Without Emilia there, we were lost. We knew that Berul was still further west and a little north of the lake, but we were far off the course we had plotted back in Drevalecia. Also, Cyrus’ army was somewhere in between us and Berul, but we had no idea where it was or how to avoid it.

  After discussing our options, we decided to take whichever roads seemed to be going in the right direction. The road by the lake was deserted, and we trudged along it, keeping a sharp lookout. Soon the light was gone except for the full moon.

  “The moon never changes here,” Donavan observed.

  “Yeah, I noticed that before,” said Keegan. “It’s always full.”

  “I never realized,” I said. “It’s pretty. It makes everything beautiful.”

  Our footsteps were the only sounds in the night. There were no animal sounds, or winds, or anything else. It was unnaturally quiet.

  The sky had just started to grow light when we saw a cluster of buildings in the distance surrounded by newly plowed fields. There were only about fifteen houses, but we decided that it would be better to avoid them.

  “Still,” said Keegan, “maybe one of us should go and see if we can find anything out about Cyrus or even how to get to Berul.”

  “I will go,” said Donavan. “I can escape the fastest if I have to.”

  Keegan seemed about to protest, but Donavan interrupted, “You need to be able to Shift us out if something goes wrong, and we should not all go into the village.”

  Keegan gave a curt nod. “We’ll meet you on the other side,” he said.

  Donavan continued along the road, and Keegan and I set off in a wide arc around the village, watching him until he disappeared into the small cluster of buildings.

  Keegan and I trudged across an empty field, hoping we were far enough away that no one would notice us.

  We walked in tense silence until we had circled back to the road. A few minutes later we heard footsteps approaching. Keegan grabbed my hand as we watched the road.

  Donavan reached us quickly. “We will have to be very careful,” he said as the three of us headed north once more. “There are notices of rewards for us, even in that small village.”

  “Did anyone recognize you?” I asked.

  “I don’t think so,” said Donavan. “The drawings were not very accurate and the posters say that we are traveling together, so I think people will be looking for a group of three. Even so, it would be best if we avoided being seen by anyone. There’s a large price on our heads.”

  Donavan filled us in on other information from the village. It was common knowledge that Cyrus had recaptured Soren. They had heard rumors that Soren was not bringing any more Dreamwalkers into Wendellia, but they attributed them to wishful thinking. They were sure, either way, that their land would soon be laid to waste once more.

  Of course, many of them had thought of offering to serve him, simply to try to save their homes, but it seemed this time Cyrus was intent on destroying Wendellia, and they doubted that he would leave their homes untouched. Everything where Cyrus’s army went was being destroyed. Nothing was left standing. Homes, fields and trees were burnt. Animals and people were killed. Nothing was being left alive. The villages only had one hope – Cyrus was offering to spare any village that aided in our capture.

  “Great,” said Keegan. “Just what we needed.”

  “We’ll travel at night,” Donavan said. “And find places to hide during the day. Maybe we can avoid seeing anyone. The villagers said that this road would take us clear to Berul.”

  Keegan nodded. “We’ll have to stop and rest soon. We might as well go to the Sleeping World. We don’t have anything to sleep on here.”

  We stopped and were soon falling asleep in comfortable beds.

  We returned to Wendellia and set out by the light of the moon. By early morning we had reached a forested area and decided to stop for the day to avoid the traveling crowds. We stayed near to the road but walked far enough into the trees that it would be difficult to see us.

  Keegan quickly grew restless and snuck to the side of the road to listen to the chatter of those going by. He soon reported back that Cyrus’ army was a few days walk from where we were. People were desperate to get away from him, traveling with all of the belongings they could carry, trying to go east or south before he reached them.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  He also heard people talking about the three of us. Changelings had only found us the morning before, but already people knew that their lives would be spared and they would be richly rewarded for turning us in. Although people hated Cyrus, they were desperate for any kind of hope, and we knew that if anyone caught us, it would be very tempting to hand us over.

  “We have to be really careful,” said Keegan once the sun went down and the roads were once more deserted.

  We stepped cautiously onto the road and walked along in silence. Here and there we came across a family or group that had been unable to make it to the next village for the night. They huddled around fires, trying to keep warm and safe. We carefully avoided these groups, sneaking through the woods or fields to go around.

  As we went further west, there were fewer and fewer people around. We saw numerous little clusters of homes that seemed completely deserted. The whole country was fleeing.

  The sun was just beginning to rise as we saw yet another cluster of houses far in the distance, and we decided that we would take another break in the sleeping world.

  Keegan grasped our hands and whirled us away.

