“Focus,” the voice said.

  Stern, but gentle.

  Grounded.

  Maya cocks her head to the side where the voice was coming from and sees her through the shimmer, inside the distortion. Standing firm.

  Without any outward expression - white hair being thrown around by the forceful gusts and her clothing doing the same - she barely blinked.

  Maya clenches her jaw and narrows her casting.

  Her aura energy around her arms now more focussed and condensed as the energy circle around her retracts slightly.

  Stabilising.

  Realisation struck Maya as the white-haired girl remained in the circle the entire time.

  Close enough that if Maya loses control fully-

  She would be the first to absorb it.

  And that landed with Maya.

  Deeply.

  Nikolai readjusts himself to position himself at Maya’s flank again.

  Not pulling her away, or overriding anything.

  Guarding.

  “You steady, Maya?” he asks.

  A short ripple of blue light from the creature flashed for a moment and the pressure behind Maya’s eyes returned. The creature once again vanishing from view before reappearing, having closed half the distance between them again.

  The same thing repeated itself - a short burst of blue light, and the small pressure behind Maya’s eyes - only this time an almighty sounding crack echoed across the plains before it attempted to disappear.

  The taller woman almost seemed to have flashed into view, as she pommelled the creature’s neck and staggering it.

  Following it up with an upward strike of her blade.

  The creature got thrown into the air before flipping over and landing on the back of its neck, exposing its underside.

  “Always,” Maya replies to Nikolai in a sea of turbulence.

  Maya was not going to take another opening for granted.

  Holding one palm out in front of her, she conjured three orbs brimming with energy - Destructive High Magick Art, Raze Incantation: Pick.

  Like forcefully pushing open a door, Maya throws her palm in front of her in the direction where she wants her attack to land.

  The orbs condenses into stalagmites-like energy crystals as it shot forwards and strikes the chest cavity of the creature. Slamming it into the ground and pinning it.

  Dark blue energy from the creature flares before collapsing inwards and folding the creature in on itself slightly.

  The silence returned almost too quickly.

  Energy radiating around Maya dissipates as she faintly sways from the energy drain.

  The girl besides her instinctively reaches out and steadies her wrist whilst simultaneously Nikolai places a steadying hand at her back.

  Three bodies close.

  No conflict.

  Just containment.

  “I need to see what that thing is,” Maya faintly speaks.

  The quietness of nature resumes as the three steadily stagger towards the motionless creature. The tall woman already there, looking down over it with her blade still to her side.

  “So that’s your name,” mutters the white-haired woman.

  Maya weakly looks over at her after the comment, not denying it.

  The woman studies her for a few moments before looking away as she continues to guide her towards the carcass.

  “Amia.”

  No smile, no outward expression again.

  Acknowledgement.

  Nikolai does not react to the exchange.

  He already knew that his Master’s name mattered less than her survival.

  The woman takes a deep breath before letting out a sigh.

  “I will need to know his name in case we get into something like this again,” the woman to her right continues.

  “Nikolai,” he responds.

  A short thoughtful hum by her as another quiet moment interjects after the short exchange.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  The name sits between them now. Not as comfort.

  But as markers.

  As the three come up to the carcass, the tall woman sheathes her blade. Confident that it wouldn’t be of any more harm.

  Maya breathily gets onto her knees as she hovers her hands over the now hollow cavity of the creature.

  Its faint blue glow had started to fade but fractures had emerged over its skin and its fur around - its wounds having stiffened like crystallized glass.

  Maya could feel a cold static-like feeling as her hand hovered over the lifeless body. A feeling similar to unstructured High Magick.

  Nikolai and the tall woman continue scanning the surrounding areas, from the treeline, to the horizon of the plains.

  Studying the area.

  Maya finally extends a careful thread of Magick from her palms onto the hollow chest cavity of the creature.

  As soon as the thread of Magick nears contact with the centre of the cavity, it flickers weakly in response.

  “It’s still holding charge,” she says.

  “How long?” Amia asks.

  Maya studies it for a small while before responding.

  “Not long,” she answers, “but it isn’t meant to.”

  Maya lifts her torn skirt up and brushes her hand up the fair skin of her leg as she pulls out her Kaiken dagger.

  A small crunch was heard as she cuts into the side of the direwolf.

  The flesh on the inside of the cut glowed faint blue before fading away.

  “This is not wild overconsumption."

  She swallows.

  “This is overexposure,” she pauses before realising what she just said. “Repeated overexposure.”

