Such a waste, Seraiah couldn’t help thinking, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth. The first apple she had eaten in years, and it hadn’t even stayed in her stomach.

“Here,” Kestrel said, shoving a water bag in front of her face.

Seraiah accepted it with thanks. She took a sip, and swished it around in her mouth, before spitting it out to clear the foul taste from her mouth.

“Maybe next time you will believe me when I tell you not to look.”

“Maybe,” Seraiah echoed faintly, the image of the mangled arm flashing through her mind again.

She hoped there wouldn’t be a next time. Her stomach roiled, and she closed her eyes, willing herself not to heave again. When the wave of nausea passed, Seraiah handed the water bag back to Kestrel, who was still standing next to her, her arms crossed over her chest.

“What kind of creature could do that?” Seraiah asked, looking up at Kestrel.

She frowned and glanced back in the direction of the arm, but didn’t answer.

“A bear?” Seraiah suggested. She knew they were fairly common in these woods.

Kestrel snorted. “We could only be so lucky.”

Seraiah scrutinized the surrounding trees. Was it out there right now, watching them?

“Let’s get back to the horses. Kai should be done shortly, and we need to move on.” She didn’t have to add ‘before the creature comes back for its meal.’ Kestrel took off toward the clearing, not checking to see if Seraiah was following.

Seraiah hastened to her feet and scrambled after the other woman.

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When Kai returned to the clearing, he exchanged a look with Kestrel, some sort of wordless communication passing between them. The moment slipped away before Seraiah could ask about it, and Kai motioned her over to his horse.

“You’ll ride with me now, so Kestrel’s horse can have a break,” he informed her.

She didn’t care to ride with him, but she let him help her mount before he took his place in front of her. They set off, with Kestrel falling in behind them.

Kai’s horse was taller than Kestrel’s, and Seraiah couldn’t help but notice how much farther it was to the ground. Unconsciously, she tightened her arms around Kai as she looked down at the snow passing underneath the horse’s hooves. It felt like their pace had picked up since their gruesome discovery, even though the horses were still only able to walk.

Maybe it was her wishful thinking.

“Think you could loosen your hold? It’s getting hard to breathe,” Kai said, sounding more amused than annoyed.

“Sorry,” Seraiah mumbled, forcing her arms to relax.

To distract herself, Seraiah tried to recall everything she could about her step-mother and Sterling’s arrival in her life.

Papa had a story he always recounted about the day they’d first met. Seraiah hardly remembered it, having been only four years old at the time, but apparently, she’d told Papa about a dream she’d had that she would be getting a new sister named Sterling. Papa indulged her, knowing he was unlikely to marry again.

Imagine his surprise when Jensira had appeared at his market stall, not more than a week later, carrying a tiny baby. Fascinated, Seraiah demanded to know the name of the baby.

“Sterling,” Jensira had told them.

“See, Papa. I told you,” Seraiah had said. “That’s my new sister.”

And so she had been.

It had been the first of many dreams to come true. Yet, it was not until Jensira passed away that the nightmare began.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Seraiah pushed the thought away. She didn’t want to think about the nightmare now. She would get Sterling back before anything could happen to her.

Instead of nightmares, she turned her thoughts to Papa. She wondered if he’d realized she had left yet. Would he search for her, or would he go on without her like he’d done with Sterling? As much as she hated to think it—she hoped it was the latter. Even though she was angry at him for doing nothing to help Sterling, he was still her father, and she didn’t want him to worry.

The forest steadily grew darker as afternoon stretched into night. When it was almost too dark to see, Kai finally reined in his horse. “We will stop here for the night,” he said, dismounting, and then helping Seraiah down. “No fires, and we will set a watch. I’ll take the first one, and Kestrel can take the second.”

Seraiah didn’t say anything when he failed to assign a watch to her. Her lack of sleep over the past few days was catching up to her, and she was struggling to stay on her feet.

“Here.” Kai thrust a bedroll in her direction. “You’ll want this to keep warm.”

She accepted it gratefully. Kestrel was already laying out a similar one nearby, and Seraiah rolled hers out next to it.

After a dinner consisting of dried meat and even drier bread, she retired to her bedroll. It was warm, as Kai promised, and smelled faintly of horse and Kai himself. It only took seconds for her eyes to fall shut and the dream to start.

