’s exit door.

  “Reflexes, my butt,” she muttered, and I laughed pulling against the emergency handle on the cracked door. It opened to reveal the stairway that led back to her apartment.

  We walked down two floors to her apartment, where Juaquin was studying at the table, and Mige was playing video games as usual.

  Her mom wasn’t home yet. She walked over to Juaquin and put on her best puppy dog face. She was lethal with those, but Juaquin knew most of her tricks as she knew most of his.

  Juaquin looked up from his laptop and sighed. “I know that face. What do you want?”

  “Can you take us to the mall for some ice cream?” she asked and Juaquin sighed.

  “You know how you get at the mall,” he said and she winced. I glanced at her. I didn’t know the mall caused her problems. We’ve hung out there a time or two, mostly at my suggestion.

  “It’s just for some ice cream,” she said, and Juaquin glared at me as if this was my fault!

  She caught the look and sighed. “Jonah has nothing to do with my decision. I want some ice cream with my friend, that’s all, “ she said, and Juaquin mmhmmed sarcastically, busying himself with typing for a minute before rising and grabbing his keys.

  “Mige, let's go,” said Juaquin as Mige kept himself glued to the screen. Juaquin walked right in front of the tv which made the kid squawk.

  “Juaquin!”

  “Let’s go, Mige,” he said.

  Mige sighed sequestering himself in his couch cushion. “Go already before Ice Palace closes,” he said jabbing the controller a little too hard.

  I smirked and walked up. “Let me try.”

  Juaquin sighed and rubbed his nose bridge. “The little booger is all yours,” he muttered.

  Mige glanced up from the tv. “Hey! I’m not a booger!”

  Myra glanced at her brothers annoyed. If I wasn’t mistaken someone was about to open a can of her whoopass and for once it wasn’t me.

  “Hold on, give me the controller, Mige. If I pass this level you come with us,” I said and Myra smiled.

  Mige handed me the controller. “Deal” he said in a smug voice.

  I smirked and took the controller. It took ten minutes. Damn game and Russian spies. Either way I got Mige his next mission, but Juaquin tapped his watch. And we packed it up.

  “We’ll play more later,” I said, ruffling his hair.

  He whooped as he grabbed his coat and ran to the door.

  “Come on then!” he yelled running down the stairwell.

  “Mige, hold on!” yelled Juaquin as he charged after him, and Myra and I followed behind them at a slower pace.