DARKLIGHT

- 17 -

We flew for a while, but I eventually asked to stop to rest my wings, given that they were far from hardy. Kaces scouted around and found a small clearing, and we both landed exhaustedly. I was surprised to see Kaces so weakened, but I didn't have the strength to take advantage of it, nor did it seem quite as justified now. We both took our human forms. Kaces was breathing heavily.

"Why?"

Kaces looked up, startled by my question. His face was unreadable. "You don't need to know why. Only that it was a mutual exchange."

"Says who?" I fumed. "Besides, I'm not going to keep following you just because I feel like it!"

"No? Do you feel like roaming a wilderness you know nothing about?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "If it means I don't die."

"There's no need to point fingers here. We're on the same side." Kaces lit his symbol, and I edged away out of habit, but he only said, "Ziede," and busied himself healing his most recent scar. I watched with morbid interest, too afraid to ask what had happened to him.

We maintained a tenuous silence, and eventually, Kaces took flight again. Knowing what was at stake, I followed him, but at a safe distance. As the sun began to set, Kaces picked out another clearing to land in, but when I followed him, he had already vanished into the forest.

I shivered, suddenly aware of how alone and vulnerable I was. I would have gone to look for him, but I needed some time to think. Too tired to call for Anahid again, I laid down in the grass and waited with my thoughts swirling.

Kaces emerged from the brush stealthily, so much so that I didn't notice him right away. He was holding a simple black jug filled with water and set it down next to me before sitting a distance away. I started to object, thinking that he should drink first, but he knew that was coming. "I've had plenty. That's for you."

I took a shy sip, and then realized how thirsty I was and nearly downed the whole thing. The water was clean and clear, unlike what I'd been subjected to in the prison. "Thank you," I gasped, and he nodded.

"You've earned it. Today must have been rough for you."

I set down the jug pointedly. "You're in no position to be babying me."

"We will have to work together if we're going to get through this," he insisted.

"You expect me to trust you when I don't know where or why you're leading me?"

"I don't expect you to trust me. You shouldn't. Trust is a dangerous thing, and much too black and white. It's there for one minute, and then crumbles to pieces around you in the next." He stopped abruptly, analyzing our surroundings. "You should go find some firewood. We can set up camp here tonight." He walked to my side and murmured something to the jug, which disappeared.

It felt odd to still be taking orders from him, but I knew that a fire would be useful. I begrudgingly got to my feet and left the clearing. Right away, my surroundings shifted to dense woods. Thankfully, it was dry like the warm prairie nearby, so I had no difficulty finding usable sticks and kindling. For the bigger logs, I found a dead tree that looked promising, but I didn't remember a way to chop it into usable pieces. My arms were full anyway. I took my load and headed back to the clearing.

When I emerged, I saw that Kaces had started clearing some grass for a fire pit. I laid the wood nearby and asked, "Isn't there a general spell for cutting things?"

"Samazimak. You weren't taught that in Casting A?"

I smiled to hide my embarrassment. "I think I was, but my memories of my first school year are pretty faint."

"You should work on applying spells. It will help you to remember them better." Kaces faced the now cleared pit and examined my tinder pile. "We'll need bigger pieces to keep the fire going. Get to it." I left the clearing again, and behind me, I heard Kaces incant, "Dzirksteles."

It was the same spark spell that I always used, though I knew many flame spells existed that were more difficult, powerful, and consistent, and surely within Kaces's skill set. Why? I wondered. It's almost like he's copying the time that I used the spark spell. Then I shook my head. That's too outlandish. Surely the Kireveans teach some of the same spells we do. They haven't been isolated for that long, have they?

I found the dead tree again, and with a few clean magical swipes, it was ready to be carried. The issue I then discovered was that there was too much to carry at once. I nearly left half of the tree there to return to later, but then I remembered what Kaces had suggested. I could use magic here. I bunched the wood together in a pile and incanted, "Liykuda," a movement spell. The logs glowed black and began to hover.

Kaces had a tall flame going by the time I returned and had cast a Dark, misty shield above it that seemed to be absorbing the smoke. He showed a hint of a smile when he saw the spell I was using and pointed next to the fire where a bare patch was set aside for the logs. I released the magic and sat down nearly across from him, watching the fire flicker. It was getting dim already, though I hadn't noticed it before, and the light cast shadows on the surrounding forest.

It wasn't long before we could add the first big logs, and they sent up sparks as they tumbled down the weak stick structure that had been there before. I stared into it, searching for answers. Kaces was silent, and after a while, he pulled a knife from the folds of his cloak and began whittling a piece of wood absentmindedly.

"Do you think they'll find us?" I asked abruptly.

Kaces looked up from his stick and across the fire at me. "I don't know. We haven't left a trail, but the Master will assume that we're heading straight for the mountains."

"Aren't we?"

"We're intentionally off by a little. I made sure of that. However, we do still need to get past the Forxiers as quickly as possible."

"So that's what they're called," I said, gazing up at the peaks. They were much larger now, and I knew that it would be quite the trek to get over them. I hoped Kaces had a plan. He went back to his stick.