Finally, Asmara halted at the top of a forested hill. The sun was just rising. ‘This looks like a good place. I don’t want to be tired when they arrive.’

  ‘Yes...’ Bo said as he looked around. ‘A good enough place. Come on kids, go hide.’

  ‘Bo-’ Asmara growled.

  ‘I’ve seen enough young people die in Dartham. I’m sorry, Asme, I can’t leave you here on your own.’

  ‘What about those young children?’

  ‘They won’t kill them.’

  ‘They’ll make them use their shadow magic!’

  Bo didn’t reply.

  ‘Bo! They’ll have no hope!’

  ‘They escaped once.’ he said finally. ‘Perhaps next time they’ll find some better rescuers.’

  ‘Bo,’ Ukrit said, ‘you rescued us very nicely.’

  Asmara couldn’t help laughing at that.

  Bo smiled ruefully. ‘Anyway, what’s all this talk of defeat? You and I are famous warriors-’

  ‘Famous? Since when?’ Asmara said.

  ‘Famous warriors! Why, I can take down five men on my own! We’re not going into this fight planning on failing, Asmara.’

  ‘Alright. I don’t want to die.’ she said softly. She drew her sword, running a practiced eye over the inscribings.

  They waited atop the hill, hidden from onlookers behind the trees. They did not have to wait long before a company of men came into view. As they approached over the hilly terrain they disappeared and reappeared as they went down hills and marched up them.

  ‘It’s at times likes these that I wish I’d taken up archery.’ Bo murmured.

  ‘They have a real candle with them Bo, right at the back.’ Asmara squinted.

  ‘So maybe no amulets then.’

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘So, we aim for the candle.’

  ‘And rely on the children to do the fighting for us.’ Asmara’s voice was tight. ‘Look, there’s only ten of them, Bo. You take five, I’ll get the other five. Children, get back. If we can lure them into the forest and separate them we might just have a chance. We’ll do this without shadow magic.’

  The group fanned out as they approached the hill, surrounding it to ensure none could escape. The candle hung at the back, and called, ‘don’t go too far! If you do, the shadow mages will get you.’

  The men got closer and closer, coming into the forest. Once they were in the trees Asmara made her move. She lunged forward, whispering.

  Her target raised his sword in surprise and brushed her sword to the side. Asmara’s sword suddenly lengthened, taking him in the shoulder. He let out a scream before Asmara stepped forward and stabbed him again, ending it.

  By that time two men had surrounded her. She rolled and sprung up behind one of her attackers. Her sword shortened and she stabbed him with her new dagger. She swung around just in time to catch the third man’s sword on hers. Somewhere else, she could hear Bo fighting. She had no time to look. Two more men were behind her. These men approached with caution; they’d seen her sword.

  The three men attacked. Asmara moved faster than she had in months, her sword flashing so fast it was a blur. Yet she couldn’t defend herself entirely. The men got past her guard, drawing blood. She had nowhere to retreat to. She was surrounded. She heard Bo cry out in pain.

  She whispered another word. Her attacker’s sword suddenly stuck to hers. He cried out in surprise. She threw all her weight backwards, pulling him into the line of her second attacker. It was too late to pull back, and his sword sliced into the other man’s arm.

  Asmara whispered another word. Her sword was hers again as she toppled to the ground with the injured soldier atop her. She whispered, and her sword was a dagger. She stabbed the man atop her and shoved him off her. As she did though the third man stabbed her shoulder. She let out a cry of pain. The man smiled and kept her pinned down as the second man approached. She wrapped her feet around his leg and yanked. He fell with a startled yelp. She screamed again as his sword ripped through her shoulder. She barely rolled away before the second man stabbed the ground where she’d been.

  She backed up against a tree as the two angry men approached. Out of the corner of an eye she saw the candle. He’d come up the hill closer as Bo and Asmara drifted further apart. With a yell she turned and made a sudden run towards him. The startled candle pulled out a sword. Once again, she was surrounded by three men.

  Asmara fought. Her arm was bleeding profusely. Only one of her attackers was injured. Sweat rolled down her brow and into her eyes.

  If she could just get the candle Bo might be able to survive and take the children...

