Chapter 26: The Forgotten Children - Part 2
The rooftops of Ylthara stretched before Kai, bathed in the late afternoon sun. Beyond the roofs, the barrier loomed over him and the children around him. Kai sat beside Finn as they perched on the edge of a crumbling rooftop.
Finn's legs dangled freely, his eyes locked on the sky, where distant objects drifted like lazy birds over the city.
Before Kai could ask Finn what those things were, he opened his mouth.
"I'm gonna have one of those someday," Finn declared, his voice tinged with longing. "A real skyship. Not just some tiny trading boat, but a grand one. One as big as a fortress, with sails of silver and a hull strong enough to ride through any storm."
"A skyship?"
"You don't know what a skyship is? Where are you from, the outer villages or something?"
"Well... Yeah."
"Oh, a skyship is the only vessel that sails amongst the clouds! There aren't many of them, and I've heard that mages don't have enough magic to sail them over the entire ocean, but they make it easy to get anywhere else!"
Kai tilted his head. "You ever been on one?"
Finn shook his head. "Nope. But my dad worked on one before he... disappeared. Told me about the sky, the winds, the floating cities. He said the world looks different from up there. Free."
'So Finn did have a family before all of this.'
The word lingered between them.
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Free.
Finn turned to Kai, grinning. "You ever flown before?"
Kai hesitated, then shook his head. "Not yet."
'Not in this world, at least. Mentioning planes to him would only confuse him. Flight magic would be cool, though.'
"Then we'll both fly someday," Finn said, holding out a hand. "Promise?"
Kai hesitated, then clasped it. "Promise."
---
By the time they returned to their hideout, arms full of stolen goods, the younger ones cheered, crowding around to take their share.
As the sun set and everyone ate their fill, they reconvened back where Kai first met Rhea in one of the nearby abandoned buildings. Kai, Rhea, Joran, Merri, and Finn sat by the candlelight, each of them with serious expressions.
"You're gonna need to get out of the city soon," Rhea said, tearing a piece of bread in half. "They're looking for you."
Kai nodded. "I figured as much."
"The inquisitors are at the gates too," Finn added. "We checked."
Kai's jaw clenched. Aldric's people. The memory of golden chains made of holy magic flashed through his mind.
"How do I get past the guards?"
"I guess..." Joran cut in, "people leave and enter the city every day. Merchants, traders, travelers. If you could slip in with them, that would work, but the guards check every single person."
Kai frowned. "That's risky."
"Everything's risky," Rhea said bluntly. "But you won't get far without a plan."
"I'll find a way," he muttered.
Rhea sighed, looking up at the sky. "You'd better. Otherwise, you'll be just as stuck as the rest of us."
"And that's the last thing I want. No offense."
"None taken."
Kai left the conversation there and took a stroll around the immediate area. Not far enough that the other children couldn't help if he got into trouble, but far enough that he could practice his magic and strength training.
In a shadowed alleyway, Kai watched as a boy no older than twelve darted between crates, fists clenched, throwing quick jabs at the air.
'That's commendable. None of these children, as far as I've seen, try to train themselves to be stronger.'
His nose was crooked, obviously broken and never set properly, giving him a rough, battle-worn look despite his young age.
He noticed him amongst the children when he met Rhea, but he wasn't part of the day's stealth mission. Just as Kai was about to leave the boy to himself, he noticed something flicker in the air. Mana swirled around every time he threw a punch.
'He can separate or nullify the flow of mana? Is that the sort of variant he is? Against a world completely full of people who use magic, that sounds useful.'
"Joran, right? You fight often?" Kai asked.
The boy grinned, throwing another punch. "Yup, remember that name! And of course I fight often, what sort of stupid question is that? You gotta, if you wanna be the best. And I'm gonna be the best. Stronger than any noble's guard, better than any knight!"
Joran punched several times into invisible opponents to emphasise his strength.
Kai raised an eyebrow. "That so?"
Joran nodded fiercely. "You hear about the Arena of Kings? The best fighters go there. They fight in front of thousands, and the strongest of all gets their name written in history. The nobility in the Citadel host it every year. At the moment, Garland Hammerfist is the three-time champion. He uses nothing but his bare fists to destroy his rivals!"
He clenched his fists, knuckles white. "That's gonna be me. No more stealing. No more running. Just me, in the arena, proving that a street kid can be the best."
Kai studied the boy's determination. It was reckless, but there was something admirable about it, too.
"If you ever make it there," Kai said, "I'll be watching."
The boy smirked. "Damn right you will. Everyone will."
'All of these lofty goals, and here I am, just trying to get back home. Then what, though? Hide for the rest of my life? Protect my family from my own enemies until they die natural deaths? That's no life.'
Kai nodded to Joran as he continued his shadow-sparring and returned to the open living area. Many of the children already slept, with a mixture of light and heavy snoring filling the air.
Rhea walked up to him and smiled weakly.
"Good job today. We won't have to hunt for food for a while."
"I only did what I could. I need to eat as well."
'Not that I ate anything. Everything turns to ash in my mouth.'
"You're welcome to the bed you woke up on this morning. It's not much, but you can stay here until we figure things out."
"Thank you."
Kai accepted her offer and crept over to his bed, carefully stepping over one child after another until he reached his destination. He crawled onto the smelly bunched up cloths and rested his head on something pillow-shaped. It took a few hours, and he practiced controlling Shade's movements until he fell into a deep slumber.