April waved goodbye to them as they rode away from Herbal Grace. "I'll take care of your koi, Stella. It was good to meet you." She yelled after them as they rode off on Blitzen. Hunter raised a hand in farewell as well before clicking, Blitzen speeding up into a gallop toward the docks to ride the ferry.
A few days passed, their journey quiet and pleasant as they rode Blitzen across the fields on their way to The Keep. Stella looked up in surprise at the strange sounds in the distance, the roar of creatures mixing with the small hum of human civilization.
"We're close- but I don't think we should go to the main keep just yet. I need to check in with the battle magi and tell them the sorcerer wasn't there." Hunter explained as they turned right, Blitzen's hooves clomping on a stone path.
Soon Stella heard shouts from around her, the sound of wood hitting wood and yells of anger filling the air.
"What's going on?" She asked, shrinking back against Hunter uneasily.
"It's just people sparring, nothing to be worried about. That's how younger magi practice with weapons- they use wooden ones first, and once they're good with those they move onto real ones. It's safer that way." Hunter explained as Blitzen jumped up stairs, snorting when he stopped at the top.
"Hey, you're back!" Hunter yelled from a distance, confusing Stella.
"Yeah, sorry it took so long." Hunter said from beside her, making Stella shake her head in confusion.
Someone walked toward them, stopping in front of them and chuckling.
"It's unlike you to pick up women, Hunter. Who's the chick?" Hunter's voice said, but it sounded slightly different- almost as if he had been yelling too much and his voice was raspy.
"Shut up." Hunter said from beside her., sounding embarrassed. "Her name's Stella- and I did not 'pick her up'. At least not in the sense you're thinking of."
"Why isn't she reacting at all?"
"You dolt- take a good look before you start asking stupid questions." Hunter hissed angrily from beside her. A tiger growled angrily from beside the stranger, Silver growling back.
"OH. Oh- I'm sorry, I didn't see that you were blind." The strange Hunter said awkwardly.
"What the hell is going on?" Stella asked, finally exasperated to the point of frustration.
Both Hunters laughed in amusement. "This is my brother- Solinur. We're twins."
"Call me Sol for short." Solinur said as he walked forward and stayed silent.
"She can't see your hand, idiot." Hunter sighed in frustration.
"Oh." Solinur took Stella's hand in a friendly shake of greeting. She looked down at it, noticing that his hand somehow wasn't as warm as Hunter's…
"My name is Stella." She said shyly, leaning back against Hunter.
"Don't give me that look." Hunter said defensively from behind her. "I didn't do anything."
"Right. Alright bro- Fram is waiting for you to come back. It you want to leave the little honey with me you can go meet with our master."
"Honey?" Stella grumbled. She put up with Hunter's 'babe' only because he said it when he was being nice- but this… this was just rude. The man may sound like Hunter, but he didn't act like him at all.
"Sorry, Stella. We should let Hunter get going before our master starts beating him over the head with his cane." Solinur said with a laugh.
Hunter groaned in frustration and dismounted from Blitzen before letting Stella down as well. He walked over to the other man, a rustle of fabric sounding.
"Don't you dare hurt her- hear me?" Hunter growled angrily.
"Woah, bro, calm down." Solinur said with a laugh. "I'd never do anything like that."
Hunter let out another growl and walked back over to Stella, leaning down and putting his hands on her shoulders.
"If he tries anything funny, freeze him. Don't let him push you around." He whispered to her in her ear before leaning away again. "Will you be alright?"
Stella nodded, biting her lip nervously when a cold hand grabbed her tightly around the wrist, dragging her forward. She stumbled and fell against him, hearing his amused laugh as she leaned against his chest before standing back up quickly. She could see what Hunter had meant, now.
"Alright, I'll be back as soon as I can." Hunter said, sounding nervous as he hesitated outside the door.
"Go, we'll be fine- right?" Solinur put a hand on Stella's shoulder, making her shiver at the contact.
"R-right." She whispered, wishing he wouldn't touch her so much.
Hunter hesitated a moment longer before she heard the creak of large doors, then a loud thud as it closed. She stood stiffly beside Solinur as he snickered.
"So, where did my brother find you? Some city on the way back home?"
Stella scoffed. "No. He rescued me." She said hotly.
Solinur paused for a minute. "From the sorcerer's tower?"
