A World That Breathes

Kade’s first breath tasted like outside and sunlight.

It filled his lungs effortlessly, without the rasp of hospital filters or the stale tang of antiseptic. Just... air. Fresh and strange.

He grinned before his eyes even opened. Nothing hurt. For the first time in forever, he felt... light.

The grin grew as his eyes opened.

Sky.

A sky too blue to be real. Endless and unblemished, except for two moons that hung far above. Like a giant's eyes watching him. Huge and impossibly close.

Kade blinked. Once. Twice. Still the moons stared back.

No machines, no white tiles, no IV drip needling the crook of his arm. Just... warmth.

He sat up too fast.

His breath hitched, waiting for the dizziness and the familiar pain in his chest.

But none came.

He pressed a hand to his chest. There, where pain should have been, was something else. A humming warmth. As if sunlight itself had taken up residence beneath his sternum.

"I feel... alright?" he whispered.

Then laughed.

A real laugh. Full-throated and free. Nothing like the soft chuckle he barely afforded in his sick bed.

His breath jolted mid-laugh, like a cramp. For a blink, it felt like the sound didn’t belong to him at all.

That laugh... he heard it echo in someone else's voice. He could almost picture the face. Then... then... the warmth shifted under his ribs, soothing, drowning everything until he forgot the flicker entirely.

"I feel amazing!"

The words came out louder than he meant.

A few heads turned.

Only then did Kade notice the people. A lot of them.

He was in the center of a wide, stone-paved square, ringed by market stalls and wandering crowds. Sunlight caught on bright silks and metallic embroidery. People in layered, strange clothing moved in clusters, weaving through merchant stalls, talking and shouting.

He stood slowly, and his body obeyed with a lightness he hadn’t known in all his life.

He turned in place, arms outstretched as if ready to fly.

The stone beneath his feet was hot, and the market buzzed with motion.

Signs glinted in the sun. Voices rose in a strange language that made perfect sense to him.

Everything pulsed with color. Everything was new.

Was this a dream?

If it was, it was the best dream he’d ever had.

The thought gave him a shiver of delight. As if the universe had finally heard his bedtime wishes and replied, Here. Try this.

A scream of laughter drew his gaze.

Children raced past, four of them, chasing what looked like a glowing orb. One of them swatted at it with a stick, and the orb unraveled midair into a bird made of green firelight. It burst upward in a shimmer of wings and vanished.

Kade gaped.

"That. Was. Awesome."

Magic.
That’s what it was. Had to be.

He wandered down narrow streets. Past signs that announced alien products.

"Custom Sigils - Fastest Hands in Lunavin."
"Three Eloben Honeycakes for One Silver."

Everywhere he looked: magic.
Actual, honest-to-god magic.

There was so much to take in. So much life he wasn't used to seeing in the quiet hospital.

He found himself in an open space, in the middle of the marketplace.

Then he saw it… the mural.

It spanned the side of a wide, arched building, too tall to take in all at once.

He tilted his head back slowly, his breath caught in his throat.

Painted, three figures rose from the wall like giants, cloaked in flowing coats, arms raised high. Light bloomed from their hands.

One was shooting red, fire-like energy toward a beast with too many arms.
Another stood in a circle of intricate glowing gold sigils.
One touched her hand to the ground, and silver ripples of light spread into the distance, building an army.

Beastly figures lay broken at their feet.

They looked like gods.
Or superheroes, he thought distantly.

Like the covers of the illustrated books he used to hide under his pillow in the hospital.

Except this was... real. Or it looked real. And the monsters, those weren’t from any game or story he knew. Their shapes were wrong. They made his skin crawl just looking at them.

Still, the mural didn’t feel scary.

It felt reassuring. Like it had been painted to remind people they were safe.
That someone will always fight the hard battles for them.

But a wind stirred the mural’s painted flags, and for one strange heartbeat, Kade had a flash of a memory, impossibly vivid, a memory that couldn't have been his.

Tainted sky.
Screams.
Light.
Fear.

The feeling that he had known this world, and had seen this exact scene before. But passed too quickly.

Below the mural, silver glyphs shimmered in the air.

Kade squinted at them.

"Cool font..." he read it.

"By Her Light, We are Sheltered from the Darkness."

He nodded solemnly.

"Thanks, Light Lady."

He jumped back as a carriage whooshed past him. It hovered, silent wheels glowing with magic. A man and woman sat inside, dressed in the same coat-like cloaks as the painted figures, heavy with silver thread, faces unreadable.

Kade waved to them, awkward but earnest.

And now people were staring at him. More than before.

Some curious.
Some cautious.

