Linea searched for the moon as she looked outside her window, but she only saw a shimmer behind the clouds darkening the sky. She had hoped to catch a glimpse at the moon, but the darker the night was the better it would be for Sarah’s plan.

‘Are you ready?’ Sarah asked.

‘Yes,’ Linea answered. ‘I want to find her quickly.’

They switched their positions with no resistance which pleased them immensely. It was astounding how she and Sarah didn’t need to talk as much as before because they understood each other through emotions and concepts. It was faster but also more prone to error as it wasn’t as precise, but they settled simple topics like Sarah’s request to take control in an instant.

Sarah opened the window and used her telekinesis to fly high above the rooftops. As longs as no one looked for her, she would be invisible in the dark.

‘Do you still have the picture of his mansion in your mind?’ Linea asked as she tried to distinguish the buildings in the noble district they lived in.

Sarah recalled the mental image Senia had given them and tried to match it with any building.

‘How about that one?’ Linea said after a few minutes. She sent Sarah an idea of the building she meant. Sarah followed her suggestion and flew closer. After circling around it, the hovered in front and above of the main entrance a few meters.

‘No,’ Sarah decided. ‘The gate is way too small and the main building has only two floors.’

They resumed their search and Linea got nervous after a while. She feared that Senia’s description wasn’t accurate enough.

‘There,’ Sarah said and pointed at a compound near the palace. She closed in on the main building of the complex which was even bigger than Brice’s mansion. They didn’t know, where Senia lived, and Sarah had no idea how to find out without waking up every person inside.

‘Let me try,’ Linea said, and they switched after Sarah landed on the roof.

Linea knew she could trace someone she had made a mind-link with, but the effect had only a short range. She sent out her magical senses, and she felt a small resemblance of a connection a few meters to her left and under her.

Sarah learned through their connection, where Linea had found her sister, and without another word they switched again. Sarah floated down from the roof in front of the window which belonged to Senia’s room. With her telekinesis Sarah unlocked the window and opened it slowly. She tried to be as silent as possible, but the window squeaked anyway. To her relief nothing else happened.

Sarah and Linea saw someone lying on the bed in a room that looked luxurious. They approached the person carefully, and Linea saw the silver hair of her sister.

But she also saw small blood stains on the bed sheet at the height of Senia’s crotch. Sarah took a deep breath.

‘All right, it’s her,’ she said to Linea. ‘Now let’s get a substitute.’

‘Do you really think this will work?’ Linea asked as they sat on top of a roof in the harbor district. Sarah watched a group of sailors stumbling out of a tavern. Sarah had stolen a long cape from a drunken drunkard. Those sailors happened to be just as hammered, because one of them fell face first into the mud, much to the amusement of his friends.

‘Of course,’ Sarah said. The men moved away from the tavern through an alleyway. ‘They are walking right into some people who are most likely a band of thugs.’

Sarah dropped from the rooftop and let her telekinesis do its work. She floated right above the sailors and when they reached the thugs, Linea had to admit that Sarah’s intuition was spot on.

The criminals were six men and two women even though calling them women was a stretch. They looked too young to do this kind of work. The two groups argued with each other as the thugs threatened the sailors with knifes. The intelligent thing for the sailors to do would have been to give their money to the thugs, but the sailors were too drunk to realize their disadvantage.

‘Here we go,’ Sarah said as they saw one girl pulling a knife on the sailors and stabbing one into the stomach. After pulling up the hood of her new cape, Sarah dropped down to prevent the situation from escalating further. Both groups were rather confused about her sudden appearance, but the girl with the bloody knife didn’t stop as she sliced another sailors throat open.

Sarah clicked her tongue as she hadn’t planned to let the sailor die, but she didn’t want to reveal Linea’s healing ability. Or any other ability for that matter. These sailors didn’t need to know that much, and she was not responsible for their lives.

