Chapter 10: Veil of Shadow

  "Bring them out," the old woman's voice woke me. "Let's see what kind of troublemakers we discovered this time."

  This time? How many others had they kidnapped like this? What for?

  The door opened, the locks clunking like those old-fashioned ones I'd seen in jails on TV. This wasn't a jail, though, was it?

  I looked around when there was enough light for me to see and realized. Yes, it was a jail.

  James did not look happy at me. His tanned skin had deep lines across his forehead as he glared at me. But he wasn't favoring his arm. Did it heal that fast?

  "Magic really is a thing, huh?" I asked him. "Not sore anymore?"

  I couldn't help the sarcastic edge to my voice. After years of scraping by with nothing but our wits and basic weapons, seeing someone recover from a broken bone overnight felt like a mockery of our struggle. How much easier would our lives have been with that kind of power?

  James didn't take my question or dig at him. Instead, he grabbed me by the scruff and dragged me forward. "She's nothing but a waif," he said.

  "Aren't they all?"

  "I'd say still a teen, Maggie." Another man behind James said I noticed it was 'the bear' I'd dubbed who caught me yesterday. Bear was tall and muscular. I'd never seen a man so big before. He made my dad look tiny. What could I remember of him?

  "I'm twenty," I said, glaring his way. I struggled against James as best I could despite him being so much larger than me, but I wasn't getting anywhere; I was tired and weak.

  "You don't look it, certainly not any weight for it," Maggie said.

  "The way of the road…." I replied, giving her the once over. She wasn't big, but she had muscle. You could see it. "Not everything is as it seems."

  "She'll be just as good in the cookhouse or mines as anyone else," Maggie ordered. "Get her to Leigh, and we'll look at what her brother can do in the arena."

  "What do you mean he can do? Arena?"

  "You're just like everyone else. If you want to live around here, you have to work."

  "I never wanted to live here," I said. "You abducted us!"

  "You're in our city grounds. That means you're working for us." Maggie folded her arms under her chest. I could see sparks lighting the whites of her eyes an eerie green. She had mana, too? Was I the only one that didn't?

  I studied her closely, noting the confident stance, the casual display of power. These weren't desperate survivors like us - they were organized, established. While we'd been wandering and scraping by, they'd been building something here. The realization made me feel even more out of place, more vulnerable.

  I forced myself to remain calm and think through this situation. Rushing into anything could be dangerous.

  When someone else dragged Reece out, there was something different about him. When he struggled, lightning sparked up his arms. The man holding him dropped him like a hot potato.

  Maggie's eyes lit up, and she stalked forward like an apex predator.

  Desperately, I tried to spin around and block her path, but my body wouldn't obey me for some reason.

  "You—well you're something else ain't you," Maggie said. "Growing stronger by the day too it seems."

  "He's been storing it all night," James said, backpedaling fast. "The only explanation."

  "Well, he's one to watch, for sure." Maggie turned back to me. "How'd you survive out here so long?"

  "Mostly by avoiding people," I said, and I meant it. We skirted anything that looked like there were camps, others.

  "Food?"

  "Our parents taught us how to hunt, and what to look for in the wild. Foraging."

  "Not enough though by the looks of you."

  "He got most of the food," I admitted.

  **It wasn't entirely true. I'd often gone hungry to ensure Reece had enough, a habit formed when we were younger that I never quite broke. But I didn't want them to know how much I'd sacrificed - that kind of information could be used against us.**

  "That's obvious." Maggie said and there was a slight smile there.

  "Cer," Reece said. "You…."

  I glared at him, and he backed off.

  Maggie however took a step closer. The closer she got to my brother, the more energy crackled around him. Sparks were flickering in his eyes and all around his head as well as up his arms; I was amazed and terrified.

  Maggie grinned at James. In daylight, I could see her yellowing rotten teeth. "Some untapped power there, kid. How old are you?"

  Reece glanced at me, and I wished to all the gods he would keep his mouth shut, but he couldn't.

  "I'm thirteen," he said. It was a little white lie; he wasn't quite thirteen yet. The road had aged him much more than I had, which stung.

  "Little on the young side, but your sister is well past it," Maggie said. "Maybe you can make up for it, right?"

  "What do you mean?" I asked again.

  James spun me in his direction. "It means your brother is a special kind of kid who won't be going into the work mines. We've got other tasks for him."

  "Like what?"

  "Hold your tongue, unless spoken to," Maggie ordered. "I want to know as much as possible about where you came from and where you've been."

  "Don't tell 'em anything else," I said to Reece.

  "I'll tell you anything—as long as you're nice to my sister," he was already spilling his guts.

  "Reece," I warned.

  My heart sank at his eagerness to cooperate. This wasn't the guarded, cautious Reece who'd survived years on the road. This was the little brother who still thought adults could be trusted, who believed in fairness. The road had hardened him in some ways, but not enough.

  "Don't listen to your sister." Maggie cooed. "Come with me, my dear."

  I could do nothing but curse at them under my breath. She cast one look at James. "Make sure you take real good care of her."

  The way he squeezed my collar tighter, taking good care of me, was the very last thing on his mind.

