“You looking forward to today bro?!” Matthew had patted his brother’s shoulders as he watched his face light up.

“Yeah!”

During the arid days of summer, an exodus occurs. Many of Lumina’s denizens journey north to Umbro for a summer getaway. While normally too cold for the tropical lover, this time of year the region enticed even foreigners.

“We have all our bags, I brought my old map, and I’ve even told my friends I’ll be gone for a while.”

“I can’t wait to see aunt Shelly.”

As the boys departed from their home and reached the wall of the city, they confronted the guards standing beside the exit.

“Hello gentlemen, I am Luke Baronia and I am personally escorting my younger brother to Umbro, here is my passport.” Digging through his pants pocket, Matt pulled out a booklet with his own ID inside.

“Sorry sir, but only those with official business from the queen are allowed to depart.”

“Excuse me?” Matthew raised an eyebrow at the man’s words.

“Queen’s orders sir.”

“But I’m nobility, surely you can make an exception?”

“No sir, we are not allowed to let anyone through, not even the princess.”

“What the fuck?” Matthew uttered under his breath.

Putting his Id back in his pocket, the boy and his brother traveled back south to the castle until they were face-to-face with the queen herself.

“Your highness” Matthew kneeled before the woman, Luke following suite.

“Rise and speak.” The woman’s voice was dry and stern.

“Could I request leave from the city?”

“No.”

“B-but why?”

“I’m sorry Matthew, but there’s been rumors of people escorting stolen goods out of the city. All citizens are on lockdown until then.”

“But my liege, you know me.”

“I do, and I could let you go. However, I cannot allow your brother to leave, it’s simply too dangerous out there during the summer.”

“I could take my friends too.”

“I don’t know them as well. If you wish to leave on your own, or simply take your friends only, then I could do that. Your brother is simply too vulnerable, and I would be responsible if anything happened to him.”

Sighing to himself, Matthew and Luke took their leave. At first, Luke was disappointed that there seemed to be no way out of the city, but quickly grew curious as to why his older brother was escorting them away from their house.

“Where are we going Matt?”

“If the queen isn’t going to let us leave, we’ll just have to make our own way out.”

“How are we going to do that?”

“I know a few people.”

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“You want me to do what now?” The dragoon asked rhetorically.

“Brian, I know you don’t want to get on anyone’s bad side, but hear me out,”

“Noo-” Brian attempted to intervene.

“All you have to do is jump up the wall, down the other side, and then back up.”

“Matt, guards do go around the wall, somebody would notice and stop me.”

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“You only have to get Luke to the other side, so even if a guard sees you on the way back you should be fine.”

“But then Luke would be on his own!”

“The queen said she’d let me leave if I did so alone. It’s only Luke that’s a problem.”

“You’re lucky you’re my best friend.”

The dragoon sighed, reluctantly following his best friend as he escorted the three to the wall, halfway between the north and east gate. Measuring the wall, Brian had lowered his arms in preparation to carry the younger brother, but Luke hesitated.

“What are you waiting for?”

“He’s not fond of you.” Matthew turned toward his brother. “It’s okay Luke, Brian won’t let you fall.”

Luke wasn’t convinced, however, as he continued to hesitate.

“Do you want to see Julia?” Matthew insisted.

Biting his lip, Luke approached the dragoon and secured himself, Brian noticeably struggling to life the younger sibling at first. Once he had stood up straight, the dragoon took in a deep breath before crouching down. In the next moment, the blonde and the younger brother had ascended alongside the wall, watching brick after brick disappear below them until they reached the top of the structure.

When Brian had landed, all he saw was the view in front of him, a long stretch of country that ended at a wall of mountains. It wasn’t until Luke began making noises that Brian realized the two were surrounded on the left and right by several guards.

“Halt, do not attempt to breach the wall! Please return to the city limits.”

Not daring to go against authority, Brian turned around and descended back toward Lumina, Luke nearly crushing his lungs on the way down.

