The torcat by her side flicked his twin tails. Almost a year you have trailed him, he grumbled through their mind-link. Why do we not just let him go?

"And lose the reward? We need the gold for when we're free of the Wizard. I won't find employment immediately. We'll want food and shelter, and clothing," Seranne added, staring at the ripped hem of her once-blue gown.

"We had food and shelter in the village." Ril's eyes twirled a rainbow of colours. "And you were employed by the Wizard. My pads are cracked. My legs are sore. My fur is full of dust. All for some gold?"

"And our freedom, Ril," Seranne told her bond-mate. "Wizard Targie promised our freedom if we return with the casket. Just imagine not having him shout at me, and no more being called 'stupid girl.' Targie only let me hunt Myo because he knows I must always return to the castle. My mother was a fool to gift a lock of my baby hair to a Wizard, but she didn't know how it would tie me to him."

"How near is your brother?" The torcat began to clean his grey fur.

"He's no blood-kin of mine," she snapped, "and you know that, Ril. Myo Garel is my step-brother."

"Does he know yet that we followed him?"

"I sense no awareness of us. We made good time yesterday, and he's no way of knowing we're ahead of him."

"How near is he?"

"We should see him by the time the sun is fully risen."

But as Seranne spoke the first rays caught a young man as he stepped out from among the trees.

"How did he fool my track-spell? I still sense him within the forest." Seranne frowned. "That spell's never failed me before. Ril, I'm not ready. My net-spell is incomplete."

"Then finish it." Ril peered through the concealing bush. "He seems in no hurry."

"How did he appear without me knowing?" Seranne's frown deepened. "It's almost as if... Myo knows no magic, yet we see his image while the real Myo's elsewhere. Did he steal more than the Wizard's casket?"

Ril's ears twitched. He eyes twirled gold as he stared through the bush.

The young man surveyed the surrounding countryside from the edge of the forest. His bronze tunic was immaculate, his nut-brown hair recently groomed, and not a smudge marred his handsome face.

Seranne looked at her dirty, torn gown which had once been summer-sky blue but was now grey with travel grime. She had tracked her quarry for a moon-cycle, yet he looked as fresh as at the beginning of his journey.

She reached out cautiously through the track-spell. The real Myo Garel continued his fight through the forest. Seranne eased back through the link.

"He is still journeying?"

"Yes, but he's not far now. I still don't understand how he knew such a difficult spell. He's had no training." The girl's hands wove invisible threads in the air as she worked to complete her spell.

Ril twitched his tails. "What are the contents of the Wizard's casket?"

Seranne raised a questioning eyebrow as her hands continued their weaving.

"Why is Wizard Targie so interested in retrieving the casket?" Ril asked. "Why is it so special?"

"I've never known the contents," Seranne replied. "It was kept in his room with his Book of Spells and the Crystal Ball"

"They are all magic." It was a statement, not a question. "Perhaps the casket contains such an item, which gives the bearer some power."

Seranne nodded, her hands tying off invisible threads. She completed her spell and turned her full attention to the torcat. His cleaned fur glistened silver-grey in the growing sunlight.

"But what item of magic would be kept in a carved wood box?"

"He comes!" Ril warned.

The young man's image merged with his real self. Myo's tunic was now blotched with dirt, the hem tattered, and one sleeve was torn from cuff to elbow.

"Now!" Ril commanded.

Seranne threw her spell.

Myo Garel yelled as the net-spell landed. He fought the invisible bonds, clawing at what he could not see, but the net tightened and he was securely caught.

Seranne hurried across the open ground, Ril bounding at her heels.

Myo snarled as he saw her. "Was this your doing?" He twisted and turned but could not escape the net. He glared at the torcat. "This is your influence. My sister would never..."

"We are not blood-kin," Seranne retorted. "You have no right to call me sister."

His struggles ceased. "Sera, we are kin through our parents' marriage."

"Your mother married my father. The choice wasn't mine. I deny any kin-tie with you."

"Sera, you are my sister, my only sibling. Blood-kin or not, you can't do this to me."

"I deny any kin-tie with you," Seranne repeated.

Myo scowled. "Then what do you want of me?"

"The Wizard's casket."

"That doesn't surprise me. It's Targie's most prized possession..."

"Why do you name it such? He has others worth more."

"In gold worth, perhaps, but this is worth more to him personally. You don't know?" Myo asked. "No, I see you don't. Then why do you want it?"

"Wizard Targie promised a reward for its return."

