The darkness was calming, freeing. Its cool touch gently slithered around her, silently wrapping her in an inky cocoon and dragging her deeper. She didn’t fight it. Instead, she welcomed the escape, clung to it even. They couldn’t touch her here. She was finally at peace.

Safe...

Eva had no idea how long she drifted in that state for time held no meaning there, but after what felt like an eternity, a new presence joined her in the void. Warmth and compassion radiated from within it like rays from the sun, easily driving away the shadows that had ensnared her and illuminating the darkness all around. She could only watch spellbound as the beautiful soul drew nearer, stopping just shy of reaching her.

Feeling as though she were being drawn to it, Eva slowly extended her hand and touched it. Instantly, the same spark of life that emanated from the other soul exploded within hers. A rainbow of colors filled her vision, banishing the cold of the void and replacing it with a comforting heat. The sensation was like learning to breathe again. Feelings and emotions surged through her being, lifting her away from the emptiness until at last her spirit broke free of the dark chains.

Like surfacing from the depths of an icy lake, Eva's eyes suddenly flew open and she sat bolt upright with a sharp gasp. Disoriented and confused, it took several rapid blinks for the colors that blinded her to fade, but once they did, she found herself face-to-face with a faerie. Wide eyed with shock, Eva’s gaze rapidly darted across the small woman’s features, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.

Am I dreaming? she wondered uncertainly, afraid to hope that help had come at last. Or has my mind finally come undone?

As she continued to stare, the delicate creature exhaled with what looked like a mixture of relief and exhaustion before sagging tiredly against the metal bars that formed her cage.

Wait… cage? Tearing her eyes away from the faerie, Eva noted with increasing dread that the tiny woman was being held in what looked like a small birdcage, but what alarmed her even more was the human hand holding the cage aloft in front of her face. As soon as that detail registered in her awareness, Eva instinctively recoiled in fright and scrambled as far away from the unknown person as her chains would allow. When the harsh tug of her shackles told her she could go no farther, she then spun around to face her would-be attacker with hands raised at the ready and eyes blazing. She felt better than she had in what seemed like weeks and had every intention of using her restored health to finally fight back, but as her gaze fell on the person she now faced, some of her animalistic ferocity dissipated. He was not at all whom she had expected to see.

“No, no. Be at ease,” the man said nervously while holding up his empty hand in a surrender gesture and leaning away from her to appear non-threatening. “I won't hurt you, I swear it.”

With eyes narrowing in suspicion, Eva swept a calculating glare across his thin frame. He couldn’t be much older than herself, she decided, but the hard lines around his mouth and eyes along with the scars that marred his face and arms testified to a rough life, creating the illusion of age. His light brown hair was slightly disheveled and appeared to be in need of a cut as it curled around his ears and hung in... his eyes. The flickering light of the torch he’d set against the wall didn’t reveal much as to their color, but it was the emotions that churned beneath their depths that gave her pause. Concern, remorse, anger, and pity were easily recognizable, but the more intense feelings were harder to decipher. Before she could begin to make sense of them, however, he must have realized why she was staring so intently, for he immediately reigned in his tumultuous emotions and closed himself off from her, effectively shutting the door to his soul.

“What do you want then if not to hurt me?” she questioned callously, still refusing to lower her guard despite the doubts now swirling in her mind.

“Nothing. I mean…,” Taken aback by her tone, he floundered in his words for a moment while trying to come up with an appropriate response. “I was sent here to heal you, but I also brought food.” Hastily, he reached behind him to produce a small, drawstring sack as proof. After holding it up for her to see in the dim torchlight, he then gently tossed it at her feet.

Despite the crippling urge to lunge at the bag and devour the food, Eva forced herself to ignore the simple rations and keep her focus on the man instead. “Heal me?” she asked in confusion, lowering her head slightly to stare at him more intently. “How did you…?” she began to ask but then remembered the faerie he held imprisoned in his other hand. Very quickly, Eva put the pieces together in her mind. “I nearly died…, but you,” she pointed at the tiny creature who up until this point had remained silent, “you brought me back.”

