“Quick!” Linde shook him awake in a panic. “They’re coming!”

Rane shot up with his breath caught in his chest. How long had he slept for? The details of his dream were already slipping his mind, and it felt like mere minutes. There’s no way they’d be found that fast. And yet the stone wall of the room shifted, sucked inward like clay with a guttural groan. Rane reached for his weapon and pulled it from its sheath. “Don’t speak,” he commanded. He thought he’d have more time to figure out a way to use Linde’s Oath. Perhaps even a way to trick Caelus.

A man dressed in tight, white leather emerged from the wall. He was imposing and robust, but what intimidated Rane the most was the amount of nora he wielded. The sheer power emanating from his body rivalled Leylin’s. "Would you care to explain what is going on, Linde?” His voice was deep in its anger. “Why are you helping your target escape?"

Linde struggled to speak, but her Oath forbade it. She stopped trying. Her black veins and darkened lips were answer enough. The man's face darkened, brows knit together. He turned to Rane. "You oathbound my daughter?" The anger in his voice was nearly palpable.

"You must be Caelus." Rane sheathed his sword. If what Linde had told him about the man was true, he couldn't fight his way through this time. "Considering she tried to capture me and kill off my friend, I think it's fair."

"In what capacity can you decide that, slave boy?" Caelus clenched his fists.

Rane could feel the earth shaking. The very stone they stood on trembled and shook. "I'm no longer a slave. To anyone. And if you care for your daughter, I suggest you listen."

"If I didn't, you'd already be dead." Caelus walked closer. "You have my undivided attention."

"First, I want it known that if you capture or harm me, Linde will stop at nothing to kill herself." It was a lie that Linde herself had suggested. Perhaps he really should have set that term.

"I figured as much." Caelus turned to Linde and shook his head. "You disappoint me. I should have never sent you out.” Caelus shifted his gaze. He rounded Rane, observing. "Speak. What do you want?"

Rane had originally considered signing an Oath with Caelus, but quickly discarded the idea. Far too many people knew Caelus's wish to kill him. Even if the man swore never to harm him, someone else would. Leaving the capital was also out of the question. Caelus had already found him once, and Rane refused to live in constant fear. "Peace and quiet." He let the words hang in the air. "I'm not Leylin's accomplice," he added. "Not willingly at least."

That made Caelus pause. "Quite interesting. Go on."

"I don't want to ever see that man again. I want to be free." Rane looked up and met the man's eyes. If he was to get his wish, he had to know. "How did you find us?"

“It was clever of you to leave Linde nearly soulburned.” Caelus smiled almost wickedly. “But a dead person’s nora hiding inside our birds… That is most peculiar, isn’t it?”

Shit. He’d forgotten about Anne. He tried to see through the artifact’s eyes, only to find his connection to them lost. Anne’s magic had also nestled back within his soul. “You’ve gone to great lengths to find me, it seems. Why?”

"It's because you're his weakness." Caelus painted every word. "And yet you don't understand what he has in store for you, nor can you resist it. If you did, you'd wish for the swift release I'll grant you."

"That's my first demand then," Rane said. "Tell me everything you know about Leylin."

Caelus hesitated. "I cannot,” he said in a lowered voice. “He and I have sworn an Oath of secrecy. To protect both his plans and my family."

Rane felt light headed. He came to the capital looking for answers, only to end up knowing nothing new. "What can you tell me?"

Caelus clenched his fist in anger. "That you're the unknowing centerpiece of his demented plan. If he gets–" His lips darkened and he closed his mouth. "Even if only a fraction of Leylin's intentions come to be, they would spell disaster to me and my family. That is why, even if we disregard all the damning information you know, eliminating you is imperative."

"I have a final demand." Rane fought the urge to quarrel with the man. To argue that dying for someone else's sins was unfair. "I want you to help me enter the Flames. Then, I will release your daughter."

Linde gave him a sideways glance. She turned to her father with teary eyes.

"So be it," Caelus growled. "I'll let you enjoy the archmage’s protection for now." Caelus stepped forward. He was a tall man, and he loomed over Rane. "Vow to release her from her Oath once you’re registered. I want it done here. In front of me.”

Rane refused to be intimidated. He noticed the word Caelus had used. ‘Registered.’ That would still give the man time to kill him. Even if he had vowed not to take another life, he was no fool. Caelus' love for his family had given him a chance to survive, and he'd make the most out of it. “What if I don’t?”

