Our escape from the academy turned out to be much harder than finding our way in. My little trick with the lighting orbs seems not limited to the library. Many mages left their labs and now chattered in small crowds outside the towers.
This left me in a bit of trouble. Once again, I was on the exterior of the main building, holding myself to the stone beside the window I’d climbed through. The issue was the increasing number of mages appearing on the grounds below me. There were a lot more ursu around than the empty halls Leal and I walked through would suggest.
I was lucky that I wasn’t in the direct light of the moon, so unless I ignited, I should be impossible to spot. Although, with how much activity there was on the ground now, I couldn’t see any reasonable way to escape.
It was already late enough as it was. I really didn’t want to get caught on Gloria’s bad side by getting back late. She says she’s worried for me and I will feel guilty if I make her worry.
Leal had gone down to see if she could figure something out from the outside while I waited. I hoped it wouldn’t end up being my only option, but for now, it looked like I had no choice but to wait.
Now that I thought about it, why did Leal act so differently in front of that Orsen guy? Was she scared of him, maybe? No, it wasn’t just him. She acted that reserved around all ursu. If I thought about it, she only opened herself to me and her own family. Even with Gloria, I don’t remember her saying more than greetings.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say she feared her own people. Whatever her actual problem is, I hope she will trust me enough to share. If I could help her, I definitely would.
The scrape of the window being pushed away from the stone encasing snapped me to attention. I hugged the wall as close as I could without losing my grip. Leal was supposed to be going outside right now, and I had yet to see her. Did someone stop her? Did they know I was here? I tensed up and held my breath as I saw a silhouette of a head poke out the window.
“Solvei? You there?” I heard Leal’s voice whisper.
Calming my tensed spirit, I whisper back. “Yea. What happened?”
“Sorry, I couldn’t find a way to get you down with so many down there. We’ll have to wait until they all calm down.” She says.
I give her an “okay,” and the silence surrounds us for a time.
“What did you do?” Leal asks, and while I know what she’s referring to, I have no idea myself.
“I don’t know. I was trying to distract him by putting out the flame in that orb thing, and suddenly they all turned off. I didn’t even touch the others, only the one behind him.”
“Oh.” Leal said, her eyes widening. It seems like she knows something.
“Oh?”
“Um, did you happen to put out the source of the fire in the lamp and not the fire itself?”
“I put it out, but there was an energy that kept relighting it, so I pulled the fire out of that,”
“Woah, I thought that was impossible,” she says to herself. “You know when I mentioned inscriptions, yeah?”
“Yeah.” I give a quick assent.
“Well, a network of inscriptions supplies the lamps of the academy. I think you just drained the source of the lamps. Luckily, it shouldn’t take the professors long to reignite. Everyone will be back in their labs soon enough.”
Almost as she said so, a soft glow grew in strength from within the tower across from me. Leal stepped back into the now dimly lit building and said, “I’ll see you at the bottom when everyone is back inside.” And like that, she was gone again.
Sighing, I adjusted my stiff arms and legs to a more comfortable position. I just hope there are no more issues tonight.
I hadn’t spoken to Leal since the night of that incident. When I made it home that night, Gloria was furious. I had to spend an entire week in the furnace to make up for it.
The sudden announcement that the population would be moved out of the city come next Bratchina, had only made it worse. I had been stuck working, keeping the oven burning for Gloria. I hadn’t been able to find out if Leal was going to the same place as I.
The Council declared that the war had become too resource intensive to continue to support the extensive cost of the desert city Fisross. They gave each household directions for which city they would be relocated. This announcement had, of course, ignited widespread rumours. I couldn’t talk to anyone but Gloria in this time, but from what she told me — or complained about — there was a common understanding that the war wasn’t going as well as they had been told. Some claimed that the Empire had already annexed the northern region as far south as Wrine.
I struggle to push the heavy suitcase over the high steps of the train. The bag was almost bigger than me, and no doubt heavier. With difficulty, I got it up the first step. I clamber over it and try to pull it up the next two. I had almost lifted it enough to reach the next step when a large — or rather standard sized — ursu brushed by me, knocking me off my feet and dropping Gloria’s suitcase back off the train.
