In her dorm at Falden, Mel gathered up her belongings in her backpack and made sure to bring extra water and bread wrapped in cloth from the dining hall. She didn’t know how long a trip to Bahlan might take, but she doubted anyone really knew. As a last belonging, she packed down the book, A mage smith’s memoir.

She didn’t fully know why. She had already read the thing, but somehow she felt like the words in that book might protect her out there in the wastes. Mel placed the embroidered piece of cloth she had gotten from her mother in between the pages like a bookmark. It was the last item, except for her dagger, that she had from her family back home.

Mel swung the backpack over her shoulder and headed for the door. She felt happy Gabriella hadn’t been here when she’d arrived. She didn’t know how to explain to her or to anyone why she would do this. It seemed insane, even to Mel.

But somehow it also felt like the most sane thing she had done in a while. Going out there beyond Aldrion to find the secrets hidden in the old ruins of Bahlan was risky and dangerous. She knew that. But since the attack last night and the state Aldrion was in, she doubted it was much worse than staying in the city anyhow.

It felt like danger was lurking all around her, either in the form of beasts or dragons or in the form of governors and laws. It didn’t seem to matter any longer to Mel if she stayed or left. They could find her dagger here at any moment and exile her from Aldrion, or the void could find her out there in the wasteland, killing her. Either way, if she didn’t leave now, she might miss her chance to get to Bahlan.

This time no one was holding her back, not like Marcus had done on the ferry over Dragon lake that first time when Mel had wanted to jump in. Not like he had done when he had told her to not trust Austin and Gabriella. Mel didn’t have anyone weighing her down anymore, and she was free to chase after the answers.

The dragons had spoken to her this morning and told her Aldrion would fall. She didn’t doubt that now. They had already proven to her they were evil. She didn’t believe in her destiny to bring back the dragons. She didn’t even believe much in the church of the sun anymore. It was probably just a ploy, like the dragons had turned out to be.

They had tricked her into coming to Aldrion. They had told her this attack was all her fault. She wasn’t sure what they meant by that. But shame still plagued her mind. The shame that came from being accused of such a thing and the shame of having yelled to Marcus this morning.

It all felt sour in her mouth now. Like she had really been screaming at herself. Why hadn’t she seen the truth before? That the dragons were working with the void and that they had tricked them all?

She opened the door to the corridor and snuck out, closing the door after her. When she turned to face the corridor again, Flavio stood there in plain pants and a shirt with a sword tied to his belt.

Mel wrapped her cloak around her body, stretching the hood over her head and shrouding herself in red. She turned her back to him and he snorted at her. Mel stopped in her tracks, taking in a deep breath. She didn’t want to face him; she didn't want him to change her mind.

“I knew it,” he said.

Mel turned to face him and saw anger flash over his expression.

“I knew you weren’t better than us. I knew Gabriella was wrong. You’re just as much of a coward as the rest of us. I hope you die in the mountain pass, deserter.”

Mel swallowed hard, feeling like she wanted to argue. Scream at him that she wasn’t going back to the valley. She was heading out there beyond the wall. But she turned her back to him, deciding she didn’t want to promise something she couldn’t keep. Maybe she would turn around after a day or two and run like a coward back to Windbrook. She really wasn’t sure.

“Tell Gabs I’m sorry for leaving,” Mel said.

Flavio didn’t respond to this, but Mel could feel his disdainful eyes piercing her back. She walked down the corridor and out of the dormitory with her red cloak covering her entire figure. Outside on the Falden grounds, it was unusually quiet. The wind picked up and her cloak fluttered against the back of her legs. Mel walked down to the stone wall and climbed on top of it.

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She jumped down on the other side with a little more grace this time. It had been easier in the daylight to find crevices for her hands and feet. She looked out over Aldrion to the north, seeing smoke rise from the army base and people walking around by the gate, trying to fix the holes in the wall to make it hold for another night.

Mel knew it wouldn’t.

She looked out to the east, seeing the wall by the residential houses having cracked in places. It was the work of the dragon. She walked toward the wall and kept her gaze held high. Mel needed to gather her courage now. She needed to be strong if she was going to make it anywhere in the wastes before sundown.

