Quenti felt for the dagger strapped to her leg beneath a small tear along the seam of her trousers. The look that passed between Ardo and Alara gave her a feeling of unease. This was about as unlucky as things could get.

Stupid girl. Quenti’s old mindset about Alara bled back in, setting her teeth on edge.

“How…? When…?” Ardo stumbled over his words. He looked back at Alara expectantly.

“I…” Alara’s eyes were flickering between the young councilguard and the bruyas beside her. Quenti slowly reached into the seam and felt her fingertips meet cold metal. This was the end of the line.

Stupid girl, she thought again.

She could see the determination melting from Alara’s eyes with each breath. She was going to betray them. But Quenti wouldn’t let this end without a fight.

“It’s good to see you.” Alara melted into Ardo's chest, and he held her in a tight embrace. “I’ve missed you.”

Quenti’s hand wrapped around the dagger, and she felt Runeo shifting.

“I missed everyone. It just took so long for us all to escape,” Alara continued, pushing back from the councilguard. She glanced at Quenti, eyes now sharp.

Heart beating hard in her chest, Quenti unclenched her fist from the cold metal of the dagger. A feeling of relief washed over her. Perhaps they could turn this around.

“Escape?” he asked, gaze finally moving toward Quenti, eyes widening with recognition.

“The bruya encampment,” Alara said. “It was terrible. Quenti was brainwashed, and they convinced her to run away. But when we got there…” She flung herself into Ardo’s arms again, likely stalling for time.

“They lied to me,” Quenti continued, trying hard to keep a smile from plastering across her face. “They were savages. They just wanted me to help ’em raid the villages because I knew the area,” she forced her voice into a quiver.

Out of the corner of her eye, Quenti could see the muscles in Runeo’s face twitch as he clenched his jaw.

Come on. Keep it together, Runeo.

“We found these two,” Alara continued. “They were kidnapped from the outskirt villages years ago and wanted to leave. Just like us. So we made a plan, waited, and escaped.” Alara paused for dramatic effect. “I’m so happy to be home.”

The last line wasn’t a lie, though Quenti couldn’t blame her.

Ardo’s eyes were still darting between the four of them, but they settled on Alara.

“I’m… I’m glad you’re home, too.” He rested a hand on her arm. Quenti finally felt her body relax. She hadn’t realized she had been clenching her jaw just as tightly as Runeo.

One councilguard behind Ardo stepped forward, his brow furrowed in suspicion. “Then tell us why you’re coming from the wrong direction. You disappeared in the south.”

Quenti smacked Alara on the shoulder with too much enthusiasm. “I told you we went the wrong way back there!” She turned toward the suspicious councilguard. “She insisted she knew better than me.”

“Why don’t we escort you down to the entrance, so you don’t get turned around again?” Ardo said, looking between them warily, battling between his instinct to believe Alara and the seed of suspicion already planted. “Senye Emaru’s going to be so happy. She’s been going crazy searching for you.”

“We just need…” Quenti started, unsure of where she was going. “Because… well…” She bit her tongue before the next words slipped from her lips. We had planned to take the secret passage. The secret passage that no one knows about. Especially you.

Everyone was focused on her and all she could do was stare at the ground. Even Quenti would have admitted this wasn’t her greatest moment.

“All right, then,” Runeo said, his tone exhausted. With a swiped of his hand, the two unnamed councilguards were blown over and Ardo’s spear flew from his hands.

His eyes widened in surprise and his gaze fell on Alara, a flicker of betrayal painted on his face. The magite froze at the soldier’s glare. Runeo tossed Quenti the spear as he pulled out his bow. She caught it and twisted its point toward Ardo, his Adam’s apple bobbing next to the point.

“Don’t hurt him,” Alara said, eyes wild.

“I know that, stupid,” Quenti said. “But we can’t just leave him.”

Runeo grumbled, frustration mounting. Before either Quenti or Alara had time to react, he had pushed between them and swung a clenched fist at the councilguard’s face.

