The air stilled upon Arthur’s proclamation. A pressure that had nothing to do with celestial bodies spread through the room. No one moved, not even to breathe. Felix shook it off first and placed his other hand on Arthur’s quivering shoulders. Then he knelt and made eye contact.

“Where were you when she was taken?” He asked.

“We were in the beds. She was practicing her signature spell and that’s where the best soil is.” At this point a floodgate had just been opened and all the details came streaming out of the, not quite, hysterical boy.

“Two men in robes appeared on the edge of the field, near the old eastern gate. They were dragging a bound figure with chains and were on the lookout. They saw us.”

He smacked himself in the temple repeatedly. “Stupid. Stupid. I should never have taken her that far out in the open.” Felix moved his hand to rest on the moving wrist and whispered into Arthur’s ear. His arm stopped mid smack and he continued.

“They ordered us to stop moving and to wait for them like good kids. Like that was going to happen. They were obviously going to do something bad if they caught us, so I grabbed Aster and we ran for it. Then, they both must have let go of the chain because next thing I knew, there was a ghoul in front of us and the robes men were blocking our retreat. I rushed the ghoul and screamed at Aster to run but she didn’t. We fought. I managed to hurt one of it’s legs before it smacked me into a wall and grabbed Aster… it ran.” Arthurs mouth sealed shut and tears flowed down his face.

Lillian glided over and swept Arthur off of his feet. “How did you get away, my little prowler?”

“I used Rise And Defend to distract the Robed men and came straight here. I used the bootleg tunnel.”

Felix reached for a spot on the wall and pressed down. Clink! Clank! Clonk! The sounds of gears moving drifted in through the other side of the wall. Felix grimaced at the noise. “Someone remind me to get that oiled.” Then he pressed down on another spot off to the side. Stone slid as a man-sized section slid back and out to reveal a tunnel. Stairs led down into darkness.

Felix reached in and grabbed a torch that he handed to Jack. “Would you mind lighting this? This tunnel is… more than just dark. I don’t use this tunnel unless it is an emergency.

Ugh, say what? His mind scrambled for a way to do as requested. Do I just use Spark and let the torch do the rest or do I use Mana Forging? He reached out and cast Spark. The torch lit, the flame a bright cheery red. Warmth permeated the room and eased some of the tension. “I am not sure how long my magic will affect the torch. We should move quickly before it fades.”

Felix smiled mischievously. “You did not believe that I kept ordinary torches in my personal secret tunnel did you? This torch will keep the spell used to light it fresh for some time. Now let us depart. Stay close behind me, all of you.” He strode down the stairs, torch blazing a path through the darkness.

So far, Jack had been in the underground a few times and each experience had been a little different. From boring hallways to decrepit basements, all the usable underground space seemed to be designed to be as boring and unobtrusive as possible so as to avoid notice. Not here, runes were carved into the walls, ceiling, and floor to the point where there wasn’t a single blank spot of worked stone. Shadows twisted like serpents in unpredictable directions as the Fire from the torch flickered. What is going on down here?

They descended at least a hundred stairs, far below any other underground passage, before leveling out. Corridors split off in multiple directions, shadows seemed to move in the depths of those passages. Felix grabbed several more torches from a bin and handed these to Jack with instructions to light one for each person. A minute passed as Jack systematically lit up the torches. On the last one, he tried to work in Glow, a Fire sigil that he found in his primer. The torch lit up the whole area by itself and bathed everything in a soft glow.

Felix took the Glow torch and they went down the central tunnel. This time, the shadows only slithered at the edges of the party's vision, which allowed them to traverse the distance quickly. It was not long before a metal ladder seemed to materialize in front of them. Felix put his torch in a socket on the wall and monkeyed up the ladder. One by one the party handed their torches back to Jack and climbed up. Well, except for Virtus. He just kinda stood there, looming.

Jack spread his perception over the torches and sucked the spells back into his Soulscape before scampering after them. The Glow torch was left on. Some nights, you just need to leave the light on.

The ladder opened up a corner of the warehouse. Nobody was surprised that this was their destination. Jack would have been incredibly surprised if it had led anywhere else. Felix was busy unfastening a large padlock that kept the doors chained on the inside. How did they do that? Shouldn’t the padlock be on the outside?

The large lock fell with a thud and the doors swung wide. “Everyone, follow silently. Tonight, besides the ghoul, there are four Magi of at least third tier in halfpipe Junction. None of you are ready for that level of conflict, not yet.”

They bunched up behind Felix as he led them towards the east. The decrepit buildings cast looming shadows so dark that they had to be wary of every corner and every alley. The one benefit they had was that the half baked party, with the exception of Jack, we're intimately familiar. This was their home turf. Felix would stomp every minute or so, sending out a wave of mana through the ground. He claimed it helped him track everyone in a certain radius as long as they touched the earth.

City squares passed one after another as they trekked through the long abandoned streets. Cries and hoots surrounded and then hounded them. “What kind of animals make those sounds?” Jack asked. A shiver ran down his spine with every howl. No animal he had ever heard made noise like that.

