“Alex! Where are my crystals? Mrs. Thornton wants these back by nightfall, you know.”
Alex sighed as he closed the door to the shop, the familiar jingle of the bell overhead betraying his presence. Of all the days in the year in which he had to work, this was perhaps the worst. Damn Mrs. Thornton and her light-stones, did they really need to be recharged right now? Maybe if she came in for routine maintenance, he wouldn’t have to…
He let out another sigh. That was a pointless train of thought, and one he had pursued on this exact day for the last four years. The first few times he’d even vocalized it to his mother, to be met with the usual well-worn argument. “We need the business, Alex,” he mouthed to himself, “The Thornton’s are good customers, and they pay on time. Stop whining.”
Taking care to wipe his feet on the entry carpet, as hell hath no fury like his mother spotting muddy footprints in her shop, he made his way up the set of small, wooden stairs in the corner of the shop floor. He knew she was right. It had taken a while for him to appreciate just how much it cost to keep a roof over their heads and a warm loaf in their bellies, but his own transition to young adulthood was making that plain to him - not to mention Ellie’s turning thirteen. That girl could eat. Sacrificing his day for a week of expenses, well, that was a worthy trade-off. Even if it was this day.
Reaching the top of the stairs, he rapped on the wood three times with his knuckles, before opening the door and stepping through. Seated at the desk was his mother, clad in her usual leather working coat with a pair of precision goggles over her eyes, her attention entirely occupied by the diamond-shaped object before her. She didn’t turn to look at him, instead reaching out a hand expectantly.
“Crystals.”
Alex handed the burlap sack over to his mother, casting his own eye over the work before her. Standard nexus replacement, some touching up on the circuitry, nothing new. He turned from the inert light-stone on the workbench, instead choosing to look out the window on the far-side of the room. The sun, which had been beating down with intensity all day, had begun to set. He might have a few hours yet, though, if he was lucky.
“Cost?” His mother asked, tracing a fine line on the surface of the light-stone with her crystal stele. Alex hesitated for a moment, then exhaled through his nose, following the line she was tracing. Perfectly straight, as always.
“Six silver.”
His mother paused for a moment, keeping the stele pressed on the stone, before continuing to draw the line. “That’s more than usual. More than last week, even.”
Alex shrugged, though he knew his mother couldn’t see it. “Master Redcliffe said there’d been a requisition, or something. Military grabbed half his stock. Wouldn’t take any bargaining, either. Don’t worry, I can skip a couple meals.”
Finishing up the circuit she’d been drawing, his mother placed the stele down on the workbench, tracing her finger along the circuitry of the light-stone.
“Not happening. We’ll just have to trade some work for extra food with a barge tomorrow. Heavens know those old ships have plenty of need for a good tinker.” Seemingly satisfied with her work, she gestured to Alex with her hand. “Come. You can finish it up.”
Raising his eyebrows, Alex looked between her expectant gesture, the light-stone on the workbench, and the bag of crystals she’d set down at her side.
“Really? You always handle the Thornton's jobs alone. You sure?”
At this, she turned to face him. For a woman in her mid-forties, his mother maintained a startlingly youthful appearance - doubly so when you considered the stress of raising two children alone. The light-blue eyes they shared locked, and she gave him a sardonic smile.
“Son, if you’re not capable of Imbuing some simple light-stones, then the last four years have been a waste. Get on with it.”
He knew his eyes lit up at the pronouncement, as his mother’s smile turned a touch more genuine. Any opportunity to work with the rare light quintessence was a treat, and one he would happily embrace. He didn’t get to use his power nearly enough, for his taste, and this was a rare opportunity to do so with something a bit tricky.
Removing the brown leather glove from his right hand, Alex stepped over to the workbench and reached into the burlap sack. His fingers found one of the pale, translucent crystals within - a silver-grade light crystal - and he pulled it from the bag. He took a moment to examine it, measuring the energy within with his eyes.
It was definitely a lesser grade crystal, and not a particularly inspiring example of that, either. The energy loci shimmered with a faint light, reflecting throughout the interior of the crystal to produce a prismatic effect, a barely-visible rainbow refracting throughout the material. It wasn’t much energy, but it should be enough to power one of these light-stones.
Drawing on the energy within, the loci became agitated, fluctuating where it had once been a stable sphere of quintessence. In a routine he’d practiced a thousand times across different energies, he drew the light quintessence within himself, making sure to keep it separate from his internal reservoir of power: the crystal would become useless if contaminated with the neutralised energy he carried within.
At the same time, he placed his left hand on the central nexus of the light-stone. It was rare to work with raw quintessence like this, unwieldy as it were, but fortunately most light quintessence was naturally inclined to light things up: all he was doing was transferring the energy from within the crystal to the light-stone. That didn’t require much convincing on his part.
