and tears covered her eyes. And then, abruptly, she let go her of magical hold on him. Ermias rolled onto his side, gasping for air and coughing. Shewit flicked her eyes towards where he lay and began to sob.

“Shewit”, he called, “I had no idea that you never knew this was the path your life was on. They probably would have told you in the future. Please, you have to believe me. That is why I took it upon myself to find a way out for you. A way in which you did not have to give your life for the peace of all, a way where we could be together. Please, look into my mind if you have to. Search my thoughts. You have my leave. You will see that I am not lying. I will never lie to you, Shewit.” His lips trembled.

Shewit turned and stared at Ermias as she placed her palm to his face.

“Oh, Ermias,” she cried, “I almost killed you. I cannot believe that I almost killed you!”

“It does not matter, Shewit,” Ermias replied. “What matters is that you did not. You were infuriated, and I get that. I never knew that the being of Balance and Chaos made this sacrifice without the knowledge of what is involved.”

They sat there, in silence, for minutes. Outside the room, the general notion was that the being of Balance and Chaos was getting prepared and better in her grasp of spells, and when she would emerge her vocabulary would be nothing short of incredible.

“I cannot believe that they have been training me so rigorously all this while just to offer me up like a sheep to the gods!” Shewit said breaking the silence.

Ermias changed his seating position.

“I had always thought when I familiarized myself with the being of Balance and Chaos and her destiny that it was odd that a group of select magically powerful and gifted children would give themselves up every hundred years when they still had so much to live for. But I had stifled the thought because I had thought that it was a thing of choice. I never knew that the sacrifice was an act of deceiving you,” Ermias said, appalled.

“Now, I am beginning to understand all the deferential treatment I get in the palace. Sometimes the workers would look at me like I was a god, but disposable at the same time. They would go out of their way just to make me happy. And it irked me. The constant efforts, overacting, it was just too much, too glaring, and I did not like it. It all makes sense now. I am even sure Lull, who I have taken as a father knows about this.”

“Do not be too sure,” Ermias said.

“Oh, I am,” Shewit replied hotly. “And I do not need to read his mind to know this. He cannot be the head trainer without being privy to this bit of knowledge.”

All of a sudden, her countenance softened, and she turned to Ermias.

“I do not want to die, Ermias,” she said. “Not like this. As you said, I have still got much to live for. We still have much to live for.”

Ermias looked at her and smiled. The smile on his face was a welcome sight for Shewit, considering all the things that had just gone awry. But Ermias’s smile was more than just a difference in the chain of bad events, it was a sign that there was hope.

“You know something, Ermias,” Shewit said. “Spit it out. You know how I hate being baited.”

“Fine, fine. Can we not have a go at playing a game of guessing?” Ermias asked himself.

Shewit chuckled, but sadly. “Someday,” she said. “But not today.”

Then Ermias told her about what he had surmised from his studies earlier before their encounter. Shewit listened aptly, and by the time Ermias was done, she felt hope. The path she had been walking all the while had only one end. But Ermias’s theory charted a new course for not just her, but for both of them.

All they had to do now was plot an escape plan, and it had to be done quickly. Ermias had told her that the sacrifice was done when she was finally able to master the skill of giving and taking life. That was the last skill the being of Balance and Chaos needed to master, and it was the culmination of everything she had been learning since day one. It was already common knowledge that Shewit was a fast learner, and that she had advanced speedily through the training levels. At this rate, she would reach the day of the sacrifice very quickly. If she began to affect difficulty in comprehending her lessons so she could stall, her teachers would notice that something was strange. So, they decided on a prompt escape to any place that was out of the reach of the magicians. Ermias had told Shewit to leave the location to him. Shewit on the other hand was to focus on finding a way both of them could make a run for it.

And she found one.

The element of surprise was one of the oldest tactics in the book. Despite that, it never lost its efficiency. Keeping the teachers from knowing that she knew what was going to happen to her was a stroke of genius on both Shewit and Ermias’s parts. And that was why when she slunk out during one of her habitual walks through the palace gardens, no one noticed until it was almost too late...

Lull had noticed that Shewit was late for her class, and was surprised. It was highly unlike her to miss training. A visit to her chambers turned out fruitless. Lady Adiam had told him that Shewit was yet to return from her walk. It was not until one of the guards had told him that there had been an unusual working of magic at the gate that he realized what was going on.

Shewit was trying to

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