“Those are not animals.” Explained Arthur. He sounded as if he had swallowed a fistful of rocks, his voice was that strained. “Those are the lost ones. They went too long without being taught and have forgotten what it means to be human.”

“FERAL CHILDREN!” Jack shouted before several hands covered his mouth. He raised his hand in concession and the hands retreated. He continued in a whisper. “How many feral children are we talking about?” The horror was starting to sink in.

“Feral children?” Lillian asked rhetorically, tasting the word on her lips. “I suppose the term fits better than the lost ones. Though it sounds undignified to call those poor children such a vulgar name.”

“How many?” Jack asked emphatically.

“Hundreds. There are too many little one's dumped here to educate. The Emperor likes it that way. If they were educated and allowed to leave the ward, then they would be a threat.” Lillian replied, fire in her eyes.

Hundreds? Jack had learned about feral children while he was still in high school Health class. There were less than a thousand proven cases of feral child syndrome back in the states and in each one, the offending parent/guardian was locked away with no parole. Their shame was so public that their faces were plastered in national newspapers. It terrified Jack that such barbarism was not just accepted but legally sanctioned. A dark pit formed in the pit of his stomach as he kept moving.

A few blocks later, Felix lifted his arm and gestured for a halt. He pointed to a rooftop off to the left that was still intact. “There are three powerful Magi behind that overhang. I am going to engage them while the rest of you face the ghoul. It is just down that alley and it still has Aster.” He pointed into an alley that passed under the roof that held the three unknown Magi. “On the count of three, sprint. One. Two. THREE!”

A ramp to the aforementioned rooftop sprang out of the ground and Felix charged up it like a belligerent boulder. Jack quickly lost sight of him as he was also charging. They got to the other end of the alley before the ground shook from the titanic struggle happening overhead. The sound was deafening.

Finally, after another turn, they reached their destination. A large, skeletal humanoid with skin the shade of papyrus and deep sunken eyes, was holding up the limp form of Aster. It turned to them and grinned, blood dripping from it’s needle like fangs.

The monster hissed at the humans that dared interrupt its snack. It flicked the wrist holding Aster and sent her flying limply into a wall. She impacted with a groan before she tumbled to the ground in a heap. The next minute became a blur to Jack as several things seemed to happen at once.

The ghoul crouched for a second before launching itself at the party in a mighty pounce, claws poised to rip into flesh. The sound of steel on leather came from behind Jack as Virtus drew his sword and stepped between his body and the monster in a crimson blur. Sticks and stones gravitated around Arthur before they merged together into makeshift marionette's and finally, Lillian’s fists began to glow the color of starlight. She charged the ghoul and swung.

Her first impacted the inside of its forearm and sent it into a wobbly spin. This had the beneficial effect of stopping the ghoul's forward momentum but as the creature spun, Lillian was raked several times. She winced as shallow cuts opened up along her arms and left shoulder. This only served to enrage her for as the ghoul finally crashed, she was already winding up for a powerful kick. BAM!

The ghoul sailed up three, five, and finally stopped ten feet in the air. That was when everything began to go wrong. The sound of screeching filled the alley as it managed to sink its claws into the wall. Then it got a foothold and was racing up the wall like a rabid man-eating mountain goat. Yay.

Only seconds later the ghoul was out of sight. Lillian glanced around with a look of annoyance before her eyes settled on Jack. Her eyes narrowed even more in disapproval.

“What are you doing? This is combat, draw a weapon and get ready to fight. If we don’t kill it before it evolves to a Jann, then we will never get another chance.”

It finally dawned on Jack that he should probably be doing something. When the ghoul attacked, he had frozen in place and treated his environment like Omni Max. Shame filled him again as realized just how useless he was. His gladiator came out of his bag and he gripped it if not competently then at least firmly. Then he spread his awareness over the immediate area, which was about four or five meters, yes they use meters here, in all directions.

The first thing that Jack sensed was a strange aura that permeated the section of the alley where the ghoul had been. It felt like the moment after a candle was blown out. The sudden absence of warmth and illumination. The sensation played upon Jack’s darkest fear, that of being alone in the dark.

Beyond the aura, he also felt all six of the people around him. Wait, why do I sense six people? He cast about for life. Arthur, Lillian and Virtus were all in the alley with him. He closed his eyes to remove the distraction and really focused on his magical senses. Six glowing cores highlighted themselves for his perusal.

Time seemed to slow as he examined each, one by one. Virtus was a silvery core with a nasty oil sheen over it, Lillian was like a full moon, Arthur glowed like gold under daylight, and finally he found a small green core that glistened like a small ruby, Aster. She was alive! That wasn’t all, the other two cores were only partially there to his perception. They must be concealing themselves.

Crash! Jack’s eyes flickered open to reveal a large hole had been made in the alley wall and two robes figures stepped out of the rubble to stand in front of the two older warriors in their party.

