Tryst was annoyed. 

“Did you really have to go that far? What happened to killing the prisoners in the regular spot? It’s not easy to clean these cells you know! Ugh, you will at least move the body, right!?”

Vaughn was standing at his feet now, gazing at the prone body of the teenager that had kicked him. The corpse’s face was covered with the kid’s hair and he wondered what expression the boy had when he died, but quickly set the thought aside. He was annoyed too, but for much different reasons. With the kid dead, he would have to file a formal report and the paperwork would be a hassle. He couldn’t just hide the body with Tryst as a witness. An idea sprung into his head.

He stepped back, as the blood pool was almost to his robes. He almost didn’t notice with his mind off in a different place. 

He turned around, “Tryst. That’s enough. I’ll handle the body, and you don’t say anything to the captain, alright? Do we have a deal? Tryst?”

“Vaughn!” Tryst yelped, her face turning pale as her expression changed from anger to fear. Her eyes were glued to whatever was behind him and he turned around again, only to see time moving backwards. 

The pool of blood that had been expanding slowly was now moving back toward the corpse much faster than it had left it. He watched calmly as the last of the blood flowed back under the brown hair until it was gone. The fingers twitched.

He wasn’t shocked as much as Tryst, who looked like she would faint at any second. He pitied the girl who hadn’t received the same training that he had against illusion spells. He knew that panicking was the same as letting the spell win. Vaughn began to ponder who the person behind this prank was as he started an incantation. The corpse in front of him began to rise to it’s feet, the face still hidden, but he didn’t worry about it. Illusions couldn’t do any real harm.

“[My will is a force that can not be conquered. My mind is a fortress that will not fall. I will not be deceived: Clear Mind]”

He chanted the counterspell, but when the illusion didn’t break, his calm demeanor faltered, and his mind raced as he tried to formulate an explanation.

A higher tier mental spell!? But my counterspell was tier two! There isn’t anyone in the corps that can cast tier three except the captain! Not an illusion spell then, healing magic? No, he’s dead. Recovery magic doesn’t work on the dead and [Holy Resurrection] is tier four. I didn’t hear any incantation either. Necromancy!? No, I’d sense…

Vaughn’s thoughts came to a breaching halt as the young man stood, the hair moving from his face. A hole the size of his finger on the abomination’s forehead spit out a small piece of stone before closing as if the wound was never there. The dead boy’s glazed eyes focused.

When Arduin blinked, he was back in his body, standing now, and realizing where he was, quickly recited the lines that Fairen had him memorize. His voice was almost a whisper, but there wasn’t another sound to be heard.

“I, Arduin Draxus, now form a contract with a demon of shadows. Answer my call and hear my offer. I give you these souls as payment for your service, and make you my familiar. I name you, Shade!”

The small cell was already dim, but the light began to recede further as the shadows seemed to swallow the light, growing as if consuming it.

Vaughn frantically turned around and found Tryst laying unconscious on the ground before the door, and in front of him, the shadows on the walls spread to cover his escape, spreading out from the wall to fill the hole where a door had been. While he watched, the shadows began to cover the unconscious girl, and he saw her body being swiftly swallowed by the ground. 

He panicked, and began clawing at where the wall was, but it was as if he was clawing at air. He thought of casting a spell, any spell, but he didn’t have the time, and he didn’t know what would work. He tried to feel for the earth, his element, but he couldn’t feel a thing. He turned around, his eyes looking for any escape, but found none. Instead, there were two eyes that glowed a dark purple against the darkness. They were wild and hungry, and the darkness began to consume him from the feet up. He screamed, but no sound came out.

Arduin watched as the shadows quickly covered every nook in the cell, and then efficiently swallowed the two keepers in perfect silence. He could see Vaughn struggling as a dark fog erupted from the ground and encased him. He almost pitied the man once called Vaughn.

Startling him, he heard the flap of wings, and a black raven burst out of the heavy smoke that was now falling back into the ground and dispersing. Arduin set his resolve not to show any fear, and the raven perched itself on his shoulder.

The raven had feathers as black as night, and instead of eyes, two crimson jewels shone in the sockets. They were beautiful to look at, but Arduin cleared his head and gave out the second part of the instructions Fairen had given him.

