"The hell are you talking about?" Levi growled, pushing himself off of the wall and taking a threatening step towards Muna.

"You know where it is," Muna whispered in the echoing silence of the room, lest the guard overheard their conversation.

"No one knows where it is," Levi snorted, brushing the sandy hair off of his face, "you've had your head filled with fantasies by some conman. Young girls like you shouldn't be chasing after lost ruins."

Muna blinked silently back at Levi for a moment before speaking again, " I met an old acquaintance of yours back in the city of Romur..."

"Ahmed," Levi snarled, "what's he been blabbing?"

"Why are you in here Levi?" Muna shot back at Levi’s suddenly surprised expression.

"I'm a criminal!" he laughed. "You think I'm in here because I volunteered sweetheart?"

"I think you're going to die tomorrow," Muna replied coldly, not failing to notice the flicker of anger in Levi's grey eyes.

"And you just thought you'd come and remind me did you?" Levi said hoarsely with an irritated gesture of his hands.

"Did you know that prisoners do not always have to fight for themselves in the ring?" Muna asked. "They can have a champion - someone who fights on their behalf."

"Champions have to volunteer," Levi bit back, "it doesn't exactly happen very often. There's no point - you're up against twenty trained sorcerers so you're going to lose and when you do - the original prisoner gets executed anyway."

"I want to make a deal with you Levi," Muna whispered, dropping her voice but still annunciating clearly so as to ensure Levi did not mistake her words.

"What kind of deal?" Levi muttered, spitting out half of a thumbnail he had managed to finally chew off.

"Do you know the way to Alack?" Muna asked firmly, her dark eyes narrowing at Levi's confused and thoughtful face.

"What if I did?" he swallowed, his own voice dropped low and quiet.

"If you did," Muna paused, "I would be your champion."

Sure enough, Levi's mouth gaped open and his eyes widened in shock.

"You would also have to be prepared to take someone there," Muna added quickly, "and swear to your promise with a Seprimo seal."

A 'Seprimo seal' was the most unbreakable of magical promises, something that locked two souls of magic together.

"Even if I die - my magic will still exist through the Seprimo and if you do not live up to your promise - it will destroy you," Muna finished firmly.

"Even if...wait - what the fuck?" Levi exclaimed, holding his hands up and backing away, stalking straight into the wall behind him with a thud. "First things first sweetheart - what makes you think you stand a better chance against twenty sorcerers than I do?"

"I do," Muna stated simply and expressionlessly as Levi clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"And what do you mean by ‘even if you die’?" he asked. "Isn't it you I'd be taking to Alack?"

"No," Muna replied, before pausing tentatively, "it would be my brother."

"What about you?" Levi asked suspiciously, "Where are you going to be? You know if you die I still get the chop!"

"Only if I die before defeating all the sorcerers," Muna interjected pointedly. "If I triumph over the twenty, then you are free to go and you can begin on your journey to Alack with my brother."

"This is insane," Levi muttered, running his hands down his grime clad face. Muna absently wondered when he had last showered or bathed?

"You spend time questioning the sanity of my proposal and yet without it, in less than twenty-four hours you will surely be dead," Muna told Levi, ignoring his noises of protestation. "I have been searching for someone with knowledge of Alack for a very long time Levi, six years in fact. I have traced you down from city to city only to find you here, on the eve of your execution. Nothing will stand in the way of me securing you as a guide, do you understand me? Not twenty sorcerers, not twenty thousand."

"Why?" Levi croaked, "What's in Alack that's worth dying for?"

"Life," Muna hissed, her eyes flaming as she stared unblinkingly back at Levi.

Levi looked back at her for at least a minute before letting out a defeated laugh.

"Sure," he rasped, "what the hell have I got to lose? It's your life you're gambling sweetcheeks. Tell me what you want me to promise then?"

"Good," Muna breathed back, letting her chest collapse in relief as she sank to her knees and held out her hand. Both her and Levi would have to use their magic to bind the promise spell.