“That’s right,” the faerie woman confirmed while still struggling to remain upright. “It wasn’t easy, though. I was almost too late.”

Against her will, Eva’s defenses began to falter as she remembered the ordeal that had brought her to the brink of death. Her hands began to tremble and moisture clouded her vision as she worked to force words past the lump in her throat. “Why?” she whispered hoarsely. “Why did you bring me back?”

“Because that is my nature,” the drained faerie replied with quiet conviction. “I heal what is injured, restore what is broken, and replenish what is lost. That is our way. How could I do anything less?”

“Don’t you understand?” Eva brought her fists to her temples and clenched her eyes shut briefly before opening them again to glare at the two figures across from her. “Don’t you understand?” she shouted this time, a hint of madness leaking into her tone. “I never gave in. I never told them anything. But now… I don’t think I can do it again. I can’t. I’m not strong enough. Death was my only hope of protecting them.”

Shrinking into herself, the last of Eva’s courage was swept away by a torrent of tears as she wrapped her arms around herself and drew her knees up to form a wall she could hide behind while rocking herself back and forth. “I’m sorry,” she whispered to seemingly no one in particular. “I tried. I tried so hard to be strong, but I can’t. I’m so sorry.”

Urged to act by the pitiful sight of someone whom he was sure used to be so brave, the young man set the faerie and her cage to the side and cautiously moved to Eva’s side. “Hey, it’s all right,” he tried to comfort softly in a voice laden with concern and sympathy. “Please, don’t cry.” Then, scooting still closer, he reached out a hand and lightly brushed it across her shoulder.

“Don’t touch me!” Eva nearly screamed as she flinched away from his touch and pressed her back to the wall.

A wild look like that of a wounded animal met his surprised stare, causing him to once more raise his hands in surrender and retreat slightly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. As I’ve already said, I’m not going to hurt you. I just wanted to help.”

“Just… don’t touch me,” she repeated, a bit calmer this time.

“Okay, I won’t. You have my word,” he promised sincerely, allowing some of the tension to leave his muscles as he relaxed his posture and slowly lowered his hands.

With the back of her hand, Eva roughly wiped away the excess moisture from her cheeks, smearing dirt and dried blood across her face in the process. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout.”

“No, please,” he argued while shaking his head for emphasis. “I understand, trust me. I should have known better. Forgive me.”

Caught off guard by his response and subsequent apology, Eva stared at him unabashedly as she worked to reconcile his unprecedented behavior with what she had come to expect from everyone in this nightmarish place. “Who are you?” she blurted suddenly.

“Well, my name is Emmerich,” he answered shyly with half a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “As for who I am… That’s going to take much longer to explain so why don’t you eat while I talk? There are some things I want to discuss with you and not much time to do so.”

Deciding to go along with his request for the time being, Eva grabbed the brown sack by its drawstring and pulled it closer. Once she’d gotten it settled in her lap, she then hastily worked it open to reveal a hard biscuit, two strips of dried meat, and a small water skin. Just the sight of food had her practically drooling in hungry anticipation; so, she wasted very little time before tearing off a large hunk of meat with her teeth and chewing it savagely.

Satisfied that she was now eating, Emmerich readjusted himself on the hard floor into a semi-comfortable position before beginning his tale. “As I’m sure you’ve already discovered, the Betrayed have been kidnapping Ataran women for quite some time in order to breed with them and claim your magic as their own.” Eva's nod confirmed his assumption. “Not every child the female Warriors bore was gifted with the magic, however. This gave rise to two different classes of offspring: the Wielders and the Base. When they were old enough, the Wielders were trained in every form of combat to be honed into soldiers and then used to breed even more gifted children. The Base, on the other hand, became what their name suggests—the lowest of the low. Making up the servant class, they answer every beck and call of the Wielders and Purists, those who have not mixed their bloodlines with that of the Atarans. The Purist class includes ones like Severin and Rave who feel it is beneath them to interbreed with the Ataran prisoners.”

