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Rayn looked at the tree and looked back at the body beneath it. It looked almost as if the corpse was part of the landscape - the tree at the edge of the garden, surrounded by grass, with a few other trees some distance away. The tree roots that grew out of the ground half covered the corpse, leaving only the ends of the limbs, a bit of the chest, and the face above ground. The pale face looked peaceful in the morning light - too peaceful, like a sculpture, carved out of wax rather than made of flesh. The eyes were closed and the lips slightly parted, giving the impression that the person had just fallen asleep while the tree decided to grow around them, wrapping them like a blanket. It looked like they must've died very recently, mostly the previous night, since there were no signs of decomposition. Also, the body would've been found much earlier otherwise, since this was a popular public place.

This was the second such spectacle that had been found by the Peacekeepers. A family of three had found the body behind the big apple tree and reported it. While asked about it, the father had said that their six year old daughter had been searching for apples, while they were having a picnic. Having already found two apples by the big tree, she had gone around it looking for more when she saw the body and told her parents.

Rayn shivered at the thought of a little girl having to see such a thing. The sight of the body, even with the lack of any particular gore, made Rayn a touch queasy and plenty sad. He could not stop imagining life in the face and wondering what kind of a person they might've been.

Two people found dead in such a fashion could be no coincidence. The first one had been found a couple of days ago in the outskirts of the city. A different family had found a man nearly enclosed in a tree trunk in their farmyard, like he had been in the process of merging with it. The Peacekeepers hadn't identified either of the victims yet.

Rayn started to notice that the crowd was getting too big for his taste. Peacekeepers were everywhere. They wore brown coats over their vests. Each of them had a wand sticking out from their belt - one that they could use to send an electric shock from the end when it touched a person. They also carried pistols with them, though they didn't have much use for either weapon out here. They were trying to make people leave, but were not very successful in their efforts. Rayn thought he'd seen enough. He didn't think he'd learn much more by staying.

He turned back to leave, pushing past the crowd, from the inner edge of the circle that the Peacekeepers had established around the tree. There hadn't been such a gathering where the first body was found. He figured it was probably because this was a popular place in the middle of the city. But Rayn had been there too. An incident such as this was hardly commonplace, but he would wager that most, if not all of the crowd gathered here would have no idea of a previous incident. It was not publicized at all, since it might cause public outcry. And news traveled slowly from the outskirts of the city, and not much at all from other places.

People in Feuria strongly believed that they were safe. This did not mean that crime was nonexistent in the city or that murders didn't happen. It only meant that they were "safe" from magic. But this belief would be shaken today, and even more so in the coming days, when more people came to know about the other incident and that the person responsible wasn't caught yet. Rayn was pretty shocked too. This strongly held belief was not necessarily misguided, even though Rayn thought the notion to be stupid. Somehow, to these people, it mattered whether a crime was committed using magic or not. This perception of safety from magic was based on the fact that the Peacekeepers could always trace magic back to its user. They were especially diligent in hunting down alleged criminals who used magic, even if they weren't as determined about stopping other crimes or about "keeping the peace".

They could trace magic because magic always left a mark, a metaphorical 'scent' that was unique to the user. Even though only Peacekeepers had the techniques and methods to trace it, any magic user could sense the imprint that magic left on its surroundings.

Rayn stopped dead in his tracks. He cursed to himself and ran back to the garden. He had only walked a few metres away. The crowd had grown. He tried to push his way back in, but it was impossible. He'd only gotten so close at first because he'd gotten here even before there was a crowd. But he was entirely sure of it. Standing that close to the body, he had felt absolutely nothing. Thinking back to it now, he couldn't remember sensing anything at the earlier site either. Someone had committed two murders using magic, and had left no imprint of it at all. Rayn felt a chill go down his spine as he pictured the body that lay past this throng of gawkers, enclosed in tree roots, peacefully asleep.

"I can't believe that I didn't notice it at the first crime scene, Sera. It should've been obvious".

Rayn was pacing back and forth back in his room.

