In the four years I’ve been on the road, I’ve never felt this uneasy. We’ve been walking for days, trying to reach the citadel, and the closer we get, the angrier everyone seems to be.
I think it all started when I asked Jessica why we didn’t just start by going to the Citadel. Everyone knew that Mildred Stonebridge was planning something, everyone knew the only way to stop her was to go to the citadel and show her what’s what. When I mentioned this to her, she just said, “You can’t defeat her. Even if you prove she can’t beat you, she’ll never let you win. She won’t admit defeat, she’ll keep fighting until you either kill her or decide it’s easier to just give up. Once she invited an assassin over and the two got into a fight. He injured her badly, but she kept fighting until he agreed to do what she wanted. It doesn’t matter that we’re stronger than her. We’ll never win.”
I think she’s crazy. Everyone has a moment where they give in, and if you keep pushing, you’ll go past it eventually. But the closer we get to the citadel, the more nervous she seems to be. We keep asking her for tips, and she’ll either say nothing or say, “I don’t know.”
We’re about a day away from reaching the Citadel, and I can’t stop this horrible feeling that we’re being watched by someone. I don’t know who would have a scrying orb this far away from anywhere, or know why they’d be using it on us, but I’ve been on the run long enough to know one when it’s being used on me.
Is Mildred Stonebridge watching us? Does she know that we’re coming? Is she trying to stop us? Why does Jessica seem so afraid of her?
It’s late now. This orb spell Jessica uses keeps the rain off but doesn’t keep out the noise. I’ve slept outside to long to be afraid of the dark. The stars are beautiful tonight. I remember hearing that back in the days when mages ruled Altra some would look into the sky to see the future. If they were looking into the sky, would they see us succeeding?
“Well, well, well, Someone’s up past their bedtime.”
Okay, who is talking to me? I look around to see that everyone else is asleep. “There’s no point in looking, you won’t see me.”
I stand up suddenly and shout, “Who are you?”
“Zac?”
I turn to see Jessica waking up. “Sorry, I thought I heard someone talking.”
“This close to the citadel, you probably did. Mages try to keep in practice with illusion spells of all sorts.”
“Why would they want to talk to me though?”
“If I had to guess they’ve been watching us ever since we entered the citadel’s zone of influence. They don’t get many visitors.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I ask.
“They’re mages. I don’t know why you thought they wouldn’t be watching us.”
I guess she’s right. I don’t know what mages would normally do. They aren’t very common anymore. “Do you think Mrs. Stonebridge is watching us?” I ask.
“Yes. Even if she’s asleep, she’ll have someone watching our behavior.”
“Do you think she’ll attack us?”
“Once she knows what we want, she’ll go all out. But we have a while to go until then.”
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