The next few days were spent silently walking, across the lonely fields, the forests and hills in the distance thinning and flattening, the odd white mist closing in, the spindly trees growing more and more infrequent, a faint, bitter smell growing stronger with every hour they walked.

"Here," Ashley said, handing an apple to her sister after they'd stopped to rest.

"What about you?" Maya asked, taking the apple. Ashley shook her head.

"Just eat it," she said, after Maya had spent several seconds staring at the apple in her hands. "I ain't even hungry."

Maya looked at her sister, her eyes curious, then down at the apple again.

"Could you heat it for me?"

"What? This again? Why do you want a hot apple? That's a really weird taste you got, kid."

Maya shrugged as she held the apple out for her sister to take. Ashley rolled her eyes, but she took the apple and sent heat into it, being careful not to wince as this caused the burns on her hands to flare up in pain. After a few seconds she handed the apple back to Maya, who took it happily.

"They're just much more delicious like this," she said, before taking a bite. Ashley shook her head, but she was smiling. Maya glanced shyly at her sister, then she smiled too.

"There'd better be something at the end of this road," Ashley said, when Maya had almost finished the apple. "And soon, too." She stood up and walked around, looking at the lonely fields around them, squinting at the white mist in the distance. "Ain't no apple trees around here, that's for damned sure."

"I hope we don't starve," Maya said. Ashley looked at her. "What? Don't you hope that?"

"You've got this bad habit lately," Ashley said. "Saying stuff that don't need saying."

"I ... I just..."

"Forget it, I'm just playing with you."

Ashley stretched her arms up above her head, then winced and let her arms fall back to her sides.

"Are you okay?" Maya asked, after tossing the stem of the apple aside. "Your cuts, I mean."

"They're fine. Just gotta be careful how I move sometimes, ya know?" Ashley ground her teeth together, then she turned to look at her sister. "How about, uh, you?"

"I'm fine," Maya said, a little too quickly, clasping her hands together.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yes," Maya said. "I'm tough!"

Ashley smiled. "Yeah, you are."

"Let's keep going, anyway. I don't feel tired any more. Hot apples are really good for giving you energy, did you know?"

"That right?"

"Yep!" Maya said, smiling brightly at her sister. "More than twice as good as just a regular cold apple."

"That's pretty interesting," Ashley said, as she joined her sister on the road and they started walking again. "Why is that?"

"Just one of those things, I guess," Maya said.

It was around an hour later that the wind picked up, blowing cold and wet from the south. An hour after that it began drizzling, an uncertain, wishy-washy kind of rain, light drops splattering against the ground for a few minutes, then easing off, then a few minutes later a few more drops would fall—

"This rain is starting to piss me off," Ashley muttered. She looked up at the sky, at the dark clouds above. "Just rain properly if you're gonna rain! Don't muck around!"

"You shouldn't tempt fate," Maya said. Ashley shook her head as they kept walking.

Less than ten minutes later there was a roll of thunder, long and low, and then the clouds split and within seconds both girls were drenched, the rain heavy and hard, picked up by the wind and thrown in their faces, seemingly coming from every direction at once.

"I told you!" Maya cried, over the sound of the driving rain.

"Shut up! Keep hold of my hand, I don't want you slipping!"

"I'm not going to slip!"

Now that it had started raining they could barely see more than a few metres away—as if the world had shrunk to just the two of them, nothing else in existence except two girls pushing forward along a muddy road, each holding the other's hand and trying not to fall. Time seemed to slow, or stop, or otherwise lose meaning, there was only the rain around them and the road ahead, and walking forward, putting one foot in front of the other over and over again.

"I think it's clearing," Maya said, eventually.

"What?" Ashley turned to look at her sister, Maya's quiet voice hard to hear over the sound of the driving rain.

"I think it's clearing!" Maya repeated, raising her voice.

"How can you tell?"

The rain was still pouring down hard, the road had long ago turned into thick, sticky mud, and to Ashley it seemed that rain like this might never stop.

And then it did.

"Huh," Ashley said, letting Maya's hand go and flexing her fingers.

"Look, the sun's coming out!"