As they had grown older, using dark magic had become more and more painful and dangerous for Muna and Hani, but it was the only kind they had.

Every spell sucked more life from them. Every incantation blackened their veins that little bit more. Their magic was their curse, rotting them away from the inside out.

Muna would need all her strength for the next day, but the Seprimo was essential, without it a criminal like Levi could abandon Hani immediately and turn back on his word - leaving her brother to fend for himself in a world without her.

"You must swear," Muna began, her voice cracking with the weight of what this meant, "that if I triumph as your champion tomorrow and you walk free." She took another deep breath, steadying her already frayed nerves and coursing adrenalin. "You will immediately go with my brother Hani and show him the way to Alack, you will ensure he arrives in the city safely. You will protect him at all costs and you will honour this deal with your life."

Levi gasped as he saw the darkened tendrils of Muna's magic twist its way from her fingertips, crawling towards him in seeking probes. The next time he looked back at her it was with an expression of sudden understanding.

"I swear," he replied as his own magic seeped from his skin and intertwined with hers. Suddenly, the glowing strands shot forwards to wrap around the wrist of the other person in a searing lash of power.

Muna grit her teeth as the magic burned through her, leaving her skin scorched with the unmistakable mark of a Seprimo. Levi clenched his jaw and stared straight back at her, also refusing to cry out in pain or jerk his hand away as the skin on his wrist hissed and bubbled with watery blood.

"It is done," Muna announced hoarsely as the light dimmed back down, leaving the cell shrouded in darkness once again. She lifted herself gingerly to her feet, refusing to reach out to the nearby wall for balance or support, "I will see you tomorrow at the Trials."

"You may be born of dark magic," Levi called out after Muna's retreating form, causing her to halt in the doorway and tilt her head back to him. "But there's still going to be twenty sorcerers in that ring."

"I will handle it," Muna replied stiffly, pulling her shawl back over her head, "All you have to do is find my brother Hani.”

Muna closed her eyes and let out a stilted breath before she called for the guard to lead her out of the prison.

*Back to Present Time*

'Only twins can share their power, and even then it must be willingly given, never stolen.'

Muna stared back at the torn pages of the manuscript she had brought with them to Nigeb. She glanced up at Hani's slumbering form.

Never stolen

That didn't mean it couldn’t be stolen - especially between twins born of dark magic. They were one of those fantastically obscure and rare exceptions to the rules of magic. Muna's lips curled up in a dry and mirthless smile as she rolled the manuscript up and tucked it away with the others in Hani's bag. In a place where he would eventually find them.

Muna stood up with care, reaching towards the mosaic tiled blue ceiling to stretch her arms before leaning side to side to let her back click satisfyingly. She then padded softly over to her sleeping brother and bent down to push the black hair from his face.

"Forgive me Hani," Muna murmured softly, "my power alone is not enough to defeat the sorcerers. I know it seems like I'm leaving you weaker than ever - but it's your only chance."

Muna paused to wipe a stray and treacherous tear from her cheek. "I know it will be hard for you to understand," she whispered, "but we're dying Hani - both of us. We won't make it another year with the curse of dark magic corrupting our souls, consuming us and rotting us." She let out a trembling breath, pressing her fingers to her lips before reaching down to his and doing the same.

"I cannot let you die Hani," Muna whispered to the silent room and the sleeping boy. "I can already feel myself crumbling at my foundations, this will be my last gift to you - an attempt to save you."

Muna opened her mouth as if to say more, before promptly shutting it and shaking her head. There was nothing left to do other than place her hand upon her brother's heart and take every last drop of his power from him. He would still be born of dark magic, he would still be dying - but if Levi could just get him to Alack...

If Muna could just be strong enough to triumph the following day and ensure that Levi walked free.

Muna stared at the vivid white scars of her earlier Seprimo burns on the inside of her wrist. She watched as the skin around them darkened whilst she sucked the power out of her brother's soul as he slept.

The scars remained bright and stark against the dark.