Under the waxing moon, the street stretched into the silver horizon. A chasm between two worlds, Mill Street looked neither luxurious nor destitute. Overhead, exposed Thermo Pipes clung to rusted steel poles, forming a barren geometry of brutish modernity. Dim yellow lamps dotted the edges of the street, casting more shadows than light.
On the east of Mill Street, tattered tents of different colors and sizes pieced together a pitiful collage of the human condition. This was the notorious Mill Row, so full of despair that crime happened hourly, yet so devoid of value that every gang turned their eyes away. Illuminated by the flames of burning barrels, intoxicated Fraxian and Valerians roamed aimlessly like zombies, their veins shot up with ethermax, the needle holes still oozing with rotten flesh.
On the west of Mill Street stood the capital’s utter opulence. The wide, paved streets were lined with mansions of granite and gardens of exotic groves. Men and women, dressed as if they stepped off the front pages of magazines, scuffled in and out of sleek black automobiles. At the heart of it all was the capital’s opera house, ornated by the most exquisite lights and garnished by the most elegant melodies. Hundreds of Stormrunners gathered outside, accompanying their newest recruits into this venue of celebration.
Shon and Zora walked on Mill Street in silence, side by side. The hour was late, and the street was empty. The other Stormrunner recruits were arriving at the opera house in automobiles, but Zora insisted on walking with Shon.
Finally, Zora broke the silence.
“Have you decided? It’s been three days.”
Shon hesitated. He took out a card from his pocket, the paper now heavily creased from the constant folding and unfolding.
It was signed by Theo Xeta.
We both know the results are unfair. Your courage and kindness will make you a good Stormrunner. Come to the ceremony three days later, and you can get a second chance. - T. Xeta
Zora snatched the card from Shon. She didn’t bother taking another look, for she could already recite its content by heart.
“Look at this, Shon. Are you stupid?” she said. “Theo Xeta is personally offering you a second chance. Isn’t this the moment you’ve dreamed of?”
Shon hesitated. It was true. This was the moment he had dreamed of all his life. It wasn’t just about gaining Valerian citizenship. For the first time, his family would be free to choose the life they wanted for themselves.
But that wasn’t it.
“Are your mom and sister doing fine? Did you speak to them?” Zora asked.
“They evacuated in time.” Shon sighed.
That was the other reason to be a Stormrunner. He would be able to move his family into a nice little house in the capital, away from the storm-ravaged frontier provinces.
However, he had a few other concerns.
“Do they know your Exam results?” Zora asked.
“I told them there is a delay in my score, but I didn’t tell them about this.” Shon pointed at the card with Theo Xeta’s offer.
“I hope they took it well.”
“They did, surprisingly. After the storms in Thiab, Lydia just wanted me to stay in the inner cities and take care of Mom. She didn’t want me to risk my life as a Stormrunner anymore.”
“I see…” Zora trailed off. She glanced down at Theo Xeta’s card and handed it back to Shon, leaving the final decision to him.
Shon was unsure what to do with his sister’s opinion either. Since he was a child, he and watched Lydia carrying the burden of the family, whether it be handling Dad’s funeral affairs or taking on the dangerous factory job. Although there were nights when he saw her weeping alone in the kitchen, the tears always dried up before dawn.
But this time, over the telephone call, Lydia practically pleaded in tears for Shon to stay home. Shon had never seen his sister break down, and frankly speaking, it left him worried and afraid. Although now a twenty-year-old academy graduate, he felt no more prepared than a decade ago, when the news of Dad’s death broke and Lydia took the mantle of responsibility.
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However, at the same time, he felt almost a little betrayed. Through the long nights of study in his moldy basement and the days of abuse at his underpaid job, through the ice packs on his bruises and gauze wraps on his cuts from training, it was the dream of becoming a Stormrunner that kept him going. How could she ask him to give up now?
It was never just about money or a comfortable life. Being a Stormrunner was the only way that a Fraxian like him could mean something in the torrent of history.
It was the only way for his life to become part of something bigger.
But if that was the case, then why was he hesitant now? Theo Xeta’s invitation was right in his pocket. What was stopping him from heading over to the opera house right now?
