It was a second, long carriage ride back to their home village. Just North-East of the capital, it was sort of on their way. The entire bumpy ride, Myra couldn’t calm her beating heart, or the way her blood tingled through her entire body.

When they touched familiar soil, Dacien was quick to grab supplies while Myra followed Magnolia towards the lady’s family home. The guard followed feet behind, distant enough that Myra felt somewhat at ease.

As at ease as one could feel walking down the streets of the village no one wanted her at. Every person's stare was poisoning.

They turned down familiar streets Myra had paced down many times, marched past the pub Myra would often take a table for herself in, and cut through tight alleys beside homes, and shops Myra could picture so clearly in her mind. Comforting and familiar, until it wasn’t.

Myra found her feet freezing beneath her when they emerged from one alley, spilling out onto her street. Despite her gaze locked upon the horizon ahead, the purple door to her own shop haunted her peripheral. She had to remind herself to take breaths.

“Myra?” Magnolia stopped a few paces in front. She turned from Myra back to the path they were headed down, a sigh leaving her chest. Carefully, she drew near and took Myra’s arm in her own, shared a smile that Myra found pitiful. “I’m so sorry, dear. It shouldn’t have ended up like this.”

Magna’s words were useless, sure, but Myra appreciated the sentiment. She placed her hand atop Magna’s, took her warmth in through her fingertips.

“Just to remind you both, we do not have all day. The quicker we get on the road, the better.” The guard grumbled from the side of them, clearly upset he had caught up.

Myra rolled her eyes and, despite her nausea, marched on past her crooked shop door and her still-splintered glass window.

Soon, Magnolia’s warming family home was in sight.

“I will give you a book I have on the matter, it will tell you to head straight for the Freya River.” Magna said, reaching for her door, “but Ruby knows a lot about it too. Don’t let her young age close your mind about her. I trust she’ll be okay on this journey. And..” She stopped in the doorway, slowly rose her head to meet Myra, “It may be the only chance she has to achieve a normal life.”

Myra watched her walk inside, confusion encasing the pit in her stomach. Could Magnolia’s own granddaughter…

The guard had made it to the doorstep, inches away from Myra. He was taller than Myra, but not as towering as Dacien. Still, he felt looming, uneasy. Myra continued to follow Magna.

“Ruby!” Magna sang out while she shuffled through books on a shelf in the front room.

Footsteps came pattering down the small staircase. 

“Grandma! Where have you been?! We’ve all been so–” A girl no older than 12 froze in place at the bottom of the steps. Her hair bounced to a stop, dark coils framed her face. Her eyes were big and stretched even wider when they passed from Myra to the guard behind her.

“Sunny, I missed you so much!” Magna took her in a tight hug, only a head-size taller than the girl. “There’s something very important you have to do.” She said softly, releasing her love and carefully showing off the book she had grabbed.

Ruby pursed her lips, worried eyes darting all over. “I…I’ll be going North?”

Magna nodded.

Myra felt the guard shuffle beside her, but she couldn’t bring herself to look his way. He was not going to like this.

“You’ll be in safe hands, Ruby, trust me. This is Myra.”

“The witch?” Ruby asked hesitantly. 

Magna shook her head. “She’s just like you. She’s visiting the North for the same reason as you. But you know more about it. Can I trust you to help her out, too?”

Ruby’s anxiety was so clear that she could be mistaken for prey. But she nodded, slowly. 

“You want me to escort a child on this journey?” The guard spoke up, almost startling Ruby with his gruff voice.

Myra finally turned to face him. “She will be my responsibility.” She tried.

“She won’t slow you down one bit.” Magna confidently added.

The guard’s cold stare ran through all of them. He was unreadable, and that certainly made him scarier. “Of course, she will be your responsibility. Even if she’s on the brink of death and I’m the only one around to save her, I will not. I am escorting you and no one else. ” He spoke with a tone completely unremarkable.

No feelings. It made Myra shiver.

She took an almost confused glance back to Magna, who almost shrugged. When Myra’s eyes crawled back to the eerie red of the guard’s, he saved her the words, “I don’t care who follows.”

All at once, the situation seemed to come crashing down upon Myra’s shoulders. Magnolia was certainly desperate to throw her granddaughter into this journey, but Myra saw now that they’d be completely alone for it. Their only sense of safety was not there for them. She knew this could be a horribly fatal idea.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Myra asked her friend and her granddaughter, her voice reflecting the anxiety crashing through her insides.

They shared a look that Myra couldn’t decipher. If anything, it looked like desperation. Magnolia nodded, and Ruby said, “Completely. I’ll gather my things.”