Iris fell asleep quickly that evening. Her body was still tired from her time in the dungeons and cage. Her mind was overflooded with new information and concepts to consider, so she drifted asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. After a while, she was startled awake. She was not sure if she had a bad dream or heard some noise. She opened her eyes. It was dark inside a tent, but there was a pale light of moon entering through the tent's open flaps, which were waving slightly as if someone just moved them. Iris looked over to Kara's side, but it was empty. Iris got up, still half-asleep, and stuck her head out of the tent.

It was dark outside, even though the full moon was shining brightly. The camp was silent, most of the folks already fast asleep. Low, dying campfires were illuminating the night, making the nearby shadows seem deeper. Iris' eyes quickly caught a silhouette of the person moving swiftly through the camp, a long, blond braid dancing at her back at a fast pace. The girl cocked her head curiously. Where would Kara go alone in the middle of the night? If she needed to relieve herself, she would go to the bushes behind the tent, not across the whole campsite. But if there was trouble, she shouldn't go alone.

Not thinking twice, Iris quickly put on her shoes and followed the woman's trail, trying not to make too much noise. She was aware that even if some dangers were lurking around, she wouldn't be much help anyway, as she still knew nearly nothing about her magic. But maybe she could at least raise the alarm if something happened. She was no expert on Rebels' customs yet but sneaking out of the camp in the middle of the night seemed awfully reckless.

Kara reached the end of the tents and moved smoothly along the small pathway leading deeper into the forest, guided only by moonlight. She looked around once, but she didn't spot Iris, who was far behind her. The girl wanted to call her, but instinct told her not to. After all the betrayals she experienced in the last few days, she was warier. What if Kara is up to something? Iris thought. She used to work for a City Guard, which Inquisition currently oversee. What if she still works for them? Iris didn't want to believe it. She came to like the woman. She was friendly and seemed like a decent person, but Iris couldn't be sure of that. Maybe following her further wasn't the wisest idea, but Iris had to be sure.

It wasn't easy, though. The path was narrow, and Iris had to step carefully not to make a sound. A few times, she had to dodge behind the trees when Kara suddenly looked back. Her steps were hasty, and she didn't look as if she cared if someone heard her. After a while, when all the lights from the camp disappeared completely, Iris felt cold sweat covering her back. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea. What if Shadows were lurking nearby? It was not likely this close to the encampment, but she could get lost on her way back, take a wrong turn and then...

Iris had shaken off her thoughts when sudden sparks of light appeared in front of her. Kara slowed her pace visibly and stopped at the lakeshore. The water was calm and dark, reflecting moonlight in a brilliant white glow. Iris stopped in the distance, hiding behind a massive tree trunk from where she could see Kara. The place seemed to be empty, so it didn't look like she was meeting with anyone.

The woman kneeled, put her hands on the grass and leaned forward over the lake as if she were trying to peer into the water itself. Iris frowned. What on holy sunbeams was she trying to do? Suddenly Kara spoke up, her voice clear but quiet. Iris had to focus on distinguishing the words.

'I'm here, love.' She leaned closer to the surface. Her face was almost touching the water. 'Please, you have to hang on, just a little more.'

Iris craned her neck to take a better look, but she couldn't see anything in the lake. But it seemed like Kara was talking to someone, but that shouldn't be possible. She didn't hear the other voice. Maybe if she could get closer. Iris slowly and silently started to move toward the next tree, careful not to step on any loose sticks.

'I still don't know how!' Kara said. There was despair in her voice, and it also started to shake. 'Please, love, you have to give me something! I can't....'

Iris froze as something crunched loudly under her foot. Kara straightened up suddenly, her hand on a sword's hilt.

'Who's there?' she demanded, anger clear in her voice. Iris held her breath, not sure what to do. 'I know you're there. Get out, or I'll drag you out myself!'

'It's only me,' she said with resignation stepping out of the trees.

'Why would you... ugh, stay there! Don't you dare come any closer!' Kara ordered her angrily and then once more leaned over the water. 'Sam, are you still there? Sam? Please, Sam, talk to me. Please.' Kara pleaded to the water. Her shoulders started shaking with muffled sobs. Whatever was in the depths of that lake earlier was there no more. Kara sat back on her heels and hid her face in her hands, shaking. It looked like she was crying.

