Traffic on the Regnal Road was light in the mid-afternoon slump, the arterial road’s many patrons occupied with thoughts of lunch and the resulting drowsiness that led one to step little and lightly. This was fortunate, for Arrius had impressed the need for haste in the earliest leg of their journey. Laden with loaded travel packs, freshly dressed for the road and with two glimmering discs around their necks, Alex and Ellie pressed forward at a steady jogging pace. Running would only invite attention and curiosity from those few passers-by, and Alex was glad for the respite, inadequate as it might be.
From the moment Arrius had presented the solid metal tokens, urgency descended. With six angry, vengeful men with a desire to wring Alex’s neck, every yard travelled before those same men gathered their wits and escaped Arrius’ verbal fury to begin their pursuit would be a precious commodity. A part of him hoped that Sylas would stay down, but a casual inspection had revealed the man’s wounds more superficial than expected; it wasn’t impossible that the man would push through the pain with the volatile fuel of revenge.
Regardless, the need to create escape aligned with their original destination. In his rush to see them properly equipped for the road, including the time spent for Alex to hastily don a fresh tunic, the old soldier had a spare few seconds to further explain his intentions.
“These will get you through any checkpoints in the direction of the capital,” Arrius had said, setting the golden token around Ellie’s neck and ensuring it was displayed clearly and visibly on her torso. “When you reach the city, head straight for the Royal Army Headquarters. Don’t wander. You’ll want to keep these hidden in the city proper.”
He’d proceeded to do the same with Alex, lowering the chain over his neck until the silver token sat atop his breastbone. “They’ll be able to tell you the rest, once you get there.”. With that, the man patted Alex on the shoulder and locked eyes with him. “I don’t need to tell you, but it’s a dangerous time out there. Keep your belongings, and your sister, close. Good luck, lad.”
“I hate that we have to run again.” Ellie huffed out, keeping pace. “I know Arrius and Tyra will be fine, but I hate it.” Her voice dropped a tad, before she murmured. “I liked them.”
“I’m sorry, little sis.” Alex said, eyes alert and scanning their surroundings. While there were few passers-by on the road for now, recent experiences had taught him the value of staying wary. “I didn’t expect we’d have to leave. I was just angry, and…” he grit his teeth. “I wasn’t going to let that man beat me. Not a chance in hell.”
They had been jogging for about half an hour, now. A gathering of people appeared on the horizon, uniformed and standing in something approximating a formation. One of those checkpoints Arrius had mentioned, he suspected. Gesturing for Ellie to slow to a walk, he double-checked the token at his neck.
“It’s not your fault, Alex.” Ellie said, casting her eyes down. “Tyra wouldn’t let me see, but I heard you. I don’t blame you for fighting back.”
A few tears pooled in the girl’s eyes, and Alex looked away. She didn’t like to be seen crying.
“I just, it felt a little bit like home, right?” she said, rubbing her eyes with a hand.
“It did. A little bit.” Alex replied, nodding. “Arrius and Tyra are good people.” He hesitated for a moment, pondering his next words, before letting out a slight sigh.
“The problem is, Ellie, I think the world’s a lot different to what we’re used to in Seaport.”
Ellie looked up at him, puzzlement in her eyes and brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
He tapped a spot on his chest above the token, where anyone from Silver-rank and above would display their rank-plate proudly. “Rank, power, these things are really important to these people. I’m not sure what made Seaport different, but it was. Sylas could do whatever he wanted to me just because I’m a Bronze, he’s a Silver, and I gave him a reason.” Wasn’t that just an infuriating truth, too?
The girl frowned, an expression that he’d always considered out of place on her naturally joyful, excited face. It caused him a slight pang to introduce his little sister to such a terrible idea, but better she doesn’t have to go through his experiences to figure it out herself. She’d always had a rebellious streak.
“That’s just wrong.” Ellie said, shaking her head. “I don’t care what these people think, or say, or do. Captain Syd was a Silver too, and he didn’t cry about it when I set his trousers on fire that one time. Even though I’m an Iron.”
“I agree, little sis, I really do,” Alex said. “There’s just nothing we can do about it right now. I’m telling you this so when someone says something that irritates you, you’ll be careful about what you say back. Can you do that for me?”
Ellie paused for a moment, conflicting emotions warring across her features, before acquiescing with a nod. Her expression turned pensive.
It was a feeling he shared. Maybe it was just something one picked up in the big cities, or the larger towns, where everyone was a stranger and people banded together in smaller groups. Perhaps it was the natural way of things, that the strong held power over the weak, as immutable as the tides he’d grown up studying. It didn’t feel that way though. It felt like an excuse.
