• The horned moons shed very little light in the darkness as the youth awkwardly scrambled through the brush. He was tall for his age, and still lanky with jet black hair that was pasted to his pale face. He stumbled over a raised root, caught himself before he fell and looked down at the young girl in his arms. Despite all of the jostling, she continued to sleep soundly, a beneficial side effect of the spell the Arch Mage used. It was just as well. After the day’s events, the unfamiliar surroundings gave him chills; he couldn’t imagine how terrifying it would have been for a child who had just lost her parents.

    The faint path he had been following, which snaked its way along the tree line, veered sharply off to his left, leading deeper into the forest. From the vague directions he had been given, he knew that now was the time to leave the path. Readjusting the sleeping girl, who seemed to grow heavier by the moment, he walked as straight a line as possible through the brambles and low lying thorn bushes. The sharp spines pressed through his light tunic, digging into his skin. On his legs, he could feel the warm trickle of blood. His arms and shoulders ached, and he longed to stop, even for a moment to catch his breath, but he knew that the girl’s safety depended on his speed. Gritting his teeth, he pressed on towards the glimmer of light that had become visible in the distance.

    Wading through the worst of the thorns, he pressed the child to his chest. During the two years he had spent with her and her family, he had never realized until this night just how much was riding on this one, small girl. Not only the fate of a nation, but the fate of a world. He had scarce been able to imagine it when her father was along side him, teaching her about her future role, but now it was nearly impossible. She no longer had her father here to teach her, and she would be cut off from the rest of the Knights, as well. How would she learn now?

    A small fluttering movement against his chest alerted him that the child was awake. She rubbed her eyes sleepily with balled fists, then peered around with wide, frightened blue eyes. She then looked up at her companion, her small, pink lips trembling as she reached up to wrap thin arms around his neck. “Zane,” she whimpered, “where are we?”

    “We’re almost to your new home, so’sha,” Zane replied with a forced smile. “Remember the Arch Mage said you were going there?”

    The girl nodded, then gasped excitedly. “Are Mommy and Daddy there?”

    Zane stopped and looked down at her. His heart was breaking to see to hope in her eyes. To be so young again…

    “No, Carly, they aren’t there. Nazalis needed your father to do a very special kind of job for him, so he called him. Your mother went, too, so he wouldn’t be lonely.”

    Carly frowned lightly. “But how come he didn’t call me too?”

    “Because it’s not your time yet, so’sha. You have to get big and strong before Nazalis will be ready for you. You’ll join the gods soon enough.”

    Carly seemed content with this answer, and cuddled closer. She couldn’t remember a time when there was no Zane, and he made her feel safe. She also suspected that he wasn’t telling her the truth: Her daddy had said that he would see her tonight, and he never broke his promises. She must be on her way to one of the secret places from her bedtime stories, one of the hidden strongholds that the Knights made use of when they had need.

    But the building they approached was no fortress or stronghold: It was a large house, really nothing more than a cottage with a number of rooms added clumsily and hastily. The roof was one of straw, and looked to be badly in need of repair, even in the poor light. From the windows, a warm, golden glow emanated that almost seemed to lift the chill from the night. If anything, the light meant safety: No shadows for dark things to hide in, unlike the black forest that now lay behind them. Zane stopped at the edge of the light and set Carly down on her feet, taking her hand in his own. It felt strange to him now, to no longer have the burden in his arms. A cool, flimsy feeling spread from his shoulders to his finger tips, announcing that he had over done it, and would feel this in the morning. By morning, he reassured himself, it would all be worth it.

    Pushing his hair back away from his face, he lead Carly to the heavy wooden door. It was quiet inside, but with any fortune at all, the cottage’s occupants would still be awake. Taking a moment to smile reassuringly down at Carly, who apprehensively eyed the door, Zane raised a fist and knocked loudly. The seconds seemed to trickle by like wet sand. Zane’s heart began to pound in his ears as he waited for someone to answer the door. They were wasting time. They could have found out about the plan, and be following them by now. They could descend at any moment and it would all be over. Anxiously, Zane knocked again, this time unable to resist the urge to look over his shoulder.