As the light-stone’s nexus was faintly illuminated, the engraved circuitry working to store the light quintessence and distribute it across the surface of the light-stone, a small smile appeared on Alex’s face. He was an Imbuer, an affinity defined by imparting his energy on inanimate objects, and this was one of the few activities which truly made him feel unique.
He continued channelling until the crystal was exhausted, then judged that the light-stone was sitting around seventy-percent capacity. His eyeballing of the quintessence had been off, then, but it was fine. They had a half-dozen more crystals to work with. As he reached down to retrieve another, however, his mother placed a hand on his forearm.
“Good work, son. You’re getting quicker at that every time.” Patting him twice, she grabbed the sack containing the crystals, returning her attention to the light-stone on the desk. “Now, go on. Off with you. I’m sure you’d rather be down in the square with everyone else than recharging someone’s lighting.”
His satisfied smile quickly morphed into a grin. He loved his mother, he really did. Letting out a whoop, he took off out of the room, taking the stairs two or three at a time. He heard his mother’s faint laughter from above as he dashed out of the shop, heading toward the town square at a brisk run. He’d been let go a whole hour earlier than usual!
***
Alex’s pace slowed on approach to the town square, taking each step at more of a fast walk, but his excitement didn’t abate. Light-stones of a similar variety to that he had just recharged glimmered in the darkening sky, illuminating the cobblestone roadway with a sea-blue hue that spoke to more intricate design work than usual. He briefly wondered how long ago they’d been made, but put it out of his mind for better things.
The Festival of the Ocean was a once-a-year event in the town of Seaport, and Alex’s favourite day - even better than his birthday, or Winter’s Rest. It marked the beginning of the fishing season, when fish migrated from all across the ocean into their waters. The barges would depart in force early tomorrow morning, eager to harvest the treasure trove of the ocean, and the next three months would see their food worries greatly diminished.
The whole town would turn out for the event, and safe in the knowledge that the barges would return the following afternoon, they’d have a grand party with their excess food and drink. Was it the most logical thing to do? No, but living in a boring little seaside town, you had to live it up sometimes. This was sometimes. He looked forward to it all year, every year.
This year, though, would be special. Alex had turned eighteen a week prior, marking his ascension to manhood and such intangible things, but that wasn’t the best part. No, this year he’d be taking part in the Ocean Dance. As a grown man, he would finally be able to start officially courting a girl: and he knew just the one.
Amelia hadn’t taken to his advances much before, but that was when he was a boy. Now he was a man, and soon to finish his apprenticeship and become one of the town’s few official Tinkers - not exactly a Lord, but the town tinker carried the same respect as the town blacksmith. He was sure these things would win her over. It had to. He just had to make it to her before the other boys did.
“Alex! Hey, Alex!”
There was a marked festive atmosphere in the air. He could hear the sound of tankards clinking together, the sloshing of ale barrels, the hubbub of conversation all around, and the hawking of street traders pushing all manner of cooked meats, hot breads and sweet treats. Amongst it was a young girl jumping in the air, waving madly at him, surrounded by a cohort of other small people. He slowed his pace, turning his attention to the girl, and sauntered over to her.
“Yes, Ellie? I’ll have you know I’m a busy man, now, so it best be important.”
Ellie stuck her tongue out at him, and a few of her friends let out snickering laughs. “Shut it, brother. You wanna see what I figured out today?” A glimmer had entered her eyes, and Alex could see the excitement in her frame: she was practically vibrating. One of the other young girls looked a little put-out, so he could roughly guess what this was.
“Okay, o’ mistress Evoker. Show me what you’ve got.”
Ellie gave him a cheeky grin, laying her hand flat, palm-up, in front of her. Her eyes became focused in an instant, staring intently at a spot in the air above her hand, while Alex looked on with a small smile of his own. A moment later, a small ball of fire appeared, and began to travel in a circular motion.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
He could tell she wasn’t done, though. He’d seen her do this before, and Ellie’s concentration hadn’t broken. A few seconds later, the ball of fire was joined by a second, which too began to circle her hand - following in the wake of the first. Then, a mere moment later, a third joined the display. Alex’s jaw locked in surprise, then fell open.
“Three? You can do three now?”
Ellie returned her eyes to his with another grin, breaking the intense focus, but not releasing the lightshow. He could see pride behind those eyes. “Yep! All their own manifestations, too! What do you think about that, big busy man?”
Alex couldn’t help but laugh. He was no Evoker, but even he knew that three single-point manifestations at the age of thirteen was wildly impressive. He shouldn’t be surprised. It had only started in the last couple of months, but the word prodigy was occasionally whispered in reference to his younger sister nowadays. He was proud of her.