Ashley looked up at the sky—Maya was right. Although it was still mostly overcast there were gaps in the clouds now, showing a pale blue sky and the brightly burning sun.

"And a rainbow, oh look Ashley, there's a rainbow!"

Ashley smiled, more at the look of joy on her sister's face than the rainbow itself.

"It's so pretty," Maya said, gazing at it. "Don't you think it's pretty, Ash?"

"Yeah, it's nice."

"What do you think rainbows are made of?"

"What do you mean, made of?"

"Like ... I don't know, just what they are."

"Someone told me once, I think they're just some kind of light. Like ... light that comes from water, I dunno."

Maya cocked her head to the side, then she skipped over to a puddle and scooped up a handful of muddy water. Her eyes slowly narrowed as she concentrated, and Ashley watched as the water rose from Maya's hand in a thin tendril.

"How does light come from water?" Maya asked, her voice precise as her attention was split between maintaining her water snake and speaking.

"Maybe I got that part of things wrong. But I'm pretty sure it's something to do with light and water."

Maya held her hand up, exposing the little water snake to the light of the sun. It glistened and sparkled, but didn't do anything more than that.

"I don't think you can just make a rainbow, Maya," Ashley said. Her eyes narrowed as she looked past her sister, then she took a step forward. "Hey ... is that the ocean? Maya, the ocean's just there! Can you see it?"

Maya let her water snake collapse, the water splashing to the ground as she joined her sister in looking forwards.

"Oh!" she said, as the thin strip of grey in the distance resolved into water. "Ash, that's the ocean! We walked all the way to the ocean!"

"Not yet we didn't. Come on, let's see what's out there."

Soon enough the flat fields gave way to a wide rocky beach, which in turn gave way to the ocean, dark grey and choppy, angry even in the sunlight. Not far out from the shore the girls could see sharp rocks sticking out of the water, like the jagged teeth of some nightmarish fish.

"Well," said Ashley, as she looked out at the rocks and the rough waves splashing against them, "we sure as hell can't go any further north, anyway."

"Do you think we could catch some fish?"

Ashley looked at the dark waters of the ocean.

"Maybe not," she said, after a moment.

"If we saw some fish, I bet I could grab them," Maya said, her tone serious. She looked thoughtfully at the ocean, then started running down towards it, skipping easily over the large round rocks that made up the beach. Ashley grimaced as she followed, her heavy boots not well-suited to the rocky terrain.

By the time Ashley caught up with her sister at the water's edge, Maya was already standing, feet spread apart, hands held out before her, frowning in concentration as a wide bubble of water rose from the surface. For a moment the bubble hovered an inch above the ocean, then it shook and burst, the water splashing down once more.

"It's hard," Maya said, with a little laugh.

"Maya, there ain't any fish here—"

"I just want to see if I can do it."

Ashley clicked her tongue, then she shrugged and found a rock to sit on.

"Go ahead, then."

For half an hour Maya practised lifting pockets of water from the ocean, without much success—once they left the surface she began to lose control of them, and they soon went splashing back.

"Ah!" she cried, as her latest attempt failed. She let out a heavy breath and raised her trembling hands again—

"Hey," Ashley said, reaching out. "Don't push yourself—"

"I'm fine!" Maya said, jerking her hands away. "I'm just trying to figure this out!"

"Yeah, just ... I don't want you getting tired. We still don't have any food, and there's nothing around here."

"So that's why we need to catch some fish! Then you can start a fire and we can cook them, doesn't that sound nice?"

"Sounds real nice, 'cept what do we know about fish? Even if you get something, we ain't gonna know if it's good to eat or not."

Maya scowled and turned away from her sister, her arms crossed.

"Then what do YOU want to do?" she asked.

"I want to keep walking—the road splits left and right, so I reckon Rosanth's gotta be left and Pyre's gotta be right."

"Rosanth and Pyre," Maya repeated, as if tasting the words. She turned to face her sister again. "Rosanth sounds prettier."

"Rosanthians are meant to be real arrogant and snobby," said Ashley. "But Pyre ain't even a choice. Might find a village or something along the coast, though, and I guess heading that way'd get us to Clock Face after a while, always heard it was good for work. Then further there's Harmony where Mr Amon comes from, he always said I'd fit in there, could be worth a try."

