No one expects much from a slum kid with no parents and enough run-ins with the local guard that he had his own reserved corner in the jail house. There ain’t a part of me that is proud of all I’ve done from the theiving to the beatings of poor saps for what amounted to crumbs of stale bread. A kid has gotta eat and they gotta be smart until they find their way out.

At nineteen everyone that lived in the tiered city had the option to find work outside of their tier, no matter your upbringing or status. In truth, status and upbringing counted for a lot more than anyone would ever admit and so I assumed my future would be among the abyss just like my parents and grandparents who all found their deaths among that shrouded pit.

But before that there was a little parade that had to be joined. Magic existed but I didn’t know much of it beyond what I could find in books. A slum kid that could read was a rare enough thing that I took advantage of it as best as I could. Information was power as the Cabal’s saying went. Their censorship of printed works was immoral and I was lucky to have access to the trash from the upper teirs.

Every four years citizens under twenty-one had to be tested to see if they had any bit of magic to them. We called these people with that bit Witches if girls and Mages if males. Both were found fairly quickly after birth, but there were always those that were late bloomers.

As I stood in the long line of hopefules, book in hand and munching on an apple I’d taken off a farmer’s cart, I knew my chances were the same as the abyss closing up. This was all just a formality before I was shipped off to The Rickets and began my training as an Abyss mapper or some other understaffed job.

A chill wind blew through the line and I shivered and looked toward the trees that hung over the road we all stood on. The leaves had almost all fallen off and the few that were hanging on danced and crackled under the breeze. I dropped my eyes down to the people that were in front of me. Among the crowd of teen girls and boys were my asshole friends, standing out and causing a scene. They told stories of their none existant experience with the other sex and it took all I had not to set things straight.

What mostly stopped me is that my own experience of such things was limited to one girl, my childhood friend Natalie.

I found her fairly quickly outside of the line where she chatted amongst other girls that were around her age and older. They all wore the uniform of the Orange Academy, the school where witches and mages trained together. Their skirts were black and stopped halfway down their thights where a hater caught the top of their knee high socks, leaving much of their thighs out in the cold.

Many a lonely night had been helped along by thoughts of the academy’s uniform and to see Natalie in it only made my inagination run a little wildier.

The top half was a blazer of black with orange stripes. Beneath they wore a white blouse with an orange tie that went under the blazer.

All those with long hair had it up in either a poneytail or a bun. Free strands were blown about their heads and I watched as Natalie glowered and tried to fit the escaped oranage strands of her hair behind her ear. As she did so, she caught my look and gave a small, almost sad wave. I nodded in return.

I knew this day would come at some point, she was one of the many picked out at birth to be a witch. It didn’t sting any less to know that it was possible I’d never see her again. Witches hardly ever interacted with those from their old lives and she had already started the seperation, or so I thought.

“One last time into the breech?” she asked as she came over. She stopped before me and rolled back on her heels. Her hands were clasped in front of her as she looked me over, a grin folding into her cheeks. Freckles across her nose scrunched so that it looked like she had a smudge of dirt there.

I closed my book and tossed the half eaten apple. “I guess so. Nice outfit.”

She turned in place, the grin widening to a full smile. “I look damn good in it, don’t I?”

“I mean, for a slum girl you do,” I said and she hit my shoulder. I barely felt it, but feigned pain cause she glared at my lack of reaction. “Sorry. Sorry.” I took a step back and faced the group of girls she had left. Some were watching our interaction with a disgusted look. It was obvious they though I was too lowly to talk to. I kind of was. “You all leaving today?”

Natalie nodded as she moved with me in the line. “As soon as the examination is over. There are always a few stragglers that are caught in these things.” She paused and looked around at the ramshackle buildings around us. “I’m gonna miss this place.”

I chuckled and waved her off. “Yeah right, you can’t wait to get out of here. All you would talk about growing up was how great of a witch you were gonna make.”

She frowned and took a step toward me. She was about a foot shorter and had to look up to see my face. “There are somethings I’m still gonna miss, Aidan.”

