27

The timing had to be perfect. Or as perfect as possible. After observing the routes of the patrols around Comragon, Miraveh had noticed one place, an odd placement of buildings along with a set of nearby rocks and bushes, that left a patrol out of sight of any other patrol and any passers-by for a short while. In that time, Sialira had to catch their attention and lead the three Hunters away from the town.

Miraveh didn't like putting Sialira in harm's way. If she could, she would play the part of the sacrificial goat herself, but as soon as she revealed her magic, she didn't doubt many others would sense her power. Especially if any of the Karline in the Hunters' ranks were using their relic at that moment.

Brothimir, rebound through fear he would attempt to warn his fellow Hunters, was not even an option. Miraveh expected the man to stymie the plan at any opportunity in an attempt to ingratiate himself with his brothers and sisters after losing his own relic. Better that he remained with Turotara, far away from this action. An action that Miraveh already knew had its dangers and risks.

"Tell me what you need to do again." At a safe distance, Miraveh, Sialira and Daras crouched in the darkness. The look of determination in Sialira's face looked odd. "Sialira! Tell me again!"

"I'm to approach the area where the Hunters come around the corner. The Karline should sense me, but I need to bloom my power to make certain." After hearing of the horrors wrought against Witches within the town, Sialira had every right to feel angry and bitter. "As soon as they see me, I'm to run behind the rocks and keep running until I reach the grove and not look back."

Miraveh nodded. Sialira would prove almost next-to-useless in what happened once she revealed herself. Once she had performed her task, Miraveh wanted her as far away as possible. She glanced towards the corner of the buildings and then to the stand of rocks. The rocks were big enough to hide anything that happened once the Hunters gave chase.

"Daras?" She noticed the thief's hand clutching Sialira's, giving them both comfort in the tense moment. "Your part?"

"Once Sia has left us, we move to the rocks." One of the elven knives appeared in his hand and he used it to point towards the rocks before making the knife disappear again. "There, we wait for the Hunters to pass. I kill one and then provide back-up for you. I still don't like that Sia will be out of sight for so long."

"I deal with the Karline and the other warrior." She hoped she sounded more confident than she felt. Everything they needed to do had such a fine balance between success and failure. "Get ready."

The last patrol had now reached the point where they continued around the town, leaving this section of the land empty. In a short while, the next patrol would arrive and they would be vulnerable, but only for a limited time and, if any other Karline happened to pass by within the town, within a distance to sense Sialira, the entire plan could come crashing down

If that happened, they had only one option. To run. Run and reach the grove of needle-leafed trees where Turotara awaited with their horses saddled and ready to ride. Miraveh had no concerns about Brothimir under the gaze of Turotara. Should he try anything, the big guard would end his life before he even finished thinking of using magic.

"Miraveh." Daras' hand tapped her shoulder and he pointed towards the corner of the building. "They're coming."

Indeed, the first, wavering, flickering light from the torches held by the Hunters had started to creep around the corner. Miraveh felt Sialira stiffen, but the girl girded herself, standing and beginning to walk towards Comragon. She released Daras' hand as she walked away, stiff-backed and showing such courage, Miraveh felt proud of the young Witch.

With a tap on Daras' arm, Miraveh rose to a crouch and began to move towards the large stand of rocks. She didn't have to watch and make certain that he followed, she trusted him and, despite his bravado, had shown himself to have great skill and no small amount of courage himself. As they passed behind the rocks, Miraveh felt a stab of guilt in her heart. Sialira had moved beyond their sight.

The night seemed strangely silent. No insects made their calls. Nor did any night birds. No howls or roars came from the surrounding grasslands and even the light of the diminished, late-month Moon appeared to give everything a soft glow that chilled Miraveh's spine. At night, the heat of the day dissipated fast, bringing a stark cold that cut through clothing and tingled fingers, causing Miraveh to flex her grip upon her sword.

