Page 56 of Maiming

“Sinister was able to heal your wound,” Kain whispers, his attention following mine closely.

He’s wrong; Sinister sealed the skin but the wound is far from healed. The tingling numbness eases the pain but it’s damaged; the scar, the nerve endings. The whole thing is terrifying every time I try to so much as lift my pinky. The long pink scar jutting down from my collar bone to my wrist is an ugly, marring thing. It’s my reminder that I made an ally and turned against her as quicklyas the wind changes.

I could see it in her eyes; she didn’t mean to harm me. I hate that things were ruined for our future before they even began. Will I see her again?

The offer still stands.Her voice still spins through my thoughts.

The thought that I might never have that obtainable simple life that she filled my head with twists my stomach as a shaking breath leaves my lungs.

And then I look up and that breath catches once more.

Miles and miles of endless sea wash back and forth beneath the starry night sky. Ships dot the dark waters. They sail in toward the warm light of the tower along the coast. A wide cobble street separates me from that beautiful sandy shore.

“We’re in Warf,” I whisper. Kain’s hold on me tightens. He pulls me against his chest and just holds me as I look out blankly at the place I left so many years ago.

I vanished us from escalating danger. Just to bring us back to my homeland.

The most dangerous place of all for a hiding mage.

The End.