DARKLIGHT

- 19 -

By the time we landed for our second night, the air at the forest floor was cold and foggy like the sky, and the ground was slightly inclined towards the mountains. I was too exhausted to consider these changes much, though. I laid down and let my wings droop to my sides, and shifted back to my human form nearly automatically. Kaces did the same and sprawled out on his back nearby, breathing hard. "We won't be able to keep up this pace," he said finally, sitting up to face me. "Not without hunting, or sleeping longer than we should." I nodded tiredly.

I perked up at a rustling sound in the brush. It was followed by another. Kaces had gone completely still and put a finger to his lips as he crept towards the sound. He scanned the forest for a while, and then turned to me and pointed. A deer was about ten feet away, camouflaged by dusk shadows and distractedly plucking flowers off of a vine. Before I knew it, Kaces had snuck within throwing distance of the animal. He readied himself, silently transformed, and lunged at the deer. Of course, it had no chance.

We had a feast of a dinner that night. Flying has taken a lot out of me, I realized, digging into my part of the kill. Kaces was also eager to eat but kept his gaze fixed on the fire between us. It lit up his face with an eerie glow, reminding me yet again that he had a scar that hadn't been there before.

We returned to our typical uneasy silence. The sun was just about to set behind the Forxiers, and it gave everything a brightness around the edges. Kaces interrupted my thoughts. "I didn't expect my training with you to stop. The Master didn't give me a full explanation."

In the dying light, I described to him what had happened at the fountain. It felt like a lifetime ago now. As I finished, Kaces nodded in understanding. "It was my fault. I gave you too much leeway."

"What do you mean?"

Kaces sighed and crossed his legs on the ground. "I suppose the truth won't hurt now. I won't be going back."

I said hesitantly, "You act like you still could."

Kaces shook his head. "I'm much too far gone for that. I never agreed with the Master's plan for gaining influence, anyway. It was my opinion that we should return peacefully, but she convinced me that we had to have force behind us if we wanted to be recognized. Then I suggested that we let people help us fight willingly, and she refused that too. She claimed that it was all for the greater good."

Hearing Kaces talk about himself in a favorable light was unnerving. He still terrified me, and I knew that he could turn on me at any moment and that I would be helpless to stop him. Yet, something about his explanation seemed to click with what I'd already seen. Kaces paused to let his words sink in before saying slowly, "I was the one who put a flaw in your cell."

The meaning of his words hit me again and again as I recalled things that should have been in plain sight. "You put those marks on the bed, didn't you?"

"Right."

"That means you knew-"

"Yes, I knew that you were in the mural garden on your first day of training. That was a very close shave, and I hoped you had gotten your fill of hanging around in plain sight."

"What else was there to do?"

"The fountain controls all of the magic barriers in the entire conversion complex, including the one you ran into. You can change the settings by spinning it. It takes some force, but it's doable."

A look of shame crept across my face. I hadn't seen the answer that was right in front of me. "Then, you wanted me to escape?"

"Of course."

"Why?"

"As I said before, our escape was mutual," Kaces sighed. "The conversion complex's last line of defense, the outer physical barrier, doesn't turn off from any fountain setting. The Master created it herself, and it's very strong."

Saying those last words, Kaces looked very small. "You needed my help to break it?" I asked him, already sure of the answer.

He nodded. For the first time, I felt that I couldn't question what Kaces was telling me. He'd never looked so subdued before, and all of the strange details about the so-called 'conversion complex' made sense under his new lens.

Abruptly, Kaces said, "That's enough for tonight. We have a big day tomorrow."

"But-"

"No. You have plenty to think about."