Luke
The sight of Tik, one of the youngest members of our little band sitting on the ground in the crowded terminal with his head in his hands brought me back to the here and now.
“Hey Tik, how you doing?” I asked, stopping next to the young man.
Machi participants were supposed to be at least twenty-one before the event. Tik, or Pontiki, as he had been named by his Legion, had barely been sixteen. I was only eighteen. Something had caused our captors to change the cadence of the Machi, and no one was sure exactly what it was, but I had my suspicions.
Tik looked up at me, his eyes wide.
“It’s just… a lot, you know?” he asked, swallowing nervously as he glanced around the noisy harbor.
“It is,” I said. “But we’re in this together. You’re not alone. Not anymore.”
I squeezed his shoulder briefly and he nodded, smiling wanly up at me. Tik was an Earth Mageia and had suffered from some serious seasickness on the journey, just like I had. His face was still pale. In the morning light I noticed a small scar running down his temple I’d never seen before.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him,” Deliah said, stepping up next to us. She was a Fire Mageia from Greece who had joined us early in the Machi. Tik had attached himself to her and tended to follow anywhere she led.
Betts stalked in front of us, a device she called a cell phone to her ear. It still seemed odd to see such common use of technology. Illyria did not have the reservations on sharing knowledge that Alexandria had.
“Where the fuck are the buses? I told you we’d be in by nine…” She saw me watching her and rolled her eyes. “Traffic.” She whispered as she put her hand over the mouthpiece. “All right. See you on D Street.”
I laughed. Betts was an able captain and we owed her a debt that could never be repaid. She and her crew had been making the trip to rescue Mageia from the Isle of Crete for almost two years now. We were just the latest refugees she had guided to this harbor.
“Okay, everyone!” she called out. “I want you all to follow me! We are going to be exiting the harbor. Please,pay attention! I know that this is all new to you, but it’s easy to get lost in the crowds here. If you get lost, look for this.”
Betts held her hand up and a shaft of light sprang from her hand to make a sparkling ray shine above her hand. Betts was a Dual Mageia, she controlled fire and water both, even though she was not yet Bonded. She was already formidable. Once she found her Bond mate, she would be a power to be reckoned with.
“If you can’t see me, ask anyone for directions to the Tower Pavilion. That’s where you will be staying until you acclimate a bit and are assigned your own quarters.”
We followed Betts through the crowd which finally thinned as we moved away from the waterfront. She paused once more to collect everyone at the main exit.
The docks were vaster than I had thought possible. I had traveled to Crete once with our father, but that had been by air. The only water travel I had experienced before had been when the royal household transitioned between the summer and winter palaces before I had developed my powers. Those docks were a few thousand feet long at best. The pier of Nymphaeum looked like it went on for miles.
From a purely military standpoint, I realized this place would be a bitch to try to attack or defend. It was just so big, you would have to have hundreds of battleships or airships to come anywhere close to shutting it all down at once, and that was sea power I didn’t think even Alexandria possessed. That was probably why it was still operating. We had passed multiple warships on our way in. The Illyrians knew they needed to protect this port.
I kept a close eye on the other Mageia, trying to make sure we didn’t lose track of anyone. Like me, I knew they had to beoverwhelmed at the size of this place. I saw Hel stop a few times to encourage one of the Mageia to keep moving when they saw something new or startling.
Our ragtag group of fugitives met up outside the main building of the docks. Betts counted everyone to make sure we hadn’t lost any stragglers, then waved everyone over in front of three large vehicles, where we loaded everyone up and were whisked away from the waterfront. The buses were a novelty, powered by electric batteries according to Helios.
The buses slowly made their way through the crowded streets. This city was packed.
“Is it always this crowded?” Elex asked, craning his neck to peer out the windows.
“Nymphaeum is our capital, so it’s pretty much always like this,” Hel said, nodding. “Except on holidays when it’sreallybusy.”
Elex paused to look at his Soma for a moment, trying to determine if he was joking. I didn’t think he was.
“So what’s next?” I asked.
“Polemos scheduled a Touchpoint in an hour,” Betts said, grimacing and rolling her eyes.
“A Touchpoint? What’s that?” Elex asked.
“It’s a ceremony introducing Mageia and Somas. It’s an opportunity for Mageia and Somas to meet, literally touch hands, and see if there are potential Bond matches,” Betts explained. “We have at least a thousand Somas who have passed their training that will be involved.”
“Sounds like speed dating,” I said, laughing nervously.
“Sort of,” Hel said. “But for magic, not sex. Or, well, notonlyfor sex.”
