Meet Aideen+Amara~Burn down village~Run away~Meet Silas~Time skip~Learn about Aideen's life now.~Soldiers find them~Silas fends them off~Wonder how they were found~Amara's alive!~Learn about the rebellion~Aideen wants to help them, but Silas doesn't~Aideen eventually just runs away with Amara~They meet Niran~Go to the village~Get cornered by soldiers~Silas comes to rescue them~They travel to the rebel encampment~Meet Alexandra+Other rebels~Go on rescue mission~Silas' husband is alive!~Keep on fighting battles~Find the tower with the cuff~Aideen gets hurt~Lord attacks the rebel encampment~Aideen is captured~Lord tries to have her attack the rebels~Aideen refuses~He attempts to use mind control to force her too~Cuff prevents it~He then reveals Alexei~Aideen and Alexei fight~Aideen wins, but the Lord escapes with Alexei~End book 1!

I close my eyes and draw upon the warmth within. Feel it rush up to my skin. I guide it towards my left palm, letting it blossom there. A flickering flame, hovering just over the skin. I let it jump to my other palm, keeping a tight leash. It switches between left and right at my will. It arches through the air, get hotter and brighter with each jump. It hits my right quicker than I expected. I jerk back, and the flame roars into a bonfire cupped in the palm of my hand, searing the ends of hair. The next thing I know, I'm drenched, the fire is out, and Silas is standing in front of me with an empty bucket. I sigh and stand up. 

"Thanks." I say, wringing out my thick braid. Silas nods. 

"You're welcome." Then he turns around and walks back towards the house. 

It's been 3 years since the fire. Since I burned down my village. Since I killed my best friend. It hasn't been easy. Easier, yes, but not easy. It seems like my life will never be easy.

Silas is the sorcerer who rescued me. I live with him now, in an old, gnarled tree in the Dark Wood that Silas hollowed out. Using magic, naturally. We're not friends. More like roommates. He's kind enough, and he seems to care to some degree, but I stay out of his business and he stays out of mine. Except when things like that happen. I trust him to help me control the flame. I didn't want to, at first, but Silas made me. He's always doing things like that. It's annoying, but he seems to know what's best at that moment in time. It's kind of odd, but you get used to it after a while. 

I follow Silas back inside, looking for a towel. After rummaging through quite a few of the house's many cluttered cabinets and alcoves, I find one. It's a little threadbare, but it gets the job done. Then I join Silas in the kitchen. He's putting a kettle on for tea. I've been banned from cooking anything after the first time I tried to do so. Needless to say, it didn't go well. I watch as Silas searches for the box of herbs he keeps somewhere in the kitchen. Things get lost easily here. Once he finds it, he turns and looks at me dubiously. 

"You might want to find some dry clothes." He drops some herbs into the kettle. I glare at him, drying out my hair. It's gotten longer since I moved in Silas. It was a bit of a shock when I walked into the kitchen one morning and the ends of my hair had faded into orange.  

"I was planning too." I said, turning to walk out. 

"Well, don't take too long. Your tea will get cold." I give him one last scowl and then walk back to my room. It's small, but perfect for me. There's a small bed pushed into one corner, and a small closet next to it. There's a pile of books stacked next to the bed. I've been learning how to read. Another difficult thing, but I'm glad for the challenge. It helps distract me. I pull on a fresh tunic and skirt, pulling a leather vest over it. I button the vest, which comes down to my hips. My skirt is longer in the back than in the front. I pull on my boots and go to join Silas for tea. For some reason, it's become a routine of ours. Silas seems to like routines. I get the feeling that he didn't have much to do before I came here. He had his garden, and whatever he does on the topmost floor, but other than that, there isn't much to do out here besides chores. There's nothing around us except for miles and miles of dead trees that creak in the wind. Most people would find it creepy, but it's comforting to me. I can almost hear them speaking to me: Stay strong. You're not alone. 

When I enter the kitchen, Silas is already sitting at the table. I sit across from him, picking up the cup of tea he poured for me. He prefers teacups without handles. A little weird, but I don't mind. 

"Any progress?' He asks, another routine. I shrug, taking a sip of the tea. It's a classic Zenthian blend, slightly bitter with a hint of mint. 

"I guess. As much progress as you can get when someone has to pour water on you." Silas gives me an exasperated look, but doesn't say anything. "Anyways, how's the garden?" 

"It's a garden. In October. It's not doing too great." He glances pointedly at the window, where you can see the frost starting to form on the glass. I don't like cold weather. Never have, but the Dark Wood makes it worse. The trees are black, and the world is very monochrome when you're looking out the window. I sigh and take another sip of tea. We sit in silence. Silas' good at that. He's accidentally snuck up on me more times than I can count. Finally, Silas stands, stretching his arms above his head. 

"Well, I'm going to go finish cleaning up in the library." He walks out, leaving me alone with the fire. I stay for a few more minutes, enjoying the warmth. It's odd, how I find comfort in the fire. Sometimes I feel repulsed by it, by the power I have. But other times, I feel like I belong with it, and that I wouldn't be able to part with it if I tried. I hate that it's always changing. If there's one thing I need, it's consistency. It helps me feel like I'm really here, and that things aren't going to go up in flames every 5 seconds. That's why I don't complain about the routines Silas has. Some of them might be weird, but it's comforting to know that we'll still have them. Something happened to Silas, before I arrived. Sometimes, I catch him crying, in the middle of the night. IN the morning, I pretend I didn't see. It's easier that way. He was distant in the beginning, and opened up eventually, but there are some days where he holes up in a room and doesn't leave.  May 5th is an example of that. I don't know why, and he hasn't told me. Honestly, I'm too sacred to ask. 

When I first moved in, I found an old box in one fo the many cluttered corners. There was a strange collection of objects inside. A few bags of tea leaves. A set of charcoal pencils and paper. Drawings, some of the view outside the windows, and many of Silas. A thin silver ring with runes of some sort engraved on it. And a ribbon. A piece of red ribbon, about 2 feet in length. It was the nicest thing I had ever laid eyes on. Vibrant and silky. It was clearly expensive. Why would Silas hide something like this away in a box? With the ribbon in hand, I went to ask Silas if I could keep it. But walking into the kitchen, Silas' eyes widened when he saw the ribbon in my hands. The cup he was holding fell to the floor, shattering. He stared at the ribbon for a solid minute, tears starting to stream down his face. Then he stormed over to me, snatching the ribbon from my fingers. 

"Don't ever open that box again." He hissed, starting to walk out of the room. He paused in the doorway. "It's not your fault." He finally murmured, attempting to wipe away the tears on face. "You didn't know." We never talked about the incident ever again. The box changed locations the next day. I never went to look for it. 

So I don't ask about what happened to him, and he doesn't ask about what happened to me. Why dwell on the past when your future is already in front of you? I like it here. It's quiet, peaceful, and there's no one around I can hurt. Silas can handle himself. 

I decided to go back outside and train some more. It's still cloudy outside, but that's how it normally is here. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, preparing to draw upon the fire. That is, until a branch snaps. My eyes fly open, and I'm immediately on edge. Most people would pass it off as a squirrel or some other wild animal, but not me. There aren't creatures like that in the Dark Wood. Just like people, they sense that there's something off about this place. 

"Hello?" I call out, uncertain. "Is there someone there?" There's no response. I remain on edge. Suddenly, there's someone srashign through the leaves and branches on the ground. I raise my hands, ready to fight. 

It's a man. 

"Ah! He-Hello, fair maiden! Would you be so kind to give me directions out of these mysterious woods?" He has a fake grin plastered over his face. Something's not right here.

"Why did you come here?" I try to keep my voice steady. I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to let them know I'm scared. 

"I was...looking for an herb! That only grows here!" The man keeps grinning. I scan the woods behind him. There's no way he came alone. 

"Which herb is it?" I ask cautiously, starting to edge back towards the house. 

"It's called...uh...Darkroot! Named after the Dark Wood!" He takes a step toward me, and I throw my ahdns up. 

"Don't come any closer!" I snarl. Where's Silas? He should have noticed something like this!

"And there's no herb called Darkroot." There he is. Silas is standing in the doorway, blue eyes narrowed. 

"Oh for goodness--Attack!" The man roars, and soldiers jump out of the woods. Silas reacts immediately, throwing up a wall of blue light. The soldiers stop. The sorcerer. They whisper, unsure of what to do. 

"Are you all weak minded sprouts! Attack!" The man syad again, lunging at me. The soldiers follow his lead. Silas has to let the wall down. It costs a lot of energy for a spell that big. The soldiers flood towards us, and Silas starts lashing out. Spells fly from his finger tips. Half the soldiers are down in a minute, but the others keep coming. I call upon the fire, willing it to come up quicker. Panic flares up as the captain yells, "Grab the girl!" That's enough for the fire. I lash out with the flame, and the captain falls the the ground. That gets the soldier to stop. The flame continues to creep over the grass as they stare in horror. Fyornitha Ristch. I hear, whispered among them. Then they run, sprinting away. Silas sends out more spells, and they all fall. The fire keeps spreading, and I fall to the ground. I don't realize I'm crying until the tears spill into my lap. I almost killed them. I had wanted to kill them. Witch of the Flames. That was what they had called me. Witch of the Flames. 

Silas takes me by the arm and leads me back inside. I manage to stumble to me room and shut the door behind me. I break down, sobs wracking my body. I still can't control this....this thing inside me. There's a fire raging through this forest, and I'm the blame. I'd almost killed people. I keep on training, and training, but is it getting me anywhere? It seems like it's just easier for me to cause this destruction. Eventually, I fall asleep with my back against the door. 

I dream. I always dream. Sometimes they're good. Sometimes they're bad. This one is a mix of the 2. because they're about her. Emerald eyes and caramel hair. Laughing at her own joke. Giving me a sweet cake she stole from the baker. I still long for her. Even though she's just a pile of ashes, blown away on the wind. It's foolish to wish for things we can't have. Marya would say. I could never have Amara, even if the fire hadn't happened. She wouldn't have wanted me anyways. Who would want the emotionless girl, locked in her room? Every boy in Where the Tall Grass Grows was vying for her hand. She never gave it to any of them. No one knew what she was waiting for me. The right person hasn't asked me yet. She would say with a smile, handing me an interesting rock she found by the river. She was courageous, pretty, fierce, kind, helpful, energetic, witty, intelligent, wonderful. Everything I wasn't. Everything I could never be. I miss her. I miss her so much it hurts. Why did I survive and she didn't? Everything I've done, how can that make me worthy of life? She was perfect in every way, but she's still dead. I've begged the gods above to give her back to me, but they haven't answered. I can imagine them up there, laughing at me. Look at this silly little girl, They'd say. Doesn't she know the dead don't come back to life? And so I'm left here, alone, with only Silas for company. Not he'd bad company, but I'll never have the same relationship with him as I did with Amara. We're both too broken for that. 

When I wake up, it's dark out. I stretch out my neck, stiff from sleeping against the door. Moonlight pools on the floor under the window, dead branches casting shadows over the room. It's quiet, like always. With a sigh, I stand, opening the door. The hallway is dark, just like the rest of the house. Carefully, I creep into the kitchen. I gather a small fire in my palm to light the room. It's barely more than a flicker, and it fluctuates constantly, moving with even the slightest breeze. I keep it close to my chest, trying not to let it escape the fragile grasp I have over it. I search through the cupboards for the tea box, finally finding it behind the bag of flour. I manage to find some mint leaves among the clutter. I set the box down on the table and put the flame in the fireplace. It ravels quickly over the logs. I fill the kettle with water and hang it over the fireplace. It's still quiet, the only sound the crackle and pop of the fire. 

"Still awake?" I turn to see Silas in the doorway, his black hair messy from sleep. I let out a bitter laugh. 

"More like just woke up." I lean against the table, letting the heat wash over me. 

"Mm." Silas moves to stand next to me. I lean my head against his shoulder. "Did you have a family?" The question surprises me. 

"What?" I glance at him, my eyebrows furrowed. He's never asked me anything like that before. 

"Did you have a family? Before you...came here?" I turn my gaze back towards the fire, swallowing thickly. 

"No. Not in...there." There's a pause as I struggle to figure out what to say. "I...had a friend though. In the orphanage." Silas nods. 

"You know...for all this time, I thought you were Zenthian." I reel back at the remark. 

"What?" 

"I thought you were Zenthian. Like me." I laugh at this. 

"I never even knew you were Zenthian." It's a strange thing, to imagine that we're both from a different kingdom, yet stuck in this one. "How could you tell I was?" 

"The dots under your eyes." He traces the spot under his own eye. There's a small little shape that looks almost like a starburst, but I've never paid much mind to it. "You have 3 dots in a row tattooed there. It shows that you're a first-born Zenthian." Huh. I touch a finger to the spot. I had never assumed that the dots were anything odd. They'd always been there, and I had always thought they were freckles. 

"What about you?" I ask, touching the small starburst. "What does yours mean?" Silas turns away, silent for a moment.

"I gave that to myself. It means 'lost.'" He finally says, smoothing back his hair with a bitter laugh. "Well actually, it means 'Looking for home,' but lost is another way of saying that, right?" My eyebrows furrow at this. My hand drops back down to my side. 

"Why?" Silas stares at the fire, the orange light reflected in his deep blue eyes. 

"I lost someone. I lost everyone." He doesn't say anything else, and I don't ask anything. We sit in the silence until the tea is ready, and then we sit in silence after that. It's odd, how things end up working out here. We're both alone, both broken, both lost, but we still have each other. We don't acknowledge it, but we know that we both would have died years ago if it wasn't for each other. Swallowed by the world that took everything from us. Eventually, the night turns into day, and we're still standing in the kitchen. I set the teacup on the counter, letting the light wash over me. It's cloudy again today, and a sheet of fog covers the ground. Silas stretches, moving away from the table. 

"I'm going to make some breakfast." He throws a glance down at the fireplace. "Well, I would, if the wood hadn't burned down." Glancing at the fireplace, I could see that the fire had been reduced to ashes and embers. I sigh and stand. 

"I'll go get some." I step outside, embracing the cool air against my skin. I walk through the trees, collecting fallen branches from the ground. The fog makes it hard to see, but I manage. I have a good pile and am a fair way into the wood when I see something in front of me. It's a light, steadily bobbing closer and closer. I stop and stare at it, trying to get a better glimpse of what it is. And as it moves closer, I can finally make out a figure: A person with broad shoulders and the clear figure of 2 swords strapped to their belt. Shit. I drop the firewood and sprint away, farther into the trees. The person gives chase. I stumble over tree roots, cursing the fog. With a glance over my shoulder, I can see that the figure is still running after me. Why is this happening? The-the soldiers yesterday, and now whoever this is? What's going on? Branches stratch at my face and hair, impossible to see in the thick fog. I duck under a low branch, dodging around tree trunks. The house. I have to get back to the house! In my hurry, I trip and land, sprawled out in the dirt. I scramble backwards until my back is against a tree. My breathing is ragged. The figure keeps getting closer. I throw my hands in front of my face and squeeze my eyes shut,ready for what's coming. But it never does. Instead there's the utterance of single word, barely at whisper: 

"Aideen?" 

I open my eyes to see that the figure is a girl. Her hair is half-shaved on the left side, due to the burn scars over the side of her face. The scars travel down to her upper arm. She's wearing an eyepatch over her left eye as well. She's wearing a sleeveless tan tunic tucked into dark brown pants. A black shoulder guard with red edging and an emblem of fire on it is over her left shoulder. She has matching arm braces on as well. Her hair is caramel colored, reaching down to her shoulders. And her eyes-I know those eyes. Emerlad green, a green so brilliant you couldn't even begin to imagine. And as I stare at her, and she stares back me, I finally realize who I'm looking at. 

"Amara." Tears are streaming down both our faces, and next thing I know, she's flinging her arms around me, face pressed into the crook of my neck. She's so much taller now, my head only coming up to her shoulders. We pull apart and I let out a shuddering laugh, wiping away at the tears on my face. A grn breaks ut over her face, and she pulls me back into a another hug. I can't believe that this is happening. It seems impossible, that my best friend is alive. Amara is alive! We pull away again and Amara's hand goes up the cup my cheek. I lean into the touch, just to know that she's really here. She's really touching me. I lean my forehead in to touch hers, and we stay like that, savoring the moment. She's alive, she's alive nad standing with me right now, in this moment. It seems impossible. I thought she was dead. I thought she was dead for 3 years. But she's here, and she's alive, and we're together. Finally, finally we separate, even though neither of us want to. 

"I can't believe you're alive." She says, and that surprises me.

"You thought I was dead?" I say, incredulous. 

"No! I'm just..so, so glad I finally found you." She lets out a laugh. It's still as beautiful as I remember. 

"I can't belive you're here." My mind is still reeling at the fact that Amara is alive! Really and truly alive before my eyes, in flesh and blood. 

"Aideen!" We both turn as I hear Silas's voice calling out. He bursts through the trees, magic at the ready. When he sees Amara, his eyes harden in anger. 

