Claire

The marketplace in Kiso was best at lunchtime; there were so many people milling around with so many stories to tell. I rarely talked to any of them, though, I can’t risk them remembering me if an official came looking for me. When the marketplace was busy was the best time for me to get food, though. Nobody expects a small, innocent looking blonde girl to be stealing their bread. Thief, my conscience nagged. Ok, so I’ve become a bit of a thief since I left Rune, but it isn’t like I have much of a choice! If I stay anywhere for too long I start to get paranoid that people are after me, so it’s not like I could get a job or anything. That’s why I’ve come to Kiso, the city built around Usarium’s crash site. This is where the Uniflux bearer gets chosen—or should I say infected. I’m hoping I can find the current bearer, Jayden Cortez, and he can help me.

But first, I needed to eat. I hadn't eaten anything yet today, and only had a bit of bread and an apple yesterday. I missed my mom’s cooking, that’s for sure. I weaved through the crowds of people, following my nose to a grilling stand. My mouth watered as I eyed the perfectly cooked meats; I had been living off bread crumbs and stolen fruit since I fled Rune with the Elementorium. There weren’t quite as many customers at this stand, since most people were too poor to afford meat. You’re going to get caught, my mind warned me. I pushed the thought away and weaseled into the group of people surrounding the stand.

The man running the stand saw me, and greeted me with a smile before going back to his work. I inhaled the delicious smell of the meat, my stomach growling. He had a small grill just behind the stand that he was working on, so he was half turned away from me. Laid out on the stand were several kabobs full of skewered meat. The people around me were eagerly watching the man cook, and weren’t paying much attention to anything else. I moved to the edge of the group where I had a clear shot at the kabob furthest from the cook. My heart pounded in my chest and I took a deep breath. You can do this, I told myself. I reached out and grabbed the kabob, quickly pulling it close to my chest. Just then, the cook turned from his grill with a fresh plate of kabobs.

“Hey!” he said, catching sight of me out of the corner of his eye.

Crap. I ran through the crowd, who had now turned their attention to me. Keeping my head down and the kabob close to my chest, I darted through the mass of people in the marketplace.

“Someone catch her!” I heard the cook call into the crowd. Luckily, most of the people around me hadn’t seen the commotion at the meat stand and were oblivious to what was going on. As I reached the edge of the marketplace, the crowd started to thin. I looked around, desperate for a hiding place. Behind me, a young boy who looked to be eleven or twelve ran out of the crowd and grabbed my arm.

“Follow me!” he said, pulling me forward. I followed him down the unfamiliar streets of Kiso, until we found our way to an alley that was blocked off by crates and trash cans. We climbed over the trash can and hid behind it as a couple guards ran past.

“They never find us here,” the boy said, his face beaming. “Go ahead, you can eat now, it’s safe,” he continued, seeing the shocked expression on my face.

“Who are you?” I asked, still clutching the kabob close to me.

“My name’s Kyle,” the boy responded. “Don’t let your food go to waste after you worked so hard to get it,” Kyle said, hungrily eyeing my kabob.

“Here,” I said, pulling a piece of meat off the kabob and handing it to him. His face lit up and he took the meat into his small hands, ravenously biting into it. I smiled at him, knowing he probably hadn’t tasted meat in weeks, if not longer. I bit into the kabob, my mouth filling with the savory flavors.

“I tried to steal from the meat stand once too, the cook always catches you at the last second,” he said as I ate. I finished off the kabob quickly, my hunger not letting me savor any of it. “I haven’t seen you around before, don’t tell me you came to Kiso just for the kabobs,” Kyle said, grinning.

“No, I came here looking for someone.”

“Oh. Who are you looking for? I grew up on these streets, I know them better than any of the other street kids.” I blinked at this. Street kids? Rune had a couple of homeless people, but never very many of them, and I had never seen a child among them.

“How many of you are there?” I asked incredulously.

“Dozens, but there’s only six in my little group. We stick together, find new places to sleep and gather food to share,” Kyle explained.

“Oh,” I said, still trying to wrap my mind around it all. There were dozens of homeless kids out here, living off of stolen bread?

“But I can tell you’re not from the streets, where are you from?”

“I grew up in Rune, with my Mom and brother.”

“Aw, I’ve heard everyone in Rune is rich and the streets are lined with gold. Is that true? I’ve always wanted to visit there,” Kyle said, his eyes lighting up as he spoke. I laughed.

“No, it’s nothing like that, Kyle. There’s far less homeless people there, though.”

“Hey, do you know anything about that thief? The one who stole the Elementorium?” I stared at him for a moment. He was just a kid, and he was the first person I had had a real conversation with since I left Rune. Slowly I pulled on the chain around my neck, bringing the Elementorium out from behind my shirt. Kyle’s eyes widened.

“You mean this?” I asked, grinning.

“Woah… miss, you’re like a legend here. All the street kids heard about what you did, we tell stories about you every night.”

“Tell stories? What do you mean?”

“Well you inspired us, miss. Everyone always said we would amount to nothing, that we would be street rats forever. But when we heard about you, taking what you wanted and making a new life for yourself, it gave all of us hope.”

“I haven’t really made a new life for myself, though. I’ve got to steal food just to stay alive, and I would probably be captured by the guards right now if it weren’t for you, Kyle,” I said, feeling awful. I didn’t deserve the praise he was giving me. I stole what wasn’t mine, from my own brother! I left my family behind, all for some power that I didn’t even know how to use.

“Well you’ve got to start somewhere, right?”

“I suppose,” I said with a smile.

“Come on, let’s go find that person you’re looking for,” Kyle said, standing up and brushing the dirt off of his tattered trousers. “Who did you say you wanted to find?”

“Jayden Cortez, the new Uniflux bearer.”

“Oh. I haven’t seen Jayden around in a while, but I know where his parents live. Come on, I’ll take you there!” Kyle took off through the streets, leading me through dozens of houses and businesses before we finally stopped in front of an average-looking house.

“This is the place; his parents live here. Good luck,” he said to me with a smile.

“You’re not going to come with me?”

“The Cortez’s don’t like us street kids hanging around their place,” Kyle replied. Hmm. Did I really want help from people who shut out homeless kids on the street?

“Don’t worry, Jayden was always really nice to us. He used to go to the park a few blocks down to read, and he would always bring snacks for us,” Kyle said, seeing the worried expression on my face.

“I’m not sure I should be doing this anymore,” I said aloud, looking warily at the house. What if they just kicked me out? What if they realized I had the Elementorium and reported it to the guards?

“Of course you should be! Jayden is gonna help you for sure, miss,” Kyle said cheerily, giving me a little push toward the house.

“Oh, fine. Thanks for all your help, Kyle. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you,” I said, giving him a smile.

“Hey, miss? Will you meet me at the park later? My friends would really like to meet you.” He pointed further down the road in the opposite direction of the marketplace. I nodded to him. Kyle grinned and dashed off, waving goodbye as he did. I took a deep breath and walked toward the Cortez’s front door.