He looked down at himself. Bare feet, wrinkled thin pajamas, hospital tag still on one wrist.

Definitely not local fashion.

"Guess I stick out," he muttered, and grinned again.

"Cool."

He didn’t care.

Standing out meant one thing:
This place was meant to be explored.

Kade spun on his heel and stopped in front of a polished window.

What he saw made him freeze.

His reflection.

He looked... different. A stranger.

His skin held a sun-kissed warmth it had never known. His hair… silver? fell in soft, curling tufts around his face. His eyes were pale blue.

He looked older than his fourteen years, too.

He touched his cheek. The boy in the window did the same.

"Whoa," he breathed. "I look... kinda amazing."

He frowned.
The reflection frowned, too.

He tried to remember how this happened, how he came to be a different person.

Fragments swirled at the edges of his mind:

A flash of steel.
The sharp sense of pain.
Blood trailing down his cheek.
A girl’s face turned away.
His parents’ voices raised.
Cold.

Death.

The same warmth in his chest pulsed, alive, sweeping away whatever uneasiness he felt.

Leaving in its wake nothing but giddiness.

Unease was erased again.

He didn’t force it.
Whatever had happened, it didn’t matter right now.

Because this?
This was an adventure.

He laughed again, turned away, and kept exploring.

A voice called out.

"Hey, boy!"

Kade turned.

A man stood behind a fruit cart, arms crossed over his chest. He wore a plain tunic and looked wary.

"You from outside the city?"

"I think so?" Kade replied. "I mean... I woke up here, so maybe? What counts as outside?"

The man glanced around cautiously and lowered his voice.

"How did you get in?"

Kade shrugged, smiling.

"No idea. I was really sick for the longest time. And now I’m not. That’s all I know."

The fruit seller paled slightly.

"Memory-wipe spell, then. That’s bad." He turned to a younger boy nearby. "Get a guard."

Kade blinked.

"Am I in trouble?"

"Not if you sit still. Don’t make this worse."

Kade sat on the edge of the cart, swinging his legs.

"What’s your name?"

The man looked startled.

"...Renn."

"Hi, Renn. What’s this place called?"

"Lunavin. Capital of magic."

Kade leaned forward, peering up at Renn with unabashed curiosity. The older man kept organizing his fruits, giving him no mind.

"So," Kade said, "if I wanted to get magic, who would I talk to?"

Renn startled, his eyes snapping toward Kade like he’d just shouted a curse in the middle of a temple.

"Don’t say that," he snapped. "Ever. Not here. Not anywhere."

Kade blinked.

"Why not?"

Renn rubbed a hand down his face.

"You must be under some serious spell. You don’t ask for magic. It’s blasphemous."

Kade tilted his head.

"Blasphemous?"

"Only those who carry the Mother Moon’s blood receive it," Renn said, lowering his voice as a pair of finely dressed women walked past. "Her children. The blessing isn’t something you just take or ask for. It’s sacred. Inherited."

Kade mulled this over, eyebrows drawn together.

"That doesn’t sound very fair."

Renn gave him a look like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

"Boy, stop talking like that."

"But wouldn’t you want magic, too?" Kade asked, genuinely. "If you could have it?"

Renn grunted.

"Magic ain’t some glittery prize. It means duty. Responsibility. The ones who have it are expected to protect the rest of us. They’re born to serve. Magic comes with chains, even if they’re made of light."

Kade turned that over in his mind.

Then, he asked, eyes soft and bright:

"Are you happy?"

Renn blinked.

"What?"

"You said you don’t have magic. But you help people, too, right? You grow fruit. You sell them. Are you happy?"

Renn stared at him for a long moment, as if unsure whether to answer. Then, reluctantly:

"Yeah. I suppose I am."

Kade beamed.

"Then that’s good. You have to live happily and fully so you don't regret anything when the end comes."

His smile dimmed slightly.

"This place feels like a happy place. I plan not to regret getting in."

Renn let out a breath, half amusement, half exasperation.

"You really are something, boy."

But Kade wasn’t listening anymore.

A hush rippled through the crowd.

People moved aside as a figure approached, steps measured and silent.

She was tall, red-haired, and stunning. Her cloak-like coat shimmered, green and gold, like something pulled from a storybook.

The market shifted. People making way for her.

Kade watched, wide-eyed.

"Is she magical?" he whispered.

Renn nodded, not taking his eyes off her.

"That’s a sorcerer."

Kade's whole face lit up.

Then he turned to Renn, fast.

"I am gonna talk to her."

Renn groaned.

"Don’t draw attention..."

But Kade was already moving.