How stupid can I be?

Destan kept his mouth shut and his face in a frown as Aruna came up to him and Keara.

I almost told her about Julia. Thank the atraments Aruna interrupted us before I could. Sighing at his own stupidity, he carefully avoided Keara's gaze. Not now. He could scold himself another time. Right now he had to focus on Aruna.

"We have a new mission for you."

Keara's head snapped to her trainer. "An assignment? Now?"

"Indeed," said Aruna. "We need you to go into Grimsby and bring back the boy who started all this."

"What?!" Destan blurted out. He felt red creep up his neck as he added, "The Chief is in that meeting right now, isn't he? Why would we capture the Inops while they're negotiating peace?"

The two women stared at him, Aruna with thinking lines deep on her forehead, while Keara's eyes radiated confusion.

"He's right," said Keara. "That makes no sense at all. We'd be risking everything the Chief is working for right now."

"I'm glad you two are so perceptive," said Aruna, not sounding happy at all. "But I'm afraid my hands are tied. And so are yours. This is an order from the top – or what constitutes for the top now that Remus is away."

"What does that mean?" said Destan.

Aruna gave him a penetrating stare, before answering. "The top, when the Chief is away, is his advisor. This order came from your uncle, Destan. And he specifically chose you and your team to complete it."

It felt as if his heart skipped a beat. Trying desperately to keep his face straight, Destan forgot how to breathe. His lungs would not listen, not until Aruna averted her gaze.

"You will go and find the boy named Nero and you will bring him back here. Keara, go and get Elias, please. He doesn't know about this task yet."

"Uhm, a-actually, Destan, could you do that for me?" Keara turned to him with a blush on her face, stumbling over her words.

Destan was about to agree – he knew exactly why she was asking him this, after all – but Aruna interrupted once again.

"Keara. Go and get Elias. I need a word with Destan before you leave for your mission."

She didn't dare go against such an outright order from her the tribe's trainer. With obvious reluctance, she cast one more pleading glance at Destan, as if there was anything he could do, then made her way through the trees towards camp.

Destan glanced up at the older woman, fidgeting with the sleeves of his shirt. Aruna was an intelligent woman. Could he have let something slip by accident, without even noticing?

Aruna wasn't looking at him, though. Instead, she paced around with her eyes on the ground, worry-lines deeper than ever before. "I'd like to ask you something," she said after a while.

Destan's mouth went dry. Please don't. "Okay, what is it?"

"I need to ask you if there's anything you'd like to tell me." She finally stopped pacing, but Destan wished she hadn't. He couldn't bear those piercing eyes looking right through him, as if they could see any secret he'd ever had. He couldn't bear lying to his trainer, straight to her face.

"I can tell something's wrong," she elaborated. "You've been acting strangely lately. The sudden outbursts, the wound on your arm. You're hiding something. I'd like to know what it is."

Destan hesitated. He knew he'd have to answer quickly, or it would only look suspicious. Would he tell her about Nero, and how this whole war had started? Could he tell her about Julia?

"I don't know what you mean," he said, before even realising he'd made a decision.

Aruna took a step in his direction. "I want to help you," she said. "I cannot do that if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"Why would you do that?" he'd blurted it out before he could stop himself. Was it the nerves that made him so impulsive? Or the fear?

His heart pounded while her eyebrows raised.

"Because I know how you feel," she said. "I have lost someone, the same way you have."

Destan's jaw dropped. "You have?"

She nodded slowly, her face contorted in a way Destan had never seen on her before. "My son, Sylvester. He was banned after saving the life of an Inops girl. A girl he loved. She had come to camp, uninvited, and was attacked by a triber who wanted to protect his home. Sylvester defended her. I haven't seen him since. Don't even know if he's still alive."

Aruna sighed deeply. "You remind me of him, standing up for what you believe in. You even have the same power. That is why I have been trying to help you grow your magic for all these years, even though you were an outcast. You remind me of my son."

Having been rendered speechless, Destan lowered his gaze. He never knew this. He never even knew she'd had a son. Why had she never told him this before? She knew exactly what he'd been through with Julia. She knew exactly how he felt, how he'd been feeling all those years.

Maybe he should tell her. Aruna would understand. She knew what he was going through, she'd be on his side. Besides, she'd know what to do. She'd be able to help him. A strange sense of hope blossomed in his chest like a flower.

He'd already opened his mouth to tell her everything, when a thought popped into his head. She was the tribe's trainer. One of Remus' most trusted people. She had a duty to protect the Tribe, in any way possible. If she knew about him, if she knew about Julia...

She wouldn't have a choice. She'd have to tell Remus. And he'd have to ban him. The flower in his chest withered away.

"Thank you," Destan muttered. "But I'm fine. Honestly."

***

The team made their way through the forest in silence, all three having begrudgingly resigned to the task.

Dragging his feet behind his two teammates, Destan stared at the forest floor, a deep frown on his face, racking his brain in an attempt to find a way out of this mess. He was on his way to capture Julia's brother. How could he take her brother away from her? Surely he couldn't. Surely he should do something to stop this.

But what?

