When Helewis Bronsky woke up, he found Casey Caster standing in front of him.

"Ah, good, you're awake."

Helewis tried to reply, but found that he was physically unable to move his mouth. When he tried to get to his feet, he realized his wrists were bound by some invisible string, that only became visible when he tried to move, at which point it glowed red, and stung him.

He glared at the young wizard, wishing he could ask a few questions. In the meantime, he glanced around at his surroundings. He was in a sort of camp, with two other young women sitting nearby, one of which was his target, Avina. The other girl was familiar only as the useless brunette who had originally stood in his way. Both watched him carefully.

"So, Bronsky," Casey said. "We've got some questions for you."

Helewis continued to glare, trying to convey to Casey that he couldn't speak.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot." Casey waved his wand and said some spell under his breath. Helewis found he was now able to talk.

"What the vile sackan is the meaning of this, Caster?" He demanded. "I thought we had... a truce?"

"It wasn't me who knocked you out," Casey said apologetically. "That was my apprentice, Wilky, over here."

Wilky waved. "Sorry about that." She didn't look too sorry, considering she was grinning.

Helewis rolled his eyes. "Whatever. What's with the restraints?" he tugged at the invisible bindings again, wincing as they burned his skin.

"Just wanted to make sure you wouldn't follow us," Casey said. "And we wanted to ask you about a few things."

Helewis rolled his eyes. "What did you do with my daggers?"

"I've got them. Just had to confiscate them temporarily."

"You do plan to give them back, right?"

"Of course. Once I know I can trust you. Now, Helewis," Casey began, but Thea interrupted him.

"Wilky, why don't you go get some firewood?"

"But it's still light out," Wilky protested, confused. "Why do we need firewood?"

"We'll need it tonight," Thea sighed, annoyed.

"Oh. Okay!" Wilky said brightly, leaving the camp to go search for firewood. She was annoyed at being excluded from the interrogation, but by this point, understood that Thea had many secrets she wasn't willing to reveal.

"Thea, why couldn't we have let her stay?" Casey asked. "She'll figure it all out sooner or later."

"It's none of her business," Thea muttered, watching Wilky until she was out of earshot. "So, Draegon sent you to find me?"

"I'm not telling you shrik, missy."

Casey jabbed his wand into Helewis's throat, narrowing his eyes. "Tell her what she wants to know."

Helewis scowled right back. "Make me."

Casey's lip twisted in a little smirk that made Helewis squirm. "Is that a challenge, Bronsky?"

"It is." Helewis shifted his gaze from Casey to Thea and wriggled, sitting up as straight as he could. "Do your worst."

Casey laughed. "I don't need to! Wilk."

Helewis blinked. "Was that supposed to-"

Casey lowered his wand. "Go ahead, Thea." he yawned.

Thea nodded slowly. "Okay... so, Draegon. He sent you?"

"That's right." Helewis pressed his lips together, eyes widening. Clearly, he'd underestimated the young wizard- who was now smirking at him in an infuriating (yet somehow adorable) way.

"How did you know where I was?" Thea pressed on.

"Draegon gave me a magic ring to help me find you. It's sort of like a compass, but it points to a person or other object instead of north. Pretty handy."

"Where is Draegon now?" Thea went on nervously.

Helewis shrugged. "Could be anywhere."

"And why didn't he come after me himself?"

Again, Helewis shrugged. "Maybe he wanted to show off. That's the kind of thing Draegon Rinn would do. He's dramatic like that, and hiring an infamous mercenary to capture you sure has some flair to it."

"Well, he made a mistake there," Casey pointed out. "Because his world famous mercenary was no match for an occasionally mentioned wizard's apprentice!"

Helewis frowned. "I wasn't trying too hard, you know, or you'd all be dead and I'd have taken young Avina here captive."

"I know. I'm curious as to why you weren't trying."

"I just wasn't feeling up to it," Helewis said, glaring at Casey.

