Caracara's Hunt

It was simply insane. He had to have heard something wrong.

"Arawn, listen to me," Feist said, looking back at him. "You"re not—"

"But I am!" Arawn screamed, taking two steps back. His hands were trembling along with his whole body. "You know that better than anyone," he choked.

Lights danced in front of his eyes. The white dust in the air was beautiful, but everyone gasped and backed away from it. Yet the cell was not that large. There was simply no place for them to escape.

Once Arawn realized what was happening, he panicked. How could he have let go already? He had to put his magic under control, now!

It coursed through his system like a wild animal, looking for a way out. The sense of exhilaration and strength it brought excited him, but he knew better than to trust those feelings. They were lies weaved by the magic to entice him to let it run free.

He wrangled with it, trying to subdue it, but the more he pushed and pulled, the worse it became. Soon, he couldn"t even see anyone through the thick ma.s.s of white dust blocking his vision. Couple moments more, and they"d all go in flames. Well, besides him of course.

Something sharp hit his forehead. It didn"t cut skin, but Arawn raised his hand to check, puzzled by what had happened. Had the destruction already started?

"I win," Corwal said from somewhere nearby. "That was my archmage."

"But we weren"t even playing!"

Annoyance washed over Arawn. He was fighting against the monster in him to save everyone, and Corwal chose this moment to trick a victory out of him? Had his brains already been fried?

Arawn rushed through the white mist and glared at Corwal. "We weren"t playing. You have no victory, understood?"

"Mhm…" Corwal looked around, then nodded. "Sure. Just don"t call that much ether again. Even I felt a chill upon seeing it condense like that."

At his words, Arawn realized that he could see the young man. The white dust was still there, but it had thinned a lot, only giving the darkness a brilliant l.u.s.ter instead of filling it with light.

"You can"t stay here," Feist said from behind, and Arawn debated turning around. He really didn"t want to face that man. "If you do, you"re gonna kill all of us. Is that what you want?"

When Arawn didn"t react, Feist came in front of him and pointed at Corwal. "You think of him as your first friend, don"t you? Then how would you enjoy being his executioner too?"

The image was in front of Arawn"s eyes before Feist had even finished speaking. It wasn"t hard for his mind to create it, since it just needed to replace the faces of the previous batch of criminals with the current ones.

At the time, they had lain strewn about the cell like torn open rag dolls. Crimson tracks covered the whole place, along with vicious scars in the stone walls and ground. It wasn"t hard to guess that it hadn"t been an ether explosion that had killed them.

"But now it would be." His power manifested in various ways, whatever it was in the mood for on that day, and this time it wanted to burst open a wound in the world.

"I can teach you control," Corwal said, breaking Arawn out of his reverie. "It"s not like no one has ever been born with the ability to call more ether than they could control."

Arawn frowned, doubting that, but a single look at Feist made him realize that it didn"t matter. Corwal was talking about the future, something no one in the cell would possess if Arawn chose to stay.

"You may hold it back for another half a day, maybe more, but it"s not like anything"s going to change," Feist said, pointing out the obvious.

As if to emphasize it, Arawn"s stomach roiled, sending a lance of pain through him.

Everything Arawn knew about himself and his powers told him it was a horrible idea to leave. He was a monster, an abomination, someone meant to rot in the bowels of the earth. His existence was a mistake and had to be removed from sight, since it couldn"t be deleted.

Yet if he stuck to that, even more people would suffer. Although the Gutter housed the worst criminals in existence, people like Corwal and Feist were also there. They didn"t deserve to die just because they happened to come in contact with him, did they?

"Fine," he murmured though his conscience rose in protest.

It was wrong. He was being wilful. But as much as he wanted to save everyone, he wanted to see the world as well. What was the warmth of the sun like? What was wind? And could water really feel that great? His memories were so blurry and old, he didn"t trust them at all.

"It"s gonna be fine as long as I return when things calm down. I just need to return in a while and no one will even notice I was gone."

With that rea.s.surance, he raised his hands and sent a blast of ether upwards. It jumped at the chance to escape, rushing out twice as fast as he"d intended. Instead of just clearing the hole of onyx chains, it blasted a hole five meters in width.

"Showing off?" Corwal asked with a raised eyebrow before catching the ladder that clattered to the ground. He extended it up and placed against the still steaming side of the hole in the dome.

Without saying another word, he went up as nimble as a cat. Moments later, he made a quick survey of the floor and popped his head back into the hole. "It"s clear. You can come up."