"Well, the use of magic was so evident to anybody's eyes. So maybe you just didn't bother reaching out with your other 'sense'", answered a voice from the other end of the room.

"Maybe, but I still feel quite stupid for not realizing it sooner", Rayn replied, turning his gaze towards the mirror in the room. His lean but tall form had a restless manner to it. His jet black hair and glasses were the only things that stood out, at least in Rayn's own opinion.

"The important thing is that you know now. It explains why the Peacekeepers haven't found the murderer yet and how there was a second murder", said the voice in its usual thoughtful manner. 'The voice' is all he could describe her as, since Sera had repeatedly refused to tell him what she was exactly, and he'd stopped asking a while ago.

Even though it had been months, it hadn't become much easier to talk to his own reflection, especially when it talked back to him, and in a female voice at that. The reflection would remain a reflection for the most part, except when she wanted to speak. Then it became an entirely different person, one just wearing his skin. All that she had told him about herself was that he could call her a she. That, and a name - Serenity.

It suited her, he thought. Serenity almost never spoke with any haste nor did she seem too troubled at any time. There was a quiet composure to her very being which, though sometimes bothered Rayn, reassured him most other times.

"But how can it be, Sera?", he asked. It hadn't taken long for Serenity to become Sera, for her to become as close to him as any friend he'd ever had. "How can somebody perform magic without an imprint? How can somebody not leave a Signature?"

A Signature is what Serenity had told him it was called - the unique imprint that a person left on the vicinity of where they did any magic. Consequentially, people who used magic were called Signers, Sera had told him. He hadn't heard that term used anywhere else. Maybe because there were never many of them left long enough to name themselves anything, he thought bitterly.

"You've told me time and again that magic is deeply personal, that it is defined by who we are. You told me that's why we always leave a Signature".

'Like a thumbprint of the magic within', she'd explained. He'd felt it before, in other places, even before Serenity had taught him of the why's and how's of magic. She had taught him how to look for it though, to distinguish and compare different Signatures. Except somebody hadn't left one, this time. He didn't know what to think. Almost all his knowledge of magic had come from Serenity. She had given him some answers, at least regarding that. But this even she didn't seem to know, which scared Rayn.

"Yes, Rayn. I did tell you that. Because that's one of the most fundamental truths about magic. I cannot comprehend this situation anymore than you can", she answered coolly.

He did not know what bothered him more - all of the questions in his mind, or Serenity's coolness regarding anything and everything in the world. Did anything ever ruffle her feathers?

"How are you so calm about this? Are you not at all worried about what this could all mean? Does it not at the least distress you that something impossible has happened?", he asked, knowing that she would say something completely rational and levelheaded that would leave him even more annoyed.

"I am worried, Rayn", Sera said, not at all sounding any worried. Her face (his face in the reflection) held no signs of discomfort either. "But for one, I cannot start pacing in this reflection. Even if I did, what would that achieve? We have to work with what we've got".

There it was, the argument of reason. Rayn let out an exasperated sigh, letting the subject go. They'd gone back and forth on this point plenty of times and he didn't want to start it again, especially when he knew nothing was going to change. The worst part was that she was not wrong. It was just that he couldn't grasp how someone could be so fucking calm all the time. It seemed inhuman, especially to Rayn, whose every waking moment was filled with a hundred different worries and a million different scenarios. But then again, he was talking to his warped reflection in the mirror. Maybe she was inhuman.

"And I'm still not any closer to finding out why I had to go to these crime scenes in the first place. What does all this scary stuff have to do with me?", he asked. He'd been pretty shaken the first time. It wasn't everyday you woke up to be told that you had to go to a strange place, only to find that there was a dead body protruding from a tree trunk.

Rayn signed again and sat down on the bed. He looked up at the mirror. His gaze met his own unaltered reflection. Sera wouldn't answer. Or she was thinking of an answer that wasn't really an answer, one that would just pacify him.

