I awoke suddenly, when the world around was still in the deepest phase of peaceful slumber.

Sitting up abruptly, I stared at the shadows that filled my room for a moment, listening to my own, hastened breath. I glanced around. There wasn't anything that could be a reason for the disturbance in my usually deep sleep. I turned towards one of the windows. There were still many hours until dawn judging by the angle at which the moon cast its light on its journey through the western sky. I didn't even remember dreaming anything...

I got up, still semi-conscious, and went over to the table, where I always had a glass of water prepared. I took one little sip, then a second, listening to some insects calling to one another outside. Was the peace the reason...? For a few days now, we've been training our wings, our swords, and our fire without any disturbance. Maybe I was getting sort of paranoid, expecting some new trials around every corner, or Sharish suddenly appearing out of nowhere. It did feel a little off that there was still no reaction after both me and Tavris seemingly vanished from the face of the earth. Or was there a reaction, and we just didn't see it...? I glanced around, my sleepy gaze falling on the mirror.

I frowned and put the glass back. Walking up to the mirror, I shifted my face really close to the cool surface. My eyes... they always had the color of dark, ripe chestnuts. But now... they turned into a paled, obsidian-black... Was it just the darkness that made them seem different? But it wasn't that dark in my room thanks to the moonlight. Maybe it was one of the side-effects of being a Disciple? Or...

I craned my neck.

A noise came from the room above, a gentle creaking of the wooden floor boards. At first, I wasn't sure if it really came from upstairs or from the haze in my mind that demanded sleep. I listened for a moment, unmoving.

And then there was another sound, like a heavy book being put back into the old, solid bookshelf. Could it be Siaril or Yasenka? But why would any of them be there at this hour?

I quietly opened the door. All other doors, including the one leading outside, were closed. I creeped towards the spiral staircase and soundlessly made my way up.

At first, I stopped at a step just high enough to allow me to barely peek into the library. A small candle stood on the dining table to my left, but it felt unnecessary. The moonlight coming from the west was now perfectly illuminating the east side of the vast room, where all the bookshelves towered. In front of one of them I spotted a slender shadow in a deep-sapphire gown, holding one of the books. Letting out a sigh of relief, I went all the way up.

Siaril turned his eyes away from the script and they glimmered with surprise in the semi-darkness. "Sigrian?" he asked softly. "... oh no, I'm sorry... did I wake you up?"

"It's alright," I waved it off. "But what are you doing here at this hour?"

He lowered his gaze to the book again. "I just had some trouble falling asleep... At some point I gave up and wanted to do something productive with the time left until morning."

"Not feeling well?"

"No, it's not that," he closed the tome and put it back in its place between the others. "There was just... too much on my mind." He left the deeper shadow of the library area and went over to the balcony, into the direct moonlight. Two moths that came in from outside were dancing around the flame of the candle like two restless ghosts. I followed him, but felt some unpleasant stir just above my stomach. Like some inner instinct silently whispering to me that something was wrong...

"Are you sure everything's alright?" I asked again, standing by his side and leaning against the balustrade.

"Of course," he gave me a reassuring smile. "I'll be sleeping like a log the next night, you'll see."

I stared at him for a few more moments, then turned to face the lake. I closed my tired eyes, taking in the calming night breeze that caressed my hair... and suddenly felt a chill run down my spine.

When my vision stopped to occupy a vast part of my brain, my mind started to focus on other things around. There should have been only the rustle of leaves, the touch of wind coming from the north, the whisper of the waves below and the tiny flicker of a soul to my right. But there was none of the usual calm tenderness. What I felt next to me was almost palpable, the presence heavy, on the brink of threatening, causing a weird pressure...

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

My instinct instantly threw everything else out the window.

I turned to fully face him, involuntarily taking a step back. Upon seeing that, the young man before me lowered his head a little, as if to hide his expression beneath the black fringe. He laughed shortly. It was a completely unfamiliar sound, deep and sharp. It sounded like purified danger.

"It seems you're far more perceptive than I thought," said that unfamiliar voice. "And you don't trust blindly, that's a virtue as well..." the figure lifted its head again. It was Siaril's face, Siaril's eyes, but their expression definitely didn't belong to Siaril. There was a coldness glimmering inside them that almost froze me in place. "But your reaction time still needs a lot of work."

