Cole and I listen in rapt silence. The voices get louder, then softer, then louder again. They are searching the forest for us. I close my eyes, trying not to think what will happen if they find us. As they get closer and closer, we hardly dare to breathe. A small group breaks off and comes our way.
"They can't have gone far," Tom says. I recognise his voice with a shock of fear. Only a few hours ago, Tom tried to kill Cole. Now, he's come back to finish the job.
Sarah and Alex are with him - I can hear them beating through the bush after Tom. Finally, they stop and sit down among a bunch of trees not far from the tree in which Cole and I are hiding. I can see the flickering light of their torches, and hear their voices clearly.
"Ok, so here's what we'll do," Tom says quietly, but not so quietly so that Cole and I can't hear him. "We wait for the others to leave, then search the forest ourselves. When we find them, we don't waste any time - finish it immediately."
"What if we can't find them?" Sarah asks.
"Then we draw them out," says Alex. "Lexie is essential to our plan, but she goes where Cole goes. Take anyone from either of their families, and they will come."
"How do we let them know that we've got their family, though?"
"They're not stupid, those two. Cole knew something was up. They'll suspect it's not over, even with them gone. I'll bet they'll hang around. Then, when they come to rescue their families, we'll have them. Fregi will be pleased."
They keep talking, but move off, back towards town, and Cole and I can't hear anything more.
I look at him, and his eyes are shining brightly in the moonlight. "Who's Fregi?" I whisper.
Cole shakes his head. "No idea... but it sounds like we need to find him if we want to find out what's going on."
"We need to warn our families, first," I say. "It sounds like they'll only contact Fregi once they have us. We need to stop that from happening."
"They will know we're still in the area if we get our families out," Cole points out. "Then we'll really be in trouble. I reckon we should find this Fregi first, find out what we're up against."
"But we don't know how to find him! We have no idea who he is."
Cole's hand comes up to my mouth, and I realise that I have spoken too loudly. We are silent for a moment, but no sounds of pursuit reach our ears. I sigh in relief, while Cole speaks quickly and quietly.
"We know that he has something to do with Tom, Sarah and Alex. We also know who they learned everything they know from."
I frown at Cole. "Hertal lost her powers. She doesn't teach anyone anymore."
"Yet she may be able to tell us what she told them."
I nod, thinking. Nobody has seen Hertal for years. She was greatly feared once, but when she lost her powers, she became nothing more than a crazy old woman living in a cave. Before, though, Tom, Sarah and Alex would go to her every day - that was when they started building up such a bad reputation.
Neither of us sleeps that night. We discuss in whispers the best way to go about this. Eventually, we decide to simply walk up to her cave in the morning. Nobody has been to her in years, so we should be safe from running into anyone. Now, we just need to survive the night.
It starts to rain. With no cloaks, Cole and I are soon chilled to the bone, but we dare not seek better shelter, not with Tom, Sarah and Alex roaming the woods, intent on killing us. We huddle closer together, trying to share our warmth as best we can.
I close my eyes, thinking about tomorrow. Cole's lips graze my cheek, and I smile vaguely, but my mind is elsewhere. My mind is on Hertal, and what she will say. Maybe whatever we have unveiled will have some light shed on it at last. Tomorrow, we will know, one way or the other.
To be continued
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