“Shade,” He ordered, every bit of his will in his voice, “take me to me to Thane.”

The raven looked back at him, cawed loudly, and then proceed to fly off of his shoulder, straight into a wall of the cell, the stone rippling like a pond as Shade disappeared. The wall shifted, and as the ripples settled, the wall shifted to reveal a dark corner of a very familiar storehouse. 

Without hesitation, Arduin ran through the image, feeling the warm, fresh air on the other side replace the stale air he had been breathing. The image of the cell behind him shattered like broken glass, and Shade was nowhere to be seen. 

Arduin didn’t take the time to look for it though, as he quickly ran from his spot to look for Thane. Most of the kids that were on the ground when he left were gone now, and only a handful were either just sitting around or talking with each other. He approached the first kid he saw.

“Where’s Thane?” His voice sounded unsteady and he could tell why. Although Fairen had completely healed him, even curing his hunger, Shade must have used what little mana he had to get him here, although he couldn’t imagine the familiar using such a small amount for such a large feat. Mana fatigue explained his condition, as he remembered what he had read.

Mana, sometimes referred to as ‘spiritual essence’, is a substance within the body, attached to the soul, that is capable of manipulating reality and it’s components. For those capable of magic, the amount of accessible mana grows as the body ages, becoming static around adulthood. This fixed amount is different for everyone, and for most it is extremely small. Only those who have enough mana to cast spells can be considered a mage. 

‘Mana Fatigue’ is the condition of using all available mana to the point of there being nothing left. This condition can bring about moderate to extreme fatigue and weakness, and if spell casting continues, the spells will use the mages life-force as fuel. Mages must abstain from this practice at all costs. Those without a talent for magic will simply fall unconscious from the rebound.

The dirty looking boy pointed toward a spot near the back, and Arduin began to walk in the direction, forcing his sluggish limbs forward. 

He finally spotted Thane, picking him out by his height, and rushed over. The older boy noticed him in his peripheral, and turned to shout at him.

“Arduin! Where the fuck have you been! Did you even get anything? It’s been hours!” Thane yelled, but Arduin was closing the distance between them and his voice was at a normal level by the end of his rant. Arduin was noticeably panting heavily.

“Thane! We’ve got to… keepers coming… they’re close” Thane’s eyes widened in surprise, but this was not the first time, and his experience showed as he quickly composed himself. He turned from Arduin and cupped his hands around his mouth.

“KEEPERS COMING! EVERYONE OUT”

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The effect was immediately visible, as the remaining kids panicked, grabbing what little they kept with them, or nothing at all, and hastily bolted for the door as if the building was on fire.

Arduin just stood in place and caught his breath as Thane walked around yelling, picking things up as he went, eventually returning to Arduin with a knapsack with a few odd things in it. Arduin could guess what they were. Books and trinkets he hadn’t been able to sell yet, maybe even a little money, but probably not. Thane shoved a larger book in Arduin's arms, and started pulling him toward the exit.

They were the last ones in the old storehouse at this point, Thane’s warning working as expected, and they both ran outside themselves. 

Thane began walking at a brisk pace, his eyes buried in his bag, but Arduin held him still as he saw what lay just down the street. Two kids were being held on the ground by a similar number of men in white armor, while three more were heading their way. He could see one pointing in his direction and his mouth moving.

Thane looked up to see the same thing Arduin had, and hissed under his breath.

“Clarissa… shit.”

They both turned without another word, and hastily walked in the other direction as fast as Arduin’s legs would allow. There wasn’t anything they could do for them now. Neither of them were naive enough to believe that. 

Moving as inconspicuously as they could, they twisted through the uneven streets, eventually slowing to a comfortable walk when Arduin was sure that there wasn’t anyone following them, keeper or otherwise. As they walked, Arduin began to get a modicum of his strength back, and it got easier and easier for him to keep up with Thane, who’s pace only seemed to speed up.

Arduin was simply following Thane, still too tired to make any sort of sound. He was usually too headstrong to let himself be led around, but Thane seemed to know what he was doing. He kept thinking so until he found himself crossing the boundary into the Sky District and he stopped in his tracts.

“Where are we going?”