"You!" He shouts, and he's lifting his hands up, and the magic is getting stronger-

"Wait!" I jump in front of her, throwing my hands up to stop Silas. The magic dies down, and he takes a step back, the surprise evident on his face. "She's-she's my friend." He glares at Amara. 

"I don't know who you think she is, but The Lioness is not your friend." I look between them. Amara is scowling at him. 

"I wouldn't hurt her. However, I can't say the same about you." Her hands go to rest on her the 2 swords on her belt. 

"Careful kitty. I'm more powerful than you think." Silas snarls. 

"Cna you two stop!" I yell, my hands clenching into face. Silas and Amara sturn away from each other. "How do you know each other?" Amara sighs. 

"I don't know him personally, but he's heard my stories." 

"What stories?" I ask, taking her hand in mine. She smiles down at me. 

"There's a lot to explain." Her eyebrows furrow as she looks around. "Do you guys have a house around here?" 

After we're all seated comfortably around the kitchen table, and a kettle is set over the fire to boil, Amara starts to explain her story. 

"After the...incident," She begins slowly, "I escaped to a town called Where The River Runs Free. I met a healer there, who helped me with this." She gestures to her scars. "I was also hiding from soldiers at the time. They thought I had information on where you'd gone. I was trying to figure out the same thing but knew that I had to get to you before they did. I'm a little embarrassed that it took this long. 

"Eventually, the healer, whose name is Leysa, decided that I needed to learn how to defend myself. So she taught me. Gave me a sword and told me how to use it. Eventually, I left the apothecary and started taking jobs for people." 

"What kind of jobs?" I ask, eyebrows furrowed. Amara opens her mouth to respond, but Silas cuts her off. 

"Assassin jobs. That's why she's untrustworthy." He's glaring at her again. Amara slams her hands down on the table. 

"Now listen here: If I were here to kill you, I'd have done it already. I'm not one for sublimity." She snarls. 

"Calm down." I touch her arm and she relents, sitting back down with a sigh. 

"Anyways, I eventually earned myself the name Lioness. You get famous fast when you kill people." Her voice is bitter. "Along the way, I pieced together clues as to where you could be. Most of them were dead ends, until I heard a soldier telling the story of how a girl attacked him with fire in the Dark Wood. That's when I knew: You were here. And that's when I found you." She leans back, clasping her hands over her stomach. Silas is still glaring at her. 

"So..an assassin?" I ask, an eyebrow raised. She punches me playfully on the arm. 

"There aren't a whole lot of other things you can do when you're trying to avoid the authorities. Thought I might as well include it in the profession." It's weird to think that Amara kills people. It's not something she would want to do. Would have wanted to do. She's changed, and I've changed. Things might be different now, and that's what scares me. And I've been left with more questions. Why doesn't she blame me is the big one. I can tell what those scars are from. You don't acquire those through a simple mishap. We've been apart for 3 years, and I thought she was dead. And now we've suddenly been brought back together, both with new ways of thinking and with new experiences, both good and bad. And another question I have is, Why did she seek me out? Why would she want to see me again, after what I've done? She could have gone away and made a new life for herself, forgotten about me and everything that happened in Where the Tall Grass Grows. But instead, she reforged herself and came looking for the person who almost killed her. Why? 

"Aideen? Hello?" I blink back to reality. Amara is waving her hand in front of my face. She gives a kind smile as I come back. "There you are." 

"Sorry, did I miss something?" I smile and shove the questions down for later. 

"Sorry, I just asked how things have been going for you." 

"Oh, well, it's been....going." I let out a shaky laugh. "There isn't a ton of stuff to do here-" 

"Oh, thanks a lot." Silas snaps, crossing his arms over his chest. I glare at him. 

"You've said it yourself. Anyways, I mostly just help out with chores and....train." I still don't know how Amara would react to my powers. 

"Chores, huh? Like cooking?" Amara asks. 

"She was banned from that a long time ago." Silas stands to get the kettle. 

"Yeah, the only thing I'm allowed to make is tea," I confess. Amara laughs. 

"That's ironic." She says, glancing at the fire. I feel my heart tighten. I don't know why I'm so terrified of telling her about this power. She knows it exists and must have assumed that I had gained some control over it, but it still feels odd. No one wants to talk about the thing that almost killed them. Silas pours the tea, still glaring at Amara. 

"It sure is." He says, sarcasm dripping from his words. 

"Silas, can you please stop?" I say, taking a sip of tea. I don't know why he's like this. To be fair, we've never had a visitor in the woods before, and certainly not an attack like the one yesterday. 

"I don't trust her!" He snarls, slamming the teapot down on the table. "Why would an assassin come here? We don't know what your motives are!" Amara leaps up, immediately in his face. 

"I was looking for my childhood friend! We went over this already! I'm not here to kill either of you! How would that benefit me?" She yells. 

"Someone has paid you to do it! You just want to lure us into a false sense of security!" Spells are the edge of his fingertips, and Amara has her hands on her swords. This isn't good. 

"Everyone stop!" I yell, the flames leaping high within me. They both stare in shock. "Look, there's no need to fight, okay? Silas, she's not here to hurt either of us. I trust her." I lay a hand on his shoulder. HE lets out a huff and turns away, storming out of the room. I sigh and sit down, placing my head in my hands. 

"Sorry," Amara mutters, sitting next to me. I look up at her. 

"It's okay. He doesn't trust easily." 

"That much is obvious." She lets out a dry chuckle. The silence is awkward. You'd think we'd have plenty to talk about, but it still feels odd. I clear my throat. 

"So, uh, tea?" I gesture to the teapot, which now has a very large crack in it. 

"Sounds great," Amara says, holding out her cup. I pour some for her, and then myself. 

"Wow," Amara says after she takes a sip. "This is 10 times better than whatever the hell Madame Forsynthia used to make." I let out a bark of laughter. 

"That wasn't even tea! It tasted like dirt!" 

"But she still made us drink it, even when we were sick!" 

"If anything, it made me feel even more nauseous!" Madame Forsynthia ran the orphanage. She thought her tea was amazing. I didn't even know what real tea was supposed to taste like until Silas made me some. The silence starts again as we start to think of Madame Forsynthia. She probably-no. No, I'm not going to think about that. I screw my eyes shut and shove the thoughts to the side, letting them disappear. It's not important right now. 

"You said you've been training." Amara takes another cup of tea. My hands tighten around the teacup. 

"Uh, yeah, I've been..doing that." I let out a nervous laugh. Amara smiles, placing her hand over mine. 

"Care to show me?" The look of shock must be evident on my face, because she quickly adds, "You don't have to. Not if you don't want to. I just want to see what you've been doing." 

"Are you sure you want to see it?" I ask quietly. She gives me a kind smile, lacing our fingers together. 

"I'd love to." 

We step outside, fingers still laced together. I step a few feet away, disappointed to let go. I fear that She might disappear if I look away, and I'll realize this was all a dream. I draw upon the fire, letting it grow. My palms are out, and Amara lets out a gasp when the flame appears in my hand. She's not scared, she just looks excited. Eager to see how it works. I throw the flame into the air, catching it with my other hand. I make it grow, shrink, get hotter or cooler with simply a thought. I move it back to the other hand, making it into an arc when it's in the air. 

"Beautiful." Amara murmurs, moving closer to get a better look. I look away, feeling my cheeks heat up. 

"Thank you," I say, letting the flame dance over my fingers. 

"It's almost like a ribbon." She remarks, watching it arc through the air. The flame flares as a surprised look comes over me. I quell the fire, and it blinks out. 

"I never thought of it like that," I say, remembering the ribbon from the box. 

"I mean, it's just a thought, but what if you sued it like a ribbon?" She asks, twirling her hand around in a circle. "Like...imagine that the flames a ribbon. Practice with a ribbon!" I see the familiar spark in her eyes when she has an idea. "Wait here-I'll be right back!" She runs back towards the house. I watch her go, a smile on my lips. I wrap my arms around myself, shivering a little. Most of the fog has faded, but there's still a little scattered around. Now I can see that there's a thin layer of frost on the ground. A few minutes later, Amara comes back with something in her hand. 

"Wow, that guy's house is cluttered." She says with a breathless laugh. 

"Oh yeah, it's impossible to find anything in there." I agree. "What did you need?" 

"This!" Amara holds out her hand, and I can see that she's holding a strip of dark green fabric. "I thought you could use it as practice. Like, figure out how it moves, and then make a ribbon out of fire and use that." I take the ribbon from her. I had never thought to try anything like that, but it seems like a simple way to figure out how to do this. I take the "ribbon," which is about 3 feet in length. I give it a little twirl, just out in front of me. It's a little odd, at first, using something like this, but I keep going, moving it in arcs and circles, getting a feel for the movement. It's flowing, like a river, which is slightly ironic. It's free, moving where it wants to. I can direct it where I want it to go, but it can sometimes move on it's own accord. That could be tricky. It easily moves in the wind, or gets caught on tree branches. But it's not impossible to prevent, and that's what gives me reassurance. Eventually, when the strip of cloth is slightly frayed at the ends, I stop, breathless and sweating, but with a grin on my face. 

"Did it help?" Amara asks, brushing a strand of hair back behind my ear. My brain almost stops functioning properly, but I let out a breathless laugh. 
"Yeah, in a way! It's easier to practice with something that's not overly destructive, you know?" 

"Oh yeah, I know. I ended up using a tree branch before I moved onto a real sword." She says with a wry smile. "It broke easily." 

"I'm sure!" I press the ribbon into her hand and then turn away, preparing to use the real fire this time. Amara seems to get the idea and backs up, creating more space for me to work with. I draw upon the fire, letting it blossom in my palm. Then I throw it, arching it and having it land in my other palm. THen I run, Amara in the center, letting the fire trail behind me. The fire moves as I do, like the ribbon. In circles and arcs, It's in my control. It's my power, and it's never been this way before. It's always just been fire, but now it's a tool, a ribbon, of all things, and I can use it. For what, I don't know, but it's different when I use it. It's exhilarating and energetic, and new. Finally, I let the fire die out, not because I wanted to, but because I realize that I can't go on for much longer. I walk over to Amara, and for the first time I can remember, I'm happy with what my powers can give me. I'm proud to have them. That might change tonight, or tomorrow, but right now, I love having them, and I'd never give it up even for the world. Amara's grinning, and even though I still can't place why she's okay with me using my powers, I know that my expression matches hers. 

"You know,' SHe says, placing a hand on my shoulder, "I always loved it when you danced." 

"Dance? I haven't danced in a long time." I say, raising an eyebrow. 

"That seemed pretty close to dancing to me." She responds. "It's always nice to just watch how...how gracefully you move, humming along to some music in your head." SHe closes her eyes, face tilted up toward the sky. "And there's sunlight filtering in through the windows, and everything's peaceful and.....and perfect." She opens her eyes and smiles, eyes full of love. I feel my cheeks flush. I glance at the ground, unsure of what to say. We walk back to the house together, wind rattling the dead branches above us. We step back inside to find that Silas has a fire going in the fireplace, and is cooking...something. 

"Ugh." Amara plugs her nose, wafting away the smoke starting to come out of the pot. "Who taught you to cook?" 

"Oh what, you think you can do it better?" Silas snaps, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure anyone can do better than that." Amara scoffs, opening a cupboard. 

"Except for Aideen," Silas mutters, just loud enough for me to hear. 

"Hey!" I exclaim, nudging him playfully. He ruffles my hair as he ducks out of the room, throwing a glare at Amara over his shoulder. 

"Is he always like that?" Amara asks, taking out quite a few different things. 

"No. He's normally just grumpy, not hostile." I say, taking a seat at the table. 

"Oh wow. I'd never've guessed." Amara mutters sarcastically, taking the pot Silas was using and setting it aside. "Seriously though, how did you guys survive? Not even he can cook>" She scrunched up her nose. 

"Well at least some of the stuff he makes isn't burnt," I say, watching as she fishes out some flour. 

"Well, you're about to have a real meal." She starts to mix something together, adding cut-up vegetables and whatever else she needs in there. It's another odd thing in this weird new world of ours. Back when we were kids, Amara would rather have eaten the burned food than make some herself. Things keep changing, and now we're more strangers than friends, but our connection is stronger than ever. I still don't know what to make of it, but it's there. I continue to watch her, the way she holds a knife, or a spoon, and the way she blows her hair out of the way when it gets into her face. She dances too, in her own way. Moving with confidence, with energy, never faltering. I've never seen her falter. She's always been perfect, the one everyone strived to be. I wish I could be like her. 

"You good?" Amara asks, bringing me back to reality. I smile, resting me chin on my hand. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired." My stomach rumbles as I say this. "And hungry." I add sheepishly. Amara laughs. 

"Don't worry, it's almost ready. Don't know where Dark and Brooding went though." She glances at the hallway. 

"I'll go find him." I say, standing. He's probably shut in his work room or something. I start to climb up the stairs to get to it. I must be right, because something is glowing behind the door, the same color as Silas's magic. I knock on the blue painted door. 

"Silas?" I call out, uncertain. 

"What it is?" He yells back, not bothering to come out.Ilet out a huff. 

"Lunch is almost ready." I say, crossing my arms. 

"I'll have something later." He says, the light never faltering. 

"Silas, you'd better get your ass down to that kitchen right now or I swear I'll bust down that door and drag you there myself! I cooked a meal, and I think you should see real cooking looks like." I turn to see Amara at the bottom of the staircase, hands on her hips. The door swings open to reveal Silas, hair immaculate as always. 

"Last I checked, it wasn't your house." Silas says to her. "Please just leave me alone." 

"Well, I'm pretty sure we didn't have breakfast this morning, and you need to eat something," I say, taking him by the arm. "Come on, it's not like I cooked it." There's a small smile on his face, and I proceed to drag him into the kitchen. It smells delicious, and Amara's already dished it out. We all take aseat. Silas glances at the food dubiously, poking it with his fork. 

"What is it?" He asks suspiciously. Amara rolls her eyes. 

"It's just rice pasta and vegetables with a thick broth." She says, taking a bite. "It's a Katerrian recipe." I follow her lead, and it tastes so good, I think I might be in the Beyond. Orphange food deosn't tend to be the best thing in the world, and Silas isn't very good at making stuff, and this is completely different than anything I've ever tasted. Tangy, but also with a hint of sweetness, it's a stark contrast to Carthanis's rather unfavorful food. 

"Katerrian, huh?" Silas tries it for himself, and I can see his eyes light up for a split second before he puts his mask back on. "It's okay." He turns away from us. Amara laughs, poking his shoulder. 

"Nah, he likes it." She says. Silas glares her, and I can tell that he might murder her soon. 

"It's very good! Where did you learn the recipe?" I ask, trying to change the subject. 

"On a job I had in Kethan. Very pictruesce place. I ended up staying with this older couple, and he taught me the recipe. And most of my other cooking skills." She says. 

"Wow. I've always wanted to visit Kethan." Silas says. 

"Oh yeah, I can see why! It's a great place to have a capital. Right on the beach, lots of exotic flora, that sort of thing. Too bad it's cursed." She shurgs, taking another bite of food. I nod. Everyone knows about the curse placed on the capital of Katerria. They're constantly ravaged by hurricanes and other natural disasters that mysteriously stop at the border. No one knows when the kingdom was cursed, or who cursed it, but they keep happening. Many people have already fleed the country, but many are forced to stay due to roads constaly being blocked. It's almost impossible to get out, unless you're already near the border, or by the coast and can manage to get a boat to the next kingdom over. 

"Yeah. Would have loved to see Atlanta's temple before the earthquake." Silas says wistfully. 

"I used to want to go see every major temple in the empire." I say, remembering the list I had made on an old scrap of paper. "I guess I'll never be able too." Even if I still wanted to, I don't think I'll leave the forest. It's safer here, for both me and the people out there. 

"Well you can still see the others!" Amara says excitedly. "You'd love Tierlan's temple in Fortensthi. It's huge, and it's in a tree!" She's so excited to talk about the places she's seen. I wish that I was there to see them too. 

"We already live ina tree." Silas say. Amara glares at him. 

"That tree is huge, and it actually ahs leaves, unlike this godforsaken forest." She says, gesturing above her. 

"Hey, I don't know why this place doesn't have leaves. It was like this when I came here." 

"How did you come here?" I ask. He's never really talked about his life before this. 

"It's not of your business." He mutters, looking away. 

"It's never my business, is it?" I explode, eyes smoldering in anger. "I've lived with you for 3 years, and you've told me nothing! You say you lost someone? Who did you loose? You never even told me you were Zenthian until last night! You-you don't tell me anything!" I don't know why I'm having this outburst, but I'm just so done with Silas and his stupid dramatic attitude! "You say you knew who the Lionness was! I had no idea she even existed until now! I-I could've been reunited with my best friend, but you had to keep that from me! WHat else is happening in the outside world that I haven't heard of!" I'm yelling now, but I don't care. 

