The Girl Born of Smoke Page 4

  Djerr and Aurora burst into laughter, along with the man at the bar, who had been listening. “See, she’s a natural storyteller,” Djerr said to Aurora.

  “Ha, you should hear some of the stories about my trip,” Roxanne said, sounding pleased. “There are some crazy funny people out there, Djerr. Hey, why don't you two sit down. I'll get you something to drink, alright?”

  “Er, just water for me, thanks,” Djerr said, looking awkward.

  “Oh, that’s right,” Roxanne scrunched up her face, looking embarrassed. “It’s been awhile, I’ve started forgetting everyone’s drinks.” She walked back behind the bar, pulling out two large glasses from underneath the counter. Djerr and Aurora sat down at the bar, a couple seats away from the old man, who grinned over at them.

  “Say, are you two together or is that pretty little thing up for grabs?” he winked at Aurora and scooted his bar stool closer. His balding brown hair was streaked with gray, but his face was surprisingly free of wrinkles, except around his eyes.

  “Hands off, Oliver,” Roxanne said sharply. “That one's off limits.”

  Oliver chuckled. “Sorry Roxanne,” he called over to her. “Didn't mean to make you jealous.” He lowered his voice. “You two kids sure know where to come for a good time. I couldn't believe my eyes when I walked in here this afternoon and saw Roxanne standing there. Since she left, they've gone through at least one new girl a month. Can't seem to keep anyone here, so they never know what they're doing and screw up all the drinks. Got so bad I thought I might have to find somewhere else to spend my time and money.” He winked at Roxanne. “Thank goodness this girl decided to wander on back to Kain and grace us with her presence again.”

  Roxanne plopped down a glass of water in front of Djerr and one brimming with foam in front of Aurora. “Here you go, kids,” she said. “Enjoy! This is a little present from me, so don't worry about paying this one time.”

  Taking a gulp of the bubbly drink, Aurora made a face and swallowed. “Tastes weird,” she said, but took several more gulps. It tasted bland at first, the bubbles tickling her tongue and throat, but left a slightly sweet aftertaste behind. She heard the thick footsteps of someone else entering the bar and looked up. When she saw who it was, she swallowed hard and pushed her half-empty glass away.

  “Hey Kirian!” Roxanne called lightly. “Want a drink?”

  He locked eyes with Aurora and strode over to her, looking angry. “What do you think you're doing?” he growled at Roxanne, grabbing Aurora's arm and pulling her roughly down from the barstool.

  “Oh, don't worry.” Roxanne looked amused. “I didn't make it very strong, it was just a taste.”

  “That's not the point!” Kirian threw his hands in the air. “This isn't the kind of place a kid should be. What the hell were you thinking?”

  Aurora was vaguely aware of everyone in the bar staring in her direction, including Djerr, who looked nervous. Flushing red, she looked down at the ground and closed her eyes, wishing they could just leave. She tugged at a strand of her short hair and listened as Kirian and Roxanne bickered. Finally, Kirian whirled around and tugged Aurora out of the bar.

  She walked quickly to keep up with him. They didn't talk on their way home and Aurora shuffled off to her room as soon as they got there. Closing her bedroom door behind her, she looked hopelessly around at the small, mostly empty room and finally sat down on her bed, kicking her feet and trying not to think.

  “Psst!”

  Startled, she jumped and turned to face the window where the sound had come from. Djerr peered in at her and smiled half-heartedly. Climbing up onto the rickety desk, she kneeled and looked down at him. “What're you doing here?” she asked, mystified.

  “You forgot all your stuff at my house!” he explained, handing her bag up to her, through the window.

  “Oh wow, I totally forgot about that,” she said gratefully, tossing it onto her bed.

  Suddenly looking more serious, he continued, “Look, I'm really sorry about what happened. I shouldn't have brought you there. I didn't realize Kirian would get so mad.”

  Aurora shook her head. “Don't worry about it. I was the one who asked to go there.”

  There was an awkward silence and Djerr idly brushed his curly hair back, out of his face. “Well, I don't want to get you in any more trouble,” he said, finally, “so I'd better get going.”

  “Alright.” She smiled sadly at him. “I had fun today. Thanks for the tour and everything.”

  “Hey, no problem,” he said brightly. “We should hang out again sometime.”

  She nodded and climbed down from the desk as he dashed off with a wave. Late that night, she was woken up by the sound of the front door opening and closing and the low sound of arguing. Pulling her blanket up over her head, she managed to block out the sound and drifted back off to sleep.

  Chapter 3

  Aurora didn’t immediately run into Djerr again. As she spent her days wandering around the city, she considered walking past his house, but rejected the idea almost immediately. There was something undeniably creepy about the place that she wanted to avoid. She avoided the bar where Roxanne worked as well.

  Wandering through the streets, she worried first about getting lost, but quickly worked out the layout of the city: two main roads, perpendicular to each other with innumerable side-streets. As long as you kept walking in one direction you were bound to run into either one of the main streets or the edge of the city.

  She was sitting on the cliffs above the beach one day, watching the kites below flutter in the breeze when someone sat down next to her, feet dangling off the edge of the rocks. “Heya,” Djerr said.