  The candle’s guard slipped. She lunged forward, knowing at the same time she was making herself an easy target for the other two. Someone yelled. It sounded like her name. So many people were yelling. Her sword slid past the candle’s, and up into his ribs. She expected to feel steel bite into her. She spun and wobbled in surprise. The two soldiers were frozen.

  Asmara had no time to think why. The candle was dying, maybe dead already. She needed to kill the other soldiers before the children used their magic. She raised her sword when the men collapsed.

  ‘No...’ she cried breathlessly. ‘Oh, not again...’ and yet... it didn’t feel...

  ‘Asmara!’ a familiar voice called.

  She looked up and took a startled step back.

  The red-haired sorcerer reached a hand for her. ‘Asmara, you’re hurt-’

  ‘D-dorian... did you kill those men?’

  He nodded, about to say something, when she pushed past him.

  ‘Ukrit! Palmira! Don’t use your magic!’ out of the corner of an eye she saw Bo sagging over his sword. ‘Amina! Gabor!’

  She found the children huddled up where they’d left them.

  ‘Don’t use your magic.’ she gasped, falling to her knees.

  ‘We can’t...’ Palmira’s soft voice was tearful. ‘The candle..’

  ‘He’s not dead yet...’ Asmara sighed. ‘Oh good, I was so worried....’

  ‘Y-you’re bleeding...’ Amina whimpered.

  ‘Oh this?’ Asmara looked at her shoulder. ‘Yeah, that’s quite bad.’ she said. She staggered to her feet. Where were the bandages?

  ‘Asmara!’ a feminine voice called. ‘Sit down.’

  She turned and found herself looking down at Julietta. ‘Bleeding everywhere! I’ve taken care of Bo for the moment, sit down.’ the sorceress scolded.

  ‘Bo? That was... quick.’

  ‘I’ve had practice. Sit down.’

  Asmara was already obeying. She was feeling suddenly very light-headed. Bo came into view, and Dorian. She immediately looked away.

  ‘Bo?’ she asked. ‘Bo, are you ok?’

  ‘Ah...’ he sighed. ‘I’m glad Julietta showed up.’

  ‘You were doing quite well.’ Julietta replied politely.

  ‘I wasn’t dead yet.’

  ‘Not yet.’ she agreed. ‘You and Asmara both need to rest. Magical healing will drain you.’

  ‘No, we have to... before they come back...’ Asmara murmured.

  ‘It’s already getting dark, and you’re both badly injured.’

  ‘Don’t use your magic.’ Asmara mumbled.

  ‘What do you mean don’t use my magic?’ Julietta said in mild outrage. ‘Oh, you mean the children.’

  ‘Don’t use it. See, I told you we could take care of it. Promise me, you won’t use it.’

  Julietta put Asmara to sleep, still repeating the same words.

  Dorian looked at Julietta askance as she practically danced around the hilltop. He hadn’t said much since Julietta had taken over the care of Bo and Asmara. The two slept beneath the trees, the children gathered around. For shadow mages responsible for the deaths of perhaps hundreds of people, they sure were squeamish.

  ‘Julietta,’ Dorian said, ‘what are you doing?’

  Julietta crouched next to him. ‘Did you see? Did you see Asmara fight?’

  ‘Yes, actually, I saw her nearly get stabbed by two soldiers at once.’

  Julietta ignored him. ‘It was wonderful! Like it used to be! I forgot she could fight like that!’

  Dorian rubbed at his eyes. He’d felt a mixture of joy and horror at the first sight of Asmara. She was moving again, like she used to, before all this, she was ok- she was about to get killed!

  ‘Dorian.’ Julietta said seriously. ‘Don’t... don’t tell her that Linette kept the other soldiers away, the men without candles.’

  ‘How many men were there?’ Dorian asked, not wanting to think about how Asmara had barely looked at him.

  ‘I’m not sure, but I think there were a lot. These were the first group with candles, but they won’t be the last.’

  ‘He looked towards the huddled forms of the children. ‘They rescued the shadow mages.’

  ‘Except Muresh.’ she said quietly.

  ‘Except Muresh...’

  CHAPTER 100

  23 Jorlaff, 1353

  ‘Why’d you come back?’ Bo asked over breakfast.

  Asmara sat near the children, not looking at Dorian or the others. She was busying herself with making sure they ate.

