- CHAPTER 1 -

The Fate of the Innocent

Silver has always been a part of Mani. Quite literally—the bones of this world are molded from pure silver. Not only is this metal plentiful, but it possesses many strange properties.

— From Secrets of Mani, by Sor the Lark

(Planet Mani—Nytaea

Fynle 26, 997—Sunrise)

It was the second day of dawn. Sol hung full above the horizon, casting pale orange light over the white city of Nytaea. The light filtered through the streets and played on the silver rooftops as Mandrie led us back to the orphanage. We could see the smoke from a street away.

Our orphanage was in flames as Kaen and I rounded the last street corner and caught sight of it. That old, beloved house where we grew up, the place I called home ever since I was a little girl . . . burning.

She was right, I thought numbly as I stumbled to a halt, struggling to grasp the scene before my eyes. Two stories tall, the quaint building was made of wood instead of the more usual white stone. By now, however, multiple walls were beginning to cave in. Standing in the front courtyard were some dozen ruffians. Their leader stooped in front of two women held by his henchmen: Lentha, our aging caretaker, and Phoebe, an older girl of sixteen years from the orphanage. Phoebe was thrashing around in her captor’s grip and spitting angry words at the thief leader, while Lentha just hung her head.

No one else was in sight, none of the children, and certainly no one else in the neighborhood. They wouldn’t want anything to do with such an event.

“Lyn! Kaen!” called Phoebe as she saw us. “Hel—” She was cut off as the stubble-cheeked man holding her gave her a backhanded rap across the head.

“Hey!” I shouted. “Let them go!”

Kaen came up beside me and turned to say something to Mandrie. I was too focused on the horrifying scene to pay attention to his words.

The leader turned to look at me, and Lentha coughed up blood behind him. “Well, looky here—more of the brats!” he said through a gap-toothed grin, shaking a bag of jingling copper and gold coins. Lentha’s stash of money. “Your little friend here was trying to go back inside, but it’s a bit dangerous in there, so I had the boys restrain her along with this old hag. Ain’t that right, missy?”

I gritted my teeth and began to stalk toward them. I was strong; maybe Kaen and I could take them on. . . .

But then I saw the lead man do something strange, calling a flame into being with his right hand. Just like that. My blood chilled, and I stopped in my tracks. So that was how they had burnt it so fast. Magic. . . .

“You . . . monsters,” I spat. I looked toward the flaming building, half collapsing from the structural damage already, and wiped tears from my eyes. There was no way any of the children were still alive in there. I couldn’t hear their screams.

Kaen put a hand on my shoulder and addressed the thieves. “Put them down right now and back off! We have the city watch right on our tails. They’ll be here any moment.” His voice cracked, but it was a commendable effort at sounding threatening.

The fire mage laughed. But before he could speak, one of his men pointed the other direction and all eyes looked to see the city watch approaching at a run. The uniformed men shouted and began chasing the thieves, who scattered away. Someone must have seen the smoke and called for them.

The thieves cursed and dropped Phoebe and Lentha as they fled, and Phoebe immediately dashed to Lentha’s side, wincing at her own bruises as she held her caretaker gingerly. “Mum, Mum! Lentha! Stay with me.”

Kaen and I approached hastily and knelt down beside the grey-haired woman. Her face was beaten and bloodied, and she looked close to death. “Oh, Lentha . . .” I whispered.

Phoebe gazed up at us with tear-stained eyes, her dull brown hair in tangles. Her hooked nose, one of her distinctive features, twitched as she tried to keep it from running. Blood leaked from one nostril. “They demanded money. When she wouldn’t give it, they . . . they . . .” She cut off, sobbing.

Lentha finally stirred, pulling back her greyed head to mumble something incoherent. I caught only the word “children.” And then her body went limp.

Just then, one of the last of the city watch came up to us, his bronze scale armor clinking with each step. “Sorry to run, but the mage soldiers will be here any minute to douse the fires, and they’ll give you any medical attention you need.”

He was off before we could protest, and we were left with our dead foster mother in the courtyard of the burning orphanage. Mage soldiers. . . . Lord Kalceron’s elite forces were the last thing I wanted to see. Lentha had always taught us to avoid mage soldiers, in fact all magi, whenever possible. I shivered and looked back toward the building, saying nothing. I wanted so badly to go and check, just to see if somehow, some way . . .

I made an illogical move to get up and run for the orphanage, but Kaen grabbed my arm. His face, normally so strong and resolute, looked hollow in the flickering light of the flames. His dark curls were plastered to his forehead with sweat and ash. With trembling lips, he said, “Lyn, they’re dead. So is—so is Lentha.”

Phoebe lay wailing over Lentha’s body. I felt like doing just the same. My throat was raw and scratchy, bearing a lump that I couldn’t swallow down. But I didn’t pull out of Kaen’s grip.

Slowly, Mandrie approached from behind us. I looked to see her small eleven-year-old figure beside us, clutching one arm to the other across her stomach. “Kaen,” she whimpered, “Lyn, I’m scared. This is like a bad dream. I thought . . .”

