I feel sick. I don’t know when it started, but my flames now churn like they’re trying to eat something that isn’t there.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t been allowed to move around in days, or maybe it’s the constant proximity to water, even if hidden within the bars of my cage.

They caged me, steel bars and all, like an animal. They don’t treat me like one, nor do they treat me like a person, more like an object or oddity.

I am trapped again, this time in a smaller and colder cell with a physical lock rather than a mental one. I absolutely hate it. These people don’t pretend it’s for my benefit, but there is no difference between now and what Gloria did to me.

The door in the room hosting my cage opens and an albanic wearing that same heavy silver suit all the others in this place wear when they approach me.

I wait until the albanic is only a few steps away from my cage when I launch a surge of cinders around them. I try to roast them alive inside that frustrating suit that my fire struggles to do more than slide over. They don’t react to my actions, simply holding some metal box into the flames. I try to burn through that too, hoping to damage whatever they brought with them.

A minute of trying to burn them shows no results, but I don’t stop. I want to put everything into my flames, but I can’t. The fear I might melt through the steel bars and open up the water stored inside holds me back. The albanic needs to die, but I don’t want to die to achieve it.

“Eleven hundred kelvin. Deviation of less than three percent. I don’t think we could have asked for a better sample,” a feminine voice says from the silvery bodysuit.

She was testing my flames? Indignation fills my chest and I snap my flames away from her, trying to keep her from getting what she wants.

She closes the distance and stands above my cage. I watch my reflection in the visor of her suit as she stands over me. The pitiful sight only makes me more frustrated. I don’t know what she’s looking for, but I don’t like it. A wall of flame curtains the bars, obscuring her sight.

“Subject twenty two is ready for transport to the testing facility,” I hear before the steel bars move underneath me.

My flames drop while the albanic pulls my cage toward the exit of the room. I stick my hand through the bars to try and stop one of the wheels, but I just jar my finger for the trouble and fail to make the woman’s job hard.

She pulls me out through a garage door and through an open warehouse to the crane used to bring me in here. Two other albanic join the woman there and soon have my cage hooked up. I search around, hoping to find something made of timber I can burn, anything to give them trouble, but I’m disappointed to find nothing.

They hoist me to the top deck, out to see the sun and sky for the first time in a week. I’d seen a shipwreck before, but never would I have thought I’d be on a ship while it was in the water. I still don’t want to be, but this is where that lieutenant took me after he had me caged.

The damn cage isn’t even tall enough to let me stand up. It is bigger than that box the others and I used to pass the wall in Zadok, but it still isn’t huge.

They push me along the deck until we reach the far back of the ship, where a cubic building sits alone above deck. Just being out here, where I can see the water spreading over the horizon is enough to make my legs rigid.

In through the roller door, a clutter of strange looking equipment occupies much of the floor-space. In prime position at the centre of the room is a huge metal orb. Outfit with an incredible number of pipes, the sphere looks somewhat like the design of the vehicles they use instead of wagons.

The cars — as they call them — can hardly reach speeds anywhere close to that of a train, but it is still enough to outpace walking by far. It took only a few days before I found myself at the docks after the lieutenant caged me.

Dim glowing inscriptions cover the orb and piping. I’ve seen inscriptions in New Vetus, Zadok and even in my tribe, but these are far denser, drawn with an accuracy I can hardly fathom.

They push my cage right up to the open door of the sphere. It is obvious they want to put me in that thing, but there isn’t a chance I’ll go willingly.

The bars clang against the hard metal of the sphere as they line up my cage to the opening. Clamps snap shut and tighten the cage in place, closing any gap I might have hoped to use as an escape.

There are more albanics in this room. Some aren’t even wearing the silver armour that protects them from my fire. I lash out at them, trying to burn them while I can, but before I can reach them, the two following my cage shove me into the orb with long poles.

My struggles hardly matter. One of the T-shaped tips of the poles catches me under the arm and the other curves around my waist. I’m forced in before I can stop them or stretch my flames toward the workers.

A hiss sounds before the door slides down and locks me in. A slam of my arms against the door does nothing. It’s as if the door isn’t even there anymore, the seal is flush.

The inside of the orb is perfectly circular, about as wide as I am tall. A pedestal in the centre of the capsule holds a ball. It’s double the size of my hand, but has far more intricate inscriptions lining it than even the exterior or interior walls of the orb I’m stuck in.

