“Good morning,” I whispered in my brother's ear. I had already been up for hours of training, sweat dripped down my arms covered in hundreds of kill marks. My brother just groaned in response.

I shook him, “Dad wants us in the central tent, so you better get up. Because I am not in the mood for punishment this morning.” I sighed, shaking him again.

Evani shot out of bed, “I’m up, I'm up!” he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stood up. I left the tent to give him privacy to dress for the day.

“Hurry up!” I shouted after a minute.

“One sec, Emari,” he said, drawing out his words. I sighed and slid down to the ground to sit down. I pulled my swords out to start sharpening them in preparation for whatever job my dad gave us for the day.

My brother emerged from our tent, his loose-fitting blue tunic and flowy pants contrasting my tight-fitting sleeveless red top and pants.

“Let's go,” I said, pulling him towards the tent in the middle of our little village. People parted when they saw me coming.

My red hair fell to my knees, but at the moment was braided, and the kill marks engraved in my arm made me the most revered and respected in the tribe, second only to my father.

We entered the central tent my father sat at the front of the tent. He rose when he saw us, “My Pon Veelan!” He walked over to hug me, “Oh, and my Evani!” He kissed Evani on the top of his head.

My father was like the weather. One moment he was calm and peaceful, and the next he was angry and violent. Sometimes he would switch so fast that he would give me whiplash.

“You summoned us, Dad?” Evani asked. My dad smiled and motioned for us to follow him. He led us to a table pushed to the side of the tent.

He sifted through piles of paper, I cringed at his unclenlyness. He found the letter he was looking for and beamed at us like a child. He slid his crusty nail under the royal seal that held closed the letter and skimmed through its contents.

“The King needs one healer and one fighter to escort his three children to their safe house. He fears theres a war brewing between the humans and the orcs,” he said almost lazily, picking at his nails. It was clear he was disinterested in anything having to do with the humans’ wellbeing.

The King hadn't called on anyone in years. Things have been relevantly peaceful. Panic surged through me. My dad couldn't want Evani to go. He was useless when it came to fighting. Evani was our greatest healer. He could bring someone back from the brink of death, but he didn't even know how to hold a sword.

Evani finally peeped up, “And you want us to go?”

My dad looked at him for a second, “Obviously!” He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“You can't send Evani out! He can’t protect himself!” I couldn't stop myself from shouting. My dad's mood shifted. His lazy, relaxed look disappeared.

He stood to his full height, almost sizing me up. “You're telling me what I can and can’t do!” he grabbed my face. “I am your father!” His hand started heating. His magic fueled by his rage, like adding coal to a fire.

Tears flooded my eyes as the heat radiating from his hands became unbearable, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of breaking me. I stared him down. The tension in the air was almost palpable. The silence was loud as we continued to stare each other down. He tightened his grip one last time and then released me.

“Be ready to leave tomorrow morning or else.” He grumbled, rubbing his eyes. Evani grabbed my face and winced.

“Looks bad, Emari,” he sighed, moving my face around trying to get a better look at the red handprint branded on my chin. “It’ll probably scar. But it won't look like a hand, probably just a few lines and blots.”

He closed his eyes and put both hands on my chin. Blue light illuminated his hands, and a cooling sensation flooded me. I sighed, closing my eyes and sinking into it. It was over as soon as it started.

I opened my eyes and grabbed Evani’s hand, “Let's go pack.” I pulled him out of the tent and headed to our tent. People who had heard the commotion

I grabbed my backpack and started packing. I didn't know how long this trip would be, so I packed for three weeks. I kept it light, knowing we’d be moving a lot.

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“What if we run away,” Evani said suddenly. I turned around and stared at him. I sighed, trying to interrupt him, “We could just leave! Leave all this behind. All the killing,” his glance flickered to my arms, “Our obligations! We could be free!”

I stood, “No matter how irritating Dad’s is, we can’t just leave all we know behind!” I shook my head, rubbing my eyes. “This trip will be good for you. You’ll get a break from all this, and then you can come back refreshed. Okay?”

He opened his mouth but than closed it, any argument dying on his tongue. He went back to packing, not saying another word. I stared at him for a second, trying to think what I could say to comfort him. My mind was blank of words of comfort so I went back to packing silently.

I finished packing and then headed outside. I was all worked up from my argument with my dad. I needed to blow off some steam. I pulled my swords from their sheaths and started twirling them around my fingers.