It seemed to take too long. Miraveh didn't want to doubt Sialira's strength of personality, but she could very well understand if the girl cowered and hid in this moment. She could stay beyond the range of the Karline's ability to sense her magic. If she had, then Miraveh would have to think of another way to reach the Candidate that awaited them within Comragon.

To the side, Daras showed his nerves. Staring towards the sky and the twinkling stars, he took a number of deep breaths. As he breathed in, a knife would appear in one hand. As he breathed out, it would disappear. Over and over, switching hands and knives every time. He worried. Miraveh worried. Only Sialira could keep the plan in motion.

She didn't feel Sialira bloom her magic, she had suppressed her own magic, for now, but she heard the result. A shout. A call to surrender and the unmistakeable sound of feet running. Every sound, now, came in sharp focus. It felt as though Miraveh could hear everything and her heart hammered within her chest at each noise, as though time had slowed and her ears had grown.

She heard the thudding of booted feet upon the dusty ground, followed by others, further away. She heard Daras' breathing beside her, becoming faster, more shallow. She heard a stumble. A fall. A muted, pained moan that had Miraveh reaching to the side to stop Daras from ruining everything.

As expected, Miraveh heard feet scrambling and yet more shouts from Sialira's pursuers. Oddly, Miraveh wondered why the Karline hadn't used any magic, but that didn't matter. They hadn't and that gave Sialira even more of a chance to continue running and lead the Hunters past Miraveh and Daras.

Time seemed to snap back to its usual pace as Sialira came bounding past the rocks, her small legs carrying her at a surprising speed as she ran, head down, arms flailing to keep herself upright. Miraveh held up a hand, urging patience from Daras and she could almost feel him coil like a spring, ready to launch at the Hunters as soon as they came into sight. But that was not the plan.

And neither was Sialira stopping in mid-flight, turning around and pointing her hand towards the pursuing Hunters. Miraveh cursed the girl as she jumped to her feet, Daras at her shoulder. Even from here, Miraveh could see concentration on the young Witch's face and the faint, pale green glow that now engulfed that raised hand. The fool thought she could fight with her magic!

The first Hunter stumbled, as though something had caught their feet, but the other two didn't even pause in their strides. Realising she had made a mistake, Sialira's eyes widened as she began to turn, only for one of the Hunters to reach out, grabbing her arm and throwing her to the ground.

Too late, Miraveh could not allow Sialira to get hurt, with a yell, she fell upon the Hunter that had grabbed Sialira's arm, her sword slicing through that arm, severing it below the elbow. Blood erupted from the wound, spraying over Sialira, sending her turning to the side, coughing, spluttering, trying to wipe her face clean.

The Hunter began to scream in pain, but Miraveh had recovered faster. With no pause, she thrust the point of her sword up, through the bottom of the man's jaw and into his brain. Miraveh would remember the look of shock and disbelief in those eyes to the day she died. As she began to pull her sword from the dead Hunter, she felt something slam into her, sending her sprawling to the side.

As she landed, she managed to roll to the side as a rock the size of a head smashed into the ground beside her, a faint, dark energy dissipating as the rock shattered. Miraveh spun to a knee and faced another Hunter, her sword ripped from her hand as she had fallen. The Karline. One hand clasped something against her chest, the other hand of the Karline, fingers hooked like claws, had magical energy curling around it.

The Karline looked enraged as she lifted up another rock with the power of her relic-enhanced magic. Several rocks. The Karline drew back her hand, ready to throw the rocks that Miraveh didn't doubt would not miss, this time, but she gave the Karline no chance to throw them. In fact, she gave the Karline little chance of doing anything at all.

Miraveh's magic bloomed outwards, released from her suppression, she sensed the Karline's magic, the Karline's and her relic's, and choked it. In her mind, she gripped the magical energy, crushed it between ephemeral fingers, twisted it and broke it. The Karline never made a sound. The rocks fell from the air and the Karline fell to the ground, Daras stood behind her, blood dripping from his elven knife.