"It was for your own safety! People are looking for you Aideen! They-they wanted to watch you hang! I-there are so many magic users that have died, and I couldn't be the only one anymore! I-I've beenthe alt one for so long, and I'm tired of being alone, and being the last! Last born, Last to find his power, Last to....to survive!" Silas is crying too. "I lost the only person who ever loved me as much as I loved them!" He storms out, and I'm left with tears streaming down my face and fire around my fists. Amara's sitting wide eyed with a spoon half-way to her mouth, staring at me. 

"What?" I snarl at her, instantly regretting it. 

"You, uh...you have something right here." SHe taps the corner of her lip. Frustrated, I sit back down. As the fire dies down, I place my head in my hands. 

"Sorry." I murmur, the only sound in a silent room. 

"I can tell you,if you'd like." Amara sets her spoon down. "There's a lot going on out there." I sigh, peering at her through my fingers. 

"Like what?" 

"Well to start off," She leans forward. "Revolution." SHe whispers with a glint in her eyes. 

"Revolution? Against who?" My eyebrows furrow. Against the empire? If so, that would be a big task. 

"Lord Ethari." She leans back, crossing her arms over her chest. I nearly choke on my food. 

"Lord...Lord Ethari?! The cruelest king Carthanis had ever seen?" I hiss. "Are they insane?!" 

"Oh yeah, quite possibly. Many of them have already been captured, but their resolve stays." 

"They're idiots," I say in disbelief. Why would anyone try to go against him? He was ruthless, and even when I was living in the orphanage, stories would come about who was torturing this week, and in the cruelest way imaginable. A noblewoman who accidentally wore red and purple to a banquet. She was chained to a cliff and left to the elements. A soldier tried to protest against killing innocents. He was forced to walk on hot coals until he dropped dead. Some of the stories would give me nightmares for weeks. Especially the way he dealed with magic users. 12 years ago, Lord Ethari had started a persecution of magic users throughout Carthanis, on the orders of the Vemican Emperor. Silas was one of the last sorcerers in the kingdom. I assume he had only survived through his Zenthian heritage and the reputation he built for himself after moving to the Darkwood. And so now it's just the 2 of us, unless there's another in hiding somewhere in the far reaches of the kingdom. 

"Well, not all of them. They've managed to land some pretty good blows." Amara seems so sure about this. I'm not entirely convinced. 

"I know but...this is Lord Ethari we're talking about. And I'm...." I trail off. Amara seems to come to a realization. 

"Oh. Oh yeah. I had kind of forgotten about that." She lets out a bitter laugh. 

"Have you joined?" 

"Not yet. But I was planning too, at some point. Now would probably be a good time." She says. I nod. 

"It would probably be a good thing to have you on their side. Given your....reputation." I raise an eyebrow. Amara smirks. 

"You know, they'd also be pretty grateful if you joined their cause as well." I laugh when she says that. 

"Oh yes. I'm sure they'd love to have me after what I've done." I look away, crossing my arms over my chest. 

"But you've learned so much since then! I saw you use your power. You have so much more control over them now. You'd be unstoppable." She says eagerly. I sigh. 

"I just don't know." 

"If you helped them, if we helped them, we could make a better world! Imagine people being unafraid to...to speak their mind and go where they want to! People like you wouldn't have to hide anymore! Things would be so much different. So much better!" Amara's lit up. I can see the world she's describing to me. I can see how it would help so many people. 

"You really believe that?" I ask timidly. She smiles softly, taking my hand in hers. 

"Every bit of it." 

"Then I guess I have to help, don't I?" I smile at her, and Amara's grinning ear to ear. 

"We'll leave tomorrow morning?" I glance back at where Silas disappeared. What would he say if I left? You know what, I don't care what Silas thinks. He doesn't get to control my life. 

"Sounds great. I'll go get ready." I stand from the table. 

"Get ready for what?" We turn to see Silas standing in the doorway, fists clenched at his sides. 

"We're leaving. For the revolution." I say, moving to walk past him. 

"Wha-No! No, you can't go there!" His eyes are panicked. "I can't-I won't-It's to dangerous!" 

"I can go if I want to! You can't control my life! I'm pretty sure we established that 10 minutes ago!" I trow my hands in the air, exasperated. 

"Aideen. Listen to me." He grabs my hand. "Please don't leave. I-There's-it's not safe. Too many people have-have-" I sigh. 

"Silas...I want to help people. I've spent too long here. I know it'll be dangerous, but it's my choice, and I choose to do something with my powers." I've done horrible things with them, but I'm putting that behind me. This is a chance for a new start. 

"I-" Silas starts, but Amara cuts him off. 

"Look, this is her choice. Stop trying to pretend that the bad things don't happen. You won't do anything about it, but she wants to. Let her have this chance." 

"And even if you don't, I'm still going to go anyway." I lift my chin defiantly. Silas groans, running his hands through his hair. 

"Fine." He manages to choke out. "Go. But don't say I didn't warn you." 

"Thank you." I say, touching his shoulder. Amara and I start to walk off, but Silas's words stop us in our tracks. 

"But when you find the rebellion, ask them if they remember Charion. Ask them if they know what happened to him." His voice wavers, and his tone is spiteful. I give a single nod and Amara and I walk off to get ready, leaving Silas alone with his tears. 

It's quick work, getting ready. I find blankets, shoved into the back of yet another cluttered alcove. Amara gathers food. I don't know how she avoids Silas, but she manages. We pack extra clothes, thick claosk for when it starts snowing. Amara goes through whatever she had in her pack, figure out what she'll need. By the time we finish, it's dark. I let Amara sleep in my room. She insists on sleeping on the floor, in a pile of blankets I gave her. As I lay in my bed, I watch her. THe steady rise and fall of her chest, the way her pale skin looks in the moonlight. She sleeps on her unscarred side, back to me. Eventually, my eyelids flutter closed and I drift off to sleep. 

Sunlight is just starting to pool in through the window when I awake. I've always been an early riser. It's annoyed more than a few people, but especially Silas. Amara is awake, checking to make sure we have everything we need. She smiles when she realizes that I'm awake, smoothing my hair out of my face. 

"Morning. You ready to go?" She asks. I smile. 

"Ready as I'll ever be." I stand up, stretching my arms above my head to touch the beams above me. Amara slings one of the packs over her shoulder and hands me the small one. It's not very heavy, and unlike hers, which has 2 loops going over both her shoulders, mine is more of a messenger bag. I put it on, and also pull on a pair of boots that mysteriously appeared last night. We prepare to head out, and I lay a note for Silas, thanking him for everything he's done for me. I don't know if I'll ever see him again after this. Stepping out fo the house, it's an unusually warm day for October, but the weather in Carthanis is always changing, especially around this time of year. 

"Let's do this." Amara says, lacing our fingers together. I smile, feeling butterflies in my stomach. We start to walk through the trees, attempting to find our way out of the forest. It's a bit of a maze in here, but we eventually find a river, following it out of the trees. Were the forest ends, a field begins, tall grass stretching on forever. There are a few trees in the distance, and I think I can make out a village. 

"Wow, took you long enough!" I glance around when I hear the voice, eyebrows furrowed. Where did that come from? 

"Did you  hear something?" I ask Amara. She shakes her head. 

"No. Why?" 

"Well duh, she can't hear me." I look around again, but I don't see anyone. "Oh for goodness-Down here!" I look down and jump out of my skin, grabbing Amara's arm. There's a very annoyed looking fox sitting down there, mostly black but with streaks of orange through his fur. 

"The fox is talking!" I screech, smashing the fire down. The fox rolls its eyes. 

"Yeah. I'm your familiar. Of course I'm talking." Amara glances between the 2 of us. 

"The fox isn't saying anything." She says, bewildered. 

"She can't hear me." The fox says, winding around my legs. 

"Then why can I?!" I ask. 

"I've already told you this! I'm your familiar." 

"What the hell is a familiar?" 

"A companion. All sorcerers and other magic users have one." The fox says this like it should be obvious, which it clearly isn't!

"I'm not a sorcerer!" I tell him, slightly panicked. 

"Well, that's not my problem. And must have some sorcerer blood in order for me to show up, so clearly, you are." He rolls his eyes again. I scowl at him. 

"Well, you aren't a very helpful familiar! Where the hell were you all this time?" 

"Stupid sorcerer had an enchantment around the woods. No familiar expect his own can get inside." 

"But Silas didn't have a familiar," I say, glaring at the fox suspiciously. 

"Well, he must have because he's most definitely a sorcerer! Now, are you going to introduce yourself to me, or we going to argue all day?" The fox is very annoyed now, but I still don't quite trust him. 

"Well, then why don't you introduce yourself first?" I say, arching an eyebrow. The fox sighs. 

"Fine. My name is Niran. Happy?" Out of all the familiars, why did I have to get the sarcastic one? 

"I'm Aideen." I tell Niran. 

"Why are you talking with a fox?" I jump when I realize that Amara is still there, looking dubiously at the fox. 

"Apparently he's my familiar," I tell her. Niran scowls. 

"Apparently, huh? 'Oooh, the fox talking to me that only I can hear might be my familiar, but I'm not sure.'" He mocks. I glare at him. 

"Sorry, but normally when a random fox pops out of nowhere, I get suspicious." 

"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on, or am I just going to be forgotten about?" Amara says, throwing her hands into the air. I sigh. 

"The fox is my familiar. Apparently every magic user has one, and he's mine." I tell her. 

"Ugh, finally. Are we going to keep walking or what?" Niran stretches, padding in front of us. I sigh and start to follow him, Amara right behind me. 

"So do you trust him?" She whispers, watching the fox. 

"I mean, yeah, what else am I supposed to do when a fox starts talking to me?" I say. 

"Okay. Okay, yeah, I guess." Amara shifs uncertainly. We continue to walk through the tall grass, Niran occasionally disappearing. As it turns out, it's very hard to keep track of a fox in grass that's twice as tall as him. We aren't really sure where we're going, but soon enough, we're at the edge of the village. It's very small, with thatch roofed buildings packed closely together. We eventually make it to the muddy road into town, and it's very busy. Colorful carts line the path, vendors trying to sell all sorts of trinkets. People are running around, laughing, and the girls have flowers braided into their hair. I glance at Amara, confused. 

"It's the Fetevla te rens Retvanya." The Festival of the Harvest.

"Some stupid thing they do every year." Niran grumbles. He's hidden in the shadow of one of the carts, watching a small group of children run by. 

"It's pretty." I say. We didn't celebrate holidays a lot, no matter where I lived. This is completely different, and it;s very joyous. Little banners with runes embroidered on them hang over the streets on wires, and the cobblestones in the square have been overtaken by a dance. Little red flowers litter the streets. I recognize them as Reschetina, Blossom of Blood. They flourish in the fall, and are said to have grown from the blood of a fallen goddess, Theranthisa. 

"Do you want to go and see it?" Amara asks. I glance at the town conflicted. We came to find the revolution. But it would be alright if we took a small detour, right? But what about my magic? What if something happens? What if-I actually had a good time fro once in my life, and wasn't scared of literally everything that could happen? 

"Yeah, that sounds great," I say with a smile. 

"I hate you." Niran mutters. We walk into town, and I can tell people are looking at us. They've never seen us before. This might have been bad idea. I swallow my fear as best I can. 

"You good?" Amara murmurs into my ear. I smile up at her. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Come on, let's go look over there!" I pull her in the direction of the bakery, the smell of cinnamon wafting for the air. We weave through the crowd, ducking under arms and around carts. People have crowded around the bakery door, pointing out pastries in the window. I stop behind them, admiring the gerensthald they have. It's a small cake made with a flour created by crushing up reschetina petals and mixing them with regular flour. I've never had one before, but other kids at the orphanage would save up for months in order to buy one while they were in season. Here, they're only a few silver coins.

"Do you want one?" Amara asks. "I've had one, they're very good." 

"Are you sure?" I ask. I don't want to take her money. 

"Hey, it's my treat. I'll be right back!" She steps inside the bakery with a little wave. 

"You've got a good one there." I turn to see an older woman standing next to me, watching a little boy crowd up against the window. "Remember to keep her." She has a twinkle in her eye as she looks at me. I laugh, embarrassed. 

"Oh, we're-we aren't-" 

"Just remember dear: The good ones value you above what you can give them." She presses a silver coin into my palm. "Thank you for the story dear. Leo loves tales about the people I meet." She calls for her grandson, and they head off to the town square, the boy skipping ahead. I watch them go with a smile on my face. 

"What'cha watching?" Amara steps out of the shop with a paper bag in hand. We intertwine our fingers together once more. 

"Just had a talk with an older woman. She was very kind." I say as Amara hands me one of the gerensthald. I take a bite into it, and almost trip over my own 2 feet. It's warm, with flavors of vanilla and cinnamon throughout it. It's just the right amount of tart and sweet, and it melts in your mouth. Amara laughs at my reaction to the pastry. 

"That good, huh?" I nod, wiping a bit of vanilla glaze from the corner of my lip. 

"It's amazing!" I grin, and Amara takes a bite of her own pastry. Soon, we find ourselves in the town square, where the dance is going on. I tap my foot to the beat of the music, and soon find myself lost in it. It's flowing, but with a beat. It's a dance that's....bright, flowing. Circles, hopping, skipping, moving arms in arcs. I remember the music in my head, keep it for later. I'll close my eyes and hum along, remembering the beat. I'll start moving in circles, hopping, skipping, arms in arcs. I open my eyes to see Amara looking down at me. 

"What?" I ask with a little laugh. 

"Nothing." She says, smiling. "Nothing at all." I laugh again and go back to watching the dance play out. It's nice, until Amara tenses up and starts to drag us away from the square. 

"What's wrong?" I ask as she glances behind us. 

"Soldiers." She hisses, and now I'm on edge. That's not good. They might be looking for one or both of us. 

"I knew this was a bad idea!" Niran says, running alongside us. We weave between buildings, trying to put as much distance between us and the soldiers. It seems to work well, until someone decides to be in the wrong alleyway. We stop in our tracks when we see a pair of soldiers leaning against one of the walls, chatting. Then they see us, and we're sprinting. 

"Hey! Hey, I found the Witch! And-and the Lionness! Both of them!" We're too far away to hear what comes after that, but we start to bump into more and more soldiers, until it feels like an entire battalion is chasing us. Which it probably is. I don't know where Niran went, but I hope he's safe. We're oo=ut of the village now, running through trees and fallen leaves. They're still following us, and right now, our only obejetive to get as far away as possible. How we're going to out run all these people, I don't know, but I managed to do it before and I'll manage to do it again. We keep going, stumbling over roots and under branches. The pastries are gone, now long forgotten. I can hear their footsteps start to recede. We're going to make it! But not so. There ever so happens to be a mountain range cutting through this forest. And that leaves a cliff right in front of us. We stop short, feet skidding on the leaves. I can hear them getting closer. Amara starts to search for a way around, or through, while I ready my powers. I don't want to fight. Not again. Then they're upon us. 

"Who would've thought that the Fyorninthia Ritsch would have come out of the Dark Wood all on her own?" One of them steps forward, and I can immediately tell that he's young, maybe 21 at the most. He also seems to be in charge, so he's got that going for him. I simple scowl at him, fire blossoming in both my palms and chest. It flickers silently, like a threat. But he doesn't seem scared, or put off even a little bit. "Fascinating..." He murmurs, stepping closer. That's the moment when AMara pulls out her swords. I haven't gotten  good look at them yet, but they're fascinating. One is made of silver, the hilt molded into the face of a roaring lion. No doubt how she got her name. I think. 

The other is made of gold, and is far fancier than the other one. Rubies are set in the hilt, which swirls around the user's hand like a guard. I wonder how she managed to get that one. But as intimidating as these swords are, the captain isn't perturbed at all. He merely chuckles. 

"THe Lionness. Never thought I would actually get to meet you." He smirks. He's arrogant. He's only biding his time. 

"Watch it." Amara snarls. "I'm quite more capable than you might realize." 

"Oh, I know that! After all, you managed to kill Commander Reintheld. My cousin." He flashes his teeth, smiling like a wolf. And that's what sets Amara off. She lunges forward with a yowl, swords flashing in the sunlight. The captain is quick with his own sword, bringing it up to parry her. The rest of the soldiers startthe charge forward, and I bring the flames around us, keeping them out. THat stops them, and I'm glad I have some power over them. THe wall leaps out at them, tongues of flame singing their armor. Amara is breathing heavily, the flames now seperateing her and the captain. And that's when it comes out of nowhere. A blast of blue energy hits a soldier in the back. And then another. And then another. The soldiers turn their attacks towards a new threat. I already know who it is. Why would he follow us? One by one, the soldiers fall to the ground. All except the captain. He just laughs as Silas steps out of the shadows, spell at his fingertips. 

"The Sorcerer of the Dark Wood." He grins, wolf-like. "What a pleasure to finally meet you." 

"Not returned," Silas growls, spell flying at the captain. Who throws up his own spell, red and menacing. Silas is surprised. I'm surprised. Amara just looked confused. 

"We're a little more similar than you think." The captain says. "Most people call me Drystan Reintheld. You may know me as Drystan Feanthern." The name means something to Silas. To me, it's nothing. I've never heard of a Feanthern. I glance at Amara, who seems to be set with stony resolve. 

