Valda blinked her eyes, wondering if her mind was playing tricks on her. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, letting them rest, before opening them again. But the same image confronted her.

Ahead was a pinprick of light. A small glimmer of hope that their time travelling through the tunnel was coming to an end. But even that small amount of light lifted her spirit.

"I think I can see the exit ahead."

Carrick and Mauve lifted their heads, straining their eyes to see what Valda had. They felt a moment of pure joy when they too, saw the light in the distance.

Sandwiched between them still, Tevin could barely lift his head to see the light for himself. Every time he looked up from his feet, he felt the tunnel walls closing in on him and instinctively shied away from doing so. But he couldn't resist trying to glimpse the outside world.

"Do you want to rest now or keep going?" Mauve looked between Tevin and the other two.

Tevin shook his head weakly. "Almost there. Just carry on. Have to get out." His ragged breathing breaking up every sentence.

Valda would have argued with him, given his green tinged skin and shaking legs, but his frantic eyes stopped her. It was clear he needed to get out of the tunnel before he passed out.

With new found strength, Tevin struggled forward with Carrick and Mauve still gripping his sides. The three stumbled along, their speed increasing as the light became larger and more noticeable.

Tevin breathed wildly, his whole being focused on that light. He knew Mauve was whispering things to him. Maybe messages of support? But he couldn't focus on her words. His brain couldn't understand anything other than getting out of the tunnel.

When the first wave of fresh air hit his face, he almost broke down in tears. It felt heavenly on his overheated skin. He blinked rapidly as they tumbled out of the tunnel, icy rain hitting his face and soaking through his hair.

Just for a moment he stood there, his head turned up to the sky letting the rain trickle down his face and wash away the sweat from his clammy skin. His legs shook so badly, they crumbled beneath him until he was on all fours, grasping at the rock.

"It's okay. I'm still here. We've got you." Mauve knelt beside him, cradling his head in her lap.

Carrick and Valda busied themselves with setting up camp. They shook out the tarp, that so far they'd been lucky enough not to have to use, and set it up over them. All three of them knew it would have been easier to camp in the tunnel's mouth, but there was no way they were going to convince Tevin to get any closer to his own personal hell.

The sun dipped in and out of the clouds as the rain continued to drizzle. It threw rainbows that graced across the sky, filling their world with colour. After the darkness of the cave, the light surrounding them was hard to look at, but they didn't turn away. They wanted to fill their memories with the colour, anything to bury thoughts of their journey through the tunnel.

Valda stacked the fire, whilst Carrick went to scout their surroundings. She snapped her fingers, igniting the fire easily. Though it had only been a few days since she'd discovered what she could do, she found magic surprisingly easy. As long as she focused on the word in her mind she no longer had to say it aloud. It was like she was made to wield it, which, given her less than useful sword skills, was a good thing.

They had filled their backpacks with food, courtesy of the giants so at least they didn't have to hunt for their dinner. It was almost like Kadtius had known how difficult they would find the tunnel and the thought made Valda shiver.

"Everything seems safe, and the path continues further on. Perhaps we should camp here for the rest of today and move on tomorrow." Carrick eyed up Tevin, who had pulled himself up but still looked pale. It impressed Valda that Carrick made no mention of Tevin holding his sister's hand.

The others agreed wordlessly. There was no way they were going to move any further.

Valda passed a bag of berries to Mauve and Tevin, hoping the simple snack would make him feel better, before spearing a larger portion of meat to roast over the fire.

Minutes passed with only the spitting meat making any noise.

"I'm sorry. I can't believe I broke down like that," Tevin apologised, breaking the silence. He looked down at his lap not wanting to meet their gazes.

"Don't," Mauve demanded, her grip on his hand tightening. "You faced your fear in there. You kept going despite everything. You don't need to apologise to us."

Carrick and Valda nodded their heads in agreement. Despite being terrified, Tevin had still put one foot in front of the other to get himself out of there.

