At first, Damerk did not answer but he turned his head to look at her; this girl's eyes showed none of the emotion that he had heard in her voice. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, causing a dissipating cloud in the cold twilight air. The fire flipped and dance across the wasting logs of wood. The young man stared into the fire as he sought after the right words.

"I probably only know as much as you do. So…"

"Well for that matter you must not know anything about why you're after me or why in the world I deserve to go through this!"

"I'd prefer not to…"

"Look Damerk," Kesodra paused to study the look of confusion that slowly came across his face as he noticed that she knows his name. "The sooner you tell me what you know, the sooner…" She paused to think of a reason he should look forward to being left alone. She noticed a stitching on the shoulder of his shirt and identified it as the Hembarrow insignia. Their dignity is more precious than life for these people and I have hurt his profusely. I'd better be careful. What is worse than being threatened and unable to fight back: being held captive and walking with a knife to your back. "…the sooner you'll be free of my subordinate yet overpowering presence, no?"

He sighed inwardly. She's right. Grom was right too—this is no ordinary person. "Actually, I don't even know your name. Though I know a bit about you but no more than you know about yourself."

Amusement filled Kesodra's eyes at the fact that he did not know her name. "Then please tell me what makes me the center of so many people's thoughts."

"Well you were raised in an aristocratic family in Latma Sim and your mother the daughter of a duke. Am I correct? You were taken away for a year to study in a boarding school, and when you came back, found your family, home, and town no more. That's what I know about your life. About you, all I know is that you have…how shall I say it…envied abilities and are, potentially, a threat."

A pause hung in the air, letting these facts get digested. Kesodra's eyes brimmed with tears at the mention of her agonizing past; however, she blinked them back. Damerk not aware of the sentimental moment ranted on. "You see? Only what you know. Now I have…"

"Just clarify for me a few points. You are lacking in the knowledge of my name and yet know such an extent of my life? How do you know one but not the other?"

Damerk sighed irritatedly, "I was never told. I'm not an important part of this. I overheard what I know."

You might just be. "And what of my powers do you know of?"

"You expect me to know that?"

No I guess not.

"So what would you do if you caught me?"

"Well after a certain age, your power can be channeled for another's uses. That's all. I don't know the details. So I also know that your not that old. I'm guessing…sixteen."

This was overwhelming for Kesodra. She leaned back against the tree behind her and thought about the newly acquired information. And it was true; she would soon turn seventeen.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Damerk said, "Hey…umm…you know… I gotta go."

"You're not going anywhere. I'll be leaving you in the morning so that the others can find you."

"No, I mean I gotta go."

Then she understood and her cheeks went red under her scarf. "Then I'm leaving now. You can scream for those people with you but…this is not something I will deal with." Kesodra got up and gathered her things including her new bow and arrows. "I'm leaving the fire for you. I hope we never have to meet again." She said simply smiling and curtsying mockingly. She turned to leave him in his dire situation unable to do anything about it.

Kesodra had long left when Damerk began to be desperate about relieving himself. He screamed as if his life depended upon it. An hour or so the others found him and he was close to tears. He was screaming like a mad man, "Untie me!!!!!!!! Untie me!!!!!!" So without further investigation they untied him as he ran behind the nearest tree and answered the call of nature safely.

His knees where knocking against each other from fatigue and relief when he confronted the men. "What in Mondar's name do ya tink yer doin'? What is this bein' tied to a tree." Said a burley man by the name of Galvin, cuffing him lightly at the neck.

"Well I just find it amusing to tie myself at the base of a tree and just sit there and not do anything about needing to go…"

"Shut up! We know what you needed to do! I don't want to here any excuses. You disgrace will tell us what happened!" There leader Grom bellowed over the murmuring voices.

"She… she put a knife to my neck and…the one you were after …and she knocked me unconscious and bound my hands. There was nothing I could do! I managed to kick her a few times but she…she…threatened me with her knife. I slowed her d…"

"Enough! You truly are a disgrace to the Hembarrow clan. Tell us everything about her."

"Well…" he thought of telling them about her eyes but something held him back, "a rough brown scarf was tied around her face. She is this much shorter than me," he held up his hands to show about six inches, "and her voice is as young as…I would say sixteen to eighteen years."

"That really helped." Guffawed Galvin, "so if we see her we'll be able ta single her outa a crowd."

Grom held up a stern hand to silence Galvin. "The least help you can be to us now is to tell us which way she went in." Embaressed and ashamed, Damerk pointed towards the east. "Then we will travel west." Grom said confidently.

"Bu' the boi jus' said…" Galvin began.

"You forget we are not dealing with an ordinary person. Move!"