This one was like none of her previous dreams, which typically played out entire scenes. Instead, the images were disjointed and passed quickly.

A flash of trees followed by wrists bound with rope. A horse snorting.

Faster.

Faster.

Bits and pieces swirling past.

Trees.

Horse.

Snow.

Then a face.

It was a face more familiar to her than her own.

Sterling.

A bruise bloomed on her cheek, her eyes closed as if in sleep.

Then came a low growl and a glimpse of gray fur.

Sterling’s eyes flew open in terror, her mouth opening to scream.

And then the image shattered.

Seraiah’s own eyes flew open to find Kestrel leaning over her, her long hair brushing Seraiah’s cheek.

Kestrel, seeing that she was awake, blew out a breath and sat back on her heels. “Finally. I thought I would never get you to wake up.”

Seraiah blinked, trying to orient herself.

Kestrel studied her face. “What did you see?”

“It was just a dream,” Seraiah mumbled, shaking her head.

She didn’t know who she was trying to convince more—Kestrel or herself.

“We both know that isn’t true,” Kestrel said, giving her a knowing look. “Now, tell me what you saw.”

Seraiah closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose for a moment before responding. “Nothing, only flashes of things. It wasn’t anything. It was just a dream,” she repeated. She knew it was a lie. The dreams always meant something.

“Then why did you scream?”

Seraiah’s eyes caught on Kai over Kestrel’s shoulder. He wasn’t looking at them, but off into the trees. She was sure he was listening to every word.

“I saw my sister,” she heard herself confess as she stared at his back in the dark. His silver hair seemed to glow.

Kestrel leaned forward eagerly. “Where was she? What was happening?”

Kai turned to face them, and even though Seraiah couldn’t make out his features in the dark, she knew he was looking at her, too.

“I—I don’t know. It wasn’t like my other dreams.”

“You mean visions.”

Her focus snapped back to Kestrel. “What?”

“You mean visions,” Kestrel repeated. “Your dreams tend to come true, don’t they?”

Seraiah nodded.

“That’s because you’re a seer, and those aren’t dreams—they’re visions.”

----------------------------------------

“We can discuss it in the morning,” Kai said.

The human girl stared at him mutely, tugging the top of the bedroll—his bedroll—up to her chin.

“But—” The rest of Kestrel’s protest cut off at a look from him. “Go back to sleep,” she murmured to Seraiah. “I’ll wake you in the morning.”

He didn’t stick around to hear if anything else was said. The shadows swallowed him up as he stepped into the trees. A sliver of moon shone tonight, but it did little to light the forest.

A few minutes later, he heard the soft crunch of footsteps over the snow. He should tell Kestrel to go back to sleep too, but he knew she wouldn’t listen until she’d said whatever she’d come to say.

They stood together in silence, looking out at the night. All was quiet, or as quiet as a forest could be.

“You need to tell her,” Kestrel said.

“I will.” He wasn’t sure she was ready to hear the entire story.

Or maybe he wasn’t ready to tell it.

“Tomorrow.”

Kai turned to stare at her. His eyes were adjusted to the dark, but she’d pulled her hood up to hide her face. He could still feel her gaze on him.

“I will decide when—”

“Tomorrow, before we leave. If we don’t want her keeping secrets from us, then we shouldn’t be keeping secrets from her.”

“I’m not sure I agree,” Kai said, returning to watching the woods for movement. After he’d seen signs of the beast, he’d taken to carrying his sword instead of only his knives. He noticed Kestrel had done the same.

“We need her visions.”

“I’m not sure I agree with that, either. You heard for yourself. She didn’t know they were visions. She’s untrained, which means she is a liability. You know how much seers are worth.”

“Exactly. Seers have worth. So she will need a little guidance. I’ll work with her if that’s your concern.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” Seers were rare and valuable. Many would do anything to get their hands on one to harness their abilities to see the future. If Kestrel had noticed her, others would too. It was a complication they didn’t need.

Kestrel stayed stubbornly silent.

“Fine,” Kai grumbled. “I’ll tell her tomorrow.”

“Wake me for my watch,” Kestrel said, a smile in her voice. Then she was gone, as if she’d never been there.