"Oh really," Casey challenged. "Tell the truth, now."

"I got distracted," Helewis added, shifting uncomfortably.  "Give me a break."

"Me, give Helewis Bronsky a break?" Casey asked, smirking. "What were you distracted by, that's the real question."

Helewis sputtered incomprehensibly, clearly trying to resist the truth spell.

Thea came to his rescue. "Casey, what's going on here?"

"Nothing," Helewis and Casey spoke at the exact same time. Thea blinked in general confusion.

"You two are acting really weird. You're supposed to be enemies!"

"And I have to say honestly," Casey said, watching Helewis carefully. "I'm awfully glad we're not."

Helewis was speechless.

The moment- if it could be called that- was ruined by a nearby scream.

"Wilky!" Thea exclaimed, dashing off in the direction Wilky had headed just a few minutes ago. She instantly regretted sending Wilky off into the forest alone to collect firewood they didn't need. With the trouble that girl got herself into, it would've been better to just let her in on what was going on.

She found Wilky standing by a dark cave, a jumble of sticks and small branches at her feet. As soon as she saw Thea, she moved to hide behind her.

"There was a thing, it was big and green and its eyes glowed yellow and I think it was a goblin and it came out and saw me and ran back in and it had claws and it looked evil and I know goblins aren't supposed to be real but it was a goblin!"

"Goblins aren't real." Thea said, staring into the cave. "It must've been something else."

"It was scary," Wilky muttered, clutching Thea's cloak.

"Let's go," Thea said, attempting to pry her off. "And forget the firewood. We can find more later."

"Ok," Wilky said. "You know, you may be moody and everything, but I'm really glad you decided to help me. I know you didn't want to at first, and maybe you still don't. But thanks anyway. You're so brave and good at fighting and I really appreciate it."

Thea felt a pang of guilt. Had Wilky not noticed that she could barely hold a sword? She didn't deserve this thanks. Sure, Wilky was a pain sometimes, but other times, she was... well, she was Wilky. She was annoyingly optimistic, and practiced magic at the worst times, but she was also persistent and fearless. And then there was that strange element to her, that Thea couldn't quite figure out. It was, of course, the fact that she believed everything, and Thea had a vague grasp on this concept already. 

"Are you okay?" Wilky asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," Thea replied.

"Oh, ok, good." Wilky still wasn't satisfied, however. "Thea... do you ever miss your family? Back in Cordia?"

"Back in- oh, yeah. Yes, sometimes."

"Did you have any siblings?"

"A few."

"I had five. Two young brothers, and three sisters, one older, and two younger. Unfortunately..." Wilky stared down at the ground. "They were all kidnapped and as far as I know, are still slaves in Cordia... "

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"What happened to your family? Did you have slaves?"

Thea sighed. She opened her mouth, about to say something- what, she wasn't quite sure- before stopping herself. Why was she willing to tell Wilky anything? Wilky didn't deserve to know. Wilky was a stranger, and an unwanted parasite on this journey.

And yet...

"They're still back in... in Cordia."

"You ran away?"

"I wasn't happy there."

"Why not? Were you poor?"

"No, not really... it's complicated."

"It's always complicated with you."

"What?"

"You're all secretive and stuff. And you didn't want me to hear what you were asking Helewis. And you're really grumpy all the time. There's gotta be a reason for that, right?"

Thea shrugged. "I... I don't know."

Wilky fell silent, realizing that Thea wasn't planning to tell her anything else.

"So.. do you think you could teach me some self defense sometime? I'd really like to learn how to use a sword, like you do!"

"Uh... maybe."

"Pleeeeeease?"

"Later," Thea finally promised, without a clue as to why she was promising this or how she would fulfill said promise.

"Maybe you could teach me more Kownian too," Wilky said hopefully. "Gillod?"

*Please?

"We'll see," Thea sighed, the smallest of smiles creeping onto her face. "Better work on your pronunciation."

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