“Oy! What do you want?” a male thug asked and pointed his knife in her direction. Sarah walked towards him, which he interpreted as a hostile move and attacked. He targeted her stomach, but Sarah used her telekinesis subtly to enhance her own strength. With a quick sidestep, she evaded the knife, grabbed the arm of the thugs and bend it inwards to stab him with his own knife.

The other thugs woke up from their stupor and moved against Sarah. The following fight was brutal but short. Sarah took no chance and simply killed every thug except the girl who had killed the two sailors. With a back-hand strike against her neck, Sarah knocked her out cold.

Silence fell on the back alley as the fighting subdued.

“Thank you for your help!” one of the two remaining sailors said. “I’m Dimanis and this is Tula. Who are you?”

Sarah hesitated to answer. She hadn’t planned to talk to anyone, and she was sure not to tell them Linea’s name.

“Call me Nighthunter,” she said and turned away from them to scavenge the dead thugs for money.

“You’re a woman?” the other sailor asked perplexed.

“Got a problem with that?” Sarah asked with a threatening voice.

“No!” he replied. “Was just surprised…”

“How can we thank you for your help?” the other sailor asked as he gave his friend a dark glance.

“You could keep my involvement a secret,” Sarah said as she fished a coin pouch out of a pocket from a thug. She then picked up the unconscious girl.

The two sailors nodded, and Sarah left the alley on foot. After the sailors were out of sight, she flew up in the sky.

‘Nighthunter?’ Linea asked with a hint of amusement.

‘Yeah, it came to me because I was hunting, and it is night,’ Sarah argued. ‘You don’t like it?’

‘It’s fine, I guess,’ Linea replied. ‘But I think we should focus on Senia now.’

‘You’re right,’ Sarah said and picked up the speed.

Thanks to Sarah’s good memory and orientation, they found Tanus’ mansion without problems. Sarah entered the same room as before and Senia was still asleep in her bed. It was a bad sign for Linea that her sister slept at night because Moon Elves rarely did that.

Sarah placed the unconscious girl on the floor and let Linea take over. Linea sat down beside her sister and gently touched her shoulder.

Senia woke up with a jolt and looked around hastily. Linea pulled down her hood and revealed her face. Her sister tried to say something but apparently her collar still prevented her from it. Instead tears streamed down her face. She burrowed her face against Linea’s chest and Linea put her arms around Senia.

Even though Sarah had designed a precise plan, Linea had to soothe her sister first. Not only because it was the right thing to do, but they needed Senia to be back to her senses. Senia needed a few minutes to calm down, and Linea waited patiently.

When Senia had somewhat of a clear mind again, Linea explained what plan Sarah had cooked up for them without mentioning Sarah.

“So, at first I’ll try to remove that collar,” Linea said after she had finished the explanation.

Senia nodded and gave Linea a bit more space. Sarah took control again and fumbled for the collar on Senia’s neck with her telekinetic senses. It was identical in construction as her own collar, but she realized that she wasn’t blocked from damaging it.

She found a rivet on the side which locked the collar around the neck. It was designed to be difficult to remove, and one needed special tools to do so, apparently. But Sarah didn’t need tools as her telekinesis was more than enough.

With a bit of force, she simply jerked the rivet out the collar. As the collar fell from Senia’s neck, her silent crying got rather loud. Sarah quickly pressed a hand on Senia’s mouthed and hissed at her.

“Quiet!”

Senia looked startled but with a nod she made clear she understood. Sarah took her hand away and, even though Senia was still sobbing, she toned down on her volume.

“Should I heal you?” Sarah asked in Linea’s stead and pointed cautiously at Senia’s crotch. Senia blushed and her sobbing grew more intense, but she nodded again.

Linea switched back into her body, and she and Sarah noticed again how easy and subconscious the process had become. Linea motioned Senia to lie down and take of her clothes.

Senia hesitated notably as she pulled the dress over her head. Underneath the dress, Senia’s body was covered in bruises and small cuts, and her genitals looked even more battered.

Linea had to take a deep breath before healing her sister. Tanus may only be a human, but in her eyes, he was a barbaric monster. It was awkward for her, but she still laid her hands between Senia’s legs and murmured her healing spell.