The ursu didn’t stop. He continued on his way like I was beneath his attention. With a sigh, I lower myself down the steps ready to try again. As I get into position to lift the weighty luggage, a shrill feminine voice stops me.
“What is this? A midget thinks they can travel with ursu? Have your blasted kind not already caused enough problems?”
I turn around, but scuttle backwards as the woman steps far too close. She towers over me, and I gulp as my back hits the train wheel. She bends down until her face is right above mine. I do nothing but stare up at her, unable to back away any further or escape.
The ursu sneers at me. “It’s because of your kind that we are at war in the first place. It’s your fault that we have to leave our home,” she says.
“Leave her be. I’m looking after her.” Gloria’s voice couldn’t have come sooner.
I send silent words of gratitude towards Gloria, who has stepped down from the train beside me. The ursu towering over me frowns. She makes a disgusting hocking sound with her throat before spitting on me and storming off.
The spit lands in my eye and burns. Nowhere near what water does, but it’s enough to hurt. I ignite it, trying to burn away the disgusting thing as quick as possible.
My head lurches forward and the back of my head throbs. I look up at Gloria, who just whacked me.
“No fire,” she says, then picks up the baggage in one hand, effortlessly carrying it onto the train.
I wipe at my eye. The spit is all gone, but it aches, and I can’t see out of it. At least I don’t need to worry about trying to get that heavy bag on the train anymore. I lift myself up the steps of the train and join Gloria in the seat beside her.
Gloria and I were moving to Morne, where Gloria’s parents lived. The city was supposedly much larger than Fisross and closer to the capital. I didn’t want to leave though. I wanted to at least have a chance to say goodbye to Leal. We had become good friends during the time I’d been here, and it felt wrong that I was leaving without her.
I look out of the window, watching the people milling about. I hoped I would see Leal amongst them, but no matter how many times I looked, she wasn’t there.
The train lurched, almost knocking me from my seat. We were now moving. There would be no chance I would see Leal again. I rub at my eye and watch Fisross shrink into the distance. The speed of the train was incredible, traversing what would take hours in mere minutes. I would have gushed at the experience if I wasn’t so hollow inside.
“Which city is Leal going to?” I ask Gloria again, hoping I’ll get a better answer this time.
She just sighs at my question. “I’ve told you; I don’t know.”
“There’s a chance she’s going to Morne, though, right?”
Gloria shakes her head. “Unlikely, Calysta’s family lives down south. They’re more likely to have been sent down there.”
It’s so frustrating. This wouldn’t have been an issue if Gloria hadn’t stopped me from seeing her.
“Why couldn’t you have let me see her, just once, before we left?”
Gloria’s eyebrow twitches once before she responds. “Solvei, you need to get control over your anger. You can’t let every little thing make you mad.” She says, before sighing again. “But okay, I’ll tell you. I did it for you. All mages, without exception, are being conscripted. Right now, Leal is probably on the front, making use of her talents.”
Before she can continue, I interrupt. “But she doesn’t even have any spell markings. What could she do?”
“They started speeding up the process due to the war. Look, I did this all for you. I was worried that it would hurt you knowing your friend is at war. You were better off forgetting about her. Everything I’ve said and done was for your benefit. You saw how non-ursu are being treated at the train station. I’ve sacrificed a lot to keep you safe. Are you going to be mad at me for keeping this from you?”
I bite my lip and turn to look back out the window, spotting the first signs of green in the distance. “No.” I say. I can’t be mad at her for trying to help me, even if the entire situation leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Gloria has already shown she’s there for me. She’ll stick by my side even when everyone else turns against me.
I watched the scenery for a while. The sandy desert of the wasteland replaced with expansive green farmlands with scattered trees and cattle. I’d always wanted to see a sight like this, something so distinct from everything I was used to. But I found I didn’t care. The landscape didn’t move me as I thought it would. If I didn’t have to lose a friend, I would be fine with staying in the boring desert forever.
A laugh from Gloria interrupted my ruminations. I glance at her, but she just waves me off.
