The week after the attack found Eva following a new routine - between breakfast and lunch, she continued to help with chores around the house. After lunch, until dinner, she was with Edan, learning the basics of magic. Each day, as her control grew, Edan would show her a simple task she could do with the magic. By the end of the week, she was able to shield herself as well as move small objects around the room.

During the mornings, when Eva was helping Sirah, Edan was in his study going through books, looking for how a woman from a different world could suddenly show up and not only have magic, but have as much raw strength as Eva seemed to have. Due to the fact that hardly any of his books covered any history, he was unable to find any information that would help.

"Eva," Edan walked into the room where she was sitting and washing vegetables. "I need to go into town today. You have the afternoon to yourself."

"But My Lord, you said we can't be sure that the mage is gone! What if he attacks while you're in town?" Eva still couldn't completely shake the feeling of being watched. "I can't do anything against him! I can barely keep my magic under control!"

"If you are in the house, you will be safe. And Sirah knows how to summon me in case of emergency." Edan replied calmly.

Edan left shortly after breakfast and headed to town. With nothing else to do and unwilling to practice any kind of magic without Edan's supervision, Eva spent the day working beside Sirah and Mila.

"Come outside and help me with the laundry this afternoon?" Mila asked, a basket of dirty clothes propped on her hip.

"I had been wanting to go outside today, but I'm not so sure with Lord Edan not here," Eva hesitated. "I still think that mage is out there, just waiting."

"Oh, come on," Mila could see the longing in Eva's eyes. "I'll be right next to you. And Alik and Taran will be outside as well! You'll be safe!"

With a sigh, Eva agreed and they headed out. The day was still cool but warm enough to wash clothes outside so Eva and Mila rolled the wash tub to the open before filling it with clean water. Once they had finished with the washing, Mila emptied and put away the tub while Eva finished hanging the clothes to dry.

That was when she felt it! He was there! Looking around, Eva saw Mila laying unconscious on the path to the stables, the wash tub next to her. Just a little further, she saw Alik also laying on the ground. She couldn't see him, but suspected that Taran, the groundskeeper, was in the same state as the other two. She dropped what she was holding and ran for the house screaming.

Before she could reach the house, a blast of air hit her from behind, sending her tumbling. As panic kicked in, Eva scrambled back to her feet and faced the man attacking her. Not knowing how to defend herself, she just threw her hands up and a wave of energy flew from her to knock him back.

"You want to play like that?" He growled as he stood back up. "This is going to be fun!"

Eva threw her hands up a second time, hoping to knock him back far enough that she would be able to make it to the house. He was ready for the attack though and easily deflected it. Before Eva could turn and run, Ordu threw a ball of fire at the ground between her and the house which quickly spread to form a barrier preventing her from going anywhere. Tears rolling down her face, Eva focused her thoughts on water, hoping she could call some forth to put out the fire.

Before enough water had answered her call, Ordu was mere meters away. Eva turned back to her attacker and again tried throwing just raw energy at him, again, with no success.

Laughing, Ordu closed the last of the distance between them and grabbed her arm. Careful not to let the rope touch his skin, he quickly looped the rope the hooded figure gave him around her bare arm and tied it off. Eva screamed and struggled in his grip but was unable to break free; and with the rope around her arm, her magic felt like water running through her fingers.

"You're mine, now," Ordu whispered into her ear, his green eyes sparkling with glee before rendering her unconscious.

*~*~*

Standing in the house, knowing there was nothing she could do to help, Sirah summoned Edan. It would be at least a few hours before he could make it back, Sirah hoped Eva could hold on long enough.

The person that had met Ordu and told him to wait felt his sleep spell settle on everyone outside the protection of the house. Not willing to reveal themselves, they collapsed to the ground and, seething at this turn of events, pretended to be asleep.

After the mage ran off into the woods with Eva, Sirah and Radin ran out to put out the fire before it could spread any further. Once the fire was out, they went to Mila laying on the ground. Seeing that the girl was only sleeping, Radin gently picked her up and carried her into the house. Sirah went next to Alik and found him in the same condition. Knowing Radin would return and take care of the young man, she searched the grounds for her husband, Taran.

She found him out by the fence. He had collapsed while replacing a boundary post that had been broken during the winter. She ran to him and cradled his head while looking for any injuries. Satisfied that he was fine, she left to bring Radin to help move him.

*~*~*

Edan had only been in town about an hour before Sirah sent the summons indicating that there was an emergency. "Curse it!" He grumbled as he returned the book he had been looking through to its home and set off as quickly as he could.

Pushing his horse to its limit, Edan arrived about two and a half hours later. When Sirah saw him coming up the road, she ran out to greet him. Alik had woken up shortly before and had their other horse ready for Edan to switch out. Sirah explained what happened and pointed to huge gouges in the ground and the trees as evidence of Eva's deflected attacks.

Cursing himself for not listening to Eva that morning, he pushed the fresh horse into the woods. He easily found the trail and followed it back to the same camp as before.

This time, Edan rode his horse directly into camp, reaching out with his magic to look for trips or traps, but found none. Stopping the horse right outside the circle of tents, he jumped down and pulled up the wind to knock over the two tents not protected by magic, removing the chance the other man could be hiding in one of them. Squaring himself against the remaining tent, Edan fired a direct shot intended to break the magical shield.

As the shield dropped, Edan heard an ear piercing scream from inside the tent. A moment later, the other man stepped out, clothes disheveled and blood splattered all over him, a sadistic smile across his face.