Ever since the dreadful morning that saw those black ships hit their shores, questions had been flickering through his mind. Could he have done anything? The answer was undoubtedly no. He didn’t have the ability to deter an armed fleet of invaders, or even a chance of convincing everyone to flee. The law was clear on the matter. In times of hostile incursion, all adults in the town were to muster arms and form the town militia - a royal edict, direct issue from the reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Orius. What’s the point in that? Alex thought, shaking his head. How can a bunch of peaceful townsfolk do anything to a professional army?
Power was one answer. If he had the power, he could have turned that fleet around with a proverbial flick of the wrist. Except, the Lord of Seaport - a Ruby-rank - had fled, same as he. Perhaps a higher rank than that could have done something, but he didn’t even know what rank came after Ruby. Maybe that rank could have let him do something?
Even then, that would mostly help himself. If he wasn’t around to defend those he loved, then all the power in the world was useless to him. Personal power might be part of the answer, but it didn’t solve all of the problems. What if, like Arrius, he was forced to decide whether to help a young friend or abandon them? The law was the law.
That was the rub, really. The past week had seen a half-dozen things happen to him - to them, Ellie and he - where riding the wave was the only possible response. The invasion, the Feirwolf, his plans for their survival, Sylas and his men. He had no control, no agency over these events, these disasters which had plunged their lives into an ever-deepening spiral of chaos. Even now, their only option was to join an Army he knew little about, pledging to defend a Kingdom of which he’d seen and experienced only the tiniest fraction. Even if he had the power to control these events, there was no guarantee that it would have kept Ellie safe, or his mother and friends alive.
It would have helped, though. That was undeniable. Ellie would never have had to put herself at risk if he possessed the strength to kill the Feirwolf alone. Arrius wouldn’t have needed to help them if he had the skills and experience to make himself useful in other ways. A memory from their escape shot to the forefront of his mind, the young and slow falling to the back, and the cowardly thought that had entered his mind. It was only for a moment, but he’d been glad that their lack of endurance would make them safer. With enough power, he could have swept them all away from that place and kept everyone safe.
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It was clear to him. Personal power wouldn’t solve everything, but it was his only starting point. It had saved him from Sylas’ torment, after all, and it wasn’t like he had a plethora of other options as a Bronze-rank. Setting his shoulders back, steps measured, he continued walking toward the quickly approaching checkpoint.
First, I need power.
***
Ellie, meanwhile, had briefly considered her brother’s words before accepting them, turning her mind to other things. She was more sad about leaving the Coastcross Waystation than she’d allowed to be seen. Alex would only do his worrying thing, then act like he’d failed her, with the same poorly-hidden expression she’d seen too many times in recent days. When the foreign ships had arrived on the coast of Seaport, she had genuinely believed exciting things were about to happen, though she hadn’t missed the obvious danger. Still, their town had no shortage of strong people - the guard captain was mean-looking but secretly very nice, Master Redcliffe had a bunch of super-powerful crystals in his shop, and everyone in her class was curious about the old quin-cannons that lined the dock. She wanted to see everyone kick out the invaders and maybe even have another festival to celebrate.
Instead, everyone died. Alex hadn’t said anything to her about it specifically, but she was thirteen, not ten. She knew what it meant when an army turned up on your doorstep with weapons and armour. Even the reliable Captain Syd, who had often stopped to ask how she was getting on with her Evoker training, was probably gone - unless the barges had escaped, but how could they know about the attack?
Of course, the worst casualty was her mother. Work had always eaten up her time, so in recent years they had only ever seen each other in the early morning and late at night, just before bed time, but she knew her mother did everything in her power to make their lives as healthy and happy as possible. When Ellie showed off a new trick or element she’d learned, her mother had always patted her on the head and given a rare smile. “Just like your father.”, she would say. Sometimes, if Ellie caught her in an especially good mood, she would teach her about the amazing things an adult Evoker could do, things even her teachers didn’t tell them. These night-time lessons were some of Ellie’s favourite memories.
The pain of her mother’s loss thrummed in her chest, growing no more familiar with the days, but it hadn’t been as bad at the Waystation. Tyra, the big, cheerful lady, had taken one look at her after the Feirwolf attacked Alex and wrapped her in a tight hug. Mother didn’t give many hugs, but Tyra hugged just like mother did. It made her feel warm, and shockingly, safe. It was a feeling she hadn’t expected to have again, and it had meant the world to her in the moment.
Tyra taught her all sorts of useful things, too. She’d shown her how to sew up clothing, which was how Ellie had fixed Alex’s tunic, as well as the proper way to light a fire (without power, of course) and even passed on a couple of secret recipes that Ellie had promised to keep secret. That hadn’t been everything, though, and Tyra was firm that she understood that. “Household skills are good to know, Ellie, because I find the men in my life so often lack them.” The older woman had chuckled knowingly, though Ellie wasn’t sure she understood - Alex had done the majority of the house work at home, given their mother was always at work, but she felt like it was a joke she was expected to understand: so she laughed anyway.
