As Hurun began speaking, faint wisps of light mana began to appear around us. They slowly approached and began covering my eyes, granting me a vision of memories from the past.

***

As my vision began clearing up, I noticed that I was kneeling down before a badly malnourished child with a piece of torn, mouldy bread in my noticeably smaller, thinner, dirtied, and calloused hand. The boy couldn’t be older than ten years old.

“Eat up, Apis. You won’t be up on your feet without anything in your tummy.” The words came out of my mouth without me willing them, and my voice was squeakier than I could remember.

I tried to look around or move my body, but it didn’t so much as flinch. It seemed that whatever Hurun did, it relegated me to a mere observer in this child’s body.

“…No, Teti. You should have it. A bit of bread isn’t going to help me, but it might make all the difference for you.” He said.

Teti shoved the bread into the boy’s mouth before speaking hurriedly.

“Just shut up and eat, I’ll go and find some more food for both of us. Eat quick before the others see you!” she whispered furiously.

Before the boy could say anything else, the girl quickly peeked her head over the crumbling remains of the wall the boy laid against, checking for any eavesdroppers.

While the girl was doing that, I took the chance to take in the environment. It was a run down, crumbling, brick and mortar building with rotting wooden furniture, overgrown weeds, and rubble all over the place. Part of the ceiling had fallen through at some point, letting in sunlight and a bit of fresh air in the otherwise dark and dank ruin. A number of malnourished children of various ages lingered about, and an atmosphere of illness, hunger, and despair pushed down on them all.

Before I could glean any more, the girl looked back down to the boy.

“Hold on tight, Apis. I’ll be back with more food soon, alright?” she asked.

Apis gave a guilty nod as he nibbled at the bread before staring back at the floor.

Teti stood up and stepped past the children, leaving the ruins. The sun’s blinding glint made her wince before she covered it with a hand.

“Damn it. Just five minutes inside and the sun’s burning me up again.”

The girl grumbled but stepped towards the sandy road. The ruin Teti and Apis hid in – along with the other children – was a few kilometers away from the city, judging by the time it took her to get there.

It was a mess.

The buildings all showed at least some signs of damage, with many outright being completely reduced to rubble. Few people walked the streets, and those that did kept their eyes down and walked with purpose. Everyone looked a little too thin to be healthy, and it seemed that famine had struck the place for a while.

As Teti walked through the street, she overheard a nearby conversation.

“Aufa died yesterday. The priest that came over said it was because of a common cold that her body was too weak to resist. I think it’s a load of crap.” A man on the street said to another in a hushed voice.

“I understand your grief, friend, but the times are rough, and the hunger might have weakened your wife enough. At least she won’t suffer anymore.” The other man tried soothing him.

“What kind of cold makes someone bleed from all over their skin, Tumaini?! That priest was lying through his teeth! It’s probably this red plague that people are talking about recently.” The first man said bitterly.

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Tumaini sighed.

“It might be so, but I am sure the priest had their reasons. The gods they serve have our interest at heart – why else would they fight to free us from the clutches of the Dragon Cult?”

The first man scoffed in response.

“To rule over us like the dragons did, you naïve idiot. Look around you, it’s been a few years since they took over and everyone’s still sick and starving in this shithole!”

Teti kept her head down and walked past them, careful not to attract any attention. Street after street, she eventually made her way to a square that was actually filled with people.

Merchants had stalls open, though their shelves were awfully thin and their products were of questionable quality. Most of the vendors offered food, while a few others had precious commodities like medicine and weapons. There clearly wasn’t enough for everyone, though that did not stop people from forming crude lines in hopes of getting something anyway.

The only reason this place hadn’t descended into a mad free-for-all was the presence of a few intimidating guards in heavy armor, whose gaze was enough to cow the crowd. Their gloves and clubs were caked in dried blood, which wasn’t a good sign.

“Out of my way, brat!”

A gangly-looking man bumped into Teti, making her fall over to the ground. Before anything else could happen, Teti quickly groveled on the floor.

“Please forgive me, sir!” she said in a terrified tone.

The man kicked her in the stomach, sending her reeling before spitting on her head.

“I told you to get out of my way, you stupid ki-” the man said before a club smashed into his face, folding it in as he fell to the ground.

A few people nearby screamed, but most looked away in grim silence.

Teti’s gaze at the man’s dead body was interrupted by the guard dragging her up by the arm to stare her in the face.

“If you cause another scene here, brat, I am throwing you out myself. Got it?” the guard said.

Teti nodded hurriedly.

“Good.” She said, releasing her grip on Teti.

The guard walked back to her post while Teti stood back up. Her hands were shaking, but she went to stand at the back of the shortest line at a food vendor’s stall she could find.

Once she had her place, she finally opened the closed fist that she had never released, even when she was kicked by the man or dragged by the guard. In it lay a small coin purse, with a few coppers inside it. Teti looked ahead of the line and saw that the cheapest item, half a loaf of bread, was going for three silvers.

The girl cursed under her breath and tried to look for someone else to rob. In the middle of her discreet snooping, she noticed the guard from earlier keeping an eye on her. The girl cursed again but remained in line. Whatever she was planning, she didn’t have much time as the line was getting smaller and smaller.

Just three people away from her turn, the vendor yelled out.

“That’s all I’ve got for today! Check the other merchants or come back tomorrow!” he yelled.

The people near her began to grumble, while a few visibly panicked. The latter included Teti. All the other vendors had large lines and ever dwindling stocks of food, leaving Teti no chance to get anything that way. Her stomach grumbled, and she held a hand to it in hopes of staving off the hunger even the tiniest bit.

“Move along, or you will be moved!” A guard yelled, and most people began walking away.

A few desperate ones lined up in other lines, hoping for some kind of miracle.

Teti’s grip on the coin purse tightened. It seemed that she was determined to not return empty-handed. Like the others, she lined up in front of the vendor with the largest stock, meager as it was.

As the supply of food dwindled and the vendors closed shop one by one, the tension in the crowd began to simmer. The guards were beginning to get nervous, and a glance showed that the first guard was no longer paying Teti attention.

Seeing two men with their backs turned towards her and with no one behind her, she slowly inched her way to them. A coin purse was bulging out of the man’s pocket.

Teti stealthily began to loosen the coin purse’s knot while it was still in the man’s pocket, an incredibly delicate task that had her looking left and right like a panicked mouse. Slowly but surely, it was opening enough to fit a finger or two.

“Hmm?” the man in front of her said, causing Teti to freeze in place.

Teti’s heart was pounding in her chest, and time slowed down as the man began turning. Before he could do that, however, a scream from the nearby crowd grabbed everyone’s attention.

A man was writhing on the ground as his eyes, ears, mouth, and even his skin began oozing blood. The agony in the man’s voice caused a large panic in the surrounding crowd, who stood away from the man as the guards yelled to get them back in order.

A few people began to run away, breaking the floodgates for chaos. Some people were trampled in the stampede, while others tried to move away from the furious guards.

Teti’s eyes, however, were fixated on the vendor’s stall, which was finally free from the crowd’s attention in the madness that followed.

It was her golden opportunity.