Zora must have seen the turmoil in Shon’s eyes. She gently took Shon’s hand and pushed the card back into his pocket.
“Follow your heart,” she whispered. “I trust your decision.”
Shon tried to shove the thought out of his head. He couldn’t run from this for long, but he must make a decision by midnight.
“How did your family take the news?” Shon asked.
“They were happy, I guess, but also worried. Dad got me a researcher job in XetaCorp, you know, where I can use the Academy knowledge somewhere safe in the capital.”
That was right. With Zora’s background, she did not have to become a Stormrunner.
“But you still decided to go to the ceremony.”
“You know me. The labs can’t answer my questions. Only the storms can.”
Perhaps that was why, despite the drastic differences in their backgrounds, they could walk side by side so close.
So they walked on beneath the scattered glow of the streetlights, into the seemingly endless night, where their eyes could not penetrate. For once, they did not need to care what lay within. Although the road would end not far ahead, they could surrender to their blindness, to the illusion that the canvas of darkness would stretch into infinity.
At a pocket of darkness in between two lampposts, Zora stopped. The dim light softly brushed against Zora’s silhouette, leaving a drunken luster in her eyes. Beyond her, the noisy world faded into the impenetrable darkness, and she was all that Shon could see.
Shon looked at her, his focus sharpened by the absence of everything else. He stared at how the night wind flirted with the strands of her hair, teasing them as they fell past her shoulders. He traced her neck, her collarbone, down to the mesmerizing rhythm of her chest rising and falling with each gentle breath.
He watched the moonlight scattered into a million pieces on the sparkles of her black dress. The cascade of silk embraced every curve and movement of her figure, like clouds caressing the night sky.
Finally, he looked up into her eyes. In that moment, all the cacophony of life dissolved, the past and future all fading into shadows. In the very present, only these eyes mattered.
“You know, I never really thanked you for saving my life,” Zora smiled. The breeze carried a few strands of her hair across her face.
A thousand fragments of words flooded within Shon, but he could not muster the eloquence to weave them into a sentence. After a few seconds, all he could manage was a simple reply.
“You’re welcome.”
Zora nodded. Her faint orange eyes met his for a few moments and then flickered away.
“You wanna know a secret?” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I am afraid. I am scared to the depth of my core. Not of dying, but leaving behind those I love.”
“Me too. I wonder how they would feel at our funerals, to have spent their entire lives to make us Stormrunners, only for us to die in the storms.”
“Perhaps they would be proud that we died for something bigger.”
“That’s all I’ve ever wanted, yet why do I find myself hesitating?”
“I think that means you have a heart. A good heart.”
Shon smiled. Zora took a tiny step forward.
“You know what they say,” she said. “There’s a reason most Stormrunners only date Stormrunners.”
“And why is that?”
I guess only a Stormrunner will know,” Zora smiled faintly.
Under the night winds, the cloud cleared their way for the stars. Under the serene watch of the constellations, Zora leaned in a little more. The warmth of their bodies slowly closed their gap in between, until her breaths brushed gently against his neck.
Her eyes, reflecting the soft luminance of the world, danced from his eyes to his lips and back to his eyes. Shon felt his heart beat faster. Zora leaned in.
For a brief moment, their warmth mingled into one, and they shared the same breath.
Zora tilted her face up, her intentions clear. But moments away before her lips met his, Shon gently turned his head away. It was a mixture of emotions — doubt, fear, sorrow, shame — perhaps a mixture even more complex than what Shon could comprehend.
But in that moment, none of it mattered. His hands glided onto Zora’s shoulders, pulling her into a tight embrace. He felt her chest press against his, gently lifting with every breath. In the cold night, his warmth enveloped hers.
Zora stiffened for a fraction of a second, but soon she relaxed. She hugged him back. Under the hazy gaze of the moon, by the muted whispers of the city, they stood frozen in time, frozen in this tight embrace.
Not a word was spoken. They both understood.
The spell of frozen time was soon broken by its own inevitable passage. Once again, the streets began bustling, and the city began breathing.
Shon and Zora approached the end of the Mill Street.
“You still have four hours to decide,” Zora whispered.
With that, Zora turned west, and Shon turned east.