“Wait!” Xellie called after Raye as she walked briskly toward the road out of town.

Raye spun on her heels, appearing irritated for a brief moment before her face softened in realisation.

“Yes, you should bid Iyan farewell,” Raye told Xellie, perching on the edge of the low wall marking the boundary of the town. “I will wait here for you.”

“Thank you.”

Xellie let her backpack slip to the ground next to Raye and sprinted back through Hiraeth to the hospital.

“Can.... can I see Iyan?” Xellie asked breathlessly at the front of the hospital. “Please.”

The receptionist looked up from her paperwork, flicking her pencil against it a few times thoughtfully.

“There’s been a development....”

Xellie felt her heart stop as she awaited the next words.

“Room fifteen, straight down there. Turn left onto the Sycamore ward, first room on the left.”

With a mounting apprehension, she followed the receptionist's directions and pushed the wooden door open to peek inside.

Iyan sat on the bed, bandages wrapped around his head, with his nose in a book.

“Hey!” he exclaimed as the door opened fully. “Finally you're here.”

“I’m sorry.” Xellie scuffed her boot toe on the floor and looked down. “Demon blew you up instead of me.”

“You killed it though.” Iyan set his book aside and jumped to his feet, grabbing her by the shoulders. “They said you’re a bit of a hero.”

“It doesn't feel that way,” she replied, detaching his hands from her body as she realised something was not quite right. “You... healed... Fast?”

“Apparently, I was in a coma.” Iyan’s matter-of-fact tone was unnerving. “When I came to, there was this lady... I couldn’t see very well, but she wore white and her hair was on fire. I kind of thought it was you! Then I thought it was a hallucination, but then they told me I did have a visitor... Was it you?”

“Aahh umm...” Xellie grabbed her ponytail and held it in front of her face. “My hair was never on fire.”

“So you didn’t visit me?” Iyan pouted dramatically. “I’m hurt.”

“I didn’t want to see you die!” Xellie blurted out. “I couldn’t face it!"

“I’m just messing with you,” Iyan said, taking her hand in his. “You did what you had to do.”

Looking down at Iyan’s hand holding hers, Xellie tensed up and looked away from him, desperately trying to summon the strength to speak without releasing too much emotion.

Taking her hand away from his, she looked him in the eyes and bit her bottom lip.

“I... I’m ...leaving,” she told him.

“Bring some tooberoot soup when you come back?”

“N....no. I’m going back to Taode... Today.”

Iyan sunk onto the side of the bed and looked up at her.

“So suddenly...”

“They sent a weird priestess to poach me back home. She thinks I’m powerful or special or something and ... if I say no, they’re just gonna hunt me anyway.”

“So uh....”

Iyan and Xellie locked their gaze, neither of them sure what they wanted to say to the other. The rustling of the trees outside filled the room.

“I...”

“I...”

“No, you first,” Xellie said, knowing her intended words would end the conversation abruptly.

“I don’t suppose we will ever see each other again... unless you completely clean the world of these crappy demons,” Iyan said with a sigh, handing her a length of embroidered rope with red tassels on the end. “Please take this. It’s my ward against evil, but I see no need for it here compared to where you’re going.”

“We’ll meet in the afterlife,” Xellie said with a shrug, as she tied the rope around her waist. “I don’t normally do goodbyes, so I don’t know where this ends... I hope you have a peaceful life, Iyan.”

She turned and walked out down the hallway without looking back, dismissing the receptionist, who stood up holding out a handkerchief.

Goodbyes were less painful when fast. Xellie had learned this lesson from her brother many times over. She stopped at the blessed fountain in the town square to wash her face quickly, as she didn’t really care for Raye to see her tears.

With a deep breath and steely resolve, Xellie turned up the pathway that headed out of town and picked up her rucksack.

Raye sat on the wall, having not moved, a large glass of red wine in her hand.

“Ready?” Raye asked, downing the last of her wine and sliding the glass into her satchel.

“Let’s go.”

Raye wasn’t the most entertaining travel companion. She spent most of the time walking briskly, seemingly lost in thought, not caring to converse, slowing down occasionally when she noticed Xellie was behind her. Raye didn’t seem concerned with conserving her energy for the long journey, nor had she bought any food with her. Her only baggage was her satchel, compared to Xellie’s backpack holding food, a sleeping bag, and a rain shelter. Xellie considered the possibility that Raye expected her to share the provisions, which was slightly irritating.

For the first day, the journey was mostly easy-going, trekking over the plains in fair weather. Raye’s pet raven flew off into the distance and back several times throughout the day.

As the sun got low in the sky, Raven on the shoulder, Raye studied her map and tutted under her breath, tapping it a few times in irritation.

“We are going to have to make a slight detour.” She muttered, looking out toward the horizon.