My throat grew dry at her sincerity and I forced a shrug. “You’ll find enough guys at the academy. I’ll be a distant memory in a few weeks.” I tried on a smile, but it was forced.

“Hey! Look at the academy girl,” Jorge said as he appeared beside us and wrapped an arm around Natalie’s shoulders. “What you doing around us slummers?”

“Trying to rub it in that you’re gonna be stuck here forever,” she said and pulled herself free. She turned to Jorge and Greg and glared at the both of them as she adjusted her blazer. “Why you in line anyway? Even if you got magic, you aren’t smart enough to use it.”

“Are you kidding? We’d have witches lapping at our heels if we got in. Look at me,” he said with a wide smile as he held his hands out at his side. “I’d be the best looking mage they’d ever seen at that stuck up place.”

“You wouldn’t make it past the front gate," Greg said as he turned to face the front of the line again. “The girls would blow up the walkways before you made it off the tram and the Cabal would give them all medals for it.”

“Yeah, yeah, just keep being jealous over their crater head.” Jorge reached over and flicked the back of Greg’s head and then ignored his reaction as he turned back to Natalie. “So you weren’t gonna say goodbye to us, too? Was the fingerbang you got from this abysser really that memorable?”

Annoyed I stepped up to plant my book into his skull, but Natalie laughed and placed a hand to my chest.

“What can I say? He’s got nice fingers. At least he got that far, you never got past slobbering all over Kelsie’s face like a rabid dog.”

“I didn’t slobber, you bitch,” Jorge said, his eyes narrowed. “She’s the one that slipped the tongue.”

“If you mean trying to keep your nasty tongue out of her mouth, then sure.”

Jorge stared at her for a moment and then crossed his arms as he stood straight. “You’ve gotten mean since you started wearing that uniform.”

“Duh, you got any idea how cold my damn legs are?” she asked and then held up a finger when he went to speak. “Don’t even think of offering, Jorge, or I’ll toss you into the abyss for the beasts to deal with."

“That seems a bit unfair to the beasts,” I said and the four of us broke into a laugh. Greg and Jorge broke off and went back to their place in line and I leaned toward Natalie. “What are we gonna do if either of them get in?”

“Pity any witch who is stupid enough to fall for their… charm? Is that the right word?”

I shook my head. “No. That isn’t in the same world as what they have.” She giggled, a sound that always sent my heart a little quicker. “I’m gonna miss you, just so you know.”

“I’ll come visit.”

“I thought witches were supose to tell the truth at all time,” I said.

She smoothed her skirt and glanced at the group of girls she had come from. They were pretending to ignore us, but I could see their gazes snapping toward us ever few seconds. “I do try…”

“Aidan Cooper?” a woman called. Natalie and I both turned, startled. The woman stood at the side of the line, an electronic pad of some sort in her hand. She looked through the crowd, a scowl deepening the smooth lines of her face. “Aidan Cooper, are you here?”

I glaced at Natalie and then raised my hand before stepping out of the line. “I’m Aidan.”

The woman folded the pad in half and pocketed it in her robs as she came over. I stood a bit taller than her, but that didn’t matter as she was more intimidating than an angry guard branishing a sword. “Good. Come with me then.”

“Ma’am, I’m here to be tested before shipping off to the Rickets,” I said with a glance at Jorge and Greg. They both looked between me and the woman, not sure wheather they should jump in to help or not. I gave them a small shake of my head and they stood down.

“I’m well aware. That transport leaves in twenty minutes. We have moved those of you in that group up in line so there won’t be any delays.” She walked off without a word and I followed with one last glance at my friends. We snaked along the outside of the line until we came to a tent to the side of the main one where the tests usually took place.

Heavy darkness played inside with only a pair of candles on the table providing any light. There were several other people standing just in front of the table, shrouded in the darkness. They were about my age and they all turned to look when I entered. There were three girls and four boys. Most of them I knew at least in passing.