Arawn didn"t know how to feel about going up second. Shouldn"t he have been the first to make sure it was safe? Wasn"t he the strongest around here?

"Hurry! What are you dawdling for?" Corwal called from above, sounding anxious. "The guards will be coming here in droves soon. Do you know how much noise you made?"

"I—" Not having a good reply to that, Arawn focused on climbing. His limbs were weak, but not so much that he couldn"t get up some three-four meter ladder.

Once they were out, Corwal dragged him up the winding stairs hugging the walls of the tower. Soon the s.p.a.ce opened up, revealing dozens of cells with people in them. Arawn gawked, not having expected that so many people could ever be imprisoned. There were hundreds and hundreds of them!

"Move!" Corwal ordered, pulling him on the arm. "We can"t waste time here."

When the other prisoners saw them, there was a moment of silence, then they raised such a racket that Arawn wanted to cover his ears. People were shouting, screeching, banging on the iron bars. Some extended their hands, trying to grab Arawn.

One man caught hold of what once had been a shirt, and it tore instantly, leaving the man stunned. Arawn was just as shocked, but Corwal didn"t give him time to marvel.

They rushed up the stairs until they reached the ground level. There, Corwal ran to the side and next to the closest window. It wasn"t barred, and he grabbed a mug from a nearby table to bash it open. The gla.s.s broke, splintering into shards that fell around him.

Corwal broke most of the pieces off, then ducked through the newly made opening. Feeling at a loss, Arawn followed after him.

Brilliant light washed over him, blinding him. He screamed and covered his eyes, feeling like someone had burned them out. Searing pain coursed through his head, muddling his thoughts.

"s.h.i.t," Corwal cursed and jogged back to his side. "I should have warned you." There was some rustling of cloth and then a tearing sound. "Keep your eyes closed, but remove your hands. Hurry."

Reluctantly, Arawn did it. For a moment, the pain intensified, but then comfortable darkness settled over him once more. Corwal tied a makeshift blindfold over his eyes, then grabbed him by the hand.

"Run, we don"t have much time!"

At his words, the bell at the top of the tower began ringing: one slow beat, then two shorter. It repeated a couple times as they rushed over uneven ground.

Everyone in the Gutter would"ve been fine with moving about blindfolded, but Arawn wasn"t one of them. Darkness had never inhibited him, and he"d relied on his sight all throughout his years in the Gutter. So a lack of it was disorienting to say the least.

He kept tripping and falling behind, often pulling Corwal down with him as well. The man didn"t complain though, just dragged him back up and pointed in the right direction again.

A loud crashing noise reached Arawn"s ears. He could barely hear it through his own heartbeat and ragged breaths, but it kept on getting closer. In moments, it was almost right underneath them.

"What—"

"Halt!" someone shouted from behind them. Their voice was unfamiliar, but Arawn recognized a command when given one—the guards had caught up to them.

"Hold your breath!" Corwal whispered and pulled him forward.

The next moment, ground disappeared from under Arawn"s feet. He flailed, seeking purchase, but there was nothing. Corwal had let go of his hand as well, so his flight was uninhibited by anything.

Just as he was about to tear the blindfold off to see what was happening, his fall ended. He crashed through water, diving in deep. He tried taking in a breath, and his lungs filled with something that wasn"t supposed to be there.

His throat burned from the need to push the alien substance out, but the moment he opened his mouth, more water gushed in. It choked him, and real fear threatened to swallow him.

Something grabbed him by the collar and hauled him downward. Arawn tried to struggle, but his limbs were growing weak and light dust flashed past his eyes.

His head broke through the water"s surface and fresh air a.s.saulted his nostrils. He coughed like a maniac, spitting all the water back out.

"How could you not know how to swim?" Corwal asked from next to him, his voice full of exasperation.

"How could I know?" Arawn glared at him, but he was still wearing his blindfold. Speaking was too much of an effort though. His throat was raw, burning from the invasion of water.

"Whatever, need to get out of here."

His words were followed by something whooshing through the air. Heat washed over Arawn as a projectile landed some ten centimeters from him and sizzled away in the water. It was soon followed by a dozen more.

"Down," Corwal ordered.

Arawn wanted to refuse, but his head was pushed under without giving him a chance to voice his thought. Not having expected that, he breathed in, but no water entered his mouth. He could feel it surrounding him from all directions, yet he could breathe normally. What was happening?