"Edan! It really is you," he put his arms up as if to invite an old friend into a hug. "Aww, you don't recognize me? It's me, Ordu!"

*~*~* Flashback

For an early spring day, it was surprisingly warm. The birds were chirping and had been since before the sun had made its appearance, waking the young Edan early, putting him in a bad mood. He had become an apprentice to Lord Arnor, a Master Mage, at the start of the past winter and they were on their way to the capital for the annual gathering of the Mage’s Council. He had been on the road for two days and the Master said they should arrive today.

As they rode along, Edan wondered who he would meet and how many other apprentices would be there. Luckily he didn’t have long to wait to find out. They arrived at the city walls a few short hours after sunrise and entered the castle just a little later.

The afternoon was spent cleaning up from their travels and relaxing. That evening, Lord Arnor and Edan attended dinner with the court and the other gathering mages. Looking around the table, Edan saw about five others he guessed to be apprentices. After the food was gone, the apprentice mages were allowed to wander freely and all found each other in one of the small gardens.

“Hi, I’m Edan, son of Lord Elix Saphest.” Edan proudly introduced himself to the others. “I’m ten and this is my first year as an apprentice.”

The others introduced themselves – Eli, twelve, son of Lord Ordin Gront; Sevina, eleven, daughter of Boreck, the captain of the King’s Guard; Talwar and Rawlet, fourteen, twin sons of Kairrix the blacksmith; and Ordu, twelve, son of a peasant only known as Rand.

Showing off what they were able to do, it was quickly obvious that Edan was the youngest, but strongest of the group. As both the strongest and a noble-born, Edan quickly assumed leadership during the time they were gathered.

“Now beg for the treat like a good little peasant boy!” Edan taunted Ordu with a pastry from the kitchens a week after they had first met, prompting peals of laughter from the other apprentices. Throughout the time they were stuck at the castle together, Edan would torment and tease Ordu mercilessly.

By the time the Mage’s Council had ended, Ordu had come to hate Edan. Over the next few years, each time the Mage’s Council met, Ordu would try to hide from Edan, but, unaware of the goings on between the apprentices, Ordu’s master would always give him away. And each year, Edan’s demands became more and more humiliating.

It was the fifth year after they had first met and, rather than attend the Mage’s Council and face Edan, Ordu killed his master and ran. Planning to exact revenge, he hid along the road that he knew Edan and his master would be taking to the castle. While Edan was away from camp and the protection of his Master, he attacked.

It was a short fight with Edan easily overpowering the crazed Ordu. Edan had Ordu under him, ready to strike the killing blow when he saw who it was that had attacked. Surprised, Edan backed off, asking why the other boy would do such a thing.

Seeing his chance to escape death, Ordu ran off without a word before Edan could do anything else.

*~*~* End Flashback

Edan was speechless, he hadn’t even thought of the other mage in years. The realization that he had triggered these events struck him like a blow to the chest and he took a step back.

“You should have killed me that day when you had the chance!” Ordu laughed as he raised his hands and fire raced towards the stunned Edan.

Seeing the fire coming at him, Edan snapped out of his daze and dove to the side at the last moment. Rolling out of the dodge and back to his feet, Edan called a bolt of lightning to strike the other man. Ordu shielded against the attack with a hysterical laugh and threw yet another blast of fire. Edan shielded and the fire ripped around him, angry it was unable to reach its intended target. As the fire moved on to engulf the trees behind him, Edan wondered how the other man had suddenly become so powerful – the last time they had faced each other, he hadn’t had nearly this much power!

The men traded attacks, Edan slowly working his way closer until he was able to lunge and tackle the other man. The fell to the ground in a heap, fists flying. In a matter of minutes, Edan had Ordu pinned, the same as he had when they were younger. This time, his opponent was not a surprise to Edan and he delivered the final blow he had spared so many years prior.

As the forest burned around him and with his horse nowhere in sight, Edan spared not even a moment before running into the tent to find Eva in a similar position, but worse condition than the last time. Her shirt was again cut open, revealing that Ordu had repeated his past actions. Her pants were cut in several places, her legs were spread open and bleeding from dozens of cuts.

Seeing blood pouring from a stab wound in her stomach, he immediately went into a healing trance, even before cutting her free from the rope that bound her wrists. Once the bleeding had stopped and the worst of the physical wounds were healed, Edan cut Eva’s wrists free. Covering her back up the best he could with what was left of her clothes, he left the unconscious Eva safe in the tent and stepped out to face the fire raging through the forest.

Calling to the river as he had last time, he managed to contain the fire, but not put it out before his energy failed him and he collapsed to his knees. Edan made his way back inside the tent, pulled over a chest to lean against, and sat by Eva’s side while waiting for some of his physical and magical energy to return.

“Edan?” Eva’s voice cracked a few hours later.

Edan sat up, suddenly aware that he had dozed off and it was now dark. “Eva!” he turned to her and grabbed her hand.

Flinching at the touch, Eva looked at him, barely able to believe he was there. “He said you…” she paused as tears began to fall from her eyes. “That you wouldn’t come. You didn’t care.”

“Of course I care!” Edan lifted her into a sitting position and hugged her tightly. A few minutes later, Edan carried Eva out of the tent and started on the path back to his home. Not knowing where the horse had run off to, he hoped she had made it home without injury.

He made it to the riverbed, currently dry from his call to the magic to put out the fire, before gently setting Eva down to rest for a minute. As he was picking her back up to continue on, he heard others in distance making their way towards him. Recognizing the voices, Edan continued until he saw them. Radin took Eva from Edan’s arms while Taran supported Edan from the side.