"Well, well, well. Back from the dead then?" Silas snarls, sending spells flying. Drystan deflects them as easily as the first one. 

"Never really died in the first place." It's a whirlwind of spells and swords, and I am lost, just keeping the fire wall in place. Amara paces restlessly, swords still in hand. 

"We should help him!" She says to me, pointing at Silas. He's losing, already bleeding from a cut on his forehead. I nod, nervous. I throw down the wall, channeling the fire into a ribbon, just like I practiced. I find my eyes flicking back and forth from the flame to the battle as Amara launches herself into it, swords now moving with magic in this deadly dance. Drystan starts to back towards me and I move my ribbon, whipping it towards him. He ducks under it at the last second, eyes wide. 

"Wow. You're better at this than I expected." He grins his wolf grin as he deflects another spell from Silas, parries Amara's attacks. She's slowly getting more and more aggressive, making riskier and riskier moves. I use the fire to push him back, never touching him. Slowly but surely, Drystan has been backed into a corner, attacks coming from all sides. He laughs. This madman, this soldier who is facing our wrath laughs. He laughs in the face of danger, laughs even though he's lost. 

"You're cute. Really, you are." I'm on the defensive, ready to hit him if he tries anything. 

"Look," Amara snarls, eyes flaming in anger. "Why are you looking for us?" Drystan just smiles that wolfish grin. Amara looks ready to smack that stupid little smile right off his face. I just glare at him, unsure what to do. I've never been here before. I'm not a fighter. But Drystan is still confident, like he can still get out of here unscathed. 

"I would, but...I'm afraid I've got somewhere to be. Bye." With one last flash of white teeth, he throws his own spell, glistening on his fingertips, at his feet. A cloud of red smoke envelops us. It tastes like smoke, leaving me choking and gasping for air. My eyes water, and I feel the fire go out, the ribbon with it. When the red is gone, it brings Drystan with it. 

Silas kicks a rock, bouncing it off the cliff face. He storms off into the woods, leaving Amara nd I no choice but to follow. 

"Silas." I cough, hopping over a fallen tree. Silas refuses to slow down, plowing onward. "Silas!" 

"THis is why I don't leave the forest!" He whips around, his words loud and his eyes smoldering. "This world hates people like us. We either die or we work for the people with power, slaves without the title." 

"I'm sorry that you hate this, but I didn't ask you to follow us!" I'm yelling back, for some reason. No, I know why I'm yelling back. "You just can't seem to get it through that thick skull of yours that I can do what I want! I don't need you!" 

"Well you sure seemed to need me back there!" He takes a step forward. "What do you think would've happened if I hadn't showed up? I-I-" ANd just like that, his facade crumbles. He places his head in his hands. "Shit. I'm sorry." I've never seen him look so...out of place before. Silas was in his element back in the Dark Wood. Here h's just...lost. I deflate, crossing my arms over my chest. 

"I'm sorry too." I mumble. "But you have to realize that I'm free to make my own choices." 

"Yeah. Yeah, I-I'm just scared. ANd that shouldn't be a reason to keep anyone from doing what they want, but-but I-" He sighs. "I can't lose anyone else." 

"Yes, while this is all very touching, we should probably keep moving before anyone finds us here." Amara steps forward, placing a hand on my shoulder. 

"You're right." Silas pushes past us. "Where to next?" I glance at Amara uncertainly. 

"Honestly, we were just heading out of the Dark Wood at first. Do we have any idea where the rebel encampment might be?" 

"There are rumors that it's just north of Etharrian, hidden deep in the woods." Amara says. 

"Mm, she's right." I whip around to see Niran lounging on a  rock behind us. I breath out a sigh of relief. 

"Oh, there you are." Niran rolls his eyes. 

"Obviously. Oh look, you found the sorcerer." He hops off the rock, winding around my legs. 

"Why do you have a fox?" Silas asks, staring at Niran suspiciously. 

"Well, he says he's my familiar." I say, picking Niran up. 

"Hey! Put me down!" He says, flailing his legs around. "I'm not your pet!" I roll my eyes, placing him on my shoulder. 

"Here, we'll travel faster if you sit here." I tell him. 

"Hold on, hold on-you have a familiar?" Silas says, shocked. 

"Mm-hm. This is Niran." 

"Enchanted." Niran says, his voice dripping in sarcasm. Silas arches an eyebrow, still suspicious. 

"Look, I don't know either, but apparently he couldn't get into the forest because of some enchantment you put on it." I say. 

"Oh. Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Silas laughs sheepishly. "Sorry." Niran just rolls his eyes, settling into his spot on my shoulder. "But why do you have a familiar? You're not a sorcerer." 

"Yeah, that's what I was trying to say." I say, giving Niran a look. 

"Look, I inly know that I'm a familiar, and you're a magic user, whether you like it or not." Niran growls. I huff, ruffling the fur between his ears. 

"Shall we keep moving?" Amara buts in, impatient. 

"Yup. Let's go." I say, glancing over my shoulder. Looks like it was time for this journey to begin. 

It's quiet for awhile. We make our way through the woods, and we feel...disconnected, somehow. Silas stays away from Amara and I. Amara tries to walk in pace with me, but I'm slow and I can feel that she's starting to get anxious. Niran just keeps making snide comments the entire time, which kind of makes me want to murder him. Eventually we make it to the edge of the forest, just as the sun is setting. 

"We should camp here for the night." Silas says, not up for debate. Amara and I set down our packs. Niran curls up into ball and just...falls asleep. 

We walk for awhile, going through forests and over rivers, across fields and around lakes. We pass villages, making sure to keep far enough away from them. As we travel farther, it gets colder. We hide from soldiers, carve our own paths. It's not fun, and it's not glamorous, but I've never been happier. Amara nd I reconnect, trading stories from the past 3 years. Silas occasionally buts in,and Niran is just consistently annoyed, but it still feels welcoming, for some odd reason. We're a group made up of 2 lost magic users and the most dangerous assassin in the kingdom, but it's more like a family than I've ever had. It goes mostly without incident, until the day we reach Ghenastheral. Damnation. It looms in the middle of a field, still quite a ways away from Etharrian. It's gray and ominous, smoke and screams coming from it. The largest prison camp in Carthanis. People have been sent here to die. Rebels, magic users, regular people who couldn't manage to pay off their debt....they're all here. We crouch in the tall grass up on a hill, trying to figure out the best way around it. 

"The quickest route would probably be to cut straight across the field and hope they don't catch us." Amara says, drawing a line in the dirt. "Or, if we want to take another 5 years, we can go back into the woods and attempt to go over a mountain." Silas huffs. 

"How are we going to do this? Ghenastheral is the most secure prison in the kingdom, if we're caught anywhere near it, then we're-" 

"Wait, wait. Shh." My attention if focused towards the road, where a long line of people are coming up it. Most of them are in chains. Silas nad Amara quickly quiet down,  their gazes following mine. 

"that's not good." Amara murmurs. I elbow her, trying to hear what the guards around them are saying. 

"-get a move on, Reschet!" One of them growls, kicking a prisoner. THey cry out, stumbling forward. My breath hitches. 

"They're rebels." I whip my gaze towards the others. "We have to help them." 

"Are you crazy?!" Amara and Sials hiss at the same time. 

"If we go anywhere near there, we're dead!" Silas says. 

"But they could help us!" I insist. "If we help them now, think about how much easier it will be to gain the rest of the rebels trust!" 

"I'm not risking my neck in order to gain trust easier!" Amara says, taking me by the shoulders. 

"Well...she has a point." Silas says thoughtfully. 

"No! We are not going into one of the most dangerous places in the kingdom in order to-oh shit." Amara's looking past me now, her gaze following a rather defiant-looking young woman with dark red hair. "That's not good."

"What? Who is that?" I ask, eyebrows furrowed.

"A friend, of sorts." Amara says, leaning in closer. "Talya Vesavra. I owe her a debt."

"So we're going in?" Silas asks, glancing at us. Amara sighs. 

"Yeah, unfortunately." 

"This is a horrible idea." Niran mutters, tail lashing back and forth. I shush him, and we start to piece together our plan. 

"First things first: How do we get inside?" Amara asks. 

"We can slip in as the prisoners enter." Silas says. "I can use a spell to disguise us, but it will only work for a little bit. I'll have to hide us completely if we want to get in undetected." 

"Okay. Does anyone know how the prison is laid out?" I ask. 

"There are 3 sections: Section One is for people who farm, Section 2 is for people who build, and Section 3is for people who are considered useless." I open my mouth, but Amara cuts me off. "I was inside once. It isn't pretty." SHe looks away, and I don't push. 

"How do we know all of the prisoners will be in those places?" Silas gestures to the walled off fields on the back side of the prison. 

"No one works at night. To easy to escape." Amara says. I nod. 

"Once we're inside, we'll have a limited amount of time to rescue both your friend and any rebels. We should split up." I suggest. 

"If we're going to rescue some people, then we should rescue all of the people." Silas says. He makes a good point, so I nod my agreement. 

"That makes sense. Both of your ides." Amara adds. "I'll take Section 2." 

"I've got 3." Silas says, almost like he's dareing us into denying him what he wants. 

"That means we get One." I say, glancing at Niran. He glares at me. 

"I never said I was going with you insane people." He says haughtily. 

"Hey, you got roped into this when you claimed you were my familiar." I say, poking him. I turn my attention towards the prison, studying the area around it. It's grasses are tall, bu there's something off about them. They're too gray, to brittle. The sky is dark with smoke, and the wind howls in my ears, blowing my thick braid into my face. Trees stand at the edges of the field, like they're scared to get close to the looming gray walls. I shiver, from both fear and the cold air, goose bumps rising on my skin. 

"How are we planning to get out?" Silas says, gesturing to the gates. "Once we get the prisoners out, the guards will most definitely notice us." 

"Yeah. Do you think you'll have enough power to blast the doors open?" Amara asks, glancing at Silas. He nods. 

"I should. But there's always the chance that it could go wrong. Magic is tricky like that." He says. 

"Then it looks like I'll have to torch the place." I say. Both of them look at me in surprise. 

"I mean, yeah, that could work, but are you sure you want to do that?" Amara asks, taking my hand in hers. 

"And it's also extremely dangerous." Silas says, running a hand through his hair. 

"The doors are made of wood. Wood in flammable. I have high faith that I can get us out of there." I say, crossing my arms. 

"Sounds good. We ready for this?" Amara asks, rubbing her palms together. 

"Ready as we'll ever be." Silas grumbles, and starts to weave his spell. His fingers move deftly, glowing blue lines forming at his finger tips. Runes start to take shape, some more white than blue. And as he works, I can see my hands start to faade, blending with the ground in front of me. 

"Let's go." Amara's voice says, somewhere to my right. I nod, hopping over the hill and starting to make my way towards the prison. I can feel the guards eyes raking over the place where I'm standing, but he doesn't call out. He can't see us. I remind myself, falling in behind the rest of the prisoners. Sobs wrack the body of the woman in front of me, tears carving tracks on her dirt stained face. She's barely older than I am, her blond hair matted with dried blood. She's shaking, and I know it's not from the cold. I can feel Amara and Silas on either side of me, both of them on edge. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't too. Slowly, we get closer to the prison. It's agoninngly slow, especially watching what's going on in front us. We can't fo anything about it.  Prisoners are chained at the wrists, guards beating them in they so much as move an centimeter out of line. They're crying out, praying to gods that never listen, never will. This is a fate worse than death. Worked to the bone day in and day out, under fed, torn apart from the people you love, until you finally collapse and can't get back up, can't continue fighting. Rumors came from all overback in Where the Tall Grass Grow, finding their ways to ears who weren't meant to know of these things. I couldn't sleep for weeks after I heard them. Would they come for me? Would I go there? Would I be able to survive? Well, here I am. I think bitterly. Ironic, how things work out. Eventually, we make it to the gate. The woman in front of me is shoved inside with a scream, and then the gates start to close. I move to dart inside, colliding with Amara in the process. I bite back a yell, rubbing my head. 

"Hurry up!" I hear Silas hiss from somewhere in front of me. I slip inside just as the gates close behind us with a final, ominous sound. Glancing down, I can see that my hands are starting to reappear. Before I can do anything else, some one grabs my arm and pulls into the shadows of the wall. My eyes widen as I stifle a scream, clawing out of my attackers hold. 

"It's just me." Amara murmurs, her emerald eyes starting to come back into existence. I breath a sigh of relief, letting my hands fall back to my sides. 

"Now what?" Silas says, starting to reappear next to me. 

"Section One's that way." Amara says, pointing at the dark doorway of a tunnel leading underground. It's just past the line of prisoners, who are currently being sorted into 3 separate tunnels. "The one next to it is Section Two, and the one on the end is Section Three." She says. Talya's nowhere in sight, and I can assume that she's already been sorted, along with the rebel. 

"Be careful. I don't have enough energy to make another spell that powerful right now, so you're on your own." Silas says, pulling the hood up on his cloak. I nod. 

"You ready for this?" I ask Niran, who's still on my shoulder. 

"I don't really have a choice, so yeah." He drawls. He hops of my shoulder, stretching before darting off, keeping to the shadows. 

"See you soon." Amara says, squeezing my hand. I give her a tight smile, and then she's off, sticking to shadows and scaling walls. Glancing behind me, I can see that Silas is already gone. Then, I take a deep breath and dash off. It's open, and shadows are hard to find, besides the looming black of the wall. I crouch behind some sort of shed or hut, light pooling out from one of the windows. Next, I roll under a cart, holding my breath as a pair of soldiers walk by. 

"-Can't believe him. Just wanted a break and he-" They walk byw without noticing me. For the most secure prison in the kingdom, they don't seem to patrol all that well. I think, thankful for this one bit of luck. I dart out, sprinting across the open field, until I'm in the shadow of the wall again, edging towards the first opening. I'm almost there, and I see the shape of Amara slip inside of the second opening. The grass is covered ina  layer of frost, and I can see my breath in the air. Pulling my cloak tighter around myself, I take the last leap, running the last stretch, until I've skidded into the opening, pressing myself against the wall. Seconds tick by, and I release a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. Niran rolls his eyes, starting to pad farther into the tunnel. I follow him as silently as possible, keeping to the wall. I can't see an inch in front of the my face as I carefully edge forward, trying not to trip on a loose rock or divert in the ground. We keep going, and eventually, I can see Niran in front of me. A soft orange glow is coming from the end of the tunnel. As we get closer, I can see groups of people, sitting and standing behind iron bars blocking my way. I stop in front of them, cautious. What will they think of a rescue? Will they believe me? No one seems to notice me at first, and I get a good look at the prisoners. They are about 70 of them. Most of them are caked in dirt and grime, wearing tattered clothes. They have more than a few injuries, most of them with scars. They're thin and malnourished. I notice the woman from earlier, curled into the back corner. A few of the other woman are sitting with her, talking in hushed tones. Finally, one of the prisoners notices me. He elbows the man he's talking to, gesturing in my direction. I stake a step forward, Niran winding around my legs. 

"Be confident." The fox mutters. "Act like you know what you're doing." I give a nod, swallowing thickly. The man stands with some difficulty, limping over to where I'm standing. Now people really start to notice me, conversation dying down. I look the man in the eye, holding myself tall. He has stormy gray eyes that look tired and suspicious. He looks to be in his late 20s. His black hair stands out against his pale skin, and is all over the place. He attempts to smooth it back and out of my face as he faces me. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asks, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Breaking everyone out." I say, hoping that I sound confident. He laughs bitterly. 

"Listen kid. I've tried to get out of here more times than I can remember. It doesn't work." He looks away. 

"Yeah, well, this time is going to be different." I say. "Who knows how I can open this lock?" 

"You're not listening." The man says, scrubbing his hand over his face. "You can't get out of Ghenanstheral. It's impossible." Many of the other prisoners nod. I look into those hollow eyes of those who have given up. They think they're going to die here. 

"Well then, I'm just going to have to do the impossible," I say defiantly. 

"Ooh, I like this one." A different man steps out of the shadows, and I recognize the rebel from earlier. He's not that much older than I am. He has curly dark brown hair and brown skin, Gold eyes cunning and eager. "What's your plan?" 

"Mass stampede and surprise the guards, then burn down the gate." I say, searching my pocket for soemthing to use to pick the lock on the bars. "Anyone got a lock pick?" 

"Hold on, hold on-that's your plan?" The first man asks. "How are you even going to burn down an entire gate?" 

"I have my ways." I say. 

"Good, good. Keep it mysterious." Niran says. 

"Holy-" The first man jumps as he says that. "Your fox talked!" My eyebrows furrow as I look at the man. 

"Uh, yeah? He's my familiar or something. Honestly, I met him like 4 days ago." I say. 

"familiar? Your a magic user?" He says with a breathless laugh. "Well that improved our chance a lot." And that's when I notice what's sitting at this man's feet: A black fox, silver eyes watching Niran suspiciously. 

"What about you?" I say, pointing to his fox. 

"It's not his." Niran says. "That's Arian." 

"Your fox is right. Arian is...a friends." He says with a sad smile. 

