Leonov, Falynn, and Roni had estimated that it would take three or four hours for Master Kanora to finish all the things she’d listed. Probably closer to four. Still, it would take that long just to reach the forest and get into hiding, when they took Falynn’s clumsy nature and Leonov’s utter inexperience in stealth into account. They knew they were going to have to rely on Roni’s expertise in the subject if they wanted a chance to make it through this Crucible. If only they knew how wrong that was, and that hiding was not an option. But they’d learn soon enough.

“In here,” Roni said swiftly, running into the tree line without a break or hesitation. The others paused, their chests heaving with the effort of running from Milagre to the Dagorra Forest, and she clicked her tongue in impatience at them. “Do you want to be out in the open when she finally moves? We just barely got here, and she’ll be setting out soon!”

“But,” Falynn gasped, clutching her ribs where a stitch had formed. Unlike the other two, she wasn’t conditioned to running long distances at once. Her entire body was shaking with exhaustion, and she felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. “She’s four hours away. She’ll have to catch up to us first.”

“Something tells me she can catch up in no time,” Roni said darkly. “You can catch your breath once you’re hidden away. Get moving!”

They groaned at the effort, for even Leonov was exhausted with all the armor and the weight of his shield, but they complied, stepping under the thick forest canopy, following their ranger friend. After just a few yards into the forest, all evidence of the moon above them was wiped out, save for the occasional stream of light that poked through. It took a few minutes for their eyes to adjust, helped along by the moss at the base of the trees that produced a faint glow, giving them just enough light to see. Roni showed no hint of hesitation at the loss of moonlight, and continued on at full speed, darting between patches of cover. Just like the last time they’d witnessed her moving throughout the forest, they kept losing sight of her for a second or two at a time, as she physically became part of the shadows under the trees.

“This is a good spot,” she finally said about ten minutes later. Leonov gave a start of surprise, as her voice had come from slightly behind them and to the left. She’d vanished long enough for them to pass her without noticing. She’s really a master at this, he thought, feeling a bit more confident in their chances. Glad she’s on my side, and not an enemy. “Sit here in the divots. You’ll be covered by the bushes around you and out of sight.”

The ‘divots’ she pointed out were nothing more than slight indentations in the forest floor, barely an inch or two deep. But she sat down herself to demonstrate, and she did indeed vanish from the view of the track. Leonov looked at the hiding place dubiously but did as he was told, rustling the bushes as he moved into position. His equipment made a good deal of noise as he settled down, holding his shield at the ready position. Roni clicked her tongue again at the excessive noise, but he ignored her, already uncomfortable that, if attacked, he couldn’t fight back effectively in this position.

Falynn showed a little more grace when she settled in, actually coaxing the plant life out of her way. Once seated, she actually caused the bushes to grow up a little taller and thicker, adding to the visual camouflage. Now Leonov’s discomfort increased, as he realized that he could no longer see the track they’d used. Sure, it meant that they were also hidden from the human eye, but he hated being blinded.

“Stop your fidgeting,” Roni hissed, from somewhere to his left. Still within arm’s reach, he thought grumpily. “You have to be as still as possible. Bushes don’t make noise.”

Falynn let out a soft giggle at that but quickly stifled the noise. Leonov did his best to remain completely still, and he thought he did pretty well. But it wasn’t long before the sore muscles of his run here began to make their presence known, and the damp clothes under his armor began to cool. He could actually feel himself shivering slightly as the temperature around them began to dwindle. He knew from experience that the discomforts would fade in time, but it all combined to make him miserable and make the task of remaining perfectly still nearly impossible.

He lost track of the time as they sat there in silence, waiting for any sign of a stranger approaching. It could have been minutes or several hours. But Falynn suddenly shifted, and the tiny sound of the bushes rattling sounded incredibly loud against his ears. “Wait. Did you guys feel that?”

Leonov had no clue what she was talking about, but he heard Roni let out a quick gasp, quickly echoed by Falynn. The druid girl shivered again. “There’s no mistake about it. She’s scanning the area.”

“How can you tell?” Leonov whispered. “It can’t have been four hours yet.”

“It’s been only eight minutes,” Roni said, and Leonov knew she was sneering, even if he couldn’t see her face. “She’s taking wild guesses where we are and sending waves of mana out.”

“I thought mages detected in a circle,” he muttered.

“Some do,” Falynn said. In consideration for Leonov, she lowered the leaves between them so he could see her pale face. “But some powerful arcane mages can actually project their minds forward, giving them more than just the sense for mana. They can actually see and hear with the technique.”

Leonov felt a shiver run down his spine at that moment and knew it had nothing to do with the cool air around him. People could be located so easily? But Falynn had said that it was a technique used by master mages. Kanora was a monk, wasn’t she? So even if she knew the right spell, maybe she wasn’t too good at using it. A second later, another flash of arcane energy flew past, this time coming so close that even he felt it. Something told him that their hiding space wasn’t the best location.

