Trynneia sat next to Ylane for the first time since they’d been captured. Her arguments the night before had freed the younger girl. They each slurped porridge from a bowl, staring into a dwindling fire as the Sentinels around them kept busy packing up and preparing to depart.

“Thank you, Trynneia. I don’t know what you said to them but I’m glad I’m free.” She had a wildness in her eyes that Trynneia couldn’t place. Her aura fluttered, remaining very weak, and the will o’the wisps ignored her.

“Don’t thank me,” she whispered. “We’re not out of the woods yet.”

“I know,” Ylane said. “What do they want with us?”

Trynneia patted her hand on the girl’s thigh. “Nothing good. We’re prizes to them, nothing more. Don’t do anything for them if you can help it.”

“Oh,” the girl said meekly. She looked on the verge of tears. “I don’t. I…” Ylane looked away. “I already did, I think.”

“Shh,” Trynneia said, squeezing Ylane’ s leg. “It’s okay if you did. Just try not to anymore, okay?”

“I had to,” Ylane said, her runes beginning to glow for the first time Trynneia had seen. Her own shifted in response. “You didn’t see him.”

That got Trynneia’s attention. What did they do to Ditan? “Tell me,” she said.

“One of the Sentinels came for me. He grabbed me. He was rough,” Ylane said, sniffling. “He pulled me out of my wagon and took me to one of the trees. He removed my shirt, then he cut me over and over.”

Trynneia gritted her teeth. “Was it Eilic?”

Ylane shook her head, unsure. “He never said a thing. He just kept cutting, then told me to heal myself. I didn’t know how! I didn’t know how,” she broke down, sobbing. “I hurt so bad I couldn’t think. I passed out. A woman healed me. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

“That had to be Sariam, their Red.”

“‘Red’?” Ylane asked.

“Their Priestess. There is no way she serves Elerion the way Momma did. But you can heal yourself.” Trynneia grabbed Ylane’s hand. “Just feel it. The Light will illuminate your path.” She couldn’t think of a better way to describe how her intuition worked. Instead, she hoped Ylane could make use of it.

A Sentinel came by and took their bowls, glaring at them distrustingly. They sat in silence until they were alone again.

“Ditan’s here, Tryn,” Ylane said. She began sobbing.

“I know. I tried to get them to free him as well. As much as we can be freed, anyway. They denied my request.”

“He’s worse off than we are. You have to talk to them!” Ylane said passionately. “You need to see him.”

Trynneia didn’t want to imagine what he looked like. They’d kept her from him all night. She’d slept only in short spurts, worried and terrified in equal measure for her closest friend and the girl she unexpectedly had taken under her care.

It’s my job to get us all free, safely. Dee’s been crippled and Ylane’s both innocent and too trusting. That always irked me. Now she’s a liability because of it.

“I’ve helped him already, Ylane. We’re different, you and I. They hunt people like him for a living. But they have no idea about us.”

“What are we?”

“That’s our secret too. We don’t know. They’ll do their damnedest to find out. Trust no one.”

Ylane nodded and shrank into herself. Trynneia held her. The second sun crested the horizon, brightening the sky further. Two Sentinels ran past and entered the Warden’s large coach-wagon.

“They looked upset,” Ylane said.

“Yes, something’s not right,” Trynneia agreed. “Just keep a low profile.” She knew the advice meant nothing since they sat in the middle of the encampment, but she tried to soothe the younger girl.

Moments later, they came out again with the Warden. Modius looked at her and approached. “I told you that you’d serve me. Come along.” Trynneia followed the two Sentinels past the remaining wagons. Ylane remained where they’d sat, confused and scared.

Modius walked at Trynneia’s side. “She’ll be fine,” he added.

“What did Eilic to do her last night?” Trynneia asked quietly once they were out of hearing. “She’s terrified.”

“What do you mean?”

“Light bless it, Warden. You know what I mean.” She set a hard edge to her voice, trying to find a way to intimidate him. He merely glanced at her.

“She disobeyed a command and received corrective action. I hope you take her lesson to heart.”

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Trynneia glowered. I’ll show you corrective action. Wisps hovered in multicolored glory around everything this morning. She couldn’t remember seeing so many before.

-Beware-

The Sentinels led them past the last few wagons to a clearing near the trail. Gadis laid stretched out, her clothing torn in several places. She had bled out, her flesh pale, cold and stiff.

“Heal her,” Modius commanded.

“I can’t,” she replied.

“You can and you will. Do it,” he said, shoving her to her knees by Gadis’ side.

“She’s dead, Modius,” Trynneia replied, trying but failing to keep her voice steady. The woman’s wrists had both been slit, her short sword laying nearby supporting the idea of suicide. Modius shook his head.

“Even the Red can bring back the dead. Prove your worth to me, or Ylane will have to try.”

Trynneia drew in a shuddering breath. Ylane can’t do this. She couldn’t help herself. She touched Gadis’ wrist and focused. Her runes lit and flared brilliant white as cold transferred into her hand. She shivered. Will o’the wisps crept over, curious as they bobbed up and down.