My first thought is to burn it, but it sucks on my energy with greed and I quickly pull back. I still want to break it. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s expensive and difficult to make. So, I kick it. Unfortunately, I’m not that strong and just fall on my butt.

“In a moment, we will start the machine. Your task is to redirect the energy of the outer sphere and input it to the inner sphere while making absolutely sure to keep the energy distribution consistent along the surface.” The voice comes from above, sounding like he’s speaking within the capsule, but there is nothing there except the glow of inscriptions.

“Start.”

The glow of the inscriptions on the outer sphere grows in intensity. Four major points start assaulting me with an incredible amount of fire. It feels great, so I take it all for myself. It doesn’t take long until the inside of the orb is as hot as the lava I felt not long past.

A sound halfway between a horn and a whistle blares around me, right before a spray of mist rains down from above. The water burns across my skin and I scream out in pain.

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“No energy detected by sensors C one through sixteen. Failure to follow orders will be punished. Distribute energy across the surface of the central sphere.”

Everything burned, and not in a good way. My skin stings like millions of needles stab all over my body. Not wanting to feel that again, I push some of the energy into the ball in front of me. Out of spite, I still don’t push all the energy I gain from the walls.

The same loud beep cuts through the heat and makes me shiver. I flinch back as another spray burns through my skin. I pull away, trying to hide from the mist, but there is nowhere to run in this cramped sphere. Steam blows off from my body and I choke on the moisture in the air before I can let out another scream.

“Difference between sensor values greater than maximum limit. Insufficient sum of detected energy. Punishment administered.”

I sob from the pain. My arms and chest are partly black and charred, my face doesn’t feel much different. I hate this. I hate them. But I do as they want and spread the energy I gain from the capsule over the ball. I’m scared of the agony that water will bring so I put more than I need to, putting some of mine and making sure the flames are as perfectly spread as I can.

“Energy levels adequate. Timer start.” The voice fills the sphere once more.

Timer? How long do I have to do this for? I don’t want to be here anymore. I want to leave. I want Mummy.

My head snaps up at the thought. No. They already killed her. There’s no going back. I am on my own and that means I have to look after myself. If I’m to get out, I have to do it myself.

Once, I let anger and hatred fuel me, but I was blind to the mistakes I made while consumed by rage. Gloria was cruel and evil, I still believe that, but a city didn’t deserve to burn because of her.

The Henosis Empire is worse. They are far more evil than Gloria ever was, but they are also far harder to deal with. They have water mages, soldiers that can do more than punch through walls, and who knows what else? There is an army at their bidding, an army that beat the ursu. How can I fight that?

I can’t just blindly burn things around me as I had last time. No, I need to be patient. I’m not sure why they are doing all these tests, but for now, they aren’t killing me. Lie in wait, that’s the only thing that can be done. For however long I need, I’ll wait until I get the opportunity to get back at the people who killed my family, who started the war that split me from Leal and took her father, and who trapped me, locking away my freedom.

The energy rushes through me for almost ten minutes before finally cutting off, the glowing inscriptions dim as I sit unmoving in the sphere. They take another fifteen minutes before they open the door to the orb and usher me back into my cage.

I don’t fight, there’s no point yet. I need to wait for an opportunity. Attacking at every moment will do nothing but tire me out and keep them wary.

❖❖❖

The next few days are hard. I have to force myself to follow their instructions and not fight back when everything inside me screams to burn anything that would.

The testing continues; every day I am led back into that capsule and they add more instructions that I have to follow, while also maintaining the tasks I’d previously been given. The inscriptions lining the spheres were now nothing more than guides for the manipulations they required I perform.

It is similar to the inscription networks I’ve been able to infiltrate at the mage academy and Cano residence, only the Henosis know I can do so and have blocks in place that cut me off from controlling any more of it than they intend. I am to accurately and efficiently control the system only so much as they allow.

I haven’t been able to figure out what the purpose of these tests are. They have very specific requirements a lot of the time, using an exact amount of energy in an exact distribution while reducing thermal interference to an exact level. It is extremely random, while also completely intentional.

By the time the ship docks at land once more, I can control the entire process by myself. The albanics around seem so pleased by the fact and I have to remind myself that now isn’t the time. I have to strangle down the indignation caused by them congratulating themselves for a good job. My opportunity will come, I don’t know when, but it will.