Caelus tilted his head. Pebbles fell from the ceiling and clicked against the floor, the stone groaning as it was pulled out of shape. “Do not force my hand, because by the Arbiter’s judgement, I’ll kill her myself.” He clenched his fist. “Then there will be nothing left to save you.”

“Linde,” Rane said, not taking his eyes off Caelus. “Once the first round of the competition is over, you will be free of your Oath and my words will have no sway on you.”

“Good enough.” Caelus visibly calmed. “You might think yourself clever, but make no mistake. Your time is running out."

“We’ll see.” Rane placed a hand around Linde’s shoulder. “Lead the way then, archmage.” He felt the man’s anger spike briefly, before settling down again.

Caelus grumbled, turning around. He walked with rapid strides, toward the wall behind them. With a wave of his hand he twisted the side of the building into steps, forming a path through the low stone balconies in their way.

“This isn’t the way to the central district,” Rane said. He couldn’t help but admire the magic and how effortless it seemed.

“It would take us more than a day to reach central by foot, and my time is precious.” Caelus fixed the cracks in the road wherever he stepped, stone rising up to meet his shoes like soft clay. “We’ll employ the shunter.”

Rane didn’t respond. He had never heard of shunters before, so he simply followed Caelus in silence, hand on the hilt the entire time. The man led them to a building with a single storey. Small and cramped thought it was, it was almost made entirely out of the silvery metal he had seen scattered throughout the capital. While in other structures it permeated the stone and was used as support, here it had become a building material. Inside, a long, soft carpet stretched out like a pink tongue, leading to the front desk. The man sitting behind it shot up from his chair the moment he spotted Caelus. He rounded the desk to them and bowed. “I adhere to your law, Archmage Caelus.”

Caelus waved his hand. “Enough pleasantries. We wish to travel to the central arena.”

“Of course, right away!” The man bowed again, as polite as he could be. He fumbled for a pocket and retrieved a glowing sphere. His hands traced over its rough surface for a few moments, and then he placed it back in his pocket. “Damien should be here sho–”

There was a sudden scream as a man fell from the ceiling. Rane’s hand twitched for his sword. The man looked up with wide eyes for a few moments, trying to get his bearings. “Blast, I did it again.” He stumbled, but managed to stand. He pushed his disheveled, blonde hair out of his face.

Rane pursed his lips and nodded. “That explains the carpet.”

“Shut up. I’m working on it.” Damien tried to rub the heaviness of sleep from his eyes. He was young, perhaps Rane’s age, and his eyes shone with a faint green light. He finally seemed to notice Caelus. “Oh, right. Customers.” He delivered an awkward half bow. “The glyphs?”

“All ready.”

“Follow me then,” Damien took them to a back room.

The lanterns cast a faint light over the large glyph carved onto the floor. Rane counted more than twenty arrows pointing in different directions, with a number corresponding to each one. Damien took his place in the center of the design. “Where to?” he asked.

“The Flames. Central.” Caelus replied.

Damien glanced over his shoulder, surprised. “Last minute enrollments? Very well.” He held out his hands and mist dripped from his body, filling the indentations in the stone with green light. Only one of the arrows shone. “Alright, one circle each.” Rane cautiously stepped inside one. If his hunch was correct…

“Try not to vomit please.” Damien twisted his hand and the world turned into a blur.

A sudden rush of wind wrapped around Rane, cold, then warm, followed by a surge of adrenaline. His vision warped around as he was pulled through the briefest glimpse of buildings, stone and people. There was no up or down or forward or back, but some new direction entirely alien and incomprehensible. His stomach lurched, and he stumbled trying to maintain his balance. Then the world began to slowly settle back in place, shifting into a room around them. The last bits of turbulence faded, leaving them briefly suspended over a similar glyph in a similar room. Rane’s boots touched the ground, a bit of bile reaching up to burn his throat. He spent a few moments trying to settle down and fight off the nausea that clawed at his stomach. Linde hadn’t been as resilient. Thankfully, a young ashfen was already waiting for their arrival, wet cloth in hand.

“Hey!” Damien snapped at her. “What did I say?” He stepped off the glyph which had lost its light and left the room.