“We’ll start with you first, Kelsie,” the robed woman said as she sat heavily at the table. A sense of unease crawled up my spine, the same one that occurred when entering the local court for sentencing. The only thing that eased the feeling was that I had not been called first.

Kelsie, a blonde haired, blue eyed girl with too large of a nose, stepped up to the table. The robe woman brought out a small crystal that was inset in a base of black stone. The crystal was a small replica of the one used in the main tent. She placed the crystal down and beside it she laid a long needle made of copper. “Peirce your finger and let the droplets of blood fall to the crystal.”

Kelsie hesitated for a few seconds before she reached out a shaking hand and picked up the needle. She stared at the shimmering copper as she ran her fingers over it.

The robed woman cleared her throat and Kelsie got the hint. She poked the pad of her index finger, wincing as she did so. Her droplets of blood splattered along the blue stone and then dribbled down to the black base. For a moment the robed woman stared intently at the crystal and then looked up. There was a deep disappoint in her gaze.

“No reaction. Leave through the door to my right,” she said and Kelsie once again hesitated, almost as if she were wishing the results were different. As the seconds ticked by, she finally placed the needle down on the table and walked out.

The robed woman called each of us by name to the table and one by one the herd of eight became two, me and a girl that stood a foot and a half shorter and was as slender as a sapling. The way she stood made it seem like her entire body was a spring just waiting for the right moment to pop.

The most striking thing about her was her hair which faded from blonde to pink, a trait, along with amber eyes, of those born to Saturate miners. They were considered dirty, dangerous, and one to steer clear of because of the taint of the abyss that lived in their blood. That she would be tested was unusual. Magic in those with Saturate blood was slim to nothing, the elements of the abyss stamping it down.

She must’ve felt my gaze for she looked over as her name was called by the robed woman.

“Brandi, come forward.”

She canted her head at me, met my gaze with a deepening frown before breaking eye contact and stepping forward. She picked up the needle, pricked her finger and let the drop of blood splatter across the crystal. She didn’t wait to be dismissed, she mearly dropped the needle and headed for the door on the right. She made it two steps before the crystal flashed and from its core came a simple blue glow.

“Weak, but there. Time will make it stronger with that blood of yours and if you find the right mage,” the robed woman said and Brandi turned wide eyes to the crystal. “Go to my left, you will be met by an adminstrator who will set you on your path.”

“I was tested before—”

“Do no dawdle, girl. We have not the time.”

Brandi came to the table and bent to stare at the crystal, as if looking for some kind of hidden trick in the glass. When nothing presented itself she stood straight again, everything about tense and dangerous. She turned on her heel and stalked to the exit flap on the left where she disappeared into the darkness.

“Let’s see if we can make it two for our time,” the robed woman said as she turned back to me. Her hood had moved back and I could now see her eyes clearly, they were silver and sparkling in the shadows beneath. I had never see such a sight and felt my breath hitch as those diamond-like eyes felt like they were boring through me. “We’ve had only two males test postive from the other tiers today which is tied for most we’ve had in a late test. Do you think you’ll be another?” She smiled, the expression unnerving as she watched me unblinking.

“Such a thing would send the other cities into a tizzy and for it to be a male from our slums?” She leaned back in her chair, her eyes locked on me. “I already can tell you will pass, but I have to wonder why.”

I was taken aback by the whole converstation and it took a moment for my brain to work through it all. “What do you mean?”

“These eyes aren’t for show, dear boy. They are appraisal eyes and they allow me to pick out those that have a spark in them. Sometimes that is all there is, a spark in the darknes of their souls that will never grow. We must test sparks to discover if they could catch and burn.” She picked up the needle and took a rag to it, wiping away Brandi’s drying blood. “But once in a while we find a flame already dancing and I see that flame in you. It is strange, through. One would think with a flame such as yours to be burning we would have taken notice long before hand.”

“I think you’re mistaken.”

