Each of the mountain towns I've visited so far had their own unique designs. While Threlkeld was all lean oaken planks and high-rise points of roofs, Katamen was a flat sheet of cobblestone sliced by winding paths, the few tall buildings that shadowed the others sticking out like mountains among rolling hills.

This village is different again. It climbs unsteadily over precarious ledges, half the buildings appearing to be teetering on the edge of tumbling into the valley below. Some of the houses lean into the mountainside, as if it is a fourth wall they use as support, while others retreat entirely into the gaping hollow of a cave bathed in torchlight. A worryingly narrow wooden bridge strings this half of the town to the other on the opposing slopes. I pray we don't plan on going anywhere near it.

Even at my place at the cave's entrance, ducking out of the sunlight into rock slickened by damp moss, my heart is racing at double its usual pace. Although my fear is only fractionally due to the steep drop tumbling downwards. Mostly, I find myself watching every face I can find, sure that any one of them will turn on me with Fayre's flinty glare.

For the thousandth time, I check my mask is still in place, then tug at my gloves. I hate this. I'd much prefer being back in the safety of the soldiers' camp, clashing swords with Sarielle. But Dalton insisted I come along, and so here I am, wishing I had the ability to sink into shadows and vanish from prying eyes.

I'm not even sure why he saw fit to bring me here. I've done very little other than trail behind the two of them and try not to trip on the way up the stairs.

"That's the last of it," Sarielle says, slinging a bag over her shoulder. In an attempt to remain inconspicuous, both her and Dalton have left their armour back at camp, although the curved tip of her cutlass peeks out from underneath her grey cloak.

I push off the rock and hurry towards them. "So we're leaving now?"

"Not quite yet." Dalton ushers us into the edge of the cave, out of earshot of the stalls. His hood is pulled up over his red-scattered hair. "There's someone we need to check in with. Follow me."

He ducks inside the cave, Sarielle at his side. They move too quickly to give me time to ask. With a silent sigh, I slip in behind them.

Sunlight grapples weakly at the cave's entrance, soon outshone by the lanterns hanging from every wooden beam crossing the jagged ceiling that yawns upwards. The floods of glaring orange make this street almost brighter than the ones outside. Each building is pale, wooden, climbing tall and narrow in a jumble of staircases and boxy rooms. They leave the path between rather tight to squeeze along. We have to drop to single file, and I notice Dalton quickens his pace, his head ducking as we pass the paneless windows.

The very end of the cave is sealed off by a fence, the chamber behind it darkened beyond visibility. We're only a few buildings away from it when he abruptly whips sideways and raps on a door to the right.

A window slides open, the shadowed slit of a face peering through.

"Captain Heathe of the seventh," Dalton murmurs, so quiet I barely pick it up.

The door remains wedged shut. From the window, the eyes narrow expectantly. I glance back, grateful to see no-one else is about.

Dalton sighs. "The golden ox."

"And your company?" The voice is low and gruff, more growl than whisper.

Gritting his teeth, Dalton steps aside, shooting Sarielle an exasperated glance. She places a hand over her mouth as if stifling laughter and pushes up on her toes to reach the window. "Falcon whisperer. And..." She pulls back, gaze trailing my way. "Someone else."

A pause. The window snaps shut. A moment later, there's a click from inside, and the door cracks open, the same dark line of a face appearing in the gap. "You two, in. The new one stays outside."

"But--" Sarielle's exchanged glance with Dalton bites off her argument. "Fine." She touches a hand to my arm. "We won't be long."

They're already slipping inside before I can protest, the door swinging open a fraction more to make way for them. Panic strikes through me. "Wait! Who--"

The door slams shut in my face.

I jerk back, resting a hand on the rough wood. Faint voices drift from inside, the material too thick for me to make out anything more than their pleasant tone. With a tight sigh, I roll around, leaning back into the door. At least the cave is near-empty at this early hour in the morning. I'd dread having to share this tiny path with a crowd.

Loneliness tugs at me with a familiar urge. I cast another long glance along the path. Only two people are visible, right near the cave's entrance, talking under the arch of someone's doorway. Neither of them are looking my way.

I'm just about to turn away, reaching for my glove, when the cloak of the person outside registers. Bright, lapis blue.

A gasp like an icicle slices from my throat. Shoving away from the door, I dash sideways, throwing myself behind the building. I crash straight into a tangle of supporting planks. Wincing, I duck underneath them, wishing I could extinguish the cheerful flame flickering away in the lantern above and retreat into the shadows.

It's Fiesi. He's here. He's found me.

But how? Has he been tracking me all this time? I've seen no sign of him since I first tumbled from the slopes of Mount Vasim. Then again, I have been foolish enough to return to the very mountains he and I traversed together.