Tevin shook his head as if he wanted to dispute her words, but he said something else instead. "Thank you for helping me. I wouldn't have been able to do it without you all." He looked first at Mauve, surprised how close their heads were, before looking quickly to Carrick and Valda. His face grew warmer as they smiled at his flustered expression.

He tried to remove his hand from Mauve's but she only tugged it back. The movement made him turn and look at her.

"I never knew you feared small spaces? I mean, you were always in the castle's underground passages," Mauve pondered. It was humanising to see that even Tevin had a weakness. Somehow it made her feelings for him more complicated.

She'd admired his strength, his calmness, so different compared to her brother's hot headedness. Instinctively, she'd felt safer when he was around. But this vulnerable side of him made her feel closer to him.

"The passages might have been small, but they were short and usually well lit. Plus, I didn't always go there by choice." Tevin's voice turned dark and bitter towards the end, making the others look at him in confusion.

"What do you mean 'you didn't always go there by choice'?" Mauve was almost afraid to ask. Tevin's hand in hers was clenched into a fist, and the colour he'd gained, drained from his face.

He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "When I was younger, I was terrified of the dark. And after my mother left, it became my father's favourite way to punish me. He would take me into the passageways and lock me up down there. Leaving me in the dark for hours."

Shocked silence followed his admission as hot tears fell down his face.

"That's barbaric. How could your father do such a thing?" Carrick bellowed.

Tevin only laughed bitterly. "That is what my father called parenting. But he wasn't the only one who locked me down there. Other kids saw him treat me that way, and I guess, they thought I was fair game. Ever since then, small, dark places remind me of the very first time my father locked me away."

His frame shook as the memories assaulted him. Carrick and Valda were speechless, neither of them knowing how to comfort him. But Mauve knew.

She hugged him close to her side and let him cry.

His silent crying turned into heaving sobs, but she only tightened her arms. It reminded her of how her mother used to comfort her. She always said that to get over anything you first had to allow yourself to feel the pain. It was the advice that had helped Mauve after her mother's death and words that she lived by.

Rocking them both back and fore, Mauve began humming under her breath. A tune that always made her think of her mother. Tevin sniffled next to her before humming along brokenly.

"My mother always sang that song to me." He managed a watery smile.

"Ours to." Carrick quickly wiped at his eyes. The tune making his own memories come to life.

"What is it?" Valda looked between the other three. Something about the tune was strangely familiar to her, and yet she was sure she'd never heard it before.

"The Healers' Call or, at least, that's what my mother used to call it," Mauve said.

"There used to be more verses, but they're lost now," Carrick explained, whilst the other two nodded solemnly.

"So does it have words?"

All three of them nodded. Carrick looked to Mauve, who only huffed and began reciting the old lyrics.

"Across the land and misty seas,

The wind carries; the healers' call

Only healers know what it means,

The hidden truth beneath its words.

Let them reveal the last hope,

And lead us into the light.

Lend your voices, sing the call,

Awake the healers and bring them home."

Goosebumps stood out on Valda's arms. She shivered as the words washed over her. Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard a different voice singing the same song, but it dwindled away before Valda could hear the end.

"And that's all that's left. Others have tried to find the missing lyrics, but no one has succeeded." Carrick shrugged his shoulders helplessly before lifting a skewer off the fire and testing the meat. He continued to nibble, satisfied with the taste.

Seeing Carrick munching away finally brought Mauve and Tevin to their senses. She dropped her arm from his shoulder and he scooted away so there was a small gap between them. Both of them looked a little flustered, but rather than talk about it, they grabbed their own skewer and munched away. Hoping that with full mouths they could distract themselves.

Valda was only half focusing on chewing, the other half of her was busy trying to grasp the Healers' call. Something about it was demanding her attention and yet she wasn't sure what about it intrigued her.

"What does it mean?" She wondered aloud.

Carrick swallowed his mouthful. "Well, some people think it's just another story-"

"But others think it's real," Mauve interrupted him, ignoring the way Carrick rolled his eyes at her.

