There was a sea of tents and campfires. Iris always thought that the Rebels were just a bunch of mad people, but this here looked like a small town. The Lord Sun slowly rose, chasing the shadows away, casting pale orange rays over the camp.

'Come, Iris,' Marcus said, putting a hand on her back and pushing her gently forward to follow the rest of the company. 'I know you're curious, and it's a lot to take in, but it was a long night. Let us rest, and then we'll talk.'

Iris nodded and moved to catch up with others. Her head was constantly turning from one side to another, taking in all the unusual sights. The clearing itself felt unnatural. It had a bizarre shape as if the ancient trees moved away to make room for people and their settlement. Some trees were growing right in the middle of the camp, surrounded by tents, their lower branches decorated with rope swings, moving slowly as the wind blew.

As the dawn approached, more and more people were coming out of their tents, chattering casually with each other, exchanging greetings and laughs. Most of them raised their hands in salutation to her companions as they passed. She noticed people looking at them with admiration in their eyes. Iris stopped abruptly as two small children ran in front of her, giggling cheerfully. She looked at them with surprise but couldn't suppress her smile.

Iris felt someone take her by the arm. She looked startled at Kara.

'Come with me, Iris. We'll get something to eat and then rest for a few hours. You look exhausted.'

The girl looked at Marcus questioningly. He was already deep in conversation with Jayden, but when he noticed her gaze, he only smiled, nodded, and waved a hand for her to go on.

Kara tugged on her elbow and steered her in a different direction. They passed a few more tents, and then Iris smiled at the delicious smell of food. Only then did she realise how starving she was. The past two days, her only food was half a slice of bread. Her stomach growled loudly at the thought of finally eating a decent meal.

They reached a big open tent, where a couple of people were busy cooking and serving food to a gathered crowd. They stopped at the end of the line waiting patiently for their turn.

'There are so many people here,' mused Iris out loud. 'They are not all Mages, are they?'

'No, of course not,' replied Kara. 'To be honest, we don't have many gifted people with us. That's why Marcus is actively seeking out all Mages he knows of and who are still alive.'

'Then who are all those people? Why are they here?'

'Some of them are families and friends of Mages, and that includes those who are no longer with us. The Church is prosecuting not only gifted people but those who had even a slight chance to manifest their power too. So, they all came here to hide. They are also people who are just sick and tired of the Church's tyranny.'

'Who are you then?' Iris asked curiously, but when Kara frowned, she quickly added, 'I mean, you don't look like a Mage....'

'No, I'm not,' she replied, her face visibly saddened. 'My husband was a Mage, a rather powerful one. He took part in the Ritual.'

'Oh, I'm so sorry,' Iris said quickly, feeling terrible for asking such a personal question without thinking.

'It's alright. It is what it is. I used to work in a City Garrison in Amberguard. After the Ritual failed, the Grand Inquisitor took command over our unit too. We got orders to seek Mages and bring them to the Inquisition. All of them, young, old, even children. I could not stand it, so I ran. Deserted.'

'I see.' Iris wanted to hear more of the woman's story, but they had already reached the food station.

The plump old lady took one look at her and said, 'Oh, dear. You look famished, darling! Here, have an extra serving!' she said, filling the bowl with oats till it almost spilt over the edges. 'Come for seconds whenever you like, sweetie.'

'Thank you,' Iris said, smiling brightly.

Kara led her away and found an unoccupied log where they could sit and enjoy their meal.

'Slow down if you don't want to upset your stomach,' Kara said while wolfing down her food.

'I'm trying,' Iris responded with a smile. 'But it's so good I can hardly restrain myself.'

When she finished eating, she felt blissful warmth spreading from her stomach to all her limbs. Her eyelids became very heavy.

'All right, let's get some sleep now. You look like you are going to faint any second now,' Kara said with a small smile, picking Iris up by the elbow and dragging her towards the nearby tents. Iris barely noticed as she was pushed into the tent and let down on the nest of blankets and furs. She blacked out before her head hit the pillow.

