It was well past nightfall before Ferris got some answers.  The group of prisoners worked together to make a warm stew from whatever they could find.  It paired well with the dry, stale bread they’d also managed to get their hands on, the first decent meal any of them had gotten since they’d been dragged to that place.  Whatever was left from the stores of foodstuffs was divided between them for the separate journeys ahead.

The skeleton didn’t take anything: Not because no one offered—a couple of brave souls did attempt to give him a share of the spoils—but because he kept himself away from them, eating some type of hard ration he’d packed along instead.  Well, it was fine since most of the captives were still too scared to interact with him more than that.  He didn’t come down from his post until late into the night, when most were fast asleep and their bonfire was little more than embers. 

Ferris and Ciara had found a place near some barrels to plant themselves until morning, the latter fast asleep in her sister’s lap.  Ferris had every intention of staying awake.  She looked up, but was otherwise unmoving as the skeleton made his way over to them.          

He stopped about a meter away and shot a brief glance at Ciara, as if hesitant to speak in front of the little girl.  Well, if this was about her magic, Ferris was at least grateful that he didn’t seem to want to give her sister any grim details.  She stroked Ciara’s hair as the child moaned dreamlessly into her thigh, her gaze never leaving the monster. 

Alright, hero-boy, Ferris silently mocked him in her head, let’s hear you out.  If he wanted them dead, then they’d be dead already: She could concede to that much.  For the time being, they were just talking.  It wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle.  

Before addressing the main topic, the skeleton examined her quietly, “You’re not afraid of me.”

“Not really,” came the curt reply, “But that doesn't mean I trust you. If you already knew who I was, then why did you bother asking back there?”

“I didn’t know: You were just a little too confident.  I came here looking for a crimson mage, a seer, and anyone who carries themselves the way you do either has to be incredibly stupid or overly prepared,” he glowered, “You revealed yourself.”

She glared at him in turn, but couldn’t come up with a good enough quip to snap back with.  She pursed her lips and asked the same question from earlier, “What do you want from me?  How do you even know who I am?”

“I know who you are because you’ve apparently been warping time enough to alert every other crimson mage across the Two Kingdoms.”

Her eyes widened.  He was so direct about the matter that Ferris wanted to think he was lying.   As far as she knew, there wasn’t a magic like hers.  For humans, each type came with specific abilities.  Green magic could be used to heal others or create barriers.  Purple magic could be used to make a potent poison or create traps.  Crimson magic was unique in that it was a jack-of-all-trades on top of giving them premonitions of the past or future.  If that’s what she was doing though when she died, warping time, then the idea that a seer might be able to track her actions did make some sense.

For a second, the assurance she felt in the secret nature of her power wavered.  She felt herself go tense.  No… She’d run into other crimson mages a couple times before and had escaped them using her ability just as easily as anyone else.  They forgot about her just like everyone else.  Besides, aside from saving herself, what could she have possibly done to change time enough to get anyone’s attention?

However, the skeleton quietly continued his explanation as if he could read her exact train of thought, “When you die, it’s not just you that goes back: You drag everything else with you.  Some people get déjà vu, but a talented seer can figure it out sooner or later.  Ours did.  Others will come after you too. I’m here to bring you to Arnaud’s before that happens.”

Ferris scoffed.  No matter how pretty he made it sound, his intentions really weren’t that far off from the kidnappers he’d plowed through.  He’d come after her for her magic.  That wasn’t surprising… It took her mind a bit longer to grapple with how severe the situation had become though—from just being a random kid on the street with a little potential to a serious target. That is, if he was telling the truth. 

Mentally scrambling with this new information and the questions that came with it, she pressed back, “So, they sent a boy to come after me?”

His frown deepened and he gave her the most ridiculous answer she'd ever heard, “I’m fourteen.”

“And you think that makes you a man?”

“You’re younger than I am.”

“By two years, but I'm not pretending to be an adult.”

Her light taunts equally baffled and irritated him.  His mouth twisted into a sneer, and he fought to control his voice as he grew more impatient, “Do you think this is a joke? Look where we are.  Even with your ability, do you really think you can hide forever?  You’re better off working with a guild.”

The girl crossed her arms over her chest, “I think you’re the joke.  You’re not here to help me; You want me to think there’s no other choice.”

“That’s because I’m not giving you one.  I have my mission and that’s to bring you back with me.”

“And I have my sister! She's my mission and I'm not going anywhere.”

The skeleton’s eyes pierced through the dark like an angry beast's.  Little did Ferris know that her eyes had begun to do the same—blazing with a red ferocity that dared for him challenge her.  It was probably the most distinct trait of any magic user, human or monster, when they drew their power at its strongest or their feelings began to boil over. 

It warned the skeleton to be a little more careful with his words.  “Take her with you then,” he sighed, “but don’t be an idiot.  I’m not going to act like I care about either of you, but I’m not lying when I say your best place is with us.” He knelt down to match Ferris at eye-level. “Think about it: If I wasn’t on your side, would I have gone to the extra effort of breaking you and everyone else out of here?  I could’ve just paid those hunters to hand you over.”

Her mouth twisted into a deep frown. There was no way she’d believe a point that bad.  He could only manage that if the price he offered was more than the price of their initial employer's.  And if he had done that, then the guesswork it took to find her would’ve been all the harder for him.  Rather than call him out on it though, she asked, “And what does the guild get out of this?”

“Besides another member?  They get to maintain their authority over temporal magic.  The last mage who had your ability, the one who figured out who you are, is also one of us.”

“Had...?”  That didn’t bode well with her.  Ferris didn’t know how she got her unique power in the first place, much less how to lose it.  And what if this other mage thought she has taken something that belonged to them?

“It’s the nature of your type: All crimson mages can see potential futures, but only one can change the future like you can.”  He let the news sink in, apparently taking pride in finding something she couldn’t argue against, “Like it or not, three days or thirty years from now, you’ll pass that power along to someone else too, and what’ll you do then?  You’ll be back to being just another easy target for mage hunters.”

As much as she hated it, Ferris really couldn’t counter that.  She usually only thought far enough ahead to keep something in her stomach and anyone who came after her off of her tail.  To her, survival meant knowing how to change her plans in an instant, not believe in anything long-term. 

The skeleton rose back to his feet, ended their conversation there to let her stew on the issue, “We set out in the morning.  I hope getting some sleep will make you a little more rational by then.”