  ‘I...’ Julietta glanced towards Asmara, who was studiously avoiding them. ‘Asmara,’ she said gently. ‘Linette told me.’

  At that name Asmara looked up, her eyes wide.

  ‘She’s... gone. She said goodbye. She’s...’

  Asmara stood up and walked off without a word.

  Bo watched her go. Once she was out of earshot he turned to Dorian and Julietta. He spoke to both but his eyes were fixed on Dorian. ‘Asmara’s struggling. The children keep using their magic. It pulls on her. Please, don’t push her.’

  ‘I don’t know what you-’ Dorian began angrily.

  ‘One of the children died. Lahela.’ Bo said, and Dorian immediately fell silent. ‘Leave her be, Dorian. I’m very glad you both came back, but I think it’s also unfortunate you two had to see each other so soon-’

  ‘So do I...’ Dorian murmured, but without as much heat.

  ‘She’s doing her best. Dorian, don’t ask her. She doesn’t know-’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. I don’t care. You’ve made your point, Bo, now let’s just move on.’

  Bo nodded and then glanced at Julietta. ‘Etta?’

  ‘Me? Oh, I won’t bother her-’

  ‘No notebooks?’

  ‘Really? That would bother her? But that’s- oh fine, of course I’ll be good. Though if she had to choose between Dorian and me...’

  Bo chuckled. ‘Ok, fair enough. Now, what bought you two back here?’

  ‘Linette. And my-’

  ‘Julietta sent a bird out after you.’ Dorian finished.

  ‘When we saw the boat...’

  ‘We reached the boat nearly a week ago. Are you sure you two weren’t just hiding and waiting til you could make a big entrance?’

  ‘Bo, I would never!’ Julietta exclaimed.

  Bo laughed at her expression. ‘Anyway,’ he sobered. ‘We need to leave as soon as possible. I don’t suppose you two have a boat stashed away?’

  Dorian and Julietta exchanged a look. ‘We were going to make one.’

  ‘Make one?’

  ‘You did ask me once if I could use magic to take us across the sea. Well...’

  ‘But we were going to leave from Port Eliach.’ Dorian finished.

  ‘We can’t afford another two weeks in Lakasha.’ Bo said. ‘Ok, Etta, if you can make a boat, what are we waiting for? Let’s clean this up and get going!’

  ‘It’ll take me at least three days...’ she looked around at the group. ‘Make that five days to make. And we should do it near the water.’

  ‘I don’t know if we can stay still for five days.’

  ‘I’ll just have to do a better job of keeping us hidden.’

  ‘Alright. Let’s bury the bodies and get moving. We’ll need to decide what to do with the candle.’

  They all glanced towards the sleeping man. He’d been alive when Julietta had finished with Dorian and Asmara, so she’d healed him too. He slept now, in a magical sleep.

  ‘Do we have enough supplies to get across the sea?’ Dorian asked.

  ‘Let’s get to the coast and take stock. I might go and scavenge while you and Julietta make us a fancy magic boat.’

  The trio began getting ready to leave. Julietta, who thought she’d been inured to death in Dartham, was surprised how unpleasant the grave-digging was. She’d seen plenty of death in Dartham, yet it was a while since she’d dug a grave and had so long to consider the person she was burying. At least with magic it didn’t take as long to prepare the graves.

  She reminded herself that these men had come to kidnap children.

  When Asmara returned she looked down at the body of the candle, a range of emotions flitting across her face. In surprise, Julietta realized it almost looked like she was going to cry.

  ‘Did I... did I leave him here to die? He was alive when the battle-’

  Bo went to her side. Julietta couldn’t help overhearing,

  ‘this is... this is the first time I’ve killed someone since... since Henri... I’ve never...’

  ‘Asmara, he’s still alive.’ he said gently. ‘Julietta fixed him.’ Though given the large bloodstain on his chest and the rip in his robe, it wasn’t immediately obvious. ‘We still need to bury the others. Do you want to wait with the children?’

  ‘N-no. Why should I get out of it because I...’

  Asmara set to work with a branch. Her dark hair, which was loose today, covered her face.

  It was hard seeing Asmara, injured just yesterday, struggle with the branch. Julietta finished her grave and went to her.

