Gently pushing aside a low-hanging branch, Olivia peered through the dark green needles of the fir tree, her green eyes focused on the log cabin that sat in the small clearing. Tucking a loose strand of her shoulder-length, mousey blonde hair behind her ear, she watched as a young red-haired girl wandered through the vegetable patch.

Olivia had spent the last three days out here, watching the cabin under Ellen’s orders. Why couldn’t she spend a day skulking around between the trees? Olivia thought bitterly. Because she was higher ranking, that was why, she reminded herself. She was just a minion for Ellen and Wilson to order around at their will. And so, for the fourth day in a row, Olivia bit her tongue and kept to the shadows on the edge of the clearing, watching and waiting.

It had all seemed like a fantastic adventure when she was selected ahead of dozens of others to leave the tower. In reality, all they had done was trample their way south through endless fields of snow and forests filled with all manner of spikey undergrowth. For a year, they wandered the wild, seemingly aimlessly, until they set up camp in the forest. When the bitter thoughts provoked by the long, cold days of walking took over, she wondered if Ellen really knew what she was doing.

Then, when the doubt was rooting firmly in her mind, Ellen and Wilson took her to this exact spot. In the clearing, her eyes had first fallen on the young residents of the log cabin. While the red-haired girl had been out in the vegetable garden, a boy, perhaps two or three years younger than herself, had appeared from inside, his toned chest bare in the sweltering Sky Fire heat. That was when she found out the real purpose of their journey south.

Watch him; Ellen had instructed her. Don’t approach him, and make sure you aren’t seen. When it gets dark, come back to camp and tell me everything. That was all she had said before she disappeared back among the trees. Just like that, she had been left alone in the forest, stalking what seemed to be a perfectly innocent young couple.

From her years at the tower, she knew they weren’t normal, though. They were different from everyone else. She could feel it, just like she could with the ones at the tower. They both had precursor blood in their veins. That was why they were here.

It was in the long, sweltering hours of boredom observing the cabin residents that Olivia longed for the tower—for home. Even if it was only one thing, at least it would be cooler there. Nestled in the mountains north of Springcaster, it never even got close to being this hot at the tower. She missed the cool weather, the neatly prepared meals, her friends, and even some of her teachers.

The tower, or, to give it its full name, The Dawn Tower, was an academy. Inside the huge, ancient walls, it was home to dozens of teachers and students. On her journey south, Olivia had seen schools, but none of them could compare to the tower. Then again, she hadn’t expected them to The Dawn Tower was, after all, home to the only recognised academy for precursors.

According to her history lessons, The Dawn Tower had been in existence for almost a millennium. In the time before the war, it had been home to thousands of students, each learning the history of their race, their powers, and how to control them. Then the war came.

Since Arcadia had fallen, The Dawn Tower had only played host to a hundred or so people, a tiny fraction of the number that had once walked the now dusty, abandoned corridors of the upper floors. The tower was a mere shadow of its former self.

Ever since the war stripped the tower of its students, they had been trying to rebuild the population. It was for that reason that periodically a group would be sent out into the world to track down someone who had been identified as having precursor blood.

It hadn’t been until their second night camping in the forest that Ellen explained why they were here. They had been sent by the headmistress of the tower, whom none of the students had ever seen, to find the boy and bring him back to the tower for his training.

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Something didn’t sit right with Olivia, though. She had spent the majority of that night tossing and turning, trying to figure out why it didn’t feel right. These trips were routine; she had seen dozens of teachers and students leave the tower over the years, returning several months later with a new student trailing behind them. It wasn’t until she gave her report the following night after sundown that she realised what had sparked the feeling deep down in the pit of her stomach.

Both of the residents had precursor blood, and yet whenever Olivia mentioned the girl, Ellen would wave away her observations. Ellen and Wilson were only interested in the boy. When she asked why they only wanted the boy, Ellen snapped that it was not her position to question orders from her or the headmistress. She had gone without food that night, she thought bitterly.

The sound of soft footsteps on the carpet of fallen needles pulled her from her thoughts. Since she had started daydreaming about her return to the tower, the girl had disappeared, leaving the boy to wander. The footsteps she had heard belonged to him as he walked towards the forest. Had he seen her?

Backing away as quietly as she could, Olivia ducked behind one of the thick tree trunks, peering around the side to watch him as he moved between the trees on the edge of the clearing. It didn’t seem as though he had spotted her; his eyes were focused thoughtfully on the floor.

Maybe she should say something. She reminded herself that Ellen had been clear when she told her not to interact with either of them. Don’t approach him and make sure you aren’t seen; that’s what she had said.

Creeping from the cover of one tree to another, she followed him as he wandered through the forest. She wondered why she couldn’t approach him; he didn’t seem dangerous. Having watched him and the girl for nearly four days, she was certain that she had seen more dangerous creatures in the forest than him. Ellen wouldn’t know she had spoken to him, would she?

Before she could come to a conclusion, he froze in his tracks, his head snapping in her direction. ‘Hello?’ he said slowly. It might have sounded like the question of someone who was unsure if they had company, but she knew it wasn’t. He had looked around, his eyes falling on her as she was moving between two trees. Olivia froze.

‘Hello,’ she said timidly. What was she going to do if Ellen was watching her? She would go without food tonight, for sure.

‘Are you alright?’ he asked, his body relaxing as he turned to her properly, taking a step closer.

With an involuntary squeak, Olivia nodded.

‘What are you doing out here?’

‘Just walking,’ she lied as convincingly as she could. ‘The forest helps me relax,’ she added. At least it wasn’t a complete lie now, she thought.

Before he could respond, there was a shout from behind him. ‘Lewis? Where are you?’ Instantly, his head snapped around at the sound of the voice. ‘I thought I told you not to wander off!’

‘I have to go,’ he sighed as he turned away from her, trudging off in the direction he had come. ‘Enjoy your walk,’ he called over his shoulder before he disappeared between the trees, leaving her alone in the forest with her thoughts.

Letting out a breath that she hadn’t realised she had been holding, Olivia stared at the place where he had disappeared between the trees. What was Ellen so worried about? He didn’t seem dangerous at all. If anything, he had been a lot nicer than some of the people they had met on their journey south.

‘What are you doing? I thought I told you to stay out of sight,’ Ellen hissed angrily as she appeared behind Olivia, almost making her jump out of her skin.

‘I didn’t do anything,’ she said quickly. ‘He just turned around all of a sudden.’

‘Didn’t we tell you not to speak to him as well? He’s dangerous!’ Ellen shouted as she pulled her hand back with lightning speed, slapping Olivia across the face with the back of it.

Recoiling from the stinging pain on her cheek, Olivia dabbed a hand at the corner of her mouth to try and stop the bleeding where Ellen’s ring had caught her lip. ‘He isn’t dangerous; he was more polite than half the people we’ve met,’ Olivia said.

With another crack, the back of Ellen’s hand struck her across the face again, the ring catching Olivia’s knuckles where she was trying to hide the bleeding from the last slap. Apparently, her observations weren’t wanted anymore.

‘Come on! Ellen demanded, grabbing a fistful of her hair and dragging her in the direction of the camp. ‘Before you can do anything else stupid, in silence, Olivia allowed Ellen to drag her deeper into the forest. She wiped her bloody lip on the back of her hand as a string of elaborate curses formed in her head. What was she going to do to punish her this time? Maybe she would have been better off taking her chance with Lewis.