    Beside him, Carly whimpered and pressed closer to his leg. So she did know, at least, that she was in danger out here. Zane placed his hand on top of her head, running it down along her sandy brown curls. This one he would save, he reassured himself. No matter what the cost to himself, nothing would happen to Carly. When he again received no response from the door, and could hear nothing from within, he raised his fist and began to pound heavily on the weathered wood. He envisioned himself knocking the door down, and taking Carly in to where she would be safe, but as his fist began to ache, he knew the reality of the situation: All he was accomplishing was giving away their location, while getting splinters in the side of his hand.

    The door opened a crack suddenly, and Zane nearly lost his balance as he restrained his next blow. A piercing grey eye peered out at him, taking in his tangled black hair, torn tunic, and the blue tattoo over his right eye. It narrowed in disapproval, then swung to look down at Carly, who had moved behind Zane’s legs and was peering out timidly.

    “What do you want?” the voice belonging to the eye rasped harshly, sharply. It clearly belonged a woman, and Zane took the wrinkles around her eyes to be an indication of her age.

    “I was told I could bring my charge here, and that she would be safe,” Zane replied. “I can pay you well for your services.”

    The door swung open as if Zane had whispered a magical password. Surrounded by the light, was perhaps the sternest looking woman he had ever seen. She was tall for a woman; he guessed her to be nearly six feet tall, with hard grey eyes and graying black hair. Her lips were drawn in a hard line, forcing any colour that they may have possessed out, but they were turned up into what Zane guessed to be a smile. Or was it a sneer?

    “How long will the child be staying?” she asked, wringing her hands together.

    “I can’t be sure, right now. Until it’s safe for her to return home, at which time someone will come for her,” Zane replied stiffly. The longer he spent in her presence, the more he disliked her. Surely the Arch Mage made a mistake?

    From the satchel at his side, Zane produced two large pouches that clinked pleasantly as he handled them. Both were clearly filled to the brim with coins. He held them out to the woman. “This should be more than sufficient to both handle your expenses and to see that my charge is kept comfortable.”

    The woman snatched the bags eagerly and opened one, taking out one of the gold coins and examining it carefully, turning it from side to side so that it glittered in the light. Zane fidgeted nervously, feeling that time was running out, as the woman bit down on the coin, and again turned it over repeatedly in her hand. Once she was satisfied, she nodded and looked back to Zane, almost with contempt.

    “This will be sufficient. You may go,” she said simply, placing the coin back into the pouch and looking over her shoulder.

    “Noooooo!!” Carly wailed, clinging more fiercely to Zane’s leg. “You can’t go! Don’t leave me!”

    Zane turned around slowly and knelt down so he was at eye level with the child, placing his hands on her shoulders. Tears were already welling up in her eyes and spilling down her cheeks as she looked from him, to the impatient figure in the doorway. Tenderly, he wiped away her tears and forced a smile.

    “Ni tamlyn, so’sha. Ni tamlyn. Sor’cha ma.”

    Carly bit down on her lower lip and nodded while the woman in the door way watched in confusion. It was all gibberish to her, some made up language between these two and it sickened her. Such nonsense was not to be tolerated under any circumstance. The child was obviously soft, spoiled. She would remedy that soon enough, she thought as she watched Carly hug Zane tightly.

    “Come along, child,” the woman snapped impatiently.

    Zane gained his feet again as Carly turned and walked inside, the door slamming shut behind her. He felt numb. As far as humans go, he was still a child, but as of now he had lost two families. He turned and slowly started to walk away, looking over his shoulder often at the house. She was safe now, he reassured himself. They’d find her here. At least not soon enough for it to be a problem. He, on the other hand, was a different story entirely. He was in the open, vulnerable, and wearied from his travels.

    Let them come, he thought bitterly. It doesn’t matter any more.