'Kara? Are you all right?' Iris asked.

The woman suddenly made a loud noise. But it was not a desperate wail that the girl expected. It sounded more like a battle cry, full of anger and frustration. She jumped at her feet and closed the distance between them in a few long strides. Before Iris realised what was happening, Kara grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her closer to her face, making the girl stand uneasy on the tips of her toes.

'What are you doing here, foolish girl?! Do you know what you've done?!' Kara growled. There was no trace of tears in her blue eyes now. They were shining brightly with fury. Iris felt her breath caught in her throat, and her stomach clenched painfully.

'Kara, please. You're scaring me,' she whimpered. The woman scoffed and pushed her away. Iris stumbled and painfully hit the tree with her back.

Kara took a deep breath and ran a hand through her blonde hair. She looked at Iris, frustrated, but it seemed her anger subsided a bit. 'What are you doing here?' she demanded again.

'I woke up, saw you were going somewhere, and I thought that maybe you are in trouble or something....' Iris replied, stammering. Her heart was still beating extremely fast. She was painfully aware that if Kara wanted to silence her forever, she'd die in seconds.

'Did you follow me to help? With what exactly? You'd get killed in five seconds, you idiot!' Kara spat.

'I'm sorry,' the girl replied quietly.

The woman sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. 'I can't believe that of all the people, you would be the first one to discover my secret.'

'What exactly were you doing here?' Iris asked, encouraged by the change of tone in her companion voice.

'I will explain, but you have to promise you won't tell a soul,' Kara demanded, giving her another glare.

'I promise! I'm sorry, I didn't want to intrude. I thought that maybe... that you....' the girl stuttered again, feeling her cheeks burning. She felt like an idiot that she was so ready to accuse Kara of conspiring with the Church.

'Spare me. I don't want to hear your excuses,' the woman scoffed and sat on the grass. 'Come on, sit down. I will tell you a story, but it might take a while.' She smiled, but her eyes remained sad and cold. 'You will probably think I'm mad at the end of it.'

Iris sat down in front of her, hardly containing her curiosity. 'I don't think you're mad. Were you talking to someone?'

'Yes, I did. You remember I told you that my husband was taking part in the Ritual, right?' Iris nodded. Kara turned her head to look at the lake. Her eyes became distant as if she were looking at the old memories. 'When I heard the news that it failed and all the Mages are dead, I was devastated. There wasn't even a body left for the proper burial. He was gone, just like that.' She snapped her fingers loudly. 'I became numb. I don't know how many days have passed. I lived in a daze. My body was going on by itself, remembering the things I used to do every day, going through the motions out of habit. But then, one night, something happened. I was in the middle of the canteen with loads of other guards, and yet I heard a voice calling me.' Kara paused and brought her knees close to her chest, wrapping her arms tightly around them.

'I knew it was not possible. I didn't expect to hear his voice ever again. And yet there he was.'

'How did you know it was him?' Iris asked.

'He didn't call me by the name. It was a pet name, only he and I knew. The first time we met, I was on guard duty It was the middle of the night, and I was so bored and sleepy I was afraid I would fall asleep. So, I started singing to keep the drowsiness away. He heard me while he passed by and was intrigued enough to come over.' She paused and smiled fondly at the memories, her eyes shining. 'Nightingale - that's what he called me. No one knew about it. It was our little secret.

'That fateful night, he called me using that name. I knew right away it couldn't be anyone else. But when I looked around, he was nowhere to be found. There were many people there, and no one seemed to notice anything. No one else heard his voice. And then I caught movement in the corner of my eye.

'When I looked at the window, I saw him. It was just a blurry reflection, but it was him. I saw his face. He looked exhausted and so incredibly sad. But when our eyes met, he smiled. Before I reached the window, he was gone already. No one else saw anything. Everyone thought I was going mad from despair. It was then I decided I could no longer stay at that place. I couldn't waste my time hunting for Mages while my husband was in desperate need of my help.'

'How is that even possible?' Iris asked in awe. 'I thought all Mages died.'

'That's what they told us. But it seems that somehow, Sam got stuck on the other side. In the Shadow Realm.'

'But... it's been years now!' the girl gasped.