-+-

Miraveh spun on her heel and dropped to a crouch. She suppressed her magic at a thought and stared back towards the town of Comragon, ignoring Daras as he rushed to Sialira's side. Miraveh prayed that her flash of magic, so close to town, had not come to the attention of anyone else but the Karline she intended to sense it. If she were lucky, no other magic wielder had stayed within their sensing range of her, or everything would become lost.

"I'm sorry!" Sialira, calling out to Miraveh like a child, begging for forgiveness. "I thought ..."

"Shut up!" The hiss came from Miraveh's mouth, almost imperceptible, but it silenced Sialira in an instant. "Stupid child!"

Daras began to protest. Neither he nor Sialira understanding how dire the situation could become should any hear them, or have sensed Miraveh's magic. Long seconds passed without any hue and cry, without anything or anyone appearing from Comragon and Miraveh took that as they were clear of any immediate danger. They didn't have the time to wait any longer.

Rising to her feet, she slammed her sword back into its sheath and grabbed Sialira by the arm, dragging her away at a fast pace, the young Witch's legs struggling to keep up. Daras fell in to Sialira's other side and, together, they helped Sialira along, back to the grove where Turotara and Brothimir waited for them.

With a curse, Miraveh stopped. She had forgotten the entire reason for this ambush and, with a flick of her wrist, she pushed Sialira onwards before turning back to the dead Hunters. Daras continued to lead Sialira back to safety while Miraveh returned to one corpse in particular. That of the Karline.

Crouched, she began to rummage through the Karline's clothing, checking the hands, her jacket, but couldn't find what she needed. A quick glance back towards Comragon and she knew that the next patrol would soon turn the corner. If she couldn't find it now, then everything they had done, the danger they had faced, would prove fruitless. She had to find it.

Then, beneath the fold of the Karline's white cloak, she saw the string of the necklace. Broken, the relic had fallen beneath the Karline as she had fallen. With a tug, Miraveh pulled the necklace from under the body and the relic brushed against her skin. It felt like cleansing fire, a dark, ancient power that threatened to engulf her, as Brothimir's relic had. With a flinch, she dropped it, taking out her dirty kerchief to wrap the relic inside, away from her bare flesh. With the relic wrapped up, she tucked it into her jacket and turned to catch up to the others.

"Turotara, I need you to deal with the bodies." She didn't even look towards Sialira as she entered the grove, passing the pleading, sorrowful eyes without a glance. "Can you, I don't know, make it look like an animal killed them? We don't need the entire town looking for killers of Hunters."

"Given enough time, I can make it look like the gods themselves killed them." Turotara rose to her feet, using Brothimir's head to support herself. She had bound him with even more rope, gagged and blindfolded the Karline. "He tried to persuade me to take him to that damned Velaurian stronghold. I'll work my own magic on those bodies."

Almost before she finished talking, Turotara slipped out from within the grove of trees, leaving Miraveh to turn, finally, towards Sialira. It took every ounce of self-control not to launch into the girl, but Miraveh knew acting aggressive would not help. Daras tried to step between them, but Miraveh pushed him aside, her eyes never leaving Sialira.

At first, Miraveh couldn't find the words. Not words that were calm and authoritative. She only felt anger. Anger that she had made everything clear. The entire plan. Had Yusuvur made a plan that some fool had almost ruined, she would not have hesitated to tell them exactly what she thought of them. Miraveh was not Yusuvur, didn't want to be anything like her.

"What were you thinking?" Almost as an afterthought, Miraveh released her magic as she spoke. She needed to have the ability to sense other magic wielders and, this far from town, no-one could sense her until she had already sensed them. "What did I say you had to do?"

"I know what you said, but I thought ...  I knew I could help." Sialira's usual arrogance returned. A defensive measure, or because she truly thought she was right, it didn't matter. She lifted her chin, defiant. "I'm not useless! I am a Witch of the Coven of Scales and I have power enough to fight!"