My palms slide over the wall behind me as I rise, finding a gap in the beams. I can't breathe. My heart slams into my ribcage with enough force to shatter it and break out into open air, race away, leap into the darkness of the sealed-off chasm only a short dash from where I stand. For a moment, I seriously consider it. My legs tense. I can rip off my gloves and run again until he's far behind, until the threat of his searing blue flame is gone.

Then I rest my head into the wall and listen to the murmurs vibrating the wood. Sarielle and Dalton are still in there. How would they react if I took off without a word? I can't leave Sarielle, not so soon after finding her. The strange whispers of the previous night must be clouding my thoughts.

Screwing my eyes shut, I focus on taking a deep breath. Then another. Stay calm, stay quiet, or he really will find me. All I have to do is get out of this town and back to camp. The soldiers can protect me.

Or can they? Will I only be endangering them by putting them in Fiesi's path?

Gripping the nearest beam for support, I take a shaky step forward. I'll figure it out. Right now, all I need to do is escape.

I move as silently as possible, thanking all the sky that I don't stumble as I step over the plank. Holding my breath, I lean around the wall. My gaze grasps for that doorway.

The street is empty. The blue cloak is gone. My relief tumbles out in a trembling sigh, my leg catching on the plank as I stagger back onto the path. But his absence does little to settle the terror wild in my chest. Grabbing onto the door, I bang on it a little louder than I mean to.

The window flits open again, the same dark-skinned man peering through with skeptical eyes. I press my palms into the door. "We need to leave." At least I don't have to fake the desperate note to my voice.

The man frowns. Then he is shoved aside, and Sarielle's sky-coloured eyes appear. "What's the problem, Nathan?"

"I saw..." I toss a glance along the path again, checking Fiesi hasn't reappeared. "I saw a Neyaibet soldier." Not a total lie, even if the soldier I mean has no loyalty to the army he once fought for.

Her eyes widen. "Did they see you?"

"I don't think so." If he did, he might be waiting outside the cave, poised to slash his flaming knife through my heart. The door rattles. I'm shaking. "But we need to get out."

"Sarie," comes Dalton's warning voice from somewhere inside. The window slides shut. I wait for the door to open, but it doesn't, and instead all I hear is an exchange of raised voices. My pulse races. I curl my outstretched hand into a fist, battling the urge to beat on the door again and again until they open it, if only for some way to release the coiled panic shredding my breaths.

A click. I jolt inwards, clawing at the edge of the door. It gives way, but more than I expect, causing me to stumble forwards. A hand grabs my arm, and then I'm being dragged inside, the exit sealed the moment my heel crosses the threshold.

I whirl, torn between tearing the door open again and finding the darkest corner in this new room in which to hide. Not that one exists. This place is even more brightly lit than outside; I have to blink several times before Dalton comes fully into focus.

Once he does, I wrench my arm out of his grip, gaze flicking from him to Sarielle to the stranger. The man has a sword drawn. I flinch, backing into the inside of the door.

"What are you doing?" I manage, panting for air. "We need to go!"

Dalton waves back the man, fixing him with an unreadable stare, then steps in front of me as if shielding me from the rest of the room. I have the sense he's keeping back Sarielle too, though she doesn't wield her weapon; if anything, she appears more likely to draw on the stranger. She flicks her attention back to me, flashing a tight smile. Her eyes swirl with worry.

"Now, I want you to answer me this, and honestly." Dalton's voice is unwavering, not harsh but firm as stone. Confusion kicks up a storm in my stomach. "Who are you?"

My skin crawls. I'm starting to hate that question, the searing scar it always leaves in its wake. Do they know? How could they have found out? I'm certain I've never seen the man they came to visit in my life. Unless he works with Fiesi.

My hand curls over the door's inside handle, tightening over cool metal. I have the distinct sense of the world folding in on itself, trapping me under weighted sheets from all sides. Whichever direction I run, there's a chance he'll find me. The best option I have is the thin thread of trust I can grasp with the two soldiers before me.

"My name is Nathaniel Aspen," I say, struggling to keep fear from scratching at my voice. "You know that. What's going on?"

"Nathan--" Sarielle starts. Dalton shakes his head, and she falls silent, biting her lip.

"Who are your parents?" he asks.

Invisible knives weave icy lines over my spine. I briefly wrestle for some plausible lie, find my mind tangled in a web of Fiesi's blue flames, and settle with blurting out some form of the truth. "I don't know. I... never met them."

"Oh." Dalton shifts uncomfortably, tugging at the edge of his cloak. He clears his throat before continuing. "But are they anyone important? Nobility?"

"I said I don't know." The fear thrumming in my chest is subsiding, puzzlement stirring in its place. Maybe they haven't figured it out. But why the suspicion burning in the dark-skinned stranger's eyes? Why the concern creasing Sarielle's features?

