Absentmindedly chewing a potato, the teenage girl flipped through the pages of a book. A black bow tied neatly around her golden hair, it matched the dark locks that inexplicably grew near her bangs.
"Still no answer on the weird black hair, but this has a helpful chapter on illusions."
"You're the one who cares about the hair, Raven, not me... What's for dinner?"
"Potato soup." As her brother groaned a protestful "AGAIN?", she rolled her eyes. "Oh hush. If you're so upset then go hunt us a rabbit."
"Fine, give me the body then."
"Uh-uh. I'm busy."
"Figures."
She traced the diagram with her finger, murmuring the incantation under her breath. If she combined this with the duplication spell, swap that rune for a light-based one... Lance sometimes remarked that one look at these dusty old tomes put him to sleep.
Books were brought to the hideaway by a silver-haired boy named Phillip, and rare herbs were traded with Michael for city foods like bread. Most people dare not brave the forests, so plants with magical properties found within called for high prices... But it's not like they could go back to the capital to sell them themselves. Anything Raven didn't need for her spells was pretty much useless, as far as the two were concerned.
The two had set their sights on a distant fortress, Colony C. A sea-faring colony, it was the furthest human settlement from the Holy City. The journey there was treacherous, and the tiny scraps of news the two locations managed to exchange was month's old, at least. Absolutely perfect for the two of them.
Michael and Phillip were great, but really their only human contact outside of each other. How many years now, living in secrecy in some abandoned temple--Mere miles from the Church that despised them.
Gently closing the pages of her book, Raven slotted it back into its place on the shelf. She looked around at the worn red blanket fashioned into a hammock, the slashed-up training dummies and the rickety old broom... As much as she hated this room sometimes, she'd miss it.
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