Chapter 1

The City of Terrace Holdings was once a hustling and bustling city on the rise.

Just last season it had moved from being a large town to a city of almost 30,000, because it was one of the few cities that could to make the conversion from a small burg to a trading city. What helped was that while it was close enough to a harbor town, it wasn't close enough that you could just by pass it and head on to the next town.

You would need to stop to restock or trade items depending on where you were headed.

Because of that it was one of the few cities that boasted having everything you needed no matter which way you were headed.

Today it is a ghost town.

All who once lived there are now dead.

No one really knows what happened for sure, and although it seemed like it happened overnight, it took just over two weeks before every living man, woman, child, pet, livestock, and crop died. They all seemed to drop dead in groups so fast that a pattern couldn't be discovered before there was no one left.

Other than the buildings, there was now nothing left living anywhere.

Of the few people that went to investigate only the ones who decided to stay no longer than two days managed to make it back alive. But no one had figured out what was going on.

So far the town was in quarantine until someone could figure out what was happing there.

Ayden Griffith and Michael Griffith were getting ready for a three month vacation from the mage academy.

They were so far ahead of their studies that they decided to extend their leave of absence from the normal two weeks into a full three month quarter.

The two of them had bypassed every previous chance at a trip home over the last five seasons to dedicate their time solely to their studies. They doubled and tripled up on classes in some cases, always taking the same classes as the other, so that they could help each other out and train together.

Right at this moment they were both full sixth circle mages in all schools and working on beginning their seventh circle. The school was proud of them because it was unheard in their history for any of their students to be so young or to be so advanced.

Most mages didn't hit sixth circle in one school until their thirties, and even then it was long after they had left the school. But to have an eighteen season old and a seventeen season old to reach it was something for the books at the academy

Ayden and Michael were both ecstatic and depressed at the same time.

They were ecstatic because at their current rate of growth they expected to master the seventh circle in the next four to five seasons and the full eighth circle in the next five to six after that.

They were expected to be full Archmages in all circles by the time they reached thirty, if not before.

That again would be phenomenal, as the most mages didn't reach seventh until almost their fifties and sixties and very, very, few were expected to ever go beyond that with a single school, let alone all five schools. But the two of them clearly demonstrated the power and ability to master it.

But they were depressed because while they were setting records at the school, their aunt Rayne set an unbreakable record with the mages guild for reaching Archmage status at an unprecedented and unbelievable thirteen and their fathers reached it respectively at fourteen each. But she was by far the youngest to have ever done it.

The only reason their grandfather reached it in his late twenties was that he had a late start on his training or else he would have possibly broken his daughter's record easily. Instead of holding onto the record in his twenties until it was broken by her.

Coming from an exceptional family they hoped to carry on the tradition of doing the unthinkable, but the best they could do with all their hard work was achieve their goals as young men. But it was still better than never, as the vast majority of mages were often faced with.

As they left the latest lecture hall and quickly headed down a side hallway that was rarely used, they smiled at their friends, just before they turned off and tried to quickly escape so they could get to their room to pack.

But today that wasn't to be the case.

They could see the stunning Wendy and her equally gorgeous friend Samantha definitely headed their way up the small empty hallway, and as much as they wanted to quickly turn and run the other way, they didn't want to offend them and look like they were running from them.

Wendy and Samantha were each completely gorgeous, they were very powerful young mages, and they knew it.

Not to mention that they wouldn't ever be caught dead using a glamour spell for any reason, unlike some of the other girls, to enhance their incredible looks. At present they were both full fourth circle mages in all five schools with one skill each in fifth.

The rumor was that during their first season they dated their way through all the upper classmen for the sole purpose of proving that they could have any boy of their choice, and did.

That's not to say they were a couple of sluts, because they were particular who they were with or seen with, and they had waited just over two seasons until they were sixteen before they started sleeping with anyone on campus.

It was also a known fact that they didn't have boyfriends for a reason, as they felt that there were too many available guys out there that they hadn't met yet.

But all that seemed to change when Ayden and Michael came to the school.

The boys were different than almost all other mages.

Their grandmother Brianna wouldn't hear of them not training just because they were mages. So she put them through the same physical training everyday along with the girls. As such they were above average in physical development.

While they would never be considered muscle bound, they soon sported obvious muscle and could handle a few different weapons even though they would never beat the girls of their family with one.

Their obvious choice was a staff by preference even though they could also use a sword fairly well. They were capable of beating slightly above average fighters easily, but those really above average would always give them problems.

Since they had learned the basics of how to make ice weapons from their uncle/father Jaden, they didn't need to carry anything if they didn't have too. Now with more power than when they first learned from him, and better skills, they could make them almost as well as he could.

They still trained daily to keep up their tone and skills because if they knew their grandmother, and they did quite well, they knew she would test them as soon as she next saw them again.

The academy staff loved them because they seemed to always be helpful, cleaned up well after themselves and always volunteered to help any staff member in a time of need. Some of the female instructors had to work very hard at remembering to not try and take advantage of those two boys in their care.

But those two girls, Wendy and Samantha, at that time usually ignored almost all of the boys who were first season students because for one they were younger than they were, and most students started at the school at fourteen or fifteen unless you proved you were powerful enough to get special compensation. But thirteen was the youngest you could apply.

While Ayden was thirteen when he was accepted his birthday was shortly after he arrived so it wasn't an issue for any.

Michael was the youngest ever to be accepted because he was already demonstrating power and skill that would match most third or fourth season students. And since his birthday was also a few months after he was accepted, it wasn't really a big issue either.

But it wasn't until those two girls came past the first season academy's welcoming party a few months after they arrived, since they really had nothing else better to do anyway, that they thought to see what had arrived lately.