Blood spurted from Ardo’s nose as he stumbled back. Runeo sent another punch into his gut and the guard crumpled. Alara let out a small gasp, one that mixed relief with anxiety.

Runeo then turned his attention to the other two guards, who scrambled to their feet, grabbing for their fallen weapons.

He sent a wave of air whirling toward them. The leaves on the forest floor swirled in a miniature cyclone, but the leftmost guard dodged the attack as the other swung his hand, shooting a blast of air back at Runeo.

It hit him on the chest, hard, and he flew back. The other guard snapped his wrists together, sending a ring of fire from the flint housed under his sleeves. A flaming wall shot up behind the bruyas, preventing their escape.

“Now would be a great time to be a fuegen,” Runeo said to Alara.

The magite had already come to the same conclusion, and shook as she attempted to grasp her magia.

Quenti bit her lip as nothing happened. They didn’t have time for this.

“Hey, magite,” Quenti said, tossing the spear to her companion. “Catch.”

Alara snatched the weapon out of midair without missing a beat, the faintest of smiles escaping her lips. “Non-lethal,” she said. “Got it?”

Quenti felt herself give the briefest of frowns. She understood why she would say that, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a liability to them.

But Alara didn’t give the girl much time to second-guess. Before Quenti could even complete her thought, the magite swung the dull end of the spear toward the fire mage’s gut. He dodged her obvious move, and she grinned, spinning around him and stabbing the spear into his right palm. He let out a cry, pulling his injured hand to his chest.

“I think we’re bound to attract a little attention.” Lili said, her voice anxious.

“I think we already have,” Quenti said, looking around the clearing, dagger out. She wasn’t a trained fighter like the others, and she felt helpless watching Alara and Runeo spin in circles with the two councilguards. But she couldn’t just stand by and let the others carry her. Grasping at the cool threads of her own core, she searched the air and ground for water. It formed itself into a small bubble and she threw it in the face of one of the guards. He staggered back, allowing Alara to strike him hard in the side with the butt of her spear, sending him sprawling onto the ground.

He was wheezing heavily, but didn’t move to get up immediately. Quenti looked around for their bags and the rope she knew was in them, before movement pulled her attention. Suddenly, Alara was slammed to the ground, spear tossed to the side, the green and black of a familiar councilguard’s form above her.

Ardo twisted the magite’s wrists in his hand and a small dagger pressed against the soft skin of her throat. The three of them froze, the sound of fighting only a muffled presence in the back of Quenti’s awareness.

“Why…?” His voice was rough, but soft.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Alara gasped out as his hands clenched hard against her wrists, grinding her bones against each other. “You have to understand.”

He shook his head. “I can’t. Explain it to me.”

Quenti gritted her teeth. When she’d first met the stupid girl named Alara, she would have been ready to toss her to the pumas at her first chance. But seeing the magite on the ground at the mercy of a former friend all in the name of morality…

“She’s just trying to help me,” Quenti said. “I threatened her if she didn’t.”

Ardo didn’t even look at her as he replied. “Not you. Alara. Explain it to me.”

“The councilguards,” she said, voice strained. “They captured innocent bruyas. It was my fault.”

Ardo’s eyebrows furrowed. “You’re trying to save bruyas? That’s our job. You know that.”

“It’s complicated. Please, just let us pass.” Alara’s hand curled under Ardo’s grip. “Please.”

The dagger against her throat sagged, and Quenti saw his body shift.

But before he fully committed, Lili came up from behind him and placed a hand on his head. In an instant, Ardo’s body went limp, and he fell sideways.

Alara jumped up, feeling for his pulse. “What did you just do?”

Lili’s eyes were wide. “I put him to sleep. I’ve done it when healing people before—when their pain is too great.” She looked down at Ardo, pale. “Though I honestly didn’t know that would work.”

Despite the momentary confusion, a look of determination returned to tierren’s face, and she turned to the mage that was still struggling to breathe on the ground. She lunged at him, grabbing his injured hand with a look of guilt. As the man cried out sharply, she placed a finger on his temple and let him slip onto the soft dirt, unconscious.

