Reyanna Pov

Reyanna bolted awake the moment she realized where she was. Staring, shocked, at the dark basalt brick wall next to her. She was on a bed in a small room, which had some bookshelves and a mirror. No windows. Why was she here? Last she remembered was pain, followed only by darkness. She sat up quickly, feeling panicked. That's when she noticed the cast covering her right arm from elbow to hand. Her good hand! Her sword hand! If she got caught outside after sunset, she was in big trouble. Not to mention no science for weeks. Magic, maybe. Morphing spells would still work. Thank goodness for that. She could still use her rings, of course. If she could just get out… but she was in enemy territory. At least, that's what Lalna told her. She still couldn't shake the feeling this war was all wrong. How had it started? What kind of peace plan injured Zoeya so badly? And what did Zoeya mean "Better than trapping them in a force field?" Reyanna had feeling she been lied to. But for the moment, with nothing else to do, she stood up and looked in the mirror. Her hair was messy, but she didn't care. With a shiver, she remembered looking into the mage's face. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about him was off.

She turned and examined the bookshelves to clear her head. Nothing really stood out to her- a few magic books she'd read before, an entire series on volcanoes for some reason, and a few on wolves and golems. There was a chest with all her stuff in it. Armour, sword, flying ring. That was not very wise of them. She sat back down on the bed, her head once again starting to throb. Why? Was her only thought. Why am I here? Why are there so many secrets being kept around here? You have secrets too. When will you ever tell them the truth? Whispered a voice in her head. Shut up. Reyanna told was startled out of her thoughts by a knock at the door. Reyanna considered her options. She was in no position to try and escape at the moment. Also, they could easily have knocked out Lalna after she passed out.

"Come in." she called. She might as well find out what they wanted. If her suspicions were correct, they might not be so bad after all. The door opened and Rythian walked in.

"Hello, Reyanna. Are you feeling better?" he asked. His tone was neutral. It took Reyanna a moment to realize that he shouldn't know her name.

"How do you know my name?" she said. Rythian raised an eyebrow at her. "So you don't remember me." He said. Reyanna was confused- he was right. Something about him was faintly familiar, but she had thought it was the colour of his eyes. She knew two people with eyes that colour. One was alive, but hidden. The other was dead. At least, as far as she knew. It had been so long, after all… she told herself to snap out of it.

"And why am I here, at Blackrock? Where's Lalna?" she added.

"Lalna's back at his castle. He wanted to take you with him, but he should have known better than to come and talk to us without armour. Though I noticed you had some, even if you weren't even on the ground. What are you doing with Lalna anyway?" he questioned.

"I'm his apprentice! And why are you keeping me here anyway?" she said, starting to get impatient with Rythian. She just wanted to be back at castle Duncan, away from all the fighting and secrets and hate. But she knew it wasn't going to be that easy, of course. For her, nothing would ever really be normal.

"I wanted to talk to you." Rythian's reply was short. "Reyanna, I'm a mage. I can tell you're very good at magic. As good as I was when I was your age. But I'm ten years older than you. You're sixteen, right?" Reyanna was freaking out a bit inside, but she forced herself to sound calm as she answered, "Yes."

"I thought so. But, what do you know about morphing spells?" Reyanna was glad she was already suppressing her emotions. If she hadn't been, she probably would have squeaked like a kitten.

"I know a bit about them. I mean, I can cast them." She said, getting nervous as Rythian drew closer to her secret.

"And did you know that if someone is more powerful you in magic, they can see right through the spell if they wish?" I didn't know that! Reyanna felt her blood run colder than a taiga biome. "I can tell you're very good at magic. As good as I was when I was your age. But I'm ten years older than you." Ten years more experience in magic, he meant. He knows! Oh, Notch, what do I do? Play it cool? But how does he know? And how does he know me? But if his eyes are purple too, why does he not hide them? All these thoughts ran through her head in a moment.

"I know you know what I am, Reyanna. I also know what you are. Why do you hide your eyes?"

"But how do you know me?" Reyanna returned to the former question, hoping for answers she actually wanted to hear. Rythian looked at her with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"You're smart, Reyanna. Think about it. You were six then, but I hoped you remember." Six. The dreaded number in Reyanna's life. Every always went wrong when a six was involved. Starting with two weeks after her sixth birthday.

Two weeks after her sixth birthday. Now she remembered him. She'd thought he was dead, or as good as, just like the rest of their family. But now she remembered.

Rythian was her brother.

Dun dunn daaahh! I must say, Anongirl, you're really smart! You guessed the main part of the plot after the first chapter! Of course, the appearance was a bit of a giveaway, but whatever. Please don't hate me for misleading you in the second chapter; I didn't want to spoil it for everyone else! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter; the story is far from over yet my friends!