“Amazing, little sis. You’ll save us a ton of matches soon enough.”
She pouted, eyebrows furrowed, then levelled an accusatory finger at him. “Hey! You’re just jealous you can’t do this. When you’re stuck fixing water-oars in mother’s shop, I’ll be the captain of a merchant ship, just you watch.”
He raised his hands in defense, shaking his head. “Alright, alright, you win! You’re the best Evoker in the world. All bow to the great mistress Ellie, lady of fire,” he said, giving her a mock bow, before reaching out and tussling her hair - despite her ensuing scowl.
“Now, I’ve gotta go, sis. I’ll see you later.”
As he made to leave, he caught the appearance of a mischievous glint, and her parting words. “Okay. Good luck with Amelia!”
Groaning, Alex accelerated to his previous pace, determined to make his way through the crowd. Theirs was a small town, around a thousand people in total, but that still felt like a lot when they were mostly gathered in the square. He knew where the dance circle would be roped off, though, and he’d bet that Amelia would be close by. He just hoped he wasn’t too late.
Passing through the crowd gathered outside the tavern, where people were in various states of intoxication, his ears perked up at the sound of another shout.
“Boy! Alex, boy, over here!”
A large man stood amidst the crowd, well over six feet tall, waving a tankard in Alex’s direction. Some of the liquid within spilled on those around him, who shot him mildly irritated glances, but made the wise decision to let it be. With a shaved head and a litany of scars across his face and bare forearms, it took Alex only a moment to identify the speaker: Captain Sydney, or ‘Cap’n Syd’ as he preferred.
A mild spark of irritation formed in Alex’s head, but he pushed it down. Why did everyone want to hold him up today? First his mother, then sister, now Syd? Not happening, he had somewhere to be. Waving the man off, he continued his push through the crowd, emerging from the press of bodies in a more open space - his destination.
It took only a moment to find her. Sandy blonde hair, sparkling green eyes, and a slim figure dressed in the latest fashionable attire from the capital, Amelia’s presence appeared to brighten the world around him. His ears twitched in response as she opened her mouth and sang with laughter, her amusement a melody that captivated him more than any music. She was the most beautiful girl he’d ever known, and today, she’d become his.
Alex had closed half the distance between them before he registered her companion: Ker, his self-appointed rival. Tall, muscular, and conventionally attractive, the Augmenter carried himself with the relaxed ease and boisterous confidence that Alex had always pursued, but never quite attained. The pair were standing close, arms looped around one another as they took a drink, and a dark feeling emerged in his gut as he watched them smile at one another.
A smidgen of doubt entered his mind as he watched Amelia and Ker for a moment. They seemed pretty friendly. Ker had also recently reached his eighteenth nameday, two months before Alex, but he couldn’t have moved that quickly. Alex had been working on getting Amelia to like him for two years. Clearly they were just friends enjoying a drink together. His plans wouldn’t change.
“Amelia.”
Before he was even aware of it, he’d closed the rest of the distance and stood before the pair, speaking. When had that happened? Nerves stirred in his gut, but he grabbed them - emotionally - and forced it down. He could do this.
The pair paused in their conversation, which had seemed pretty involved, and turned to look at him. Ker’s lips dipped into a small frown while Amelia’s brow furrowed, and Alex pasted the most authentic smile onto his face that he could. He had a bad feeling about this, but couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“Hello, Alex. Can I help you with something?” Amelia said, arm still interlocked with Ker’s. Just being this close to her brought the usual butterflies, but he’d resolved himself to do this today. It was now or never.
“Do you - uh, that is, I wondered if you would join me for the Ocean Dance?”
Her mouth curved downward. Ker looked him up and down, then sighed. He turned his head away from Alex, looking out over the water shrouded in darkness. “I can leave you two to talk, ‘Melia.”
“No, Ker, it’s okay. This needed to happen sooner or later. Once and for all.” Amelia sighed, then extricated her arm from Ker’s. She turned to face Alex fully, a complicated expression on her face, before she spoke again.
“Alex - look, you’re a nice boy, but…”
Alex reeled for a moment. Did she just call him a nice boy? He was screwed.
“...I’m not interested in you. I’m with Ker, as you can see.”
Blinking rapidly, Alex looked between the pair. Ker was still facing away from him, though he could catch a grimace on the other man’s face. Was he really such little competition that Ker wouldn’t even look at him? His rival? Did Amelia just say they were together? Did she just call him a nice boy?
“A… nice boy?” Alex said, trying to control his rapid blinking.
Amelia nodded. “Yes, you’re nice. But you’re not what I’m looking for. Ker’s joining the barges tomorrow, so I’d like to spend some time alone with him, if you would…?”
He was caught in disbelief, so it took a moment before her words fully registered, and then his mouth moved on its own.
