Emily’s eyes slowly fluttered open. She felt rested, but also felt compelled to stay in bed. She was very comfortable, as if the covers were holding her close. Wait, is this...? “Luce-” she cut her word short as her eyes peeked up to see Lucelle was fast asleep. Emily had found herself resting her head right over the top of Lucelle’s chest. She was wrapped in close by her long, narrow arms. Her own arm had reached over her waist to embrace her back. When did this happen? What happened last night?

    Lucelle’s smooth, quiet groaning broke more of the silence. She still slept but appeared to be quite the light sleeper. Do you not trust to be safe in your sleep, Lucy? Emily smirked with the thought of scaring Lucelle awake, but decided that it would be better suited for a different time. Maybe she had some kind of trauma that would trigger if she woke up, or maybe she got angry if she was abruptly woken up. So, Emily stayed put and nestled her head into Lucelle’s body. Warm... and so soft. I wish I could stay like this forever. The morning sun peeked in through the windows, shining golden light down on the two of them. This is wonderful, she thought.

    Lucelle groaned again, then pulled Emily in tighter before repositioning onto her right shoulder, now fully facing her. She reached her free left hand over which found its way to Emily’s lower back. Emily tensed up and showed a frightened look. “L-Lucelle, please...” her voice was tiny and a bit broken. The hand pressed into her and started sliding down more as Lucelle let out a happy sigh, still appearing to be asleep. “Lucelle,” Emily pleaded, ”don’t do that...” The hand moved over her curve and promptly stopped. At this point, Emily was too frozen from fright to move. Her breaths had quickened and she was no longer able to make words. It was like she was back there- back at the Panther.

    Lucelle’s eyes slowly slid open a few minutes after she changed positions. She remembered why she was in the bed, but was greeted with Emily’s tear-stained face staring at her. “Is something wrong?” She whispered. She merely nodded her head and mouthed the word “hand.” Lucelle became aware of what she had been doing and rapidly pulled back. Her movements were ungraceful and she ended up falling back and off the bed, much to her discomfort. She got up and immediately bowed on one knee to Emily, as if apologetically. “I’m so, so, so sorry, Lady Everlock. It will not happen again, you have my word.” She kept her head bowed, waiting for some kind of repercussion.

    Emily slowly regained her composure, adjusted her clothing, and got into a sitting position before wiping her eyes off. “It’s... it’s alright. I, uh... I understand.”

This made Lucelle let out a quiet sigh of relief. She looked up, but stayed on one knee. “Is there anything I can do for you, Emily? Anything at all?”

“Please, erm... Please let me be alone for a few minutes. Maybe, uh, something to eat? I’m very hungry...”

Lucelle stood from her position and nodded. “Yes, Lady Everlock, right away.” She turned on her heels and properly glided out of the room, making sure to close the door behind.

Emily leaned her head back on the wall and sighed. What was that? Did she mean to do that? If she didn’t... did she like it? Her thoughts circled her mind, but they all seemed to only create more thoughts and questions. Why did she become frozen like that? She never had a problem with physical contact before, especially at the Panther. Why was Lucelle in the bed with her? A little weird judging by how she acted after she woke up. Also... why did she feel like she just had the greatest night’s sleep of her life?

“Lady Everlock,” Caviere’s voice rang through the door, despite being muffled. “We will set out soon.”

“Uh, alright!” Emily called back. She wasn’t exactly feeling ready to get going, but she knew she couldn’t get away with standing idly by. She got up, readjusted her clothing, and freshened herself up. After feeling as prepared as she could be, she exited the room to the main room of the cabin. Lucelle and Caviere were speaking near the door.

Lucelle’s voice was a bit hushed, but was still able to be heard. “Doctor Myracelle’s medications should be working. You aren’t normally like this.”

Caviere’s voice was as confident and loud as it had been since the night before. “I’m adapting, Lucy. All part of a plan, I assure you.”

“I don’t like this at all. I-I can hel-”

“Your help is not needed. I will make it, you can trust in that.” Caviere turned to the left. “Ah, the Lady. Are you ready to set out?”

Emily nodded, keeping her fingers interlocked at her lap. “I’m ready,” she said sheepishly.