"Well, great. Now, anyone got a lock pick?" I say impatiently, wanting to get out of here. 

"Intorductions first." The second man buts in. I place my head in my hands. 

"My name is Aideen." I groan. "Now let's get out here?" 

"Dorian, pleasure to meet you." He says with an arrogant grin. He sticks his hand through the bars, revealing a lock pick in his hand. I roll my eyes, but take it. 

"And you can call me Char." The first man says. I start to work with the lock pick, jiggling it around in the lock. 

"No, try moving it to the right-No, the right!" Dorian attempts to direct me, exasperated. I glare at him, and the lock gives with a satisfying click. I throw the door open, and the prisoners start to flood out. I give Char a hand shake, and he helps the prisoners get out, one by one, until everyone has filed out. They're running up the tunnel, shouting at the sight of the night sky, the cool air on their skin. When I finally burst out onto the surface, with Char and Dorian right behind me, chaos is ensuing. Amara and Silas' groups have already made it to the surface, and are currently fighting off the guards. 

"I've gotta go!" I yell to my new companions before starting to push my way through the fight that's ensuing, prisoners against guards. We're somehow winning, probably from sheer size. I see Dorian bash a guard over the head with a shovel before I go. I manage to make it to the front, where Silas nad Amara are fending off the guards, along with help from Talya. 

"Aideen!" Amara yells, relief on her face. 

"This is your friend?" Talya says, her voice heavy with a Vostersholm accent. "She's very interesting!" SHe then punches a guard in the face. I decide that I like Talya very much. I nod at her before summoning the fire, letting it rage inside of me. It blossom onto my palm, and the people around me move away, from fear or simply surprise. Talya laughs. "And very helpful! I like her!" 

"Let's get moving people!!" Silas yells, and suddenly a spell is at his fingertips, and he launches it at the door. 

"Well, you weren't wrong! You're definitely capable with fire!" I turn to see Dorian and Char, armed with pistols from fallen guards. I smirk, allowing the fire to grow bigger. Arian is resting on Char's shoulder. They're both watching the spell form on Silas's fingertips. No-they're watching Silas, I realize. Char is staring at him in shock. Silas lauches the spell at the door, and with a resounding boom of crackling energy, it blows right through it, leaving us with an open exit. A cheer rises up from the crowd of prisoners, and they start to make their way through the doors-or what's left of them. Char is still standing in shock, and Arian has jumped off his shoulder, rushing over to where Silas is standing, winding, around his legs. 

"What the-Arian?!" Silas says, his eyes wide. He picks up the fox with a huge grin, and laughs. He laughs as Arian licks his face, his tail wagging back and forth. Arian makes himself comfortable on Silas's shoulder. And that's when everything finally manages to click in my mind, and I look between Char and Silas, mouth gaping open. Silass turns to look behind him, and that's when he sees Char. He freezes. They stare at each other for a good 30 seconds, and then they're running, running towards each other, and they meet in the middle, tears streaming down cheeks, and they're laughing. They're laughing, and Char has his face buried in Silas's shoulder, and Silas's face is in the crook of Char's neck. 

"We need to go!" Amara says, grabbing my arm. I break out of my stupor and nod. 

"Glad to see the happy reunion, but let's get moving!" Talya says, shoving Char and Silas forward. They look surprised, like they've forgotten where they were, but they nod and start moving, fingers interlaced. 

We exit the prison behind the rest of the prisoners. Dorian fires a few shots at the remaining soldiers, and I use the fire as whip, detering them from following us. They seem to get the message. Then we're leaving, whopping and hollering, and the weight of what we just did hits me. We just broke out of the most secure prison in the kingdom. Holy shit. I let out a breathless laughed, shocked at what we had just accomplished. Amara pulls me into a hug, lifting my feet off the ground. We're laughing, and I lean my forehead in to touch hers, and it just feels perfect. We keep walking, until we're far enough away that we can collapse in the forest, all 200 of us. People disperse into groups, Talya slapping Dorian on the back. Now that we're out of danger, at least for the time being, Silas and Char have their moment. They pull into each others arms, just being there. Amara and I watch them, our fingers intertwined. The two of them pull apart, and Char brushes the hair our of Silas's face. They both laugh, and then Silas kisses him. It's sweet, it's sincere, and looking at Amara, I know it's all I've ever wanted. 

"Get a room you two!" Dorian yells at them. Char breaks the kiss the glare at him. 

"We're in the fucking woods, there are no rooms!" He yells, before Silas bends down to kiss him again. Amara barks out a laugh. 

"While I hate to break up the moment, quite a few of these people need medical attention." Talya says, placing her hands on her hips. "Or did we forget the fact that prison isn't a luxury?" Char breaks the kiss again, taking a step back. 

"Yeah, you're probably right." He glances at Silas, who still has their fingers intertwined. "Did you bring any bandages or do we need to magic some up?" 

"I've got some." Amara says, pulling some out of her pack. She must have grabbed them from where we left them before we entered the prison. 

"Great." Silas takes them with a small sigh, giving Char a small smile. "Who's first?" He wanders off with Talya, checking on the other escapees. I watch them go. 

"I'm going to see who else we have here." Dorian says. "Anyone care to join me?" 

"Sure, why not." Amara says, stretching her arm across her chest. 

"Great. I don't think there are any other members of the rebellion here, but it's always good to check." They walk away, their voices trailing off as I watch them go. I sigh, taking a seat on a rock close by. 

"Well, this is nice." Niran grumbles, sitting next to me. I arch an eyebrow. 

"There isn't a whole lot for me to do right now, okay? Something will pop up eventually." 

'Oh, sure. 'Let's just sit around and wait for a little bit, it'll be fine.'"He mocks. 

"Out of all the familiars I've met, yours has got to be the most sarcastic." I look up to see Char with an amused expression on his face. 

"Yeah, well, that's him." I say with a sigh. Char just laughs, sticking out his hand. 

"I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Charleyson Raev.Pleasure to meet you." I shake his hand. 

"Aideen. So what, you and Silas are dating?" I ask. Silas had never mentioned having a relationship before. 

"Oh no. We're married." I stare at him in shock. 

"I'm sorry, did you say married?" Do I need tog et my ears checked or something? Silas is married? 

"Yeah? Is that a problem?" CHar asks, confused. 

"No, not at all! I've just been living with him for 3 years, and he never told me he was married." I say in disbelief. 

"3 years?! How in the- Why-Silas!" He yells, storming off in the direction Silas and Talya went. 

"Well that's just cheery." Niran mutters. I give him a little kick. "Rude." 

"Seriously though, can yous top being sarcastic for 5 seconds?" I ask him, picking him up. He just glares at me. 

"Never." I sigh, placing him ack down. I decide to sty the woods we're in. They're fairly dark, but it is almost night. The trees are mostly pine, and the ground is covered in a layer of pine needles as a result. It's cold, and I can see my breath on the air. You can barely hear crickets chirping in the distance. Everyone has reformed into their little groups, talking amongst one another, this times with smiles and laughs instead of fearful whispers. It feels homey, in a weird way. Eventually, someone comes back with firewood, and I decide to put myself to work. The fire comes easily, and it take to the wood even easier. It's soon blazing, embers flying up into the night, radiating warmth. This is the biggest fire I've made since the incident. I realize with a start. It's weird to be so close to it. To have all of these people be close to it. I smile, standing back near the edge of the crowd. 

"It's beautiful." I glance over to see Amara next to me, her emerald eyes sparkling. I feel my face flush, and I tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear. 

"Thanks," I say, glancing at my hands. 

"Well, that's certainly inspiring." Dorian claps me on the back. I arch an eyebrow as he takes a sip from a bottle. "With power like that, we have a much better chance at winning." 

"Do I even want to know where you got the bottle?" I ask, glancing at the golden-brown liquid inside of it. Dorian grins, taking another sip. 

"Apparently Talya had it. Did you know that Volsterholm whiskey is some of the strongest stuff out there?" 

"And that's why this is to share." Talya says, appearing next to me to snatch the bottle out of Dorian's hands. She takes a sip herself, ending it with a burp. 

"Ugh. Forgot how strong that can be." She mutters. 

"You'd better not get drunk." Niran says. "I don't want to have to deal with that in the morning." 

"Seriously, I've never met a more sarcastic familiar," Char says, walking over with Silas. Silas hums his agreement, giving Arian a scratch behind the ears. The black fox glances down at Niran, who let's out a huff. 

"Oooh, sorry that I wasn't able to connect with my sorcerer for the first 18 years of her life." He says, tail lashing back and forth. 

"I'm not a sorcerer," I say. 

"Yeah, how would that even work?" Dorian asks, frowning. "Only elves can control an element." I shrug. 

"I don't know. I never knew my parents." 

"Oof. That's...not fun." Char says. I nod grimly. 

"Yeah. We grew up together." Amara says, resting her chin on the top of my head. I let out a little laugh, entwining our fingers together. 

"Orphanage?" Dorian asks, taking the bottle back from Talya. I nod. 

"Yup. Where the Tall Grass Grows." I say, taking the bottle from him for a sip. It's sweet, with an almost cinnamon like flavor. It packs a punch too. "Whew. That's...definitely something." It feels nice to be able to talk to these people. It feels...normal. 

"Wait, but didn't that--Oh! Oh." Dorian says as he realizes. I nod grimly. Amara gives my hand a squeeze, and the group quiets down. Talya takes the bottle from me before passing it to Char, who takes a sip. 

"Actually, I don't think I've properly introduced myself." He says, letting Silas take the bottle from him. "Charleyson Raev, pleasure to meet you." He offers his hand, and I shake it. 

"Aideen. Pleasure to meet you as well. Do I want to know how you met your husband who casually forgot to mention that you existed?" I say, glancing at Silas with a wry smile. Silas' face flushes. 

"Yeah, okay, I was...not the smartest," he mumbles, glancing at the ground. Char gives him a light punch on the arm. 

"Silas Raev, I can tell you that you are the biggest idiot I've ever met." He says, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Anyway, we met in an...odd way." Silas hums his agreement. 

"During the...dark ages, things weren't going well for me. I was constantly on the run from soldiers, and-" 

"Wait, why were you on the run?" Amara interrupts, her eyebrows furrowed. 

"Oh yeah, I'm a shifter." Char says nonchalantly. "Anyway-" 

"You're a shifter?!" Dorian exclaims. "Wha-you never-" 

"What's your other form?" Talya asks, taking a sip from the bottle. Shifters are able to change into an animal, a different one depending on who it is. No one's quite sure how shifters get their power, but they aren't quite magic users, but they're also not human, obviously. 

"A black panther." Char answers. 

"It's rather striking." Silas offers. Char rolls his eyes and continues his story.

"Anyway, I was being chased by soldiers and ran into the Dark Wood in order to get away. Long story short, it didn't work all that well, and I ended up getting shot. In panther form. Then this idiot comes out of nowhere and does some magic, literally nothing to harm anyone, and the soldiers run away. Silas thinks that I'm just an animal-" 

"Well, how was I supposed to know that you were a shifter?" Silas interrupts. "I was 17!" 

"And I was 15, and I still manged to be more responsible than you. Anyway, Silas thinks that I'm just an animal, and promptly freaks out when I start to change back. He thinks one of his spells went wrong, while I'm over here bleeding to death, until I slap him to get him to come to his senses." 

"You slapped Mr. Dark and Brooding? Good for you." Amara says, astonished. I laugh, and Silas glares at us. 

"Then Silas brought to his...tree, bandaged me up, and told me that I had to stay there." Char says, nudging his husband. "I was not particularly happy about this, and we didn't get along very well. Long story short-" 

"Too late." Talya mutters, crossing her arms. 

"-We eventually fell in love and have been happily married for 8 years." 

"Except for the part when you were in a prison camp for 3 years." I say, snatching the bottle out of Dorian's hands. 

"We were still married!" Char insists. 

"I thought you were dead, you realize that, right?" Silas says, taking Char's face in his hands. 

"Yeah. Yeah, I know." He says. Then, quieter. "I missed you." Then they kiss, passionately. Dorian lets out a little "awww," while Talya just rolls her eyes, taking the bottle from me and bringing it to her lips. 

"Well that's a little wild." Amara says. 

"What about you? What were you doing for 3 years?" Silas asks her. Amar shrugs. 

 "I already told you. Met an apothacarist, became an assassin, killed Commander Reinfeld-" 

"That was you?!" Dorian exclaims, eyes wide. 

"Hey, I helped." Talya says, arms crossed. 

"You did. And it was very helpful." Amara agrees. Looking up at her, I can see the light of the fire reflected in her eye. It gives her hair an almost orange look to it. Her scars stand out to me. It's weird how she can be so comfortable around the thing that almost killed her. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. 

"How did you get the name Lionness?" Char asks. 

"From my first sword." She says, placing a hand on it's black hilt, the one with the roaring lion. "Stole it from a man harassing a young woman. Well, I killed him and then I stole it, but same thing. Soon became my symbol of sorts." 

"Cool." Char says. 

We're silent for a while, and Talya continues passing the bottle around. There's the sound of chatter in the distance, and also the crackle of the fire. I close my eyes and feel the heat radiating off of it, letting it wash over me. Amara wraps her arms around my waist, and I lean into her touch. It's peaceful, and I'm glad. It's not like the Dark Wood, always somber, with my actions hanging over my head. It's not like Where the Tall Grass Grows, when I was shut off from the rest of the world, scared of what I could do. I'm still nervous about my powers, but I don't feel like I'm about to burst into flames at the slightest bit of emotion anymore. Maybe it's because Silas is here, and I know he'll be able to stop anything big before it escalates. Or maybe it's because Amara doesn't care, even though she's been hurt by the power I have. Maybe it's because it's suddenly useful, and these people are grateful for the fire I've created. Whatever it is, I'm glad it's there. Eventually, Char yawns. 

"Well, I'm going to go to bed." He says, stretching his arms over his head. Silas gives him a soft smile. 

"That's a good idea. I'll come with you." They walk off together, talking quietly. 

"No funny business you two!" Dorian calls after them, earning a glare from Silas and a laugh from Amara. "They are right though. It's late, and everyone else has gone to bed." He gives the bottle back to Talya, which is half empty at this point. Talya tucks it under her arm and gives him a pat on the shoulder before heading off. Dorian walks away to go find someone, and then it's just Amara and I, alone with the fire, which has been reduced to embers at this point. Amara sighs and steps away from me. I try to ignore the disappoint welling up inside me. 

"We should probably go to sleep too." She says, pulling her bedroll out of her pack. I nod, taking my bag from her. 

"Yeah. Who knows what we'll have to deal with in the morning." I say with a wry smile. 

"Mm." Amara takes off her belt and boots, laying down. I toss my own boots to the side, glad to finally get them off. I lay out my own bedroll next to hers, bundling myself in my blanket. Amara laughs. 

"You warm enough in there?" She asks, her eyes starting to flutter closed. I hum my agreement, letting sleep overtake me. 

I awaken to bird song, and a girl I don't recognize standing over me. With a screech, I launch myself backwards, feeling fire light around my right hand. I squash it down, letting the fire ficker out. 

"Wow. that was not the reaction I was expecting." The girl says with a frown. 

"Who the fuck are you?" I ask. Why is this girl in our camp at sunrise at all times? Her dark brown hair  cascades over her shoulder, and her honey skin looks almost golden in the sunlight. She has high cheek bones, and her hazel eyes have a mischievous glint in them. Her off-white tunic is a little bit too big for her, and is spotted with dirt stains. Her shoulders are covered with a magenta cloak, held in place with a sunburst pin. She has a dark brown belt with a single dagger strapped to it, and her pants are also brown. Her belt matches her boots, the laces ragged on the ends. 

"Sheesh, no need to be rude!" She says, tossing her hair over her shoulder. My yelling must have woken up everyone else, because next thing I know, Amara has the girl pinned to a tree, sworda t her throat. 

"Woah, woah!" Dorain says, running over to us. "Alexandra?" 

"Ah! THere he is!" The girl-Alexandra! Says. 

"You know her?" Amara growls. 

"I know all of them." Dorian says, gesturing to a group of people just outside of our camp that I hadn't noticed yet. They're a ragged group, most of them dressed similarly to Alexandra, minus the shockingly colored cloak. There's about 10 0f them, maybe a little bit more. They're all carrying sort of weapon, whether it's a pistol or a sword or a pair of daggers. 

"This is why we don't make sudden entrances." One of them steps forward. His shoulder-length blond hair is pulled into a short braid, and his gray-blue eyes look very annoyed. "Sorry about her." 

"I can apologize for myself!" Alexandra says, indignant. The blond man just sighs, massaging his temples. "Anyway, can you like, let me down now?" Amara glares at her, but sets her on the ground. 

"So who ar you?" I ask, standing up. She grins at me, holding out her hand. 

"Alexandra Kethsinai, right hand man to Jerack Losteras." 

"You're from the rebellion?" Char asks, suddenly at my side. I jump, unprepared for him to be there. "What happened to Resthon?" 

"Dead. Got caught on a mission." Alexandra says. 

"I hate her already." Niran says from where he's sitting at my feet. 