  "Don't worry, little lass, we've got lots of work around here you can be doing. You'll fit right in with Leigh. She loves waifs and strays like you."

  I did not like this. Not one bit.

  James shoved me in the opposite direction to my brother. I craned my neck to see where they were taking him, but they'd vanished. All I could do was hope to see him again later.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Leigh was surprisingly a muscular woman; when James called for her, she came out brandishing a hammer, sweat dripping from every pore, and black soot streaked down her cheeks.

  "What do you want?" Leigh asked, never even looking at me. She pounded the hammer into her fist, the thump, thump echoing from it. That was some weighty weapon; maybe I could grab it from her, and we could escape? Who was I kidding, I sighed.

  "Brought you a new laborer," James said, pushing me toward her.

  "Laborer, do you even know what happened to the last girl you sent me?"

  James flinched at her. "No, Leigh, I don't."

  He obviously did know, they just wanted me to hear it.

  "There's not a pick on her. How long do you think she'll last in the furnace?"

  "Furnace?" I asked.

  Leigh shot me a glare, wiping sweat from her brow. "Someone has to keep this town going with electricity, ain't mana that does it all, you know."

  I glanced around. "Electric? You have power?" I'd not seen anything power-related for years. But that gave me hope.

  **Electricity meant infrastructure, organization, resources. It meant these people weren't just surviving - they were rebuilding. After years of assuming the entire world had collapsed into chaos like our corner of it had, the implications were staggering.**

  "I'll do anything you ask," I said and eyed James. "Look after Reece, please."

  "Reece?" Leigh asked.

  "Her brother's got the gift," James answered for me. "Quite the electric show himself this morning, Maggie's in heaven, we got a lightning mage in our midst."

  "Then why not send him to me? I could do with someone different. He might work hard, she—" she pointed at me, "—she won't last a week."

  "Just put her to work, or you're not getting dinner tonight."

  Leigh pounded her hammer again. There was a ring to it that echoed in my mind. Something about that was magical, yet I didn't have a clue to what.

  James turned and left me staring at the massive woman and shaking with fear.

  "You'd do good to steer clear of him," Leigh warned. "Come on. I'll get you into a routine. Then we can eat. Looks like you could do with something decent in you."

  "If I work, I can eat?" I asked, my stomach growling as if on cue.

  "You won't last long around here if you don't," Leigh said. "Those men out there will pull you apart."

  "Is that why you're as big as you are?" I cringed. "Sorry, I really didn't mean to say that out loud."

  The old Cerys would have kept that thought to herself. But years of having only Reece to talk to had eroded my filter. I'd grown used to speaking my mind without consequences beyond my brother's occasional eye-roll.

  "You don't need to hold your punches with me," Leigh let out a chuckle, and once we were inside a large building, she put the hammer down, turned, and faced me. "Leigh," she introduced herself. "And you are?"

  "Cerys," I replied. "My brother's Reece."

  "They're nice names," she said. "If your brother has the gift, why don't you?"

  I didn't want to lie to her. Something about her bravado against her eyes didn't match up. They were like my mom's eyes. "Mom always said it was because I never ate enough; I'm not a woman yet."

  Leigh nodded, then, "That makes sense; it looks like you've been on the road a long while."

  I could only nod and look down at my tattered clothes. "I don't look like much," I said. "But I can take care of myself."

  "You're going to learn the hard way if you can't."

  Leigh led me deeper into her domain, a fiery inferno that made the heat almost unbearable. My thin, worn clothes provided little protection against the intense temperature; I couldn't imagine what it would be like if I were wearing anything thicker.

  Massive fire pits and furnaces loomed before us, overflowing with truckloads of coal. The flames' constant roar and metal clanging filled my ears. Leigh gave me a shovel and simple instructions: "Keep an eye on this gauge; don't let it go in the green. Shovel steadily." With that, she demonstrated by scooping up a shovelful of coal and throwing it into the fire. I followed suit to keep the gauge from going too high or too low.

  The work reminded me of wood-gathering at the cabins, but infinitely more intense. Every muscle screamed in protest, but there was a certain comfort in the simplicity of the task. Shovel, throw, repeat. No decisions to make, no one to protect but myself. For the first time in years, I wasn't responsible for anyone else's survival.

  The work was grueling but strangely satisfying. As I shoveled coal into each furnace, I couldn't help but wonder where it was all coming from. But there was no time for questions as another truck pulled up, ready to be unloaded. The lights flickered overhead, indicating that electricity was being produced from our efforts.

  Leigh didn't return for hours, leaving me alone with my thoughts as I continued shoveling. When she finally came back, it was only because both furnaces were dangerously close to reaching the green mark. Together, we worked to stoke the fires and keep them burning hot.

  As we toiled away, Leigh muttered under her breath about how I wouldn't last a week. But I was determined to last as long as I needed to survive in this unforgiving environment. I had no choice but to push through and keep going, fueled by the thought that I could make it through anything—even this fiery hell.

  I grew tired, very tired.

  With each shovel full, my legs wobbled, and my vision blurred while Leigh picked up shovel after shovel and threw it into the furnace. Not last a week! I would! I kept on going. My driving force was that mess hall. The thought of food—food that could keep her the size she was—it had to be decent.