“Ah, there you are,” a voice whispered. It was the voice of Master Kanora, but the voice had blossomed into his mind. “That’s a good spot.”

“Run!” he shouted his commanding voice shattering the silent night like the blast of a cannon. He dove forward just in time, rolling free of the bushes right as a plume of flames appeared. Roni and Falynn had gotten out in time as well, and they scrambled to their feet, looking at the burning bushes in horror. There was still no sign of Kanora around them, but they knew it wasn’t long.

“Where is she?” Falynn squeaked, her voice a few octaves higher than intended. This was her first time interacting with a mage of this level. “I don’t sense her!”

That was a disconcerting thought to Leonov. He knew that, through her mastery of druidic magic, Falynn could scan a large area of the forest just by touching a tree. If she couldn’t feel their pursuer, that meant they were being attacked from incredibly far away. The druid quickly hurried over to the nearest tree and put her hand to the bark, her face concentrated. “Wait. I feel her. But it’s strange, it’s like there’s more than one of her.

“What?” Leonov asked, completely lost. “How can there be more than one of her?”

“I don’t know,” she replied tersely. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s like one of her is weaker than the other, but not by much. Maybe a third?”

Surprisingly, it was Leonov who realized what it meant, long before the others could get it, and just in time to react. Some distant part of his memory flared to life, and he remembered what an old fellow soldier had told him about true masters of magic being able to separate their minds or their souls, and move them around independently of their body. What had it been called? Projection, he thought. Then the full realization slammed down on his mind, and his heightened senses from the battle instincts formed over decades of training kicked in.

He felt the tiniest flicker of energy directly behind Falynn and reacted at once. Grabbing the druid girl by the arm and pulling her away, he raised his shield and struck forward. The woman just appearing out of thin air in front of him, mana crackling all around her body, ducked under his shield with consummate ease, then came back to her feet well within his reach and struck him with a searing elbow to the chest. Even in the cramped space, there was enough force in that one blow to send him crashing back to land a few feet away. Only when he landed did the air rush out of his lungs, and he gave a surprised gasp.

Roni, who was just as fast as Leonov, drew one of the knives at her waist and went on the attack. Gone was the assumption that she should avoid lethal force in a sense of fairness. She had to use the very best of her efforts if she wanted to stand even a faint chance. So she slashed at Kannora’s chest with all the speed and force she could muster, leaping forward like a panther. But the monk caught her in mid-air, one hand grabbing the wrist of her knife arm and the other her belt. She turned gracefully on the spot and threw the ranger away from her, where she slammed into a tree hard enough to be knocked out.

Poor Falynn, skilled as she was in old and powerful magicks, stood no chance. She had only just begun to acknowledge the presence of the enemy when the blast of solid air hit her in the stomach, knocking all the wind out of her lungs. Then a second blast knocked her feet out from under her, knocking her flat and banging her head against an exposed root. Suddenly, the world around her was a blur of colors and noises, and her vision went a little crooked.

“Now, now,” said the woman above them. “That won’t do at all. It was far too easy for me to find you. Why did you hide? You would have been better off coming up with a plan to defeat me, or at least continuing to run.”

With a groan, Leonov sat up, and his eyes widened. Kanora hadn’t so much as taken a step from the point at which she’d appeared. She’d dispatched him and Roni without moving, and cast the two quick spells to disable Falynn, all in less than a second. And it didn’t even look as though it had taken a toll on her. If anything, she looked patiently bored. She crouched down in front of Falynn, a warm smile on her face, but the druid girl still reacted out of fear, trying to scrabble away.

“We’ll try that again,” she said, her voice kindly but firm. “This time, you need to be more aware. You may be good at hiding from the physical eye, but if you’re going to face a mage, you need to take other senses into account. If you can’t hide your thoughts, then you should at least stay on the move. Keep your senses sharp, and you might just be able to see me coming before I arrive. I gave you plenty of chances to  spot my presence before I showed up, after all.”

“I felt you exploring the space,” Falynn gasped, her lungs still trying to recover from the attack she’d suffered, “But you were too fast. I can move as quickly as Roni or Leonov.”

“Your body can’t,” Kanora corrected her. “But your mind is strong and agile. You failed here because your comrades had to protect you in your moment of weakness. Had you reacted properly, you could have stopped me from having such easy access to you, and given your friends more time to prepare.”

She rose to a standing position, arms folded, and said, “We’ll try again. I’ll give you half an hour to recover, and I’ll move once again.”

Then, without so much as speaking or moving her arms, she took a step back and vanished into thin air again, leaving them alone with the silence of the forest around them.