'Get up! Now!'

Ellen's voice broke through the silence, stirring Lewis from his light sleep. It felt like he had barely been asleep for ten minutes. The darkness that met him when he opened his eyes didn't do anything to convince him that it had been longer than that.

'What's going on?' Cassandra muttered sleepily.

'It's time to get moving. We've wasted enough time here,' Ellen said, appearing over them.

'But it's still dark outside,' he said. 'And, from the sound of it, it's still raining.'

'The storm has passed now,' she insisted. 'You said when it was gone, we could start moving again.'

'We can't see what we're doing, though,' Cassandra snapped.

Ignoring her, there was a rustling sound before a flare of light as Ellen struck a match. Lighting the lantern that she was holding, which she had brought in from Springcaster, she set it down on the floor. 'There,' she said stiffly as she turned away. 'We leave in five minutes.'

While Cassandra muttered darkly to herself, Lewis sat up, looking around the small cave. At the entrance were the burned-out remains of the fire from the night before. Not far from them, Ellen stood waiting, her arms crossed as she tapped her foot impatiently.

As Cassandra got to her feet, rummaging in her bag for some fresh clothes, he looked around for Olivia. The pile of blankets beside him where she had been sleeping was empty. 'Where's Olivia?'

'I'm here,' her voice called from the darkness deeper in the cave. A moment later, she appeared, her mousy blonde hair pulled up into a loose bun. Ellen must have woken her first, he thought, seeing that she had already changed.

'Come on, we don't have all day!' Ellen snapped from her place beside the door, her eyes focused on Lewis, who was still tangled in his blankets.

'Right,' he muttered. Scrambling to his feet, he grabbed the first set of fresh clothes he could find before retreating to the shadows to change.

Ellen might have backed down the day before, but clearly she wasn't going to put up with any setbacks today. He was vaguely aware of her complaints as he pulled the green t-shirt over his head quickly. Whether they had sensed Ellen's mood or because they were busy doing something else, Olivia and Cassandra ignored her.

With a fresh set of clothes now on, Lewis moved out of the shadows to find that the blankets he had been sleeping under had already been packed away for him. Standing at the entrance of the cave was Ellen, still tapping her foot while she waited. At her side was Cassandra, and Olivia crouched down in front of them, fastening Lewis' bag shut for him. When she was done, she looked up, throwing the bag at him with a weak smile. So, she had noticed Ellen's mood.

'Alright, let's go,' Ellen said, marching out of the cave before any of them could reply. Sighing, Lewis followed the three of them out, catching up with Olivia quickly. While the rain from the day before had subsided, it was still there, accompanied by a vicious wind that howled through the mountains.

'You didn't have to pack my things away for me, you know,' he said quietly.

'I know, she was getting angrier by the second, but I thought it was best,' she replied, once again offering him a weak smile.

'Are you alright?' he asked. She had seemed a little off ever since she had seen the book in Ellen's bag.

'I'm fine,' said Olivia. A few seconds later, she relented. 'I can't believe it's almost over.'

'You're glad to be back?'

'I don't know,' she sighed. 'These last few weeks, they've been good. Ever since we met the Cimant people, it's been nice. I never thought I would meet someone who would put Ellen in her place like you have.'

'I'll see you around the tower, I'm sure,' he said.

'I doubt it,' she huffed. 'You don't know what the tower is like.'

'Then tell me,' he offered.

'The tower has more than forty floors, forty-seven to be precise. There are a dozen floors for students and members of The Dawn. That's just living quarters alone,' she said. 'You have floors for theory classes, practical classes, and receptions. Four entire floors are dedicated to the library alone.'

'It's big then,' he summarised.

'Now do you see why you won't see me around?' She asked, annoyed.

'You never know; you might end up teaching me,' he laughed, hoping that it might cheer her up a little. It didn't.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

'Ellen will have to do a report when we reach the tower; I highly doubt they would let us within five floors of each other.'

'What will happen to Cassandra?' he asked. It had been something that had frequently crossed his mind ever since they had left the Cimant village in the forest. How would The Dawn react when they showed up with an extra person?

'I expect they'll let her stay with you,' she said. 'I've seen extras turn up from time to time. You might want to lay the whole marriage thing on a little thicker than this, though.'

'They wouldn't just throw her out, would they?'

'I don't know. They might, given everything that has happened along the way,' Olivia said, her eyes focused firmly on Cassandra, who was walking a few paces ahead of them.

With the thought of Cassandra being left out in the world alone, Lewis fell silent, watching her as she walked ahead of them. He wondered if she had any idea what she had gotten caught up in. Not only did he need to find a way to break the bond and escape from the tower, but he also had to get her out. It didn't seem as though Olivia was going to be around to help either.

'I'll miss you when we get there,' Olivia said quietly, her eyes flicking briefly in his direction. When she saw him looking, she turned away, suddenly becoming interested in the details of the rock face beside them.