“Cease and desist. This is a matter for the nobility. Commoners like yourselves have no right to interfere.” One of the robes men demanded. By his voice, Jack placed him in his mid twenties. “Bow before your betters or we will have you executed for defying a sanctioned Jann harvest.”

Virtus’ face contorted in pure, unadulterated rage. His whole demeanor changed, making one feel that he had just put on a foot of height. He pointed his sword at the speaker’s face and responded. “I am Virtus Ferrum, Viscount of Ferrumhold, Imperial Honor Guard to princess Laura and bodyguard to the Adjudicator. Withdraw, or I will spill your blood this night.”

Lillian stepped up next to him and waved her faintly glowing fists. “Yeah, what he said.”

Jack couldn’t afford to pay any more attention to the conflict because Arthur was waving at him frantically and pointing to Aster. He leaped over to the boy as the verbal debate continued behind him.

“Please, help me lift these stones off of her. If they start fighting for real, then this whole area is going to be flattened.” Arthur begged hysterically as he attempted to lift a slab of stone off of the prone girl. Jack bent down and also attempted to lift. The rock budged a few inches before Arthur’s strength gave out and he let go. Without him, Jack lost all of his forward momentum and had to put everything into holding the slab in place. He braced himself in case his arms gave out from the strain before noticing that wasn’t going to happen. He wasn’t feeling any real strain even though he was already pushing as hard as he could. Sadness mixed with elation as he realized muscle strain was never going to be a concern, not with this body.

An idea struck like a thunderclap. If he was like a machine, then his muscles must be like motors and motors perform based on how much power you supply them. With a roar,he willed his mana to flood his body. The ground shook from the combination of his voice and the impact of the slab as Jack propelled it off of Aster.

“Take the girl and run!” Virtus shouted at them. He was engaged in a duel with one of the robes men. His sword glowed as he deflected shadowy claws that came from the mana sleeve.

Don’t need to tell me twice. He stooped down and lifted the girl in a fireman’s hold and booked it towards the eastern gate. If he got out of the orphan ward and onto open ground then the ghoul won’t be able to ambush them. Plus, he heard explosions coming from the other direction.

As he rushed towards the gate he had to pass through a massive square, a hundred meters in diameter. Arthur kept pace close behind him and chanted something under his breath. Debris and bric-a-brac rose up and moved out of their path like a crowd of fans making way for a rockstar. Or a king, Jack thought as he noticed the golden glow in Arthur’s eyes.

They broke into a sprint, crossing the distance as fast as they dared while taking into consideration that Jack was shouldering an injured passenger. A dark shape sailed through the air and crashed in front of them when they had covered most of the distance. Dust stirred in a thick cloud and obscured all vision in the area. That didn’t matter to Jack. His perception wrapped around him like a mantle and reported on his surroundings in real time so he knew what was before him. The ghoul.

As the cloud began to disperse, a pale claw reached out and swiped at Jack’s torso. He took the hit on the arm. Iridescent blood splattered all over the ground, illuminating the whole courtyard. The monster stiffened, giving them leave to back off. Jack pulled in his bloody appendage and studied its odd behavior. Jack had seen videos of lions stalking prey in the wild, so he started to slowly step to the side.

The ghoul brought its claw in to sniff at it. The creatures pupils dilated, the black mass shrunk and turned sapphire red at the edges. This was the trigger that snapped into place In his mind like the last piece of the puzzle. His master had said that when a djinn descends it… became less. Also, the robes man called this debacle a Jann extraction. Is this a Djinn whose Fire has died out? Why is it attacking us then?

The ghoul, intrigued by the scent of the blood, decided to lick it. As it did so, it shimmered crimson for a second before convulsing in what could only be described as pleasure. When all the blood had been cleaned off, it bent down and started to lap the ground for more. Each lick made the convulsions worse and the crimson tint to it’s skin reappeared.

Now is the time. Gift it with your mana to complete the evolution!

Master? What is going on? Jack asked. He had finally wound around the ghoul and was about to make a break for it.

I apologize for being distant. It was more difficult than I believed to sniff out who ordered this attack. That ghoul is about to finish its evolution and it needs a pure source of Fire to anchor the change. Just manifest your foundation and focus on channeling the power into it.

No! This monster tried to eat a little girl. Why should I help it?

Because it is not in a right state of mind. It has been reduced to nothing more than a rabid animal at this point. The people that sent it here starved and beat the poor thing until even a little girl looked delicious. Now, do what I said!

By this point Jack had built up a head of steam and felt entitled to his hate. Every jostle of the small form on his shoulder stoked that rage and letting go was easier said than done. Deep breath. In. Out. Jack raised his hand towards the ghoul. Doing this felt like a betrayal but his master had ordered him to do it and he had sworn to obey. Hearth materialized on his palm. This drew the attention of the ghoul, it lifted it’s spasmodic head and stared into the sigil.

With another howl, Jack pushed the sigil before he could think too hard about it. The power in the sigil sunk into the frozen beast and went into the center. A crimson glow emanated from it’s core. Then flames burst from everywhere on its body like a nova and the world became Fire.