Mel circled around a couple of streets and finally got to the wall. A section of stone had broken free and crushed part of a house. Its residents seemed to have abandoned the trashed house and Mel could only hope they weren’t dead.

She secured her dagger to her belt and pulled off the hood from her head. She grabbed onto the wall and put her foot along a large crack that ran diagonally from the top down. The sun was straight above her now and Mel felt its rays collecting in her dark hair, warming it. It was like the sun was drawn to darkness, harmonizing with it like the notes of dragon fire.

#

The wasteland wasn’t like Mel had thought. Looking out over it from Aldrion had always made it look cold and dry. Like dunes of cold sand and dirt, scattered over what looked like a mostly flat landscape. With dark mountains hiding in the faraway distance, almost too shrouded by the dark clouds above to be seen.

Now that she was here, walking toward what she thought was a village, she noticed for the first time how damp it was. It was nothing like walking on dry sand dunes. The flat landscape was wet, and each step felt like it would sink her into a watery grave. The clouds above were gray and thicker here than up by Falden, but also further away, making her doubt their existence.

It felt more like the sun was already setting, and Mel had to look behind her more than once to assure herself that the sun was still up. She hadn’t seen any beasts or shadows yet and hoped the old man from last night was right in that the void never attacked when the sun was up.

As she got closer to the village, she noticed it wasn’t really a village at all. More like tents placed on top of wooden contraptions, rising them a few feet off the ground. But they all looked like they would be rather easy to move away, with wheels circling the bottoms of the makeshift houses.

There were a few figures walking to and from a campfire, also raised above the ground with stones and logs jutting up from the wet dirt. But only the top twigs were burning, and Mel wondered how they could survive in this hellish landscape. She hadn’t been prepared for this.

A woman noticed her getting closer to the campsite, and she pointed to Mel and spoke to a few people around her. Mel couldn’t make out what she was saying, but she lifted her hand and waved to the woman, giving her a wide smile.

She wanted her to know she wasn’t here for trouble, only for information. The woman, however, scooped up a child standing by the fire and dragged her inside a tent close by, closing the flap behind her. Mel stopped for a moment, seeing the other people the woman had alerted doing the exact same thing.

Mel remembered that Professor Monroe had told them during class that the people of the wastes didn’t like to speak to outsiders. Mel had a sinking feeling that this might have been a huge mistake. She turned to the west, seeing the sun gracing the top of the mountainside above Aldrion, and her heart beat faster.

She didn’t have much time until the sun would set and the void would come out to play. Mel hurried her steps and walked into the center of the village. A man walked past her toward his tent and Mel grabbed his arm. He stopped, staring at her with furious eyes, and pulled his arm free in a jerk.

“Please,” Mel said. “I need your help.”

The man walked away from her without saying a word and closed the flap of his tent behind him. Mel searched frantically around her, but all the people were gone inside their houses. She took in a deep breath and walked up to the tent the woman she had first seen had gone into.

Mel ripped the tent flap open and inside, two dirty faces stared at her. The woman and her child. They looked annoyed, more than scared, and Mel swallowed down her own fear.

“Please,” she said. “I need your help. I need to get to Bahlan. Can you show me the way?”

The woman stared at her with anger in her eyes, but said nothing. The child shook her head at Mel. Mel staggered back from the tent, letting the flap close again and her eyes turned to the west. The sun was gone behind the mountain and behind her, the flapping of wings could be heard in the distance. A loud growl pierced the quiet evening, and Mel felt her heart stop.

She pulled out her dagger from the lining of her pants, keeping it inside its sheath for the moment. Mel turned toward the east and scanned the sky. Dark shadows circled above the gray clouds and Mel heard someone douse the raised campfire behind her with water. Its fizzing made her jump.

The dragon circled above her. She was sure of it. But for a moment, all that could be heard in Mel’s ears was the soft ringing of her dagger. Then a hand wrapped around her shoulder and pulled her down to the ground. Mel felt her back slamming against the wet earth, drops of water flying up around her, and her body felt paralyzed with fear.