It has to.

❖❖❖

I am glad to be back on land, even if still in the clutches of the Henosis. Every day I spent over the water made me more nauseous, hopefully now that I’m separate from it, I’ll feel better.

My cage is lowered from the back of the car and an albanic, still in that full body suit, pulls me through the gate around what I can only assume used to be a train depot. Rails line the area, with many leading within the structure ahead of me. Railway carriages are parked orderly in much of the free space of the open area before the depot.

What is strange, is that the Henosis soldiers have fortified the area with so much defences it’s hard to imagine it is only the train-yard they are defending. Spotlight towers and the tall fencing seem brand new next to the rust damaged rails. Albanics with clear exposed tattoos on their arms stand at guard.

The albanic pulls me through a wide steel sliding door, likely intended for trains to pass. He chains the door closed before retaking my cage and leading me further into the building.

We pass a rail-car with one of those strange spheres integrated within. The black steel makes the entire thing intimidating to look at, unlike the bare silver of the one on the ship.

There are a lot of albanics moving around in here, many without the protective suits, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t defended. Amongst them, both as guards and workers, are mages; black ink markings decorate their exposed arms and faces.

My cage is dragged past all the workers, guards, and machines lying around and taken through a large ceramic door. Simply passing the threshold, the temperature of the air rises exponentially. I’m surprised the albanics leading me can even handle it, despite the suits they wear.

My breath hitches as I catch sight of the áed ahead of me. My cage clangs as the bars lock against the cell of the woman burning with no care of controlling her form.

We are soon left alone, the large ceramic door creating an echoing clang as it shuts.

The two of us just look at each other. It’s been a long time since I’ve met someone from the Agni Mountain tribes. Unlike all other áed, they prefer not to control their forms and ignore all the benefits of a more physical body. Although I guess they never need to bother when they spend most of their time within the magma flow in their village.

She is tired. It’s obvious just from a glance. Her flames are static, barely moving, she sees me but is slow to comprehend. She rises with sluggish movements and pulls herself to the link of our confines.

She struggles to speak, but her words still came. “I am Teine, of the Logi tribe, and who might you be, young one?”

“Solvei, of the Vatra tribe.”

“Ah, that’s good. Cyrus will come for you then.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell her he was already dead.

“Child, give me your hand.” Teine puts her arms through the bars for me.

Not thinking too deeply about the request, I take both her hands in mine. The nostalgic warmth rushes through me, tenderly touching and healing the charred marks on my face and arms. It’s been so long since I felt such comfortable warmth of Kindling that I almost lose myself in it, but the intimacy of the act makes me aware of just how bad her state is.

“Stop.” I jerk my hands away from her. “You don’t have enough strength to be doing this!”

Her inner flame is running on fumes. I can’t imagine they’ve been giving her much to eat if she’s in this condition.

Teine looks down at me with a soft smile. “I’ve seen too many of my family leave before me. My own child taken from me. I do not wish to live without them, so please let me do this one last thing so that my death isn’t worthless.”

Her hand remains reaching through the bars, but how can I? I don’t want to watch anyone else die. She should want to live, to move on and have a life that her family could be proud of. If not, then why have I pushed so hard until now? Was it selfish of me to live on with everyone I loved gone? I refuse to believe that this is something her family would want for her.

“Child, I understand your plight, but I am old. I have lived a long life and I want to be with those I love again. You don’t have to do anything, just embrace the warmth and think of your family.”

I sniffle but lift my hands. My eyes don’t lift from the ground as she grabs them. I do as she says and imagine it’s my mum’s warmth, her loving flames hugging me close. Heat floods my body, my inner flame entwining with hers, my chest scalds as she pushes more of herself than ever should be done in Kindling.

I try to grip her arms tight, not letting her go, but I feel my fingers slip, like I’m losing my grip on her arms, but her own hands hold mine tight.

My head pulls up only to see her outlined form decaying into ethereal. Her body’s frame loses its physicality and becomes natural fire.

“Please, when you escape, give my family a beautiful pyre.” The last of Teine embraces me and I feel her entirety seep within.

“I will,” I say, feeling the warmth continue to burn through me.

A tear drops and disperses into black smoke.