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would not constantly feel their emotions. As an empath, feeling the emotions of others could be quite a burden. He pointed toward Halister’s door, asking if she was concerned about him. She shook her head no. Pointing at her, he guessed her game again. Once more, she replied no, but this time she pointed at Daegan. 
    Pulling him close so she could whisper to him, she said, “There are ears here. Something is at work. Do not sleep tonight.”
    Shivers went up his spine. There was something different about her voice—or the way she said the words—that bothered him, but he frowned and nodded nonetheless. Even the frown on Rheina’s face at her own words was confusing.
    “Goodnight, Daegan,” she spoke softly. Daegan looked back at her, questioning. She straightened her shoulders and walked directly into her room, shutting the door heavily behind her. Daegan turned back to his room, pausing briefly to look back at her door with scrutiny. Something is going on with Rheina. She is entitled and reclusive, but she has never spoken to me like this before—so serious.
    “Goodnight, Rheina,” he whispered to her door before heading back to his own door. He pondered her words curiously. This is too much for one night, he thought. He brushed it aside and went about his routine of cleaning his swords and knives that he had strapped to various parts of his body: back, hip, boot, and inner thigh. He tried several times to keep from falling asleep, but eventually he ended up lying on top of the covers of his bed with his hands behind his head, staring out the open window at the moons and the stars in the night sky. It was quiet as he fell into deep slumber.
     
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    Something was pulling heavily at his magic. It was pulling and tugging at the center of his core, stretching and caressing his magic toward some unseen end. The air was heavy; Daegan felt like he was suffocating under a pile of blankets. It was dark and he couldn’t see anything around him. He could feel his body moving, responding to an unseen call of foreign magic. He tried to fight it. He was frightened; for a moment he was a little boy running into the wilderness of Alandria, running toward nothing and away from everything he had ever known. It was suffocating not knowing where he was going, where he would end up, where he would find freedom, where he would find safety.
    A spark of his inner magic shocked him into awareness. He was moving against his will. A flash of his body fighting him earlier that day struck fear up his spine. NO! A roar of raw desperation and anger at the very invasiveness of what was happening rose within Daegan. It was primal and it carried the tone of freedom laced within it.
    Suddenly, he felt the threads upon his muscles loosen enough that he was able to regain some feeling as his feet were taking steps without him and his arms were moving swiftly at his sides while his fists were clenched. He did not yet have the power to stop where he was going, but at least he was becoming a little more aware. If he was aware, perhaps he could stop whatever was about to happen. And if not, he might wish he was still asleep.
    Daegan focused all his magical energy that he could sense within himself, trying to gain more control. Why is this happening? Why can I not stop it? “Agghhh!” With another push of his magic from his core being into each muscle he felt a snap. Suddenly he stopped moving. His eyes flew open and he could see all around him. It was hazy at first, but as he regained his sight, he saw where he was—on the edge between the heavily dense part of the forest within Guardians Grove and the outlying homes of the shifter camp.
    Fear spiked in Daegan’s gut. His heart started beating hard and he began breathing heavily. Something bad was about to happen. He was sure of it. Why would he be here? He had friends in this camp, or at least beings that he looked out for. They had already lost so much with the different ones