After taking a long draught from the waterskin, Eva wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and interrupted his recounting. “And which class do you fall into? Are you a Wielder or a Base?”

Lowering his head to chuckle wryly, Emmerich took a moment to answer. After casting a wary glance towards the cell door, though, he then lifted the sleeve of his tunic to reveal a large, ugly “X” that had been branded into the skin of his right shoulder long ago. “I bear the mark of the Base, but I am not what they think me to be,” he explained with a conspiratorial gleam lighting his face.

“What do you mean?” Eva queried in a hushed tone, completely captivated now.

“See for yourself,” he replied before opening his hand in front of her. As she watched, a small spark appeared in his palm then grew until a sizable flame danced within his grasp. Bringing up his other hand, he rotated a finger above the orange flame until it begin to spin in place, taking the shape of a miniature, fiery tornado. “My abilities manifested later than the others. By that time, they had already branded me as a Base. My mother, a captured Ataran Warrior like yourself, made me swear that I would tell no one about my gift, and so I have kept my promise all these years while she trained me in secret. You are the first person I have ever revealed this to. Well, other than the faerie, of course.”

“I do have a name, human,” the aforementioned faerie retorted from her place on the ground.

“My apologies, Adiel.” Emmerich accompanied his words with a tip of his head in the faerie's direction while simultaneously extinguishing the dancing flame in his hand.

“Forgiven.”

Emmerich shook his head as the small faerie then sank down onto the bottom of her cage with a yawn and curled up into a tight ball, using her arm for a pillow. “I guess she's more exhausted than I thought.” After giving a shake of his head, it occurred to him that Eva still hadn't spoken since his big revelation a few moments ago. When he turned to look at her, though, he found her studying him with that same curious yet distrustful expression she had worn earlier. “What is it?”

“Why have you told me all this?” she asked after her extended silence. “You have no reason to trust me, and I certainly have no reason to trust you. So, what have you to gain by confiding your lifelong secret in me? There's more to this you're not telling me.”

Averting his gaze and chuckling nervously, Emmerich cleared his throat once before answering. “You’re very perceptive; I believe I underestimated you. Right, well, I told you all of this because we need your help. Severin plans to attack Elysia. I’m not sure when, but it will be soon. And when he does, that will be our only window of opportunity to escape this place. Once he and his army have left for battle, the Base are planning to revolt against the ones that remain, but Severin is no fool. He will probably leave several Wielders behind to keep everyone else in line. That’s where you come in.”

“You need me to help fight against the ones with magic,” Eva guessed before he could finish.

“Right. We’re going to need all the help we can get to take down the Wielders that stand in our way, but my mother, Amelynn, isn’t as physically strong as she used to be and we aren't sure if we can trust the other Warriors that have been captured. She’s afraid they have been turned.”

“Like Netta.”

“Yes…” Emmerich eyed her skeptically, suddenly distrustful. “How do you know about Netta?”

“They tried to use her as a spy to get information from me, but it didn’t work,” Eva explained briefly prior to finishing off the hard biscuit.

“Oh. Looks like I’m not the only one to underestimate you, then.”

Before he could say more, a swift bang on the iron door caused both Emmerich and Eva to jump with a start. Eva immediately tensed and swiveled wide, frightened eyes toward the door, but Emmerich simply muttered a curse under his breath and shook his head.

“It’s all right,” he said to Eva after casting a dirty look in the direction of the door. “It’s just the guard warning me that my time is almost up. Even though they’re Wielders, they’re on our side.”

“Oh,” Eva replied while releasing a pent-up breath. “That’s good to know.”

“Listen, I hate to leave you like this, but I have to go before someone else comes along and finds me talking to you. I promise I will come back, though.”

