Spellcasters

Chapter 6

On the other side of Ghost Island, Ravenesca felt the presence of new minds. Since as long as she could remember, she had been able to sense the thoughts of others. She gazed at the beauty of the cool white sands. The moon and stars reflected were beacons on the royal blue sea. Exquisite. Outsiders would bring nothing but chaos and destruction. She had worked hard to build a home, and she wasn't about to have anyone ruining it.

The dishevelled woman followed her senses. She waded through damp claws of tree branches and squelchy piles of leaves, eager to catch the invaders of her normally silent island. Her highly attuned senses led her all the way to the other side of the island, to a mirror image beach. A hoard of men bustled around a sparking fire. Ravenesca watched them with fascination for a while. Some were trying to fish. Others wrestled and threw sand into their opponent's eyes. A few were sat at the sidelines, fidgeting with unease. The fire dimmed until she could make out their shadows. A rustle from behind reawakened her.

"Why do you insist on following me, Blaise?"

A tall man with streaks of silver in his straggled black hair emerged from the trees.

"I had to make sure you're not up to something." He paused and looked back at the figures that shuddered by the flames light. "You let such insignificant creatures upset you? You never know, they could be our way off this island. I doubt Shaye's coming back for us."

Shaye had left weeks ago. She was the only person Ravenesca had ever met who had wings. Sometimes, she would stare at the those black, silken feathers and wish she had a pair. Anything to make herself more powerful than she already was.

"Leave?" said Ravenesca. "But we've made our home here."

"You mean, you have," said Blaise. "You know very well how much I hate this place."

"Keep your voice down."

"Why?" Before she could do anything, Blaise darted out across the sands. Ravenesca dove desperately. Grabbing his legs, they tumbled to the floor, throwing up a dust cloud that rained back upon them. Ravenesca kept him pressed into the ground.

"They could be witch hunters here to kill us," she growled. They both lifted their heads to the raised voices and sound of drawn swords. She released her grip and Blaise scrambled up, spitting sand.

"You're deluding yourself," he said. "How would the witch hunters escape Selandris? How would they even know what's going on? Don't you ever think? Those years in the abyss has addled your brain."

Ravenesca felt a shiver down her neck at the mention of that evil prison. Two and a half decades ago, that witch, Immortia, had fulfilled her promise and wiped Blaise and his followers from the face of the earth, casting them in an endless black labyrinth with no way out. Until, years later, the walls splintered and the captives smashed them down with their bare hands, falling into the light until they found themselves back on Earth. But there was still no way to return to their home of Selandris for it was magically shielded from all those residing outside of its boundaries.

Ravenesca and Blaise crouched low and peered through the luscious green branches.

"They don't even look like witch hunters." Blaise drove home the point. A small group of the newcomers walked right by where they were hidden but he still wouldn't shut up. "And they wouldn't kill us. Not without a trial."

"Get down!" said Ravenesca but the rustling they made getting back into position turned heads. She held her breath and tightened her grip on his arm.