Awakening

Chapter 5

I scrambled off of Tom, still clutching the knife. The soft green eyes staring back at me were his, but everything else was all wrong. Tom did not have a hard jaw dotted with stubble, or a scar that split his chin. He did not have military cropped hair or a strong build.

At least he didn't, not when I left him behind three years ago.

"I thought you were dead," he eventually choked out, pushing himself up from the ground.

"You two know each other?" Evelyn asked, still eyeing him suspiciously.

"Yes, he's my brother," I said.

Tom's face finally broke into the crooked smile I knew and loved, and I threw my arms around him. Of all the people to find out here in the woods, thank the gods it was him.

"I didn't realize how much I missed you," I sniffled into his cloak, fighting back tears.

"I missed you too, Addy," he said, hugging me tighter.

I pulled him back at arms length, taking in all the changes that had occurred in three years. The Tom I'd left behind was a boy, and the Tom standing before me was a man. He filled out his deep green uniform nicely, and for once in his life his clothes were well kept and neatly pressed.

"So you're in the army now?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They drafted all the sixth born sons last year. I think the High Mage is preparing for some sort of war, but no one knows with who exactly. The rumour is the Ragamons, because who else could it be?" Tom shrugged, reclaiming his knife from a dumbfounded Evelyn.

"Well you're not exactly cut out for the army!" I protested.

"And I didn't think you were cut out to wander in the wilderness stabbing people," he retorted.

"Adria, I love a good sibling fight any day, but that exactly are we going to do now? The sisters still need us," said Evelyn.

"The sisters?" Tom asked.

"The women who lived here in the forest with us. They took me in when I ran away, and taught me how to survive on my own. Evelyn too. If the army finds us, we'll all get sent back to whatever we were running from," I answered.

Tom frowned and ran his fingers through his hair, something I'd seen him do countless times while thinking up plans to keep me out of trouble.

"Victoria said they're not going to stop chasing us now, where do we go?" asked Evelyn, still nibbling on her lip.

"Faragor's Keep. The mages won't chase you there, they're too scared of it themselves. It's well fortified enough that you should be able to defend yourselves from whatever lurks in the mountains, and even the mages if they come knocking. There isn't a lot of food there though, you might be a little hungry until summer comes," Tom shrugged.

"Oh, so nothing from the usual then," grumbled Evelyn, tossing herself down into the snow.

"Forgive her, she hasn't had breakfast," I sighed, "We can't stay in that keep forever Tom, we need a way out of Mageland. I feel horrible asking this, but do you think you could help us get out?"

Tom nodded slowly, and shrugged his pack off his shoulders. He pulled out a military issue map and a piece of charcoal, quickly circling our position and scribbling down notes in the margins.

"So where are your uh, sisters headed?" he asked.

"About a day and a half north of here," I traced my finger across the familiar terrain to where I thought Tia and Rita were camped.