It was then that they saw the boys partying in just their swimming trunks and hamming it up with the other first season students at the welcome party that got their attention.

Also at this time both boys had already caught the eye of quite a few female co-eds with their matching thick curly brown hair and dimples. Early in life it was very wavy and lightly curly but at some point their hair seemed to turn into large thick curls on them.

All the girls seemed to want to run their fingers through it as the passed them in the halls.

Ayden had deep brown eyes that had golden flecks in them, exactly like his mother and sister, eyes that all the girls seemed to get lost in. His quick wit and sense of humor was also another draw. It was easy to see he got his personality from his mother.

His cousin Michael, and best friend, had soft baby blue eyes like his mother that all girls raved about. Michael often was found to be the most serious of the pair. He would ponder before he spoke and tried to consider all options. That wasn't to say he wasn't fun or could have a good time, but he weighed everything before he spoke.

As the girls were looking over all the new boys, it also wasn't hard to understand that the build of the two of them was the first thing that caught their eyes and they knew that they would soon have to take them out for a test drive to see how they felt.

Most of the other mages at the school were more on the slight slender side, so suddenly now having access to a pair of semi muscular and rugged boys, who were mages to boot, was something of a draw for them.

They found them very interesting from that point forward.

Even though both girls were just fourteen at the time, they were already very experienced in the art of manipulating men and very sure of themselves in getting both men and boys to do what they wanted.

They felt that since the boys were obviously virgins they would be easy picking for a couple of older, more worldly and experienced girls, who were also considered a pair of the most attractive girls on campus, and who only needed to show a tiny bit of interest in them to have them panting after them like all the other males on site.

Even though at the time they both also hadn't had sex yet, but they were very good at getting what they wanted.

The two of them felt because they weren't from a major city that they must not have had any real experience with girls and all they needed was to bat their eyes and the boys would be putty in their hands doing whatever menial task they wanted, just so both girls would pay them some attention.

Here it was now five seasons later and they were still trying to get the boys to take them up on those various offers when they were presented by them. The girls were due to graduate this season and they wanted to ensure they had everything sewn up before then.

If they thought the competition was fierce for the boys before when the other girls only got a good look at their features, it was only during the time when most of the school didn't either remember or recognize their surname.

But later when the rest of the student body found out that their grandfather was the famous Battlemage, their aunt was one, and their fathers were both Battlemages, their stock suddenly went up.

Almost everyone had already heard of their aunt "The Red Dragon", but strangely no one put it together until the boys admitted to who they were one day during questioning.

When their grandfather, as a mage, did what was never before thought possible, and killed a Dragon using a magical spell, once again their stock went up.

As a truly magical creature, a Dragon's magic normally just either caused it to absorb magic or made it bounce off them. The potential to do that as well made the boys even more in high demand as the girls noticed their grades and power climbing at an unprecedented rate.

Every female wanted to be the next one in the family line. They wanted to be with the children of someone so powerful and famous. All the girls were sure the two of them would be somebody's as well.

But these two girls always figured that they were the most obvious choice for the boys to choose as not only were they the most attractive, they also weren't far behind Ayden and Michael in the schools combined academics and power gauging.

Because the school ranked all students regardless of season or time spent on campus, the day they entered both Ayden and Michael ranked in the bottom 20% in their first testing because they had no real academics scores to balance out their power and so they greatly lagged behind everyone else.

That steadily changed and by the third season when they were ranked first and second, and that was by a hair thin margin that Ayden always beat out his cousin. Sometimes as little as a point was the difference.

The girls Wendy and Samantha were always ranked third and fourth respectively behind them every time. Before the boys arrived they were the ones who were ranked first and second. Though they were often accused of earning their grades on their backs, which never had been the case.

Even if the boys weren't who they were, or related to who they were related to, the girls would have noticed them by those factors alone.

They always found power very sexy.

But the boys wouldn't go along with their program.

They only spent their time in groups with other guys and girls. They danced and vary rarely partied, and if they did it was always very lightly because they rose early to practice their physical combat skills. They refused to drink alcohol even if they did party, because they didn't like the taste and for no other reason than that.

And they never paired off with a girl for any reason.

It was a known fact around the campus that they didn't double or single date at all, and they most certainly didn't sleep with anyone. And if they decided to hang out with a girl when invited to go somewhere as a group, it was only if the girl understood that it was only to be as friends.

They both wanted no misunderstandings from anyone.

A few girls managed to sneak a kiss or two out of the two of them regardless of what they said, and sometimes a few girls even got in some deep intense kissing out of them, but they wouldn't ever go any further than that with anyone no matter what they tried.

Of course it upset Wendy and Samantha that they were never one of the girls who ever got any type of kiss out of those boys, and the boys wanted to keep it that way. The boys both knew that they would turn it into far more than they were comfortable with and so they avoided all entanglements with them.

And that frustrated both of the girls to no end.

They were used to men and boys trying and fighting hard to get the two of them to notice them. While they didn't let any dust settle on them while they waited, and they continued to date and sleep with others they found both available and attractive, they were always determined that Ayden and Michael were going to notice them.

And today was the day they were going to make that happen.

Knowing that spring break was coming up, they both assumed that the boys again wouldn't be going anywhere as usual, as it was a known fact that they studied season round. The girls felt sure that the two of them would again try to crank out some extra work for an advance class or two so that they could gain even more knowledge.

This season however would be different for them, as the two girls made plans to take each of them to their respective home cities and introduce them to their families as their soon husbands to be.

Nothing would be formal until they graduated of course, as they still had this season left to still play around with any other new boys that might catch their eyes, but they would get a commitment from those two boys and sew them up so no other girl could take them away from them.