In the light of the candles that I've enchanted to float in the air, I see the two girls rise back onto the edge of the cliff and collapse face down onto the ground.

"You really should be more careful," I say, amused. "Somebody could get hurt."

The dark haired one looks upwards, and her eyes darken as they fall on me. She scramble to her feet and pulls an arrow threateningly out of her quiver, and I sigh. "Put that down. Don't do anything stupid when you're standing at the edge of a cliff."

She lowers her weapon reluctantly.

"Both of you really do have a terrible sense of direction," I smile and point west. "Your cottage is that way, you know."

"We know," says the purple eyed girl. "And that's exactly why we're going this way."

I raise my eyebrows, slightly surprised. Interesting.

"You saved us," she says out of the blue. I blink at her, suddenly almost nervous. Her violet eyes are scrutinising me as if she can see right through me. I concentrate once more on blocking my mind. Just to be sure.

"I saved my mirror," I snap. "Speaking of which, hand it over. Now."

Glaring mutinously at me, the dark haired girl delves into her satchel and pulls out the mirror. I reach out to take it, but the other girl steps in front of me.
"I think," she says coolly. "You saved us because you need us."

I'm about to reply with a scathing 'for what?' but my words catch in my throat.

"Do you know how to use it?" she asks. Her eyes look into mine like they're challenging me.

I stare at her, taken aback. In my moment of disconcertion, I let the door to my mind slide open a crack. The girl nods, looking satisfied. "That's what I thought. So, Sky, if you need our help, you should tell us what we're helping you to do. Where are you going?"

I lower my hands and clench my fists, defeated. A sudden laugh bursts out of me. "Turns out you're cleverer than you look. All right. I'm going to a realm called Orbis."

"That's the realm we're going..." says the dark haired girl slowly. "Isn't it?"

The other one nods. The black haired one turns back to me.

"Maybe we could make a deal. We tell you how to use the mirror, if... you let us come with you into Orbis."

In a flash, anger consumes me. "Or," I say sweetly, conjuring a ball of fire out of thin air and holding it up. "I let you go alive if you give me the mirror and tell me how to use it."

The dark haired girl shoves the psychic aside and steps in front of her, staring at me with blazing brown eyes. She pulls her sleeve up to her elbow and I gasp involuntarily. An ugly red mark glares at me from her forearm. The mark of the mortem.

"You can kill me," she hisses. "Go ahead. I'll die in a few days anyway if we don't get to Orbis. Like my mother did."

I raise my palm, roaring with murderous flames, ready to strike. The psychic tears the mirror from the girl's hand and steps beside her, holding the mirror protectively in front of them. I hesitate. If I destroy that mirror, I'll destroy my only chance to start over.

"You may be blocking me, but I know why you want to go to Orbis," the purple-eyed girl says. "I know you can't control your magic, and I know how much that scares you. So it makes sense that you want to go so you can get rid of it, or control it with the magic there."

The flame flickers out. I inhale slowly.

"You don't have to do this, Sky," she continues, watching me. The look doesn't feel unsettling this time, somehow. "I saw your mind and I know you don't want to. So don't..."

"She won't listen to you, Iris," hisses the dark haired girl. "She may not want to do any of this, but she said it herself; she'll do it anyway. She's a villain, we can't reason with her!"

Anger rises menacingly inside me, but then it's replaced by something else. The bitter, unhappy feeling of loneliness. Because I know how they see me, deep down, even if I can't read minds.

"She's right," I say to the psychic, Iris. My voice doesn't sound anything like how I feel. It sounds sharp and tough. Good. "You don't even believe that I can be good, not really. You're just trying to stall me so you can escape with the mirror."

"That's not true," Iris replies quietly. "But if it were, could you blame me?"

I sigh. "No. No, I can't."

We stand in silence for a moment. Something inside me is raging, screaming at me to grab the mirror and send both girls hurtling off the cliff, but it feels like every drop of magic has been drained out of me. Suddenly, I just want to give in. I'm fed up with fighting. I just want to rest.

"Look," I say warily. "Hold onto the mirror for now, and we'll talk about this at dawn. Let's just rest for a few hours. I can cast a protection spell over where we are, so nobody can see is, hear us or come close to us."

"That would keep the wolves out," murmurs Iris. She glances at her friend, who is regarding me with suspicion.

"How do we know that you won't take the mirror and run?"

I unblock my mind, letting my thoughts and memories run free. "You can see my thoughts now. You'd know if I were planning something. And you'd know if I were keeping something from you."

"She's right, Cressida" Iris assures her friend. "If she tries to do anything while we're asleep, I'll know, and I'll wake up. Let's just relax for now, and we can talk about Orbis in the morning."

Cressida nods, but reluctance is etched across her face. Truly though, I don't want to hurt them or take the mirror. All of a sudden, a calmness has taken over me. That happens, sometimes. My sin just flows away, and my mind is peaceful until it comes back to haunt me. Like a dark ghost, invading my mind, possessing my thoughts, my magic, my actions.

We find a large clearing, and I cast a webs of spells around us, protecting us from the outside world. We curl up to sleep, Cressida lying with her head on her satchel. Even now, I suppose she doesn't trust me. 

I lie back and gaze up at the stars until sleep pulls me away.