Aurora and Carissa sat in a dark room, the chill of the night air beginning to creep in through the walls. They could not light a fire, for it would betray their presence, and they had wrapped themselves in blankets to ward off the cold. They didn’t know who the shack belonged to, but the old building was in disrepair, and no one had come out this way since they had come to Quill Market. In the darkness, Aurora could not see her sister’s face, but she could feel the anger radiating from her.

“What do we do now?”

“What can we do? They know about him now. You’re sure it wasn’t some enchantment on his weapons?”

“No. I felt the power. It surrounded him.”

“Did you touch him?”

Aurora hadn’t. She didn’t need to. Sensing the power of a channeler had been something she could do since she was a little girl. Carissa had always been talented with the physical magic, but Aurora’s strengths were in the mental arts.

“No. But…”

“Aurora, you can’t be sure unless you touch him.”

“I felt his strength from several feet away. I don’t think touching him will tell me any different.”

Silence fell between them for a moment. Aurora’s curiosity about Cade had been growing since their first meeting.

“How could he not know what he was?”

“I don’t know. We’ve never seen anyone do what he did with those weapons, either.”

They had watched Cade from afar all day, trying to see if he did know more than he let on. What they saw was a man who looked confused by what had occurred. Carissa had been angry about the attack by the things they knew as crags.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Do you think those are the same crags that were tracking us here?”

“Without a doubt.”

The things had been here for them, but found Cade instead. The crags were all dead, but the ones behind them would now turn their attention to their new quarry.

“Do you think they will still come after us?”

“I don’t know. What I do know is that they found a powerful new channeler. That might be more important than chasing us.”

“So we leave him to be captured? We run while he gets dragged off to him?

Aurora shuddered, thinking of where they had long been held captive, and the man who had been their master, Silas.

“What would you have us do? Give ourselves up? Silas has to know about him now. It is only a matter of time.”

“We could help him. We could warn him. Get him somewhere safe.”

She could feel Carissa’s eyes in on her in the dark.

“Why do you care so much?”

“I can’t explain it, but there is something different about him. We can’t just abandon him to Silas. We have to do something.”

A dim red light flared in the darkness, and Aurora knew that Carissa had lit one of her lightstones, gems that glowed when invested with magical will. The light was just enough to illuminate their faces, but not much else. She could see that Carissa’s face was filled with a mixture of frustration and concern. She could still sense her sister’s anger, but not as much as before.

“We have spent the past three seasons on the run, trying to escape Silas’s grasp, and now that we are finally at a point where we can turn south to safety, you want to risk it all for a man you hardly know?”

“They never would have found him if it wasn’t for us. Doesn’t he have the right to know what will be coming for him?”

“I don’t care about him! I care about us! I didn’t go through all of this just to be dragged back in chains.”

“At least let me warn him. What harm can come of that?”

Carissa turned her eyes from Aurora, and didn’t speak for a long moment.

“Fine. Warn him that there may be more behind the attacks, but nothing else.”

Aurora began to argue, but Carissa cut her off.

“Just trust me. I have taken us this far.”

Aurora nodded sullenly, wanting to argue, but knew it was a lost cause. Once Carissa had made up her mind, it was useless to try and change it. She wrapped the blankets tighter around herself and turned her back on her sister. The dim red light extinguished, and the room was once again engulfed in darkness.