Chapter 15: Epilogue

“I think coming here was a brilliant idea, Kam,” Jarod exclaimed as he dropped into one of the cushioned chairs that his and Logan’s wives had added over the past few weeks. They’d never really been for much for comfort at the cavern, but since their wives had started to visit their second home more often, they’d taken it upon themselves to do a little upgrading, namely bringing in far better furniture. The change had unsettled both Jarod and Logan; they had wanted to cling to the cavern as they’d always known it. Jarod wasn’t really sure why, but he had a feeling it was because to them the cavern had always been there retreat, their safety and home to what little happiness they’d had.

And now it was hard to see their safe haven ‘violated’. Kami and Casey had pressed the issue, and gradually Jarod and Logan had come to see that there really was no point in clinging to the way the cavern had always been. True, it had been their safety for more times than they could count, but that alone should have proved to them that it was time for change. The only time they had needed safety was after facing some of the horrors of their pasts. With luck, they’d never need such a retreat again, but the cavern hadn’t lost its purpose. It was the perfect place to go to when they wanted to escape the Circle. Not that the Circle was in any way as bad as it had been, but some of the Masters were just as annoying as always.

Kami smiled at her husband. “I’m glad to hear it, Jarod,” she replied and returned to unpacking one of the boxes that she’d brought with them from the Mountain. “When is Logan supposed to get here?”

Jarod shrugged and rose from his chair to get a fire started. “He said he’d follow soon after, but I think he had to stop and talk to Chloe first. You know, I think she and Owen are interested in one another,” he added with a chuckle and finished stacking the wood. He magickally kindled the flame and returned to his seat.

Kami studied the back of Jarod’s head before walking around in front of the chair. “What do you mean by interested?” she inquired and situated her hands on her hips.

Jarod’s grin split his face. “You know perfectly well what I meant. They’ve been eyeing one another for a couple months now. Even as Myer I saw it so I’m sure as Owen’s mother you’ve been aware of it from the start. There’s no point in getting all upset about it,” he countered and grabbed her hand.

Kami jerked her hand away before he could coddle her out of this discussion. “You aren’t in the least bit worried?”

“Why should I be? Kami, we know Chloe. Hell, she’s the daughter of both of our best friends. How could this be a bad thing?” Jarod leaned forward in confusion. He didn’t understand why Kami was all worked up about this.

Kami turned away and stared at the fire as it began to devour the wood. “I’m too young to be a grandmother,” she whispered, revealing her true unease.

Jarod leapt from his chair and circled his arms around her. He rested his chin on her shoulder and sighed. “Kami, I don’t think they’re going to be getting married anytime soon. You have plenty of time to grow old before they have children. Besides, you’ll never be old in my eyes,” he said and gently kissed the side of her face. “I love you.”

Kami turned to him with tears in her eyes, smiling. “It is a good match though.”

Jarod laughed and nodded. “I was beginning to worry that you’d lost your mind for a moment there. I couldn’t figure out what you had against dear Chloe.”

Kami shook her head and clobbered Jarod on the arm. “Oh you!” she cried and then kissed him.

Jarod returned the kiss, but they were soon interrupted by the arrival of Logan and Casey.

“Would you like us to come back later?” Logan asked with a lopsided grin.

Jarod and Kami straightened and murmured something to the extent of a ‘no’.

Logan got the gist of it and set down the box that Casey had shoved at him before they’d left. “I think our wives are meaning to do a full renovation here, Jarod. I feel offended that they don’t like our decorating.”

Casey crossed her arms before her and glared at him. “Decorating? Your idea of decorating is letting dust accumulate until the whole place is tinged gray. Logan, the two of you didn’t do a single thing with this place!”

“Hey, there’s furniture and even a shelf with a few books,” Logan said in defense and jabbed a finger in the direction where the bookshelf used to stand, but it wasn’t there any longer. “Where’d it go?”

Casey laughed and redirected his pointed finger to the corner along the wall with the fireplace. “It makes more sense to have the books by where there’s light and not in the darkest corner of the place, don’t you think?”