"You have nothing!" Miraveh leaned forward, close to Sialira's face, her eyes boring into the girl's. "You barely have magic at all. You are learned, that's for certain, but you have no wisdom and compared even to him, your power is pitiful!"

Miraveh threw a hand out towards the bound Brothimir and hoped Turotara had covered his ears, too. She hated saying such cutting, cruel things, untrue things, to Sialira, but she had to understand. She had to realise that her attempts to prove herself of worth could get not only herself killed, but others also and each death would prey upon Miraveh's conscience, not Sialira's.

"That's enough!" Daras, once again, tried to intervene, but Miraveh turned her gaze to him, causing the young thief to wilt before her eyes. "There's ... there's simply no need for it. She understands the severity of ..."

"Does she? Look at her! Even now, she puffs out her chest, juts out her chin and relies on her place in a Coven hundreds of miles away as though that makes her right. It doesn't!" She grabbed Sialira's arm, shaking her and, in her anger, she felt her magic bloom. "From now on, you do as I say! Do you understand? This isn't the safety of the Coven House. This is the real world and bravado will get you killed!"

Sialira's eyes widened, her mouth opened and her entire body shivered. Tears began to well in the girl's eyes and she began to shake her head from side-to-side. She looked, for want of a better word, devastated by Miraveh's words and Miraveh knew she had gone too far. She released Sialira's arm and brought her magic back under control. She would have to stop allowing the magic its freedom while angered.

"How could you?" Sialira's bottom lip quivered as she whispered those accusatory words. Her hand rose to her mouth and she pushed past Miraveh. "Why would you do that?"

Before Miraveh could stop her, Sialira had run from the little, tight clearing within the grove. She ran away from the direction of Comragon, but she could still encounter a patrol of Hunters. With a nod of the head to Daras, she sent him after the Sialira, but not before he gave Miraveh a withering look that spoke volumes. She had crossed a line and she wasn't certain either Sialira or Daras would ever forgive her.

As Daras pushed his way through the hanging branches, following Sialira, Miraveh dropped to the ground, her hand rising to rub at the stubble upon her head. Except her hair had begun to grow again. It wasn't stubble anymore, but short strands that fitted between her fingers. It hardly seemed a long enough time to have grown back so fast, but then everything seemed to rush of late.

It felt as though they hadn't stopped to rest for a single second for weeks, even though they had spent not a little time at Jukunashar. Despite Miraveh's best efforts, she had fallen back into a new quest. A new ardent attempt to save the world, never slowing, always rushing headlong from one crisis to another with yet another waiting for her to take upon her shoulders.

These things felt easier with Kay around. He had taken on those immense responsibilities so well and with barely a word of complaint. Miraveh had always stood to the side, supporting, helping, killing even, when she had to. She had had no idea how much pressure he had to bear. No idea how difficult it was to remain friends with everyone and, worse, he had Yusuvur pushing him to do better at every turn, telling him what the consequences were should he break and fail.

Miraveh had to deal with a fraction of what Kay had to deal with, and didn't have Yusuvur glaring her disappointment at every decision. She had it easy in comparison to what Kay had to suffer. All Miraveh had to do was find the Candidate. The saving of the world after that would fall to people better suited for those heroics. It still pained her that she had to perform this task at all. She had tried so hard to avoid it, to run from it, but, it seemed, she had no chance to avoid it. Compelled to follow the Seeker's Urge, no matter what she wanted to do.

Soon, Sialira would return, supported by Daras, and Miraveh would apologise and speak in soft words to the girl. Sometimes, not often and not welcome, she wished she could act more like Yusuvur in some small, very specific ways. She wished she could turn off that part of her that cared what people think, but she couldn't. Her nightmares proved that. She would carry every decision, good or bad, every choice, every word and every death upon her own, small, weak shoulders.

Because she had to.