A/N - (Because I never say everything I should in the intro...) The story is set in a made-up land called Aeirien. There are all manner of magical/mythological beings but for the most part they don't appear until the second half of the story. Also, the narrative is split between three perspectives - Rory, introduced in this chapter, Luke (also in this chapter), and Francesca (who doesn't appear until the 3rd chapter). I would really appreciate reviews/comments! Cheers (and enjoy!), flames4thought.
1. When Things Go Awry…
Rory
A voice drifted up the street. “Make a peep,” it said “and you’ll wish you’d never been born.” Even if I hadn’t known what he was, I would know he meant what he said. His voice carried the sharp edges of menace only the roughest Slavers could convey. Five kids stumbled onto the street. Chains bound their legs and arms. Their broken states triggered a wave of pity and sympathy only images of my past could prompt. They wore nothing better than rags. Terror and pain wrote lines and scars across their faces and into their souls, hidden from sight but easily read by those who knew their pain. Their spirits had shattered into millions of pieces.
Anger roared in my ears. Blood pulsing so loudly I could hear nothing else. Tears welled up in my eyes and I angrily brushed them away. Do something, my mind whispered, Do something to help them. I shook my head desperately, nails digging painfully into the palm of my hand. I couldn’t, I could do nothing to help these five tonight.
I ground my teeth as I reviewed the many regulations that forbade me from confronting the slavers directly. Really, it was foolhardy. There was only eight of us on the raid tonight and we would quickly be overpowered in a direct confrontation against the Slavers and Magicians. The Liberation, I thought, Remember your mission. You can help so many people but you have to wait for the right moment before you act.
My eyes closed remembering my own time in the Slaveries though. The pain, torture and blood. I shuddered, thanking my luck to have managed to escape so early in my life. So many people died in the Slaveries every day. Many of them were younger than me. Only the Magic Users – the elite Magicians – enjoyed the luxuries of life with their gold gilded halls and mansions. Folklore said it was different many years ago. That there were Races other than Humans, and there was equality between magic users and non-magic users. Before the Magicians set about destroying the other Races and enslaving those humans who couldn’t use magic.
I sighed. We – the Liberation – fought against the corruption of the Magicians but it was hard. There weren’t very many magic-users who existed outside of the Magicians. I was one of very few and quite probably the most powerful Mage who didn’t belong the Magicians’ Order. Moreover, without many magic users we were virtually helpless against the Magicians. We had to move quietly… slowly… waiting for some Magician to make a false step that we could act on. So, I spied on them most of the time and participated in raids the rest of the time.
A hand brushed my shoulder, breaking my thoughts and I whirled around, my staff ready in my hand before I even turned. I grimaced with pain and effort as I stalled my blow, remembering who I was with tonight.
“Ror?” Rowan whispered. His usually dark face was pale reflecting his knowledge of what had almost happened. Sweat beaded his forehead and his eyes widened, huge and dark, glinting in the gloom of the alleyway. His dark, wild hair fell into his face, as he spoke, “We’re ready. We should move now, before they come back.”
“Okay,” I said, turning to face him.
“Are you sure?” he asked, “We can still cancel.”
“You mean I can still go back to camp,” I said flatly. My eyes flickered away from his face to survey the alley again. I could barely see the black stone walls and garbage littering the smeared cobblestones for the blood pounding in my ears, calling … demanding spilled blood. My eyes returned to Rowan’s in time to see his penetrating glance. I read the hidden message behind the look easily and returned it with one of my own. I would not turn back. Not tonight, not after what I’d just seen.
“It’s more dangerous with you here,” he warned. I don’t want you hurt, his eyes said.
“I know,” I sighed, replying to both messages.
I wasn’t allowed to help with raids most of the time and they were risky enough that we didn’t attempt them very often to begin with. If I fell to the Magicians, the Liberation would take a huge loss. Besides, the Magicians and their Slavers were still looking for me, even seven years after my escape.
I turned my back to the street and faced the alley where we were hiding. Six pairs of eyes stared at me.
“Okay,” I said smoothly, beginning to deliver the orders we already knew. I listed off everyone’s partners and their tasks easily, recognizing the intelligence in reminding ourselves of our tasks even as I strained against the protocols that necessitated it. I paused at the end of my crisply listed instructions. “Rowan and I have got the kids,” I said softly, “There should still be about six, or seven left. Don’t wait for us. Just get out.”