"Who are you...?!" I demanded, trying to keep my voice steady.

"You're hurting me, it's not been that long since we last met... Or... maybe you don't remember because you've lost your memory back then?"

"What...?"

"You won't even try to guess? Surely you must be suspecting something."

Suddenly, the shadows around us moved somehow and gathered in front of me, covering the figure. No logical thought that was able to explain what was happening came to my mind. I wanted to do something, defend myself, but... how? And from what even? Before I could come to any sort of conclusion, the shadows faded away slowly, like ink dispersing in water, revealing a completely different person. Reality must have just gone on a lunch break. I found myself staring into the bright eyes of a tall man, looking down at me with a hawk-like gaze as if I was his next prey. The delicate scent that reached me sparked the thought of a mountain forest, his sharp features gave away a foreigner.

"Or maybe..." the intruder continued, "you don't remember because it was me who erased your memory back then?"

I had to seek support on the balcony's balustrade. "You...? So you're... that guy who 'would do anything for the right price'...?"

"Oh? How do you know that I wonder? Did that old fool of a king manage to tell you something before he said his farewells to this world?"

"No, I found out by myself..."

"You're either quite impressive or the old fool didn't even hide his letters properly."

"Trust me, he hid them rather well... Was it you that I saw at the lake during the storm...?"

The man raised his eyebrows just a little, but in what looked like genuine confusion. "Why the blazes would I be outside in such crazy weather? People pay me to do a job, not to soak myself."

It didn't really soothe my mind. That meant there was yet another person still...

"You haven't changed much since the last time I saw you," the mage said, a small, cocky smile on his lips. "You have the same transparent eyes, which I can read everything from: fear, uncertainty, desperation... It'll be fun working with you."

"Excuse me?"

"I was hired to provide you some help."

I needed a moment to process that. "And what, if someone pays you more, you'll turn on us and stab a dagger between my wings...?"

"That's possible. After all, I already turned on someone so that I could help you."

The casualness with which all those disgusting words were falling from this man's lips was starting to make me nauseous. "You can go shove this help up your..."

"You want to decide that by yourself? Without asking Yasenka or... the precious Siaril?"

Those names on those vicious lips thawed all the ice that held me in place in the blink of an eye. My mind suddenly snapped back to reality and I started remembering what Yasenka told me about summoning fire. I opened my hand at my side, already feeling the flame coming to life. "Don't you dare involve them," I warned him. "This is between you and me..."

"I'd think twice if I were you..."

Not noticing how big the flame in my palm has become, I focused all my anger in this one spot and hurled it at him like with a horizontal sword slash. The fire left a bright line behind, hit one of the chairs standing by the table first, then the stranger standing before me, and lastly one of the semi-transparent curtains behind him. The candle fell to the floor and went out.

A sudden gust of wind hit me from the side with a surprising force, spraying the sparks that my attack left behind around. It died down as quickly as it came, and suddenly, in the spot where the man was standing, I saw a small feather lazily floating to the floor. Dark gray-bluish, with faint, white streaks...

When it touched the wooden surface, I sank to it as well, my knees finally giving up on me. Only that feather and the smoldering remnants of the curtain were an evidence that what I just saw wasn't a dream. The man was gone... Did I just...?

Footsteps came from the direction of the staircase and a second later the silhouette of Siaril entered my vision. The real Siaril, I had no doubt this time... Yasenka appeared right behind him and started to look around in confusion.

"You alright?" I heard my friend's panicked voice as he kneeled by my side. "What did you...?"

I didn't answer. How in the world was I supposed to explain to them what just happened?

Unexpectedly, it turned out to be unnecessary. Siaril suddenly turned his head towards the feather on the floorboards that still twitched in the night breeze coming from the lake. I wasn't sure, but it felt like he held his breath, a strange but not unfamiliar shadow appearing in his eyes. "Siaril...?" I finally managed a whisper. "Is..."

"He was here..." he interrupted me in an absent, hollow tone. I blinked. "He was here, wasn't he...? It's the same feather he left... by Sitriel's body..."

I would have needed support if it weren't for the fact that I was already sitting on the floor.

If only I had known... that the man standing before me just seconds ago was the one responsible for not just mine, but also Siaril's suffering...