Owen and I traveled into the night neither stopping to rest nor pausing to speak. We wanted to get as far away from the Portly Brother's caravan as we possibly could before dawn. I felt too often the sense of betrayal invade my mind. Owen was right. No one in Tartarus could be trusted, and as I thought of it more, perhaps even he could suddenly turn on me, leave me alone in this strange new world.

We headed East along the sandy desert's edge, staying more so on the hard cracked soil than tempt fate on dunes. At least here the seldom tuft of dry grass proved that life still had a chance.

The night was surprisingly cool. I had read many books about people being lost in deserts, sometimes dying from heat stroke during the day and freezing to death at night. I never believed I would ever see such a landscape in person or worst yet be lost in one. Guess there was a first for everything.

The vast blanket of stars twirled over our heads. The jutted monuments of stone broke up the black horizon creating the illusion of people standing in the darkness. When we felt far enough away from the Portly Brother's caravan, Owen broke the silence.

"So I think it is time we talked."

"About what?" I asked.

"About how we got here?"

"Oh." I looked down shamefully. "Well after I drained you of all your energy, I kinda scryed us here using the pond as a second mirror."

"You scryed out of distress and with no destination in mind, did you?"

"Yes," I said. "But we would have been captured by the Shadows. I did what I had to, to save us. I had no choice."

"It's not like it matters anymore. What's done is done. We are lost again. Yet this time we have no guide and no bearings. Just the knowledge of a town to the East. There is a reason why no one travels this way." Owen kicked a clump of dirt angrily into the air. "People oftentimes die or go missing in this part of Tartarus."

"So that's it," I shrugged. "You just wanted to scold me? That's all I am to you, isn't it? Just some dumb silly girl from another world who knows nothing and can't make decisions on her own. Seems there are bullies everywhere I go. A thank you would have been nice."

Owen looked over his shoulder.

"A thank you would mean very little now that you have demanded it." Owen turned away. "I was the one who saved you from those slave trading pigs, and I was the one who got you away when the Shadows snatched you up. And did I ask for a thank you?" My face flushed with rage.

"Typical boys. Quick to seek praise and slow to give gratitude. If I had not acted we would both be in the hands of the Half-Lives. Not to mention, I took care of you when you passed out. It was my magic that saved us." Owen stopped, threw his hands up in the air, and turned around again.

"You're magic has been nothing but trouble."

"My troublesome magic saved you from Desire? Or have you forgotten the trouble you put yourself in before I came into the picture?"

"You!" Owen shook a stiff finger at me as he struggled to find the right words. "You...this...ugh...fine! Thank you! Geez, girl. Happy now?"

I stopped walking. My bottom lip curled with anger.

"You know what, Owen," I muttered. "You suck. And if it weren't for this soul connection thing, I wouldn't be following you right now. But I have an obligation to uphold. I'm going to Vetra to speak to the council. I'm going to find a way home. And if I didn't need your knowledge of this world, I would leave you right here in this desert. Whatever secrets or anger you are holding inside, I want none of it. I don't have to trust you to get what I want. In fact, you need me to get what you want. What are you hoping to gain from traveling with me? Fame, fortune? You're not doing this for an adventure like you said? This is something else. I bet it's related to whatever you stole from Desire."

He exhaled.

"You know so little about me, where I came from, and what I have to do to get by. You're right. You shouldn't trust me. I'm a thief, a murderer, and a liar. But there is one thing I am not, a breaker of my word. I'm going to take you to Vetra so you can sit in front of that pompous council of magicians, but the second I leave you in their care, you won't see me again. That I promise. I don't need you for anything, Mirrorbender."

I glanced at the vast and empty landscape.

"Now I see where you stand. I'm just a burden on you, an interruption on your mission. I guess this means we aren't friends."

Owen exhaled.

"Perhaps one day we could be." He stopped walking. "I'm not going to lie to you. You did screw up my plans, and this detour is just leading us into more danger. Your ancestors may have been legends, but worlds change. And this world is no place for a Mirrorbender anymore. You'll only get yourself killed. That's why I'm helping you. Whether we like it or not we are stuck in an unbreakable bond, and I'm not ready to die. Call me selfish but selfishness has kept me alive all these years."

"Why not tell me about it? Maybe if I know you better, where you came from and what you have done, we can begin our friendship."

Owen dug his foot into the dirt. "And why do you care all of a sudden?"

"Stories make the time go by faster and the journey easier." I sighed. "Besides if our lives are truly connected, the anger you feel is the same anger inside me. In some strange way I feel like I know you better than anyone else."

"Try me," he said. "What do you know about me?"

"I know you lost someone very precious to you, and even now it fills you with guilt. The whole world looks at you as an outcast, but that one person did not. And since their passing, you can't help but feel you could have saved them."

Owen's pace slowed until he was shoulder to shoulder with me.