***

Iris was slowly brought back to consciousness by sounds of chatter and laughter. She sat up, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and looked around. The other bedding was empty. Kara must have got up already. Iris noticed that there was a change of clothes left next to her pillow. She was thankful for it, as she was still wearing just her nightgown and a cloak. Iris quickly put on clean trousers and tunic, ran a hand through her hair, put on her coat and got out of the tent.

For a moment, she was looking around, not sure what to do or where to go. She hardly knew anyone here, and she hadn't seen any of her companions. She also didn't have the faintest idea where to look for them. She sighed and just started walking forward. She spotted a young girl looking over the children who were playing tag or some other lively game.

'Excuse me,' Iris said. The girl looked at her and gave her a friendly smile.

'Yes? Do you need some help, miss?'

'I'm looking for Marcus Price. Do you know where I can find him?'

The girl looked up at the sky. 'Hmm, it's almost noon, so he's probably still training Mages.'

'Can you show me the direction? I'm new here, so I don't know this place....'

'Sure thing. Follow this path straight there.' The girl gestured with her arm. 'And when you reach the end of the tents, you'll see a wide free space. That's where they usually train.'

Iris thanked her with a smile and walked in the indicated direction. She inhaled deeply. The air was different here. It felt crisper and purer. Iris had a strange feeling that she got rid of a thick fog surrounding her most of her life that was slowly suffocating her and constantly pressing from all sides. She felt like she somehow entered a different world. Even while Iris observed people chattering and laughing cheerfully together, it still seemed unbelievable. She shivered when she recalled the hate on the faces of townspeople. It felt like a nightmare now.

She reached the place where the tents were sparser and finally ended. True to her guide's words, she went forward until she reached an even more extensive clearing, now busy with people. Iris counted around thirty adults and a couple of children. She stopped in her tracks and watched, mesmerised as the light danced all over the clearing. She has never seen so many Mages in one place, using their gifts so openly.

The children were playing with something that looked like a ball formed of pure light. They were moving it from one to another with theatrically exaggerated gestures, mimicking natural throws and catches. The rest of the Mages were working in a few separate groups. Iris walked closer, intrigued.

She noticed Jayden in the middle of one group. His brows knitted in focus. In front of him was a complicated looking padlock. A ray of white light moved around it, trying to form the tool precise enough to open the mechanism. There was a loud click, and the surrounding Mages cheered and applauded loudly. Jayden relaxed visibly and smiled proudly. He looked much better with that smile.

Iris turned her gaze to a different group of Mages that cheered loudly. Two of them stood in front of each other, their hands raised, sweat pearling their brows. Before them, two swords made of light were fighting each other as if wielded by invisible knights. She watched the spectacle with her eyes wide. She never saw magic used like that. It seems that one of the Mages tried to attack the other with his sword, while the other used his weapon to fend off the attacks. It took a couple of minutes before the attacking Mage groaned and fell on his knees, losing his concentration – his sword disappeared immediately. There was loud applause and whistles. Their companions patted both men on their backs.

'Iris, you're here,' Marcus said, appearing at her side. 'You look much better now. I'm glad.'

'Yes, I'm feeling better, thank you.' She looked at him and was startled in surprise. He looked completely different. He shaved off his grey beard, and his hair was combed and clipped back at his neck. Even though his face was full of wrinkles, he looked much younger now. He also changed his rags for regular clothes, like those the rest of the camp wore. 'Oh, you look so... different.'

He laughed. 'Well, I do not always look like a beggar. Sorry to disappoint you. Let's have a sit and talk, shall we?' he said, smiling and gesturing towards logs scattered at the border of the clearing. She followed him, still looking curiously at different Mages and their practices.

'So, how do you find the camp?' Marcus asked when they sat down.

'This place is... bizarre,' she admitted.

'In a good way, or bad?'