Thane turned his head slightly at the question, but fixed his face forward again as he answered. 

“Somewhere I think we can lay low for a while. We’ll talk when we get there.”

Thane didn’t seem to be in the mood and Arduin didn’t feel like pushing it further, so he walked in silence behind his friend as they pushed further into the city.

Arduin felt like they had been walking for at least half an hour when Thane finally stopped in front of a small shop, one of many in a popular shopping hub. The sign posted above the door had a necklace sloppily painted on it and Arduin looked back at Thane to hear his explanation.

“I do some business with the owner. Wait here for a second.”

Thane opened and closed the door behind him without enough time to respond, leaving Arduin on the street. Without anything else to do, he slumped down against the storefront, and looked down at the book he had almost forgotten in his hands. 

An Insight into Magic and It’s Uses

Arduin was special in more than one way now. A guy like him with his status shouldn’t be able to read or write, so the sight of him flipping through the large book and reading was beyond uncommon. He wondered if anyone would be able to see what he was reading, and angled the contents away from the crowded street, the title hidden by his legs.

Education wasn’t compulsory in the empire and only the rich could afford proper schooling. It was only thanks to the boredom of one of the women who ran his orphanage that he was able to do this much. She had only taught him to read, and without the proper materials to practice writing, there wasn’t much else he could do. Thane was the one who went the extra distance, practicing writing what he read with a stick as his quill and the mud as his paper. 

Originally, the old book was supposed to feed the two for a month. They went to a lot of trouble to get it, Arduin slipping behind the store owner while Thane distracted him. Books were rare, especially ones about magic, so if you could find a buyer, then it might as well be solid gold. The Empire guarded its mages’ texts heavily in the academies, so to find such a book, most likely imported from another country, was beyond lucky.

While they were basically drooling at all the things they would buy with the money, Thane came back day after day unable to find a buyer. Eventually the bookstore owner found out and called the keepers on them. With the word out about the rare book, their treasure wasn’t worth a thing, and they decided to have a peek inside for kicks.

Although they were curious, they both knew there wasn’t much of a point. The Empire tested every year for potential mages when children reach their 15th birthday, but magic was mostly hereditary, a trait held tightly by the nobility. Commoners took part largely in ceremony. Although a mage could spring up from anywhere theoretically, the chances were small, and most of the time, people could go their whole lives without realizing it. The test fixed that, but Thane and Arduin were runners, so they were never tested. 

Arduin flipped the pages until he found some beginner incantations, eventually settling on one for a basic flame spell. They didn’t know anything about magic or mana fatigue, and casted the spell together, resulting in Thane falling to the ground unconscious while a small flame danced on Arduin’s fingertips.

Ever since, he had practiced whenever he could with the tome, working in secret so that no one would notice. Thane knew, but Arduin trusted his friend to to keep a secret. If the keepers found out a person like him could use magic…

Thane walked back outside of the shop, gesturing for him to come inside. 

“I made a deal with the owner. We can stay in the back for a while.” He said, before going back inside.

Arduin closed the book got up from his spot, following Thane inside the shop that he had never heard of before. The interior was pretty common for a jewelry shop. Wares were sitting inside a number of cases against the walls, a lock holding each one shut. As Arduin looked around, be began to notice familiar pieces strewn about. A large man stood behind a counter, and Thane introduced them casually.

“Milo, this is Arduin. Arduin, this is Milo. We’ll be in the back”

The owner eyed Arduin. 

“Aren’t you a little late for the festival, kid? And what’s with the book?”

Arduin looked down at himself to realize he was still wearing his disguise for the festival and pondered on how to find new clothes. He had left everything in the storehouse, but that was gone now.

“Don’t worry about it” Thane responded in his stead, and they both went behind a curtain behind the counter to the back room. The space contained a few boxes and a large cot that they both sat down on. Feeling the soft material beneath him, Arduin felt the fatigue wash over him anew, and fell asleep without further invitation.

~~~Author's Corner~~~

Thanks for reading thus far everyone, and I hope you have enjoyed Empire so far! 

If anyone is interested, I could really use someone to proofread chapters before I post, so inquire within.

Also, drop a review if you feel so inclined. Feedback (even negative) is important to me.

Thanks for Reading,

Drne