Caviere turned to the door and pushed through it quickly. “Let’s move, ladies.” Lucelle watched him go, then glanced back at Emily before following. She had been crying. Probably worried about him, Emily thought. She seems to really be attached. Not many Psionics users would willingly help with their magic. It can become addictive and... Mother told me about the mage slaves. She didn’t think Caviere would be like one of the mage slaveholders she had heard about, however. He seemed nice enough, at least.

The morning sun was shining and the cool air bit at Emily’s skin. She didn’t feel cold, yet, but wasn’t exactly warm, either. There were plenty sounds of the forest and Emily could name many of them based off what she was taught. Her mother would show her vivid experiences of what it is like to travel out in the wilderness. Apparently, Elektra was an avid explorer and thus had many memories to share. The forest was much like the memories. The birds sang, the leaves and bushes rustled, and the canopy covered parts of the sun rays to make it look like a huge building. How long have we been walking? She thought, not realizing that her mind had wandered off.

The area forest eventually dropped into a clearing. Within the small valley, a small creek had cut its way through the ground. Caviere stopped, “We’re going to set up here. Lady Everlock, standby over there,” he pointed to the left nearby a large tree. Emily nodded and went over, then sat down against the trunk of the oak. She knew she just had to be bait, but she was afraid. She watched Caviere drop a large case that he had brought with him. He opened it and took out pieces of what looked like a crossbow. After assembling it, he grabbed the case and walked off to the other side of the clearing into the bushes.

Lucelle looked in Emily’s direction. A moment later, her voice was ringing in Emily’s head, another spell from the school of Psionics. She was an expert, it seemed. “Emily, you are going to sit and wait. Make it look like you’ve been resting here or something.” Her voice stopped, then resumed a moment later. “Don’t worry, you’ll be safe with us. I promise.” She turned and moved to a third point on the edge of the clearing, so Caviere was across from Emily and Lucelle was now at the right.

Sit and wait, Emily thought. Right, I can do this. It’s super easy. She looked down at the grass. She centered her mind and focused. Casting a small concentration spell, she began to see the finer details of each blade. On one blade, a ladybug perched with its wings closed in. It’s tiny feet and eyes moved very slowly, but everything else seemed to stay still. In a flash of time, it moved from one blade to another, then another. Emily watched, as if in slow motion, as the ladybug pushed out its wings, flew, then perched at another blade with precision accuracy and a graceful landing. No wonder you’re called “lady,” huh? The ladybug suddenly zipped away from the area, now gone. Emily frowned, upset that the little, single sign of life in this small area was now gone.

Time etched on. Emily began to play with her mind by creating new images in front of her. She saw tiny trolls battling for the top spot on a flower. She saw drakes fly around, scorching the grass below them like huge buildings being attacked. She saw her mother sitting in the grass across from her. As her extensive magic usage rolled along, so did a lingering feeling of sleep. It creeped up on her like prey in the night. It, along with the magic, made her not realize that she couldn’t hear anything anymore.

Words popped into Emily’s head, like she had suddenly thought of them: Run, Emily! She abruptly lifted her head and her eyes flew open, then her heart dropped. In front of her, a silver mask with black holes for eyes stared back. Red lines ran down the eyes like tears of blood and frayed brown hair, reddish in the sunlight, peeked around the sides. Emily screamed and began to scramble to her feet. She heard nothing as she screamed and couldn’t hear the words of the woman, the Tracker. The Tracker grabbed at her, but only got hold of Emily’s right arm. Emily struggled, but the woman was strong, very strong.

“Ergh... Get... off!” Emily sent a blast of energy towards the Tracker, which blew it to the ground. It lost the grasp, but got back up hastily. Emily began to hear again, but she felt what came next first. Vibrations shook the ground to her right, directly past the tree she sat at. She was unable to see what was coming, but the sounds accompanying it didn’t bode well at all. Emily looked back at the Tracker, who was now rushing towards her. It leaped and tackled her to the ground. Its cold, long-fingered hands held her wrists against the ground and its fragile-looking body weighed her down like an anchor. “Get off of me...” Emily pleaded, but it was no use.

She looked to her right, now able to see what was following the Tracker. It was a normal-looking person, but very tall and lanky. It held a chain that was attached to a cage slung over its shoulder. The cage smashed against the ground with each step, each footfall shaking the ground even more the closer it got. Emily thrashed around, not ready for it to get to her. It was getting closer and closer, now staring right at her with cold, soulless eyes.

