I knew what I had to do. No matter what Murtagh had said, I just couldn't leave it like that. I had to know whom did he trust more than me. Maybe I was an easy target for magicians, witches and Riders, but didn't he say I was well protected?

I didn't know when was the mysterious man supposed to come back, but I decided I would try to see him. I hoped Murtagh hadn't lied to me about the person's gender. But I couldn't really blame him for cheating, could I? He wasn't even my husband.

I expected the guy would come in a week, but I guess I missed him. Maybe Murtagh read my mind and warned him? Mind reading ability was again messing up my plans.

"Mommy!" Elisabeth's yelling woke me up from my thoughts. I abruptly got up from the bed and looked at her. I bet I had that stupid look on my face.

"Mommy!" Elisabeth looked offended.

"Yes, honey?" I smiled.

"You didn't hear me." she sighed "Now I won't tell you."

"Eli!" I went over to her and hugged her. She calmed down after a moment and smiled at me.

"Mommy, I had a dream." she whispered. I gasped. My daughter had a vision? What if something bad was about to happen? I panicked. What if it would be too late this time?

"What did you dream?" I asked nervously.

"A woman." she said.

"Who?" I was surprised. Why would Elisabeth dream a woman?

"I don't know." she shrugged.

"How did she look like?" I asked.

"Her face was dark." she said "Her skin looked weird."

"Nasuada?" I asked myself. But it still didn't make sense.

"Who?" Elisabeth looked at me curiously "Mommy, you know her?"

"Umm, yeah." I said "But tell me. What did you dream about her?"

"She was here." Eli whispered.

"What?" I panicked "Here? Are you sure?"

"Yes." she said "She was in my room!"

"What happened then?" I asked. I didn't know what to do. Why I didn't get a warning for this? Was Nasuada really coming here?

"I don't know." she said and smiled "Mommy, will you play with me?"

"Not now, honey." I said "I have to find Murtagh. This could be important."

"Why?" Eli crossed her arms "You don't want to play with me!"

"Honey, it's not that!" I said "We'll play later."

"No!" Eli almost screamed at me, tears in her eyes.

"Eli, please." I said "Your dream might come true."

"No, it won't." she looked at me surprised "Mommy?"

"Nothing, honey. Forget it." I forced myself to smile. Did I really have to ruin my daughter's life by telling her that her dreams are something more horrible? How could I possibly explain it to her? Hey, honey! Your Mommy is cursed and you inherited it! Congratulations! No, I couldn't say that.

"Will Max play with me?" she asked.

"Go find him." I said and she ran out of my room happily. I took a deep breath, hoping that Elisabeth's vision wouldn't come true.


"Murtagh!" I finally found him. He was in one huge room full of books and everything in there was mostly covered with dust. I hated that castle even more; it wasn't just too damn huge, but it was also dirty. I wondered could the mysterious man clean.

"Amarantha." Murtagh didn't really seem amused by seeing me.

"Elisabeth had a dream of Nasuada. Here." I said "What if it really happens?"

"Did you have the vision?" he looked at me curiously.

"No." I said.

"Your daughter is inventing things." he said calmly.

"Excuse me?" I raised an eyebrow "How do you mean? She's never seen the woman in her life! She said the woman had a dark skin."

"And you assumed it was Nasuada?" he laughed softly.

"Well…" I reconsidered it "She's the only one with dark skin who is looking for you. And she will come here!"

"No, she won't." he said confidently "Thorn would warn me."

"But she also has magicians by her side!" I said "What if she found a way how to hide from you?"

"Why don't you calm down?" he got closer to me, gently putting his arms around my waist "You're safe here."

"But…" I wanted to say something but he kissed me. In that moment I forgot about everything. All my worries disappeared so easily.


The mysterious man came the day after my daughter had a vision. I knew he was coming because Murtagh kept going out on the terrace and checking something out. Then he just disappeared somewhere.

I walked down the hall, carefully checking each room. I really hoped I was going to find them. But knowing my luck with finding the right place, the man would probably be gone by then.

