Sensing that Eva’s magic was not under her control, Edan set up a makeshift bed in the study and placed her there, where the protective barrier was the strongest in the house, before retiring to his own bed.

She couldn’t tell what time it was when she awoke, except it had to be some time at night. Looking around, Eva saw that she was on a bed set up in the study and there was no light coming from the window. There was a small fire going in the fireplace and by its light, she could see a plate of food on a chest near where she was laying. At the sight of the food, her stomach grumbled to remind her it had been too long since her last meal.

The throbbing in her groin matched that in her head. Sitting up slowly and moving within reach of the food, Eva saw that she was still wearing the torn clothes Edan had found her in. Disgust overwhelmed her and she clawed at the clothes to get them off and away from her. Tears streamed down her face as she huddled under the blankets she had been provided and tried to prevent her stomach from rejecting the food she was giving it. Once the pangs of hunger died down, Eva laid back down, cocooned in the blanket.

Deep within her mind, Eva was standing back next to the well of her magic. It used to be pure white, but now she thought she saw a strand of black flicker here and there. This was from that other mage. Though she tried, there was no way to extract it and the memory bubbles showing him crowded around her.

Waking up with him on top of her, him again attacking her with both his magic and a knife, him drinking her blood and dropping his in her open mouth, him ripping her clothes apart; it was too much! She turned on the bubbles and tried grabbing them and popping them. That didn’t work. She reached for the magic and tried to pop them with that, but yet they couldn’t be destroyed. Then she saw him standing in front of her.

The only way to escape them was to hide. She found a dark corner and closed the door that just appeared behind her, blocking away everything.

Several hours later, Edan entered the room with a fresh plate of food. The old plate finally had a few bites taken from it. He looked over and saw Eva laying in the bed, eyes open, staring at nothing and the torn clothes on the floor by the fireplace as if thrown.

“Eva, how are you feeling?” He knelt down next to her.

Her eyes flicked to him and then back to nothingness, but he received no other response.

“You slept for four days,” he pressed on. “I see you took off the clothes. Would you like me to send Sirah in with fresh ones to help you clean up and dress?” When she continued to not respond, Edan turned her chin to face him. “Snap out of this! Talk to me!”

Still hiding in her own mind, Eva just stared at him blankly but her magic lashed out at him angrily. He easily blocked it, never breaking eye contact.

“Do you mind if I clean you up and dress you? I can’t allow Sirah in here if you will not even try to control your magic,” he sighed.

Unwilling to allow the others near her, Edan took on the duty of caretaker for Eva. After getting her cleaned and dressed, he sat by her side and just talked. He continued the following day, changing up general conversation with reading books.

During the afternoon of that second day, Eva sat up on her own and looked at him. “Thank you,” she said, barely above a whisper.

Edan had paused in his reading as she sat up and smiled at her words. When she didn’t continue, he picked up reading where he had left off.

The following morning, Edan walked into the room to find Eva sitting against the wall with her legs crossed and eyes closed, much like the first time he had helped guide her to her magic. Not wanting to disrupt her, he set the food down, picked up a book and sat down to read to himself. He had barely gotten comfortable, however, when he felt Eva’s magic start randomly lashing out like whips being snapped against the ground.

Having Edan sitting there, talking, reading, even without a response pulled Eva from her dark little corner. Facing her well and the ghost of Ordu once again, she decided that the only way to be rid of him was to stop the magic all together – if there was no magic for him to feed off of, he would disappear. She looked around the room and found a new-looking cover that would fit perfectly over the well. She picked it up, surprised at how light it was, hoping that it would work.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Eva quickly carried the cover to the well, doing her best not to look at the figure next to it, smiling, laughing at her. She placed the cover over the well. It was a perfect fit! Until it flew off, the magic too powerful to be contained so easily. Collecting the cover again, Eva found some large rocks that she piled on top, hoping the extra weight would be enough.

Again the cover flew off. Another try and Eva found a hammer and nails. Eva was about half way around with the nails and was becoming excited when the cover flew off again, this time the magic flailed about, tentacles whipping around the room.

The violent reaction of the magic knocked her over, pulling her back to the real world to find a startled Edan standing up from his chair. She sat back up and rubbed at her head where it had hit the floor.

“What happened?” he asked as he quickly closed the space between them.

“I…was trying to…stop my magic,” Eva confessed as she stood.