-You can do this.-

She placed a hand on each cut, feeling the slashed flesh with her palms. Sticky blood congealed but she ignored it, focusing on finding a way through the wounds. Light bloomed around her as she fed pieces of essence into the fallen woman. Agitated wisps vibrated around the two of them, red, orange and yellow to match the early morning light.

Trynneia gripped harder, repositioning her hands as she straddled Gadis. The Sentinel had given her the first taste of freedom among the Vigil. I have to try.

-You can do this.-

-Care for others.-

Thoughts swirled through her head as she threaded Light through emptied veins, restarting processes that fought hard against her. A weak aura, imperceptible moments before, clawed its way into being. Emboldened, she drew on her reserves further, her skin becoming the same clammy quality.

Wisps brushed her skin, their vibration tickling as they passed into her, infusing her with strength. Trynneia’s Light spread further, down capillaries, veins, and arteries. Her back arched and her muscles seized up, her grip tightening on Gadis’ wrists.

Please let this work, she thought. I don’t want to let him down.

I don’t want to let her down.

-Like you let yourself down.-

Her runes throbbed, synchronized with her pulse She was aware of Modius watching her, judging her. Trynneia pulled the wounds together, sealing them up. The weak aura around Gadis joined the synchronicity. For a brief moment, she felt a melding between them, almost finding the spark she knew somehow that was needed. A cold spot deep within strained for life, barely perceptible.

She flailed and Gadis’ aura thinned, then vanished. Frantic, she pulled at herself, drawing more Light into the Sentinel, her desperation overriding self-preservation.

“Enough!” Modius said, yanking her from the body and throwing her to the side. Trynneia exhaled as the connection broke. Her Light splintered into shards that frittered away into mist and the moment ended. She lay on the ground, exhausted.

The Warden gripped Gadis’ wrists and leaned close, pressing her chest and breathing into her mouth. He repeated several times before giving up.

“It was a fool’s hope,” he said, frustrated. “Get Kern. He needs to know,” he said to the other Sentinels.

“I tried, I tried,” Trynneia sobbed, looking over at her failure. I was so close, I could feel her there. What was I missing?

-Harmony.-

Harmony/? I was there, I could feel it. She was almost there too! I-

“This is an unfortunate disappointment. You’ve let me down, Daughter of Light.” Modius turned on her. “I know you can do better than this,” he said. “What must I do to make you serve the Light?”

He crouched near her. Trynneia flinched. “Give me another chance,” she implored. “You interrupted me!” Trynneia’s frustration mounted as her runes faded, the power bleeding away into nothing.

“There was nothing to interrupt. The woman is dead. Perhaps the legends aren’t quite as true as I thought to believe.”

“What legends?”

Modius picked at a scab on her scalp, breaking it free and causing it to bleed. “That you heal, Trynneia. That you bring life to the dead. That eternal life is yours. I’ll prove the lie in all of them. You’ve already assisted. If these are things your kind can do, you’ll find a way to make it so.”

Trynneia looked at Gadis. For a fleeting moment, the woman almost became a friend. Now, her corpse reminded her only of failure.

“Who did this to her?” she asked. “This wasn’t suicide.”

“It doesn’t matter. She was careless. I have it on good authority that she had a fight with Kern. Lover’s quarrels are a tetchy thing. Given the right situation, she may have needed or wanted a way out.”

“We spoke yesterday. She didn’t seem out of sorts,” Trynneia said. “She showed me great kindness.”

“You knew her for hours only. I’ve known her for years. Did she tell you she was three months pregnant? Or that the child wasn’t Kern’s?” Trynneia shook her head. “I thought not. Likely enough Kern found out and she ended her shame.”

There had been something…was that…? No. Please no!

Kern arrived and dropped to his knees sobbing. Modius clenched his fists. The Sentinel cradled his lover, ignoring the others nearby. Trynneia saw the grief on his face. No fight could have caused it. Whatever had happened between the two, she had no doubt they loved each other.

“Come, Trynneia. We are done here,” the Warden said.

Trynneia followed him back to the main encampment in silence. Sentinels scattered at his approach, fearing the simmering violence on his face. His aura had darkened to a deep blood red, so palpable was his fury.

“Cron!” he yelled when they got near his wagon. The Sentinel arrived.

“Yes, warden?”

“My whip,” he ordered, then he tied Trynneia to the rear gate. Other Sentinels assisted. She saw them do the same with Ylane. “We need to have an understanding,Trynneia. You will never fail me again, is that clear?”

“Leave her out of this. She did nothing wrong,” she pleaded.

“Both of you have failed me. Remember, I say, you do. Until I have compliance, I must instruct.” She could hear the leather creak as he gripped the whip. He no longer cared.

Trynneia heard the first crack of the whip, and Ylane screamed. Then a second, third, and fourth. She craned her neck to the side to see her companion, but Ylane was too far behind. Ylane screamed through the fifth, sixth, and seventh. When the eighth crack struck, Ylane’s screams faltered. On the ninth, she gave only a whimper. She made no noise on the tenth, but Trynneia heard what sounded like knees thudding to the ground.

The eleventh fell on her, and the screaming began anew.