Adan started as a crudely drawn map was slammed down in front of him. A collection of representatives for the various villages surrounded a small stone table in Pakal’s cell where they met up for strategy meetings. Pakal spoke first.

“We have managed to map out the general area around our prison. It seems we were last minute additions to the workforce, as we have managed to spot several, more secure locations they could have held us, but that seem to be full from earlier raids. We are in the best position to try to escape by far, but we will have to evaluate if it is possible to rescue those held in the more secure prisons. Ines, what have you managed to learn about our captors?”

A tall woman stepped closer to the table and leaned down, blue eyes, short hair, and strong musculature, a crude piece of charcoal in her hand. She wrote on the table directly, drawing out a rough hierarchy tree before speaking with a deep voice.

“We are in the city of Sahraali, ruled by Emirhan Alev, who recently rose to the throne after the suspicious passing of his father Rüstem Alev. Emirhan has ideas about how the Rakt should live according to the will of the flame, and it seems as if it was a point of contention with his father that led to a confrontation days before Rüstem passed. Emirhan has since appointed new advisors and officers. We don’t need to worry about most of them, but there are a few that directly impact our escape attempt.”

Branching off the top of the tree where she wrote Emirhan’s name, Ines wrote in a few more names on the tree.

“The first we need to worry about is the captain of the guard, Levent. He has been much more militant than previous guard captains, and has been working to absorb more of the military under him. He controls the schedules of the guards, their patrol routes, what weapons they have, everything. The more we can learn about him, the better chance we have of being able to escape.”

Moving her finger down, Ines tapped the next name thoughtfully.

“Next is Baran of the Derya family. Her family has been in control of the Rakt’s naval fleets for generations now, and she is sympathetic towards Emirhan’s cause. She has been dramatically expanding their fleets, and some from my village have even been assigned to hauling wood around the shipyard for heat treatment. We can’t go running into the desert and hope to survive, our best chance is to steal some of Baran’s ships, so it is crucial we plan around her shipyard.”

Grabbing the charcoal, Ines underlined the last name on the table.

“Finally are the Patika family. We don’t know a lot about them, but from what we have overheard, they are an open secret in the city. The more public ones seem to be in charge of weapon development. Those metal tubes we keep seeing everywhere are apparently the first iteration of the weapon that’s being distributed, and they allow a minor fire user to become just as deadly as their medium fire users. The more hidden ones are our main problem though. We have yet to see one, or so we think, but they seem to be in charge of information. Spies, criers, gossip, that sort of thing. The guards seem to know about them, but no one has given definitive answers on what they do exactly or any of their members. They are the most likely to learn of our plans and stop us, so we must be vigilant for them.”

Ines paused and stood up from the table, letting the others soak in the information. Many had worried looks on their faces, Adan included. Having it all laid out in front of him made him think…

“It’s like they’re preparing for war.”

Balam nodded, his eyebrows scrunched together. “Ines, what have we learned about this ‘will of the flame’ that Emirhan believes in?”

Ines bit her lip before shaking her head. “Not much. It seems as if it’s a doctrine that the Rakt have been following for a long time now, but with disagreements with its interpretation.”

Patli spoke up. “Does that mean we could find Rakt who are sympathetic to us?”

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Ines paused. “Potentially. We would have to be careful though if we go down this path. The Patika are likely to learn our plans if we trust the wrong ones.”

Pakal looked over the table at Adan.

“As Grotz, you must learn to make decisions. What do you think we should do Adan?”

Adan froze, not quite sure how to answer. Mouth hanging open, he floundered trying to find an answer. This was so sudden, he had only been practicing magic, he didn’t know what to do here. What if he got it wrong? He didn’t want to risk his family's life. If he messed this up though, everything could go wrong, they could be separated, they could-

Patli smacked Adan upside the back of the head. “You are the Grotz, you don’t panic. You’re not a little boy anymore. Think.”

Adan could feel his heart pounding, his eyes flickering between his mother and the table, before finally managing to stutter a plan out.

“T-the sympathizers. We sh-should look for Rakt to help us. They can get us more information.”

Patli nodded, before looking across the table at Balam, who returned the nod.

“Very well. Ines, spread the word to keep an eye out for Rakt who we could recruit to our cause. K’awiil, I trust your village to keep an eye out for the spies. Everyone else, continue as you were. We are close, I can feel it.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Back in Adan’s cell, he sat on the floor opposite Patli and started yet another magic training exercise with his mother.

“Breathe. You can use fire well enough. You must learn air now. Feel the air in your lungs. Direct it.”

Adan took a deep breath, feeling it travel in and around him, before breathing out, channeling his magic through his lungs, fueling it with his anger. Fire burst from his mouth, flames dripping from his chin and catching some of the hair on his arm alight before he could stop the magic.

“No, not like that. You should know better. Again. Do it right this time.”

Patli’s eyes were hard as she stared at Adan, who took a shuddering breath before he tried once again. Yet once again, fire came out, though a smaller amount this time that he was able to stop.

Patli slapped him. “Stupid! Again!”

Adan gasped for a moment, before trying again. He tried to direct his anger at his magic, but there wasn’t any anger to direct. Instead he was just… scared. He didn’t want to upset her. That fear leaked through to his magic, which paused its rampage through his body, before cowing and speeding up, flittering out of his mouth. This time a burst of air left Adan’s lungs, a gust of wind swirling from his lungs, around his head, and outwards in a sphere around the room whipping his and his mothers hair around in a frenzy.

“Finally. Do it again. Use your anger like that.”

Adan wanted to correct her, let her know that it wasn’t anger that worked this time. No, that would make her mad at him. She was so tired, prison life and the hard labor was getting to them all. Plus he did keep messing up, and they were going to try to escape soon, he couldn’t slow them down with pointless information. No point in speaking up here. He just had to keep meeting her expectations. He breathed in again. He channeled the fear. Another burst, weaker this time.

“Direct it forward this time. A sphere of wind won’t help us.”

Another breath, more fear. Just another burst. More messy hair.

“No, wrong, again. Don’t mess with my hair again.”

Adan just nodded, he could see her eyes. She wouldn’t like it if he messed up her hair again. He just, he had to let his magic know. He took another breath, but this time let his magic know the source of the fear. They couldn’t make her mad again. This time the air came out in a line in front of him, dust in the air and on the floor getting kicked up and pushed aside or forward. Forward directly into Patli.

Adan’s mother simply stared at him for a moment, before getting up and leaving. Adan reached out towards her.

“W-wait! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I-I’ll do better next time!”

Patli simply closed the cell door and walked away, back to her cell. Adan’s arm fell. He messed up so bad, he kept making her angry. Last time she had gotten this mad back home, she hadn’t spoken to him for a month. She had had such a hard time recently, it only makes sense she punish him for his mess ups. He was just making it worse, he kept making mistakes, why didn’t he just turn his head away from her! Stupid! He had to do better, he just had to practice more. Adan took a breath.