Calum:

Calum stared out the window, trying to imagine his headstrong sister out there, mostly by herself. Dimitri had told him that she would be accompanied by a Montague and a Capulet, the highest in their houses. But it didn't relieve his anxiety. Two sworn enemies, more interested in killing the other, would definitely not put Nathaly's safety very high on their list. 

The night was arriving eagerly, the bright moon showing it's brilliant face. 

Calum pushed off his forearms and turned his attention away from his sister's mission. He had trained Nathaly well, enough that she could care for herself. If somebody tried to take her, she would show them hell. Nathaly had always been alert, defensive, so much it became the first thing she saw when she walked into a room: any potential weapons, ways of escape, formatting a battle plan. Sometimes, Calum felt like maybe, just maybe, he could've let up on her rigorous training. She was still young: shouldn't she enjoy herself before her worldly burdens fell to her shoulders? Calum knew that his sister had a future in the Council and that she wanted it more than anything, but because of that, it was all she knew. Train, work. That's all. Calum pushed the guilt from his head, sweeping Nathaly out of his mind, even though he knew it was futile. She was his sister, his responsibility. If she suffered during her mission because she wasn't ready... if that didn't kill her the realization she had failed would. 

Calum shook his head violently, sending silent warnings to himself to concentrate. Just as he finished observing and marking one page of ancient text, an impatient, persistent knock echoed through his chambers. Waves of irritation crashed through Calum. 

He swung the door open, swallowing a groan as a determined Javon stood in the hall. Again. 

"What?" Calum snapped, barricading his room. Last time Javon had come, he had stormed in as if he was Calum's best friend, and fell back on his bed. He missed his dinner rations, naturally, but that apparently hadn't thrown him off. 

"Have you gotten anything from her yet?"

Calum let his face fall in his hands, dragging a hand over his skin. "No."

"How do we know if she's okay? She could be dead!"

"If she were, one of the two very capable young men traveling with her would tell us," he crossed his arms. "Is that it?"

"No, it's not." Javon paced, agitated. "How am I supposed to rest without knowing she's okay?" Calum exhaled forcefully. He knew Javon had a slight obsession with his sister but he hadn't known that it had escalated to this level. Calum glared at Javon, who was rambling uselessly. 

"Javon, we cannot interfere and you know that. I will not here more of your nonsense." Javon glowered at him.

"What kind of brother are you?" Javon scoffed, looking him up and down. With a fit of rage, Calum stormed forward, grabbed the collar of Javon's tunic and lifted him up, slamming the Novice against the wall. Calum didn't intend on knocking him out but instead wanted to teach him a lesson. Nathaly didn't deserve this coward.

"You will do good to stop opening that useless mouth of yours, Javon. Watch your words. Nathaly doesn't deserve you." Calum spat, letting him drop to the floor. Javon rubbed his sore head but still looked at Calum with a fierce spark in his eyes. As Calum began to walk back to his room, a searing pain shot through his skull, burning him like a cattle prod. He yelped and fell to his knees, trying to control the pain. It was familiar but Calum hadn't felt it for a long time. Javon ran to him but he sounded miles away. The pain persisted and Calum tuned out everything to listen to its throb. Calum had gotten his powers when they neared the human barrier. He could remember it vividly: electric shocks sparking every cell in his body. It was happening. Somebody was crossing the border. Probably a wayward human. Calum tried to squint through the fire roaring in his head. He could see the barrier, shimmering cerulean through the ember glow of the powerful flames. Two figures, were stepping through, a man and a woman. They clearly weren't humans from their grand attire. 

Calum forced himself through the flames, ignoring the pain. He could see the vision more clearly now, with more detail. 

The girl was a dark kind of beautiful, and the man was huge, with a rogue appearance. With a shock, Calum realized who the pair were.

Orion Montague and Yasmin Capulet. 

Calum pulled himself out of the vision, seeing pieces of himself burn away. He didn't have much time before his subconscious burned away completely. 

With a strangled gasp he came back to the cool halls of the Council chambers, now surrounded by the other councilors. Voices overlapped in a blur of sound, almost like a song. Ciara pressed her cold, soothing hands to his face and retreated immediately.

"He's burning," she noted. Calum struggled to a sitting position, which was as far as he could get with the remnants of the fire in his skull. All he could see was the Montague and the Capulet stepping past the border. 

"Is it a vision, Calum?" Kolton asked, fixating his strange eyes on Calum. The eyes all the councilors had. 

"Yes, it was. I saw- I saw.." he trailed off as another lingering bout of pain exploded.

"What did you see?" Ciara asked, her voice barely above a whisper. 

"Them," Calum managed to gasp before another bomb of fiery pain left him unconscious.