Quietus

South-East of the White

Acaila woke to the sound of soft whispers and a crackling fire. Her eyes automatically opened, but when she saw that she was in the company of two men in black cloaks, she decided it was best to keep them closed.

Acaila started stretching her mind outwards, in search of a source of water that could be used to her advantage if the need to defend herself were to arise.

"It's her. I know it is!" a male voice enthusiastically explained, stealing Acaila's attention.

"How? She doesn't look at all like her, and shouldn't she be much younger?" Another voice responded in a hushed tone.

"Dimension jumping changes those sorts of things. Anyway, I trust my heart more than my mind – at least when it comes to her." The first man defended. Acaila furrowed her brows. He couldn't be talking about her, but it seemed rather illogical to have a conversation about another girl when you had just captured one.

"Well I suppose you can ask her. Seeing as she's awake." The second one commented.

Acaila opened her eyes and pulled herself backwards in the bed, increasing the distance between her and the men.

One of them, a young man with curly brown hair, stepped towards her.

Acaila reacted on instinct. She felt the energy of the water they were boiling over the fireplace – and pulled it towards the man that was in front of her.

It drenched him.

The brunette yelled out in pain and fell to his knees. "You'll regret that!" he growled, trying to stumble to his feet.

Acaila was out of ideas. If a cauldron of boiling water didn't put him out, what would?

"Hatch." The other man calmly said while rising from the chair he had been seated in. "What have I told you about threatening guests?" he chuckled as he leaned up against the table the chair had been situated by.

The curly brunette, Hatch, groaned in response and glared down at Acaila, leading Acaila to notice that his skin looked normal, and his cloak was dry – as if he hadn't just been drenched in fiery hot liquid.

"We didn't mean to scare you." The other man stated, his shoulder-length black locks functioning as a frame for his petite face. Acaila would have thought he was a girl if it hadn't been for his voice and proportions.

"You attacked me. By the river." Acaila muttered, still trying to make sense of their conversation. It almost seemed as though they thought she could jump dimensions.

"No. I can assure you that that was not us. Here-" he said and held out his hand. "Check my memories."

Acaila got out of the bed and walked across the small room and over to the man that was leaned up against a small table. He smiled softly when she stood in front of him. A smile Acaila found unnerving.

She carefully led her index finger to the palm of his hand, where his black mark waited, and when she touched his palm, she saw what had happened. His memories of the incident were in fact as he told her. Him and Hatch had been her saviors, not attackers.

What he had failed to mention, was how they had saved her.

He had failed to mention the purple sparks that had danced across their hands and the foreign words that caused the sparks to strike.

Acaila had never seen anything quite like it.

"Thank you." Acaila said, slowly stepping away from the man.

He looked at her for a moment, as if in a daze, before suddenly shaking his head and pulling himself out of it. "I'm Teqiyen, by the way. Pleasure to meet you." He announced with a bow.

Acaila nodded in response, deliberately not saying her own name, which earned a skeptical glance from Hatch.

"And you are?" Teqiyen softly asked, a sweet smile decorating his face.

Acaila knew she would have to tread carefully. The curly brown hair gave away that Hatch had a brown mark – and Teqiyen's mark was black, as she had seen.

Now what were a member of the Brown and Black doing together? In the Kingdom of White of all places? Several possibilities ran through her mind, but none of them were particularly good.

"I see that you are uncomfortable, and I'd like to make it clear that you are free to leave." Teqiyen stated - and with a flick of his wrist – opened the door.

Acaila had to focus to control her breathing. They were performing magic.

Taming and controlling one the four elements was one thing, making everyday objects bow to your will was a whole different story.

"Where am I?" Acaila asked, switching between looking at the two men, making sure they were both in sight.

"A few miles from the river we found you by." Teqiyen responded, seating himself on top of the table.

"And my horse?" Acaila continued.

"Tied up just outside." Hatch responded, nonchalantly brushing dust off his beige robe. Acaila could have sworn he had worn a black cloak earlier.

"Which direction do I ride?" Acaila asked, slowly faltering towards the door.

"North-"

"West-"

They interrupted each other.

Acaila eyed them intently as they made eye contact with each other. "Alright then. Thank you for your help. I'll be off." She said when they made no sign to correct themselves.

Acaila started inching closer to the door, but trying to avoid turning her back on Teqiyen and Hatch made the process of leaving a bit slower.

"Before you leave. Does the name Tawária ring any bells?" Teqiyen asked, carefully awaiting Acaila's reaction.

Acaila noticed that Hatch's fists were tightly clenched as she backed into the door.

"Or maybe Medelyn?" Teqiyen muttered, chills running down Acaila's spine as she saw Hatch visibly flinch by the mention of her name.

"No. Sorry." Acaila honestly responded while reaching for the doorknob.

"What about Heturain?" Hatch asked, picking up a rolled-up parchment from the table and opening it.

"Where did you get that?" Acaila asked, recognizing it instantly.

"One of the saddlebags." Hatch explained, waving her comments away while reading the note.

"He bailed on you? How sad." Hatch pouted. "Did you perhaps throw boiling water at him too?"

"Ignore him. He's a little much, I know. And I can assure you that I was not aware he had stolen from you." Teqiyen explained, before turning towards Hatch and snatching the parchment out of his hands.

Teqiyen handed it to Acaila with a swift bow.

"He's blind, right?" Hatch asked. "Ever asked him how it happened? It's quite a story." Hatch sniggered.

Teqiyen rested a hand on Hatch's shoulder, silencing him. "That's quite enough." He said, but Acaila was already on her way out.

She saw her tall white mare right away, tied up to a tree only a few feet from the door to what now seemed to be a cabin.

Acaila's fingers were shaking as she struggled to untie the horse. She was afraid the men would come out and stop her any second.

She silently rejoiced as she managed to untie Pearl.

It seemed that Pearl could sense the urge Acaila had to be as far away from the cabin as physically possible, seeing as she started trotting away the same second that Acaila had managed to swing her leg over the mare's back.

"Take us home, Pearl." Acaila demanded as they sat off. She glanced in through the window of what turned out to be a cabin for two, in the middle of nowhere.

Teqiyen was looking out at her.

And if she hadn't been in such a hurry, she might have noticed that he was crying.