"That's no surprise. What's he offering?"

"My freedom," Seranne replied. "The return of my lock of baby hair, which binds me to him, and a bag of gold."

"Is that all? He should be offering everything he owns."

"Why? What's in the casket?"

Myo sighed. "You'll have to discover the secret for yourself, just as I did."

"What secret?" Seranne demanded. "What's in the casket?"

He shook his head. "I wish you'd just go away."

The world turned dark around Seranne, with no difference between sky and ground. It was all a uniform grey. The forest was gone, as were Myo and Ril. She stood in a nothing place where the grimy blue of her gown was the only hint of colour.

"Ril!"

There was no reply.

Seranne dropped to the ground, feeling solid beneath her feet but her hands touched nothing either side; as if the ground were present only where she sat. She was somewhere out of time and place, cut off from contact with her bond-mate. Seranne huddled her arms around her knees, sobbing her fear of being alone. Ril had been part of her life for ten sun-cycles, and to be shut off from him was to lose a part of herself. She was deaf and almost totally blind in this place. And she was so very much alone.

Then, from a great distance, she felt his call.

"Ril?" Her throat hurt with the yell. "Ril, where are you?" She put all her strength into the mind-call. "Ril, help me. Please!"

Nothing changed.

Nothing moved.

Seranne called up a vision of where she had been; seeing the forest, the sun rising over grassy plains, Myo bound and unable to move, Ril arguing with their captive as she knew he would. It brought a smile, a touch of humour to lighten the fear.

She tried to draw herself back, but her magic failed. Then she understood. This place was controlled by someone else's power, blocking access to her own. She drew in a deep breath, and sensed a hint of Wizard Targie mingled with another she didn't recognise.

It could only be Myo, but how had Myo formed such a strong spell. It was impossible for someone untrained to cast such magic.

"Ril," she sobbed. "I need you."

Instantly she was at the forest edge, with Ril rubbing his delight around her legs. She caressed the torcat, dripping tears into the silver-grey fur. The return of their bond was sunshine after a storm.

"Thank you for bringing me back. It was horrible, like a wall between us."

Ril's eyes twirled rainbows. "I could not bring you back, as I did not send you away." The torcat flicked his tails and turned his gaze on Myo.

"He has no magic. How could he cast such a spell?" Seranne glared at her step-brother. "What's in the casket?"

Myo squirmed as the invisible bonds tightened. "It's empty."

"There must have been something," she snapped, "some item of magic that gave you power. How else could you create your own image, and send me away as you did?"

"It's empty," Myo repeated. "It's there, behind me. Get your friend to look."

Ril moved to behind Myo. "The casket is here. It is open and empty."

Myo faced Seranne's anger.

"What did you do with the contents?" she demanded.

"There was nothing in it. It's only a wood box with a carved lid." He shrugged. "I thought I could sell it."

"You'd get little for a wooden box," she scoffed.

Myo shrugged again. "It wasn't even locked."

He is right. The lock has not been forced. Why would anyone steal an empty box. And how... Seranne picked up the fist-sized box. She turned it over and around in her hands, her fingertips caressing the eagles carved in the lid. "I can feel the Wizard's power, but can't sense any impression of what this held." She raised the lid, then placed the empty box beside Ril. "What can you sense?"

Emerald was flecked with gold as the torcat stared into the box. He sniffed, and his tails quivered. "The wood smells of magic."

"Is it what I think?"

"The wood smells of magic."

"Listen to what he's saying, Sera. There never was anything in the box."

"I know," she replied. "This is Wizard Targie's wish-casket, probably his end-of-training gift from his Master." She waved an arm in Myo's direction, and suddenly he was free.

He collapsed, lying still for a moment before sitting up and rubbing his arms and legs.

"Thank you, Sera. You trust me now?"

"No! You used the casket to send me to that other place. You're a worm!"

A fat earthworm that had been Myo Garel wriggled in the dust, on ground so hard it could find no shelter from the growing sunlight. Seranne raised a foot and the worm squelched beneath her boot.

"If you use your magic for killing, you will lose your power!"

"Is that why the Wizard's power comes only from this?" Seranne touched the box with the toe of her boot, as if somehow it was a threat to her.

"You have to restore him," Ril urged, "before it's too late."

"But he sent me to that place. He cut me off from you."

"He did not understand the power," Ril explained. "He stole the casket to save you from the Wizard. Myo disliked seeing you as slave to Targie, and he knew nothing of your tie to the Wizard."