"Um..." Maya thought for a moment, then smiled helplessly at her sister. "I don't know about places. Sorry Ash."

"Then perhaps I can help you."

Maya and Ashley turned to see a man standing at the point where the fields met the beach, around a dozen metres from where they stood. He wore a tan travelling suit and an old-fashioned black hat, and he leant with both hands on a wooden cane planted into the ground in front of him. Around his waist was a slim leather belt, from which hung a sheathed rapier. His face was long and thin and friendly. Beside him stood a girl, silently watching the two sisters, nothing like an expression on her face. She was tall and slim, with straight black hair and large dark eyes, and she wore a simple black dress with a wide belt around her waist.

"Where the hell did you two come from?" Ashley said, more than a little growl to her voice.

"Well, that's not important," the man said. "What IS important is what fate lies down each of the directions this rather muddy road leads in. To the west—" the man pointed with his cane "—lies Rosanth. There you would be hunted down, captured, and subjected to some rather unpleasant experimentation. In Pyre, on the other hand—" the man pointed to the right with his cane now "—you would be tortured to death, for the holiest of reasons, of course. Heading south—" the man put his cane over his shoulder to point behind him "—would eventually lead you to the city of Unity, perhaps the wisest direction of the three. There you would simply be killed."

"We came from Unity," Maya said. "I know it's dangerous, but you can't just say we'd be killed if we went there!"

"Can I not?" said the man, a smile in his voice. "Because I know that you—" now he used his cane to point to Maya "—are able to manipulate water, and that you—" the tip of his cane swung towards Ashley "—have the ability to manipulate heat. And I know, as I suspect you also do, that the average reaction to a display of these abilities is generally not positive. How long is it, since you left Unity?"

"More than a year," Maya said.

"Goodness," the man said, raising his eyebrows, "I must say I'm impressed. The two of you survived on your own for that long? You moved from place to place, I imagine?"

Maya nodded. Ashley was silent and still, studying the man, her eyes very slightly narrowed.

"Well," the man said, "I should tell you, many things have changed in the past year. The city you left would not be the city you returned to."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ashley said. "Who are you?"

"I do apologise, you can call me Fin. This is my assistant and ward, Selene."

Selene inclined her head, very slightly.

"Are you two hungry?" Fin asked. "Would you like to come up and join us?"

"Yes!" said Maya, before Ashley could say anything. "Okay, just wait there—come on, Ash!"

Ashley scowled as she followed her sister up towards Fin and Selene—getting closer, she saw that there were two strong horses standing placidly on the road, one black, one brown, attached to a large, fine old carriage made of dark wood.

"Selene, if you'd be so kind?"

Selene nodded and went to the carriage, while Fin looked Maya and Ashley up and down.

"Well," he said. "You two have been in the wars, haven't you? Although it seems that most of the misfortune has fallen upon your body, Miss Heat."

"Ashley," Ashley growled.

"And I'm Maya, Maya Thompson," Maya said. She winced at the scathing look Ashley gave her. "Um. Just Maya, I mean. Um."

"I'm very pleased to meet both of you. Ah, Selene, thank you."

Ashley and Maya both accepted a small, hard loaf of travelling bread and a piece of tough jerky from Selene.

"Thank you very much," Maya said, but Selene didn't respond. Ashley glared at her, then glanced at Fin.

"She don't talk?"

Fin laughed pleasantly.

"Unlike myself," he said, "Selene does not waste words."

"You saying we ain't worth talking to?" Ashley asked, her voice hard.

"The very opposite, actually. Excuse the abruptness of my asking, but I wonder, would you consider travelling with us?"

Ashley eyed Fin suspiciously. He smiled at her.

"I understand the look in your eyes. It's quite familiar to me. But my offer is genuine, as is my friendship. I want to help you two—sisters, yes?"

"Oh!" said Maya, surprised. "How did you guess? Hardly anyone gets that until we tell them!"

"Well, I find that difficult to believe," said Fin, smiling at Maya.

"Hey. Eyes front, buddy."

Fin turned his smile on Ashley. "Your protectiveness towards your sister is as understandable as it is admirable, Miss Ashley," he said. "She's very special."

