“Wake up.” A soft hand gently shook my shoulders lightly. “My Lord, you should wake up now.” A second, more insistent shake made me finally open my eyes and glance around painfully. The sun was starting to illuminate the sky in brilliant red and oranges, forcing me to squint as I looked up from the spot where I was resting my head in Crystal’s lap. For some strange reason, long hair draped down over the front of my face and I had to push it back to either side to unobstruct my view.

“What time is it?” I asked wearily. I was still tired, and I had no real understanding of how long I’d been lying there passed out from my exertions. Never when I started my alterations to Crystal’s blade, did I imagine that it’d require so much raw power and effort to change it to match the ore surrounding the graveyard. Glancing around, I noticed that the blade still laid undisturbed on the ground where I’d dropped it when I passed out.

“The sun’s just risen a while ago, My Lord.” Crystal gently stroked my hair and then leaned down and lightly kissed me on my forehead. “I figured you’d want to go and look for the others now that it’s lightening out.”

“I do,” I agreed. Slowly, I stretched a few times and then impulsively reached up and back to grope both her breasts gently a few times before sitting up fully. Crystal just laughed slightly and then brushed the hair back and forth from my eyes once again with her hands.

“What’s up with my ‘do?” I had to ask.

“Your do, My Lord?”

“My hairdo. What the heck happened to my hair?”

“Ah!” Crystal laughed with understanding. “Well, you burned yourself fairly severely doing whatever you were with your magics, My Lord. Jess used her own magics to heal you, and since most of the hair was burned and scorched from the front of your face and body, she regrew it with magic. Unfortunately, it all grew to the same uniform length that it is now, so it’s quite a bit longer than what it was originally.”

Nodding to show that I understood the situation, I drew in a small trickle of energy from the air around me and then shaped it into a thin, hard line of power. With a single whisk of force, I simply ran it in front of my face, about a half inch above my eyebrows. Instantly, long strands of loose hair fell free and drifted loosely towards the ground.

I was happy to see that I hadn’t pushed myself so hard that I’d burned out my talent for magic. It happens sometimes, so wizards need to watch whenever they might be overdoing something beyond their capabilities. I’m confident in my mastery of the earth and fire flows, and air I can handle in a pinch, but having to pull upon my own life and spirit was something I’m not very talented with. The last part of the alteration on the blade used the smallest amounts of magic, and yet it was also the part that put the largest strain on my gift and body.

For whatever odd reason, I find it easier to create and control a raging volcano than I do to mend a broken bone or some other basic healing spell. I truly don’t seem cut out for the life of a life mage.

Finally glancing around better, everything had changed. The forest was immensely thick and densely packed with every type of vegetation and tree I could possibly imagine. Trees stretched for hundreds of meters into the sky, with thick ferns and bushes crammed high and dense between them. Even the smallest of bushes were taller than I was – the whole area now appeared to be nothing more than a giant wall of vibrant, dense greenery, with the occasional bright patch of color from a bloom or different plant scattered amongst the thick foliage.

“Where’s Dino and Jess?” I asked curiously, as I realized they weren’t right here with us.

“I sent them to collect us some fresh water,” Crystal replied calmly. “If there was anything dangerous on this side of the graveyard, it’s not out there now. Whatever you were doing with your magic, the forest turned into a grind mill out there. I doubt there’s a bug, worm, or insect as far as one could walk in a day’s time through that mess – much less anything bigger or more dangerous! It’s taking them a while to get there and back, but I’d imagine that’s just from the effort required to push through that wall. I can’t imagine there’s anything that they have to be afraid of out there for a while!”

Laughing, Crystal placed both her hands on her hips and then stared, unblinking. “What exactly was you doing? You either frightened, or amazed, Dino so badly with the energy you were wielding that he fainted. Or just forgot to inhale. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man take a breath and hold it for as long as he did! It was rather amusing in its own way.

“Jess, on the other hand, I wasn’t watching that closely. All I know is that when it was all over with, she was sitting on the ground back behind us, crying, in a puddle of her own waste. I don’t think you’ll have to worry about her bothering you anymore. I think she now views you more as a devil than a wizard. When I asked Dino to fetch the water, she instantly volunteered to go with him. I think she’s now almost too frightened to even want to be around us, anymore.”

Frowning, I couldn’t help but find that rather disappointing. “That’s sad,” I said, honestly. “She doesn’t seem too incapable as a healer. Since she already knows my secret, I was kind of hoping that I’d be able to rely on her being one who could help take care of me in case I got sick, hurt, or anything else at the school later. I don’t guess that’ll be possible, if she doesn’t even want to be around me now.”

“I don’t think she’d refuse you, My Lord.” Crystal barked a slight laugh. “Honestly, I don’t think she’d refuse you anything now. I feel like she’s been well tamed. The bite is out of the beast. You don’t have to worry about her, ever again, I don’t think.”

“That’s good. I guess.” I wasn’t certain if it was or not to be honest. I really didn’t want anyone to be that afraid of me. It’s not like I was planning on using my talents to try and take over the world, become an evil overlord, or anything like that. I’d only pushed my gift so hard because I was hoping to help people – help us stay safe and rescue the others if they still lived, in this case!