“No good?” Matthew questioned as his friend landed and brother dismounted the poor dragoon.

“Dude, there were so many guards.”

“How many?”

“Like…holy shit.”

“Wow, that’s a lot.” Matthew turned to his brother in defeat. “Looks like we’re stuck.”

“Sorry man, I tried.”

“It’s not your fault Brian.”

“Maybe see if Adriana can get over the wall?”

With those words, another idea instantly sparked in Matthew’s head.

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“Absolutely not!”

“C’mon Adri!”

“Matt, even if I agreed with your idea -which I don’t- there’s no way I could get over the wall.”

“I didn’t say you’d have to go over it. Perhaps you can go under it instead?”

Adriana paused, giving the idea some thought.

“Why does this have to be done now?”

“We don’t know how long this lockdown will last and this summer is the last summer I’ll get to stay with Luke.”

“Oh crap, you’re right.” The girl put her index finger to her temple. “Okay, I’ll help. Just know that if this gets me in trouble, you’re taking all the blame.”

As the brothers and rogue made their way back to midpoint between the two gates, Adriana approached the younger sibling.

“You ready Luke?”

Luke nodded at the question, but was unsure what was about to happen. He recalled those with control over darkness could move in the shadows, but he couldn’t imagine what the ability actually entailed. Without warning, the girl grabbed his arm, pulling him down with her as she sunk into the shade given off by the wall. The boy closed his eyes and held his breath as the darkness enveloped him.

“You okay?”

Without thinking, the boy opened his eyes to see a world of black around him. Unable to hold out any longer, Luke breathed in the air, only to realize it was normal oxygen. Inspecting the area around him, he quickly realized he was standing on a small platform with an abyss spanning outward, only dotted by rocky platforms hovering over the darkness. Despite the world lacking any source of light, the platforms were not obscured in any manner.

“Luke?”

The boy broke away from his fixation on the world to see his escort waiting for him.

“Sorry, I’ve never seen this before.”

“We’re in the shade. If you fall off into the void, you’ll just fall out into the world. If you look over here,” Adriana paused, pushing an open hand against the darkness next to the platform, “you’ll see I can’t move any further; this is where the wall is. We better be quick, because if the shade around the wall gets smaller, we’ll have less room to maneuver.”

Taking the boy by the arm again, the rogue escorted him to where the front gate would be.

“Oh come on!”

It had taken Luke a second to realize there was a guard standing on a rocky path that extended outward.

“Excuse me ma’am, but I must ask you return to the world above. Nobody is permitted to leave Lumina until the lockdown has been lifted.”

Angrily, the girl jolted off the floating platform into the abyss, dragging a terrified Luke with her. As the two fell onto the dirt road of Lumina, the rogue’s anger dissipated as she realized Luke was clinging to her.

“Sorry Luke, I got carried away.” The girl laughed nervously.

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“Ah, Baronia, nice to see you today.”

Luke hadn’t paid the guard any mind, his attention still on yesterday. Scenes of returning home and his brother trying desperately to persuade their father had played in his head. When his footsteps echoed throughout the castle hall, the boy harshly woke from his subconscious.

As he continued down the hall, he began to feel skittish. He knew things were hopeless, but the least he could do was try to repair broken bonds. Approaching the garden square, he could see her kneeling down to water the flowers.

“Elizabeth.”

Luke walked into the garden, approaching the young girl who had jumped when her name was called.

“Oh, Luke. Why are you here?”

He had expected her to still be angry at him, but instead she was solemn. This change caught Luke off guard to the point he briefly lost his train of thought.

“I just wanted to say sorry about happened last winter.”

“I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have yelled or even gotten angry; you wanted to spend time with your friend.”

“Well, she’s gone now.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s gone home for the summer, and I can’t go visit her.”

“Oh Luke,” the girl hugged the sulking boy, “why don’t we be friends again?”

“I’d like that.”