Logan nodded and dropped his hand. He looked at Jarod and shrugged, “See what I mean?”

Jarod laughed and fell back into the chair he’d vacated as Kami walked back over to where she’d left the half unpacked box. She exchanged a secret smile with Casey and looked over at where her husband was lounging lazily. “Why don’t the two of you go out for a bit? Casey and I can take care of things here.”

“Take care of things how?” Logan asked and walked over to the bookshelf. “This stays, as does everything on it, okay?”

Casey waved her hand in response and Kami pointed a finger at the door. “Get out of here. You two are getting annoying fast. I guess it must be that you just don’t have anything better to do and that maybe you want to go back to the Mountain already,” Kami ordered.

That got Jarod up. “You know we’re not going back there for at least a couple days. This is supposed to be a vacation; we’ve been working ourselves to the bone trying to get things in Sillick and Pannae back in order, you know.”

“I’m well aware of the progress you’ve made with Kura and the Circle, but that doesn’t mean I won’t make you go back if you don’t leave us alone with your beloved cavern. This place hasn’t been properly taken care of in ages,” Kami countered.

Logan grabbed Jarod’s arm and propelled his friend towards the door. “Have it your way,” he said as he passed by the two women and disappeared out the door. “How do you like that? I can’t believe they kicked us out of our cavern!”

“I think they see it as communal property now, Logan. They are our wives after all,” Jarod said with a glance back at the door. “I just don’t know what to expect when we get back. I hope they don’t change too much; that place has really grown on me over the years.”

Logan nodded and the two of them climbed down a nearby tree, preferring not to use their magick to travel. They’d just gotten so used to doing things the normal way while being in the Wizards’ End that using magick wasn’t as much of a second nature as it had once been even after Quinn. “What do you think we should do for the next couple of hours?”

Jarod shrugged as they walked into the familiar forest surrounding the cavern.

“I have an idea.”

Jarod and Logan spun around in surprise at the third voice and kicked themselves for their poor observance when their eyes landed on Scott. “What idea is that?” Jarod asked and dropped onto the moss covered ground beside a tree. Anytime Scott had an idea it usually meant a long talk; he was big on talking. He probably liked to hear the sound of his own voice, but that was to be expected considering the fact that he was rather old.

Logan lowered himself to the ground beside his friend and Scott followed suit. “Well for starters, I wanted to compliment you both on the amazing work you’ve done in Kura. I never expected some of the cities to make such a quick turnaround. I mean, it’s only been a few months since the Ring’s last stand and already Sillick, Kaon, and Lett are making strong comebacks. I’m impressed.”

Jarod waved off his words. “You know we’re only responsible for Sillick. The other cities are the responsibility of different Masters.”

Scott laughed at Jarod’s indestructible modesty. “But they wouldn’t be out there taking responsibility for anything unless the two of you had pushed them into doing it, and I must admit, pairing them with the children, your allies, was a wonderful choice. That way, they have a constant reminder of just who they are really working for.”

“It just worked out that way,” Jarod countered and leaned his head back against the tree.

“So what are you really here for?” Logan asked, picking up on the fact that Scott really hadn’t brought up anything new or that they couldn’t have talked about elsewhere. There had to have been a reason that the immortal had sought them out when they were alone. He always had reasons for the things he did.

“You’ll never let me off the hook, will you?” Scott replied mildly.

Logan shook his head and motioned for Scott to get on with it.

“Very well, I came here because I wanted to talk to the two of you about the implications of what happened in Quinn.”

Jarod leaned forward with a groan. “You’ll never leave that one alone, will you?” he asked, twisting Scott’s words and throwing them back at him.

“I can’t afford to, Jarod; it has almost everything to do with the current situation in Kura.”

Jarod rested his head against the trunk of the tree again after deciding to just let Scott ramble on. There wasn’t any stopping the immortal anyway.

