Unveiled - part 4

I wake squinting at the bright sunlight. I quickly stop worrying about the brightness when I see Cole - he is still asleep, leaning awkwardly over the tree branch. He looks as if he could fall any moment.
"Cole," I hiss, grabbing his arm and pulling him forcefully back into the small fork we are squashed into.
"Lexie?" He sits up, looking confused. I don't blame him. Yesterday morning, we were waking in our own beds with breakfast ready for us on the tables. Now, we are hidden in a tree in the middle of the forest close to town, stiff, sore and scared.
"Did you hear anything?" I ask.
Cole looks guilty. "I think I fell asleep during my watch."
"That's alright, I did too," I lie, hoping to make him feel better. "I mean  before that - I heard the three of them wandering around, but they didn't come close to finding us. They were near our tree, but they never thought to look up."
"They never did have any imagination, those three," Cole comments.
I glance down between the branches, but Tom, Sarah and Alex are long gone. No doubt they will continue to hunt us, but this time it is our families who are in danger; they are to be the bait.
Cole seems to be thinking along the same lines. "Shall we go, then?"
I nod and carefully shinny down the tree. Cole comes after me, and after looking carefully around, we set off for Hertal's cave at a brisk pace.
"You don't think they'll foresee us going here?" I ask.
"I doubt it. Tom seemed pretty confident that we'd stay to protect our families. Direct confrontation is his style - our way isn't as direct, so I doubt he'll see it coming."
We walk in companionable silence for a while. It strikes me that even when the whole world has been turned upside down, even when I'm not sure I'll ever go back to my old life, being with Cole makes everything feel almost normal. As the sun rises, we hurry through the forest. Hertal's cave is near the middle, isolated from our town.
The entrance looms up before us, looking somehow much darker than the surrounding forest. We pause, but not for long. I take Cole's hand and the two of us walk into the dark entrance.
"Hertal? Are you here?" My voice echoes horribly, and the cave has a cold, damp feel to it.
"What is your business with me, sorceress?" says a voice, seeming to come from the walls itself.
"My name is Lexie, and this is Cole. We came from the village. We're in trouble, and we're hoping you can help us..."
Hertal doesn't reveal herself, so I content myself with speaking to the walls as I tell our story. Only after I have finished does the old woman come out from the shadows. Her skin is pale and wrinkly, but there is no evidence of frailty about her. Lost powers or not, I wouldn't want to cross her.
"And how do you think I can help you, child?" she asks.
"You taught Tom, Sarah and Alex. You must know something of what they are up to. Do you know who Fregi is?"
"Aye, I know who Fregi is. The question is why I should tell you? What can you offer me in return?"
"What do you want?" Cole asks. "We can get gold -"
"I don't want a sorceress's gold, boy," she snaps. "I want my powers back."
"What?" I look blankly at Cole, then back to Hertal. "You lost your powers."
"No, they were stolen from me. Stolen by Fregi."
She looks almost amused at the flabbergasted expressions on our faces. "Sit. Listen."
Cole and I silently sink to the floor, and Hertal begins to speak. "I was a powerful mage, but I used my powers wrongly. You know the kinds of things I taught. Well, Fregi took my powers for his own so that I could not abuse them anymore. Now, though, it is him who is abusing powerful magic. He has had a taste of the power that comes with taking someone else's magic, and he likes it too much.
"I have been trapped in this cave for years - ever since he used my own magic to place the spell that keeps me here. Tom, Sarah and Alex abandoned me when I could do nothing more for them. Fregi left a spell on this place so that I will never be without food and water, but I am trapped here. He is using his disciples to steal more magic for himself. If you have been targeted, Lexie, then I am sure he must covet your magic.
"If you want my help - and I can help you - you must agree to bring Fregi to me, alive. It would be easier, safer for you to kill him, but if you want my help, you must bring him to me, so that I may regain my powers."
I glance at Cole, and see my own thoughts mirrored on his face. We don't have much of a choice. If we want her help, we'll have to go along with Hertal's terms.
"Ok," I say. "We can do that."
"This will be dangerous," Hertal warns. "It may be easier to let him take your power. You could easily die, along with your whole families, if you resist him. Taking on Fregi is not something one does lightly."
I open my mouth, but it is Cole who speaks first. "No one is taking Lexie's magic! We'll do whatever we need to stop him. Tell us how."
So Hertal begins.

To be continued