“Sorry, sorry. Just thinking about how you get mad over the smallest of things. Don’t mind me.” She says and laughs again. Her voice grating at my ears.
I clasped my hands together, fidgeting with my fingers as I returned my gaze outside the moving train. This wasn’t the first time Gloria found my attitude laughable after our arguments. It made me feel worthless when she did. I’d learned to ignore it though. It hurt more to laugh along with her.
The next few months were tough.
When we had made it back to Gloria’s home, her parents had not been very welcoming. They were reluctant to allow even their daughter to stay with them, they didn’t even consider me. Fortunately, Gloria was tasked with taking over management of one of the outer ovens in Morne, so she allowed me to sleep in the furnace underneath.
Morne was an almost identical city to Fisross, only at many times the size. While Fisross had only one Continae and associated central clearing, Morne had 6. Much of the city looked the same, highly organised in the centre but diverging farther out. Timber was a far more common construction material than stone here, especially in the buildings farther from the centre.
I was shown, rather quickly, that my time in Morne wouldn’t be fun. The city often experienced rainfall. When it had first fallen, I was sitting at the entry to my furnace. The sudden stinging pain in my back had sent me sprawling down into the underground furnace for shelter. The pain and sound of the rain increasing in intensity had sent me into a panic. I crawled into the back corner of the smouldering furnace, closing the hatch to lock myself away from the water. I’d thought the water would fill like it did that crevice so long ago. I thought I was going to die.
I didn’t bother keeping the furnace burning. So, Gloria came to check on me. She opened the hatch and took one look at the furnace, bare of flames and heat, before exploding in anger.
“Why have you stopped the fire? The food up top is ruined because of you!” she snarled.
“I… It was raining. I was gonna die.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “You aren’t going to die. Stop overreacting. The furnace is designed to stop rainwater pooling. You are safe as long as you remain down here and do your part.”
“I don’t want to be down here anymore. I want to go somewhere else,” I said, my voice trembled as I plead. Every day I stay underground, it feel like I am being swallowed ever so slightly more. The walls feel tighter and the ceiling lower. The comfort of the flames becomes less effective every day.
I am suffocating.
“No. There is no other place for you. This furnace is the only safe place. The rain isn’t the only thing you should worry about. Public opinion has soured far more against non-ursu since we arrived. You shouldn’t let yourself be seen outside the furnace again.” She said before I was once again left on my own in this horrible underground furnace.
I had believed her for a while, not showing myself to anyone but Gloria for over a month. But she started visiting less and less frequently. I started to doubt her. I thought it would be fine just to talk to another ursu once. When the workers next refilled the coal storage, it had been a week since I’d last talked to anyone. I wanted to know what was going on outside. I wanted to know what was happening with the war. Was Leal alright? Gloria didn’t visit anymore, so I couldn’t ask her.
So, I had left the confines of my furnace to talk to the ursu piling up coal.
I wish I hadn’t.
I shouldn’t have doubted her. She’d already done so much for me, so why didn’t I believe her?
Now I never left my furnace. At most, I would send out my inner flame to sate my hunger, but never more than that. I’d long since realised running the furnace with my own heat was far more efficient than letting the coal burn around me.
The war was going horribly, or at least that’s what I assumed. Why else would the attitude of the ursu change so wildly? They were such friendly people when I first met them. Loud and unaware of their own strength, but friendly.
Now they were anything but. I was too afraid to leave my claustrophobic tomb. I wanted to leave. To wander west until I found the desert again, but I was scared. Scared of the rain and scared of the ursu that will find me.
We’d been on that train for hours. If I was going to run back to the wasteland, I would be walking for weeks, at least. Maybe months. And I would have to do it through the homeland of the ursu that hated anyone that wasn’t ursu. Land that was also prone to rain.
Of course, that was an impossible scenario. So, I kept the furnace running, hopeful that one day Gloria would come back down and tell me what a good job I’d been doing. I didn’t want her angry at me again.
Now, I spent all my time doing the only thing I could do anymore, improving my control. It was the only thing that took my mind away from the wall encroaching on me. I lost myself in it, blinding myself to the world around me.
There was nothing else I could do.