“No! You can’t! Please,” she grasped him by the arm and held onto him with all the strength she possessed, “don’t leave me here.”

Closing his eyes, Emmerich inhaled deeply before turning to face her and covering her hands with his where they rested on his arm. When he at last opened his eyes again, Eva had to suck in a sharp breath. She could now clearly see the greens and golds that had previously remained hidden in the low light as they swirled around his pupils, and past them, the same emotions she had been unable to identify earlier now churned all the more fiercely in his gaze. She had little trouble recognizing them now. She had seem the same protective urge burning in Caden's eyes the day he found William shaking her.

“Listen to me carefully. If I could, I would take you and my mother far from here right now so that no one could ever hurt you again, but I can't. Not yet. We have to be smart about this and wait until we have the best chance of actually succeeding. I don't even know your name, but—”

“Eva,” she supplied quickly, her voice coming out barely above a whisper.

He smiled. “Eva, I give you my word that I will do everything in my power to get you out of here as soon as possible. You just have to hold on a little while longer. Can you do that? Will you trust me to help you?”

Biting her lower lip to hold her emotions in check, Eva nodded. “I trust you.”

“You do?” Emmerich blinked in shock. He hadn't expected her to be quite so easily convinced.

“Yes,” she said after a short chuckle. “I can see your sincerity and sense your honesty. I didn't think it was possible, but I believe I have found an ally amongst my enemies.”

“Thank you,” he replied with obvious relief. “You won't regret it.”

Another two loud bangs sounded against the iron door.

Emmerich hung his head with a frustrated sigh. “Time's up, I'm afraid.” Then after lifting his head again, “You will be all right, Eva. I can see it in your eyes—you're stronger than you think.”

“Let's hope so,” she said halfheartedly.

Instead of answering, Emmerich simply squeezed her hand reassuringly while offering her a sad smile. He sat staring at her for just a moment longer before finally pushing himself to his feet and gathering up the empty sack and his torch. He was halfway to the door when Eva stopped him with a single word.

“Wait!”

When he turned back, she was wiggling something out of her left boot, the only one that remained on her feet. A moment later, something white caught the glare of the torchlight and reflected it back to him. “What is that?” he asked breathily when he noticed the sapphires.

“It's a dagger, and right now, it's my most precious possession. Will you take it and keep it safe for me? It's only by pure luck that they haven't found it before now.”

“Eva,” he started with hesitation clear in his gaze and voice, “I don't know if that's a good idea. If they find me with that, I could be...” The desperation in her gaze stopped him short.

“Please...”

With shoulders sagging, he admitted his defeat. “Okay. I'll do it.”

“Thank you.” Eva tried to pour all of her gratefulness into the smile that she gave him as he took the blade from her hands.

“Thank me when I return it to you with my head still attached to my shoulders,” he joked while slipping the blade into his empty sack then tucking the package into the back of his pants.

Eva smiled at his teasing. “Alright. Until then.”

“Good. I'm going to go now, but I'll be back to check on you when I can.”

“Don't wait too long,” she called to his retreating form after he had retrieved the sleeping faerie and her cage from their place on the ground. “My other visitors aren't as good of company.”

“I'll see what I can do,” Emmerich replied with a final smile before slipping out the screeching door.

His departure was followed by a depressing gloom that settled in around Eva like a cold blanket. The quiet was too quiet and the darkness too dark. For a moment with him there, it had felt... like home. The word brought with it images of every person she cared for. Their faces flashed across her mind's eye as clearly as if they were standing right in front of her, and the longing she felt to be with them was like salt being rubbed in an open wound. The pain caused her to clutch her middle and double over in grief.

Breathe, Eva. Just breathe. It'll pass.

She kept repeating the same phrase over and over in her mind until the worst of it had subsided. Exhausted beyond belief, she then collapsed onto her side and curled her knees into her chest. Just a little longer, Eva, she told herself. Just keep it together a little while longer... for them. You have to do it for them...