The cold air hit them like a wall when they erged from the academy’s underground levels. Kai squinted against the grey dawn. The first piece of natural light they witnessed in what felt like a lifeti. But Kai knew how long it had been. He had counted, and was still counting.
’Six-hundred and ninety-one-thousand, two-hundred...’
Behind them, sat death.
Ahead, uncertainty welcod them.
"We can’t stay at the academy," Kai said quietly as they reached the edge of the southern gate, weaving between the outer walls and the neglected servant paths. "Not after this. And you aren’t even a student."
Kleo adjusted the bag on her back, filled with scraps of bread, and what little they could carry. Kai ntioned he could store it, but it seed she wanted to still feel useful.
Her hands were shaking. "We still have to get my sister. Firra. She’s in the palace, rember?"
"We can try," Kai replied, exhaling. "But the headmaster... the Devourer? They’ll bla Aliza’s death on us. Fra as a problem student. You as a trespasser. We will probably have wanted posters, and everyone will be looking for us. Getting into the palace would be difficult. Murderers of a princess..."
"Oh." Her voice was small. Fragile, like it had been hollowed out.
Kai looked down at his hands. They were covered in dried blood and soul ichor. He thought about the promises that would be put aside.
A promise to Emille: to beat him fair and square, through skill alone. No more holding back, although he fulfilled that when he beat him in the preliminaries.
A promise to Mari: to treat her like an equal, and not just a tool for divine magic. Not that she knew what his reasons were for keeping her around.
A promise to Willam: to find him a way into the restricted sections of the library.
And Naia... They were supposed to go on a date. A real one. No studies, no gruelling training, no death. Just, exploring the city, maybe. So laughter.
All of the promises will have to wait. Or be broken.
Then Vepice. Still rotting in that cave. Their soul still locked in tornt. Physically and ntally. Her healing... that, too, had to be postponed.
Kai felt like he was choking on his failures.
’I’ll make it up to all of you, I swear.’
They slipped into the slums by sundown, just a few alleys over from where he t Kleo almost two weeks ago.
’So much has happened.’
It was quieter now.
Fewer watchn patrolled the area of the slums. Kai saw them thin out each ti he visited the citadel previously to feed.
The cobblestones were cracked and hidden beneath mud. Doors were reinforced not for elegance but survival. Rats were fatter than the alley cats. He’d once thought he understood what poverty looked like.
He’d seen pieces of it in Ylthara.
He didn’t know anything.
Kleo led him to a squat brick house tucked into a corner beneath a rusted sign that read "Sew Fine", an old tailor’s shop turned into a cramped ho.
Inside, the air stank of mildew, sweat, and sothing acidic. Her mother, if she could still be called that, lay slouched in a chair, her eyes half-lidded, pupils like pinpricks. She barely looked up.
"Ma," Kleo said, her voice hollow. "I’m ho. This is... a friend."
Her mother coughed but said nothing. A bottle of rust-coloured tincture hung from her fingers. Many of those bottles laid scattered around the room. Most of them empty.
’So sort of liquor? No. Maybe an opioid.’
It looked and slled like it had been months since she last bathed.
Kai didn’t know what to say. He watched as Kleo moved around the house with chanical familiarity. She tidied up, tossed out a rotten cloth, and checked for rats in the food stores.
"This way," she said, leading him down the hall.
She paused outside a room with the word "Firra" carved into the wood.
Kleo opened it up and smiled sadly. The expression almost breaking Kai.
Firra’s room was cleaner than the rest of the house. It had a small bed and a cracked mirror, and a worn bear made from potato sacks filled with an undisclosed type of stuffing on the dresser. Dust had settled on everything. The air here was heavier, like the silence had soaked into the wood.
"She was sixteen when they took her," Kleo said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "My dad borrowed coin. First for a spice shop. It failed. Then for a pawn brokerage. That one caught fire. Gambling debts ca after. Then he disappeared."