“Ey, Loidy! Eat lead!” Caviere’s voice rang out from the left with a boyish, accented tone. The Tracker’s head turned and was instantly met with a bolt smashing against the silver, which cracked the mask. The Tracker pulled their hands to their face and fell off of Emily, leaving her to be free to run off towards Caviere. A thunderous *SMASH* took her by surprise and she fell to the ground. She turned over to watch the large figure, which she would now know as the Trapper, as it had dropped the cage and was now forming a new chain. Caviere was loading a new bolt as Emily’s leg was instantaneously ensnared by the new chain. It had not been there one second, and was there the next. What is this magic?

Emily screamed and dug at the dirt as she began to be pulled away. The Trapper pulled with intense strength and the Tracker began to regain her composure, now ready to retaliate against Caviere’s next attack. Caviere lifted the crossbow and fired directly at the Trapper. The bolt, like magic, slowed to a stop and then detonated mid-air. It was an incendiary bolt and lit up the grass around the area. Emily slid and rolled so as not to catch on fire, but was still being pulled by her ankle. “Caviere, help me!” She called out.

In the midst of the battle, Emily almost didn’t notice that she was suddenly let go. The chain around her ankle was now a few feet away. She looked up at the Trapper, about ten or twenty feet ahead, that was looking down in confusion as well. “Look away,” the words popped into Emily’s mind in Lucelle’s voice. By instinct, she dropped her head down and closed her eyes. She heard the sound of an object spiraling through the air, the sound of flesh ripping, and the painful cries of a male creature, probably the Trapper.

“No!” The short and willowy voice of the Tracker called out. It wasn’t a full shout, but like a seething cry. Emily heard frantic footsteps through the grass but kept still on the ground. Before she was going to look again, she was being pulled up with Caviere’s voice saying, “Yer ol’roight, missy, I gatchya.” She was let go when she got to her feet and looked around. The flames, designed to burn quickly and then dissipate, were dying embers in the blackened grass. The Trapper was on the ground with the Tracker looking down on him. The Tracker looked back, now showing that her mask had halfway fallen off. Under, Emily saw evil red eyes glaring at her. The woman’s mouth was in a seemingly permanent scowl and she had anger flowing in her face. She spoke again, still quiet and seething. “You will pay for this- all of you, you dirty traitors.”

“Roight, roight,” Caviere’s voice was accompanied by the *fwip* of his crossbow, the *thock* of the bolt hitting its target, and the Tracker’s cries in pain. He shot her in the thigh, leaving her to fall onto the ground. “Oi, vey. This’ll be a roight messy cleanup.” Emily watched the scene with fear in her eyes before Lucelle walked over to her.

“You don’t need to see this, Emily. He’ll bring her back to the cabin, we can go now.” Lucelle was quiet and a bit shy, which was unlike her recent behavior. Emily, who had ignored Lucelle, began walking forward. She passed the whimpering Tracker and kneeled at the Trapper. With her eyes closed, she reached and placed her hands on its body.

“E’s real dun fer, missy. A bit o’ touchin’ won’t heal ‘im,” Caviere called out as he collapsed the crossbow and stowed it into the case. He walked over to the Tracker and dropped a boot down on her leg. She cried in pain all through him grabbing the bolt and ripping it out. It came back out clean, revealing a smooth, narrow precision point. Caviere wiped it clean on his pants and put it into the case as well. Lucelle merely watched Emily as she worked her magic.

Emily’s mind had traveled far from the living world. It was in a darker place now: the Voidwalker’s Realm. This place, normally referred to as the Void, was the source of her dark magical power. It gifted her with many abilities, including what she was doing now. She opened her eyes to see the Trapper’s body burning away. A thin black flame ate away at the Trapper, his blood, and his cage and chain. Anything directly connected to the Trapper had disappeared in the wispy black flame. Once it had finished, the flame flickered away as quickly as it arrived to now show a clean forest floor. No blood was in sight, save for the Tracker’s, who had now been placed over Caviere’s shoulder with a bandaged wound. She was pale and looked a bit astonished by what Emily had done. This witch, the girl thought, is no doubt the daughter of Elektra Everlock.