“Thanks,” Senia whispered and sighed from the relief.

Linea nodded and stood up to give Senia more privacy to change into something appropriate. She and Sarah switched again, and Sarah took the time to gather the collar and attached it to the girl. It probably wouldn’t work anymore, but that wasn’t her goal anyway.

She let her victim float behind her while she got to the door and pressed her ear against it. The other side was silent. Senia followed her but avoided the floating girl eyeing it suspiciously.

“Do you know where he sleeps?” Sarah asked as she turned around to Senia.

“Yes,” Senia answered. “We need to get into the main building, but there are lots of guards around. I don’t think we can get inside… especially with her. Why do you even have a human girl with you?”

“Well, it’s hard to convince people of your death, if there is no corpse.”

Senia frowned and looked at the girl again.

“So, you just take a girl, kill her and you think they won’t notice the difference?”

“That’s why we burn them,” Sarah explained, while opening the door and looking around. The corridor was empty. “Follow me.”

They followed the corridor towards the staircase under Senia’s guidance, who knew her way around the building better than Sarah. Senia even took on the vanguard role and gave Sarah signs, if the path was clear, which was always the case, because everyone was asleep.

When they left the building into the garden, they came across the first guards, who patrolled the area. Sarah was tempted to just fly over, but she had no idea if Senia would find the way from the air.

“If we were to fly over to the main building, would you find the window leading into his bedroom?” Sarah asked while she scanned the surroundings.

“Fly?” Senia asked in confusion. “I guess I could. He sleeps in the west wing, top floor at the end of the corridor. Shouldn’t be too hard to find. There is a balcony attached to it.”

“Oh, that’s helpful,” Sarah said with a smile.

She examined the building on the other side of the garden. To her left she saw something that looked like it could be the balcony.

“Don’t be afraid,” she said which earned her a confused look from Senia. Then she switched into her shadow walk. The world around them distorted ever so slightly as the shadow surrounded them.

“What in Luna’s name is this?” Senia asked and her voice trembled.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Sarah replied and led them towards the main building. They circled around it until they arrived under Tanus’ bedroom.

“You used this back in the forest when I followed you,” Senia whispered.

“Yes,” Sarah replied. “But you don’t need to whisper. They can’t hear us anyway.”

She used her telekinesis again to lift all three of them upwards. She noticed Senia wincing because of it, but she didn’t let go. They landed safely on the balcony and with a small mental flick she opened the lock of the balcony door from the inside.

“It’s almost too easy…” Sarah noticed.

“True,” Senia agreed. “Normally, an alarm would raise if anyone used magic around here who is not registered to the mansion. I have no idea how you avoided that.”

Sarah stopped in her tracks.

“And why exactly are you telling me this only now?”

Senia blinked a few times at Sarah.

“I thought… I thought you knew?” She explained herself. “I mean you got in here without triggering the alarm. I guessed you found a way to avoid it.”

Sarah groaned.

‘Be nice to her,’ Linea said to Sarah. ‘She had a rough time. Besides, your psionics don’t seem to have triggered anything.’

Sarah didn’t answer. With a small push, she opened the door and quickly scanned the room. There was a lot of space, but not much furniture. There was a bed on a stone pedestal in the middle of the room.

“Don’t!” Senia whispered as Sarah went over to the bed, where she saw Tanus sleeping.

“Why?” Sarah asked annoyed, but she stopped nonetheless.

“There is an invisible barrier,” Senia explained and snuck closer to the bed. As soon as she escaped Sarah’s grasp, she dropped out of Sarah’s shadow walk. Sarah followed her closely and stopped her shadow walk altogether.

On the side of the bed was a small box with six wheels on it and on each wheel were different symbols.

“You need to enter the correct combination of symbols to deactivate it,” Senia explained as silently as possible. “I know the combination because… I…. have to wake him every morning… for…”

“It’s all right,” Sarah said. “Just open it.”

