can ask for a vision.” Providing Emane hadn’t been bubbled, it should work. Kiora settled down on her bedroll, asking for a vision of the moment Emane left camp. It came quickly as requested, and Kiora pushed it outwards to watch.
A furry, grey animal bumbled its way into camp. Finding Emane’s amulet it chirped happily, biting down and pulling at the cord before running off, dragging along the amulet. Emane chased after it. Kiora followed him through the forest, desperately trying to watch the surroundings. He wrestled the amulet free and then gasped at the blood-red amulet swinging in his hands.
“Oh no!” Kiora whispered.
“What is it?” Drustan asked.
Waving him off, she kept watching.
Emane turned his head, scanning the area. Then the vision changed. It went fuzzy and dark, beginning to falter. She held tight to it, refusing to let go. Emane spun around, fighting with something she couldn’t see. He fell face first into the dirt, attacked by something— Kiora couldn’t tell what it was. Emane struggled and thrashed before going limp. And then, even stranger, he was lifted off the ground and moved through the forest. He looked like a rag doll floating through the air, moving farther and farther away. The vision darkened with each second before finally fading into nothing.
Relaying the vision to Drustan, Kiora said, “I don’t understand.”
Drustan ran his hand through his black hair, the red streak fanning backwards. “It sounds like something didn’t want you to see what happened.”
“How would it know I was looking?” Kiora objected.
“Not necessarily you—anyone.” Drustan paced back and forth now, as agitated as Kiora had ever seen him.” There is magic that can block visions.”
Kiora stilled, dread creeping in again. “Like the story Epona told me,” she recalled, “about the one who stole the lights.”
“Yes, though I doubt anything that powerful would be interested in Emane,” he answered, still marching back and forth, hands clasped behind his back. “The only other thing I know of with that ability is an Illusionist.”
“A what?”
Drustan waved her off. “I can explain what I know on the way. Do you think you could get me close to where Emane disappeared in the vision?”
Kiora pushed herself to her feet. “I can try.” She went from worried to angry as she glanced over at Emane’s empty bedroll. “I cannot believe he just left.”
“You and I both.” Drustan gritted his teeth. “We can yell at him when we find him.”
Choosing to leave the horses behind, they headed out to retrace as much of Emane’s journey as they could. Not sensing any dangerous threads they decided against the use of a bubble. If Kiora used up all her magic trying to find Emane, she wouldn’t have anything left to defend herself with.
“Illusionists are dangerous and terrifying if you don’t know what you’re dealing with. At first glance you’ll think it’s a Shapeshifter.”
“They can change their shapes?” Kiora asked while seeking the small clearing she’d seen in her vision.
“No, it only looks that way.” Drustan pushed an overhanging tree branch out of the way. “Hence the name, Illusionists. They can make you see whatever they want you to.” Drustan waited until Kiora was ahead of him before letting the branch snap back. “But,” he said over his shoulder, “if they can get you to believe what you are seeing, the illusion becomes solid enough to affect you. That’s where the danger comes in.”
Finding something that looked familiar, Kiora sighed in relief. “This way,” she said, turning right. “So if you don’t believe what you’re seeing they’re harmless. But if you do believe it, then they can hurt you?”
“Yes. Let’s say, for example, it turned into a dragon. If you listen only to the thread, and know that what you’re seeing is nothing but an illusion, you could walk right though it. But if the Illusionist can make you ignore the thread and believe what you’re seeing, the illusion becomes solid.”
Kiora turned next at a broken-down pine whose trunk poked up at an odd angle. She asked, “If it turned into a dragon, could it blow fire?”
“If you were convinced enough, I think so. Even after you get past the illusion, you must be careful. They are masters of potions.” Drustan shook his head. “They have a potion for anything you can imagine.”
“Potions . . . ” Kiora trailed off, her pace slowing. “In my vision it looked like Emane’s mouth was forced open. He struggled, like he didn’t want to swallow.”