I hold the lead and copper shard in my hand, trying my hardest to burn through the metal. There had been hope I could burn hot enough to consume them, but it seems I still am far from adulthood. With all the time I spent in the furnace, I’d thought I might have sped up my growth. Especially with how strong my flames have been against the creatures and people in the east.

But while the small chunk glows a bright red in my hands, it refuses to be consumed. I’m still far from the level of my elders. Still, it affirms that the beings outside the wasteland are simply weak to fire.

“Y’know, you’re gonna be a bloody blessing when winter hits. But right now, can you cool it? You’re making me sweat.”

Beside me, Leslie fans herself with her hand. A trickle rolls down her forehead.

“Sorry,” I say.

A few days have passed since Ash was shot. The others told me it was a type of weapon that he’d been hit by; a gun. They said they’d never seen one so small, but they were certain that’s what it was. The impact I received to my shoulder was nowhere near as damaging to me as it had been to Ash. My bullet had flown straight through my body, and while the impact felt like it should have blown me off my feet, it healed as quickly as any old sand-worm bite.

I guess I’m lucky not to have a fluid inside my body to lose like Ash does. Really, how do they even live with such vulnerable bodies?

I haven’t been able to leave our hole since we brought Ash back. A sudden thunderstorm encroached the city, preventing me from joining the others as they leave for their daily hunts.

Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t talk about vulnerable bodies…

Either because they are missing two members of their group, or no targets are travelling in the rain, the others have had little luck making gains.

The constant pelting of rain on the tiling above keeps me awake. I’ve struggled to sleep at all since the rain started and it is leaving an impact on me. I should be able to limit the spread of my heat more than I have. Leslie would never have gotten so hot if I was still in complete control of my faculties. It isn’t a good sign. The last thing I want is to accidentally burn our home, especially as I’m currently using it to hide from the water.

I need to sleep soon, but it’s a struggle.

The scratching of the bookshelf above preludes Kerry’s return. The first thing she does after dropping past the ladder is check on Ash. He has yet to wake since we returned, but colour has returned to his face. I’m told it shouldn’t be long until he wakes now. How Kerry knows that, I’m unsure.

“There’s even more today,” she says after verifying Ash’s condition.

“The grey uniforms?” Leslie asks.

Kerry nods. “They’re on almost every corner now, breaking into every building they can find. Not just the abandoned buildings either, they’re entering merchant owned places too. They are searching for something.”

“How long till they reach us, ya think?”

“We’re still a bit out, but with how many I’ve seen searching, probably only a couple of days.”

“Who did we piss off? They didn’t even have coins in their wallets, just some worthless paper.” Leslie says.

I can’t help but feel put off by everything that happened. First that man grins after he was almost burnt alive, then a thunderstorm appears out of thin air, and now they are combing the city for us? Over petty theft? Something is screaming at me, something that should be obvious, but I can’t think of what through my hazy, tired thoughts. It almost feels like I’ve forgotten something.

❖❖❖

I don’t know when I fell asleep, but the exhaustion must have finally dragged me down to the depths of slumber. A hand over my mouth almost makes me shout as I wake, but the heavy footsteps above stop me. I look up at Kerry. She removes her hand and raises her finger to her lips, gesturing me to remain quiet.

Leslie is already helping Ash walk through the back exit. He must have finally woken after I fell asleep. The twins are already gone. I approach the crawl space that we have to climb through to escape. My body locks up in tension as the sound of pouring rain finally registers in my ears. It is still raining and they expect me to go outside.

Ash and Leslie make it through and Kerry’s hands on my back are pushing me towards the exit. But I can’t. I shake my head and step away.

“I can’t do it. It’s raining, I can’t.” Trying to back away from the exit doesn’t work, Kerry is stopping me.

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“I know you’re scared, but I’m not leaving you to them. Not after you saved Ash.”

Her hand on my back prevents me from backing away. Every second I take, I’m being pushed closer to the nightmare of a wet crawlspace. A crash from above makes me jump. The people upstairs are tossing things as they scour the room. It won’t be long before they find the path hidden behind the bookcase.

“Please, hurry up. I don’t want them to find us.” Kerry says into my ear, pushing me into the hole.

I gulp, swallowing as much of my fear as I can, and climb into the exit. I have only a few body lengths I need to crawl, but the trickle of water flowing down the semi-collapsed wood I’ll have to pass makes the distance daunting. Hurried nudges at my feet force me to push forward regardless. I cover myself as much as I can with Leal’s jacket, crawling with the thick leather between my hands and knees and the soggy ground below.

The exit leads to a covered space littered with trash. The moment my head pokes out the hole and relief finally settles in, Leslie pulls me to my feet. Rain in the open air splatters on the ground not a few steps from me. I huddle closer to the wall and tie the strings of the rain-jacket as tight as I can.