Our escape from the academy turned out to be much harder than finding our way in. My little trick with the lighting orbs seems not limited to the library. Many mages left their labs and now chattered in small crowds outside the towers.
This left me in a bit of trouble. Once again, I was on the exterior of the main building, holding myself to the stone beside the window I’d climbed through. The issue was the increasing number of mages appearing on the grounds below me. There were a lot more ursu around than the empty halls Leal and I walked through would suggest.
I was lucky that I wasn’t in the direct light of the moon, so unless I ignited, I should be impossible to spot. Although, with how much activity there was on the ground now, I couldn’t see any reasonable way to escape.
It was already late enough as it was. I really didn’t want to get caught on Gloria’s bad side by getting back late. She says she’s worried for me and I will feel guilty if I make her worry.
Leal had gone down to see if she could figure something out from the outside while I waited. I hoped it wouldn’t end up being my only option, but for now, it looked like I had no choice but to wait.
Now that I thought about it, why did Leal act so differently in front of that Orsen guy? Was she scared of him, maybe? No, it wasn’t just him. She acted that reserved around all ursu. If I thought about it, she only opened herself to me and her own family. Even with Gloria, I don’t remember her saying more than greetings.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say she feared her own people. Whatever her actual problem is, I hope she will trust me enough to share. If I could help her, I definitely would.
The scrape of the window being pushed away from the stone encasing snapped me to attention. I hugged the wall as close as I could without losing my grip. Leal was supposed to be going outside right now, and I had yet to see her. Did someone stop her? Did they know I was here? I tensed up and held my breath as I saw a silhouette of a head poke out the window.
“Solvei? You there?” I heard Leal’s voice whisper.
Calming my tensed spirit, I whisper back. “Yea. What happened?”
“Sorry, I couldn’t find a way to get you down with so many down there. We’ll have to wait until they all calm down.” She says.
I give her an “okay,” and the silence surrounds us for a time.
“What did you do?” Leal asks, and while I know what she’s referring to, I have no idea myself.
“I don’t know. I was trying to distract him by putting out the flame in that orb thing, and suddenly they all turned off. I didn’t even touch the others, only the one behind him.”
“Oh.” Leal said, her eyes widening. It seems like she knows something.
“Oh?”
“Um, did you happen to put out the source of the fire in the lamp and not the fire itself?”
“I put it out, but there was an energy that kept relighting it, so I pulled the fire out of that,”
“Woah, I thought that was impossible,” she says to herself. “You know when I mentioned inscriptions, yeah?”
“Yeah.” I give a quick assent.
“Well, a network of inscriptions supplies the lamps of the academy. I think you just drained the source of the lamps. Luckily, it shouldn’t take the professors long to reignite. Everyone will be back in their labs soon enough.”
Almost as she said so, a soft glow grew in strength from within the tower across from me. Leal stepped back into the now dimly lit building and said, “I’ll see you at the bottom when everyone is back inside.” And like that, she was gone again.
Sighing, I adjusted my stiff arms and legs to a more comfortable position. I just hope there are no more issues tonight.
I hadn’t spoken to Leal since the night of that incident. When I made it home that night, Gloria was furious. I had to spend an entire week in the furnace to make up for it.
The sudden announcement that the population would be moved out of the city come next Bratchina, had only made it worse. I had been stuck working, keeping the oven burning for Gloria. I hadn’t been able to find out if Leal was going to the same place as I.
The Council declared that the war had become too resource intensive to continue to support the extensive cost of the desert city Fisross. They gave each household directions for which city they would be relocated. This announcement had, of course, ignited widespread rumours. I couldn’t talk to anyone but Gloria in this time, but from what she told me — or complained about — there was a common understanding that the war wasn’t going as well as they had been told. Some claimed that the Empire had already annexed the northern region as far south as Wrine.
I struggle to push the heavy suitcase over the high steps of the train. The bag was almost bigger than me, and no doubt heavier. With difficulty, I got it up the first step. I clamber over it and try to pull it up the next two. I had almost lifted it enough to reach the next step when a large — or rather standard sized — ursu brushed by me, knocking me off my feet and dropping Gloria’s suitcase back off the train.