I saw some targets set up from me across the way. I threw my sword, and it landed with a THUNK into the bullseye of the target. I slowly walked over to retrieve my sword, pulling it out of the target.

My rage still wasn’t satisfied. I jogged over to the sparring grounds, hoping to find someone to spar. I glanced around at the people sparring and spotted someone I recognized. A boy only a couple of months older than me named Detri.

I walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder, “Hey, need a sparring partner?” He turned around to look at me and nodded. We walked over to an empty spot and faced each other, “Magic or no magic?” I asked as I pulled my swords out and twirled them around my fingers.

He smiled, “Let's go all out, magic and all.” He pulled his spear out and squared up.

I crouched a little lower, putting all my weight into my toes. I circled Detri like a cat stalking its prey. I reached my hand forward and his arm, the one holding the spear, snapped. He fell to his knees in pain.

The spear tumbled to the ground next to my foot. I reached slowly down to pick it up, keeping my eyes on his writhing form. “You wanna tap out?” I asked him as I snapped back up from bending over.

“No,” He breathed deeply, “Let's keep going.”

I sighed, then reached out as if going to help him. He took my hand and all his fingers snapped in my grip.

“Sorry, not in the mood for a drawn-out match tonight.” I smiled as he fell back down. I put his neck in a headlock and growled, “Tap. Out.”

He frantically tapped my arm, signaling his defeat. I smiled, then picked him up. I carried him to the medics' tent where some healers gave me frightened looks. I smiled meekly at them and left Detri in their care.

I slowly walked back to me and Evani’s tent. I still felt pent up. Maybe this trip will be good for me, not just Evani. I found Evani waiting outside the tent with his bag packed.

“Sorry for earlier Emari,” he sighed, reaching out and stretching his arms in offering. I embraced him, taking his offer. Evani smiled up at me. I grabbed our bags and smiled back at him.

I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and led him to where the horses were tied up. “We can leave tonight,” I said, grabbing the reins of my favorite horse, “If you want?”

He nodded vigorously, “Let's get the hell out of here!” He try to grab the rein from my hands but I lifted them above my head.

“Nope, Vear is my horse,” I giggled, teasing him, “And take a breath we have to get approval from Dad before we leave. Remember?”

His smile fell immediately. “Yeah, I remember,” he replied softly. My heart broke over his change of attitude.

“I’ll get his permission, you stay here,” is sighed, walking off. I slowly walked over to the central tent, practically dragging my feet. I heard shouting inside the canvas tent and braced myself for my dad’s turbulent personality.

He was pacing the tent throwing everything in his way across the room. People scurried around, trying to pick up the shards of shattered furniture. They practically cried with joy when they saw me in the room.

I walked over to my dad and stepped in front of him. He growled and tried to push me out of the way, but I stood my ground.

“Me and Evani are leaving, and I need your permission.” He stopped trying to move and just stared. “We’ll be out of your hair, and the human king will stop sending you letters once we arrive. So us leaving now is best, don't you think?” I said slowly, watching the reaction on his face after every word.

He seemed to turn the words over in his head, considering my idea. “I think,” he said as he started smiling, “that it would be best if you and Evani leave now instead of tomorrow morning. Isn’t that the best idea ever? Im so glad I came up with it!” He said giddily.

I sighed, my dad was an absolute child, but I didn't want to correct him and mess up his good mood. I smiled the best I could smile I could muster and waited for him to allow me to leave. He waved his hand in dismissal, and I practically skipped out of the tent.

I rushed back to the horses where Evani was standing. I hugged him, picked him up, and spun him around. “Get yourself a horse, and let's get out of here,” I said with a huge smile plastered on my face.

I grasped the reins of Vear and hopped up onto her back. Evani tried to copy me with the horse next to Vear, Myne, but failed horrendously. I grabbed his arm and pulled him up onto the horse.

We slowly rode through town, watching the kids running around and giggling. When they saw us coming, they all stopped and watched. Gasping at the twin children of the chief going to the part of the kingdom no one in our tribe has graced in years.

Evani and I continued riding until we were at the edge of our tribe's lands, where we reached a fork; one road headed towards the human kingdom and the other towards the orcs.

We slowed as I stared back at the canvas tents flapping in the wind, all grouped together. “Stop staring we’ll be back in a couple of weeks. It's not like we're leaving forever.” Evani teased as he urged his horse to keep going. I sighed and then raced on my horse to catch up with Evani.