It was a foolish idea, Murtagh knew that, but he had to find out who the cloaked figure was and why that person had bothered to save him. He had been waiting on the rooftop for most of the day, hidden from the other villagers view. Darkness was descending upon the town but still he refused to give up waiting on the stranger.

Just as he was about to give up for the night he spotted something near the outskirts of the village moving near the forest. He wasn't sure if it was the cloaked figure or not from such a distance but he decided to risk following just in case. He had to know why they had saved him, even if it meant a fight with a magician that he knew he could never win.

Weaving his way through the streets to the outskirts of the forest, Murtagh arrived quickly but out of breath. His eyes had not deceived him, it was the cloaked figure and it appeared to be waiting for him. He stopped to gain his breath and saw the figure move slowly into the forest as though beckoning him to follow. Deciding quickly to follow the figure, Murtagh drew his sword preparing for an attack and moved towards the forest following after the spot where the figure had been.

He couldn't see the figure once he entered the forest but felt as though he was being directed by some unseen force. A sense of unease and fear took hold of him but he carried on to where he felt he should be going until he found himself in the middle of a clearing in the woods.

He was alone, stood in the centre of the space but he felt like he was being watched. He knew he was the vulnerable one, standing in the open so he didn't try to skirt the edge of the clearing looking for the figure. Instead he looked around him and decided to address them.

"Why don't you show yourself? You brought me here," he said a little louder than he normally spoke so the figure could hear him. "Why did you save me?"

Murtagh startled but tried to hide it when the cloaked figure appeared from behind one of the trees. He could see nothing of the strangers face as the hood of the cloak had them well concealed in shadow. There was a long pause, as though the figure was still deciding whether to speak or not.

"I brought you here because you are making my job a little difficult for me. When I'm watching you and you're watching for me, both of us end up wasting our time really."

Murtagh took a step back in surprise. He hadn't considered that the figure might be a woman and so her voice shocked him. Recovering quickly he asked:

"Why would you want to watch me?"

"You are the son of Morzan, are you not?" her voice was slightly husky yet it had an element of danger to it and Murtagh thought he detected a hint of amusement in her reply.

Murtagh hesitated for an answer; it was obvious she knew exactly who he was but he denied it anyway.

He was cut off as the woman spoke again:

"You might want to point that sword in the other direction. A very pleasant group of soldiers are here looking for you, or not you Murtagh Morzansson. Your little friend has been speaking of magic tricks it seems."

Murtagh didn't believe the woman at first but after a moment he could hear the shouts and footsteps of a large group in the distance. He swore and turned to face the direction of the oncoming soldiers ready to fight.

As the first rush of men charged towards him, he was shocked to find the woman at his side with a blade in her own hands. He instantly thought she was going to attack him, but as he moved to distance himself from her she surprised him by charging at an oncoming soldier. As his wits returned he set about joining her in the fight. Each time he glanced towards the woman he noticed that she had killed three men for every one of his.

Follow me! We can't win this, there's too many of them and I don't think this is my time to die!

Murtagh startled at the voice that seemed to be coming from within his own head and almost lost his footing as he battled two of the soldiers. He recognised it as the woman's voice and debated whether or not he had actually heard anything until he saw her motion him to follow her. He debated staying and fighting himself but he knew the woman was right, they could never win this fight and so he set off following her as fast as he could.

It felt as though his arm was being ripped from his body as he kept running to escape the soldiers only to be pulled back in the other direction. It had been the woman pulling on his arm that had caused the pain he realised once his body changed direction and he slammed into her.

"Get down here and stay still," she whispered as she pulled him into a small slope in the forest beside a tree.

Murtagh thought she had gone mad, there was no way that the slope would hide them until he saw the soldiers continue to run past and he realised that she must be using some kind of magic to prevent them from being seen.

After a short while in which they hadn't seen any more soldiers pass them Murtagh made the choice to speak.

"I think they're gone now, we should move," he said as he attempted to get up but the woman pulled him back down again.

"Not yet, we should stay a while longer just to be certain."

Murtagh settled himself back into his spot, uncomfortable at the close proximity of the woman. He still hadn't decided if she really was helping him or luring him into some other trap. He began to wonder what it was she was hiding behind the hood, coming to the conclusion that she must be severely deformed in some way when she surprised him by lowering the hood to reveal what was a normal head of long dark brown hair. It fell across her face so from where Murtagh sat he still couldn't make out her features.

Well that rules out the two heads theory, Murtagh thought as he looked at her as closely as he dared without her noticing. She moved her head slightly then and he thought he saw the hint of a smile on her face. He relaxed slightly, comforted that the woman was at least not the monster he had been expecting to emerge from the hood. As though the woman detected the change in his mood, she turned as though to face him then before the movement was complete she quickly faced in front of her again.

"My name is Leora," she said, looking straight in front of her.

It took Murtagh a second to realise she was talking to him because of the direction in which she spoke. Unsure what he should say to the woman, he hesitated in his reply but decided to tell her what she already knew; that he was Murtagh. He then asked her what it was she wanted from him and who had sent her to spy on him. She didn't answer him immediately which irritated Murtagh but he chose not to repeat his question, despite how badly he wanted the answers. He was no longer watching the woman as he had given up hope of a reply, but every now and then he was sure he could see her stealing a glance at him, yet every time he tried to catch her she had already returned her gaze to avoid seeing him.

"I cannot tell you what you wish to hear, Murtagh, not yet. I have to be certain before that will happen. All I can offer you right now is a place to shelter from the soldiers. I know you do not trust me, even as I do not trust you, but I'm asking if you would take my offer?" she had once again startled him with her decision to speak.

Considering her offer for a moment before he made up his mind, he came to the conclusion that he had nowhere else to go and that he would accept the woman's offer. With a nod of his head, which he had no idea how the woman noticed as she was still facing away from him, he accepted the offer and she stood up and asked him to follow her.