1
Kaspar
Small rocks bounced on the ground as I dug my heels in, trying to stop the guards from dragging me away. I didnotwant to be locked in a dungeon for the rest of my life. No way.
The thought made panic well up in my chest, and if I let it, it would render me frozen. But I couldn’t let it. Not if I wanted a chance to prevent this whole disaster.
Seeing more rocks up ahead, I elbowed my captor on the right and managed to free my arm from his grasp, then I dropped all of my weight down suddenly. The move made my other captor stumble to a stop as I fell on my ass, and while the two king’s guards were catching their balance—and cursing up a storm—I scooped up a handful of rocks with my free hand.
The guards got a good hold of my arms again and roughly yanked me to my feet as I cupped my hands together. I reached within myself to the well of power that sat in my gut, always waiting, always wanting out. Then I pushed that energy into the rocks, charging them until they were so hot they nearly burned my hands.
When they were ready, I dug my heels in again, pulled my hands apart, and threw the rocks in the guards’ faces. Because my magic was now inside the stones, I could control them, so I gave them a little push.
A blast of mini light shows erupted, and rock fragments exploded in a wave of power. It knocked both guards back as they screamed and tried to cover their bleeding and burned faces.
“Oh holy phoenix tails,” I murmured as I stared at the carnage my trick produced.
One of the guards wailed, and I knew more would be on their way since my little display wasn’t quiet, so I didn’t stand around to see if they were okay.
Turning on my heel, I ran as fast as I could down the street, slipped into an alleyway, and came out on the other side near Market Street. This street was filled with people but wasn’t quite busy enough to get lost in, so I ran one street over. I let the sea of people hide me in plain sight in the biggest market in Embergate City, the kingdom’s capital. Hellfire, it was the biggest market in the entire Sunada Kingdom.
Not wanting to alert any other guards, I slowed to a walk and pulled the hood of my cloak over my head, covering my red hair that stuck out like a pond in a desert, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. There were enough people walking around and buying fares that I blended right in.
Once I reached the other end of the market, I contemplated my options for a few seconds, constantly looking over my shoulder for pursuers. I could turn left and head in the direction of my home, my family, or right to the wall where the airships docked. There was no doubt that the king’s guards would be out looking for me—they wouldn’t stop until they captured me again—and I wasn’t sure there was anywhere to hide in the entire city where they couldn’t find me. So I quickly turned right.
Leaving was my only option.
I wasn’t about to let them take me to the castle. Fluxweavers never returned once they were taken. If a child showed signs of fluxweaving, it was considered a tragedy in our kingdom. The king demanded fluxweaver registration, and as soon as a child’s powers came in—typically between eight to ten years old—they were whisked away to the castle, never to be seen or heard from again.
Lucky for me, my parents hadn’t been great rule followers and never registered me. They cared more about me than they did about serving Sunada. There was no way they ever would’ve turned me in and let me become a flux-zombie.
The kingdom was always looking at ways to make money, or rather, the king wanted to make himself money since very little of it was actually given to all us regular folk. Forcing a fluxweaver to use their powers and charge fluxstones was one way to do it. Unlike the plain stones I’d used to aid my escape, fluxstones were magical rocks that could be charged by fluxweavers and then used to power anything and everything for all magical and non-magical people alike. Fluxstones literally kept all the kingdoms running. Not only were they our bread and butter and our biggest trade commodity, they were used all over our kingdom, powering lights, castles, airships, and everything in between.
Maybe I enjoyed using my power to help my friends and neighbors, but I sure as hellfire didn’t want to be hooked to some flux machine and drained of power every minute of every day.
The street ended at the wall that surrounded the entire city. It was enormous—it had to be to keep all the monsters out—and since the airships docked at the top of it, there were about a million steps leading up.
With a sigh of resignation, I started the arduous climb up the stairs. The staircase was very wide since so many people neededto go up and down them, carrying supplies, getting ready to board an airship, or coming off of one. Beside the staircase, there were pulley systems in place for the heavier items. The entire area was busy and milling with activity, which meant lots of merchant ships were docked and unloading supplies. That was a good thing for me. I blended in easier, and hopefully, I’d be able to find an airship to board.
By the time I made it to the top where all merchant and passenger ships docked, I was panting from exertion, my thighs burning, and I had a sheen of sweat on my skin. Glancing around, I found a spot to hide in the shadows, checked for guards, and looked for my friend. He helped load and unload airships as they came and went, so he should be working here today.
After a few minutes, I finally found him, so I ducked my head and made my way over, then hid behind a pile of crates. My nose wrinkled when I caught a whiff of fish, and I peeked inside… And instantly wished I hadn’t.
It was full of water pixies. They were tiny and didn’t have a lot of meat on them, but some of the rich ate them as a delicacy. I had no idea why anyone would want to eat a creature that looked like a teeny tiny human with fin-wings. It was gross, if I was being honest.
With a shudder, I held my breath and refocused on my mission of getting Ethan’s attention.
“Psssssst!” I said in a hushed whisper.
It took three tries, but he finally turned toward me, his eyes widening in surprise before he rushed over. “What are you doing here? I’m at work. You’re gonna get me in trouble.”
I didn’t beat around the bush. “The guards found me out.”
His eyes widened again before a look of horror raced across his face. “Wh-what? How… how do you know?”
“They caught me and were dragging me in, but I got away.”
His face paled. “Holy shit, Kaspar.”