Stella bit her lip nervously, running a hand through her hair.
"Is that why you look so… different?" He asked, stepping away from her.
She paused when she realized Hunter had said the same thing when he had first met her as well. "Yes. He held me captive there for many years. Can we please go inside? I don't like the noise of the fighting." She didn't want to tell him anymore about her past either. She flinched when metal clanged loudly behind her, one of the younger magi shouting in triumph.
"Yeah- Blitzen, you can go to the stables where Vixen is. Thank you for letting Hunter ride you so far." Stella heard the elk let out a low murr and trot back down the steps, galloping off.
"Silver, you and Gold please go with the other creatures- I'm sorry, but the hallway isn't wide enough for all four of us."
Two tigers growled, large paws walking down the steps . Solinur let out a long sigh, grabbing Stella's wrist again. He walked inside with her, stopping in surprise when Hunter stood, about to open the door as well.
"Hey- Fram wants to talk with Stella. He wants to know what happened." Hunter said uneasily.
"H-he wants to know… about me? You didn't tell him, did you?" She gasped, terror running through her.
"No, I'm leaving that up to you. You can tell him if you want to, but I won't speak for you. He may be able to cure your blindness if he knows what's wrong, though." He said hopefully.
Stella froze, feeling the scars around her eyes thoughtfully. "I'd be able to see again?"
"Maybe. It's why I brought you to The Keep in the first place- the best healers in the world are here- I figured if anyone could, they'd be able to heal you."
Stella thought for a minute, wondering if it would be alright to tell one more magi about what she could do… she had told Hunter, and he hadn't been to angry. April had found out, and she hadn't been scared at all.
Perhaps magi weren't so bad after all. Maybe everything the sorcerer had told her had been a lie. "Alright." She said at last. She took her wrist out of Solinur's grip, reaching toward where she had heard Hunter's voice. His warm hand wrapped gently around her wrist, making her blush from the familiar feeling. She walked with him down the hall toward Fram's study.
"Sir?" Hunter opened the door to the study, looking inside to see an older man sitting on a chair behind a desk. Fram turned around, looking at Hunter with a pleasant smile. "Hello, Hunter. Did you bring the girl with you?"
Hunter nodded uneasily and led Stella into the room, letting her sit down on one of the other chairs in front of the desk, then sat down next to her.
"So dear, please tell me how you got to be in that tower."
Stella interweaved her fingers together nervously, wondering if this had been a good idea after all. "Well, I don't remember much of what happened at first. All I remember is that he killed my parents and took me. Then he tied me up and did… something. There was a bright flash, and horrible pain. I lost my sight, and ever since then I've had… magic."
"What sort of magic?" The older man said, sounding interested.
"Um… time, I think. I can freeze it, and speed it up."
The man paused for a minute, an awkward silence settling into the room. "I see. Can you please demonstrate your ability for me?"
Stella nodded, closing her eyes and opening them, the bright colors around the room almost blinding her at their intensity. She yelled in surprise, covering her eyes in shock.
"Hey- what's wrong?" Hunter said in concern, moving closer to her.
"Everything's so bright!" She said, her eyes watering as they tried to get used to the bright colors covering most of the room.
"Here, just speed the time on this- then." Hunter handed a small paper into her hands. She felt it in confusion, glancing at his green glowing form.
"Are you sure? Isn't not important, is it?" she asked, not really wanting to open her eyes again while in this room.
"No. Go ahead." He said, leaving the paper in her hands, moving back into his own chair. She opened her eyes, looking down at the small void of black within her white glowing hands, setting it on her lap. She made a small sphere of white magic around it, quickening the span of time within the sphere so that the paper withered and turned to dust against her leg. She blew the dust off her leg, then closed her eyes as the world faded into darkness again with a sigh of relief.
"I see. That is indeed an interesting magic." The older man said in interest. "Thank you dear, we will discuss how we might try to fix your predicament with your sight. In the meantime please make yourself at home in the keep."
Hunter stood, taking Stella's hand when she held it out for him to help her out of the room. "Thank you." She said over her shoulder to the man before walking out of the room with Hunter, closing the doors behind them.
"That wasn't too bad, was it?" He said happily, leading her back down the hall.
"No, I guess not." Stella smiled, walking behind him down the hall toward Solinur.