A Fractured Light (Beautiful Dark)

new breeze and falling into my eyes. I felt even more connected than the day before. As I snaked up the path, trees moved, their roots untangling from the earth and then retrenching again in my wake. Branches bowed to let me pass. I was a part of the natural world, working in tandem with it and yet controlling it, too. It was exhilarating and strange.
    The end of the trail opened into a clearing at the base of the woods. The sky was beginning to grow too dark for me to continue back through the heavy brush, so instead of doubling back through the trees, I jogged out onto the road. As I ran along, I created a tiny bright ball of fire in my hands, setting it free to guide me in the darkness.
    I was just rounding a curve when I heard a staccato noise behind me, growing louder. I sped up, and the noise behind me sped up, too. My body jolted into high alert.
    I’m being followed.
    Dusk had settled along the tree-lined road. With the orb of light to guide me, I was fine as long as the true darkness held off until I got home. But it also meant that my pursuer had an easy way to track me. Spring was nearing, but it wasn’t here yet, and I knew that as soon as the sun set completely, the freezing cold night would fall over the mountains. On the silent road, something crunched on the gravel behind me. I whipped around, my hands raised to throw fire or wind or sleet or whatever I needed to protect myself. I was pretty sure my practice would pay off.
    Between my outstretched fingertips, I could just make out a face. Devin’s. Our eyes met in the dusk. My body went cold.
    “Don’t,” he called. “Don’t attack.”
    “What do you want?” A familiar voice cut in from behind me. I turned to see Gideon. There was a hollow toughness to his eyes, and anyone could tell from looking at him now that he’d been in some difficult battles before. “Get away from her,” he growled. “Leave her alone. Haven’t you done enough?”
    “She doesn’t need you to fight her battles,” Devin said calmly, his absolute tranquility radiating to me from where he stood. I began to let my hands fall to my sides. The calming shift in mood seemed to have no effect on Gideon.
    “Did you hear me?” Gideon barked. “Leave her alone . She doesn’t want you anywhere near her. I can’t stand to look at you.”
    Devin looked at me—as if he was asking a question of me with his eyes. As if he expected me to understand what he was thinking. The look in his eyes was almost pleading. What? I wanted to say. No, I wanted to scream it. What do you want? But I kept silent, tried to look stony even though I was torn up inside. He didn’t get to ask me questions. He didn’t deserve my sympathy.
    When he realized I wasn’t going to say another word, he glanced over my shoulder at Gideon. Then he set his jaw, turned, and in a flash of white feathers, he was gone.
    “Are you okay?” Gideon asked. His face seemed flushed in the dusk, and his dark hair was wild, as if he’d been running—or flying. “What happened?”
    “Nothing,” I said. “He was following me. That’s all.” Even though it was the truth, I realized there was a defensive note in my voice—like I was trying to protect Devin. Gideon frowned. He’d seemed so sweet and laid-back at school—but there was no mercy in his eyes tonight.
    “Probably trying to shake you up, make you feel vulnerable.” He nodded to himself. “He wants to get back on your good side. So he doesn’t attack just yet. He doesn’t come off as a threat right away.”
    I shivered. “You really think that’s what he’s doing?”
    “He’s trying to make you think he’s asking forgiveness. I’ve seen it happen before. You’re too smart to fall for that.”
    Am I? I wondered. If Gideon hadn’t come along, would I have caved and let Devin talk? Would I have been powerless to his calming presence? Devin and I had spent so much time together. He had helped me so much, believed I could be the warrior he knew I was deep down. He’d pushed me harder than anyone had ever pushed me before. I’d felt so close to him, and when we were both able to break down each other’s walls, it came as just as much a shock to him as it did to me.
    But when I had stared into his familiar blue eyes just now, he seemed like a stranger.
    “I’m glad you were here,” I said to Gideon. “Thank you.”
    “Don’t mention it,” he said. He stared down the darkening road where Devin had vanished, his gaze losing focus for