Senia nodded and turned the wheels into their correct positions. The barrier glowed shortly before it dropped.

Sarah looked onto the bed and examined the man lying before her.

‘You know I didn’t understand why you hate humans so much, but when I see this man… I understand it somewhat,’ Sarah noted.

‘After I met you, I came to the conclusion that maybe not all humans are bad,’ Linea answered.

Sarah closed her eyes for a short moment as she searched for any hidden entrances to this room with her telekinetic senses. Apart from the main entrance and a servant’s entrance she found two hidden doors leading somewhere. She blocked the doors with telekinesis to make sure they wouldn’t be interrupted.

With a flick of her hand, the girl thug floated over to the bed, where Sarah dropped her unceremoniously.

Tanus woke up from the movement, but since the girl landed behind his back the first thing he saw was Senia.

“Oh, back for more?” Tanus mocked her with a smirk. “But I don’t like to be disturbed in my sleep. Come back in the…”

Senia didn’t let him finish. Instead she made a step forward and punched him in the face.

“Ow,” he cried out. “How…”

But again, he was interrupted. This time Sarah forced his jaw shut to shut him up. He scratched his cheeks with his finger in confusion to why he was unable to move his mouth.

“I would love to have an extended discussion with you, but unfortunately my sister and I are on a tight schedule,” Sarah explained to him and his eyes went wide as he saw her.

“Help!” he suddenly started to yell, and despite his clenched jaw he got rather loud. A bang at the door signaled a guard running into Sarah’s blockade.

“Ah, damn it,” Sarah cursed and rushed forward. She pressed Tanus down on the bed with her telekinesis and pressed her hand over his mouth. “Senia, can you search for something to make a fire?”

“I could cast a magical fire,” Senia replied. “Survival skills were the first things we learned at the academy.”

“Well, get going then,” Sarah said and nodded in Tanus direction.

“You want me to set him on fire?” Senia asked surprised.

“He won’t do it himself,” Sarah answered with a groan. “Could you stop arguing and do what I tell you?”

Senia frowned at her and Sarah noticed disapproval coming from Linea, but at least Senia got to work.

“Sera’sirra.” Senia murmured and the bed in front of her hands started to burn. It wasn’t much of a fire, but it was enough for Sarah.

“Good,” Sarah said to Senia. “Stand back now.”

She laid the girl on top of Tanus who looked terrified at the fire.

“This is just the beginning,” Sarah hissed at him. “You’ll burn in hell.”

Then she took control of the fire with her newly acquired pyrokinesis and fed it her power. It was still difficult for her to create fire from nothing, but once there was a fire she could control it easily.

The fire spread over the bed burning his feet and legs. He screamed against her hand with wide eyes as they fixated on Sarah. The fire reached the girl as well, which woke her up from her unconsciousness. Sarah let her screams go through unhindered as she didn’t fear whatever she may have screamed. Tanus on the other hand needed to be silent because he could betray Sarah’s and Linea’s involvement.

It didn’t take long until the fire had engulfed the whole bed. Sarah was cautious with her fire control as she didn’t want to be burnt. Tanus’ face was still untouched as her hand made it necessary to spare it. His tears dripped on her hand, but neither Sarah nor Linea could find any compassion for him. The girl was probably already dead, her body black as coal, but Tanus had managed not only to stay alive but even conscious.

After a few more moments in which Sarah noticed that the fire slowly started to get out of her control, Tanus finally stopped struggling. Sarah took a step back and let the fire do the rest.

The banging on the door became desperate and Sarah felt someone putting a lot of force against her block on the door.

“I think a mage is trying to get in,” she said to Senia who watched the burning room with a mesmerized look.

“He should have suffered more…” Senia stated and a single tear found its way down her cheek.

“I’m sorry, but that’s all I can give you,” Sarah said and put a hand on Senia’s shoulder. “We should get going.”

Senia took a deep breath, which was a bit difficult given the smoke, but then she followed Sarah to the balcony.

“Thank you for this, Linea,” Senia whispered as Sarah took them into the night sky again.