The ursu didn’t stop. He continued on his way like I was beneath his attention. With a sigh, I lower myself down the steps ready to try again. As I get into position to lift the weighty luggage, a shrill feminine voice stops me.
“What is this? A midget thinks they can travel with ursu? Have your blasted kind not already caused enough problems?”
I turn around, but scuttle backwards as the woman steps far too close. She towers over me, and I gulp as my back hits the train wheel. She bends down until her face is right above mine. I do nothing but stare up at her, unable to back away any further or escape.
The ursu sneers at me. “It’s because of your kind that we are at war in the first place. It’s your fault that we have to leave our home,” she says.
“Leave her be. I’m looking after her.” Gloria’s voice couldn’t have come sooner.
I send silent words of gratitude towards Gloria, who has stepped down from the train beside me. The ursu towering over me frowns. She makes a disgusting hocking sound with her throat before spitting on me and storming off.
The spit lands in my eye and burns. Nowhere near what water does, but it’s enough to hurt. I ignite it, trying to burn away the disgusting thing as quick as possible.
My head lurches forward and the back of my head throbs. I look up at Gloria, who just whacked me.
“No fire,” she says, then picks up the baggage in one hand, effortlessly carrying it onto the train.
I wipe at my eye. The spit is all gone, but it aches, and I can’t see out of it. At least I don’t need to worry about trying to get that heavy bag on the train anymore. I lift myself up the steps of the train and join Gloria in the seat beside her.
Gloria and I were moving to Morne, where Gloria’s parents lived. The city was supposedly much larger than Fisross and closer to the capital. I didn’t want to leave though. I wanted to at least have a chance to say goodbye to Leal. We had become good friends during the time I’d been here, and it felt wrong that I was leaving without her.
I look out of the window, watching the people milling about. I hoped I would see Leal amongst them, but no matter how many times I looked, she wasn’t there.
The train lurched, almost knocking me from my seat. We were now moving. There would be no chance I would see Leal again. I rub at my eye and watch Fisross shrink into the distance. The speed of the train was incredible, traversing what would take hours in mere minutes. I would have gushed at the experience if I wasn’t so hollow inside.
“Which city is Leal going to?” I ask Gloria again, hoping I’ll get a better answer this time.
She just sighs at my question. “I’ve told you; I don’t know.”
“There’s a chance she’s going to Morne, though, right?”
Gloria shakes her head. “Unlikely, Calysta’s family lives down south. They’re more likely to have been sent down there.”
It’s so frustrating. This wouldn’t have been an issue if Gloria hadn’t stopped me from seeing her.
“Why couldn’t you have let me see her, just once, before we left?”
Gloria’s eyebrow twitches once before she responds. “Solvei, you need to get control over your anger. You can’t let every little thing make you mad.” She says, before sighing again. “But okay, I’ll tell you. I did it for you. All mages, without exception, are being conscripted. Right now, Leal is probably on the front, making use of her talents.”
Before she can continue, I interrupt. “But she doesn’t even have any spell markings. What could she do?”
“They started speeding up the process due to the war. Look, I did this all for you. I was worried that it would hurt you knowing your friend is at war. You were better off forgetting about her. Everything I’ve said and done was for your benefit. You saw how non-ursu are being treated at the train station. I’ve sacrificed a lot to keep you safe. Are you going to be mad at me for keeping this from you?”
I bite my lip and turn to look back out the window, spotting the first signs of green in the distance. “No.” I say. I can’t be mad at her for trying to help me, even if the entire situation leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Gloria has already shown she’s there for me. She’ll stick by my side even when everyone else turns against me.
I watched the scenery for a while. The sandy desert of the wasteland replaced with expansive green farmlands with scattered trees and cattle. I’d always wanted to see a sight like this, something so distinct from everything I was used to. But I found I didn’t care. The landscape didn’t move me as I thought it would. If I didn’t have to lose a friend, I would be fine with staying in the boring desert forever.
A laugh from Gloria interrupted my ruminations. I glance at her, but she just waves me off.
