The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 6 by Bella Forrest (books for men to read .TXT) 📕

and swore to meet again one day soon, until finally, there was no more to say. Shifting their gaze toward the horizon, Aamir and Jari walked down the long road to freedom, turning back every so often to wave and smile. It was sad and happy, both at once, and tears rolled silently down the faces of everyone present.

It was an image that would remain with Alex for the rest of his life.

Chapter 33

In the aftermath of their friends’ departure, life changed quickly for all those who remained. Natalie went to Stillwater, as promised, to help Helena set up a new school, much like Falleaf, where students were free to learn without fear. It would not only be for the elite anymore, either, with mages of all kinds coming to study there. They sent regular updates through to Alex at Falleaf, for him to read while he continued with his recovery.

Among that news was the more startling fact that Alypia had died in the mist that claimed Stillwater. She was buried with honor in the royal vault, the ceremony overseen by Venus and Virgil, who had swiftly taken charge of the magical realm, officially abolishing the essence system and initiating new laws to help with the establishment of the schools. Alex had been too unwell to make the journey to the funeral, but Ellabell had come to tell him all about it later, describing the beautiful music, Helena’s moving eulogy, and the sorrow the former Stillwater students had felt, despite what Alypia had done. When all was said and done, she had been a victim of her father too, whipped into being as cold and calculating as he was, in a bid to win his affection. Plus, no matter what sins she had to her name, she had still been Helena’s mother, and the silver-haired girl had loved her deeply, as any daughter would, so Alex’s heart went out to her.

Hadrian, Demeter, and Ceres made good on their promise to turn Falleaf into a better school too. Moving everyone to Starcross for a couple of weeks, they had refurbished the dorms and classrooms to appeal to the new starters. A fresh system began to take shape, and the students were moved back in, where they began lessons under the kind rule of Hadrian. Agatha and Vincent remained within the grounds of Falleaf, in their subterranean cottage, coming up to teach the students there. Vincent led a class on the darker side of magic, though he never strayed too far into anything potentially catastrophic, while Agatha taught students the art of healing, showing them how to make poultices and potions and pills, and how to reinforce their natural power with magic. She also told one or two choice stories, to make the students gasp in awe of the life she had lived.

Alex loved to hear these tales of how the magical realm was changing for all of their acquaintances. Usually, the news came from Agatha and Vincent, who visited him often, given that they were pretty much neighbors. Alex had been put up in a treehouse close to their underground dwelling, and most days Agatha would come over with food and tea, to ensure he was properly nourished. Vincent came with her on occasion, using his powers of necromancy to try to rebuild some of the broken strands that lay torn within him. Ceres visited often, becoming a kind of anti-magical physiotherapist. Each day, she would get him to focus on constructing shapes and objects with his anti-magic, and then she would ask him to search within himself, and use that skill upon the threads of his ripped soul. Piece by piece, he sewed himself back together, under Ceres’s instruction. His mind needed healing too, and with that came more tasks. Some of them were focusing exercises, while others were intended to help him piece together the memories and abilities he’d lost. In the first few weeks, he was clumsy, having lost some of his motor ability, but it gradually came back, with help from Ceres’s mental exercises, repairing the damaged neurons and anti-magical receptors.

She usually brought food too, in great big boxes, to wash down the vile taste of her potions, leading Alex to worry that he’d be ten times the size he’d been when he started, by the end of his recovery.

Ellabell often had bits of news for him too, whenever she went up to the pagoda to see how things were coming along. What pleased him most was to hear that Demeter had begun to teach Spellbreaker lessons, to ensure the new mages knew about both sides of the magical spectrum, and the histories that had divided a nation, long before any of them were born.

And, over time, Alex began to return to something close to normal. With the help of everyone around him, his strength slowly returned, his mind ceasing to wander aimlessly, and the vacant expression began to fade from his eyes. Demeter accompanied Ceres sometimes, offering up his use of mind control to assist with the fixing of any broken memories he found in Alex’s head. Having half his soul torn out had left some gaps, but Demeter proved to be a deft hand at filling them in again. It was like a game of connect the dots, joining up the numbers until the whole picture emerged.

Sometimes, Elias would pop into his head, and he would feel the poignant loss of the shadow-man all over again. It was strange to look at shadows on the wall and not have them manifest into a floating guardian, but that was something he had to get used to, alongside everything else that had changed. Slowly but surely, he stopped expecting to hear a voice whispering in the darkness, Elias fading into nothing more than a bittersweet memory.

Day by day, things improved, though they had started poorly.

For the first month, Alex had continued to feel weak and weary, his mind foggy and useless. Even simple tasks were