She turned and dunked the rag in a bucket of water and then rinsed off the crystal, the blood trailing down and soaking into the red table cloth.”Perhaps something is changing. That’s my concern here, that something in the fabric of magic is changing.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

She smiled again. “Because you will run from this. You’ll run from what you are and what gifts you have been given and not a person could blame you. That flame of yours will attract insects of the most devious kind. Your road will not be an easy one and you will have to be wary of all who speak to you. My hope is by you understanding that you’re unusal it’ll be easier to come to terms with it. There is no way out of this for a male like you.”

“You said you can see sparks, right?” I asked as I took a few steps toward the table. I was never one to run from anything, but everything in my body then was telling me to get the hell out. I had never heard of magic in my family and now this woman spoke as if I was some high powered mage. I shook my head to try to clear it from all the worry and doubt that was building up. “So you saw sparks in all those tested today?”

“I did,” she said, the smile growing. She knew where I was going and expected it. The sudden rush of anger surprised me and I had to stamp it back down to keep a clear head.

“So, what’s to say you aren’t wrong about me?”

“I could be, I am not infallible as has been shown here a few times. Take up the needle and let’s see what the crystal finds.” She motioned toward the copper needle and the smile reached her eyes as my hand closed around it.

I kept my eyes on her as I lifted the needle and pricked my finger. The pain was sharp and a bead of blood appeared. I held my finger out to the crystal and time seemed to slow as the droplet fell and splashed across the many shades of blue. I had to remind myself to breath as we both waited for some kind of raction. None came. I worked to keep the smug smile off my face, but failed.

The robed woman pressed her lips together in a small smile. “Seems I was wrong, doesn’t it?”

I placed the needle down. “Sorry to disappoint you.”

She waved me off. “You haven’t. Go ahead and leave the way you think best.”

Her words caught me off guard and her tone wasn’t that of disappoaint. In fact, there was a hint of amusment behind it. I wanted to ask what joke I missed, but thought better of it. I got to keep things as they were and head for the flap that I expected to since I walked into the tent. As I crossed I couldn’t deny that a part of me had believed her, had hoped that I had some unknown power to unlock.

My hand just touched the flap when a blast of heat knocked me foward a few steps. I turned with a start to see the robed woman on her feet, the hood knocked back to show silver white hair, the strands looked the exact same as her eyes. She watched me with a wide grin and I tore my gaze from her and to the blue flame that danced a few inches above the crystal.

“Reactions can take time, especially powerful one,” she said and held a hand toward the right flap of the tent. “An administrator will meet you outside and finalize the transfer.”

“There’s some kind of mistake—”

“You’re running already? I expected that to happened later. As I said, Aidan, there is no out for a male such as you. Leave the way I told you.” She motioned again to the exit and with a heavy sigh, I left through it.

A group of women my age were on the other side, mingling in long lines. Brandi stood toward the back and took notice of me as soon as I entered. She drove her hands into the pockets of her pants and frowned. “Thought you’d get through.”

“I didn’t,” I said and looked around at the crowd as I came to stand beside her. “She said we were meeting someone?”

“Aye, but as you can see, there’s a line.” She took a step from me. “Best you keep your distance else you’ll find yourself on the wrong side of many once they find out that I’m Saturate born. Shouldn’t take them long.” She combed her fingers through the tangles of her hair and blew out a breath. “I’d make a run for it if I thought I had a chance of escaping.”

I shrugged. “Same. I don’t care what you are, at least you’re in the same crap as me.”

“No, we are oceans away from each other.”

“Maybe, but for now you’re the only one talking to me. I’m Aidan.” I held out my hand.

“I know who you are,” she said and ignored my offered hand. I dropped it. “Know about your friends too.” She practically spat the words and I decided to let things lie as the lines before us were starting to move.

The three woman at the stations processed us quickly. We were handed papers and unshered into trams that were filled with either very unhappy people, or the opposite. I took a seat toward the back and Brandi, much to her displeasure, sat in the empty seat next to me.

Within minutes we were headed out of the slums and climbing our way toward the second highest tier of the city. Even from where I sat I could see the spires of the Orange Academy. My stomach flipped and danced and I did my best to prepare myself for what was to come.