The rocking motion of the carriage, Sakura's quiet singing and the gentle sound of horses' hooves made for a sleepy journey.

For a while after leaving the sanctuary of the Exchangers, the four of us - Sakura, Clae, Kirsten and I- were alert and on standby. The route planned took us through the lesser travelled roads, and around the Opal city, rather than through it. As such, we were not nearly as disturbed as we thought.

After approximately an hour, we were stopped by our first patrol. The angels were dressed in neat military red, wings folded behind them. They gave our guards and drivers little warning as they surrounded us, and ordered a spot check.

A young youth with a shaved head came onto our carriage. His face was chiselled and scarred, and his lips were twisted into a permanent scowl. His eyes glinted around at us as he took in the sight of four gypsy girls.

I was sat paused, holding a hairbrush that I had been pretending to brush my hair with. My new, dyed hair was a luscious red, curling to rival my fluttering eyelashes, and offset by heavy liner across my eyes. My legs were crossed in the long navy skirts I wore, bound by a corset of blue flowers. A white blouse, open and rippled around the neck and chest, completed the ensemble.

The girls around me were dressed similarly. Clae's ensemble was a little shorter and pink, whilst Kirsten's shirt was laced up at the front. Despite knowing them well, even I found it strange to recognise both Kirsten and Clae, with auburn-red hair in country plaits. Sakura was the odd one out, with her dark skin and light freckles, but she wore a vibrant red crop top and skirt to match, sweeping to her feet and clinking with metal discs.

All in all, we looked like a troupe of sisters rather than the spies we actually were. The guards looked briefly at Sakura, but decided that for whatever reason, she wasn't suspicious.

As they left, the carriage seemed to sag in relief. So far, our disguises were working, and if all went to plan, we could relax- for now.

So after a couple of hours, two stops only to change drivers and answer any calls of nature, we were back on the road and vastly bored. Kirsten drifted off and began to snore quietly, which made Clae and I giggle. When she woke with a start as the carriage jumped over a bump in the road, we had to stifle our laughs. She glared at us, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

By the time the sun was starting to go down, we were all hungry and grumpy. Having wanted to make good time to reach the Amethyst district, neighbour to Ruby and Opal, we had skipped any lengthy breaks in travelling. Instead, we had eaten our rations of fruit and nuts. Crossing the border came almost as a relief, despite the much more extensive checks that occurred. We joined a queue of travellers awaiting to enter the city, and were surrounded by patrols of red eager to search the carriages.

Military angels ordered all of us out of the carriages, and then commenced searching inside. We were lined up at the front, and I saw Fabian standing towards the back of the queue. His travelling companions seemed a lot closer knit after the journey than we were; the girls were standing around looking uncomfortable and tired.

I watched as a young woman traveller was finally admitted to the city after having all of her belongings strewn across the floor, and then having what looked like a serious talk with one of the guards. She walked away looking distressed.

I frowned as this occurred once more with a family, the guard taking each member aside and staring at them eye level. The guard himself wasn't particularly scary- he was a small, scrawny youth that didn't match with the rest of the militia. His wings were pathetically small and red.

Then it clicked.

Hurriedly, I caught Clae's eye, blinking over towards the direction of the guard.

She looked at me, a question written across her face. What?

The rest of the guards were searching the carriages, and nobody was paying attention to us.

'He's a mind reader,' I hissed under my breath, and Clae's eyes widened.

'Steal his power?' she suggested, but I shook my head by a fraction.

'He'll know,' I said, 'And that will be suspicion enough. Can you control him?'

Clae glanced in the guard's direction, her mouth set into a grim line of determination. I saw her nod, and move ahead of the rest of the group, pretending to talk to her sister.

Trying to look nonchalant, I watched Clae from the corner of my eye. When it was her turn to be called, she trudged to the guard, and I could see them having the same private conversation. A panic rose in my chest.

What if it didn't work?

After a few minutes, she came fluttering back over. She tipped me a smile, and I sighed in relief. When the guard called the rest of us, he had a vague talk with us privately to avoid suspicion, and then we returned to our group, our secrets safe.

When there was only one carriage left, the group of us waited in silence for the guards to emerge with their findings. So far, we'd had nothing noted on any of the searches- which was our aim. Our true belongings were stowed beneath the false floor of the carriage, sealed and safe.

So I jumped when a yell and a scream were heard from inside the carriage.

A very young, high-pitched squeal which continued; we could hear it moving through the carriage. Open mouthed, we watched as a guard dragged a young girl from the doorway of the carriage, snarling at us.

'Arrest them! They're trying to hide this girl!'

The military guard that had been searching Fabian's carriage threw a figure at our feet. The girl was small and hissing like a wildcat, but she was easily recogniseable from her bushy red hair, and her borrowed clothes. Valkyrie lay curled on the floor, and my mouth hung limp.

How had she hidden from us?

The other guards reached towards us, and we drew away in fear. This was all far too soon- we hadn't even made it to the Ruby district.

'She was hiding in below the trunks in one of the carriages,' the closest guard informed the group. Before I could move, I felt him reach and grab my arm, twisting it behind my back. I let out a grunt of pain, dazed. I heard Fabian cry out, 'No!' whilst around us the guards swooped in, closing ranks.

Sakura was at my side in an instant, delivering a brutal blow to the temple of the guard's head. He staggered as she timed a rapid elbow to his navel, and it connected with a satisfying crack. But as soon as he let go of me, another guard had appeared, and he had a weapon. Unarmed, Sakura and I dodged his swings with his cudgel. He continued to drive at us, and he caught my shoulder with a strike that drew my breath away.

A wind began to rise, rustling at the edges of my hair and pushing away the guard that was coming in for a bigger blow. From the corner of my eye, Fabian was held by two guards on top on him, but his eyes were on me.

