With a spring in his step Val was making his way home. As his stomach rumbled he was thinking with delight about the food that was waiting him at home. His dad had promised to make something delicious now that Val’s last test was over. And when his dad said he would make something nice, he meant it! Thinking back on the two-course menu he had gotten for his birthday his mouth was already watering. That meal had taken almost a week’s payment from his dad, but they had both agreed that it was definitely worth it.

As he walked he took out the wooden red and yellow token from his pocket. The token that meant he had now passed the test. As he held it up to study it in the afternoon sun he caught a glimpse of something smoking in the distance. It was coming from somewhere in the direction of his district. Had a flameling gotten through the barrier and set fire to some hay? Hurrying up his steps, Val pocketed the token. It was probably just a flameling. While they were indeed a bother, their flames were hardly strong enough to overpower the standard script of houses, and they were relatively harmless to adults.

Maybe it would be a good idea to alert the guards just to make sure someone could bring a water-mage to snuff out the fire. However seeing no guards close, he continued. Val was beginning to smell the smoke now. Something was wrong. This was a lot bigger than just the fire of a wagon. The smoke was too big. Val broke into a run. The mostly empty streets where beginning to get more crowded. People were moving slowly in the direction of the fire. Val was sprinting now. This was in the direction of his street! He pushed people aside and stumbled around the corner. In front of him was his house. A smoldering pile of black wood. He shook, let out a scream and ran forwards. Someone was shouting, but Val ran. He entered the blackened remains. His pulse shouted in his ears. There lying in the coals were two blackened figures. One had his father’s medallion around the neck. Val screamed.

Val felt empty. The scorched remains flashed in front of his eyes. His eyes burned, but no more tears came, they had stopped some time ago. He had not moved, but he was vaguely aware, that he had been moved. Someone had grabbed him and hauled him away. Hard and strong hands, and something surprisingly cold. Voices sounded around him, but they made no sense. The words individually held some meaning, but they just did not form sentences. The scorched house kept flashing in front of Val’s eyes. Vaguely he was aware of being placed in a line and being herded forwards.

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The scorched bodies kept flashing in front of his eyes. The corpse. Completely black. Shriveled and curled almost as if to protect the shape lying next to him. Something stirred inside Val. Who was the other shape? It was too small to be an adult. Obviously a kid. However Val had no siblings, and what would a random kid be doing inside their house? Throwing the thought aside, Val continued to follow the line.

Val could smell the fear and sweat around him. Silent breathing sounded between the gusts of wind blowing by. Somewhere a silent whisper was calling for their mother. Val lay curled up against the icy bars of the cage. He was now an orphan, and as an orphan the guards had taken him. Growing up Val had once known a girl who had lost both of his parents to an accident, when the guards had come to take her she had barely resisted, but her hollow eyes had haunted Val for years. Everyone knew what happened when you became an orphan, the guards would take you and you would be sent to the tower to try your luck. Since the tower could only be entered before you became an adult, this was the governments way of getting a steady supply of new climbers. And going to the tower even provided you with an opportunity for greatness and power. An opportunity that was however much more likely to result in your head in the stomach of some monster. This was Val’s future.

As he sat there in the cold cage thinking a heat was building inside of him. Someone had taken his dad from him. This was no simple monster who had broken through the barrier. No other houses had been touched. Someone had specifically gone for his dad! But why? Why would anyone want to kill him? Val could almost hear his father’s booming laughter. Feel his warmth as he would tuck Val into bed with a bedtime story of the heroes of the tower. Val’s throat tightened and his eyes started burning again. Wherever his dad had gone Val had always seen people smile and wave. Noone had ever been angry at his father. However someone had killed his father, and not just anyone could burn down a house to that extent. This was the work of a climber. Someone with access to fire-magic. Feeling the heat building inside himself, Val looked with hard eyes into the darkness. Someone had taken his father from him, and now they had given him the opportunity to get power. Power to take revenge.