“That isn’t possible,” Edan reached for Eva’s arm to help her stand. Eva pulled away from his touch without thinking.

“It has to be! There has to be a way to get him out!” Eva let the anger take control. “My magic is not pure anymore. He is there, twisting it.”

“Ordu is dead,” Edan was confused by Eva’s outburst. “I killed him myself. There is no way for him to be anywhere near you.”

“Inside,” Eva yelled. “He forced his blood down my throat and now he is in there, by my well. There is black in my magic, I have to get rid of it!”

Understanding dawned on Edan when she said Ordu had forced his blood on her. “Did he also drink yours?” he asked, realizing how Ordu had seemed so strong at the end. “Did he use your magic?”

“Yes,” Eva cringed.

Edan tried to pry more information from Eva to no avail. She refused to talk about what happened so Edan just settled back into reading.

'I have to get rid of him. I can't live like this anymore,' dark thoughts haunted Eva that night after Edan had retired to his own bed. 'Maybe I just have to be rid of myself. I'm not any closer to making my way home. Hell, I think I'm even forgetting what the boys look like!' Eva stood up and started pacing the room. 'And I'm just a burden here, having to be rescued all the time and taking up all of Edan's time. I don't deserve it. They would all be better if I just left. But I can't just walk out to the woods; without control of my magic, I'd be a danger to anyone I came across.' Eva's thoughts continued to become darker through the night until she had convinced herself there was only one thing to do and it was best for everyone.

Edan had been restless all morning. He wasn't sure why, but he ate his breakfast faster than normal and took Eva's plate to her early. He walked in to find her sitting in front of the fire on her knees. He didn't see it right away, but after setting the food down and looking at her again, he saw the fire reaching out of the fireplace, just touching her outstretched hands. He sensed her magic pulling at the fire, pulling it closer to her, into her.

"No!" Edan darted over and pulled her away. "What do you think you were doing? That would have killed you!”

Hurt, anger, and despair flashed across Eva’s face as she realized the door to her escape was just slammed in her face and locked from the other side. Settling on anger, Eva turned on Edan. “That was the point,” She snarled. “Then I wouldn’t have to see him anymore, my magic wouldn’t be a danger to everyone, and I wouldn’t be a burden for you!”

“Damn it, Eva!” Edan returned anger for anger. “If you would just control your magic, it wouldn’t be a danger to anyone and who said you were a burden? If I felt you were just a burden, we wouldn’t be here right now. Now give me a chance to help you! Together we can overcome him and banish him from your mind. That is what I was trying to tell you yesterday when you shut me out!”

Her anger sputtered out and she just stared at him, surprise written across her face.

After a few minutes of a tense silence, Edan abruptly sat down on the floor and held his hands out, palms up, to Eva. Unsure what he wanted, she slowly reached out and took his hands. He pulled her down so she was sitting on the floor facing him and closed his eyes. Following his example, Eva found herself back next to her well, this time with Edan by her side.

“How?” She asked, surprised to see him there.

“Magic,” he winked at her, a smirk playing on his lips. “Now, let’s deal with him.” Allowing Edan full control of the situation, Eva watched as he carefully pulled the fire in and used it to burn the specter of Ordu and burn away the tainted strands in her magic. Without his presence, the memory bubbles of Ordu backed off, going to mingle with the rest. Grabbing one before it could float out of reach, Eva offered it up for Edan to burn as well, but the bubble remained untouched.

His task finished, Edan opened his eyes and released Eva’s hands. “Now, before you leave, reestablish your control,” he instructed before Eva opened her eyes.

The two of them spent the morning in the study, Eva working to reestablish her control of her magic with Edan guiding her, explaining what she needed to do. When it was time for lunch, Eva was back in control so they took lunch with the others. After the meal, Edan took Eva outside to walk in the sun and fresh air. He didn’t pry for her story, he had seen how dark and painful those memories were, but allowed her to decide the direction of their conversation.

*~*~*

The hooded figure, known as The Voice, paced their room, infuriated at Ordu’s incompetence. He had been told that the girl was not for him, yet he still tried to take her. He had died for his pains, but that was the only consolation the Voice had. They hadn’t even been able to deliver the punishment themselves.

But what was done was done and now they needed to find another servant for the Masters. Then they remembered the man that had run during the first attack – the masters could easily give him powers and they could use him to fulfill their plans. The only thing needed was to find him and bring him to the masters.