"Look," I try, "can you please just tell me what's going on? And then can we get out of here?" The final words stumble over each other in a frantic rush. My panic hasn't gone anywhere. It rises and falls, crashing like a wave and seeping into every broken crack Fiesi left behind.

"Dalton," Sarielle cuts in, somewhere between an order and a plea. "He doesn't know. Just tell him."

Dalton exhales slowly. "Okay." He releases his cloak, letting it sag against his straightened form. "Neyaibet are looking for you."

"Ah." Some of the tension coiled in my muscles dissipates. "That I know."

"It isn't just that." He runs a hand through his hair. "They've offered a reward for your capture to every town south of Polevis. Three hundred golds." He laughs distantly. "That's a lot of money."

My mind replays that twilight alley in Threlkeld, Adrien's demands to keep me pinned there until he could trade me off to the first soldier they came across. The handle digs into my palm. It isn't just Neyaibet I have to fear, not anymore. It doesn't take a kingdom's loyalty for a Cormé to hunger for coin.

I flinch, frowning at my own thoughts. Cormé is the word for those without magic, but I've never thought to distinguish myself from them before, and certainly not in a way that leaks disdain over my thoughts. The term hovers oddly, as if the echo of something another said. Trying to shove it back, I focus on Dalton.

"Are you sure it's me?" I know for certain it is, but I need to know what information about me is being spread.

He nods, casting the stranger a look. He also dips his head in agreement. "Their notice made mention of a mask," he says. It's difficult to tell whether the growl in his voice is really aimed at me or simply natural. "Such accessories are hardly common."

Dalton inclines his head. "If you're trying not to be recognised, you could take it off."

I clamp a hand on the place the mask bends over my nose, fingers splayed over its thin material. With the gloves on, I can't sense the veil of magic, but I cling to its comfort. "No. I can't do that."

"Why not?" The note of suspicion returns. I force my hand to drop to my side.

"It's to hide..." Who I really am. "A scar. It's to hide a scar."

"And this scar is so terrible you'd risk getting captured to keep it hidden?"

"Trust me," I tell him, thinking of the hazy reflection of my black eyes, the echoes of agony blazing in their abyss, "it is that terrible."

"Leave him, Dalton," Sarielle says when he opens his mouth in protest. For a second, she catches my eye. "I understand."

Again I have that shuddering sensation of her looking right at me and seeing someone else. She doesn't understand. Maybe if she was able to see past the mask, she would, because then she'd know I don't have scars. The wounds I create are for others to bear.

There's the slightest chance that Fiesi won't recognise me with the disguise. But I doubt it. Unlike Sarielle, he saw me in pure daylight, and only a handful of days ago. He is a risk I can't afford.

"Now can we go?" I ask, feeling for the door again.

Dalton's gaze lingers on me. "You definitely saw a Neyaibet soldier?"

"Definitely. Trust me," I snap with a little more force than necessary. My voice cracks. "We don't want him to find us."

"Hold on." The dark-skinned man marches over. Though his sword points downwards at the floorboards, I still dart aside to make way for him. Rapping his fingers over its patterned hilt, he glances back over his shoulder. "I'll check outside. If the boy is right, it would be safer for you to take the back passage. You know the way?"

Sarielle and Dalton turn on one another, exchanging a shrug. "We'll figure it out," she offers.

The man nods. "You will." Nudging open the door, he strides out, letting it fall closed behind him. A moment later, before I can even gather enough calm to take an even breath, it opens again. "We're clear. Go."

With a quick, "Thank you," Dalton hurries out, Sarielle close behind him. I hesitate, curling my fingers over the doorway as I dare to peer out. No sign of Fiesi, but I still feel as if I'm pushing through thick water as I force out a step. He could be anywhere. Hiding just around the corner, waiting in the darkness. Flecks of blue dance at the edges of my vision.

"I said go, boy." The man shoves me from behind. I stumble forward, reaching for the door for support. It's already shut, and the click of it being locked vibrates through my touch. Jerking back, I toss another glance along the length of the path, blinking hard.

Sarielle's hand warms my shoulder. Her push is more gentle, guiding me away from the distant sunlight of the cave's mouth and towards the fence to our right. Twitching fear removes my ability to control my tongue's impulses as I glance back at the shut-up house. "So, he's nice?"

Dalton barks a chuckle. "We call him Messenger. He's worth earning the trust of. A very useful ally. He finds out information quicker than anyone else."

He grips the top of the fence, just above his head, and yanks upwards, feet scrabbling at the wood until they find a hold. Levering an arm over one of the spokes, he throws himself up, tumbling over and vanishing the other side. I stare up after him, then glance back again. I can't climb over that.