“Fifteen minutes,” Rowan stressed firmly, “Let’s go!”
We slithered from our hiding spots in the alley and walked up the street toward the dark red building that towered over all the other structures on the street. There were no beggars here. There wouldn’t be so close to a Slavery for fear of being caught. Once enslaved, always enslaved. You stayed free if you could – at all costs. We kept to the shadows and hid behind bins heaped with trash so we wouldn’t be seen and then slipped through the side door of the slave complex. We split up immediately to take care of our respective tasks.
Rowan and I headed down a dank corridor that looked like something from a nightmare followed by another two members of our party with a different task. Halls like these brought back vivid memories that were all too close to my present. The pale skin-coloured walls sweated with a dark substance that gleamed like blood, yet wasn’t. There was no blood except that which slaves smeared across the floor and walls as Slavers dragged them screaming, struggling… I began to gag from the force of ancient memories even before the stench of the holding pens hit me.
We finally reached the holding pens that were at the end of the hall. A stench filled my mouth - rotting … things, sweat, blood, terror… My stomach revolted, expelling my hastily eaten supper. I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth after I retched. I was getting soft… My normal responsibilities removed me from the reality of what most slaves we rescued faced everyday… what I had faced every day at one point. Rowan dealt with the doors quickly, using tools the Liberation had developed over several years. I shivered as I looked at the oppressive cells. They were all too familiar in my memories.
Six kids, five girls and one boy, were huddled in the corner of the chamber, their eyes fixed on us, wide and fearful. They were afraid of what we would do to them, how we would hurt them. A rage blazed in me and I fought to keep my temper in check. You cannot lose control, I told myself sternly, Bad things happen if you do.
“Hey!” I whispered quietly, “We’re here to help you.”
For a few moments, they just stared at Rowan and me with wide frightened eyes, and my heart sank to think that their spirits had been broken like this, that their spirits were so broken that they could not fight back. Then the boy stood. He had dark hair, filthy from months… years… of confinement in the cell and the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen. He was tall and lean… and he stood up straight, even though he must have endured so much abuse.
His face was set in an apprehensive look and I knew he was like me. I knew he fought against his confiners as I had fought mine, and that he refused to break to their demands no matter what the cost. Power radiated from him. His power Aura was as strong as mine was, but the Slavers hadn't pushed him to the point where all that pent up power would come pouring out in an uncontrollable tide yet. It had taken Rowan being tortured to push me that far and more. Even then, I had refused to yield.
“You’ll take us to safety,” he said. It was a demand, not a request.
“Word of honour,” I said, grasping his hand before he could pull it away and pressing it to my heart, “but come quickly – we don’t have much time!”
The others in the cell stood up tentatively and shuffled toward me. I became aware, in that moment, that we were already too late. The Slavers had returned already and our escape was blocked. Voices creeping through the hallway told me as much. But they’re too soon, I thought frantically, They’re not supposed to be back yet. Bile rose in my throat and I swallowed forcefully.
I turned towards Rowan and saw my thoughts reflected in their dark depths. “Rowan?” I murmured tersely. He shook his head, eyes wide, and face pale. No ideas. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
“I have a plan,” I whispered, “but you’re not going to like it.”
“No,” he laughed, “I don’t normally.” And a similar memory, in an uncannily identical setting came rushing back.
Seven years ago, I had been a slave like the ones standing before me now, helpless. But that wasn’t the case now. I had discovered my power, learned the laws of magic. And I could help now. I could save these five from this life. But to accomplish that I needed to perform the most dangerous brand of magic: elemental magic. The plan I proposed used three elements and none of them were easy to conjure.
“It’s dangerous,” Rowan protested, after I’d finished explaining my idea, “You know how hard it is to sustain even one for five minutes even with help!”
“That’s just it, Rowan,” I said, “It’s dangerous but we’re in more danger if we’re caught here and I can draw on your strength and the strength of our friends here as well.” I turned to the boy who possessed the same power as me.
The boy stepped forward. “I want to help,” he declared. He had been listening intently to our rapid exchange. “We want out. No matter what the cost.”
“Good,” I said briskly, “Now. Everyone holds hands. Uh… You…”
“Luke,” he prompted.
“Right. Hold one of my hands. Rowan?” Rowan wordlessly took my other hand, reproaching me silently with his eyes. I avoided his eyes and brusquely began giving Luke more instructions. “Luke, I need you to concentrate on joining your mind with mine. Empty any thoughts from your mind and reach for me. Don’t worry I’ll feel it.”
