Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Lux Year 4004
We stood in the cave on his third day of training, early morning penetrating the shadows of darkness. “You know the saying, ‘every ocean starts with one drop of water’?” He nodded. “Well learning to control your power is much like that. You have to learn the little things to get the big things.” He nodded again, still blinking grains of sleep from his eyes. The tingle ran through my finger as I produced a thin column of fire. He tried. Nothing. He tried several more times before huffing and and flopping on the ground.
“I can’t do this!” Those few words melted the ice barrier I always put up against people. I looked down at him, laughing.
“Come on. I know what can help you.” He looked up at me hesitating before standing. I put my hand on his shoulder. The flames covered us like a cloak of light. I felt him tense as they crossed his vision, that age old instinct conflicting with his conscious brain.
When the ash formed back into our skin we stood on the bank of the Flumine river. As he shifted the rocks beneath us scraped together like a bull right before it charged.
“Being this close to the water might help you channel it better. Sapiens, my... friend, did the same thing for me when I was learning. Try again. But this time really try to feel the magic flow through you. You know you’re doing it right when you feel a slight tingle. Almost like fingers running up your spine.” A droplet jumped from his finger into the river. He looked at me, excited. He held out his hand, extending it to the river. A thin spout of water sprung from his hand. It hovered in the air for three, four, five, seconds before falling into the river like an ecstatic dolphin. We practiced into the day. By the end, he was able to create a thin column of liquid. I watched, sitting on the semi smooth rocks a few yards away. The setting sun caught the brackish water of the river turning the color of fresh dreams not yet smashed. “Good now send it towards me. See how far you can make it before losing control.” He turned, the string of rainwater following. It slowly and shakily slid towards me and collapsed, wetting the rocks. Nix flopped down next to me. “I’m never going to get this.”
“You’ll get it next time. It takes practice.” I held out my hand the same way he did. A thin column of fire trailed up from my fingers. I held it keeping it hovering between us. He smiled at me from behind the thin blaze. I sent it up into the sky expanding it, wider and wider. Higher and higher. Until I let it die out. He half laughed, still staring up at the spot where the blaze had been. “See, if you really try, you will get it.” His nose grazed my cheek as he looked back at me. We froze for six, seven, seconds before I broke away. I looked down at the rushing water of the river. He cleared his throat standing up and walking to the forest line. I stood as well, walking up behind him. “We should probably head up to the cave. You will need your rest for tomorrow's lesson.”
“Yeah.” He didn’t look at me. I touched his forearm and we materialised into ash.
Standing in the dark cave smelling of rain and dirt as I lit the lantern on the desk. The shadows flew from the small flame jumping to the stone walls. I glanced at my bed, the straw stuffed in between two pieces of burlap stuck out of the octanol hole. The thin wool blanket bierly held in enough heat but over the last two years I had grown used to sleeping in a scratchy bed skating on the edges of warmth. The whole thing was perched on a small shelf barely big enough for me to stretch out on. I had cleared off a similar shelf once used to store food for Nix to sleep on. Unfortunately I didn’t have any other blankets or makeshift mattresses for him to sleep on, only an old half rotten deerskin and a wolf pelt as a blanket.
“Are you okay sleeping again tonight? I can get a blanket from the Opulentus clothes line. They always have one." He shook his head.
“No I will be okay.” His smile looks like it hurts.
“It’s no trouble, I can just jump down. There house is right outside the valley. You should come with me.” He shrugged.
xxxxx
I hunched down behind a stump 16 yards away from their house
and ruffly 13 yards away from the clothesline. The silent air shattered, unraveled, and ignited as Flos, the Opulentus family slave, pushed open the back door. She began to hang clothes on the line. The already strung up blankets waved in the slight breeze letting of a sound of flags snapping. Flos touched them, her tan fingers tipped with worn beaten fingernail. The result of 23 years of slavery. With the same hand she flicked a strand of black, fallen from her tight bun, out of her face.
“Who’s that?” I flinched. I had forgotten about Nix. I leaned slightly to the right and whispered so quietly the grass couldn’t hear me.
“Flos. She’s an indentured slave. Her Son was really smart, and got into the kings college, but Flos couldn’t afford to send him there. So she borrowed the money from Debitum Opulentus and couldn’t pay it back. Now she has to work forthem until all the debt is gone. Which will most likely never happen.”
“How do you know all that?” His question suddenly seemed as insignificant as a single shoot of grass. I watched as she walked back inside carrying the empty basket. Darting forward I grabbed the two damp blankets off the line and ran back to the stump surrounded by overgrown dead grass. I shoved them into Nixs hands and bent down to touch the ground. The shock followed by images flowed through me. First the back yard then the old splintery wooden door. The images fought to keep me from see into the house but I pushed back until I could see a man, Mr. Opulentus, standing in front of Flos.
“You stupid woman! Look what you did!” Debitumes voice spilled out of the open windows seeping into the ground like bacteria. “Two more blankets missing! Thats coming out of your pay!” I turned back to the house peering in through the open shades. Flos soft voice hesitated before answering, “But sir, I am not payed.” I watched the flashing pictures, angry, horrified, and exploding all at once as the tall man raised a long stick over the short squat woman. He curved it quickly through the air. It struck and I split. I stood up, breaking my connection with the earth and losing my hold on the pictures before walking forward.
“What are you doing?” Nix grabbed my arm. “Aren’t we not supposed to draw attention to ourselves?” I pulled it away. “Part of being who we are is helping people at our own risk. Stay here.” I walked up to the door fists clenched. I realised my eyes have changed color. Blinking a few times while shaking my head, I put my hand on the metal knob. As I turned it I pushed hard. The other side of the door slammed into the house's inside wall. The man on the other side of Flos froze.
“Who the hell are you?” He demanded the question as if he deserved and answer. I stepped forward.
“Go.” I pointed Flos out the door. “Someone outside is waiting for you.”
“But I...” She hesitated before nodding and running out the door.
“Who the hell do you think you are? You have no right to dismiss my slave!” One, two, three, steps forward.
“She is not your slave anymore. All the debt has been payed off so you need to leave her alone.” The man scoffed throwing down his stick.
“Please, you are barely 18, and a girl! You have no right to tell me what to do.” The anger burst from the area I had barely been able to confine it in flushing to my eyes in vibrant red tidal wave. He stumbled back tripping over the table in the kitchen.
“Demon child, I c... cast you out of my home!” He stammered throwing up his hands and I knew it had happened.
“Let her go debt free or these ‘demon child eyes’ will be the last you ever see!” He nodded. I backed out of the house and blinked. My eyes cleared. I turned to see Flos's back, and Nix's face. I walked forward hands outstretched and jumped us to the Flumine river.