Suddenly I heard voices coming from the kitchen. I got closer to the door, but I couldn't really see inside because I was too scared they would notice me.

"…she is looking for you." the man said.

"I can't let her find us." Murtagh said "Even though I would like to talk to her."

"And that woman? Max's mother?" the man said "What with her?"

"I don't know." Murtagh said. I bit my lip not to say something. How did he mean he didn't know? I was upset. This sounded just wrong.

"You're coming with me." the man said.

"Alright." Murtagh said. I heard them moving, so I ran down the hall. I hoped I misunderstood them, because I didn't really hear much. Where were they going? Was Murtagh going to take us all somewhere? I had too many questions.

I stopped in the middle of the hall. I actually wanted them to see me; Murtagh probably knew I was there by then. Suddenly I screamed; the pain in my head. No!

"Amarantha, get the kids!" Murtagh was already standing next to me. He sounded worried and I just stood there in shock. I didn't know what to do, but Murtagh pushed me forward and we both ran to the room where the kids were.

I wasn't sure where we were going, but I followed Murtagh because he was able to tell where the kids were by finding their minds. I didn't even know what exactly was going on, but what I saw made me scared.

If my vision was true, there were nine men and a woman coming here. The woman was Nasuada and she looked very angry. The men who came with her were those who wanted to kill Murtagh! Why was she with them? It didn't make sense because they were all traitors and murderers.

I heard noise coming from another part of the castle. They were here! I panicked. Murtagh gave me Max, and Elisabeth was standing by my side already. I heard them coming. It was too late. We couldn't escape.

The door crashed down and I stood there with my kids in the middle of the room. Some men were already down. I realized Murtagh was taking care of that. But I realized Nasuada wasn't with them. She was probably waiting outside. My heart was racing so fast and my hands were shaking. Max was crying.

Suddenly one of the men raised a sword in his hand, and threw it at me. I couldn't feel my legs! I couldn't move! Few seconds before the sword hit me, Murtagh jumped in front of me. I screamed. He fell down on the floor; blood was everywhere in a second.

I started to cry, pulling Max and Elisabeth closer to me. So that was it. The end. I stared at the man in front of me, when he suddenly fell down. It was the mysterious man! He killed the rest of our attackers. I put Max down and hurried over to Murtagh.

"Murtagh!" I touched his face. He looked so pale and the sword was still stuck in his stomach. I didn't know what to do. Was I supposed to pull the sword out? But there was so much blood already! He smiled at me weakly and then closed his eyes.

"Murtagh! No!" I cried. Why couldn't he just heal himself? Was it really so easy to kill a Rider? No! He couldn't be dead! I hated myself for even thinking that. Someone pulled my hand.

"Move!" the man told me and I stepped away. I finally got a chance to see who that was, but in that moment I didn't really care. He took the sword and pulled it out; something I just wasn't able to do by myself. Then he raised the sword and studied it.

I wanted to strangle that man! Why was he staring at the damn sword instead of taking care of Murtagh?

"It's poisoned!" the man exclaimed and I gasped. Poisoned? Someone tried to kill me or my kids with a poisoned sword? This was just too much. But now I understood why Murtagh couldn't use magic after that.

"What are we going to do?" I asked, thinking on Nasuada. Was she still there or she ran away when she noticed her men are not coming back? The man kept whispering something in ancient language and I could see light coming from his hand. He was trying to heal Murtagh's wound.

"Come! Fast!" the man said after he had finished. I didn't move, because Murtagh still didn't look any better. Sure, the wound was healed but he didn't wake up!

"Come!" the man grabbed my arm roughly and Max and Eli were right next to me.

"Where?" I asked.

"Outside. The dragon is waiting for us there." he said. My eyes widened. Wait a second, wasn't that dragon supposed to warn Murtagh before this happened? What if this man was a traitor? But what would he want from us? We didn't have anything to give him.