She turned to where Runeo fought, grabbing the bolas hanging from her belt, though she didn’t throw them immediately. Runeo and the wind mage were moving too fast for her to get a clear shot.

“Quenti, distraction,” she said.

Quenti nodded, eyes glued to the fight. She concentrated and pulled again at the cool water around them, seeping from the soil and the humid air. Fog thickened around the face of the wind mage. He stumbled at the loss of his sight, but kept his footing. Lili used the moment’s distraction to throw her weapon. It hit the wind mages’s spear and jarred it out of his hands. In the second it took him to turn, Lili had already stepped behind him and placed her hand on his head.

His eyes went wide for an instant before he fell hard to the ground.

“How long will they be out?” Runeo said, his breath heavy.

“Long enough,” Lili said. “I hope.”

“We can tie them up and try to hide them, but someone’s bound to find them, eventually.” Quenti held a rope she had pulled from her bag.

Runeo took it and went to work. He tied the wind mage’s hands and Alara pushed him out of the way to tie Ardo’s wrists herself, though Runeo made no secret about making sure the job she did was sufficient. She bit her lip when she finished and placed an icy hand against his cheek, holding it there for a breath. Quenti averted her eyes.

Runeo worked quickly, dragging the two guards’ bodies over to a tree with low branches. Quenti and Alara dragged the unconscious fire mage to an area of high underbrush and tried their best to hide him among the leaves. Alara positioned the man with care, ripping a piece of her tunic to bind his still bleeding hand. A touch of regret on her face.

“Why didn’t you just betray us?” Quenti said. “You were home.”

“What?” the magite responded, her eyes now focused on the bruya like she had grown a second head. “You thought I would do that?”

Quenti shrugged, the familiar feeling of guilt sitting in her stomach. “I betrayed you for Khuna.”

“That’s not the same. I promised to get Khuna and Micos back safely. I won’t go back on that.”

Runeo walked over and they both fell silent. He saw Alara bent over the man and sneered. “Another friend of yours?”

“No. Just another human,” Alara said, pulling the flint cuff and ring from the incapacitated fire mage’s wrists. “Thank you for holding back, by the way.” Her tone was oddly sincere. “I saw you had a few instances where you could have gone for a kill, but didn’t.”

“I’m no monster,” Runeo said with a sneer as he walked away.

Alara looked to Quenti and the two shared a smile. She’d hidden her anxiety well, but in the aftermath, Quenti could tell the magite had feared the worst—that any conflict could lead to the death of her comrades in arms.

A spike of guilt passed over Quenti. How is she not a complete nervous wreck?

“Where to now?” Lili asked.

Quenti took a moment to take a deep breath before she oriented herself. “Toward the river.”

Alara led the group, letting her powers guide them once more. The sound of the river grew louder and louder until it drowned out the breeze coursing through the forest trees. Quenti felt a calm settle over her and let her magia touch the cool power of the water just out of sight from them. It settled her heartbeat to a slow, steady pace. They broke through the trees and saw the small waterfall crashing down from a ridge along the back of the mountain Cielo was housed within. The waterfall was only a few yards high, but the pool was deep and the current fast as it flowed into the river they stood alongside.

Quenti motioned for them to follow as she edged the river, letting the mist of water chill her face. She didn’t look back as she pressed herself against the damp stone and ducked behind the curtain of water.

On the other side of the falls, the light was diffuse and blue, shadow and light dancing as one against the gray stone wall. The shelf Quenti stood on was a few yards wide, giving plenty of room for the four of them to stand. But the ceiling was low, and Runeo stooped under the sloping stone above them.

He scowled as he scrutinized the glistening stone of the cliff and grimaced. “A wall? Awesome plan, Quenti. We’ll really surprise them this way.”

Quenti rolled her eyes at Runeo. “The entrance isn’t up here.” She turned back toward the waterfall and jabbed a finger toward the dark waters below the rock shelf. Three pairs of eyes swiveled.

“It’s down there.”