'I was wondering where you had disappeared off to'.

Laurena jumped as the familiar voice broke through her reflections. She leapt to her feet and spun round. Her father stood with his arms folded in the shadow of a rock. His eyes glittered as he regarded her. Laurena tried to quell a pang of nervousness. She had expected her mother to come after her that morning. It wouldn't be long now until Nalia left for the Guild. A part of Laurena had wanted to see her sister off. She couldn't begrudge her the opportunity that had fallen so fruitfully into her lap. But it stung. A little. Laurena's mother and father had gone to the Guild once. Now Nalia was going. Somehow or other Laurena had been over looked.

Well, Lorkin and I have been overlooked.

But Lorkin didn't seem as bothered by the whole thing as Laurena was.

Now, watching as her father unfolded his arms and made his way towards her, Laurena worried at the consequences of her rudeness. Her parents would construe it as selfishness, she was sure. How could she explain the struggle that was perpetually at play within her. This land, this place that had been the place of her birth, Sachaka, was her home. Yet, within their family the Guild was a shadowy spectre, an initiation of sorts. It had marked her parents' departure from Kyralia, it had marked their sacrifice before that, it had been their home to begin with. While living in Sachaka, or should she say surviving in Sachaka, Laurena had noticed that her parents' eyes ceaselessly were cast back towards the mountains, towards Kyralia and towards the Guild. Unable to understand such loyalty, Laurena noted and wondered at the difference that could exist outside of her own volition, between her parents and their children. Nalia's departure for the institute now, however, brought her one step closer to them. Laurena tried to ignore the resentment that quietly simmered.

Akkarin cast around slightly for somewhere to sit, and eventually decided to place his back against the rock that, moments before, Laurena had been sitting against. He looked up at her, his eyebrow raised.

Laurena sighed and threw herself down beside him. Akkarin yawned, and stretched his arms above his head. Resting his head against the rock, he leant slightly towards Laurena, but kept his eyes on the horizon where the sun had finally covered the land in a deep golden light.

'Nalia is leaving soon, Laurena.'

Laurena winced. 'I know.'

'And you have decided not to see your sister off then?'

The disapproval was heavy in his voice. Laurena defended herself the only way she could, knowing it was a mistake from the first.

'It's not like that.' She snapped.

Angry defensiveness was never a good practice, Laurena knew. Not with her father. Or her mother. They lived in a world where childishness was unforgivably wasteful. And trivial.

Laurena got a peevish satisfaction out of seeing her father's lips tighten slightly. He turned to regard her fully.

'Then explain to me how it is.'

Laurena gulped as she saw her father's eyes glitter dangerously. She couldn't look at him. Not when he was like that.

'It's nothing.'

How could she explain it to him? How could she tell him what Nalia's journey to the Guild meant. And what it confirmed about her own suspicions. About her parents. About their life in Sachaka. That it wasn't real. That it wasn't wanted. That everything had been a lie. That her parents had always been striving for something greater. Something more. And that Laurena was being left out of that. That, to her, it was akin to being cast out of an exclusive group. Her family, to be exact. A part of her knew that she was being foolish, but another saw the message beneath her everyday reality. Nalia's move to the Guild, her enactment of her parents' dreams undermined the value of the life Laurena had always loved and relied upon to feel secure.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her tightly. Immediately tears came to Laurena's eyes. The relief she got from her father's embrace was palpable. It was a reassurance she needed in that moment. As Akkarin held her Laurena rested her head in the crook of his arm and cried.

Gently smoothing her hair, Akkarin murmured, 'Lauri. Lauri. Lauri. What are we going to do with you?'

Laurena couldn't answer.

'Look at me.'

Laurena shook her head.

'Come on, Laurena. I need to see you. I need to speak to you.'

Reluctantly, Laurena turned, trying furiously to wipe the tears from her eyes. Akkarin laughed gently. He reached out and brushed a tear from her cheek.

'You don't have to hide those tears from me, Laurena. I'm your father. Now, tell me this time, what is this all about.'

Laurena looked up into her father's face. He could often be quite harsh. Both he and her mother had suffered a lot in their exile, their second exile, in Sachaka. It had made them hard. Their moments of softness brief. But now her father was all compassion. She could see the softness in his eyes, the sharp pain that characterised the set of his lips. She had lived with them a long time, her parents. She knew them both. She loved them both. Fresh tears came to her eyes.

'Laurena, you are killing me.'

They weren't unreasonable, her parents either.

'I don't want Nalia to go to the Guild.'

Her father's eyes tightened, the creases in the corners deepening ever so slightly. He sighed, and glanced away briefly.

'Laurena, you know we can't change what is going to happen. This is a great opportunity for your sister. Would you really want us to ask her to give it all up?'

'Yes.'

He looked at her sharply. 'Laurena-'

'She's not going to come back. You know she won't. She-'

Can't.

'I know.'

'Then why-'

'Laurena-' he interrupted, 'look around you. What is there here for you all? There is only us. There is only us and this wasteland. Wandering around eternally, punishing ourselves for making the right decisions.'

He gently placed his hands on the sides of her face and looked earnestly into her eyes. 'My children do not deserve to be punished because of the decisions I have made. That we made.'

'It's not that bad,' she said softly.

'It's all you've ever known, Laurena.'

There is was again, that spectre. The shadow. The Guild.

Anger, burning and hot, raged suddenly through Luarena. She pulled her face away and stumbled to her feet. She stepped away from him, angrily casting about. At the sky, At the rocks. At the land. At home. A home which had been beaten and ruined by her family's expectations. By their desires. Ruined. Everything was ruined.

'Maybe it is all I've ever known, but does that make it any less, father.'

Her voice echoed against the rock walls. Her father's eyes widened in warning. They could never know if they were alone in the mountains. There was always the threat of Ichani. Of someone over hearing, and finding them. Laurena didn't care. Not in that moment. What did it matter if their lives were shattered? Her father was making a good enough job of doing that himself.

'You and mother, all you talk about is the Guild,' that wasn't necessarily true, but the unspoken word was just as loud as that which was spoken. 'What about the rest of us? What about me and Lorkin?' Again, Lorkin's place in this was questionable at best. She wished she had her brother's obliviousness at times. She watched as her father slowly climbed to his feet, steadying himself against the rock wall. He regarded her silently. His face closed.

'What about us? Your Sachakan children.' They had all been born in Sachaka. But she and Lorkin had been the first. Before they were married. Inspiration struck. She wanted to wound him. To hurt him just as he was hurting her. 'Your Sachakan bastards.'

Akkarin's head snapped up. The anger was evident as his jaw tightened. Eyes, eyes, glittering eyes. Anger. Sorrow. What did it matter to Laurena in that moment. Carried away in the heat of her hurt and upset. She saw the whole future before her in a flash. Nalia going to the Guild. Becoming a great magician. Her father and mother, their connection to the Guild restored. Turning their backs to the waste and facing forever towards the mountains. Turning their backs to her. Casting her out. She could never go to the Guild. Never join that exclusive group. It was enough to make her want to scream. In fact, she did.

As her father stepped towards her Laurena stepped back. She couldn't really see anymore. Her anger blinded her. Her tears stung. She gathered her power to her. In defiance of everything her parents had warned her about. About not wasting magic. About using magic only when she was in danger. About the importance of being able to protect herself. All those warnings and careful lessons were cast aside. As her father moved towards her, Laurena created a disc beneath her feet. Her father's eyes widened as he noticed the dust shifting at her feet. He moved quickly. Laurena was quicker. Before Akkarin could react Laurena had levitated over the side of the overhang and was gone.