"Amarantha, take your kids and run! Now!" he yelled at me. Wow, a man who didn't know me actually, called me by my name. I decided I should listen to him. Everything was better than staying here. My kids will have nightmares for years because of this!

Avoiding the dead bodies and the blood, I took my kids to the door. I looked back for a second at Murtagh. His lips were moving, which was a good sign.

When we ran out of the castle, I saw Thorn right there. Stupid dragon! He actually growled at me. Oops, he knew what I was thinking too? Oh, great. My mind was open for anyone! But Max pulled away from me and ran straight to the dragon!

"Max!" I yelled, completely petrified.

"Relax." the man said behind my back. I jumped.

"What?" I looked at him. He was actually helping Murtagh to walk.

"Thorn is your friend. He won't hurt your son." the man smiled. Oh, right. Tell me about it.

"Where are we going now?" I asked "Where is Nasuada?"

"To a safe place." he said "Nasuada is no longer here. She ran away with her magician helper. They realized they don't have a chance alone. They expected you would be alone."

"Oh." I was relieved but Murtagh still didn't look good. My kids didn't have any problem with climbing onto Thorn's back. I think it even amused them. I just took a deep breath and sat with them.

"Wait, where are you going?" I looked at the man as he moved away from Thorn, still helping Murtagh to stand.

"Thorn will take you to my house. He knows the way." the man said "I have to take Murtagh somewhere first."

"What? No!" I said "Why doesn't Thorn take Murtagh to that place you're talking about?"

"Because then he would have to fly too low. Murtagh could die if Thorn gets too high." the man said "Besides, I haven't asked you anything. You're going."

"No!" I complained. Who was he to tell me what to do? Besides, how could I trust him, not even knowing his name? He might be taking Murtagh somewhere to kill him! Or give him to Nasuada! But before I got an answer on my questions, the man gave a sign to Thorn and the dragon rose in the air.

I was scared to death while we were flying. I knew I was completely defenseless in front of the dragon. I also thought about that man with gray brown hair and dark blue eyes. Who was he? He seemed older and probably a magician. Why Murtagh trusted him so much? My impression was that the guy was just some rude noble.

Yeah, he seemed to be rich. His clothes looked very expensive and his sword had some ornaments carved in its blade. But when Thorn landed in front of a small cabin, I almost died laughing. Everything that man owned was probably stolen. I didn't know was the man more dangerous because of that fact.

I took Eli and Max with me and got closer to the cabin. It seemed like we were away from the world because there was nothing around for miles. It seemed like a good hiding place…for a criminal.


The cabin was really nice from the inside. Very simple and clean. At least I had where to sit down and think about things. Max and Eli were tired and confused, so I took them to the first room with a bed. I was actually surprised how such a small cabin actually had two rooms.

I was getting bored after some time. Kids were sleeping and I couldn't relax. I had to know what was going on, but there was no way to find out.

"Amarantha." I heard a voice behind my back. I was so frightened that I turned around in a second and almost fell down.

"I'm sorry." the man smiled "I didn't mean to scare you."

"How did you…?" I was shocked. He couldn't just appear out of nowhere! I was staring at the door whole the time!

"I came through the back door. It was easier to get to the room." he said. Oh, I was so lost in my thoughts that I haven't heard anything!

"Murtagh?!" I gasped.

"You can come to see him." the man said and I immediately hurried to the room. I knelt down next to the bed. Murtagh's eyes were closed. His skin was still so pale and he looked like he has a fever.

"How is he?" I looked at the man, who was standing next to me.

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you." he said "The poison is strong, even for him. I've done everything I could. Now we can just wait."

"Wait?" I ran my hand through my hair nervously. Then I looked at the man.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry. I haven't introduced myself." he smiled "You can call me Gerald."

Gerald? Was that even his real name? Well, at least I got to call him somehow besides mysterious man.

"Come with me." he said "Murtagh won't wake up soon."

I got up and followed Gerald back to the room that was actually a kitchen. I didn't know much about anything, but I knew Murtagh had to survive. And I had to ask Gerald a lot of things.