Kai sat beside her, quiet.
"The debt collectors ca when I was ten. Said Firra’d work it off. Three-hundred gold. Interest added weekly. She cried when they pulled her out the door, and Ma just sat there. Numb."
"I’m sorry," Kai said softly.
"I didn’t ask for sympathy."
"I’m not giving it," he replied. "I’m just... seeing you, Kleo. For the first ti."
She looked at him. And for a mont, the defiance was gone. Just exhaustion and a desperate need to believe soone could care.
"There used to be more in her room, but she’s sold everything of value..." Kleo looked back towards the cramped living room.
"Ylthara had kids like this," Kai muttered after a long pause. "Scavengers. Sharp-eyed, sharper-tongued. They weren’t evil. Just desperate. So did bad things, but most just wanted to eat. I thought little of them in the beginning, but when I got to know them, I realised just how good they were. Just misunderstood."
He glanced at her.
"You’re not one of the bad ones, Kleo. You’re one of the survivors. I should’ve seen that sooner."
She didn’t respond at first. Then, "You still want to help find her?"
Kai nodded. "Of course. I never said I stopped wanting to. I just said it would be difficult. Going up against royalty would be better than fighting the Devourer any day. And if we can get your sister, or even make an ally with the crown, we could have more forces to fight back and avenge Aliza. I couldn’t save her, and she wanted the best for you, so I’ll do this. For you. And to make up for what I put you through..."
Kleo swallowed hard, wiping her cheek. "Then let’s make a plan."
---
They huddled around a cracked lantern in Kleo’s bedroom.
Kai jotted ideas onto a bit of parchnt while she watched and contributed.
He almost instinctively used his spare bone chalk, but decided against it, due to accidental sigilcraft being sothing he did back in his dorm room.
"We can’t just break into the palace," he said. "They’ll have more eyes on the gates now, especially if the Devourer has frad us. One dead princess could lead to more."
"So?"
"So we sneak in. Legally."
Kleo raised a brow. "How?"
"You try to get hired as a servant. Housekeeping, whatever you can pass for."
She crossed her arms. "And you?"
"Tutoring. If this is anything like Elora, the rich cycle through instructors fast."
"Elora?" Kleo asked.
"It’s... Another country. Another world, if you can believe that. Different magic, countries, people, and the history was just incredible-"
Kai had to stop himself from showing his fanboyish nature. He hadn’t talked about video gas with anyone for over a decade.
For a gar, well, that itself was horrible. Not playing them, well, that was hell.
"Another world..." Kleo’s mind drifted off to other things
’Well, it’s a video ga, but I can’t expect her to understand that.’
Kleo was brought back when Kai continued.
"In short, rich kids hate being taught anything. But I’ve been trained in spell theory, dueling strategy, and arcane history. I’m also sowhere around the equivalent of a rank 8 Elentalist and Strengthening mage."
She eyed him. "Impressive. I never got my magical assessnt. They don’t do that for poor people. You do look like a stuck-up academy kid, though. You’ll fit right in with the nobles."
Kai smirked. "Thanks..."
He added one more detail. "Without Mirage’s Veil, I’ll need to maintain an illusion using my own mana. But I’ll have to supplent it. The slums have enough criminals for to... feed on. Or I can sneak into the forests for arcane creatures."
Kleo nodded. "That’s fine. If they’re not , you can do whatever you want. It’s people like them that took Firra from ."
"Good to know that you see it that way."
"Then it starts tomorrow."
"And then we figure out where to go from there." Kai wanted to put his hand out to shake or bump hers, but without his magic dampening gloves, he’d only hurt her.
Kleo stood and looked toward the window. It led to another building less than a tre from them, but he knew the reason she did it.
"For Firra," she said.
Kai followed her gaze to a discoloured brick in front of them.
"For all of us," he whispered.
’For a better and calr future. For a chance at revenge. For everything I’ve suffered through. I will get my way.’
Reviews
All reviews (0)