"Yes, well, whatever you believe. The story goes that long ago when Adiocion and the human world were connected, there were powerful beings called Healers. The legends say the Healers were the ones who separated the two realms."

"Adiocion and the human realm used to be connected?"

"If you believe the story is true."

Valda considered what Carrick had said. "So what happened to the healers? And what's with the song?"

"Nobody knows. They just disappeared when the worlds separated. The song is to help call them back but clearly it doesn't work." Carrick shrugged.

"That's just because we don't have all the lyrics. I bet if we had all the lines, the song would work. Then the Healers could help us take down Lorcan." Mauve bounced where she sat, but Carrick and Tevin didn't look as convinced.

"Mauve, the rest of the song was lost years ago," Tevin said, gently.

"And besides, we can't just wait around for some mystical healers to materialise. It's all just a story, anyway." Carrick crossed his arms, ignoring Mauve's outrageous look.

"You don't know that. Of course it's true. Mother used to tell us that every night. How could you say it's not true?" Tears gathered in the corner of Mauve's eyes.

Carrick only sighed at the sight of his upset sister loosening his crossed arms. "Because, May, it's just a story. Something silly to tell little children to make them less fearful of the dark. It isn't real."

"Sometimes I just can't believe how stupid you can be." Mauve threw up her hands. "I'm going to bed before I do something silly." Her pointed look let everyone know who would be on the sharp end of her stupid actions.

She rolled out her sleeping bag and buried herself in it, Valda doing the same.

"I'll take the first watch," Carrick announced, his eyes roaming over his sister's back, looking troubled.

There were no further arguments as the camp fell into silence.

For a long time Carrick alternated between looking at his sister and the starry sky, wondering if he should have said what he did. He knew his sister had hung on their mother's every word, but the Healers' call felt like cruel irony.

He clenched his hands together, thinking about the number of times he sang the song when no one else was looking. Hoping for a miracle that a Healer would show up and save his mother. But no such person ever appeared.

As he'd got older, he'd pushed the story aside. It was his mother's time to go, and to think anything different would only cause him more pain.

He stoked the fire with a stick, drawing it back when the end began to catch, hoping to distract himself from his thoughts.

Movement from beside him made him pause, but it was only Tevin moving under his furs. His open eyes reflected the flickering fire and Carrick realised he wasn't the only one being plagued with thoughts.

"Can't sleep?" He whispered.

Tevin's head lifted to look at Carrick's slouched body close to the fire. He shook his head and slipped out of his bed, drawing the furs around him to keep out the chill. He tread silently towards Carrick and sat down next to him.

"Just a lot to think about," Tevin replied.

Carrick noticed Tevin's shaking hands where he held the furs together in front of him. It made him remember how scared he'd been in the tunnel.

"I'm sorry for what those other kids did to you."

Tevin looked up as Carrick avoided his gaze. "You've got nothing to apologize for. It's not like you ever did it." He shrugged his shoulders, looking back towards the fire.

"I didn't do it, but I didn't treat you any better than they did. I should have stopped them." Though Carrick's words were quiet, they were filled with regret.

"Why would you have?" Tevin questioned him, confused by their turn of conversation.

Carrick thought over his words, his earlier fight with his sister making him pick them carefully. "Because you didn't deserve it. Because I'm a Prince of Lania and it's supposed to be my job. Because despite being Blaan's son, you're not your father." He shook his head. There were so many reasons why he would have stopped them. But deep down, he wondered whether his past self would have.

Would he only have stopped those bullies now because he knew Tevin? In the past, he knew he would have agreed with his treatment. But now it bothered him. Tevin was like him. Both had powerful fathers with big expectations and no mother. And yet he'd never seen their similarities until now. He wondered how he could have been so blind.

"Thank you, Carrick."

Carrick looked over to see a slight smile on Tevin's face. The boy looked more at ease than he'd ever seen.

They sat in comfortable silence until Valda woke up to take over lookout duties. She wondered at the strange easiness between them but didn't question it. Just choosing to be grateful for the small miracle.