'I'm sure we'll see each other again,' he said as confidently as he could. She wasn't the only one he was trying to convince. He needed to believe it as well if he was ever going to get back to Tristan.

'And if we don't?'

'We will,' he insisted.

'Is that it?' Cassandra asked, falling back a couple of paces, oblivious to the conversation they had been having.

Through the mist that had fallen over the mountains in the night, there was a huge, dark outline in the distance. With each step they took, the mist thinned. Ahead of them, Ellen had quickened her pace, following the rough trail that sloped downward.

It was like a wave crashing over him, like a blast of cold air washing over him suddenly. In front of him, Cassandra shivered, glancing back at them nervously. 'That was just the tower's protection,' Olivia said reassuringly.

They only had to take a handful of steps further down the path before the fog suddenly evaporated, revealing the vast landscape to them. The dark shadow that they had seen through the mist was an enormous black tower, stretching towards a sky filled with dark clouds. Like the castle in Tristan, it had been built into the side of a mountain, except it was at least ten times as tall. It was narrow, a cylinder in the shadow of the mountains.

In the distance, there was a low rumble. Instinctively, Lewis looked to the skies, expecting another thunderstorm, but the sky was clear apart from the dark clouds over the tower. It was only then, as another rumble echoed around them, that he realised that the tower hadn't been built on the side of a mountain. It stood on the side of a volcano, with dark clouds of noxious gases pouring out of the cone.

'You didn't tell me the tower was built on a volcano,' Lewis said, taken aback. He had heard of the volcanic islands that made up The Islands of Tremor off the coast of Tristan, but he had never seen them. As another rumble cut through the otherwise silent air, he felt its power.

'It's okay; they have precautions in place to stop the tower from being damaged by the lava,' Olivia said as if it were obvious.

'Does it erupt often?' he asked worriedly.

'It hasn't stopped since I arrived at the tower,' she replied. 'You'll get used to it.'

'How long did it take you to get used to it?'

'Four or five years,' she shrugged.

Four or five years? He definitely didn't plan on being around that long. If he could help it, he wouldn't even be there for that many weeks. 'I don't plan on staying too long.'

'Until you can free yourself from the bond, then you won't be going anywhere,' she reminded him.

'How did you break your bond?' he asked. She had told him that it was different for everyone, but she had never elaborated on her own story.

'I found where I belonged,' she said simply. 'The Dawn gave me a purpose, something that I could do for the greater good.'

'If you're free, then why don't you just leave?' he asked.

'Where would I go?' she responded. 'Besides, I can't go anywhere now; I have a job to do.'

For a moment, his eyes lingered on Ellen's back, and he wondered if she was thinking about the book that was tucked away in the rucksack on her back. She still hadn't told them what it was. 'You can always come to Tristan,' he offered.

'Maybe one day,' she sighed. Quickening her pace slightly, she moved ahead of him, indicating that their conversation was over for now. In her wake, Cassandra fell into step beside him, offering him a smile.

'I'm so excited,' she said eagerly. 'I wondered where she was taking us.'

Part of him wished he could share her enthusiasm for their adventure. The other part, however, remembered what Olivia had said. 'Me too,' he lied, taking her hand in his. If he was going to have to lay on the whole marriage thing for The Dawn at the tower to ensure her safety, then he might as well start now, he thought.

Cassandra's hand twitched in his, surprised by the sudden contact. Throughout their time together, he had never made any move towards her, not that she seemed to mind. Despite the twitch, she didn't pull away from him, instead settling into his stride. Their hands clasped between them as they looked up at the huge tower casting its long shadow over them.

'I wonder what it's like inside,' she said.

With a non-committal grunt, Lewis pretended to listen to her as she began rambling on about what meals she was expecting and the rooms they would have. In truth, he didn't care about any of that or what there would be for her to do. All he wanted to do was turn around and walk in the opposite direction, running back towards Tristan. At the thought of the city and Emily, he almost pulled his hand away from Cassandra's. No, he told himself, he had to do this; otherwise, she would be cast out into the wilderness alone. But why did he care what happened to her?

Because she didn't deserve any of this, he reasoned with himself quickly. She was just unfortunate enough to have met him, just like the Cimant people. He wondered how many of them had survived the spectre attack. Krora had resented him enough before; now what would he think of him, leading his daughter into the unknown? Had he even survived to resent him?

Forcing the thoughts of the spectre attack from his mind, Lewis focused on the two paths ahead of him: the figurative one and the literal one. Right now, they both seem to be identical. Get to the tower. Break the bond. Escape.

With that mantra beating in his head, he quickened his pace, dragging Cassandra along behind him as he caught up with Olivia. He needed to know everything about the tower that she knew before they got there. If what she said was true, he might not see her again.