Azura knew the brilliance of the plan as soon as Toren showed her what he had gathered. This would be the greatest move for the equality of kin the city over. In the annuals of history they would refer back to this moment, as the event that changed everything. The moment where righteous justice was finally served against a group trespassers so foul that even thinking of their deeds warranted execution from any folk with a modicum of decency. They would pay, oh yes, she and Toren would ensure it. Even thinking what the offenders had done sent a spark of rage through her.
Quietly the pair traversed the roof tops, Toren leading the way. They were close now. Their quarry had a tendency to linger in this area. A cold breeze swept Azura long hair back causing a small shiver that she hardly felt in her excitement. Azura shifted the sack to a more comfortable position as they silently moved on.
The sun was now high overhead and she was beginning to wonder if they had missed their target when Toren raised his hand. Azura froze, barely breathing. Wordlessly the boy pointed down. She looked. There they were.
The targets were orcs. Massive beings so foul that the stench from their unwashed bodies nearly gaged her two stories above. Their ugliness was only matched by their stupid expressions. Yes, they were truly foul beings for what they did.
Azura reached into the sack as Toren did the same. The boy mimed numbers on his free hand as he took aim. Azura did likewise. Once Toren showed the third finger both of them threw. The effect was immediate. The orcs screamed in rage as one by one they fell never to rise again, their blood staining the cobblestones.
… Okay, so maybe the narrative in her head had side tracked from reality, just slightly. The orcs were not orcs per say, but rather four kin boys. And maybe, the foul odor wasn’t from them but from the sack she carried. And just maybe, the children didn’t fall down bleeding never to rise again, rather were instead splattered with rotten fruits. But, the great crime was no exaggeration.
“This is for pulling down my trousers!” Azura shouted feeling vindicated. The one sided bombardment continued without mercy. The boy’s pitiful attempts at return fire were hopeless due to the significant height advantage they held. All was right with the world… that was until Miss Grassfoot, the crow-kin grand book-keeper, exited her home which happened to be directly in the line of fire.
The woman screamed as a particular soggy fruit, thrown by Azura, crashed into her drenching the woman in sticky purple pulp. On her face…
The battlefield froze as the civilian was the inadvertent victim of some long overdue retribution. Azura’s panic mind instantly tried to justify the action. There were innocent casualties in war all the time surely she would understand the need. She would understand that her sacrifice was for the good of all.
The crow-kin woman wiped her eyes clean. The woman glared upwards right at her, the fruit paste glistening on her feathers.
“AZURA!” She squawked.
Oh shit. She didn’t understand anything. Azura thought as she bolted away.
Her mother wasn’t pleased nor did she understand the necessity of the situation, like Azura did. All she understood was an irate book-keeper as she told her mother of the events that transpired. A scowl was on the crow-kin’s face as she looked at Azura hiding behind her mother. Azura stopped hiding there as the pair discussed her impending punishment.
Dear diary,
I have been wrongfully imprisoned by the ones I trusted most. I have had no trial and was directly incarcerated with no due process of the law. I have not seen the light of day for over 180 minutes. I fear my mind is ready to break from the stress. My jailer has no sympathy for my plight and seems to take cruel pleasure in my discomfort. My meals are barely palatable. Worst still dessert was cruelly denied to me. How can I continue in this state?! This is truly testing my willpower to its limits and I find myself lacking. The sun and wind are nothing more than distant memories. Night has fallen and yet I know the tribulation waiting for me tomorrow will make this day pleasant in comparison. I do not know how I will survive.
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Azura put the small journal down and climbed into bed, dreading the coming day.
“May I have a break warden?” Azura asked her energy gone.
“It’s only been 10 minutes Azura,” her mother said not looking at her. She continued her work.
“Could I perhaps be released early for good behavior?”
“I might consider it if I ever saw any.”
“But this is so boring!” Azura declared glancing at the large pile of clothes. Her mother was a mender. She washed and repaired people’s clothes. Her mother was great at her craft earning enough to pay for their meager home. As punishment for her transgressions Azura had to hang clothes out to dry. Afterwards she put them in bags for their customers.