I hope, I thought, Now to business. I felt Luke’s mind touch mine lightly.
< Good, > I thought to him, < You did it. Now just follow my lead. >
< Okay, > he replied weakly.
I started the process of raising the first element. Water. Flexible and rigid. It was the hardest of the elements to raise, except for Time, because it needed a source of it nearby. Luckily, we were near the lake and after a few seconds of intense concentration water pooled over our feet, rushing into the hall. Luke and I kept the cascade of water coming until water splashed against our waists; normally a difficult task to accomplish alone but with Luke’s support it was easy. The water made it impossible for us to escape, but, more importantly, it gave us a refuge no one could penetrate until we banished the flood.
Fire came next. I concentrated fiercely on a spark that would capture the water and make it come alight. Fire was easy to call. All that you needed was a fuel and spark to call fire – anything except the other elements would do, but under the right conditions Air, Water, Earth, and Time could burn too.
With a sudden burst of flames, the water began to burn in a circle around us, creating another barrier between our pursuers and us. I sighed with relief. Hex Fire was impossible to extinguish. We were safe for the time being…
“Okay, Luke, hold the elements we’ve summoned here. Don’t try to contact me with your mind at all. It’s dangerous; you could be killed.” I said.
“Sure,” he replied easily, but I didn’t believe him.
I gave him a long look. “We’re not playing a game here,” I said, “All our lives are at stake – mine included – and everyone needs to do their part to ensure we escape alive. And right now, your role is to buy us time by maintaining the elements we just summoned. There will be time enough for me to teach you after.”
I felt his hand spasm in my grip, revealing the emotional turmoil he experienced. Until today, he hadn’t even thought there was an escape. His eyes searched mine for another long moment before he nodded curtly.
Trembling from the stress of summoning two elements tonight already I focussed on what I hoped was the last one. Time was the most powerful, and dangerous of all the elements. Time was an element people didn’t even realize existed. What had happened, what was going to happen happened. It was the way of life. Yet you could manipulate the future slightly sometimes – not always – but sometimes, and that was enough. There were risks though. You only meddled with Time in dire circumstances because, if you summoned its threads, you had to use your own energy to channel it – and even then, you couldn’t alter the past. I had looked into Time’s heart before and almost died. This time I had more experience but was exhausted. I took a shuddering breath and dived in….
People entering the room, getting through the Hex Fire. Men. Staring at us, and then one steps forward and opens his mouth, saying something lost to me. A boy stepping forward, replying. The men pulling out weapons, killing us… Capture, torture, bloodshed, slavery. NO! My mind screamed, I changed it! I will change it!
Nothing. Nothing – no time where we got out alive without escaping capture, torture, pain, or death. I felt like crying. All those years of fighting for nothing. Nothing! My body trembled violently in another dimension. I took deep unsteady breaths. The Slavers had breached our safety net… would be here in seconds… We had to get out… One more breath and then I delved deeper into Time than ever before. Hopelessness, more pain, more death, and then an image flashed through my thoughts.
She was standing there drawing up the rest of her energy to do something big, pulling, pulling at something and the others with whom she held hands with were too. It was their only chance to get out alive.
I knew what to do. I tumbled into reality abruptly and almost collapsed from exhaustion. Two hands caught me, one was Luke’s, and the other was Rowan’s.
“Ror!” Rowan hissed, as my knees buckled under me again.
“What!?” I gasped, trying to regain my balance in the icy cold water.
“Are you completely out of your mind!” he hissed.
“No,” I snapped, “Do you know how we’re going to get out of here?” I paused, waiting for him to answer me. He opened his mouth like he would, then closed it again, shaking his head wordlessly. I spat at him. “No? Then get out of my way!”
He stepped back, shocked at my outburst. I was too, but we didn’t have time for this sort of thing. He could yell at me all he wanted later – once we were safe. Snatches of conversation wandered up the hall and I knew we had little time left to escape.
I shivered one last time from the cold and exhaustion, pulled myself together and screamed.
“PULL!” I shrieked. “PULL! Make the water rise over our heads and put out the flames!”
The water surged over our heads in one smooth moment, pulling us through the Slavery and out into the street. I made it pull us farther from the Slavery, along the road toward the lake so we didn’t have go far to get to safety. Then, the world went dark.
ns 18.68.41.175da2