I lurched to my feet and ran to embrace her, pulling the distraught girl to face away from the dead body of our caretaker. “I’m so sorry, Mandrie.”

From behind me, Kaen said, “We should be going.”

I nodded, turning to see two mage soldiers approaching from the street to the south. They were unmistakable in their ornately-graven silver armor, bearing blue capes and horsehair plumes: water mage soldiers. I had only ever caught glimpses as a child. Two more of the blue-cloaked men approached from behind them just as the first two ran up and started putting out the fires. The mage soldier in the far back locked eyes with me and nudged his companion, pointing and saying something. A chill ran down my spine, and my heart began to beat faster.

Kaen was leading Phoebe away, but I hissed at him to hurry and pulled Mandrie with me. “We have to go now!”

None of them questioned. We hurried back down the street we’d come from. Kaen looked back and whispered, “Everyone hide!” He pulled Mandrie and me down behind a wooden garbage bin. “How did they get here so fast? Are you sure they’re after us, Lyn?”

I gave a nervous shrug, nearly gagging at the putrid smell of the refuse in the container. Breath coming quickly, I peeked over the top and saw the water magi dousing the flames while more mage soldiers clad in red and gold capes—other divisions, specializing in different elements—prowled the scene. They would find us in no time. “They’re looking for something,” I whispered back, “And I think it’s us. Whatever they want, it won’t be good if they catch us. We have to go, or they will soon.”

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Kaen looked out past the dumpster and swore. “More of them are coming. We’ll just have to make a break for it. Come on!”

Mandrie scrambled out first, running for the street corner while Phoebe and Kaen followed on her heels. I followed, trying to keep an eye on the soldiers. They came closer and closer until . . .

They saw us. “You there, stop!” shouted one of the two. “You, with the white hair!”

The words sent a chill down my spine. I panicked and sprinted for the corner, where Kaen and Mandrie were. “Go, go!” I hissed to them, looking behind me to see the soldiers chasing us. I thought I saw a civilian or two staring at us from windows, but I was too focused on getting away from Lord Kalceron’s men. We weaved down side streets toward the worse section of town, following Kaen’s lead. I knew we’d be able to shake them there. The only issue would be Mandrie, who was not as fast, and Phoebe, who seemed to be hampered by the beating the thieves had given her.

“Over here!” I said quickly, pointing down another alley. “Go! I’ll distract them. I’ll meet you up at the nearest hideout!”

Kaen reluctantly pulled Mandrie and Phoebe down the alley with him, while I scrambled up on a nearby box and leaped for the overhanging roof. Using my gift of inhuman strength, I pulled myself up. As the mage soldiers came through, I shouted down to them, “Hey! You’ll never catch us!”

One of the magi, a gold-caped woman, stopped and pointed as she looked up. “There she is! They’ve taken to the rooftops, Captain.”

I ran in the direction of Kaen and my other friends, sprinting over the slate roof as fast as I could. I came to the edge of the first roof and took a flying leap, landing on the other side nimbly as a cat. The mage soldiers had rounded the street corner and were now firing firebolts and lightning my way, shouting for me to stop. They’re out of their minds—are they trying to kill me?

I took off, leading them farther away. Whether they were actually trying to hit me or simply intimidate me, my decoy plan was working.

Gathering my energy, I bounded across the street to my left and scraped my way up the slope of the roof and over to the other side, sliding to dodge another firebolt. I braked, getting my feet beneath me as I slid, and then managed to leap once more across the street.

I landed with my feet on a windowsill and my fingers over the lip of the roof. The jerk of my weight brought a jolt of pain from my shoulders and elbows. Gritting my teeth, I forced my limbs to do the impossible as I leaped with my feet, pulled with my arms, and swung myself up and over the edge, landing in a crouch on the rooftop. Sometimes it paid to have inhuman strength. Someday I would find out why I possessed it, and very soon I would feel the tiring after-effects of it.

I heard their voices and the clang of their silver boots on paving stones even as I caught my breath and my bearings. Looking around to see the mage soldiers approaching from both sides, I made a split-second decision and dashed to my right, parallel to the street. I leaped from one housetop to the next, following the street, before swinging around to my left, following the slope of the roof. I followed the roofline in this direction, away from where I knew our closest hideout lay.

The mage soldiers were still on my tail, fortunately, although they had to be wondering by now why they were only chasing one of us. Had they split up? I stopped suddenly, stooping down to rip off a slate shingle from the roof below, then leaned back sharply as another firebolt sailed over my head, fired by one of the red-caped mage soldiers. An angry reprimand followed from one of the other ones—had he aimed too close? I peeked over and chucked the heavy shingle plate at my pursuers as they ran toward me. The shingle shattered, stalling them momentarily, and I began running again. It didn’t buy me any time in my escape from the magi; I was just trying to keep them preoccupied with me.

It was time to lose them.

