Resolve

Edward was sitting up on his bed. The dull blue light just before dawn peaked under the curtains of his new room’s window. He yawned, covering his mouth with his palm and swung his feet down onto the floor. Dull metal shone. He clanked together the two metal manacles he wore on his wrists; a stop gap they had said. Something to keep his power under control for the time being they said. He scratched at the red skin underneath. At least they removed the chain, he bitterly thought.

The gem on each manacle glowed a deep indigo blue. Midnight stones. The same as Atlestan had used to extinguish the fireballs Edward had inadvertently created during the ambush yesterday. He had played right into Atlestan’s hands. As he thought back to it, his legs became restless, shaking on the balls of his feet.

He had asked Kira more about the demons afterwards. He didn’t like what he heard. They were several races, but they all had mastery of magic that only humans could dream of. The worst were the Great Demons, monsters of unimaginable magic ability as well as brutal physical strength.

When he had asked how long the war had been fought, Kira told him they weren’t technically at war. The king would need to formally declare that, but so far, the Imperium had avoided doing so. All-out war would mean all able-bodied men and many of the women most gifted at magic being press ganged into military service.

Even so, the Imperium had been fighting the demons since it was founded over 700 years ago. Humanity had been fighting even longer, at least a thousand years. In the dark ages, much of the land had been controlled by the demons, but slowly humanity managed to push them back. Now the border between their lands was static and had been for generations, guarded as it was by hundreds of castles and forts.

He had then asked Kira, 'Do I really have a chance of killing the Demon King?'

She had taking hold of both his hands in hers and said, 'I know that you want to go home, but you don’t understand how terrible they are. I want you to live to see you children again, please wait ten years. Don’t even try. I know it is a long time, and you will miss much, but you can’t go home if you’re dead. It's useless to try such a task.'

That was easy for her to say, Edward thought. Kira was a mystery to him. She seemed sincere and genuinely empathetic, but she was also keeping things from him. Why was she a guardsman when she used to be a well-respected knight and why was she so reluctant to take up her old position? Why didn’t she tell him their conversations were being listened to?

I can’t trust her, I can’t trust anyone here. As far as I am concerned, they are all my kidnappers.

Edward knew he couldn’t rely on them, but what else could he do. This world was a completely unknown to him. He had no idea how magic worked or how to control it. He knew nothing about these demons or their powers. He knew nothing about the people around him. This needs to change or I’m never going home.

Since arriving, all he had done is panic or get angry. He needed to hold back his emotions; keep them under control or they will overwhelm and consume him, and judging by those fireballs yesterday, that wasn’t just a figure of speech. He shuddered at the thought of being engulfed in flames of his own making.

Edward rotated the manacles on his wrists. I have power, he thought. The manacles supressed it, but ultimately Alderman Atlestan wanted to use his power. With the way they all panic every time he had used magic so far, maybe he is more powerful than he realises. Magic was his weapon, he needed to learn how to use it.

Edward climbed out of his bed and went over to a desk in the corner of the room. His bag rested on top. He lifted it up, spilling its contents out. He had with him a laptop, a phone and a portable battery bank. Those would be useless long-term if he couldn’t find a way to charge them, even then how useful could they be. He set them aside.

He also had a canvas bag, an umbrella, and a water bottle. Not very useful either. Finally, there was a notebook and a few pens. Won’t help in a fight, but he could use them for one thing. He pulled the lid off a pen and started writing in the notebook. After a few lines, he drew a large circle around a basic set of principles to help him get home:

Suspect everything and trust no one

Control your emotions to avoid losing control of your magic

Learn about magic and grow more powerful

He bit down on the top of the pen. It was a good start, now he just had to work out exactly who to achieve them, especially two and three. He thought as hard as he could, but he had to accept, he was going to have to ask a lot of questions, but if he couldn't trust anyone, how could he trust their answers? He considered again the promise Atlestan had made him andscribbled down a fourth principle:

Find out as much as you can about summoning

If he can’t trust anyone, how can he trust Atlestan’s promise to send him home. He will need to go along with the plan for now and try to find out about how summoning works in the meantime. Maybe he can find a way to get home on his own.

He picked up his phone to check the battery. A picture of his family stared at him from his home screen. They had taken the picture after a trip to one of those petting farms, the same one where Thomas had held that giant tarantula; something Edward would never do. He half laughed, half cried at the memory.

Last time he had seen Thomas and Claire, he was just about to leave the house. Mum was holding Claire as she waved goodbye and Thomas had run up to him, giving him a hug and saying, ‘See you soon, daddy.’ I need to get home.

He eventually noticed the battery on his phone was almost empty. The battery pack might give him three charges more if he was lucky. He had to use the power sparingly. Even so, the battery would probably die long before he could get back to Earth. He turned off the phone for now.

He sat in silence for a bit before getting up to put on a tunic and cloak Kira had given him. He was meeting her in a bit to head into town. She wanted to take him to a place where they might be able to help with his magic problem. That might help with principle two. As he walked out the door, he made himself a promise:

From today, I take charge of myself and my fate, whatever it takes.