Then I see Sarielle's lips pressed together, the amusement sparking in her eyes, as if she holds back a laugh. She reaches for a knot in the fence's wood and twists. A gate swings open that Dalton scurries out of the way of, panting hard.

Her giggle bursts out as she slips through. I follow and close the gate, relief settling in my chest as the fence seals off the rest of the cave. It's darker back here. Safer.

"You could have said something," Dalton mutters. There's a lantern lying behind the fence which he snatches up, stepping into the dim tunnel before us.

"Hey, you got over," Sarielle says, still laughing as she elbows him. "I was expecting you to fall."

"Faithful as always, Sarie."

We duck under a spire of stone and start heading downwards. With the gloom's cloak wrapping over me, my thoughts gradually clear, enough to smooth out the events of the last few minutes. Swallowing, I speed up, slipping in beside Dalton. "That's why you brought me with you, isn't it?"

He's only half-listening, stepping carefully down a slippery slope of rock with one hand holding the lantern aloft. "What?"

"Because of Messenger. You didn't tell me about him." I pause to traverse the slope myself, grateful that my time with Fiesi got me used to rocky paths. Fiesi. I skid to the bottom hastily, overtaking Dalton. "You thought you'd find out something like this." Because he never trusted me, and I can't entirely blame him for that. After all, he was right. I drop my gaze, focusing on the blurry edge of the lantern's circle of light.

It leaps forward as he catches up. "That's right." He rests a hand on my shoulder. "But we're all wanted. It's nothing new. And you certainly shouldn't worry about us turning you in." He sighs. "But are you sure you don't know why they want you so badly? They're offering the same for you as they are the king and princes."

"I don't know." Even I can hear the lie fracturing my voice. Gritting my teeth, I keep walking. A pale, yellow light has appeared below, the path's end approaching.

"Maybe you're a prince yourself," Sarielle offers. I glance back to see her smile and the knot in my stomach eases. "A secret prince."

I laugh. "That would be an interesting twist."

"Or a bastard prince." There's less joke in Dalton's voice, more wandering thought. Sarielle's step falters. I frown, searching for some meaning to the word, but I turn up nothing.

"I wouldn't accuse the king of that," she says, the humour in her voice wavering.

"He isn't here, is he?" He shrugs, though he's fiddling with his cloak again. "Just a theory, that's all."

The light grows stronger. Finding my desire to escape overcomes my curiosity, I dash for it, then pause at the opening, my hands shaking again. Shielding my eyes, I brace myself and step out.

I've emerged lower down the mountain, and a little around to the town's side. Earth gives way softer beneath my boots. Trees cluster around the mound I've stepped out of and tumble all the way down into the valley's craggy bottom. Eyes on the wooden streak of the bridge, the two dark specs of people crossing, I duck behind a tree, listening. Nothing but the rustle of leaves. Resting into the bark, I try to relax.

"Hey." Sarielle appears at my side. She pins my arm, its tremors momentarily stilled. "We're not going to let them catch you. You got that?"

Tearing my gaze from the bustling town to her, I force a nod. I need to calm down. Nothing will go wrong. Fiesi is nowhere to be seen, and Sarielle is right next to me, bathed in morning sunshine. I'm not alone this time.

"Thank you." I let my gaze flit to Dalton as well, but I hardly disguise my focus on her. "For sticking by me. And for... for trusting me, I guess." I glance down at my boots. "That's never easy."

She gives my arm a gentle squeeze. I could get used to touching if everyone's skin was as smooth and warm as hers. "Everyone deserves a chance."

When her hand lingers, I slowly extract my arm. Perhaps touch shouldn't last for more than a few seconds; the cold writhing under my skin must be seeping into her fingers. I rub at my wrist, unsettled by the sudden frost.

"I'll try to prove worthy of it," I say.

"Oh, what luck I have. Oscensi soldiers."

Every nerve in my body freezes over. Cold digs in claws, scuttling over my spine. Phantom pain in my wrists flares up, a scorching pulse that beats along with the sprint of my heartbeat. An icy line sketches across my neck. I can't breathe. I can't move.

It can't be that voice. The airy lightness to it, the smile etched into every syllable, the playful spark I could see vividly with my eyes closed. I'm imagining it.

But my eyes are open, and I can't deny the man leaning into the arc of the ledge before us, cloak fluttering around his legs.

"I've been searching for you," Fiesi adds, eyes alight.

───── ⋆⋅♛⋅⋆ ─────

Fun Fact: Originally, Fiesi wasn't supposed to appear until they got back to camp. But this makes more sense, him catching just the three of them. And way more fun :D

So, he finally caught up! Our favourite blue boy. Everyone happy to see him again? I'm sure Nathan's missed him dearly :/

I cannot express how excited I am for this help--

- Pup