"Well, damn, Hope. You got it right."

"Really?"

"Yep." Owen grabbed hold of my shoulders and stared into my eyes. "You have beautiful eyes, you know. Even in this dim twilight they sparkle a bright blue. I remember when I first saw these eyes."

"You've seen me before? How?"

"The same way you saw me. In the mirror." Owen let go. "I tried to block it out of my memory because it seemed so strange. Were you scared when you saw me?"

"I was scared, and my mom tried to shield me from it all. But I guess you can't stop destiny. Looking back, I think she knew more than what she was telling me. She lost her strength after my father died." I looked at Owen. While his gaze may have been fixed on the horizon, he was looking deep within himself. "Who did you lose?"

"I lost my mom," said Owen. "Stepmom I should say."

"What was she like, if I may ask? Was she beautiful?"

"More than the flowers in spring," said Owen. He rubbed his hands along his satchel's leather straps. "You don't want to hear a sad story."

"No, I do. I mean. It's important to you. Please tell me."

"I was an orphan living on the streets and picking pockets of the rich. In Juprus most orphans didn't live in freedom long. Many would be kidnapped and sold as house slaves or hard laborers. I got lucky. It was on the day the performers of Pintos came. They twirled and swallowed fire as though it obeyed their every whim. Of course this acted as a perfect distraction for me to weave through the crowd collecting coin from heavy pockets. Yet in my confidence I underestimated a woman. She stopped my hand with a speed faster than the wind and a grip stronger than iron. I was caught with my tiny hands on her shiny silver wallet.

'Young man,' she said squeezing my wrist. Her hand displayed a tattoo of a flower; its black and white petals forming a perfect circle. 'You will find no fulfillment in taking my purse today. It is empty, see.' She opened the wallet and like she said, empty. With her grip still holding me in place, she looked into my eyes. A grand smile arched across her face. 'But fulfillment is all mine. You, child, have a great destiny indeed.'

Instead of reporting me into the guards, she led me to her home, fed me, cleaned me, and clothed me. She was a sage gifted in herbal remedies and fortune telling. As I sat at her table scarfing down food, she introduced herself.

'My name is Tamya. I am a sage sent on research by the Council to find a cure for the Oak Plague. What is your name, boy?' I did not answer. 'Speak, boy, or I shall loosen those lips with a Laughing Poppy potion.'

'Owen,' I said.

'And where are you from, Owen?'

'Here and there.'

'Aren't we all. And your parents?'

'I don't have any.'

'You poor dear,' she said handing me another bowl. 'I am looking for an apprentice. You would make a perfect fit for me if you wish to learn. I will feed you, give you a home, and clothes on your back. There will be no more picking pockets.'

I nodded.

'Good,' she said smiling. 'There is a lot of work to be done. I hope you enjoy flowers.'

Tamya was an angel to me, and I loved spending my days in her home with her many gardens. She taught me which plants heal and which ones kill, which flowers brought love and which ones brewed hate. For many years I thought I had found a family, and I would never need to steal again. Then despite her best efforts, she caught the Oak Plague. The soldiers discovered her and did as they do to all plague victims; they burned her alive in her home. I ran away before they could suspect me for being infected. I remember watching the flames rising in her garden and flowers withering from the heat before charing black. To this day, I feel I abandoned her. The last look she gave me as they locked her into her home was that of sadness and betrayal.

Stealing became my life again. I was alone with no purpose until I learned of a secret underground organization called COFFIN whose aim it was to bring justice and peace through the destruction of the Half-Lives. They believed the Half-Lives were directly responsible for the Oak Plague and all the other troubles in the world. Once I heard this I joined, trained for a year, and soon got my first mission. I was to go to the Vaulted River to retrieve a special item, and then you showed up." A tear fell down Owen's cheek, but he was quick to wipe it away. "What about you? What was your father like?"

"He was an ambitious man. He never stopped working. Much to the family's dismay, of course. Yet, he always had our best intentions in mind. He paid a lot of money to get me into a fancy prep school knowing I would be the only Latino there. I hated him for it, but now that he is gone, it seems so silly now. I guess when someone goes away, you look back on all the things that made you angry about that person and it all begins to be so pointless. When someone dies, you begin to see how much they loved you and how much you regret not saying goodbye. That's why I have to go home." I started thinking of my strict mother, annoying sister, and goofy grandma and how much I longed to see them again.

"You will find a way home," said Owen with a smile on his face. "But I need to get you to Vetra first." He patted my back. "Just know this, Hope, you got at least one friend in this world."

"Oh, so we are friends now," I joked.

"Hey, I'm trying really hard here. I'm not accustomed to this sort of thing."

"Well, friends need trust. You take me to Vetra, and I'll trust you."

"Hmpth," said Owen trying to hide a smile. "Let's keep walking then. What I would do for a nice soft bed right now."