“If I would, what?”
“Well…” she said, grimacing herself, before gesturing with her hand. “Go away.”
It felt like his world shattered. A pain blossomed in his chest, while he felt an immense heat rise to his face. His plans, his ideas, his dreams - months of imagining this moment, thinking about their dance, and it all ends in ‘go away’. He couldn’t handle it, didn’t know what to do. Without a word, he spun on his heels, and walked directly back to the crowd.
He didn’t make it very far, though, because Captain Sydney appeared with an arm around his shoulder and a tankard in his hand. “Saw the whole thing, boy. Damn shame. Come on, join me for a drink.”
Alex battled with his emotions under the knowing look of Captain Sydney. Every part of him wanted to go home, to sit alone in a dark room, too embarrassed to stay in view of the people who’d seen his very public rejection. Seeming to expect this impulse, though, Captain Sydney snorted.
“Here, drink this.” he said, slamming a tankard down on the table in front of Alex. The young man took a sip of the foul liquid - trying to stem his distaste - while Sydney tended to his own drink. Alex couldn’t help but frown, eliciting a snort from Sydney.
“You ain’t the first lad to be turned down by a pretty girl, Alex. Happened to me once or twice in my youth too.” The large sailor took another swig. “You want to know what I did?”
Alex looked up, eyebrows raised. Sydney was known as a bit of a ‘ladies man’ in the town, though usually for the activities he got up to in foreign ports, it was a reputation he was sure the man deserved. Maybe he would be worth listening to on this.
“I do, Cap’n Syd. I really do.”
“Lad, I got strong. See that Ker over there?” he inclined his head toward the other young man, arm-in-arm with Amelia. The sight bubbled in Alex’s gut, and he looked away. “Big lad, strong, been in a few tavern brawls. Works the ships well - always good to have an Evoker to push the sails, in low wind - and treats the other men and his family properly, with respect and care. But the most important thing? He knows it.”
Alex blinked.
“Aye, lad. That’s what you’re missing. Ladies have a sense for these things - strength, and confidence. Not all of ‘em care, but they can sense it all the same. You’re lacking both at the minute. Many of us did, at some point. The solution’s simple.” The man knocked back the rest of his drink, gesturing for one of the servers to bring them both refills.
“Get stronger. Learn how to use your powers, to fight, but most importantly - strength as a man, a person. That’s what you need to work on.”
Alex thought on the man’s words, channelling a portion of his internal energy through his veins. Was it that simple?
Reinvigorated, he lifted the next tankard a little higher. I can do stronger.
***
His head throbbed.
The three of them - his mother, Ellie, and him - stood out in the town square, now cleared of the previous night’s festivities. Alex could feel the dark bags beneath his eyes, themselves red and bloodshot, and the general malaise drifting through his body. I drank a lot, he thought, shivering as he remembered the taste of last night’s ale. He wouldn’t be doing that again.
They, along with half the town, were waiting by the dock. The barges were due to return any moment now, and with them the first big catch of the year. They’d only had enough food at home for a small breakfast, and Alex was starving, so the fishermen couldn’t return quick enough for him. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to look at Ker. A shiver ran down his spine as he remembered the previous night.
“Go away.”
The memory made him want to sink another tankard of ale, and the hangover reminded him that was certainly not happening. Syd had kept him up ‘til the early hours, long past curfew, and he was paying for it today. He certainly wasn’t seeing any sympathy from his mother.
“No excuses today, Alex. We’ll have a full days’ work if we want that extra catch. I’ll set you on the light work, but it’ll need to be done, alright?”
He nodded. Food was more important than his hangover, after all, even though that was a tough argument to make at the moment. He spotted the barges in the distance, approaching in a group. That was odd. Maybe they’d all caught their fill for the day already? Either way, it would make negotiating a bit easier, so it was a welcome sight. He turned to his mother to comment, but her expression made him pause.
“Did that many barges go out?” she said, shielding her eyes from the sun with a hand. “That’s more than usual.”
They weren’t the only ones to notice. The same question seemed to be on many lips in the square, a shared confusion over an oddity in what was a very regular sight for the older residents of the town. Unease crept into his stomach as he watched the barges approach. Was it really that strange?
As the ships continued to approach, his eyes picked out more oddities. The sails were larger than they used on the barges, and in better condition. In fact, the ships themselves seemed larger - quite a bit larger, actually. The final oddity was that the hulls were a deep, glossy black. Fishing barges didn’t paint themselves on the open ocean. He turned to his mother to comment, but her expression gave him pause.
“Oh my god.”
She stared out over the water, hand over her mouth and fear in her eyes. The town bell began to ring, and Alex registered the next words a few seconds later.
“Invasion! Evacuate the children!”