'I know,' said Kara quietly, pain painted on her face. 'Since that first time I saw the glimpse of him, it's been over six months until it happened again. I almost lost all hope again. I thought I completely lost my sanity. And then, when I almost gave up, I saw him again, this time in the mirror. It was only a moment, just one glance, and he was gone. But he was still there, so I kept believing I'd see him again. And as time passed by, I saw more of him. I've done my research; I've learned all I could about the Shadow Realm.'

'What did you find out?'

'Because of the Ritual, the Veil separating our two realms became much thinner than it used to be. That's why it is possible to see glimpses of the other side. The most potent time for that is during a full moon. If you use any reflective surface, you can look through it if the Veil is weak enough in this area.'

'That's what you were doing? Peeking to the other side?'

'Yes. The more time passed, the more I learned. I was looking at windows and mirrors every full moon. Unfortunately, usually, I saw nothing but swirling shadows. He had to be there on the other side for us to be able to see each other. The Shadow Realm is different from our world. It is a kind of distorted reflection, but not entirely exact. Some of the places might look similar, while others were non existing there. But somehow, Sam was looking for me too. We managed to meet a few times. And recently, we also managed to communicate,' she frowned. 'Marcus says the Veil is constantly degrading. If we don't undo the Ritual, it will crumble entirely, leaving the barrier between the Shadow Realm and us wide open.'

'Is there a way for your husband to get back here?' Iris asked.

'Not that I know of. There would have to be a significant tear in the Veil to make that happen. And if such hole exists, it would be overrun by Shadows, pouring into our world.' Kara sighed. 'I still don't know enough to formulate the plan to rescue him. And I fear I may be too late. I've heard the time is different there, in the Shadow Realm. But it's been years here. I can't even imagine how much time passed for him.'

'You told me it's your secret,' Iris said. 'Have you told Marcus about it?'

'No. And you won't tell him either,' Kara replied, looking at the girl sternly.

'But why? Don't you think he would help you? He was in the Order. He probably knows a lot about the Shadow Realm.'

'I'm aware of that. I'm asking him about it every chance I get. The thing is, our goals are different. Marcus is a good man. He wants to fix the mess the other Mages did. But he is also wise and careful. Do you think he would risk tearing the Veil further to save one person and endanger the rest of the world?'

'But there must be a way....' Iris protested.

'No,' Kara interrupted her. 'Believe me, Iris, I think about it every sleepless night. I'm not sharing this secret with anyone. If I get a chance to save him, I won't hesitate. And I won't let anyone stop me either, no matter how high the risk would be. Do you understand me?'

'I think I do,' Iris said quietly. 'But I still think you need all the help you can get. People here would be willing to help you.'

'No, this is my burden to bear. I would probably have to risk my life. I won't drag anyone else into it.' Kara sighed. 'We should probably get back to the camp before someone notices we're gone.' She stood up and offered her hand to Iris, who accepted it and let the woman pull her up.

'Before we go, promise me you won't say a word about it to anyone,' Kara said, not letting go of her hand. Her grip wasn't painful but solid and firm.

'I promise.'

'Good. Let's go then.' The woman started going down the path towards the camp. Iris sighed and followed her. After a moment, Kara looked at her and added, 'I'm sorry I snapped at you back there. It's just... I rarely get to see his face, and I miss him so bad it physically hurts. Even those small glimpses mean a world to me right now.'

'Don't worry, that's understandable. I'm sorry for what you are going through,' Iris said.

While they were walking back in silence, Iris was pondering about what she just heard. Kara loved her husband with all her heart. The girl started to realise how little she knew about love. Iris thought that Milo was the love of her life. She was ready to marry him as soon as possible and spend the rest of her days by his side. Now, she was unsure about her feelings. When she saw the depth of passion and yearning in Kara's eyes when she spoke about her husband, she felt oddly inadequate. Has she ever loved that intensely? His betrayal indeed broke her heart, but maybe there was also the truth in his accusations. They have known each other since they were children. Perhaps she instinctively chose him because she knew it would be easy to live as his wife and this way stayed well hidden from the Church. She grimaced. It wasn't something she wanted to admit, even to herself. But the truth was, she didn't think about him once since she got thrown into the dungeon. She was too busy worrying about herself. Maybe she was just too selfish to love as strongly as Kara did.

Image by Darkmoon_Art from Pixabay