“Sorry, sorry. Just thinking about how you get mad over the smallest of things. Don’t mind me.” She says and laughs again. Her voice grating at my ears.
I clasped my hands together, fidgeting with my fingers as I returned my gaze outside the moving train. This wasn’t the first time Gloria found my attitude laughable after our arguments. It made me feel worthless when she did. I’d learned to ignore it though. It hurt more to laugh along with her.
The next few months were tough.
When we had made it back to Gloria’s home, her parents had not been very welcoming. They were reluctant to allow even their daughter to stay with them, they didn’t even consider me. Fortunately, Gloria was tasked with taking over management of one of the outer ovens in Morne, so she allowed me to sleep in the furnace underneath.
Morne was an almost identical city to Fisross, only at many times the size. While Fisross had only one Continae and associated central clearing, Morne had 6. Much of the city looked the same, highly organised in the centre but diverging farther out. Timber was a far more common construction material than stone here, especially in the buildings farther from the centre.
I was shown, rather quickly, that my time in Morne wouldn’t be fun. The city often experienced rainfall. When it had first fallen, I was sitting at the entry to my furnace. The sudden stinging pain in my back had sent me sprawling down into the underground furnace for shelter. The pain and sound of the rain increasing in intensity had sent me into a panic. I crawled into the back corner of the smouldering furnace, closing the hatch to lock myself away from the water. I’d thought the water would fill like it did that crevice so long ago. I thought I was going to die.
I didn’t bother keeping the furnace burning. So, Gloria came to check on me. She opened the hatch and took one look at the furnace, bare of flames and heat, before exploding in anger.
“Why have you stopped the fire? The food up top is ruined because of you!” she snarled.
“I… It was raining. I was gonna die.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “You aren’t going to die. Stop overreacting. The furnace is designed to stop rainwater pooling. You are safe as long as you remain down here and do your part.”
“I don’t want to be down here anymore. I want to go somewhere else,” I said, my voice trembled as I plead. Every day I stay underground, it feel like I am being swallowed ever so slightly more. The walls feel tighter and the ceiling lower. The comfort of the flames becomes less effective every day.
I am suffocating.
“No. There is no other place for you. This furnace is the only safe place. The rain isn’t the only thing you should worry about. Public opinion has soured far more against non-ursu since we arrived. You shouldn’t let yourself be seen outside the furnace again.” She said before I was once again left on my own in this horrible underground furnace.
I had believed her for a while, not showing myself to anyone but Gloria for over a month. But she started visiting less and less frequently. I started to doubt her. I thought it would be fine just to talk to another ursu once. When the workers next refilled the coal storage, it had been a week since I’d last talked to anyone. I wanted to know what was going on outside. I wanted to know what was happening with the war. Was Leal alright? Gloria didn’t visit anymore, so I couldn’t ask her.
So, I had left the confines of my furnace to talk to the ursu piling up coal.
I wish I hadn’t.
I shouldn’t have doubted her. She’d already done so much for me, so why didn’t I believe her?
Now I never left my furnace. At most, I would send out my inner flame to sate my hunger, but never more than that. I’d long since realised running the furnace with my own heat was far more efficient than letting the coal burn around me.
The war was going horribly, or at least that’s what I assumed. Why else would the attitude of the ursu change so wildly? They were such friendly people when I first met them. Loud and unaware of their own strength, but friendly.
Now they were anything but. I was too afraid to leave my claustrophobic tomb. I wanted to leave. To wander west until I found the desert again, but I was scared. Scared of the rain and scared of the ursu that will find me.
We’d been on that train for hours. If I was going to run back to the wasteland, I would be walking for weeks, at least. Maybe months. And I would have to do it through the homeland of the ursu that hated anyone that wasn’t ursu. Land that was also prone to rain.
Of course, that was an impossible scenario. So, I kept the furnace running, hopeful that one day Gloria would come back down and tell me what a good job I’d been doing. I didn’t want her angry at me again.
Now, I spent all my time doing the only thing I could do anymore, improving my control. It was the only thing that took my mind away from the wall encroaching on me. I lost myself in it, blinding myself to the world around me.
There was nothing else I could do.