  I'd survived worse. I'd survived hunger that clawed at my insides for days. I'd survived winter nights so cold I thought my blood would freeze. I'd survived monsters and raiders and the crushing weight of responsibility. I could survive this too. Just one more shovel. And another. And another.

  "I didn't think you'd have kept going as long as you did. Good job." Leigh stopped, wiping sweat from her brow.

  I copied her with the sweat wiping, though my clothes were soaked through. "I've lost pints of fluid," I said. "So thirsty."

  With a flick of her wrist, Leigh threw me a bottle. "That's yours. Guard it with your life."

  I opened the bottle. It didn't look like much, but as I drank the cold water from within, I realized I could drink and drink. It seemed a lot bigger than it was.

  "What is this, it doesn't seem to end?"

  "You'll also never survive in here without water. That is your lifeline. It will keep anything inside it cold, and yes, it has a very small holding well. You'll get at a push a few days water in there."

  "It's magical?"

  "Yes, it is. It comes from a special metal, and only I can craft it with my element, water."

  I didn't know what to say. "I've never, I—"

  The implications hit me all at once. Not only could the system grant combat abilities like Mom's fire or Reece's lightning, but practical, everyday magic too. All those years struggling to find clean water, to keep food from spoiling - and here was a solution in my hands. What other wonders had we missed out on? What might I be capable of if I could just access the system?

  "Do the work. Prove to them and me that you're worth it. That cost me a lot today."

  "I will," I said. "I will, but why?"

  "There are not many newcomers in here anymore," Leigh said. "Honestly, I saw something in your eyes that night they brought you in, and yes, I saw James' broken arm, too."

  "I want to survive," I stated. "I need to, for Reece."

  "He's younger than you?"

  I could only nod.

  "How young?"

  "Not quite twelve yet," I said.

  "Fuck," Leigh swore. "I would love to keep you, but I'm being honest here. You have to get away from here as soon as you can. This place isn't safe for you or your brother."

  "What is all this?" I asked her.

  "Come on, let's get our food allotment, and when we're done, I'll settle you into the bunk here. Then we'll talk, but only then."

  "Not safe?" I asked.

  "Not safe," she repeated.

  James was waiting for me in the queue for the food hall. It was literally a line of people and a hatch with three servers. The smell coming from inside made my stomach growl all the more, and my mouth drooled. Once we got to the hatch, the young server dished out our food. Leigh grunted at him and thrust her plate back, then mine. The reluctant server piled our plates with much more food than anyone else. My eyes were bulging. I'd never seen so much. Sure, it was a plate of food, but I had no idea what it was. I accepted the food gratefully and followed Leigh.

  I forced myself to eat slowly, to savor each bite. Part of me wanted to shovel it all in at once, afraid someone might take it away. Another part wanted to save some for Reece, an old habit I couldn't shake. The food was bland but hearty - some kind of stew with chunks of mystery meat and vegetables. After years of half-raw game and withered berries, it tasted like a feast.

  James kept his eye on us, though he never approached, while Leigh gave him daggers. "You need to watch him," she said, poking her spork in his direction.

  "I know," I didn't need her to tell me that. "I'm guessing he just likes to bully everyone."

  "Not just a bully. He's sadistic about it." Leigh looked me up and down once more, though this time she took her time over my lack of figure, womanhood I don't know. I just felt more than uncomfortable. "I'm going to take it that you've never been with a man either?"

  Heat flushed up my neck.

  "Girl, you're in for a world of hurt if he gets you alone."

  I didn't know where to look, but I was curious. "Mom told me about it," I said in a low voice. "Is it bad?"

  Leigh chuckled around mouthfuls of food. "No, not usually. But with someone you don't like and would sooner put in a shallow grave so the monsters can pick his flesh apart, then yes, it's as bad as it gets."

  The crude warning sent a chill through me. Mom had explained the basics years ago, but living as we had, romance and sexuality had seemed like abstract concepts from another world. Now, suddenly, they were very real threats I needed to navigate.

  We ate the rest of the meal in silence. My thoughts drifted to my brother, the mana, my mom's journal. I needed to get it back. I couldn't lose that. It was the last thing I had of hers, all her knowledge stored inside those pages. Carefully written, carefully looked after for all those years.

  "I want to go back to the library," I said to Leigh, "Do you think that's possible?"

  "Where they found you?" she asked, casting me a confused look.

  "My bag, it had something in it I need."

  "If you work hard, you might earn some time out, but I wouldn't be heading out there alone. You'll need a team of enforcers with you now."

  "Enforcers?"

  "Those with the gift, those capable of fighting the local monsters."

  The room around us was busy, eating and talking of the day, though nothing interested me at all now, not really.

  If one of their own told me, we had to get away—we had to get away. It was as simple as that.

  I'd gotten us out of worse situations. I'd navigated monster-infested territories, survived winters with nothing but our wits, evaded bandits and traps. This place had walls and guards and systems, but every system had weaknesses. I just needed to find them. First, I needed information. Then, I needed to find Reece. Then... freedom.

  I would find a way.

  I would.