"You're more similar than you think." Char says, looking at the fox skeptically. Niran just scowls. 

"I'm going to ignore the crazy guy talking to the fox." Alexandra says. "Anyway, Dorian! Glad you're alive!" 

"Yeah, I'm glad to be alive. And I'm glad I found these guys, because I just got us a lot more firepower. Literally." He says, glancing at me. 

"Yeah, I noticed." Alexandra says, adjusting her cape. 

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Silas walks over to us, rubbing his eyes blearily. 

"Alexandra Kethsinai. Pleasure to meet you." She says with a smirk. 

"Kethsinai? What, are you Katerrian?" Silas says, arching an eyebrow. 

"Rai, qua reiante ka ki alonte ei facit." Alexandra replies, crossing her arms. Silas adverts his eyes, his cheeks turning red. He mutters an apology. 

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Alexandra says smugly. 

"I gotta admit, you found us pretty fast." Dorian says, spinning a necklace around his finger. 

"Generally when there's a group of 200 people who just broke out of a prison with the help of not one but 2 magic users, they're pretty easy to find." She replies, turning to her comrads. "Now, who's ready to go to our encampment, hmm?" 

The walk to the camp is a long one, and not just because most of the people with us are injured. Silas did his best to patch everyone up, but one man isn't enough for everyone. I've decided that I don't like Alexandra Kethsinai all that much, and the blond man, who's name is actually Terran, seems to agree with me on that. Terran and Talya seem to get along fairly well, trading stories for most of the walk. Char chats with some fo the rebels, and I start to suspect his capture is the reason Silas didn't want me to go looking for them. Speaking of Silas, he remains with Char, their fingers still intertwined. I'm starting to think that they might end up fusing together at this point. As for Amara, she stays close to me, although she likes talking to the prisoners. They keep thanking us for rescueing them, and I'm exactly sure of what to do with all that praise. 

We kick up dust as we walk along the dirt road. Fortunately, we don't see anyone else, or this would be awfully hard to explain. Trees tower above us on either side, branches waving in the wind. Brightly colored leaves rain down on us, and Amara has multiple stuck in her hair. I'm sure that I do as well. We're quite close together, and our group trails down the road quite aways. It's very narrow, and Niran and Arian are walking on the side of it, careful not to get in the way. 

"So! You're the famous fire wielder everyone's been talking about!" I'm thrown off guard as Alexandra slings an arm around my shoulder. 

"Um, yeah?" I say, attempting to get out of her embrace. 

"Nice. Your powers would be extremely useful if we had them on our side." I'm starting to get tired of everyone saying that. 

"Yup. I already realized that." I say, lifting her arm off my shoulder. It drops down to her side, and she immediately starts to fidget with a stray strand of thread coming off her cloak. 

"Well, that's good." She says, flipping her wavy hair off of her shoulder. 

"so...if your Katerrian, how did you end up here?" I ask timidly. 

"Hmm? Oh, I live with my uncle. Decided to join the revolution because it's my country too, ya know? " She replies with a wry smile. 

"Yes, that makes sense." Amara buts in, placing a hand on my shoulder. 

"Woah, calm down there Lionness, I'm not trying to steal your girl." Alexandra says with a wave of her hand. I feel my cheeks flush, and I look at the ground, giving a nervous laugh. 

"We're-we're not-" 

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that." Alexandra replies, giving me a pat on the shoulder before walking off to go bother someone else. I glance up at Amara, and we lock eyes for a moment. We both look away again, blushing profusely. 

"So, uh...excited to meet up with the rest of the rebels?" I finally say, wanting the awkward silence to disappear. 

"Yeah, it should be...interesting." Amara says. "Hopefully not all of them are like her." She gestures to Alexandra. 

"Believe me, we're not." Terran mutters as he falls in step beside us. "Someone just has to be a smartass all the time." He glares at Alexandra from where she's chatting with Dorian. 

"Well, someone's got beef." Amara says with a smirk. 

"Yeah, well, a certain overly-sarcastic 20 year old ended up being second in command of the revolution, while I'm overlooked." Terran says, throwing his hands in the air. 

"Aw, don't worry! You're still the Grumpiest Person I've Ever Met!" Alexandra calls back. Dorian laughs, sun light gleaming off of his gold eyes. Terran scowls, fists clenching at his sides. I chuckle softly. 

"We're almost there!" The rebel at the head of the group calls. Cheers roar up from the group, grins as bright as the sun. I flash a grin at Amara, who grins back. Talya gives the slightest indication of a smile, which from her seems to be the equivalent of jumping up and down and cheering at the top of her lungs. We keep walking, with new found speed and motivation. Then, I see it: A group of tents, ragged and in mismatched colors. I've never seen a more beautiful sight in my life. 

As we reach the clearing, and then there are people there, cheering and hollering. Char recognizes someone and drags Silas off to go and talk to them. Alexandra seems to have found her group, all of them exhibiting the same roudy energy. 

"We made it!" Amara cheers, crushing me into a hug. I let out a breathless laugh, wrapping my arms around her. She smells like dirt, blood, sweat, and something that's just distinctly Amara about it. We pull away with grins on both of our faces, revealing the slight gap between Amara's front teeth. As she brushes a stray strand of hair out of my face, I hear the crowd around us start to quiet down. I pull away from Amara, accidentally hitting her in the face with my braid as I turn around. 

"Sorry!" I whisper. Amara just shakes her head, stifling a laugh. When I do finally look behind me, I see a man. He appears to be in his mid to late forties, with short salt-and-pepper hair and a scruffy beard. HE looks exhausted as the crowd moves to the side for him. 

"Hey, there he is!" Alexandra pushes her way past Amara and I. The man sighs. 

"Commadner Alexandra. I see you found them?" 

"Sure did! Dorian, for one thing, and also the dealiest assassin the entire kingdom, and 2 magic users." She crosses her arms with a smug smile. THe man just arches an eyebrow. 

"Even after I told you not to go?" 

"We weren't supposed to do that?!" Terran says, turning on Alexandra, who simply rolls her eyes. 

"Relax, nothing went wrong. Actually, things went better than expected." She said, tossing her hair to hit Terran in the face. The man sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"Commander, please stop antagonizing Terran." He says. Alexandra rolls her eyes and gives a non-chalent salute. 

"Yessir, General Losteras!" Ah. So he's the general. He's different than I had imagined, although now I can see that he's pretty much exactly like how Alexandra had described. ("Tired, old, very done with, like, everyone. Also, he's short.") Once she also realizes who he is, Amara steps forward with her hand outstretched. 

"Gerneal Losteras, my name is Amara. You may know me better as the Lionness." She says, always polite. Losteras just raises an eyebrow, his green eyes suspicious. 

"I know who you are. What I don't know is why you want to help us." 

"I want to save my kingdom. I've seen things that no one should have to, and I've done things that I'm not proud of. I want to help." She says, looking him in the eye. He nods approvingly before his eyes fall on me instead. I gulp, taking a step forward and smoothing out my dress. 

"I'm assuming that you're the famous Fyornitha Ristch?" He implores, giving me a once over. I nod once, glancing down at my hands when I hear my infamous title. 

"Yes, although I'm not a huge fan of the nickname. It's actually Aideen." 

"Dually noted." He says with a sigh, turning to Alexandra. He gives Dorian a pat on the shoulder as he turns. Dorian salutes, grinning. "Commander, did you rescue anyone else?" 

"Who was part of the rebellion? Yeah, although he seems to run off. I have no idea who he is, but he seems like he's able to handle himself." Alexandra says with a frown, eyes scanning the crowd. 

"I'm over here!" Char yells, hand popping up from the back of the crowd... Now I can see Silas in the sea of people, looking around at everyone suspiciously. I roll my eyes and wave back as the couple slowly starts to make their way over to us. Losteras sighs again. 

"Well, at least it's something. Anyone else I should know about?" He says wearily. 

"Okay, so there's Dorian, Amara, and Aideen, but you already knew about them, there's also the terrifying red head-" 

"I heard that!" Talya yells from somewhere in the crowd. Alexandra rolls her eyes. 

"And then there's the other guy, and his sorcerer husband or whatever-" 

"I have a name you know." Silas says, pushing past her. Char rolls his eyes as he follows his husband. 

"Sorry about him, he's..." 

"Annoying? Sensitive? Grumpy? Kind of Oblivious?" Alexandra suggests. Silas scowls at her while Char holds back his laughter. 

"While all of those would fit...What, they would!" He says as Silas gives him an offended look. "I was going to say 'he's not a people person.'" 

"Would you two please stop?" LOsteras sighs, placing his head in his hands. Char turns to face him. 

"Sorry General. It's been awhile since I've been with others from our organization." Losteras's face lights up as he finally realizes who he's talking to. 

"Charleyson Raev? You're alive?!" He says, astonished. Char laughs. 

"It seems so sir. Although if it weren't for these three, I wouldn't be standing here." He gestures to Amara, Silas, and I. 

"To be fair, it was because I owed Talya one. She saved my life, I saved hers." Amara says with a smirk. 

"Oh please. As if I couldn't have gotten out of there on my own." Talya says with an eyeroll. 

"I don't think you would have. Trust me, I've tried." Char says, with a sad smile. I look away as I realize where the scars on his face must have come from. I don't want to know what others he has. Talya arches an eyebrow. 

"They still haven't met me. " 

"Yeah, she almost killed me when we first met, and that was when I had a sword and she had nothing but her fists," Amara says, elbowing Talya. Talya scowls at her, regaining her footing on the muddy ground. Losteras looks impressed. Talya is still a little odd to me. She's quiet, but from our prison breakout I can tell that she's very capable, and Amara's story confirms this. She keeps to herself, and had somehow managed to procure her own pack from somewhere, adding a leather vest to her outfit. It matches her sturdy dark brown boots. She's also added a belt with 3 knives sheathed at her sides. Another knife is in the garter on her leg, and I'm pretty sure that there's another one in one of her boots, and probably one on the inside of her vest. A large assortment of dangerous cutlery, but it seems like something you would need in our country. 

Dorian is also kind of odd, but in his own way. I can see why he's friends with Alexandra. It seems like he's always smiling in some way, or at least right now. When we were escaping, he was different, to say the least. Still cracking a joke, but I could see how his expression would darken when looking at those soldiers. I would hate to see what would happen if you made him even angrier. 

Amara bumps her shoulder against mine, and it draws me back to the present. Losteras has turned away, heading back for his tent while rubbing his temples. Alexandra, on the other hand, has her arm slung around Dorian's shoulders, and has somehow produced a bottle of whiskey. I immediately decide that I do not want to learn what Alexandra is like when she's drunk, and decide to head over near the edge of the encampment. 

"Hey! Where are you going?" Amara says as I start to walk away. She intertwines her fingers with mine, giving my hand a squeeze. I give her a soft smile. 

"I'm going to go find some quiet. It's been a long day." I say with a quiet chuckle. Amara laughs. 

"Yeah, that makes sense. It's almost a little too chaotic over there." She says, gesturing to where Alexandra has just dared Terran to chug the rest of the whiskey. 

"Agreed." We both jump as Talya steps out of the shadows. She frowns. "Sorry. I was looking for Char and his....what's the word? You know, the sorcerer guy? They're married?" 

"Oh! Husband?" I suggest, assuming that she's talking about Silas. 

"Yes! Husbnd! Your language is weird. Having gender specific terms for ketshami. Very difficult to remember." SHe says as she turns to walk off. I turn to look at Amara again, who's watching Taly a go. 

"Should I be concerned that she tried to kill you?" I ask,elbowing her. Amara laughs. I love her laugh. It's perfect. It's not melodious, it doesn't sound like bird song, but it's warm and clear, and it comes from her chest, deep and real. It reminds me where I am, that I'm truly with her. 

"No, that was awhile ago. And to be fair, it was my fault. I thought she was my target, when she had already taken out my target." 

"She's an assassin?" I ask, surprised. Amara smiles, a little grim. 

"Yeah. You know, when everyone talks about The Lionness, they know who I am. They know that I can kill people, and that I can do it easily. But you never hear them talk about Talya. That's because she's there if you want something done quietly. Me, I'm just the one you hire if you want to get it done quickly and efficiently. People may know that I was the one who did it, but the target will still be dea. Tayla? No one will know they're dead until at least 3 days after the incident. Her tracks will be gone, and no will know who did it. She's deadlier than I'll ever be. If I'm a lionness, Talya's a viper." She's looking at the ground by the time she finishes, almost as if she's ashamed of what she just revealed. I squeese her hand, giving her a small smile. 

"Hey, don't worry. I'd settle for a lionness over a viper anyday. At least you can still befreind a lionness, if you get to know her." Amara smiles back, and her strong arms envelop me in a hug. I let out a little laugh, hugging her back. 

"I'm glad you can still see good in me." Amara murmurs, so quiet I can barely hear it. I hug her tighter. I don't say anything. It's better to just sit in this moment, to be there for each other by just being there. Amara's cheek is pressed into the top of my head, and can feel her breath as it blows a few whisps of my hair into my face. We remain this way for a few more minutes, and I let the shouts and cheers of the others fade into the background. If I could stay this way forever, I would. 

"You know, you are very warm." Amara says breaking the silence. 

"What?" I say after a beat, looking up at her. Then we both start to laugh, touching our foreheads together. It's such a random comment, and after what Amara had said before, it had comeout of no where. 

"Oi! Lovebirds! You wanna join in or keep on being mushy together?" We both turn to see Alexandra standing a few feet away, bottle in hand. I'm honestly surprised she hasn't passed out yet, or that she's not intoxicated. Amara and I galnce at each other, having a silent debate between ourselves. 

"Well? Are you coming aor not?" Alexandra says, impatient. 

"Yeah no, you go have fun." Amara says once we come to an agreement. Alexandra shrugs, taking a sip from the bottle. 

"Your loss. Don't get too naughty!" SHe hollers after us as we start to walk towards some of the other tents. Amara flips her off, and Alexandra laughs before returning back to the group. We walk for awhile, hands always intertwined together. 

"You know, if we went back 5 years...I never would have imagined that we'd be here." I say, looking up at the sky. It's amazing how many stars there are. thousands and thousands of twinkling lights, all of them so much brighter than you could ever imagine. 

"Mmm. Yeah. To be honest, I thought I would be traveling the world." Amara says with a soft chuckle. Glancing over at her, I can see that her eyes are sad, the stars reflected in them. THe stars may be beautiful, but Amara's gorgeous, in every way. "I guess I kind of get that, in the end. I just didn't think I'd get the assassin part to go along with it." She glances down at me, and I find myself blushing, quickly looking back up at the sky. 

"I guess we don't get what we want in the end, do we?" I say with a sigh. Amara hums her agreement. 

"Not yet. But maybe someday we will." I glance over at her again, and I find her looking at me, something in her emerald eyes that I am too scared to face, even though I know it's reflected back in mine. I can adoration and love, and I want it, I always have, especially from her, but it still feels like it's looming over me, a voice whispering in my ear saying, she doesn't really love you. No one could ever love you, after what you've done. I look down at the ground, breaking away from her gaze. 

"We, uh...we should probably go back and check on the others." I say, starting to turn and walk back towards the way we came. 

"Yeah-yeah, that would be a good idea." Amara says quickly, falling in step beside me. 

The encampment is basically silent at this hour, besides the sounds coming from the large group at the center, and the crickets in the distance. There are a few lanterns on inside of tents, the soft ornage glow barely casting any light on the path in front of us. Not that we need it, with the stars to light our way. The cheers and shourts from the group start to fill the air as we get closer, and someone must have started a fire, because it's defiantly warmer as we enter the circular clearing. Or it could just be me, and and the extremely large and loud group of people in front of me. I rub my forearm nervously, letting Amara lead first, and staying close behind her. She starts to push her way through the crowd, looking for....someone, probably Alexandra or Talya. I scan the crowd, but I don't see Char or Silas anywhere. They have a lot of catching up to do, even with the long walk to the camp. Silas was consistently hovering around his husband during the trek, trying to make sure he was alright, that he didn't did any help, and also generally being a little too concerned for him. Char has stated multiple times that he was fine-("I'm not going to shatter into a million little pieces if I trip over a rock, please so help someone else!")-but Silas is Silas, so he didn't really stop what he was doing until Amara physically dragged him away to go comfort a 12-year-old who had lost his family. (Silas now has a new friend and possible child. I'm starting to think he's good at attracting teenagers who need a family.) 

"There she is!" Amara says, drawing me out of my thoughts once again. Looking over her shoulder, I can see Alexandra standing on a barrel of some sort, most definitely intoxicated and most definitely in need of help. 

"This is our-our place! Of-of belonging!" She slurs, struggling to find a solid stance. Amara sighs, and I can see her make eye contact with Talya, who is standing behind Alexandra making sure she doesn't fall. Talya looks extremely annoyed and is chatting with a different rebel while keeping a firm grip on Alexandra's ankle. 

"Wow. Who let her have that much?" Amara says, stopping to stand beside Talya. Talya arches an eyebrows, side-eyeing her. 

