Quenti tried to signal to Alara, but the girl was turned, eyes fixed on the dark trees.

“Emaru?” Alara whispered.

Quenti’s eyebrows furrowed. Emaru and her soldiers would be half a day’s walk from them still. She crouched, reaching into her bag for the bow she had stolen, and snatched a handful of arrows without taking her eyes off the shadows. There was another rustle of leaves.

She worried Alara might call out again, but instead, the magite stood up, taking a step back. She looked at Quenti, recognizing the situation for what it was. Her eyes scanned the surrounding area, no doubt looking for the weapon she no longer had. Quenti groaned to herself. Now would be a good time for the magite to have her trusty spear.

Her hands shook as she tried to notch an arrow. She wasn’t a good shot. A fisher and trapper, yes, but no archer. She only hoped she was decent enough to spook whatever was lurking out there.

“Get behind the fire,” she ordered.

Alara listened without hesitation. “What do you think it is?” she said, her voice hoarse and quiet.

“Nothing good.”

A second later, an enormous cat the size of a l’lama stepped out from the shadows and into the circle of light their fire gave off. Its fur, a deep rich green, shimmered in the firelight, and the ground beneath its paws undulated in its wake.

Quenti felt her stomach drop. She had never seen a pumisi before, but her mother had told her stories as a child, the kind of stories that kept children from running too deep into the forest alone.

“Shoo! Go away!” Quenti shouted instinctively. Was she actually telling a near-legendary beast to shoo? “Go! Get out of here!”

“By all means, say please while you’re at it.”

Quenti didn’t reply, but gave her an annoyed look. “Leave us alone.” Her voice was firm and loud, but her entire body trembled as the giant cat took another step. The ground shuddered, and a log fell over in the fire, emitting a wave of sparks.

“I don’t think it’s listening to you,” Alara said.

Quenti didn’t look over, but raised her bow and pointed it at the wide body of the feline.

“Do you know what you’re doing with that thing?”

“Enough.”

“Perfect, we’re betting our lives on, enough.”

“No, I’m telling you to shut up.”

Quenti let an arrow fly. It flew fast and true—straight over the pumisi’s head.

“For the love of… give me your bow,” Alara said.

Quenti ignored her, letting another arrow fly. This one struck the beast, but glanced off its thick hide. Intelligent feline eyes flickered to Quenti, looking more annoyed than anything, before resting on their day’s catch roasting on the stone in the fire.

“Give. Me. The bow.” Alara said. “Give me anything.”

Quenti clenched her teeth. “I’ve got this.” And I don’t trust you with a weapon.

Quenti notched another arrow, aiming for the pumisi’s head. This time, the arrow grazed the feline’s ear as it sailed above it.

“No you don’t, and I don’t feel like dying,” Alara’s voice was loud, any pretense of keeping quiet gone.

The pumisi shook the ground as it moved again. Yellow eyes turned on the two girls. The dirt around its paws swirled and rose into the air, caught up in the animal’s own magia. Mouth open, long fangs sparkling in the firelight, the green feline let out a silent roar, and the entire forest seemed to creak, the ground around them jerking and shuddering. Quenti fell backward, bow falling to the side. Beside her, Alara rode out the quake, knees bent and fists clenched.

Quenti looked back just in time to see the pumisi crouch, readying to pounce. She reached for the bow lying beside her at the same time the animal rose into the air. Before her fingers even brushed the wood, a burst of heat threw her back. The world shimmered in white and red.

A sharp cry filled the air and Quenti saw the beast land in a heap on the ground, fur singed black, as the surrounding flames faded back into the fire. It let out a soft yowl before pulling itself up, bounding into the woods beyond the clearing.

Quenti looked up at Alara, still standing beside her, arms raised. The other girl’s skin seemed to glow with heat and light. And as Alara glanced at Quenti, the glow dimmed before snuffing out altogether.

“Thank you,” Quenti choked out. Her throat was hot and dry. She looked down at the bow, useless beside her, and tried to ignore the small swell of shame bubbling up. “You were… good.”

“Are you okay?” Alara said, eyes darting around. Quenti followed her gazed, seeing her sleeve singed, but nothing else out of place.

“Yes. Fine.”

Quenti was suddenly aware of how cold it was. The fire was only smoldering embers now, the fish burnt down to nothing.

“I killed the fish.”

Quenti let out an involuntary laugh, though she still had the metallic taste of fear on her tongue as she pulled herself up from the ground.

Alara stared glumly at the charred remains of dinner.

“I can catch more tomorrow. I have some jerky if you’re still hungry.” Quenti motioned toward the bag.

Alara shook her head, turning away from Quenti, making a bed of leaves farther from the fire than was probably necessary. Quenti shook her own head at the other girl’s slumped shoulders. Alara had just scared off a pumisi, but she looked like she’d just murdered someone.

Quenti cleaned up the remnants of the fish, tossing them as far into the trees as she could without stepping out from the waning light of the embers. She was being overly cautious considering there was no meat left, just ash. After drying out a few more pieces of wood, she tossed them onto the fire, stoking it until they lit.

When she finished, she gathered her aguayo over her shoulders, picked the small club from her bag and sat down on the edge of the woods closest to the firelight.

“We should keep watch tonight. I can take the first shift,” Quenti said, looking where Alara lay. The magite wasn’t listening. For a moment, Quenti remembered the glow of Alara’s skin after she had used her abilities. Now her eyes were dark and somber, skin back to its pale brown.

“The Haven really did get inside your head.”

Alara’s eyes refocused and looked over at where Quenti was sitting. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I can read your face like a book,” Quenti said, smirking.

Alara didn’t reply, rolling over to look at the sky.

“You know you were glowing after the pumisi attacked. Literally glowing. I’ve never seen that before. I’ve never seen a fire mage at work before, in all honesty.”

Alara gave a small hmph of acknowledgment.

“But now you look—ashamed.”

“I should have been able to control my magia better.”

“Better? You lit the entire clearing on fire and all I had to show for it was a singed cuff.”

Alara was silent in response.

“Is this what the Haven teaches? How to fear your magia?”

“I don’t fear it.”

Quenti could tell that was a lie, even Alara didn’t believe. The other girl rolled over on her makeshift bed, looking at her incidental captor for the first time since the conversation began.

“El’dyo gave magia to teach control and discipline,” Alara said after a moment of silence. “So we could prove ourselves faithful. But I just don’t understand why I need to use my magia to show discipline. Isn’t it better to prove that I don’t need it at all?”

“So El’dyo gave us magia… so we wouldn’t use our magia? You seriously believe that.”

“It’s not about believing. It’s in the teachings. We know it to be true.”

Quenti groaned. “Our magia wasn’t given to us by anyone. It wasn’t something to be given. It’s just us. It’s life.”

“That’s blasphemy.”

“That’s just what they say if anything clashes with the Council’s rules.” It was Quenti’s turn to look away now, her eyes focused on the stars bright above her.

Quenti sat for a moment, remembering the stories her mother used to tell her about Sol. Just another secret kept from her father—the old religion long ago banned by the Council. But Quenti always loved the stories. It was a faith filled with hope and balance and life, not fear and power.

By the time Quenti looked back across the clearing, Alara was asleep.

****

Some time later, after Quenti added wood the fire for the third time that night, she nudged Alara awake with her club. The other girl awoke quickly, but silently. She simply nodded and stood up to move toward the fire.

Before she got two steps, Quenti stopped Alara with a small grunt. Saying nothing, she handed her the club and lay down on the bed Alara had made, turning away and closing her eyes.