  “Hi Djerr!” she said brightly, turning toward him.

  “So I realized something,” he said, as if they were already deep in conversation. “I kind of showed you around town a bit, but there’s a lot to see outside of town too. Have you been to the meadow yet? We hang out in the forest a lot too, but let’s take this one step at a time.”

  “I didn’t even know there was a meadow,” she admitted.

  “Perfect!” he jumped up and smiled down at her, his face framed by the sun. “Come on, there’s something I want to show you out there. It’s kind of a secret, so don’t go showing everyone, okay?”

  “Sure. I won’t start leading any tours out there or anything.” She rose to her feet and followed him down from the cliffs. They meandered through the busy streets, slowly heading out of town while the sun slid across the sky overhead. As they exited Kain, the road expanded into a large dusty path which gradually faded into the grass on either side. There were only a couple other people on the path and she realized it was an exit different than the one she had entered with Roxanne and Kirian. Ahead of them, Aurora could see the ground dip down slightly into a huge expanse of long grass that stretched on for a long way until the ground was swept up into the hills and mountains far in the distance.

  Djerr led her along the path for a short distance then cut through the tall grass. Laughing, she broke out into a run, arms extended and the grass swishing around her shoulders. Spinning around, she lost her balance and fell in a heap in the soft grass, the clouds swirling above. She heard footsteps and Djerr’s face appeared above her.

  “Enjoying yourself?” he asked, rolling his eyes and hiding a smile.

  “I’ve never seen grass this tall before!” she exclaimed, jumping back up. “It’s like an entire lake of grass.”

  “Uh-huh. Well, that’s not what I wanted to show you. It’s what’s hidden inside this lake of grass.”

  The two continued forward, further away from the city until it was hidden behind a hill. “There,” Djerr said, pointing. “Down at the bottom.”

  In the distance, at the bottom of the slope, Aurora spotted a small tree standing off by itself, covered with lavender-colored blossoms. Below, partially hidden in its shadow were sections of an old, stone structure sticking up out of the grass in several places. “What’s that?”

&nbs
p; “That's what we came here for. Come on!” He grinned and took off running. She ran through the meadow after him, the long grass sliding across her bare arms. As the sun slipped behind a cloud, shadows raced across the ground. Crickets chirped in the thick grass around her and a light breeze swept across the meadow, causing the grass to sway and dance.

  As she grew closer, she saw the structure was an elegantly constructed complex of buildings full of archways and smooth stone paths. Aurora drew to a halt, panting. Walking up past where Djerr stood, she saw a short stone wall surrounded the building, covered in thin green vines. Small white flowers blossomed on the twisting vines. In the dim light, she saw a small group of children run between the walls of two old, stone buildings. Giggling, they rounded the corner and vanished from sight.

  As the sun peeked back out from behind the clouds and sunlight spilled over the area, Aurora watched as the flowers wilted and died, the green vines crumbled and fell from the wall, and stones soundlessly fell from the buildings, creating a dusty, lifeless ruin.

  Djerr spoke from behind Aurora, “This used to be the Academy of Magic.”

  “The what?

  “Remember when I mentioned that war that’s going on?”

  Aurora nodded and continued to stare at the old building, unable to take her eyes away.

  “Well, do you want to know more about that?” He waited for her to nod again. “See, back in the days of magic, there were wizards and non-wizards. A long time ago, there was peace between them. Wizards helped heal the people, stop droughts, and all sorts of stuff. They wandered all over the place, going from town to town, seeing what they could do to help. However, some wizards weren't happy with that way of life.

  “Around 75 years ago, one wizard set up a school for young wizards to practice their skills and share ideas. That's this place, here. It turns out, a lot of wizards liked the idea. They wanted a place to call home and the people were becoming too reliant on them, demanding and expecting. The wizards that continued to wander the land were met with outrage, instead of respect. It used to be a great honor and celebration when parents discovered their child was blessed with magic. When a passing wizard came by, they would take the child on as their apprentice. Instead, the young wizards were often disowned by their family. The Academy of Magic was soon full of children, outcasts of the world.

  “With this huge rift between wizards and non-wizards, it was no big surprise when a war started. The people mobbed the academy, demanding the wizards stop the terrible drought ravaging the land at the time. People were starving and dying in unbelievable numbers. True, the wizards could have easily stopped the deaths, but these were the people who cast them out of society. When they refused, the war broke out.

  “The people attacked and killed several wizards, including the founder of the academy, before they were stopped. Vowing revenge, the wizards fought back. Entire cities were massacred. Gangs of wizards roamed the land, bringing death and destruction. The people were forced into suppression during what became known as the Wizard’s Reign. The wizards were cruel and many more people died, even after the drought ended.

  “But, their choice to split themselves up turned out to be a fatal mistake. Overconfident in their power, they didn’t realize that without each other, their powers were weak. Practically invincible together, the wizards were horribly vulnerable when separated. When the citizens eventually rebelled against the wizards, the wizards were slaughtered, one by one.