"I don't know. You'd think Losteras would keep better track of his troops, but apparently not." I stifle a laugh. Alecadndra keeps trying to go through her drunken speech. "Anyways, this is Jeral, they're my new friend. They're from Zenthia and also enjoys stabbing people." Jeral gives a wave. 

"Good to know. Nice to meet you, Jeral." Amara says with a nod. I smile at them. Jeral doesn't seem to care all that much. I look up at Alexadndra, whom is steadily starting to lean towards the side, looking like she's going to topple over any second now. I elbow Amara in the ribs, gesturing to the intoxicated commander. 

"Ow! What was--Oh shit!" Amara rushes forward to catch Alexandra as she passes out. "This girl is insane!" She mutters as I move to help her lay Alexadnra on the ground. 

"Tell me about it." Talya says, rolling her eyes. 

"You just have to get used to her." Dorian finally decides to make his presence known, and kneels beside Amara and I. "Seriously though, I can't believe she's done this again." 

"Again?! You're telling me she gets intoxicated like this every other day?!" Amara shouts, throwing her hands into the air. 

"No, more like once a month." Dorian says nonchalantly. 

"She really is crazy." I mutter under my breath. Alexandra is like nothing I've ever seen, and I'm honestly glad for that. I feel bad for her parents, especially when dealing with her as a toddler. 

"Well, we should get her back to the tent. Jeral, you want to help?" Dorain asks, addresseing Talya's new friend. Jeral shakes their head with a scowl. 

"No." They say simply, with a very think accent. The firelight makes their ginger hair look even more orange. It almost matches the orange part of my hair. 

"I'll help. Not like I have much of a choice t this point." Amara says, grabbing Alexandra and throwing her over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. 

"That's the spirit!" Dorian says with a grin, revealing dimples. Amara looks at him dubiously. 

"Just tell me where her tent is, or I swear I'll dump her in the nearest river." Amara says, completely serious. I laugh, and Amara elbows me lightly. 

"Wow, rude. Come on, it's this way." Dorian says, turning to lead us into the maze of tents. The sounds from the clearing start to fade away, and I'm glad for the silence. It's quite late at this point, and most people have gone to bed. Glancing up at the sky, I can see that the stars are still there. Good. Dorian leads us farther and farther away from the clearing, and I'm starting to wonder why Alexandra would want a tent this far away from the rest of the group. The farther we away we get from the others, the smaller and more scarce the tents to get, and the paths are more overgrown, clearly used very little.  I glance at Amara, unsure about this. I can see my own feelings reflected back at me in her eyes. 

"Are you sure this is the right way?" I ask Dorian, convinced at this point that he is either very lost or Alexandra is very anti-social, which I've gathered that she is not. 

"Of course! Are you suggesting that I don't know my own encampment?" Dorian says, turning around to give us a grin that's almost...wolf like. I stop in my tracks and draw upon the fire, throwing a wall between us as fast as I can. 

"Where the fuck is Dorian?!" I yell at him, eye wide and breathing heavy. 

"Right here? Obviously?" Fake-Dorian says, gesturing to himself. I glare at him, and the fire rises higher. "For crying out loud-" As I watch, Dorian's features start to fade in a glimmer of red magic, revealing none other than Drysten Feanthern. "Don't worry though, Dorian's safe back in his tent, too drunk to function." 

"Not you again!" Amara snarls, setting Amara don't he ground so that she can draw out her swords. Drystan laughs. 

"Wow. I really can't believe you fell for that. Aren't you supposed to be the deadliest assassin the kingdom or something?" 

"That would be me." Out of nowhere, Talya somersaults over my firey wall, landing in front of Drystann with knives in both hands. "Nice try, but you seemed to forget that Dorian tneds to put more weight on his right side than his left, especially when he walks." She snarls, throwing a knife at Drystan before darting off to the side. Drystan dodges the knife with ease, drawing a sword and lashing out at where he thinks Talya is. Talya whirls out of the way, swiftly drawing another knife from the inside of her boot, driving the knife through Drystan's abdomen. Drystan whirls around, and Talya ducks under his blade, kicking up to knock it out of his hands. Drystan falls backwards, clutching at his stomach as blood starts to seep through his fingers. He grins his wolfish grin once more, before he releases his spell, red smoke filling the air. It engulfs Talya as well, and I shut my eyes to stop them from watering. The smoke celars once again, and Drystan has been carried away by his spell, leaving Talya gasping for air. Still shaken, I let the fire go, and it tapers out. Talya stands, her expression angry. 

"How did you not realize it wasn't Dorian?! You just let him lead you away from everyone else?!" SHe shouts. I take a step back, but Amara lashes out. 

"What were we supposed to do?! We don't know anything about this encampment, and not all of us are as observant as you!" She cries out. Talya scowls at her but turns away. 

"Just go back to the clearing, and let me deal with the sorcerer." Her face is stony with resolve and angry as she turns and stalks into the woods. 

"Ugh....what the fuck just happened?" Amara and I turn around to see that Alexadndra is awake, and it holding her head in her hands. "Just how much id I have to drink?" 

"A whole damn lot," Amara mutters as she pulls Alexandra to her feet. I grab Alexandra's arm to help steady her. 

"Yeah, sure seems that way." Alexandra groans. "Where's Dorian?" Amara and I glance at each other. 

"He should be in his tent, but considering the action we just had, he could also have never been our friend and could have been an evil sorcerer the entire time, so...yeah." Amara says. We start to guide her back up the trail, careful to take it slow. 

"Considering everything that's happened to me, it could be possible." I mutter. Alexadnra barks out a laugh, but then clutches her head. 

"Ooh, last night was not a good idea. Evelynne is going kill me." My eyebrows furrow as she mentions someone I don't know. 

"Who's Evelynne?" I ask her. 

"You got someone special back home?" Amara tease, elbowing Alexandra lightly. Alexandra makes a disgusted face. 

"Ew, no! SHe's my sister, and love is pointless anyways. Which reminds me, I'm going to have to travel back once it's morning. Crap." 

"There are more of you?!" Amara hisses, her eyes wide. Alexandra arches and eyebrow. 

"I'm not going to take offense at that because I recognize that I have made some very bad decisions lately. But no, my sisters are much more responsible than me, even if Evelynne is a little bit vain and Penny is a hopeless romantic." She chuckles warmly, and I immediately wish that I had a sibling. I may have grown up with a bunch of other kids, but it's different when you all know that you aren't family, and that you have no one left to go to. 

"They sound nice. I'm sure I'd like to meet them someday." I say, kind of lamely. 

"Yeah, you definitely seem the social type. Maybe I'll introduce you. Just be prepared for your style to be criticized and consistent talk about history." Alexandra groans, still clutching her head. "Why the fuck are we so far out here?" I let out a nervous laugh. 

"You remember the thing about a sorcerer disguised as Dorian? Yeah...." I trail off, seeing that Alexadnra gets the idea. 

"Wow. You two are idiots." She says bluntly. I roll my eyes, and Amara glares at her. 

"We're no less stupid than you are." She mutters under her breath. 

"I heard that Lionness. Look out for a spider in your tent tomorrow night." 

"I swear, if you do that, I will personally get Aideen to light your clothes and tent on fire." Amara snaps. I laugh, amused at the thought. We continue to make our way back to the others, and the sun is starting to rise by the time we finally manage to dump Alexandra in her tent. I let out a yawn, feeling run down to the bone. The bags under Amara's eyes definitely need some help too. 

"Wow, what happened to you two?" I jump at the sound of Silas behind us. He looks well rested, and somehow managed to find clean clothes, and has as aquirred (Or, re-aquirred) one of the rings from the box I found. The one with the ribbon in it. Suddenly, that clicks into place, and as Char moves to stand by him, I can see the other ring on his hand, and the ribbon wrapped around his wrist. 

"Oh, you know." Amara yawns. "Had to deal with an evil sorcerer disguised as Dorian, and also a drunk Alexandra. Been a busy night." 

"Woah, an evil sorcerer decided to disguise themselves as me?! Cool!" Dorian's also appeared. Amara wear matching glares as we stare at him suspiciously. He looks take aback. "Okay than, not cool. I guess being involved in an evil scheme in some way isn't cool. Sorry." He crosses his arms over his chest. 

"Wait, the same evil sorcerer from before? Drystan Feanthern?" Silas questions. Char's eyes widen, but he doesn't say anything. I nod grimly. 

"That's the one." 

"Fuck." Silas runs a hand through his hair. Char elbows him in the ribs. "Ow! What was that for?!" 

"There's no swearing in this household!" CHar says, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, did you think my rules just disintegrated because I was gone?" Silas let's out a huff, rubbing the spot where Char hit him. 

"Well it's good to know that your elbows aren't any less bony than they were before." Char glares at him, but plants a kiss on his cheek anyway. 

"Well, Talya's taking care of Feanthern anyways." Amara says, crossing her arms over her chest. 

"We should probably help her. It can take a lot of knock off someone like Drystan." Silas says, glancing at Char. 

'No, I think she'll be fine. She already stabbed him once." Amara says, sounding proud. 

"SHE WHAT?!" Silas yells, blue eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Char slowly closes it for him. 

"Yeah, she stabbed him." I confirm, tossing my braid over my shoulder. 

"I'm going to her for advice for when my brother gets on my nerves." Dorian murmurs, shading his eyes from the sun. "In the mean time, you should probably get some rest. You look you're going to pass out," He says, pointing at me, "And you look exactly like Losteras does when he hasn't had any coffee in the morning." Amara snowls at him. 

"Yeah, you have a nearly identical scowl to his too." Char says, frowning. "Weird." 

"Alright! We're gonna go to sleep, good-bye!" I say, grabbing Amara's hand and leading her towards the tent assigned to us before she murders anyone. The tent itself is very small, barely big enough to fit the 2 of us inside. It's included in a mini circle fo tents, and I assume that Silas, Char, Talya, and Dorian have thier own tents somewhere in this circle. The fabric of the tent is thick and rough against my skin, but at this point I don't care. Our bedrolls have already been laid out, by who I'm not sure, but I still don't care. I collapse onto the bed roll, looking up at the top of the tent. Amara lays down next to me. Our arms brush together, and I turn onto my side, facing my companion. 

"I can't believe I just had to deal with the most insane girl in the kingdom." Amara murmurs. I let out a little laugh, closing my eyes. Amara's so close I can feel the warmth radiating off of her, welcome in the chilly autumn air that the tent does little to block out. I love being able to be close to her, to be able to touch her make sure that she's here. That this isn't going to be a dream that I'm going to wake up from and realize that none of it ever happened. Amara throws her arm over my waist, drawing me in closer to her. I sigh, content for the moment. I feel sleep start to drift over me, covering me like a thick blanket. I let myself slip under it, asleep in Amara's arms. 

The world is burning. That's the first thing I see. It's burning, and I know that this is my fault. This is not the world I once knew. This is hell on earth. It is bleak, and it is dark, and it is terrifying. But above all else, this is not Where The Tall Grass Grows. This is something else. This worse. 

"You left me." I turn around, and it's Amara. Amara as I once knew her, Amara before it all went wrong. "You tried to kill me." I open my mouth, but nothing will come out. I can't make anything come out. I clutch at my throat as the ground opens up beneath me, swallowing me whole. 

I am gasping for air, paddling at water on a deep ocean. It storms around me, rain on my face, waves crashing over my head. I am drowning, and no amount of fire will help me now. As the waves tumble around me, I see faces in them. Amara. Silas. The people of Where The tall Grass Grows. The people in Gheranstheral that never left the walls, who never made it out with us. the glimpse of a women I barely know, who might be my mother. All of my failures are appearing before me in flashes. All the people I have failed are around me, and theycannot save me. They will not save me. I am drowning, drowning, drown- 

I sit up with a gasp, drenched in sweat. Still in the tent. Still next to Amara, sleeping peacefully next to me. My breath comes out in heavy pants, and I can feel my heart racing in my chest. I'm glad the fire didn't start. I can't believe the fire didn't start. It's still growing, I squash it down, trying to make it go out. It won't go out. I keep trying. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to push the nightmare out of my head. 

"Aideen?" My eyes fly open as Amara's voice, still heavy with sleep, pierces the otherwise silent air. I turn to look at her, tears threatening to pool over. "Aw, hey, come 'mere." She opens her arms, I dive into them, burying my face against her collarbone. She holds me close, hands attempting to card through my hair. I still try to put out the fire. 

"I don't want to talk about it," I say. My voice is small, barely there. 

"That's fine," Amara says, pressing her lips to the top of my head. I just stay there, still shaken. Eventually, my breath slows down, and I can finally bring myself to meet Amara's eyes. She gives me a soft smile as I look up. 

"Sorry," I murmur, taking a deep breath. 

"Hey, don't apologize," Amara says, her hands cupping my face. I lean into that touch. "It's okay, it happens to all of us." A sad smile comes to my face, and I close my eyes once more, trying to shake the last of the panic from the dream. 

"Do you know what time it is?" I ask quietly. 

"No idea. It sounds pretty quiet out there, so I'm assuming it's not too late." Amara says with a frown, thinking. 

"It's just past one." Amara and I jump, whipping around to see Talya poking her head into our tent. "What?" She asks as Amara glares at her. 

"Don't do that!" I say. "You almost gave me a heart attack!" 

"That's physically impossible." Talya retorts with an eye roll. "Also, Losteras is looking for you." She says before leaving just as quickly as she came. Amara sighs. 

"That girl. Sometimes I wonder why I tried to befriend her." 

"Probably because she would have killed you if you hadn't?" I say, giving her a knowing look. Amara laughs, gently knocking me with her side. 

"Come on. We should go find Losteras." She says, standing and stretching her arms above her head. I smile at her as she extends a hand towards me. I gladly take it, letting her pull me up. We exit the tent together.

The sun is beating down on us as we step outside, and I shield my eyes as the light hits them. 

"Oh look! They're alive!" Dorian says, walking up to greet us. "Didn't have too much fun in there, did you?" 

"Shut up," Amara says, punching him on the arm. Dorian laughs, loud and boisterous. 

"I already heard Talya tell you, but Losteras is looking for you," Dorian says, slinging an arm over my shoulder. 

"Yeah, we know," I say, shrugging his arm off. "Where is his tent?" I ask, looking at Dorian. Then I remember the events of last night. "That is, if you actually know." I glare at him, suspicious. He grins. 

"Don't worry, it's the real me. Come on, it's this way." He gestures for us to follow him. I glance at Amara, and she shrugs. "Hurry up!" Dorian calls to us. I sigh and move to follow him. 

"You sure about this?" Amara whispers. 

"Yeah. I mean, Talya literally stabbed Drystan, so I don't see him bothering us for a while." I whisper back. Amara hums thoughtfully. We walk back up towards the main circle, passing people doing whatever tasks that have been assigned to them. Char and Silas are busy helping the people we rescued with their injuries, Silas doing any magical healing that's needed, and Char applying bandages to those who need it. I wave to them. 

"Wow, what happened to you?" I look down in surprise to see Niran lounging on a rock. 

"Where have you been?!" I ask, astonished that I haven't seen him since the walk to the camp. "Did you get lost or something?" Niran lets out a bark of laughter. 

"No, I was just avoiding the overcrowded minefield that this general area was." He says with a bored tone. I roll my eyes. 

"Arian was there too, if that helps." Char chimes in. Niran looks at him skeptically. 

"I always forget you can hear me." He says, laying back down. Char shrugs. 

"Arian hated me for a good 3 months when I was first living with Silas." He says. Arian, who has also appeared from somewhere, jumps onto Char's shoulder. Char laughs, giving the fox a scratch behind the ears. I sigh, shaking my head. 

"Oh sure. We're the annoying ones." Niran mutters, rolling his eyes. 

"Aideen! Are you coming?" Dorian yells, waving an arm in the air. I turn away from my overly sarcastic fox and jog to catch up to Amara and Dorian, who are standing outside what I assume is General Losteras's tent. 

"Impatient much?" I mutter as I join them. 

"Hey, I heard that!" Dorian says, smacking the back of my head. I scowl at him as Amara puts a protective hand on my shoulder. 

"Was that completely nessaccery?" I groan, rubbing my neck. 

"Hush and respect your elders." He says, opening the tent flap for me. 

"How old are you anyways?" I ask as I step inside, Amara right behind me. 

"19." He says, closing the tent behind us. It's significantly darker inside, and I take a moment to let my eyes adjust. It's big, much bigger than most of the other tents in the encampment. In the center is a large table, maps and pieces of parchment scattered around on the top. They're all covered in marks and notes in a messy scrawl that I assume belongs to Losteras. There isn't a lot of furniture besides the table, with a  couple of chairs and a bed frame. Losteras himself is standing at the table, pouring over his maps. Alexandra, whom I'm surprised to see after the events of the night before, is sitting in one of the chairs with her arms crossed. THere's a scowl on her face, and she barely acknowledges us when we walk in. For that matter, neither does Losteras, who seems to be lost in his own thoughts. Amara clears her throat, and he looks up, surprise evident on his face. 