  Nikolai shifts in place as he looks down at his Master.

  “Can it spread?” he asks.

  “If the caster keeps using the Raze incantation near it? Yes.”

  “It moved towards you,” he added. Not accusatorily.

  But observationally.

  Maya and Amia knelt quietly as they absorbed the fact.

  Amia stands and walks a few paces away before she closes her eyes and inhales.

  The smells were…odd.

  Beneath the smell of nature she could smell the scent of burnt iron and something metallic - and with it, the tell-tale scent of a Raze incantation. Very similar to what she had smelled across the inlet during the initial attack of the capital, but it wasn’t Enchantment No. 6.

  The scent was very faint, but directional. Not random.

  She turns her head as she followed the thread.

  “They’re north.” Not guesswork. “Possibly north-west if the coastal winds are in play.”

  Maya feels a chill at the certainty of her voice.

  “It wasn’t hunting,” Maya says, fingers lightly brushing against the flank of the direwolf. “It was deteriorating.”

  Amia doesn’t soften at that fact. But she doesn’t dismiss it either.

  “Then it won’t be the last.”

  Silence filled the air as the four remained in place, still trying to wrap their heads around what could possibly be going on.

  “Burn it?” Nikolai suggests.

  Maya hesitates.

  If we burn it with Magick, residue might spread. If left alone, wildlife might be exposed.

  “No. We bury it.”

  Almost instantly, Nikolai starts digging into the dirt nearby where he stood while the taller woman assists.

  The faintest of an energetic pulse could be felt underneath Maya’s boots as the last handfuls of dirt was placed onto the top of the shallow grave.

  Amia could smell the trace of the caster as the scent arrived to her a few minutes later.

  “The caster is moving,” she says, “but not much further than where it was last time.”

  The four of them idle in place before Maya speaks up.

  “We need to stop them.”

  Hint of uneasiness in her voice, mixed in with the raw determination and anger.

  “Forgive me for speaking out, Master,” Nikolai says. “But we’re going to have to decide.”

  The tall woman looks up from the stick she was sharpening with her knife. Amia’s head turns to Nikolai.

  Curious.

  But silent, and observing.

  “We either move now and hope to catch the caster by the end of today.”

  He pauses as he folds his arms and looks to the horizon where the forest is. “Or we regroup and take our time as we head that way.”

  He gestures to the forest that extends to their north with his head.

  “Because we won’t be surviving many more encounters in our state.”

  Maya laid on her heels as she buried her face into her lap. Her arms covering the back of her head and a small groan escaping her in frustration.

  “He’s right,” Amia added. “None of us have had proper food in a while and none of us have had proper rest.”

  A long pause as Maya contemplates on what would be the right answer.

  “Apologies for speaking out of line, Master,” says Nikolai.

  Maya raises a hand while in her upright fetal position without looking up.

  She takes a deep breath as she stood up.

  “Okay.”

  Just like that. The group had decided on what their next best course of action would be.

  Amia leads the walk towards the trees to the north.

  “I’ll scout the forest for a bit before we make camp.”

  “No.” Maya interjects. “Take her with you,” gesturing towards Amia’s companion.

  Amia simply nods at her in response as she looks back at her.

  “We’ll make camp near the forest’s edge,” Maya yells out at her.

  Maya had a point. Her strategic thinking means that there would be cover in the trees, and less chance of being spotted from the plains.

  Within an hour all four of them were back at the agreed rendezvous location of their camp.

  The silence had returned, correctly this time - the hum of the wind against the trees and the sound of bird calls and insects around them.

  “This wasn’t just chaos,” Maya says. Her arms wrapped around her legs as she sat in front of the campfire.

  “No.” Amia responds. Throwing a small rock into the flame.

  “It’s like they were practising.”

  Amia leans her back onto the tree trunk as she blankly stares at the campfire, before looking at Maya. Her dark-brown eyes highlighting the dark-red of her hair as she stared at the flames.

  A train of thoughts ran through Amia’s head as she thought about the days that have passed yet none of them have brought any answers.

  Bringing more questions instead.

  From Olsen.

  To the bridge.

  And the girl that smelled like innocence in front of her.

  The thoughts continue to run through her mind - each one fighting one another like an overeager pupil wanting to be noticed by their teacher.

  Amia pauses, and takes a deep breath.

  Unsheathing her weapon, and taking out her cloth from one of her pouches.

  And starts wiping her blade.

  The world is widening now.

  The caster is moving.

  And not all bindings are visible.