  “The wizards tried to rejoin each other, but it was too late. Too few remained to fight back against the hordes of angry people. Facing certain death, the small group of wizards made one last stand. Regrouping at their old academy of magic, here, they cast one final spell before they were killed and the academy destroyed. They buried the magic energy deep into the land. They made sure that no wizards would be born into the world for many years and the citizens would have to learn to fend for themselves. However, magic cannot just be contained in the world. Eventually, there would be an outburst of magic in the form of one very powerful wizard, maybe even more powerful than the entire combined group of wizards at the peak of their reign. This wizard would lead a new age of magic.

  “Perhaps hoping to end the cycle of death, this last group of wizards only ended up fueling the fighting. The war took a new turn. A large group of the citizens realized what a powerful ally the new wizard would make. They never wanted to be treated as they had again. With no idea of how long it would take before the wizard was born, they banded together and became the Wizard’s Army. Another group joined together to defend against this potential threat. They became the Citizens’ Army. The two armies quickly grew in size and have been fighting ever since.”

  Aurora looked at the ruins, captivated. “Can you feel it?” She shivered and took a step closer to the deteriorating stone wall.

  “Feel what?” Djerr blinked.

  “The power.” She took another slow step toward the wall.

  Djerr shook his head, leaning back against the tree. “All the magic’s been buried for a long time. I don’t think there’s any magic left here. There aren’t many people who really remember where the academy is anymore. I think the people feel guilty about everything that happened, so they let this whole place grow over. I was wandering through here one day and came across it, but no one I asked knew what it could be. I finally asked this really old guy back in town and he remembered hearing about the academy being destroyed out here.” He watched as Aurora laid a hand on the wall, but quickly jerked it back as if it were hot.

  “Wouldn't it be wonderful to have magic, Djerr? I think it would be more beautiful than anything we've ever seen.”

  “Maybe we should get going,” he said, sounding slightly unsure. Overhead, a dark mass of clouds slowly swept across the sky toward the two and the world was enveloped in shadows. A few petals fell from the tree, getting caught in their hair. “Aurora.” He stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder.

  She shook her head and pushed her hair back out of her face. “Yeah, let’s go.” They walked close together, heading back to the brightly-lit, sprawling city of Kain. Thin plumes of gray smoke trailed out from the chimneys and stood out against the dark clouds. “Well, I guess I should probably get home,” Aurora said reluctantly, as they re-entered the town.

  “Oh, alright.” Djerr was quiet. “Do you want me to walk you home?”

  “No, that’s alright,” she answered. “You should probably get home too. It’s getting kind of dark.”

  Djerr shrugged. “Nah, I’ll probably wander around awhile longer. I’m in no big hurry to get home.”

  “Oh, I see,” she said, slightly taken aback. “Come find me again if you think of anywhere else to show me, ‘kay?”

  He grinned. “Sure thing, Aura.” Waving, he continued down the road, deeper into town, away from both their houses. She stood watching him for a moment, then turned toward home.

  During those warm days of late summer, she and Djerr fell into a fast routine. Most mornings, he would drop by and they would spend the day wandering around town or sitting on the cliff overlooking the docks, watching ships sail in and out. Occasionally some of the other kids Djerr knew would join them, but for the most part they were alone. They quickly learned the boundaries of conversation, where the other would grow uncomfortable. Djerr never asked about Aurora’s past and Aurora never asked about Djerr’s family or the bruises she occasionally noticed on his body.

  She was sitting in a spot of sunshine late one afternoon on the steps in front of her house eating an apple when she heard her name being called.

  “Aurora! Hey, Aura!” She looked down the road to see Djerr and five other kids her age heading in her direction. She recognized a couple of them as the ones she had met in the market. “Wanna battle?”

  Aurora stood up and cocked her head. “What?”

  “Battle!” Djerr grinned. “Come on, it'll be fun.” He grabbed her hand and began to tug her away as she stumbled to keep up with him.
The six of them leapt over fences, cut through yards, and headed toward the forest bordering one edge of town. Ducking under low-hanging branches, they finally came to a stop in a small clearing. One of the boys with short spiky red hair picked up a slender stick off the ground.

  “Here, take this.” The boy winked and handed it to Aurora. She took it hesitantly and smiled. “Your name is Aurora, right?” He smiled back.

  She nodded. “Yeah, you're the one from the market awhile back, right?” Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Djerr staring in their direction. The rest of the group was busy chattering noisily as they found sticks of their own.

  “That's right. I'm Kalib.” He idly scratched a freckled ear. “Ever played battle before?” Aurora shook her head. “Don't worry, I'll show you how it's done,” he continued, reaching up to snap a branch off a tree for himself. Putting his other arm around Aurora's shoulders, he announced loudly, “Aurora and I are Citizens. Anna, you're with us. A tall girl with long brown hair walked over to them. “All you Wizards,” he grinned, “scatter.”

  Djerr and the remaining two took off into the forest, sticks in hand. Their yells and laughter quickly faded away. Anna quickly took off after them, her long legs leaping over logs. Aurora started to follow, but Kalib pulled her back. “Hey girl, there's no hurry.”