Seranne made no comment.

"Quickly! Before the sun dries his remains and you are unable to save him."

"I s'pose he could have wished a lot worse on me," Seranne murmured.

A shimmer formed and solidified into Myo.

"He will not be aware of your actions," Ril told her through their mind-link.

"Why don't you trust me?" Myo continued their earlier conversation as if there had been no interruption. "I worked out that Targie's power came from the casket, he couldn't do a spell unless it was nearby. I didn't like the way he treated you, so I removed the source of his power. I didn't realise I'd be able to use it," he added. "I don't want to be a sorcerer."

"There is a way to stop Targie's magic," said Ril, "and it will hurt no one." He outlined his idea to Seranne through their mind-link.

She smiled, picked up the casket and wished.

The sun disappeared.

They were surrounded by castle walls, with a narrow window showing daylight which didn't reach inside. In the centre of the turret room was a wooden table, from which a candle's blue light reached all cobwebbed corners of the room. Beside the candle were a heavy leather-bound book and a crystal ball.

Seranne placed the casket beside the book.

She turned as the door opened.

An old man scuffed through the doorway, wispy white hair fluttering in the draught. His clothes and cloak were plain black.

"So, you brought him back," the old man wheezed, his gaze flicking to Myo then to the table and the restored casket. His back straightened. "I suppose you'll want some kind of reward?"

"You promised my freedom, Targie," said Seranne, "and gold."

The Wizard cackled. "Gold? If I had such riches I wouldn't be living in a draughty old castle."

"But you promised!"

"I'm the Master here," yelled Targie. "I can say and do as I please."

Myo stepped up beside Seranne. "You're wrong there, old man. I discovered your secret."

Targie scowled. "You think your mother's marriage to one of my villagers gives you rights here?" He shuffled across to the table.

"Your villagers?" Seranne queried. "What makes you think we belong to you? We work for you, and for that you protect us, but you don't own us."

"Be quiet, girl. Get about your work. You're too outspoken." The Wizard put his hand beside the Book of Spells. "It's time you were taught a real lesson."

"No," Seranne replied. "It's your turn." She pointed at the wooden box and blue lightning flashed from her fingertips.

The casket dissolved into a pile of wood shavings.

"You stupid girl! What do you think you're doing?"

Seranne pointed again. A flame devoured the pile, then danced through the ashes until nothing remained.

"You stupid, stupid girl," screamed the Wizard. "You don't know what you've done."

"Oh, yes, I do," she said. "I've destroyed the only power you've ever had. It's time you were stopped. You're a brutal, evil old man."

Tears slid down wrinkled cheeks.

"Without the casket," Seranne continued, "you can do no more harm. You can stay in the castle and the villagers will work for you as they always have."

Targie's shoulders drooped. "And you'll take over?"

"I have my own plans." Seranne turned to Myo. "You are free to choose your own future, brother, but don't think it will be shared with me."

He nodded. "There's a village girl my mother would like as a daughter-in-law, and I have no real objections," he added, grinning.

"Thank you for helping us. I leave it to you to ensure Targie's comfort." Seranne waved a hand, and Myo disappeared.

Seranne turned to the old man. "You won't be needing this now." She placed a hand on the leather-bound book. "You promised me gold, but can't keep your promise, so I'm taking this instead."

He said nothing.

She dropped a spell over the book, reducing it to palm-size, then slipped it in the pocket of her gown.

Targie's lips moved, but no sound came out.

"What is it, old man? What are you saying?"

"You don't know what you've done," he whispered, as something rumbled beneath their feet.

Ril leapt into Seranne's arms, eyes twirling white, fur bristled.

"What's that noise?" Seranne demanded.

Targie's lips moved again.

The floor rocked. The walls groaned. The old man leaned on the table, head bowed.

Seranne yelled a word.

Warm sunshine caressed the three. Targie crumpled to the grass and lay still. Then a cloud of dust engulfed them. Seranne and Ril coughed and choked, but through the dust they watched the four turrets fold inwards as the castle collapsed.

The dust cleared. Ril and Seranne stood in an open grassed area, with no sign there had ever been a castle.

"Where's Targie, Ril? Did he escape?"

"His time was ended long ago. You have merely given him freedom."

"And we have ours." Seranne held out her hand. In her palm was a lock of baby hair. "It was always kept in the Book of Spells, but it was locked against me."

"You have no gold," Ril observed, twitching his tails.

"We don't need it." Seranne patted the small book in her pocket. "We have something far better."