Scott took Jarod’s silence as acquiescence and proceeded to speak. “Well, tapping into your full magickal potential had the obvious effect of destroying the Ring’s magick, so I don’t have to explain that aspect of what’s happened to you. What interests me more is how unlocking your abilities has affected the two of you. Your magick healed you after Quinn when healing should’ve been impossible and even eliminated old injuries that resisted all other healing. I never believed magick could work without direction like it did in completely healing you so I hadn’t anticipated this kind of situation…” he trailed off as he tried to find the right words.

He had gotten Jarod and Logan’s attention, and neither of them was pleased with the delay. “Out with it, Scott,” Logan urged.

Scott’s blue eyes widened in surprise at Logan’s interest. “I should’ve known better. I’ve known many natural mages throughout my life, but I never gave their extraordinarily long life spans much thought until after Quinn. But looking back and comparing it to now, there is reason to believe that by finally touching that well of power you’d long left untouched, the two of you are also, for all intents and purposes, partially immortal.”

“What?” Jarod cried, overpowering Logan’s whispered reply. Could he have heard Scott right?

“I spoke with Kanya to see what she thought of the matter, and she agreed with my assessment. Had she worked with you earlier, Jarod, all of this would have come to light then.”

“I don’t get it,” Logan whispered.

“Triggered by your fatal injuries and without any guidance, your power healed everything, including the wounds that had already healed without the aid of magick. That alone demonstrates the incredible power you hold within you and made me think that should either of you receive an injury severe enough to trigger a similar display of power, your magick will also take care of whatever other injuries or weaknesses you may have accumulated since that power was last used,” Scott tried to explain something he barely understood himself.

“I don’t see how that makes us immortal,” Jarod choked out.

Scott shook his head. “I never said you were immortal, just partially so. I don’t think either of you can die from sickness or injury at this point.”

“So we’ll live healthy lives then. That’s no big deal,” Logan said and moved to get to his feet.

Scott grabbed his arm to stop him from rising. “It’s not that simple. Logan, when your magick healed you and Jarod a few months ago, it took years off your ages. You look no older than thirty now and I’m sure you’re nearly as fit as you had been then. If either of you get sick or injured and unconsciously invoke this power, it will likely lower your ages yet again. I don’t know if old age will be enough to trigger that kind of reaction or if it will let you pass when it is your time; I just had to warn you that you’re no longer fully mortal.”

Jarod cursed and got to his feet. “You should’ve let Kanya teach me,” Jarod accused.

Scott got to his feet as Logan did and shook his head. “I had no idea what kind of repercussions my decision then would have. There haven’t been many natural mages in the past couple hundred years; I’d forgotten what being a natural mage all entailed.”

“So there’s a chance that we’ll outlive everyone we care about?” Logan inquired.

Scott nodded. “I’m sorry for that, but it’s too late to change what’s been done. It might have always been too late; this is your power and you’ve both had it since birth. Besides, can you honestly tell me that you’d willingly relinquish your magick after all the good it’s done?”

Logan had no answer to that. He lifted his hands and ran them both through his thick brown hair that no longer had a single speck of gray. “What are we going to do?” he whispered.

Scott shrugged. “I don’t have an answer for that.”

Logan looked at him for a moment, his gaze hard, but he let it soften after a moment. “Jarod, any ideas?”

“We have to tell our wives or they’ll wonder why it is we aren’t aging as fast as they are,” he whispered. “And talk to Cameron. Once we help him with his true power he’ll be in the same boat as us.”

Logan groaned and nodded. “Is there anything else you wish to share with us before you leave?”

Scott nodded. “Actually, there is. It’s something I’ve been hesitating to tell you ever since we first met, but I don’t see the harm in saying anything now. It’s rather trivial next to the fact that you…well, next to the information that I just shared with you.”

“Well, what’s this about?” Jarod asked and settled his hands on his hips.

“Your cavern isn’t a natural cave. It was created magickally nearly thirty-four years ago now,” Scott began.

“What do you mean?” Logan asked uneasily.

Scott struggled to smile. “Haven’t you ever wondered about how the cavern was so perfectly designed and carved? Or why it was ideal for two young boys to use as a safe house and to grow in to?”

Neither of them responded to those questions so Scott plowed on. “Well, let me put it this way. The cavern was created by Logan when the two of you first left Sillick.”

