Angelina, Gordon, and Simon grew up in a town gone mad, in a world bent on Stalking and killing all wizards, young and old. Born magical, the fourteen, ten, and seventeen year olds have escaped Iroquois Falls with the help of a strong wizard, StarBen, and they've started their journey north to a wizard school where they can train and live free, magical lives. On the way, the fell into a dark maze trap, pursued by darker creatures they'd hoped to have escaped from around town. The three youth must face the rest of their trip alone while StarBen leads their dogged pursuers off, but what if StarBen should need help? What if the trio can't make the trip north without him?
Genre: YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Fantasy / General“Still nothing.” Simon crept in by the low fire that Gordon was carefully tending. “I found rabbit tracks. The traps are set, so we might get some fresh kills for when we head out tomorrow.”
Angelina’s head shot up from her work skinning the last rabbit he’d snared. It was disgusting work, and she still wasn’t doing it right, but she was taking her turns like everyone else. And hunger had a way of steeling even most squeamish person’s nerves.
“We’ve everything we need here,” she insisted. “We can wait it out.”
Simon’s snicker was sarcastic with a hint of anxiety. Their coats were all dirty from recent rains and muddy runs, and boots showed new stains and random nicks. Hair and clothes were in bad need of a wash yet again. The local stream they’d found was too small, and they couldn’t afford to be out in the open long enough to bathe. Angelina almost wanted to risk being spotted just get properly clean. She missed clean.
“We can’t keep using that stream you found, Angelina,” Simon grunted, “and this is the last of our wood. We can’t make wood rejuvenate itself like he could. That fire wood’s somewhere else.”
Angelina could roll with the punches. “So we’ll go find some.”
“Three days,” Simon grumbled. The seventeen year old stared out into the morning haze. “They’ve been around too. I found their tracks the one time. If he’s leading them off so they aren’t on us, I’d say he missed a few.”
He stared back at Angelina in the hollow beneath the overgrown tree.
“They’ll be back again,” Simon groaned, “only, they’ll widen their search. They’re smart. We’ve lasted three days here, but we can’t wait any longer.”