Walking slowly over, I bent down and picked up the blade that I’d dropped earlier. My body still ached from one end to the other, and it would for some time still as I was suffering from the effects of ripping my own soul and using it with the blade. Taking time to study every minute detail, I patiently turned the blade in my hand and inspected it completely.

The sword was now a single piece of metal, from the tip of the blade to the pommel of the hilt. The whole thing was colored a deep primary purple shade, and white and black whirls rippled in a wave-like pattern throughout the metal. The sword had a razor thin edge on both sides of the blade, came up to a fine needle point, and seemed almost weightless in my hand. A slight resonant pulse vibrated through the hilt and into my palm, warming my hands and feeling like a gentle caress of warmth to my fingers.

“I think it worked.” I really didn’t know what else to say about it. It was an exact match of Crystal’s old blade in size, shape, and balance – but it was now something completely different and unique. Smiling lightly, I turned the blade so I could hold it gingerly, and then I offered the hilt out to her. “Here. Take this. You might be needing it where we’re going,” I told her with a smile.

“My.. My Lord…” Crystal stuttered and hesitated.

“Are you always going to make it hard for me to give you something?” I asked while giving her my best fake evil glare. What’s annoying is having people always beg you for something, over and over. I couldn’t really be upset that she was one of those humble people who had difficulty accepting gifts. It was kind of charming, in its own way.

“I’m sorry, My Lord.” Finally reaching out for the hilt, Crystal wrapped her hands around it and then almost dropped it in surprise. “It’s alive!” She exclaimed all at once.

“No. It’s not,” I told her calmly, hoping that my smile would help relax her nerves. “It’s not alive. Not really. I’ve heard tells of some living swords with a mind and all, and this isn’t anything like that. All you’re feeling through the thing is my life. My soul. I had to put part of myself in the steel to complete the alterations, and that’s what you’re feeling.”

Staring at me in wide-eyed wonder, Crystal didn’t say a word. Instead, she slowly ran her hand up and down the blade, as if gently caressing it. A slight tingle of electricity brushed up and down my back in response, and I couldn’t help by shiver slightly from the experience.

“As long as you’re in possession of that sword, I’ll always be able to find you from now on. You’ll always have a small piece of me right there with you,” I told her.

Nodding in open wonderment, Crystal was smiling from ear to ear. “And that pulsing that I can feel from the hilt?”

“That’s my heartbeat, I think.”

“It’s a Wonder, My Lord! It’s marvelous!” Taking her time, Crystal slowly fastened the chainmail robe back around her. Then, cautiously, she jabbed the blade through the left side of the chain, and sliced a wide gap in the side of her leather pants. And then she repeated the process a little higher on her hip, and then a little lower afterwards. I had no clue what the hell she was doing, but it was impressive to watch how easily the blade cut through chain and leather alike!

Finally satisfied with a hand’s width rip in her pants, Crystal turned her attention to the scabbard she was wearing on her waist. With a single slice, she bisected the scabbard into, right below the catch that connected to the belt. Nodding to herself, she finally slid the blade through the top of what remained of the scabbard and let it dangle on her side.

“There, My Lord!” Beaming with satisfaction, she turned a few times so I could inspect her handiwork. “Now the blade can rest itself against my skin when I carry it, and I’ll always be able to feel that connection with My Lord. It may take me a while to adjust and learn the feel of My Lord’s soul against my flesh, but I will learn it. Then, whenever My Lord is in trouble, ill, or hurt, I’ll know it and can come to you.

“It’s a precious gift, My Lord.” Slight tears were leaking out the corner of Crystal’s eyes as she stared unabashedly into mine. “I’ll never be without it, and it shall never leave my touch again, so long as I may help it. There shall always be a part of me touching My Lord from now on, just as there shall always be a part of Him touching me. You have my word on this.”

Embarrassed, I tried to laugh off her seriousness. “Dang! If I’d known that, I could’ve altered you a nice bra or something instead.”

“And I would wear it proudly, happy to have a piece of My Lord so close to my heart,” Crystal replied seriously. “If you ever wish these breasts, they are yours. Say but a single word, and I’ll remove a hole for them just as wide as the one on the side. Even wider, if that is what you desire.”

“That’s Ok. I’d prefer you covered and protected for now. Maybe when we get back to town or something, we can look into something like that,” I joked.

Crystal simply nodded slightly and then stepped forwards and wrapped her arms tightly around me pulling me close. With deep passion, she kissed me passionately, intimately, and without the slightest hint of reservation. Her tongue wrapped itself around mine, and she sucked so hard I thought she was trying to steal my breath away and keep it for her own.

For several long moments, her passion poured forth and into me like a blazing fire, and I found myself drawn into the moment recklessly. Just as I was beginning to push her down to the ground, it was Dino’s embarrassed cough that interrupted us. “Geeze you two! Get a room! Do we really have time for you guys to be doing stuff like that out here?”

It took several moments for my impassioned mind to sort out what he’d said. Definitely, I wrapped my fingers through Crystal’s hair and pulled her back up against me when she tried to pull away. With an endless amount of ardor, I stole another two or three deep kisses before I finally released her and let her free.

“Are we ready to go now?” I asked, without even bothering to look back. Trying not to look too awkward, and ignore the bulging presence in the front of my pants, I slowly walked on towards the graveyard area once more without waiting for an answer.