All Eyes on Me

I was so nervous at dinner the next day that even Granny’s cooking tasted like ash. All around me, the mages of the Pocket chatted about their daily lives in this strange little world we had created for ourselves. Funny how humans could get used to anything. Seeing everyone so happy, for a moment, I wondered if I had made the right choice. No. I couldn’t doubt myself at this stage.

Once more, I covertly counted the people in the dining hall. Nobody was missing. Good. The entire population of the Pocket, minus Rubia, was here. Most people had finished eating; people would start to leave soon. No point waiting any longer. I gave a tiny thumbs up to Shemman. In response to my signal, he calmly climbed atop his table.

All eyes went to the Aijalon boy. Normally, Shemman and Jepha avoided drawing attention to themselves at meals. So when Shemman raised his hand to command attention, everyone fell silent. “Thank you for your consideration,” he said, his voice unconcerned with the dozens of eyes boring into him. “Rakel wishes to speak with you all.”

Instantly, all eyes flew to me. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I was petrified. Desperately, I looked over at Shemman. He mouthed the words ‘you’ve got this.’

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and opened myself to the Expanse. The levitation spell came naturally at this point. I lifted myself into the air. “Thank you for coming today.” Oh, yeah, real smooth Rakel. Where were they going to go? I shooed away the invasive thoughts and continued. “I have something important to tell you all.”

Next to me, a few feet below my levitating form, my father frowned at me, as did Granny. I tried to silently tell them it was ok and continued. “Bekah and I have made a discovery. We can’t stay in the Pocket. It won’t last forever.”

Granny immediately interjected “dearie, I think you might be confused. The Pocket was created in the era of the Golden Monarchs, and they knew how to do magic. Hoho. I’ve checked it myself: We are in no danger here.”

“Let me be more specific.” I had to raise my voice to be heard above the buzzing of the crowd. “The Pocket will survive. But soon, the portal will break; we will lose the ability to leave. We’ll be stuck here permanently.”

My father stared at Granny. “Is this true?” he asked, his question echoed by the crowd.

Granny sighed. “Dearie me.” She also lifted from the ground, stopping to hover at the same height as me. “Friends, I promise you, we are in no danger here.”

“But the portal—” I began, but Granny cut me off.

“Yes, true enough, dear. But is that really so bad? Hoho, we’ve spent so long trying to find a safe haven from the Empire, and now we have it?” She spread her arms wide to the crowd. “We have a renewable source of food and water here. We have everything we need. Why would we ever want to go back?” The crowd murmured in agreement.

I shouted “we can’t just stay here forever!”

“Why not, dearie?” I had never heard Granny’s voice so cold.

“Because…” I cast desperately in my mind. Why couldn’t we? My mind was blank.

“Rakel.” Shemman’s voice. “It’s ok.”

I spoke again. “We mages spend too much time in the past. We talk about the era of the Golden Monarchs, when we ruled the world. So when the Empire took over, we looked for an escape to a magical place created by ancient mages. But if we only look on the past, we’ll never be able to build a new future.”

Granny said “dearie, there are only a few dozen of us. Do you know how many millions of people live in the Empire? We aren’t strong enough to fight them all.”

“There are other kinds of strength. I want us to be strong enough to build a new community. Not one isolated from the Empire in this Pocket, but one where mages and Aijalon can join together to build a better society. You all have said I’m going to be the leader of this community. Well, if I’m going to lead it, I refuse to let the community wither away, cut off from the rest of the world.

“I don’t know where we’ll find a place for our new life. We might be on a journey forever. But better to keep moving toward the future then rot away here in the past!” I raised my fist and glanced into the crowd, waiting, hoping someone would respond.

One long moment passed. Then another. I waited with bated breath.

Finally, one man stepped forward. Old Man Hendriss chuckled. “I’m with her. Oughta be better than wasting away at the bottom of a bottle in here.”

My father put up his hand too. “Rakel is to be our new leader. I trust my daughter’s judgment.” His face was beaming with pride.

