Free Feudlings by Wendy Knight

um… fell off a ladder. Or rather, I fell off and then it landed on me."
    "When did this happen?" Will demanded.
    Ari winced. Obviously her attempt to soothe his fears hadn’t helped. "The day I got here. So, um, a week ago, I guess."
    "Did they take you to the hospital?"
    "No." She bit her lip.
    "What!?"
    "I'm fine, Will. I'm just tired. I'll try to get some pizza to you somehow or another, okay?"
    "Ari…" His voice held a warning, and Ari relented.
    "Will, I promise, if the headaches continue, I'll see a healer next time I'm home. I'm due for a visit anyway. It's been over a week since they've wanted me to kill anyone." Although she meant it to sound lighthearted, it sounded sad.
    "You could always walk away, Ari," Will said. She could hear sadness in his voice; they both knew her answer.
    "I can't. Somehow I have to find the Prodigy and kill him so I can stop the war and set you free. I’ll talk to you soon, Will, okay? Have a good night.” She hung up, loneliness creeping through her as her mind traveled back to places she couldn’t forget.
    Rarely, those in charge of the two sides — the Council for the Carules and the Family for the Edrens — let those who refused to fight walk away. But Will was too powerful, and he knew who the Prodigy was, which made him a threat. He couldn’t just walk away. The only way out was death.
    To circumvent that, the Renegades — those like Will who refused to fight — created colonies. There were powerful wards, like invisible walls, created by a combination of Edren and Carules magic that didn't allow anyone through. Except Ari, who for some reason could walk right through wards. The only way in or out was by using a saldepement spell, a spell that opened a doorway between both casters.
    The Renegades who lived there rarely left — it was just too dangerous. There were always Hunters watching them, waiting for them to leave. Then the Hunters attacked and collected the bounty for killing a Renegade.
    Needless to say, that made living difficult. They couldn't just run to the store for groceries or clothes. Everything they ate had to be raised or grown, and they had to make their own clothes, unless they wanted to risk sneaking out to the ‘real’ world to buy things. Will, who was a genius with computers, built his colony in an abandoned Normals town with electricity and plumbing. He had started his own company and employed many of his colonists.
    Ari sighed as she walked across the commons toward her dorm. She fought daily to forget the night she had found him, all those years ago. She had tracked Will with ferociousness, not remembering he was her brother, believing he wanted to kill her.
    She was young then, and believed everything the Family told her. She thought they knew it all, could do no wrong, and had her best interests at heart. That changed the minute her ten-year-old self crossed those wards. Edrens and Carules Renegades came running, all of them knowing who she must be, and all of them fearing for their safety. Will had to have known she was there to kill him. And yet, he had saved her.
    Ari cringed remembering that day. It was etched so forcefully into her brain that she couldn't get away from it. It was always there.
    She drew a lirik, the most powerful spell she knew, her eyes sweeping over the children, the old people. She didn’t care. They stood between her and her enemy.
    But then, over all the noise, over all the screaming, she heard him. "Arianna! Leave them be! It's me you want!" Will appeared through the smoke and the red and blue tangle of flames. She froze, surprised he knew her name. She felt his voice seeping down into her soul, past all the forget spells, and she remembered. She knew who he was and she knew he loved her. She remembered when he left he had tried to take her with him.
    “No, wait! She’s not attacking!” she heard Will scream, but it was too late. The spells had already been thrown. She didn’t know how many or even what they