“How is that even possible?” Jarod asked and looked over at his suddenly pale friend.

“Need can be a very powerful tool for a natural mage, Jarod, as I’m sure you’ve discovered over the years. Logan created the cavern to serve as the perfect place for the two of you to hide during the Round Ups in Sillick. He was terrified that you would die and the guilt and fear that he felt triggered his magick in a way that he never had before and hasn’t since. The product of that amazing bit of magick was the cavern. It has been innately designed for the two of you since its creation. I think that may be part of the reason why no one except for you really feels at home there. It’s likely the safest place in all of Kura for you both because it was designed exclusively for you and your magick. Even without your magickal shields, I doubt that any enemy of yours ever would have found it without help,” Scott elaborated.

“And you think this is less significant that finding out about our near immortality,” Jarod scoffed and looked at Logan for a moment before focusing his attention back on Scott. “How could you know this when we didn’t?”

“When I visited you that evening after you’d moved in, I could feel the remnants of a powerful magick. You both gave me a brief rundown of what had occurred in Sillick and I began to see how it was possible that Logan had created the cavern out of need. I said nothing then because I feared that Logan was still part of the Ring, but I was amazed by what he’d created. After I sent the two of you to sleep; I studied the place and found out that my initial suspicion was correct and that the cavern had been magickally created by a mere boy.”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell us about this before?” Logan demanded and took a quick step closer to Scott in anger.

“There never was a good time, Logan, and it really changes nothing about the cavern or your connection to it. Even if you hadn’t created it, the place still would belong exclusively to you and no one else by warrant of your experiences there,” Scott replied.

Logan backed away and hung his head. “Are you done with the revelations now?” he asked wearily.

Scott nodded. “I am sorry for everything, and I hope you both know I truly mean it this time,” Scott whispered.

Jarod studied the immortal’s face and noted the tears gathering in his blue eyes. Apparently he hadn’t been hallucinating after Quinn and really had seen Scott cry. He’d never expected that level of emotion from the immortal before. He bowed his head briefly. “We do know, Scott, and we shall be seeing you soon in Pannae,” Jarod replied.

Scott smiled at him and disappeared.

“How you taking this, buddy?” Jarod inquired mentally for no other reason than the fact that he didn’t want to feel so alone, and sharing his thoughts and emotions with Logan was the only way to accomplish that.

“Let’s get back to our wives. We can help them renovate the cavern; I’m sure they won’t mind too much if we explain things to them first,” he replied and gave Jarod a feeble smile.

Jarod nodded and the two of them appeared just inside the door of their cavern seconds later. Kami and Casey looked about ready to scold their return, but one look at both of their faces, stilled their harsh words. They hurried over to their husbands and wrapped their arms around them.

“What’s wrong?” Kami asked for them both.

Jarod and Logan launched into a joint explanation of what had passed between them and Scott only moments before, and afterwards, their wives were more than willing to let them help with the cavern.

Things in Kura began to settle down after a few more months of hard work by the Circle. Most of the cities across the continent were making a return to the light and the people were beginning to experience an unprecedented freedom. They may not ever fully support the Circle, given that the organization allowed them to suffer under the yoke of the Ring for too many years to count, but at least they were able to chose and life without fear of oppression. A younger, more apt cousin of King Leonard had been found and crowned king. With him on the throne in Pannae, everything looked like it was starting to fall into place. Even the Circle began to resolve its issue and gain a certain level of efficiency when it came to dealing with matters throughout Kura. To top it off, Owen and Chloe got married that fall, much to the joy of the Jarod and Logan for their relationship to one another had in some ways become official—they were family. A child wasn’t long in coming after that, despite Jarod’s assurances to Kami, but in his mind, his wife made a beautiful grandmother. They were happy, safe and at peace for now.

A/N: Well, that's finally the end of that. I'm hoping this is the final incarnation of this particular story seeing as I've already rewritten it three times before now. It feels done, but only time will tell. Thanks for sticking with me through such a loooong story, and feel free to let me know what you think.