Dirt and gravel scraped together underfoot, sending rocks clattering down the paving stones and into the gutters below.

Kealie didn't consider anything as her feet collided with the ground, pushing down harder and harder, throwing her faster and faster through the glowing street lights. She didn't notice the sounds of shattering glass as she rolled through it and didn't feel the blood still sliding down her skin in the wind.

She carved out a pocket in time where she experienced nothing but the fabric of life brushing against her face.

Eyes trained on the seaside district where a small house waited for her.

There were no stars in the sky tonight. The shapeless clouds merged together, blanketing the sky and sealing out the universe around the planet.

The colors of the world faded into grays and browns, blacks and blues, the only warmth coming from random firelight every so often, high on a post. The black beams towered in the night, looming in a way that disappeared and allowed the flame to float alone above all else.

For only a moment, Kealie wished on one of those flames for Nixian to survive. To be okay. Even if she knew little to nothing of him, she hoped to. She desired to learn more of the strange man that fished her out of the sea.

The thought was fleeting for a few reasons, the most of which being her inability to concentrate on anything but the small Caster's home.

Though she too had faith. Kealie believed that a Nerydian with access to his gifts and training very well might outsmart and put down those human guards.

Kealie prayed he did.

Her arms pumped at her sides, aching as they tugged at the strange leathers she'd stolen from the shop. Fabric she'd never once worn in her life.

It was tight and frustrating to move, like a stiff prison of leather wrapping constricting her.

Originally she'd heard people yelling frantically, both civilians and guards, but eventually they faded into silence. Far away blurs.

She was told to run.

So she ran.

Kealie found herself running the entire length of the city on nothing but pure adrenaline and good fortune. Alone.

Alleys grew on the left and right, large shadows towering in the midnight fog. Buildings phased in and out of sight, masquerading as figures from time to time. Strange, overwhelming silhouettes.

The adrenaline left swiftly like her breath, filling Kealie's legs with numbing ants and gelatin. With every step, they threatened to give out over and over again until her knees met pavement.

She coughed, spitting out bile and bracing her hands out before her.

Every inch of her stung.

Kealie's senses were flooded over with the rushing wind around her, drowning out the sounds of whispers. Now the sound was present and rising.

Her eyes shot from corner to corner, unable to locate where the voices were coming from and why.

She felt her heart beginning to thunder, her fingers grasping at the ground as she tried to push herself up again. Her arms were too weak. Her legs were too empty.

And the voices grew closer and closer until she fought a scream rising in her throat.

Kealie turned to stone when arms hooked underneath hers and yanked her into the shadows of an alley.

"Are you trying to get killed?" A voice hissed.

The frozen terror coursing through her melted slightly when she heard him.

She noted how even angry, his voice was soft. Quiet. As if even his essence was distilled calm.

All save for his stare.

Nixian's eyes bore holes into her, burning into her skin like hot coal. "Do you want to get caught? Killed?" he demanded again.

Kealie shook her head. "The shadows-" she stuttered, looking around wildly. "The shadows had voices and I-"

His gaze still glowed in the darkness, even as his eyes narrowed at the words. "What do you mean, voices?"

"I-I don't know..."

The sound of militia issued boots taking deep scrapes out of the dirt and pounding voices echoing through the town filled the air. Kealie realized they'd always been behind her. They had never slowed down.

Her mind is what fled.

He sniffed at the air and growled again.

"You're bleeding," Nixian snapped.

"Of course I'm bleeding," Kealie retorted. "Did you jump out of a window?"

He didn't want to laugh, fighting the smirk on his lips. "You're getting blood on my jacket."

"You'll survive," she said, almost playfully.

She watched the plotting develop in his brain, the way the gears turned and moved until something clicked together. Nixian watched the fog intently, focusing on the different pockets of smog wafting through like clouds.

Slowly, he released Kealie and turned his attention to her. "We can't go together, it's too noticeable. We've lost the element of surprise and the speed to outrun them," he whispered. Taking a mental account. "You'll have to follow the fog, sneak past them very slowly... I'll be right behind you."

He thought like the Captains in Luverie. Concise and methodical. Everything was cause and effect, each action planned for.

Kealie's body ached, the thought of moving another inch like climbing Mount Agoni to the east. She'd heard of the things Therian's were willing to do for the volcanic crystals lining the crater. Most ended in irreparable harm.

Her reservoir felt empty, the strength siphoned from her limbs.

Still, she felt the way Nixian was staring at her. The order hung heavy in the air between them.

"This started as an accident," she whispered, looking up to meet his gaze. "I ran away, nearly drowned, but this..."

The Nerydian looked at her with an expression Kealie only remembered receiving once. The night the Caster obeyed her mother and wiped away all existence of her heritage.

Sympathy.

"I'm very sorry, Kealie," he murmured. "But I think we're past the point of turning back."

She could feel it too.

She nodded, fighting the tears hiding in her eyes.

"No matter what happens, we're going to make sure you get the answers you deserve," Nixian said, stepping around her. He walked out to the edge of their alley and tossed a reassuring smile over his shoulder. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes," Kealie blurted out.

"Good," he said. "I'll meet you there."

Without another word he slipped out into the thick fog and Kealie lost sight of him. His figure was enveloped in gray tendrils of mist.

The winds picked up around her, as if in response to a mysterious power.

Kealie took a deep breath and focused.

She did as Nixian said, hugging the darkness and willing herself to disappear into the shadows. Kealie traced her fingers over the edges of buildings, ducking into alcoves large enough to conceal her.

Shouting erupted in the distance, loud voices swearing and metal grinding against metal stopping the heart in her chest.

Fighting.

Wicked grunts as if a reaper had caught someone unaware.

Kealie realized that maybe he had.

Keeping her head low and keeping objects around her to obscure her, she kept going until she could see the stone walkways and fishing lines.

Stone steps and metal railings protected the villagers from falling into the waves beyond them. Natansia was famous for import and fishing due to its comfortable position on the peninsula.

Kealie couldn't hear anything behind her anymore, the fighting either ceasing or fading away. All she knew was the sight before her as she pressed her waist up against the steel banisters and leaned forward to get a good look.

A small shop with soft glowing windows wisping in and out of sight.

The memory of a log fire and guiding lanterns winding up the long path to a small, reinforced home on the sea's edge flickered through her.

The orange glow still radiated from the inside, bright and alive with flickers of green and blue. But the landscape had changed. The outskirts were unkempt and covered by seaweed and stray boards.

With every second she saw more horrific details, trash lined the shores, the windows were cracking and growing over with algae.

But the most disturbing thing of all was the sight only fifteen meters in front of her.

Nixian, fallen on hands and knees, coughing up blood. 

Word Count: 1,381                  Total Word Count: 10,258