This is an unedited first draft, written daily for word count purposes. PLEASE don't edit. That will come later :) Thanks! Arien is an Ash Warrior, trained from youth to watch over and protect the magi locked inside hidden monasteries. It is their job to keep magic users safe not only for their own good, but everyone else's as well. Arien suspects a plot is brewing among the magi and no one knows what to do when the monastery explodes, sending dangerous magic ushers unleashed into the world. Stumbling out of the rumble, she grabs Garthes, the man she believes is the rebel leader, with plans of hauling his behind to the closest monastery, not to mention anyone else she finds along the way. Garthes is charismatic, charming, and drives Arien up the wall. If she has to drag him down the road bound and gagged, she will. Unfortunately, things are far more complicated than either realizes outside the monastery walls.