Quenti sat carefully on the edge of the water and stared into the murky depths. Their trip up the river had brought them a bit into the mountains and cloud forest, but they were still too low for the water to be clean and clear. It wasn’t quite the muddy mess of the river near Quenti’s childhood home, Hurazon, but it still took squinting to see the fish rippling beneath the surface.

She closed her eyes and plucked at her magia, letting the coolness run through her. Opening them, she reached out and gently touched the river with her abilities and let it sit there for a minute. She waited patiently, magia held gently. Her father always told her she was too impatient, but then again he had never seen this side of her. This side of her could sit on the edge of the water perfectly still so long as her abilities were engaged. She was just too impatient to wait for stupid fishing nets to work.

It took a couple minutes for the timing to line up, but she abruptly snatched the water toward her, a wriggling fish caught in the bubble. With a small prayer to Sol, she let the fish fall onto the earth beside her and sucked away the last of its water with only the smallest bit of guilt as its movements slowed. She did this a few more times until she had a small pile beside her, exhaustion pulling at her core again.

She had used her magia more over the last few days than she had in the years growing up—at least before she met Khuno.

The thought of her brought another wave of emotions over Quenti. Emotions she was too tired to fight off. She was excited to see her again. Anxious about what she had been thinking these past weeks when Quenti hadn’t shown up as planned. Worried of what her people’s reaction would be when Quenti showed up with Alara in tow. None of this had been a part of the plan.

But she remembered Khuno talking about mind-walkers who lived in her village, walkers strong enough to erase a memory or even rewrite someone’s mind. Strong enough, Quenti hoped, to send Alara back on her way, none the wiser to where Quenti had gone. Or maybe the mind-walker was strong enough to erase the brainwashing Alara had gone through at the Haven.

Quenti snorted at this as she rose finally, collecting her catches from the ground. She doubted anyone was strong enough for that.

***

“What happens if I go with you…to wherever you’re headed?”

Alara had been staring at the fire when Quenti returned. The shadows of dusk had completely enveloped the clearing and Alara’s fear of the dark had apparently outweighed her discomfort with fire.

“I can’t exactly stay forever,” Alara noted.

“You might find you like it above ground,” Quenti said with a smirk.

Alara did not seem amused by the comment.

“Look, once we get there, I’m sure you can get some supplies and head back then. You’ll be better prepared to return to the Haven if you have more than some clothes and a dull dagger. And maybe they can even spare a escort to help.” Quenti’s eyes didn’t meet Alara’s and she knew the other girl noticed.

“Right…an escort…” Alara said, her sentence drifting off, laced in doubt.

Quenti ignored the uncertain tone and turned her concentration back to cooking the fish she had laid out on a stone nestled in the hot coals of the fire.

***

The fish was buttery on Quenti’s tongue. They sat in silence, with only the sounds crackling of wood and the soft hum of wildlife just outside their ring of firelight to keep them company. The sky had darkened and with it the shadows in the forest had turned black and deep. The air was still moist and held some of the warmth from the day and the fire radiated dry and heavy heat. Quenti felt her body relax for the first time in weeks as the warmth spread over her. She had spent the past countless nights huddled against the shadows, too afraid to light a fire while still in the borders of Sombria where she was being hunted.

“So, how did you get so good at using your magia?” Alara asked.

Quenti flinched, just a bit, in surprise at the broken silence. She looked over at Alara who wasn’t looking at her, but staring instead into the flames. “I already told you.”

Alara paused, seemingly mulling over Quenti’s non-answer. “I mean, why didn’t you ever get picked up in the Testings?”

Quenti didn’t speak immediately, her mind racing with images of all the Testings that she had indeed participated in. She chewed on the piece of fish in her mouth until it melted into nothing and her throat was left empty and dry.

“Mama didn’t trust the Haven. She didn’t trust the Council,” she said finally.

Alara didn’t interrupt the long pause that followed, her eyes still focused on the fire.

“So when I was young, she taught me not to use my magia around others. And if someone did see me use it she would make them forget.”

Alara’s mouth hung open. “Your mama is a mind-walker?”

“Was.” Quenti gave a sad smile, trying to push back the ache in her chest. “She died a few months back. Pneumonia. The way it happened was so…ordinary. Way too ordinary for someone like her.”

“I’m sorry,” Alara said. Her voice softer than Quenti had ever heard. “You know, I’ve never met a mind-walker before. There’s one in the Haven, but the Council won’t even reveal who they are. I think they keep them secreted away for their own safety. They are incredibly rare!”

“They are. Which is why the Council seemed so interested in me. Once your not-mother-guardian figured out Mama was likely a mind-walker, they thought I might be one too.” Quenti said.

“Are you?”

Quenti shook her head. “If I was, do you really think I would have needed to kidnap you and jump off a cliff to escape the councilguards?”

“So you admit to the kidnapping,” Alara said, with a lopsided smile.

Quenti blanched slightly at the comment. Even if made in jest, she felt the sharp bite of shame and swirl of anxiety at what would happen when they got to Khuno’s village.

“That was your papa back in Hurazon?” Alara broke the silence again, apparently aware of the sudden thoughts spinning through Quenti’s head.

“Yeah.” Quenti didn’t elaborate. She didn’t like talking about Papa.

“He didn’t know about your magia.” It was a statement, not a question.

“No. He and Mama didn’t always agree on things, particularly when it came to the Council.”

“So you don’t want to go home?”

Quenti let out a cold laugh and waved her hand. “No. He’d just send me right back to the Haven.”

The sleeve of her tunic rode up and Quenti saw Alara’s eyes widen as she glanced at her bare wrist.

“Your bracelet’s gone.”

Quenti pulled down the arm of her tunic, covering her skin again and gave a shrug.

“How did you get it off? They’re impossible to remove!”

“I found a key. It wasn’t hidden or anything. Stupid on their part, really.”

But not as stupid as Quenti had been for letting Alara see her bare wrist to begin with. The last thing she needed was for Alara to go back to the Haven, questioning if someone had helped her remove her bracelet.

But before they had a chance to do their dance of pursuit and avoidance, a branch snapped in the forest just behind Alara. They both fell silent, Quenti’s ears straining to hear. Another branch snapped and she heard the bushes rustle a few yards into the shadowed forest.

There was someone or something nearby.