“Detour?” Xellie queried. They had barely even started their journey and now they were going out of the way?

“Unfortunately yes. Let's stop here for the night.”

“Okay.... why a detour?” Xellie asked as she slid her rucksack to the floor, thankful to rest after attempting to keep pace with Raye.

“It is for the best,” Raye replied, sitting on the grass and dipping her hand into her satchel to produce a bottle of wine. “Be sure to eat and sleep well for tomorrow.”

“Why is it for the best?” Xellie eyed the bottle that Raye was drinking from suspiciously. Surely not much else could fit in that small bag.

“We should pass by this town and stop at the next,” Raye said in a matter-of-fact tone. “It wouldn’t be appropriate to go there.”

“Why?”

Xellie waited for Raye to finish swigging from her bottle before she received an answer.

“Given recent events in the region, they may be very suspicious of travellers.”

That didn’t seem unreasonable.

“Did you bring any food for yourself?” Xellie pointed toward the wine bottle. “That’s bad for you, you know.”

“Don’t worry about me.” Raye took another drink, glancing around uneasily.

“Here.” Xellie passed over one of the paper bags Shana had packed meals into.

Raye took the bag with a smile that lasted only a moment, setting it down beside her.

“If you want to pitch your shelter and sleep, please do,” Raye told her. “Refresh yourself as much as you can. The journey gets tough from here on.”

“I appreciate your permission,” Xellie replied dryly, settling into her sleeping bag. “Good night.”

Sleeping out in the wilderness had been her norm for many years, but after so long in Hiraeth and cosy beds, it took a while for Xellie to find a comfortable position to lie down in.

“Xellie! Niko! Come eat!”

“Thank you mama!”

“What have I told you about that awful goat toy? Please, just leave it alone.”

This wasn’t her mother speaking, it was Raye.

Xellie sat up with a gasp.

“Raye!” she exclaimed.

“Yes?” Raye peeked over the top of her book through her glasses. “Are you having trouble sleeping?”

Xellie shook her head, marched over to Raye, and then snatched her glasses off, staring at Raye's face, studying every contour.

“I always wondered why I had red hair when papa’s was black and you were blond.” Xellie threw the glasses aside into the brush.

“Ah...” Raye’s face went pale, visible in the moonlight. “I am sorry.”

“Sorry for what exactly?! Abandoning us to see the body of our father half his remains across his office floor? Leaving us to fend for ourselves all these years? What part of it are you sorry for?!” Xellie blurted out, smacking the book out of Raye’s hands. “You could have come to us any time!”

Raye shuffled uncomfortably on the log she was sitting upon, gripping at her dress tightly.

“It wasn’t my choice,” Raye responded, her tone pleading with Xellie to be kind. “None of this was my choice.”

“Then explain!” Xellie flopped onto the grass, exasperated. “No more riddles, just tell me!”

“I saw your father killed.” Raye’s voice dropped low enough to be barely audible. “They made me leave... I couldn’t let them kill you.”

“They?”

“I can’t... Not here, not now.” Raye’s voice trembled, betraying her fear. “I have always been nearby. I watched, I protected... I prayed... I couldn’t let anyone know who you are... You are my... I even paid for your journey to Hiraeth or you know what they would do....”

“But...” Xellie wiped her face with the back of her hand. “Why? We needed you. I needed you.”

“No.” Raye slipped onto her knees to look her daughter in the eyes directly. “You did not. Look at you now.”

“So you, uh... who couldn’t know about who I am?”

Raye closed her eyes and shook her head sadly.

“I don’t think I can do this right now.”

Xellie fell backwards onto the grass and stared up at the stars, her mind racing to process the information she’d just learned.

“I always thought you were up there.” She said, tracing the stars with her finger, stopping as her finger reached a ribbon of green light fluttering momentarily in the sky before it vanished back into the darkness.

“Your father is.” Raye reached out nervously to touch Xellie’s hand, who pulled it away apprehensively. “I know this is a shock, but I’ve never been far away.”

“Don’t touch me.” Xellie tensed herself against the grass below her, catching the faint sound of Raye giving a small sigh. “And you’ve been talking to Niko! He knew. He knew! And he didn’t tell me either!”

She sat up, her glare piercing Raye like the sharpest of daggers.

“He... He hasn’t known for long.” Raye pleaded. “Please, please. This isn’t... He found out by accident and...”

“No.” Xellie stood up and brushed the grass off herself. “I’m going back to Hiraeth.”

“Wait...” Raye gasped as Xellie walked off into the descending darkness.

“Don’t follow me!” Xellie called back over her shoulder, holding up her short sword. “I know I can take you in a fight!”

Raye rolled her eyes and sat back down, pouring herself another glass of wine from the bottle in her satchel.