Granny shook her head. “This is foolish. The Empire knows where the portal is. As soon as we leave, we’ll be attacked. We won’t make it out of the forest, let alone to some promised land.”

I smiled. “That’s right. If we were on our own, there’s no way we’d make it. Luckily, we will have three Aijalon assassins to protect us.”

Granny’s eyes widened. “Three?”

The doors to the dining hall swung open, and Rubia stepped in.

***

A few hours before my announcement at the dining hall, I sat down in the familiar stool in the familiar jail cell. Rubia sat on the other side of the bars, arms folded.

“How are you feeling?” I asked her.

“Dispense with the pleasantries, devil,” she shot back. “You want to ask me something. It is written on your face.”

“All right then, let’s get down to business.” I leaned in close. “I have an offer for you. I’m going to lead the mages out of here into the real world. I’d like you to come with and protect us. In exchange, I will guarantee your safety, and after we’ve left the Empire, you’ll be free to go wherever you like.”

“You want me, and Aijalon warrior, dedicated to hunting devils, to act as bodyguard?”

“That’s right.”

Rubia said “and if I say no? You will send your mind-assaulting devil to renew her assault on my psyche?”

“Nope. You’re free to decline. You’ll just stay here in the Pocket. All the mages will leave here soon. If you say no, you will just stay here in this tiny world. Completely, utterly, alone, with no hope of rescue, until you grow old and die. But look on the bright side. You won’t have to deal with any more devils, right?”

Rubia looked at me for a long time. Finally, she stuck her hand through the bars. If I took her hand, she could grab me, pull me into the bars, and overpower me. Even though she had spent a while down here, she was still physically stronger than me, and of course magic wouldn’t help against an Aijalon.

Without hesitation, I took her hand.

We shook hands. “Right,” I said, “let me get you out of there. Stand back.” She backed up to the edge of her cage, and I stepped back to the edge of the room so we had as much distance between us as possible. With this amount of distance from an Aijalon, focusing on spellcasting would be tricky but not impossible. With the Expanse flowing through me, I made a few choice hand gestures, then pointed at the jail cell’s lock. I envisioned the tumblers moving a short distance, just enough to open the lock. With a click, the cage swung open.

Well, honestly it would have been easier to just go fetch the key. But I felt like demonstrating some magic would hopefully prevent Rubia from immediately attacking me.

As she stepped out of her cell, I said “one more thing. I’ve still got to persuade some of the folks here, and having the infamous Aijalon back me up will help…”

***

In the dining hall, cries of shock accompanied Rubia’s entrance. She stood framed in the doorway, arms crossed. I raised my voice. “As I said. We have three Aijalon warriors on our side. They know how the Empire operates. They will help us avoid conflicts, or, if necessary, fight to protect us.” Across the hall, Rubia gave a curt nod. Shemman and Jepha indicated their assent as well.

From up here, I could tell. Opinions were starting to sway in my favor! “Please, everyone, think it over. I won’t force anyone to leave if you don’t want to. But for everyone who wants to hope in the future: come to the edge of the Pocket at noon tomorrow. I hope to see you all there.”

The mages quietly dispersed one by one. I stayed levitating until the room was nearly empty. A flash of exhaustion hit me so hard that I lost my grip on the Expanse. With a yelp, I plummeted out of the air—right into Shemman’s waiting arms.

“Are you well?” he asked, holding me in his arms like a princess. I knew I wasn’t light, but the effort didn’t seem to strain him at all.

“I-I’m fine,” I said. Odd. I could barely hear myself through the pounding of my heart. “Sorry. That was more tiring than I thought.”

He gently set me on my feet, then took a step back. We faced each other, the only ones in the room of dirty dishes. Ah, man. I liked this boy so, so much. I had tried to respect his feelings and his circumstances until now. He was an Aijalon; I was a mage. He was a prisoner here; I was, in a sense, his captor. I…I had confessed my feelings to him; he had rejected me.

But now, I refused to let any of that stop me. This was a night for resolving things. I squared up and took a deep breath.