I took a deep breath and leapt across the street. I ran straight up the slope of the roof, slid down the other side and vaulted across the street. Pedestrians below stared up in surprise, but I ignored them. I landed on the roof of a large shop, clambering up the side and traversing the complicated twists and turns of the roof before hopping onto the next building, and the next, and the next, down the street. Finally, as my breath began to come in gasps, I hopped off the last rooftop and dropped five paces to the cobblestone street below, rolling and coming up running.

Confident that I had shaken the mage soldiers at last, I made my way as quickly and quietly as I could toward the hideout, conscious that half the city might have just seen my escape antics. I ducked my head whenever I passed by a person as I ran. I was beginning to feel the exertion, and sweat was breaking out on my forehead.

At last, I made it back to the run-down section of the city. I sought out the abandoned warehouse and let myself in the back door, glancing both ways first to make sure that no one was watching. It was an old building with worn, wooden siding, and the plain wooden furnishings inside were covered in dust and cobwebs. Kaen, Phoebe and Mandrie stood near the back, and looked up with relief as I entered.

Mandrie was the first to greet me. “Lyn! Oh, I’m so glad you made it back safely!” She ran up and threw her arms around me, burying her brown curls in my chest.

I patted her back as I caught my breath, ruffling her hair affectionately. “Of course. I wouldn’t let some measly mage soldiers catch me.”

“Were you followed here?” Kaen’s voice had a sharp edge to it.

I shook my head, gently pulling Mandrie off of me. “No, I threw them off a ways back. They could only chase me for so long.”

Phoebe looked skeptical. “And how do you know they won’t still find us here? How did you even get away from them?”

“I led them in the opposite direction by rooftop,” I explained. “Then I doubled back and came here.”

She nodded, satisfied, not asking how I was capable of performing such a feat. We all knew that I was agile and quick on my feet, but Kaen was the only one who knew that that extended to superhuman feats that no normal Legaleian—that is to say, no human—could perform.

Mandrie looked back at Kaen. “Brother, what do we do now? Where are we going to stay?”

“Right here for now,” he answered. “Although we have to make sure that our scent has been lost.” He glanced my way. “Lyn? You up for going back out with me to scout the area?”

I took a deep breath in, nodding slowly, and wiped my sweaty brow. “Yeah, I’m fine.” No sooner did I say this, however, than my knees buckled. I almost fell to the floor before Kaen caught me.

He grunted at my weight, muttering, “You don’t look fine. Phoebe, maybe you ought to come instead. They didn’t beat you up too badly, did they?”

She scoffed. “No, just some bruises. I’ll come. Can’t trust you to watch your own back.” Sharp-tongued as ever.

I nodded weakly. “Thanks. Mandrie, can I have some food?” My stomach was trying to learn to talk back.

She scrambled up to fetch some from our meager supplies, bringing me back a piece of a hard loaf. “Here you go, Lynx!” She used her nickname for me, though her voice lacked its usual brightness.

I devoured the bread like a ravenous wolf, swallowing it in a few seconds. Almost immediately, it helped to replenish my energy. “I feel a little better now,” I said. “You two go, and I’ll stay and watch out for Mandrie.”

Phoebe grunted an assent. “Kaen, we should go and talk to your boss. Do you think he’d be willing to pay you for your work up until now?”

Kaen and I had been at work with a local construction crew when Mandrie came to get us. We had begged leave from the master builder, insisting that the occasion was urgent. Despite the general outlook toward orphans in the city, fostered by harsh laws made by Lord Kalceron, Lerr Harcost was a fair man who asked few questions and paid anyone willing to work for him.

“I was just wondering that,” Kaen said with a sigh. “I don’t . . . I don’t think I can keep working for him if we’re going to be on the run for a while. We need to leave this sector of town entirely, as soon as we can.”

I nodded. “You’re right. We can’t stay here. We can find work someplace else. Just see what he says. But be cautious out there.

“We will. We’ll see you two later,” he said as he pushed the door open and walked out, holding it open for Phoebe.

“Be careful,” Mandrie called.

Phoebe glanced back at us briefly and then let the door swing shut as they departed.

I looked over at Mandrie, smiling as warmly as I could. “It’s going to be all right. We’ll make it.”

She nodded slowly before seating herself with a thump on the floor, not bothering to smooth her skirts. “Oh, Lyn,” she murmured, hanging her head. “But it’s not all right. They’re all dead. They’re all gone. Lentha . . . Tommy . . . Fran . . .” Tears began to stream down her cheeks, and her little chest heaved with sobs.

“Mandrie . . . I’m sorry.” I stooped down beside her and stroked her mousy brown curls. They were just like Kaen’s, but, at only eleven years old, her hair was not as dark yet. “It will be all right.” She leaned onto me, and I held her while she cried, rocking back and forth. Try though I may to be strong for her, I could feel my own tears welling up behind my eyes as my lip trembled, my chin and jaw feeling strangely tight.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Why did this have to happen? Why?