'Good. I think. I've never seen people using magic so openly.'

'Well, they can't do that outside of this camp, can they?'

'How come the Inquisition haven't found this place yet?' Iris asked, intrigued.

'We are good at hiding,' Marcus replied with a smile. 'And, as you probably noticed, we also have aid from the forest people. They too are not too fond of the Church.'

'Why? I thought they only care about their forests,' Iris blurted before thinking twice. 'I don't think the Church is interested in them?'

Marcus sighed. 'Forgive me, dear Iris, but you are young and naïve if you think the Church will just let the forest people be. Humans are greedy, always were. It doesn't matter how much they have. They still want more: power, influence, wealth. Now the Church is practically ruling this country. Do you think they will be satisfied with a neutral enclave that has not sworn allegiance to them?'

'You have a point,' she admitted, feeling her cheeks getting slightly red. She felt so ignorant right now. There was a whole world just under her nose, and she never paid enough attention or bothered to ask the right questions.

'You look troubled,' the old man noticed.

'I'm so confused. All those years, I believed that I was an abomination. That it's because of people like me, the world ended up like this. I never once thought I would use magic. I never wanted it. I just wanted to be normal.'

'Hey.' Marcus took her hand in his. 'You are not an abomination, nor a monster. Magic is not a curse. It is a rare gift. Everyone has some talent. Yours just happens to be flashier than others.'

She scoffed. 'Yeah, and more likely to get me killed.'

'Iris, I know it's been hard for you hiding who you are for all these years. But look around you. Take a good long look. What do you see?'

She pursed her lips and turned her gaze over to the clearing. The Mages were still competing through different tasks, chatting excitedly, and laughing. The woman came in from the campsite carrying two baskets full of food. The children spotted her first and were jumping around her like little puppies demanding treats. The woman was handing out food with a fond smile, tousling children's hair.

'Everyone is so... happy. And carefree. Like they haven't seen what's happening outside of this camp.'

'Oh, they've all seen it. Every person here has scars on both their bodies and souls after their encounters with Church.'

'How can they be happy then?' Iris asked, frowning.

'Because they have hope.'

'Hope?'

'This world we live in is dark, cruel and unjust,' Marcus said, looking thoughtfully at playing children. 'And it's the world where the strong are taking advantage of the weak. It can't stay this way. Otherwise, all humanity will perish sooner or later.' He looked back at her, his pale blue eyes shining bright with conviction. 'We do not accept that future. If you see injustice and do nothing but turn your eyes away, you are as guilty as those tyrants. Nothing will change unless someone puts their foot down and stand their ground. We believe that the world can be bright again. That's why we are standing against the Church and their dictatorship.'

'But the Church is not the only problem,' Iris protested. 'Even if by some miracle you manage to overthrow them, the people will still hate Mages. You were there with me! You saw the way they looked at me! I've never felt so much hate in my life....' Her voice shook, her eyes stung from tears. Annoyed, she wiped them with her sleeve. She felt so angry and helpless at the same time. After hiding her emotions for so long, it felt like they were all bursting out at once.

'I know. And I know all too well how hard it is to be hated and loathed.' Marcus patted her back gently. 'I admit it was a quite terrifying experience. But I also believe it was not natural.'

'What do you mean?'

'Don't you find it bizarre that the whole town was suddenly turned into an enraged mob? You lived there your whole life. I'm sure you had friends there, people you worked with, your family's friends. Isn't it strange that all of a sudden, everyone turned against you?'

'Yes, I thought it was eerie too,' she admitted.

'I think there is some foul magic at work there,' Marcus said gloomily. 'Something that is pushing people beyond their normal behaviour. Yes, the world became a cold and unforgiving place in the last couple of years, but not to justify such a tremendous change in people's hearts.'

'Then what hope do we have against it?' Iris asked, discouraged. 'If you don't even know what it is, how can you hope to defeat it.'

'We'll have to find out. We will start from undoing the failed Ritual.' 

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