"Damn right she is, so you can—"

"Of course, as 'just Maya' here knows, you are as special as she is. Isn't that right?"

Maya nodded vigorously. "That's what I always, ALWAYS tell her! See, Ash? I mean, right? You're special!"

Ashley didn't say anything in response to this, just clenched her jaw.

"But let me get back to my point," said Fin. He glanced back—Selene was standing beside the horses. "Ah, good. Yes, my point. It is my intention to create a home, for people like yourself, Ashley, and for you, Maya, a place where they can be safe, where they can be protected, where they can live free of the persecution of the world."

Maya's eyes were wide. "That sounds wonderful! Doesn't that sound wonderful, Ashley?"

"Unbelievably wonderful," said Ashley, her voice flat.

"Where is it?" Maya asked.

"That," said Fin, "is a rather difficult question to satisfactorily answer. For now let me say 'it exists', with the hope that this is enough."

"Oh," said Maya, a little disappointed. "Um ... it sounds amazing—"

"It sounds like a con," said Ashley. "What's your game, 'Fin'? What are you really doing out here? I don't buy this 'I want to build a home' crap for a second—and don't bother turnin' those sparkly blue eyes on me, I've seen plenty of sparkly blue eyes before and in my experience they're usually hiding a twisty-turny little mind."

"Ashley! Don't be rude, he's being nice to us!"

"And how the hell do YOU know so much about the stuff Maya and me can do?" Ashley demanded. "Why ain't YOU scared of it? What makes YOU so bloody tolerant?"

Fin looked at Ashley.

"Miss Ashley," he said. "Have you ever lost a beloved companion?"

Ashley stared.

"In my time," Fin continued, "I have lost many people that I cared for. More than I like to recall. Most of them due to the anger of the ignorant."

Fin looked Ashley straight in the eye, and she almost yelped as the image of a woman came into her head, her grey eyes wide and curious with a sparkle to them even on cloudy days—

"What the hell did you just do?" Ashley demanded, stepping forward as Fin stepped neatly back.

"I apologise," he said, raising his hands. "I shouldn't have imposed. But I felt I should provide an answer to your question, an explanation as to why I know so much about what you and your sister can do. My abilities are not very visual or impressive, so I had to resort to a rather cheap trick."

Ashley glared at Fin as Maya looked between the two of them in amazement.

"Once again I apologise," said Fin. "I won't do anything like that again, to either yourself or your sister."

"But what was it?" Maya asked. "You can do it to me, if you want—"

"No," Ashley said, turning to glare at her sister. "He ain't doing NOTHING to you."

"Ash—"

"Shut up, I said."

"But I wanna know!"

"Oh dear," Fin said. "It seems I've muddied the waters. I suppose I could offer a thorough explanation ... although at this juncture I fear it would be nothing but a long and confusing waste of time."

"Yeah, obviously we're too stupid to understand anything you say," Ashley spat. She glared at Selene as the girl made a sound, a disguised half-laugh let out through her nose. "What you laughing at, scrap? You and me got a problem?"

"Now, now," said Fin, "let's not fight."

Ashley shook her head and turned away.

"Come on, Maya. We ain't—"

"Are you special too?" Maya asked, shyly, of Selene. Selene graced her with a thin smile. "What can you do?"

"I can see and I can hear," Selene said, her voice quiet and crisp. Ashley had stopped when Maya had spoken, and now she turned to squint at Selene.

"Yeah?" she said. "I can do that too."

"Of course you can."

"Yeah, okay, sure," Ashley said. "Look, thanks for the food, but I reckon we're better off on our own."

"Ash..."

Ashley rubbed her cheek and avoided her sister's eyes.

"Of course, it's your choice," said Fin. "I would be honoured and gratified if the two of you would travel with us, but I understand completely if you refuse."

"We don't refuse—Ash, we don't refuse, right?"

Ashley looked at Maya, then at Fin, then glanced at Selene.

"Ash! Please, we DON'T refuse, PLEASE!"

Ashley let out a rough breath. She rubbed the back of her neck. She glanced at her sister, then turned to face her properly.

"Yeah," Ashley said to Maya. "Sure. We don't refuse."