“It seems like ‘accidents’ are common.” Rane followed right behind him, leaving Linde with Caelus. She couldn’t communicate with him anyway. He made sure not to get too far away from her.

“More common than they should be.” Damien grimaced. “But you handled it well.”

"Thank you…” The man seemed tamer than the other mages he had met. Mellow, somehow. He was worth befriending. “Do you get used to it?”

“Not really, no,” Damien said and tapped his head. “You just have to change your perspective. Don’t focus on what’s happening beyond the reach of your senses. It’s not you that’s travelling through the world, but the world moving around you. I’ve found that trying to see things in a different light helps first-timers.”

Rane raised an eyebrow. “How do you know I haven’t done this before?”

Damien laughed out loud. “Shunting is my origin magic, and a pretty rare attunement at that. I'm confident I'm the only shunter alive, and I remember all my clients.”

"I see…" Rane felt despondent. A small part of him hoped that he could learn such magic. If he had spells with such uses in his arsenal, he'd never be cornered again.

As if on cue, Caelus walked through the door to the main room with a red-faced Linde close in tow. “I’ll take care of the fee personally this time.” He cast a quick glance to the attendant behind the desk before turning to Rane. There was even more hatred in his face somehow. He strode ahead and kept the door open, as if urging him to rush.

“Hopefully we’ll meet again.” Rane bid Damien farewell and the man shunted away with a nod, figure vanishing in a flash of green light. Rane inched closer to the door, and the smell of burnt coal reached him before he even went outside.

It was a festival of lights. Everywhere there were folks in their winter garb, thick jackets, mitts and scarfs. Children chased wisps of colorful wisps around in the streets. Some carried a lamp of their own making, their gentle puffs of steaming breath made visible by its glow. Performers stood on pedestals, toying with fire as naturally as they breathed. They wore costumes, long robes and masks decorated with feathers. Bold yellows, magenta, cyan and emerald green. Colorful glass spheres high above sparkled in the brilliant, setting sun. Wherever he looked there were painted faces, masks and joy. Food sellers weaved through the mass of onlookers and the aroma of their wares perfumed the air with scents he had never experienced before. Rane was lost in stupor. He had never seen so many people together before, nor had he felt so much joy coming from others. It almost brought him to his knees.

“Move,” Caelus called from behind him. Some from the crowd recognized him, stopping the revelry to bow and make way. They worked their way through the festival and the people. Rane walked without focus, simply following Caelus. A stinging melancholy rose from deep inside him. The happiness and pleasure his magic helped him feel wasn’t his own. He was just a passerby to the festivities and the joy they brought. Would he ever be able to enjoy a festival without a care?

He was tired of it all. Tired of fighting and tired of struggling and of being tossed around like fate’s plaything. He looked up at the massive arena that loomed over the celebration, an effigy of metal that demanded battle and conflict. The closer they got, the scarier the prospect seemed.

“I’d like to register an apprentice for the Flames,” Caelus spoke to a mage that stood guard by the stadium's entrance.

"Of course, archmage." The man bowed. Rane recognized the traditional white and blue most mages wore. Even though his time in the capital was short –no more than a day– he had seen plenty of the outfit. Only in this case, a jewel with a miniature fire burning inside emazoned to the chest set it apart from the rest.

The mage quickly scanned Rane over too, eyes probably looking for an emblem. When he found none, he turned to Caelus again. "Is he your apprentice, Archmage?"

"Tell him," Rane whispered and poked Linde's side.

"No," she spoke up. "He's mine."

"Ah, very well." The mage met his eyes. “Name?”

“Rane,” he said with a frown. “No last name.”

“Enter.” The man scribbled the name down, then lazily waved a hand towards the grand arched doors of the arena.

“That’s it?”

“You should know the procedures already.” The man glanced at Linde, berating her with his eyes. “You are officially in the care of the archmages now. May you shine brilliantly.”

Rane took some hesitant steps towards the entrance. Linde followed right behind him, Oathbound to his side still. “You may go with your father,” he said, “but do not discuss the details of the Oath or any commands I’ve given you.”

Linde glanced at Caelus over her shoulder, then leaned in close to whisper into his ear. “I’m sorry,” she said, taking his hand in hers. “I’ll find out the truth. For both our sakes.”

Rane raised his eyebrows in surprise, then chuckled. “I hope to stay alive until then.”