The pain yelling throughout my body and my heavy breaths meant I didn’t even hear him leave.


    Before the orphanage I remember little, faint ideas of a women holding me but nothing more. I’d been lonely in the orphanage before Jusuf came. Many days burdened by a meaningless sadness. When Lunar joined us, our days demanded stories, and we filled them with the lows and high of tragedies and comedies. And I learnt to care and to love. My two friends like siblings, like family. When Velma took us, now of us tried to make our relationship more than it needed to be, and time proved it needed to be a familial one.


    “It was Lunar wasn’t it? But how? That trule swore the oath, she’d be dead if she did. I let her know too much didn’t I? Now I’m paying for it. Sage forbid,” Velma fumed, rambling more to herself than me.


    I made a decision: If Velma didn’t know about the necklace, I wouldn’t tell her.


    Velma grew impatient with my slowness. I felt the air turn tight. Her hands flashed through poses then she spat words out silently. A shroud of orange shaped around her. I leaped back scrambling on my heals to get a safe distance away.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    There was more to her grip than just muscle. I felt repelled by the shroud of orange. It felt like a small sun radiating force.


    I started to struggle for breath which quickly turned to choking. I was being made all too aware of my injuries flaring up again with the violence.


    What was wrong with her? I had never seen Velma like this. I was too paralysed by shock to fight against her grip on me. Why would Velma do this?


    Whatever this ‘world book’ was, she ran the risk of her, me and Lunar being in danger from the start. And Lunar was now by herself, in more danger than me and Velma both. She could be in worst straits just because Velma involved her in all of this.


    Slowly I realised how little I knew about Velma’s past. I couldn’t even attempt to guess how she got involved in all of this. No matter how much I wanted to, Velma could not be trusted. She was potentially even worse than Emra and his men.


    I knew this logically. Sages! She had just threatened my life, obviously I couldn’t trust her. But slow emotions refused to let me see her as an enemy. I took control of myself, slowing my breathing, calming my thoughts, hoping I could rationalise myself.


    I realised my life couldn’t be at risk just yet, her words were just a threat. I still had the beads, and if nothing else, I knew they mattered a lot. She would need them for the world book but she didn’t know seem where they were yet. She couldn’t kill me just yet.