A Ward's Tale

Chapter 16

The men are up right as the sun starts to peek over the horizon. Light pinks in the sky chase the dark night away as Peter refocuses his magic again on the hairpin. It spins then settles to the North.

Peter curses under his breath for not being as strong as he used to be. He can now only pinpoint her general location and has to have a hairpin point the way. Useless. He used to be able to tell exactly how far the person was away and could see their location in his mind's eye. He felt so useless but he wasn't going to tell Prince Arthur or Reynold this. Their trust is already thin.

"Let's go. She seems to have gotten further away." Peter says hopping onto his horse and taking off before the other two had saddled up. Her position worries him. If the Seekers are still moving North where could they be taking her? The further North you go the less villages there are. Do the Seekers have some base of operations up there? It would be more secluded than to the West.  But would they take Clarissa straight to the base, knowing that they will be people looking for her?

He pushes his horse harder than yesterday. The longer Clarissa is with the Seekers the more complicated things can get. Peter knows from the short period of time he spent training her that Clarissa is good hearted and strong willed. But what if she decides the mages are being treated wrongly and she decided to take the Masters side and start a war? Would she fight against her adopted family?

"Well we are being treated unfairly." Peter grumbles under his breath.

"What was that?" Arthur inquires trotting up to Peter.

Peter lifts the hand with the hair pin. "I can feel her more strongly now." Peter lies. He can no more feel her than before which worries him. Is it because of his weakened magic? Or has something happened to her.

A stab of pain hits his heart. If something were to happen to her too. It would be too much for him. He has grown to care for her, he wants to see her succeed. He wants to watch how she will lead the mages.

Suddenly her energy disappears. Just vanishes. The hairpin starts to wobble, losing its connection to Clarissa.

Peter focuses. No, it's not gone. It is just really faint now. This worries Peter. This can mean multiple things. She could have entered a protected area, the Master could have put a concealment spell on her to contain her magic, or she could have been majorly injured. The last option worried him the most. What if she doesn't agree with the Master and the Seekers just get rid of her before her power is fully discovered? From what he has heard about the Master he wouldn't put it past him.

Peter keeps this news to himself and keeps pressing forward. He holds onto the last location before the power diminution.