“Prisoner 231 get back to work otherwise I’ll have another inmate shank you with a toothbrush,” Azura’s mother said a touch of mischief in her voice.
“Yes warden,” Azura said. At least her mother played along with her fantasies. It did make the time go by a littler faster. Azura went outside and collected a bunch of clothes from the drying lines before hanging up more. She brought the dried clothes inside then started shoving them into bags.
“Not like that,” her mother said exasperated. “You have to fold them or they’ll never fit.”
Azura stopped cramming the clothes into the bag.
“But it doesn’t help that much. I don’t think anyone would notice.”
“Don’t make me put you in solitary confinement.”
“Fine,” Azura huffed.
“Excuse me,” her mother said a look of fake indignation on her face.
Azura couldn’t help but smile. “I mean, yes warden.”
“Better,” her mother said as she continued to stitch a rather large hole closed on a particularly ragged pair of britches.
Azura took the clothes out of the bag and began folding them.
Fold
Fold
Fold
Press
She grabbed another.
Fold
Fold
Fold
Press
On and on she went and had to admit she really could fit a lot more in the bag than before. That was when the idea struck her. Azura looked down at the bag she was filling then around at all the others that waited for her attention. Some bags were large and others were small. Yet all of them could hold more if the clothes were folded. Even the smallest of bags could hold enough to get the job done if the clothes were folded.
Could she…
Excited, Azura looked at her mother who was focused on her task. She quickly closed her eyes and sought out her special place. Not that one pervert. Azura might lack a mana pool of any significant size but her control was phenomenal. She found it quickly. To her it felt like a jar, albeit a small one, filled with a silvery haze. Raw magic. But, looking at it anew there was no order to it. It was just crammed in there just like the bag she had been trying to fill. With trembling mental fingers she reached out grasping her mana. It was shaky, but she felt it come under her control with an effort of will. Then she folded it. She folded it like the clothes around her. The act complete Azura released the magic and watched in disappointment as the folded mana began to rapidly diffuse back to its original state. Was it her imagination or was the gas slightly thicker? Perhaps she had to do it more. Azura for all she was a day dreamer, trouble maker, and all around scoundrel in training… she was tenacious.
“Azura!” Her mother snapped.
“Huh?” Azura asked her mediation broken.
“The clothes won’t fold themselves. Get back to work.”
“Yes warden,” Azura said desperately wanting to try out her new idea.
Two hours! She had to work for two whole hours. How could such a steep punishment be set upon a mere child? Wasn’t there international treaties preventing such cruel treatment?
“Okay prisoner, you are free to walk the yard. Any trouble and it be the shank for you.”
Azura hesitated. She wanted nothing more than to run and play. But, she knew herself. With such temptations she would never give her new idea the time required.
“I think I’ll spend today in solitary warden.”
Her mother paused. She had never known Azura to pass up a chance to cause havoc outside.
“You feeling okay?” She quickly went to Azura’s side pressing her hand to Azura’s forehead.
“I’m fine,” Azura pushed her mother’s arm away. “I just want to try a few things with my mana pool.” It wasn’t a lie but she didn’t want to bring any false hope either.
“Oh. Okay, but don’t push yourself. You heard what the mage said.”
“I know,” Azura said as she retreated to her room. Her room was tiny with just enough room for a small dresser and a bed. Despite the small size the room was well kept and clean, which was more than many kin had.
She retreated to the middle of her bed and closed her eyes. Once again she stretched her mental fingers to the mana inside her. Azura strained at the mental effort it took to grasp the mana. Then she began to fold. She didn’t let up and after every few folds she squeezed before continuing.
Fold
Fold
Fold
Press
Fold
Fold
Fold
Press
Countless times she folded her mana. She never let go. Never gave it the chance to escape her grasp. Hours passed. Her mother came in a worried look at her face as she told her dinner was ready. Azura barely kept a mental hold on her mana preventing it from expanding as she told her mother she wasn’t feeling well and just wanted to rest. Her mother hesitated then left her alone. The folding continued all night.
Fold
Fold
Fold
Press
As the first rays of light came in through the minuscule window in her room she at last released her mana and collapsed on to the bed falling instantly asleep.