Three days ago, he'd woken up with an extremely vivid dream. He had seen a huge tree in a large open farmyard - the location of the first murder. Only, he hadn't known that then. It had felt like he had been standing right in front of the tree. When he'd woken up, he'd told Serenity about it. One minute she'd been nodding and listening. And then the next, she was gone. She'd stopped responding for a long time. So long that he'd started getting scared that she had vanished. She'd never been gone that long. She had always been there. Almost an hour later, she'd returned. Whether she'd actually 'gone' somewhere or had just stopped answering him, he didn't know.

"I know you have a lot of questions, but this is very important. You need to find that place, Rayn. It could be a matter of life and death", she'd said. He couldn't get anything more out of her. So he'd gone. Partly because of curiosity - he wanted to find out why everything that had happened in the past several months had happened, but mostly because he trusted her.

She was the reason he was safe till now. He knew what happened to magic users, especially in this city. The Feurian Council had repeatedly assured people that they were safe, that all of them were, including Signers. Only those that used magic to commit crimes were hunted. But that hadn't stopped people from vanishing into thin air, most of them being Signers. He'd started running almost as soon as he'd found out he could use magic. Sera had been with him for the most part, keeping him unharmed with her guidance. So yes, he trusted her completely. Her vague answers and undeterred composure annoyed him, but that was just something of a pet peeve.

It hadn't taken long for him to find the place from his dream. It was almost as if he had a compass inside him pointing the way. Once he'd come back from the crime scene, he'd asked her why he'd seen the location of a murder in his dream.

"Such dreams happens sometimes. And it's usually very important when it does. That's all I can tell you at the moment", she'd said. "There aren't many Signers who have such dreams. That's why it's so important when it happens".

And then there was the dream today, of the second murder scene. He didn't know what to make of it all. If only Serenity would be more forthcoming, he thought.

"Sera please, if you know anything about this, please tell me", he pleaded again.

"Rayn, I don't know what to tell you", she said, and he looked up at the mirror. She looked like she was confused, unsure. Rayn didn't get to see that expression much.

"How long is this going to go on, Sera?", Rayn asked, looking at his reflection, directly at his own brown eyes. The magic and the running were tiresome enough without having to worry about dreams of crime scenes and how Serenity and him fit into all this. "When will I ever know why this is happening to me? What am I supposed to do with these dreams? Why are you here?"

"Rayn, I can't tell you that yet. At least, I can't. I'm not supposed to!", Sera exclaimed. He could see the conflict in her expression, but he couldn't understand it. If she can't, who can? Why is she not supposed to? A thousand new questions ran in his mind, but before he could voice them or brood over them, there was a knock on the door.

Both Rayn and Sera jerked towards the door. Rayn looked back at Serenity with a question in his face - should I answer the door? As expected, Serenity looked wary. But there was more. A measured relief, like she was cautiously hoping for something to happen. Before he could ask her what, there was a second knock.

Sera nodded, and he got up to walk toward the door. He had his magic at the ready, but he had no idea if he could defend himself or who the person on the other side was. He had managed this far, he thought, and walked to the door, steeling his nerves.

He opened the door cautiously to find a tall olive skinned girl with one of the strangest outfits he'd ever seen. She wore an elaborate black lace shirt with matching lace pants. Tied to her hip was a leather pouch. She was also carrying a large bag across her shoulder which seemed quite heavy. The strangest part of the ensemble was a black ornament that looked like a cross between a laurel wreath and a circlet, which starkly contrasted her long white hair.

He looked at the girl, blinked a couple of times. He realized though he'd thought of her as a 'girl', he couldn't quite place her age. She could've been anywhere between 20 and 30, or even somewhat older than that. Her face was quite plain, with not many remarkable features, but her skin had an unusual smoothness to it. She also had a self-assured air about her. He realized he'd been staring in confusion and shook himself. At least it's not the Peacekeepers, he thought to himself.

"Umm, who are you?", asked Rayn, a bit shakily to his embarrassment. The girl arched an eyebrow in response, looking at him and the room over his shoulders.

"We don't have very long, so let's get this over with, shall we?", she said in a matter-of-fact tone, and barged into the room.