"Ah! I was wondering when you two would show up." He says, taking a step away from the table. "I heard about your...adventure last night." 

"It was more stressful than anything." I say quietly. Losteras laughs, the sound filling the tent. 

"Trust me, I have more than a few days like that." He glances at Alexandra, who rolls her eyes as the comment. Amara lets out a short laugh, but I can tell that she's nervous. She keeps fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, tucking her hair behind her ear only for it to fall out again a few seconds later. 

"Anyways, why did you want to talk to us?" I ask, glancing at Amara. Losteras sighs. 

"Who was it who attacked you last night? Should I be concerned about what happened?" He asks, going back to the table. 

"He's a magic user." I say. 

"A sorcerer." Amara chimes in. Losteras arches an eyebrow. He sighs, running a hand through his short hair. 

"Do we have a name?" He says, staring at his maps. 

"Last time we fought him, he said-" 

"Wait, wait, wait-last time?! You've fought them before?!" Losteras says in disbelief, his green eyes wide. I nod grimly, remembering our encounter in the woods. 

"Yeah. He's..." I turn to Amara. 

"A nuisance." She says, crossing her arms. 

"Yeah. But anyways, last time we fought him he said his name was Drystan Feanthern." I confirm. "I don't know if that name means anything to you." 

"He also said that he was cousins with the late Commander Rietveld." Amara adds. I nod, pulling my braid over my shoulder. Losteras lets out a sigh, placing his head in his hands. 

"Just so you know, Talya Vesavras stabbed him before he could do anything too drastic, so that should stop him from bothering anyone for a while." I say, trying to help. Unfortunately, I don't know much about this guy, and that kind of scares me. He keeps appearing, and each time he's caught us by surprise. I don't want to know what he may do in the future. 

Losteras stands there for a moment longer, his eyes scanning the table top and his eyebrows furrowed. He sighs again before turning towards Alexandra. 

"And you three were the only ones who saw him? Besides Talya Vesavras?" He asks. Alexandra rolls her eyes, but nods anyways. 

"I mean, I was too drunk to function and passed out for half of it, but yeah, I was there." She says. LOsteras nods. 

"Oh! wait, Silas was there! The first time, not the second time. He seemed like he maybe might've known Drystan in the past?" I say, remembering Silas's half-successful rescue. 

"Really?" Losteras replies, suddenly interested. "I'll have to talk with him about that. In the meantime, you're dismissed." He says, waving us out of the tent. Amara and I head out, talking in low voices as we exit. 

"Do you really think we're out of the woods yet?" I ask her, concerned. Amara shakes her head, her expression grim. 

"No. He's attacked us twice, I'm sure he'll attack us again. You're right, Talya did stab him, so that'll put him out of commission for a while." 

"But he'll be back," I say, lifting my gaze up to meet hers. The sunlight reveals flecks of gold in her emerald eyes, something I never get to see too often. You have to be close to notice it. It's a subtle effect, but it's gorgeous. Amara smiles at me, and I can feel my cheeks flush. I look away quickly, my heart beating in my chest. 

"Anyways, we should probably go find...someone..." I say lamely, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. 

"Yeah." Amara sighs, squeezing my shoulder. "I'm going to go find Talya. See how her hunt for our friend went." She scowls when she brings up Drystan, her emerald eyes immediately going to the tree line. 

"Sounds good," I say, giving her a little wave as she walks off to go find Talya. A light gust of wind blows past me, and I shiver as it hits my bare arms. A whirlwind of red leaves falls from a tree in front of me, starting to coat the ground. We had never really had trees like this back home. You could see for miles, a sea of tall grass giving the village it's name. We were right by the Zenthian border, but we never crossed it. We weren't supposed too, and the soldiers walking along it greatly decreased our want to as well. In the Darkwood, it always looked like that short time in between spring and summer, when there's no snow but everything looks dead anyways. No leaves, ever. I had heard stories about how leaves would change from green to red in the fall, but I had never seen it myself until we started this journey. It's a little strange, how I've never seen things that some people see all the time. 

I pick up a leaf from the ground, twirling it in my fingers. It almost matches my hair, although the leaf is a bit darker. Sunlight filters through what;s left of the leaves as I sit down, my back against the tree trunk. I cup the leaf in my hands, watching as it flutters in the slight breeze. I close my eyes, and draw upon the fire within me. I'm surprised that I want to, for once. I feel it light in my palms, and as the edges of the leaf start to catch. The starts to turn black as the fire works its way inward. It's mesmerizing to watch, even though it shouldn't be. I should be scared of it, but I'm not. Or maybe it's normal that I'm not scared. I don't know. 

The fire starts to grow in size as I start to let my emotions get the better of me, and I quickly try to get it back down to size. The leaf is gone now, a tiny pile of ashes sitting in the palm of my hand. Slowly, I let the fire flicker out, letting the warmth disappear from my grasp. I almost don't want to. 

"I gotta admit, that's a pretty fancy party trick." I jump as I hear Char's voice, turning around to see him leaning against the tree trunk. 

"You scared me." I say, moving back to rest my head against the trunk as well. Char lets out a short laugh. 

"Mind if I join you?" He asks, gesturing to the ground beside me. I nod. "Thanks." He takes a seat, crossing his legs. We sit in silence for a while, and I watch a trio of rebels play some sort of game with a ball. They're just having fun, and I'm glad that they can do so in a dark time. Finally, Char speaks. 

"You know, I never got the chance to thanks you." I turn to look at him. 

"For what? Breaking you out of prison?" He doesn't need to thank me for that. It was...my duty, I guess. To help people. Char lets out a laugh, combing his fingers through his messy black hair. 

"No. For taking care of Silas, I guess. Keeping him out of trouble." 

"To be fair, I think we were taking care o feach other." I say. "And it wasn't always successful at times." 

"I know. BUt Silas can be a stubborn bastard if he wants to be, not even mentioning his stupidity, and, well..." His voice trails off as he makes a gesture with his hand. 

"Yeah, I get it. He's...definitely something." I say with a laugh. Char laughs too. 

"I'm sorry if he caused you any trouble." 

"No, he was fine. I guess it was nice to have someone who's kind of like me, or could at least help me with my powers. Silas is knowledgeable about that." I say, glancing down at my hands. 

"Yeah, it makes up for his horrible knowledge of human interaction!" We both laugh, and I almost feel bad for Silas, in this moment. 

"I can agree, he hates people. You should've seen him last night." I glance down to find Niran sitting next to me. 

"Finally decided to join us, hmm?" I say, giving him a pat on the head. The fox glares at me. 

"It's interesting that both you and Silas have fox familiars." Char remarks. "I wonder why." 

"You really don't know? They're realted." Niran says with an eye roll. And that's when my brain decides to stop working. Silas....me...related?!

"I-I think you have it wrong-Silas and I can't be related, I have these weird ass fire powers-Silas is a sorcerer! How would we be related?" I say with a nervous laugh, my hands going to play with the end of my braid. 

"I mean, yeah, that would make no sense. Silas's family-they-well-" 

"What about my family?" Char and I whip around to see Silas walking towards the tree. 

"So...um..." I glnace at the treeline. How do I explain this to him? 

"Aideen and Silas are related." Niran says non chalantly. I'm about to remind him that Silas can't hear him, but then I see Arian padding along at Silas's side. And then Silas sstops short, and his eyes are wide. He glances from Niran to Arian and back again. 

"There's no way." He whispers. Then he starts to pace, hands combing through his hair.  "No! No, this is crazy! We can't be related, I certainly don't have any kids and for you to be that age that would mean that-" 

"Silas!" Char stands, cupping Silas's face in his hands. "Look, okay, I know this seems impossible, but maybe, just maybe, Leysa's alive." Silas laughs when he says this, like he's not quite sure he believes his husband. I'm not sure what to do. Who's Leysa? I feel like I should know her. 

"I mean, I had my suspicions when she first arrived, but Iit can't happen, there's no one-no one too-" Silas's voices cracks, and tears start to slide down his cheeks. I glance at Niran. 

"How do you know we're related?" I whisper to him. Niran lets out a sigh, rolling his eyes again. 

"Fox familiars belong to the Raev family. Yada yada yada, we all know about this." He says, with a huff. "We're taught it when we're born. Familiars are here to serve the magic-user we're assigned too. My ancestors have served the Raev's for generations. Arian's my older sister." He says, nodding to Arian. 

"Interesting." I say, still a little bit in shock after what was just revealed to me. I watch as Silas nad Char continue to talk in low voices, their foreheads touching. This is huge, but it just seems impossible. I haven't any family for almost the entirity of my life. I've always assumed that they're all been dead, or that they just didn't care.  The fact that there is someone there, and also that I lived with him for 3 years without either of us figuring it out is insane. We both danced around our pasts, thinking that we had no one, even though there was someone right in front of us. And now here we are, learning that our family is still here for us from an overly sarcastic fox. Not exactly how I imagined my family reunion going, but it's close enough I guess. 

Eventually, Char takes a step back, smiling at Silas softly. Silas gives a kiss, short and sweet. Char glances at me. I offer a small wave. 

"Well, I'll leave you two alone. Let you sort out the family tree." Char says with a little laugh. Silas sighs, his hand going to the back of his neck. As Char turns to walk away, gesturing for Niran to follow him, Silas takes a seat next to me. 

"Good luck." Niran mutters as he follows Char, almost disappearing in the long grass around us. Silas and I sit in silence, both of us unsure of what to say. Finally, Silas speaks. 

"You know, Aideen Raev does have a nice ring to it." I burst out laughing at the awkward declaration. Silas gives me an offendeded look. "What! I was just saying that it sounds nice!" 

"I know but-we just had one of the biggest revelation of our lives and the first thing you remark on is that I now have a last name?!" I wheeze, struggling to find breath in between my laughter. 

"Whatdo you want me to say?" He asks with a huff, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Oh, I don't know. Who could my parents be? What's our family like? Is there a reason I'm a Zenthian who somehow ended up in an orphanage in Carthanis?" I ask. Silas sighs, placing his head in his hands. 

"Do you really want to know about the Raevs?" He asks quietly. I nod. 

"Yes. I-I have to know where I came from. Even if the answer isn't happy. I need to know." I place my hand on his shoulder. "Do you really want to tell me?" I don't know why, but he deosn't seem to like talking about his past. Especially the bad things that have happened. Whatever it is, it's going to be hard for him to say. He still nods anyways, leaning back to rest against the tree trunk. 

"Well...our family's Zenthian. You knew that, obviously." He says, glancing in my direction. "We used to live very close to the Carthanian border. Many of the people there knew we were magical, but we were always willing to help out using our magic. It was me, my mother, Aysil, my older brother Enver and his wife, Ahmya.They never had any kids. And then there was my older sister Leysa. Leysa was...definitely something. She was older than me, by almost 8 years, but we were the closest out of anyone in my family. Our family. 

"For awhile, everything was pretty normal. I never knew my father, but I didn't need him. We continued to help people where we could, our house was always crowded with both foxes and people, but it was never a huge problem. Until, one day, Enver went out hunting, and he..never came back. Ahmya was distressed, but there was nothing we could do. We had to keep on going. And then there was finally news, that the emperor was ordering for all magic users to be killed. We finally knew what happened to my brother, but we had no time to greive. We had to leave, and fast. Ahmya threatened to storm the capital by herself, even though she had no magic. We packed up and left the very next day. I was 16. We ran from our home, hoping to try and make a new life for ourselves in Carthanis. But luck was not on our side, and-and-" Silas' tears have returned, and I get where he was going with his story. My eyes go wide, and my hand moves to cover my mouth. 

"Oh Silas...I-I'm so sorry." I say, my tone hushed. 

"It's-it's okay. It was a long time ago. But Leysa...she sacrificed herself so that I could get away. I ran to the Darkwood. Used my magic to hide myself. And the rest is history." I stare at the ground, picking at the grass. It's many minutes before either of us speak. 

"So, your sister...she died?" I ask. 

"Well..I had thought so. For a long time. But now there's you, and so maybe she didn't I don't know anymore." He says with a bitter laugh. 

"I'm not sure I understand." I say quietly. 

"Considering your age, and the age Leysa was when I last saw her, there's a very good chance that you could be her daughter." Silas says. "Enver's dead, so there's no way you could be his kid, and you're too young to be my sister, so Leysa is the only explanation." He runs his hands through his hair. 

"Unless Niran was wrong." I add quietly. I almost want to believe he's wrong at this point. 

"Don't say that to his face, he might treat you to his death gare." Silas mutters. I stifle a laugh, knowing that this is not the time for it. It's silent again, the only sound being bird song coming from the trees. I really can't believe that this is happening. I have a family. Leysa Raev. Is she my mother? I just want to figure this out. I want to know where I fit. I have Amara, I have my powers, but I want to be able to know who I am. And now I can, and it feels..surreal. I never thought that I would ever be able to find my family. 

"But everyone else...they died? Aysil and Ahmya?" I ask quietly. "The emperor had them killed?" My hands clench into fists. 

"Not exactly. It was his order, but it was withdrawn only a few days after it was issued. He realized it was wrong. But..." Silas hesitates like he's unsure if he should tell me this. 

"But what?" I ask. 

"Lord Ethari kept going. I don't know why, but that's how the rest of my family died." He says, holding back a sob. 

"He killed them? For no reason?" I say, so quietly I don't even know if Silas heard it. He nods, and that's when he breaks down. He starts to sob, his head in his hands. I don't know what to do. I pat him on the shoulder, and then try to pull him into a hug. He seems to welcome it, wrapping his arms around me. He cries into my shoulder, and I let him. But even as I attempt to comfort him, my thoughts only go to one place. Lord Ethari. He killed my family. He's the reason I've been separated from my parents, the reason I was found by a merchant in the woods, all alone. It's his fault, and I want to make him pay.

Eventually, Char comes back. He takes Silas from me, nodding his thanks as he guides his husband back to their tent. I just sit there for a minute, trying to take it all in. Aideen Raev. That's me. A strong gust of wind blows my braid into my face and sends leaves spiraling through the air. I pull knees in close to my chest, staring at the treeline. There's a small group of crows picking through the grass, looking for something. The eight of them don't seem to be finding all that much. I get that. I've just discovered the one of the  things I always wanted, but I still feel lost. If anything, I feel even more lost. I know who my parents are, but I don't know where the they are. I don't even know if they are still alive, or if theydied after I was born. It's just too complicated, and it feels like after I solve one thing I just uncover another mystery to solve. 

I stand, dusting off my clothes. I should go find Amara. Or someone who knows what they're doing. Maybe I can go do something useful. Help out instead of just moping here. That's a good idea. I walk back down the hill and towards the tents, weaving through the maze of colorful cloth until I find Amara, sitting and talking with Talya. They seem to be having a good time, or at least Amara is. It's hard to tell with Talya. Amara's the first to notice me, giving me a little wave as her green eyes meet mine. I wave back, making my way over to her. 

"hey!" She says, jumping up from her seat with a grin. i smile at her. 

"How was the rest of your day?" I ask, curious as to what she did. Amara shrugs. 

"Meh. It was pretty good. What about you?" I take a deep breath, and then decide to just say it all at once: 

"So apparently Niran knew that Silas and I were realted because we both have fox familars, and so apparently Silas and I are cousins or something, although he might actually be my uncle, but I'm not entirely sure, but long story short most of my family is dead at this point but Silas's sister might be alive and might be my mother, and also apparently my last name is Raev?" I'm still confused. I'll probably be confused for the rest of my life at this point. Amara stares at me for a solid minute, her eyes wide. 

"Wow. You learned all that from one conversation?" Talya says, taking a sip from the bottle in her hand. I groan and place my head in my hands. It's still too much. 

"Okay...okay..." Amara mutters, her eyes still wide. 

"Honestly, this makes perfect sense." Talya says. "You and Silas are both magic users, both with fox familiars, and also from Zenthia, and you didn't put two and two together?" She sounds thoroughly unimpressed. 

"I know it's a little strange, but  we also just didn't talk about our pasts. I mean, Silas knew mine because he put two and two together, but he never talked tome about his, what was I supposed to do?" I say, starting to pace. I shouldn't be panicking like this. Talya's right, it does make perfect sense, and I'm not entirly sure why I did manage to figure it out before this, but I'm learning about it now, so that's good?? I guess? 

"So you're related to..the grumpy sorcerer. Yeah, okay, that does make sense." Amara murmurs. 

"Oi! Fire! We need you now!" I whip around to see Alexandra waving at me frantically frm the top of the hill. Looks like dealing with revealtions would have to wait for now.  

"Let's go." I say to Amara, who takes my hand. We hurry up t where Alexandra is waiting for us. 

"Okay, we found something, but Lord Ethair is marching towards it as well. Long story short, it's a magic something or other. Silas is alreadyy here, but we figured we might as well grab you too." Alexandra turns, walking back towards Lostras's tent. 

"Wait, me? I'm not qualified to look at magic obejects!" I protest. 

"Girl, you're one of the only ones who is qualified to look at magic objects. Besides Mr. grumpy pants, of course." Alexadnra rolled her eyes and walks into the tent. Amara nd I follow her.