He was going to save me.

'No!' I screamed at him, the cudgel swinging an arc towards my face. If Fabian used his power, the game was up.

Sakura tackled me as the cudgel came down, and I heard it resonate against her skull.

The colour drained from my cheeks as she toppled forward, and I clutched her slumped form, checking the pulse still thudding at her throat.

She's unconscious. She's alive...

Realising our attacker was still set on us, I looked up, and narrowly avoided being given a broken jaw. I rolled backwards, expertly standing on my feet and rounding on my attacker.

'Stop.'

The voice came out, resonating, powerful. Everything in the wood froze; the fighting in the clearing, the dust settling to the ground and the trees standing motionless. I stared at my attacker, a middle aged man with a balding head and stubble along his square chin, eyes squinting in irritation. His expression vanished, replaced by an obedient, slack look.

I peered around his belly, seeing the chaos. Valkyrie was still in the middle, pale and lost, in shock. Fabian had a cut under his lip and a black eye just coming into bloom. The performers were either held down by a guard, or struggling to escape, with the exception of Jak, who had somehow managed to wrestle a cudgel from one of the guards and was in the middle of revenge for the swollen cheekbone he had acquired. Iggy and Kirsten stood back to back, facing a group of enemies who were now staring unfocused in the direction of the voice.

Clae stepped into the clearing, her posture rigid and her eyes glowing blue.

'Obey my order. You did not find anything suspicious here, and you will report it as so. Forget you found the girl, forget our fight, and carry on as you would.'

The guards blinked, confused. For a moment, nobody moved. Then the one that had been attacking me said, 'All clear! Move on!'

My mouth dropped open. As if the previous few minutes hadn't happened, the guard gave me a terse nod, ignoring the unconscious girl on the ground nearby.

Clae's words had said you did not find anything suspicious. Forget the girl, forget the fight...

Her power had done that much?

As the guard moved away, he winced from his injuries. I smirked, but the triumph faded; he seemed to shrug them away, as if they weren't a concern of his. We all gaped as the group of soldiers resumed their patrols as though there hadn't been an obvious, frantic struggle.

Clae breathed out, her long hair fluttering to her sides. She saw my open-mouthed surprise and actually looked embarrassed.

'Don't be too jealous,' she muttered. 'It only works the once. I can't control them again; hence why we're now in trouble with that mind-reader.'

I clamped my mouth closed, on edge again. What if he reported us? There was no way he would dismiss the fight!

She turned to the dazed Valkyrie and said, 'That was a childish mistake, my dear. But there's one loose end, if you want to redeem yourself.'

Clae nodded towards the gangly mind reader, who had cowered during the fight, but was now confused and babbling to his seniors. I looked from Clae, to the boy, and back at Valkyrie, before realising what Clae had in mind.

Surely not, I thought.

Valkyrie? She was just a child.

Darkly, Clae leaned forward to Valkyrie and said, 'Silence him. Or we'll be caught.'

Val's face drained, the implications of Clae's challenge clear. My surprise at seeing the young redhead was nothing on the revelation that Clae would be this ruthless. Valkyrie's eyes drifted hopefully to me, and I wanted to agree, to take the burden instead. But I knew Clae was being realistic.

'Lumina won't help you,' Clae said, 'This is the adult mission you wanted to join us on. It's ugly, and it's dangerous. There's no going back. Kill him, or he'll ruin everything.'

'H-how?'

'Get Kirsten to lead him away from the group,' I suggested, and Valkyrie's expression fell. I was her last hope, and I felt an awful twinge that I had betrayed her. She stared at me for several seconds, before she drew her mouth into a thin line, and stormed off towards Kirsten.

There wasn't even a sound as the fire haired girl killed the boy. Clae and I followed them into the forest, the boy charmed by Kirsten and chasing after her like a puppy. He didn't even notice Valkyrie, waiting in the shadows for him.

One moment, I saw her, hands on his arm, and the next, black rot was rising up towards his chest, stilling his heart. The dark marks filled all of his skin, and he was dead before he realised it. I watched the surprise in his face as he felt his life giving out, and his body crashing to the floor. Valkyrie stood over him for a few seconds, staring expressionlessly at her handiwork.

Then she tossed her head up at us.

'I was born a killer,' she snarled. 'And I want to come with you. Anyone want to argue?'

None of us did. In silence, I drew the Black Fire Opal from my pocket, feeling the heat flicker around my thumbs. I touched it to the boy's clothes, and they began to smoke and burn slowly. Like partners in crime, nobody commented on my valiant efforts to hide the body as the fire spread, consuming the dead angel whole.

Burning flesh filled my nose, making me want to gag. I felt shame rising along my hackles, as if I now had a reason to be sent to the Ruby Prison. Regardless of the motives, I had conspired to kill someone, and that knowledge burned harder in the pit of my stomach than the bonfire before me.

If I believed in the gods, like Reia did, perhaps I would pray. I could pray for the boy's soul, and for Reia to be safe and sound.

Perhaps someone would pray for me. Heaven knows I needed it. There was no remorse as I stared into the flames, only survival instinct.

I had the feeling that by the end of this journey, everything but my humanity might have survived.

A/N: SO SORRY for the late update! It's been two whole weeks! I started at a GP practice and it's exhausting me...(both physically and socially.) My brain has been so fuzzy and not in a writing mode, and I haven't even been able to read on here either...grrrrrrrr.

Hopeeee you liked the chapter. There's more action in it, and next stop: Amethyst! What do you think it will be like?

Pleaseeee vote if you liked, and comment me your thoughts. I love reading them, even if they are grammar corrections (nerdy things love).

Larissa xxxxxxxxxxxx