  ‘There’s really no need for you to help. Me and... I have it.’ she said awkwardly, not wanting to talk about Dorian.

  Asmara looked up at her. Her dark eyes were wide. Her shirt was still bloodstained, though Julietta had fully healed the wound. Julietta had seen her injured before, but she’d never looked quite so vulnerable.

  Asmara dropped the stick without a word and walked off. Julietta watched her go, a frown on her face. She wasn’t sure what to make of that behaviour.

  Once they were finished Bo came to Julietta and asked if she could locate their wagon. Nameless One and Nameless Two couldn’t carry eight people.

  ‘We need to decide what to do with him.’ Bo said to Dorian as they looked down at the candle. Julietta sat further away, her eyes closed as she concentrated on her magic.

  ‘Maybe we should take him.’ Asmara interrupted. She stood next to Bo, and spoke to him as if Dorian wasn’t there.

  Dorian’s eyes narrowed and he didn’t say anything.

  ‘We definitely don’t have enough food for another full grown man.’ Bo said after a moment thinking about it. ‘Maybe we could get some, but then we’d have to guard him.’

  ‘Don’t take him!’ Palmira said.

  ‘Don’t bring him near us!’ Amina and Ukrit added.

  Asmara sighed. ‘He won’t keep them alive anyway. They’d still be able to leave their bodies. Fine. What do we do then?’

  ‘We could use him as a distraction.’ Dorian said, glaring at Asmara.

  Asmara suddenly decided she had something else to do and walked off.

  ‘This is going to be a long trip.’ Bo sighed, rubbing at his eyes.

  ‘What do you want me to do, pretend she doesn’t exist?’

  ‘Let’s just... be kind to each other. Anyway,’ he went on, before Dorian could object, ‘you had a good idea. If we can let him think we’re heading north to Port Eliach... Julietta, can I ask you something?’

  Julietta opened her eyes after a few moments of tying up her spell. ‘Yes?’

  Bo explained their idea.

  She frowned as she thought about it. ‘I could bring him slowly out of his sleep, so he thinks he overheard us talking about our plans. I can ensure he won’t wake up til we’re gone.’

  ‘Perfect. Now, about Muresh and Lamisa-’

  ‘I’ve found them, I’m just trying to bring them back. They aren’t very cooperative.’

  ‘Let me help.’ Dorian suggested.

  ‘Dorian’s great with animals.’ Bo said. ‘He always gets so attached to our horses. And mushrooms.’

  ‘I do not!’ Dorian said to Bo and Julietta’s stifled laughter. ‘I’ve just spent a lot of time with them. Now, you heard the prodigy. We can’t do magic and talk.’

  By the time Julietta and Dorian lured the horses back it was past midday. The group headed towards the coast, Julietta and Dorian riding ahead of the wagon. Julietta wove careful magic around them so they would attract no attention.

  Bo drove the wagon. Asmara sat in the back with the children, talking to them. Her back was turned, so she couldn’t see Dorian or Julietta. When they stopped that evening near the coast and made what would be their camp for the next five days, she still did not even look at Dorian or Julietta.

  CHAPTER 101

  24 Jorlaff, 1353

  ‘Did you feel it?’

  ‘No.’ Dorian replied, returning from his foray outside their hiding place. ‘But that doesn’t mean another mage wouldn’t.’

  ‘It’ll have to do.’ she said, staring up at the interlaced leaves that formed the canopy. She’d woven the forests own magic around them to conceal their presence. There was no foreign magic for a spying mage to find. She pursed her lips as she considered. The forests’s natural cover assisted in the magic. The boat on the beach had none of that advantage. She hoped that the candle would draw their pursuers attention north. Their new camp was half a day south of the hilltop where the group had been reunited. Through the trees, Julietta could see the blue of the ocean and hear the crash of the waves on the beach.

  She and Dorian were alone. Bo had gone off to look for supplies, taking Julietta and Dorian’s money. Asmara had wandered off to ensure no one came near their hiding place. She’d made sure to go in the opposite direction to Dorian.

  ‘We’ll tell you if anyone comes.’ the shadow mages said.

  Julietta cast a glance at the four children. The little one never joined in the talking. ‘Dorian can sense any approaching men just fine. There’s no need to use your magic.’