The raids are most often conducted at night, leaving us to discover who is missing only by the light of day. I am awakened by a tumult, though "awakened" doesn't truly describe it. Lately, I don't sleep so much as rest fitfully. I meet Corsa at the door. We have discussed this moment so often that a silent exchange of nods is all that is left.

She will tell them goodbye for me.

Even though I do not resist, a man takes each of my arms in a viselike grip. Corsa's tabby, though she has never before consented to being held by a stranger, simply buries her face in their unfamiliar grasp. As if, by not seeing, none of this is real. Even with my own eyes open wide, it still doesn't feel real.

The night air on my face is refreshing despite the circumstances. My nerve endings feel alive with electricity, and my every sense is heightened. I can see others in similar situations. Our acceptance is a comradery.

Though, every day, I have feared being rejected, ejected physically, from this town, I never imagined it would come like this. What will the twins think in the morning? Will they believe I have abandoned them? They are too young to understand that I do this for them. Things will be better when we are gone. Corsa will take care of them. Wart, as annoying as he can be, will need me. And I have to look after Corsa's Incarnate. There really was no other option as I see it. Hard as it is, the knowledge that it had to be this way is some small consolation.

We stop at the clearing, and memories of the Enlightenment come flooding back to me. How thrilled I was to receive the gift that would forever bind me to this village! The gift that would eventually force me to leave it...

Wart is bigger now. No longer does he hide in the fold of my clothes but perches proprietarily on my shoulders. His reputation for biting has ensured that the guards do not attempt to handle him. That is one good thing that has come from it at least.

I step through the door without another glance, into my second destiny.