  Hours later, we returned to Wendellia, the world spinning around us as it usually did.

  Before it came to a stop, an invisible force hit me, and I went flying backwards through the air, Keegan’s hand ripped from my grasp. At the same time, both Keegan and Donavan were hurled away from me. They tumbled to the ground far away from each other and me.

  Both scrambled to their feet and rushed towards me. Before Keegan had taken more than a few steps, a tall, muscular man slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.

  “Dreamers,” Donavan shouted, running towards me. A pulsating, blue ball of energy streaked past me and hit him in the chest. A scream erupted from my throat as I watched him crumple to the ground, and I felt someone pulling me to my feet, dragging me away from Keegan.

  A fierce wind roared towards us whipping up dirt from the ground, making it difficult to see. Keegan was on his feet again, rushing towards me. Another ball of energy streaked towards him, flying from the fingers of the man who was dragging me away.

  The blast just missed him, but the man who had tackled him before was rushing towards him again, blocking his way to me.

  Keegan lowered his shoulder and slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. A rock hurled through the air from Keegan’s direction, and I heard it hit, with a sickening thud, the man who held onto me. He dropped me, and I ran towards Keegan, desperate to get to him.

  I could feel the emotions pouring from the three people capturing us. Desperation and maliciousness mixed with fear, and from one of them, regret. From somewhere further behind us, the cold, cruel hatred of a Changeling made my heart hammer wildly. I glanced behind me as I ran and could see it, long, pale, dressed in black, white eyes staring straight at me, sitting on a horse and holding the reins of several others.

  And underneath it all, I could feel Keegan’s terror. I knew that none of it was for himself. It was all for me. He was still running towards me, and I was trying to figure out what I could do, which emotions I could switch to make things better, but there were too many swirling around. It was all happening too quickly.

  “Ria!” Keegan’s voice sounded hoarse as he shouted to me. Suddenly he was lifted off of his feet and flying backwards as another wall of energy slammed into him.

  “Keegan!” I screamed, as the man who had been holding me before caught up to me and grabbed me again. I could hear him chuckle cruelly as his arms tightened around me.

  “Keegan,” I screamed again, struggling to break free. “Go! Get away!”

  Keegan just shook his head, jumping to his feet again. A young woman with dark skin walked past me and the man who was holding me. She thrust out her hand, and Keegan’s head snapped back, hit by an invisible force. Blood streamed down his face from a cut above his eye, but he kept running towards me sending a wall of sticks, stones and dirt flying at the woman.

  As the debris neared her, it hit an invisible wall and fell to the ground, harmless. She kept walking towards Keegan, her determination to capture him thundering against my brain.

  Keegan sent more and more rocks flying into the air, streaking towards the woman. The wind picked up, swirling faster and faster around her.

  I could feel pangs of doubt coming from the woman as Keegan sent a small tornado filled with debris whirling towards her. I echoed the doubt, magnified it and sent it flying towards her, stealing her determination from her.

  For just a moment, her shield faltered. The tornado slammed into her, carrying her into the air.

  “No!” The man holding me dragged me with him as he walked towards Keegan, sending streaks of blue electricity towards him. Keegan dodged from side to side, still running towards me, but one of the streaks grazed his shoulder.

  Keegan shouted in pain, and for a moment, the wind stopped.

  The woman dropped to the ground, and was instantly on her feet, walking towards Keegan once again.

  “Go! You can come back later!” I shouted.

  “No!” Keegan shouted, still rushing towards me. Again he hurled things at the woman, but she had regained control, and they turned aside before hitting her.

  She raised her hand once more, and Keegan went flying away from her, onto the ground. She made a circle with her hands and Keegan thrashed on the ground, struggling against invisible ropes. I could hear him yelling in frustration. The wind picked up, once again roaring around us.

  The man that Keegan had tackled got to his feet. He walked to Keegan and kicked him maliciously in the stomach. Keegan gritted his teeth, but was unable to keep a groan from escaping his lips as the man kicked at him again.

  Keegan glared at him and a rock came flying at the man, striking him on the back of the head, and he staggered to the ground, falling on top of Keegan.

  The woman kept walking towards them, and I knew that I had to make Keegan leave, or he would just be captured with us. I let my desperation to get away fill me, overwhelm me. Then, with all of my might, I shoved the feeling away from me towards Keegan, pulling away from him every other shred of emotion.

  “Go,” I screamed at him. “Go now!” I knew that it would be nearly impossible to resist the feelings that I had sent to him. He would have to go.

  “No! Ria!” His shout was desperate and angry. He grew blurry and disappeared.