Capturing Nero had been an order. Even though it was uncle Lys, rather than his granddad, he still couldn't ignore it. Not if he wanted to keep any hope of being accepted into the tribe. Or not being banned, for that matter.

How could he have let it get this far?

As they walked, Destan stared at Elias' back. The boy had his back straight as a plank and his hands balled by his side. Perhaps Elias would come up with another plan that excluded Destan. That way he could stay out of the way, unseen. He could just leave his teammates to sort everything out.

From the corner of his eye, Destan spotted Keara glancing at him. It suddenly occurred to him how quiet it was. Usually Keara and Elias would chat all the way through the forest. He noticed again Elias' tensed up shoulders and couldn't suppress a grin. Today was different. Today, Elias was embarrassed. It felt oddly satisfying to Destan. All those times Elias had talked down to him, now it was finally his turn to be ashamed.

As Keara shot another glance at him, Destan met her gaze quick enough to see the worry in her eyes. Remembering how he'd nearly told her about Julia, he averted his gaze. He couldn't talk to her again. Not today. She'd only ask him what he'd wanted to say, before Aruna interrupted them. He wouldn't know how to answer her.

In complete silence, and without a plan, the team reached the stream that marked the edge of the forest; the border between tribe and town, between atraments and Inops. They stopped in the shadows of the trees, the bridge that held two leaders a mere tree's length away from them.

Remus stood with his back to them, two tribers like guards behind him. Opposite him stood a bulky man with a moustache. He'd look a bit like uncle Lys, only he didn't have any of Lys' self-confidence. In fact, he seemed quite intimidated by the three tribers, even though he had his own two guards, with guns, next to him.

"What do we do?" said Keara. "We can't be seen. The mission is finished if they see us."

"So we make sure they don't," said Elias.

Destan had never heard him so short-spoken to Keara. Her reaction to his confession must've really hurt him. Destan would be lying if he said he felt sorry for his teammate. For Keara, maybe, but not for Elias.

"We'll go around," said Destan. "I'll get us over the water."

Without another word, Elias turned and walked along the stream, looking for a safe place to cross, far enough away from the two leaders and their meeting. Destan had already taken several steps to follow him, when Keara's voice stopped him.

"Wait!"

She'd positioned herself behind a tree, peering around it.

"What are you –"

Elias was interrupted by a death glare from Keara, before she turned back around. The boys joined her and Destan soon spotted the young girl, atraments decorating her arms, sprinting towards the bridge.

"Chief!" she shouted at the top of her voice. "Chief, help!"

As Remus turned around to the girl, his guards instantly took up a defensive position. They knew there was trouble. They just didn't know what it was yet.

"We were attacked!" said the girl as she got closer. The guards glared at the Inops in front of them. "Someone's hurt! You have to heal him, quick!"

A shadow fell over Remus' face. He turned to the mayor and exchanged a few quick words that Destan couldn't hear. The mayor paled and shook his head, holding his hands out defensively. With a final word, Remus turned and followed the girl, walking quicker than Destan had ever seen the old man do before.

As the Chief and his guards disappeared among the trees, Keara turned around to her teammates. "What do we do?" she said. "I know we're meant to go finish that assignment, but I want to know what's going on. She said someone's hurt..."

"Let's go back," said Destan, a little too quickly for his own liking. He noticed Elias eying him suspiciously. "We can always finish the task later."

"Isn't it especially important to finish this mission, now that we've been attacked?" said Elias. "We'll be in serious trouble if they see us back at camp."

"So we make sure they don't see us," said Keara, repeating his own words to him. Before he had a chance to answer, she turned and jogged back into the forest.

With a glare at Destan, as if it was all his fault, Elias went after her.

Destan kept his distance from the others. As relieved as he was that the task of capturing Nero was postponed, this new development was not a good thing. They'd been attacked. If Remus had been called back from a meeting as important as this, that could only mean one thing. This person was dying. The Chief's healing powers were needed to save them.

When Destan caught up with his teammates, they stood on the edge of the forest, looking out over the crowd that had gathered at the centre of camp. There was a solemn muttering drifting among the people. Through a gap between two women with slumped shoulders, Destan saw his grandfather crouched down, leaning over someone with his eyes closed and his hands held out. He stretched his neck to try and see who it was on the floor, but people kept standing in his way.

The Chief didn't use his powers very often. When he did, the situation was grave.

Suddenly Remus' eyes snapped open. He looked down at the person lying in front of him and let his hands fall by his sides. Wobbling slightly, he stood up and faced his people.

"I am so very sorry," he spoke. "I'm afraid I got here too late. I have failed."

Gasps shot through the crowd. One of the women blocking Destan's view leaned into her husband, clearing the way.

"No."

Destan turned when he heard Keara's croaking voice. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the young man lying motionless on the ground at Remus' feet.

"Keara..." Elias put his hand on her shoulder, but she didn't even seem to notice.

"No!" she screamed, leaping forward and pushing through the crowd.

"Who is that?" Destan asked as he watched her kneel down next to the body, sobbing and shaking. His heart constricted painfully with her sorrow.

Elias glared at him half-heartedly, then sighed. "It's her brother."