Kerry is quick to climb out behind me, but I hardly pay attention. Watching the rain as it continues its everlasting downpour.

Fingers snapping in my face break me from my trance. “Solvei? Come on, we can’t linger. Are you gonna be alright?”

I shake my head to try clearing the chills the rain instinctively brings forth. Snap out of it Solvei, you’ve dealt with a little rain before. This is hardly going to stop you now.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Kerry breathes out in relief before waving to the others and heads out into the rain. I start by following close behind them, but the splash of their steps almost hits me a few times, so I take more space behind them. Where the others run right through the puddles, I try to find any way I can to avoid them. My shoes should keep out water, but I’d rather not take chances.

Once we make enough distance from our home, we gather under a verandah where I can shake of the lingering water off my jacket. I’ve been lucky so far, not feeling pain anywhere.

“Where, now?” Leslie asks.

“We should cross main street. Find a place they’ve already searched over there,” Ash says. He must have been awake a while before the uniformed albanics raided our home. “Do you know a good place, Kerry?”

She nods and we are once again out in the rain. I can’t tell if it’s evening or the clouds just block that much of the sun, but it’s dark out. There is only barely enough light to see, which makes the lights coming from the main street all the more odd. It’s bright. The street ahead of us is lit as if it’s day while the alley we jog through remains as dark as night.

I catch up to the others, who have stopped before the main street. I step past them to look at what has caught their attention and a pit of dread bubbles within me. Right there before me is a wagon design I could never forget. The tubes curving out of the metal chassis and large capacity. The strange, no-handled design. This is the same wagon I’d seen with the Kenna tribe.

These are the people who killed my mum.

There is more than only one of these metal wagons, they line the main road as far as I can see. Bright lamps at the front of each wagon light the street. But even worse is that there are hundreds of the uniformed albanics wandering around.

There is no doubt in my mind. They are still hunting áed. They are hunting me. That’s why that man grinned; they’ve found me.

“So, uh, I don’t think we’re getting past this. What now?” Leslie asks.

Ash turns away from the street. “Yeah. We’ll have to find somewhere on thi… Solvei? Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a void-touched.”

I snap my attention away from the uniformed men. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Even to my own ears it sounds like a lie. Fortunately, Ash doesn’t push it and leads us back into the alleys.

It doesn’t take long for Ash and Kerry to decide on a place to lie low. It doesn’t have any bedding, nor is it well hidden like the last place, but it puts a roof over my head and keeps the rain out. I increase the heat of the room a bit to help the others dry off quicker. I can dry off their clothes directly, but I hold off doing so unless they ask for it.

Now that I have time to think, I withdraw from the conversation with the others.

They found me. There is no denying it. I have no idea why they want me, but they do. They brought an entire army to find me. Have they already taken out all the other áed they can find? Is that why they have so many people ready and searching here? How many of them are water mages?

“Who the fuck are they? They couldn’t be after us, right? A couple of people’s wallets could hardly be enough to send so many soldiers. It has to be a coincidence.” I overhear Leslie say.

Should I tell them? No. I shouldn’t trust so easily. They might just give me to them if they think it’d work better for them.

As it is, I can’t stay here. I’ve almost already been caught and I haven’t even seen their water mages yet. My eyes glance to the others, Ash is talking with concern about the events of the past few days. I guess it is time to go through with what he wants. Really, if my only options are going against a family unable to stop pedlars or against proven murderers, the choice is obvious.

The uniformed men fill the streets, so either they are working with the Cano family or the Cano family has no power to stop them. Either case meant remaining off their bad side meant very little.

I stand up and step towards Ash, interrupting their talk.

“I’ll help.”

He just looks at me blankly. “What?”

“The Cano family. I’ll help you steal from them.”

Ash jumps to his feet before the pain that assaults his leg drops him back on his ass. Disregarding the pain, he grins at me.

“Great. When should we proceed?”

“As soon as possible,” I say.

“As happy as I am that little icy heart over here finally thawed for us, shouldn’t we wait until the grey uniforms stop their search in Kelton?” Leslie asks.

They’ve been hunting áed for well over a year now, there is very little chance that they’re going to give up after only a few days. I don’t want to say that, though. I don’t want them to know I’m their target. Fortunately, I don’t have to.

“No, this is perfect. They are the best distraction we can hope for. The Cano members that haven’t left for the war will be tied up with whoever these people are,” Ash says. “We can be in and out and nobody will know.”

Well, I’ve set myself to it now. Whatever happens will happen. I can only hope this storm stops sometime soon. I’ve been lucky so far, but I don’t like my chances of fleeing until the rain stops.