No, Tyra had shown her some fighting techniques of her own. While Alex and the old man had beaten each other up with swords, Tyra had been teaching Ellie some special fighting techniques, designed to use a person’s force against them. It was perfect for a small girl like her, she knew, and that was the thing she most valued about her time spent with Tyra. Everything else was nice, but at heart, Ellie was a practical girl.
These morning lessons were the closest thing to her mother’s night time instruction Ellie had experienced since her death, recent though it were, and together they all served as a soothing balm on her heart. Nothing could deny the pulsing grief that sparked at the simplest things - birdsong, she found, brought back the most vivid memories of her mother - but it helped. Just a little. That was all finished now.
Their time at the Waystation was never intended to be a permanent arrangement, however. She recognised the simple kindness of the act. A young man and a child, cast adrift from their lives, stumble to your door and pull off the impossible by defeating a monster. It was a human thing, in the face of their immediate plight, for the pair to wrap their arms around her and Alex and do what they could to soften their path through the world. They had never consented, nor intended, to fill the void that their mother had left; nor could they. No, Ellie recognised it for what it was: stable ground on which to collect themselves, to prepare, and an opportunity to be equipped with the knowledge and barest of essentials to spare them a terrible fate of their own.
A profound realisation for the girl, and one which encouraged a second. The safety and security to be found at their mother’s hearth was forever lost to them. Lost in a sea of faces quite like her own, nobody except her brother would ever be impressed by her little tricks ever again. Few would volunteer their knowledge, and even fewer their help, now that they had been granted this one miracle after the worst days of their lives. That meant something, something vital, a nugget of truth that would settle in her chest for the rest of her days.
She looked around. The sun beat down in rhythmic waves, caressing her skin with a gentle heat that spoke to the weather’s temporarily sunny temperament. The skies were azure; cloudless, giving rise to a cheerful atmosphere emanating from their fellow travellers. Towering oaks clung to their full, verdant foliage by the roadside, casting shallow shadows that, for the moment, obscured the knowledge of the dangers that lie within. A cobblestone road maintained by strangers, granting ease of passage to the weary and prepared alike. Her brother in lockstep beside her, stone-faced in the manner he so often became when trapped in deep thought, undoubtedly plotting their future in the capital with his overactive mind.
With the exception of the afternoon’s events, it was a pleasant day. The next might not be. In the face of a future in which she could rely on but a single other, a determination settled into the girl’s very bones. The talent that had been so often lauded, the razor-sharp intelligence she worked so very hard to soften, and the scarring of indefatigable loss all turned to a singular understanding.
They were alone, and if they were to have a chance in hell of surviving this world, it rested entirely on their own shoulders.
***
“So that’s the capital.” Alex murmured, eyes widened in wonder at the sight.
“It’s huge.” Ellie said, sharing in her brother’s slack-jawed amazement.
The duo had passed through three seemingly perfunctory checkpoints on their journey toward the capital, the presence of Arrius’ tokens earning them a grunt and a simple wave through at each. It had taken them just over a day of travel, alongside two of their precious silver coins for accommodation at another Waystation, but they had finally arrived. Sylas and his goons hadn’t made an appearance throughout the trek, a blessing both were thankful for, though which neither took to mean the problem was over.
The final leg of the journey involved a steep, uphill climb, and upon cresting the earthen mound they caught their first sight of the capital city of the Kingdom of Orius. A sprawling maze of disorderly buildings expanded beyond the horizon, tangling streets connecting at curious angles to form a confusing, yet vaguely organised, centre of society. It appeared as if a sculpture chiselled by a thousand conflicted hands, towering edifices of stone and mortar contrasted by common wooden structures, the indistinct forms of marble constructions scarcely visible in the far distance. An unthinkable number of tiny forms walked between buildings, enough people to have filled all the homes in Seaport a thousand times over, each with a life and a purpose.
Most impressive to Alex, however, was the hulking barricade of white stone that circled the city, an impregnable wall spanning over twenty metres high at a guess. Even from his far-flung viewpoint, he could make out the characteristic etchings of his fellow Imbuers flowing across the face of the pale construction. Enchantment, the art of applying a nexus and circuitry to mundane material, had been writ large across the intimidating fortifications on a scale previously unimaginable to him.
A set of impenetrable gates lay at the terminus of the Regnal Road, kept under the stalwart vigilance of no less than a dozen uniformed guardsmen. They had finally reached their destination.
He turned to Ellie, and the pair shared their excitement for a moment; smiles lighting up on both their faces, the promise of novelty and further amazement blazing in their mind’s eye. Then, turning back to the road, they pressed on with the final leg of their long, hard journey.
“Does it have a name?” Ellie asked.
“Of course.” Alex responded. “Solaris.”