A Second Chance

Everything was quiet, and the air smelled faintly of soap and alcohol. His arm hurt. Slowly, Elian opened his eyes, blinking against the light. The sun was streaming through a window, reflecting from the bright white walls and bedclothes. This wasn’t his cot, not the small room he shared with Lior and two other boys. This was the healing wing. His head hurt enough to make it hard to think… Had he gotten injured? His burning arm suggested it.

The fire. Lior!

Ha sat straight up, intending to swing his legs over the side of the bed and go in search of his friend. Only to be met by the rattling of chains shackling his ankles to the metal frame of the bed. What…?

“Oh, you’re awake.” A white-clad woman, probably alerted by the noise, peeked inside only to disappear again. There was quiet talking in the hallway, too quiet for him to make out any words. Footsteps from heavy boots approached, and there was more talking while Elian incredulously looked between his bandaged arm and the dark iron around his legs. Flashes from the mission started coming back, making him feel sick.

Was Lior in here too? No, his shield must have protected him from the fire. He made the strongest ones…

“Elian.” A man in uniform entered the room, stopping at the foot of his bed. Sergeant Lucen. He looked tired, his usually spotless uniform covered in soot.

“Sergeant.” Elian tried to touch his hand to his chest, but the bandage made it impossible. Instead, he gave his superior a pleading look. “Lior. Is he…?”

“He’s alive.”

“Yes! I knew it. He makes the best shields, so…”

“He’s alive. For now.” Lucen’s face darkened, and he took a step closer. “Elian, Lior is in a coma. The doctors say he’ll never wake.”

Never wake? Never wake?! His brain refused to take in what it meant. Lior was just fine. He had to be.

“Ca… can I see him?”

“There’s no point.”

“But…” The look on Lucen’s face clearly stated that pleading was useless. “But what about the others? They’re okay, right?” Elian shrank into a ball, hugging his knees. “Except for Bror. He was…”

“I know.” Lucen looked uncomfortable, suddenly taking an interest in his boots. Then he squared his shoulders and looked Elian in the eyes. “The others are dead. The fire spread too fast. It was over in seconds.”

The fire. No, it’s impossible. This is a nightmare. Just a nightmare. Lior will poke me to wake me up any time now. Then we’ll all have a good laugh about it. All of us.

“They’re all gone, Elian. They didn’t have a chance to escape.”

The finality in the words pushed all air from Elian's lungs, fingers digging into the blanket, eyes filling with hot tears. In slow motion, he relived the fall, saw his hand touch the grass, fire spreading like a wave… NO!

“It… was… me?” Lucen didn’t answer, just kept looking at him with that sad look in his eyes.

“But…” Elian could barely get the words out. “I… I didn’t mean to… I just wanted to protect Lior.”

Lucen’s eyes softened.

“I know. But, intentional or not, there’ll still be a trial.”

“A trial?”

“This afternoon. Someone will come and get you.” He turned to leave, ignoring the sobbed ‘but’ coming from the bed.

Elian followed him with blurry eyes as Lucen reached the door, then turned with a sad smile.

“Not all are dead. Linnet is here. She’s alive, and she’ll make a full recovery.”

“That’s… good,” Elian whispered. But it should have been Lior. It should have been all of them.

He should have died instead, protecting them. Sobbing, he pressed his fingers into the bandage of his arm, hissing at the pain. Pain meant it wasn’t a dream. Dreams didn’t hurt. Not really.

He dug harder. This pain was easier than the one eating his chest.

It should have been him.

*

“We're not here to determine guilt. The facts are clear enough.” Sergeant Kovak shuffled the thin pile of papers in front of him before pointing to Elian. “We’re here to decide the boy’s punishment.”

The trial, as informal as it was, was well underway, yet Elian had barely spoken a word, and he barely heard what was being said. The elaborate wording together with the numbness that had claimed him made it hard to focus. He was seated at the end of a long table, facing the King himself, with three ranking officers and nobles on each side. Off in the corner sat Princess Eloria together with another young girl. She looked so sad; even from this distance, he could tell her eyes were red and swollen from tears.

“Tell us again what happened,” the king prompted, not unkindly.

“I… The bugger, I mean the bug jumped Lior. Then its butt shone yellow, like a lamp. I set it on fire, and it exploded.” Elian looked down at his bandaged arm. “I… I didn’t know the bugs could do that. Then… then I fell, and my hand touched the ground…”

Clearing his throat to get everyone’s attention, Kovak started ticking the casualties off his fingers.

“Nineteen dead children, a dozen soldiers, and of course,” he bowed toward the Princess, “the loss of our brave Captain Markor calls for the most severe of punishments. Death!”

Silence spread across the table, the shuffling of boots the only sound heard. Lucen, sitting next to Elian, muttered something under his breath. He’d spoken at length on Elian’s behalf, but even his own testimony settled the fact that it was Elian’s fire that caused the disaster. He placed both hands on the table, eyeing Kovak, but it was the Princess who spoke up.

“No. We do not execute children. His death will not bring back my beloved, nor will it ease my pain.”

“But, my lady. This boy is a dangerous weapon. As a fire mage myself, I know what someone without proper control can do. We can’t risk…”

“No,” the King’s low voice silenced Kovak. “My daughter is correct. One tragedy does not justify another. But the Sergeant raises an important point. You lost control once. Can you, or your trainers, guarantee it’ll never happen again?”

Elian shook his head. “No.”

“Encountering an unknown, explosive insect could have caused anyone to panic,” Lucen pointed out. “This new species is what we should be discussing. Or, the second burst of flames. I don’t think…”

Some of the other officers nodded, but Kovak shook his head.

"Whether there was one burst or two is irrelevant. The dead remain dead."

“Even so, if the insects have found a way to counter our most efficient weapon...”

“They’re animals. They’re not intelligent. We just need to continue stomping them out until there are no more.” Kovak’s face was getting redder by the second.

“Still, during this decade, the attacks have increased.”

The discussions took off once again, while Elian retreated into his mind. His arm hurt, his chest burned, and the shackles, hidden by the table, were heavy on his feet. Finally, the king raised a hand, ending the heated debate.

“Enough. This isn’t the place for airing theories.” He turned to Elian, who tried to sit up straighter in his chair. The king’s eyes were tired and sad, but his face stern.

“Elian, you are hereby exiled. You’ll be escorted to the border immediately and never set foot in the Kingdom of Azinth again. Doing so will be punishable with death.”

“Father?!” the Princess gasped, fresh tears filling her eyes.

“But Sire,” Lucen tried to intercept, but the king ignored them, focusing on Elian.

“This is my decision. Do you have any final words?”

“I… I’m sorry. I never meant to…” He blinked to keep tears from flooding his eyes as the words made it through his numbness. Lucen’s big hand landed on his shoulder, comforting.

“Come, I’ll arrange for your transport.”

*

The cart creaked and bounced on the uneven dirt road, each bump sending a fresh bolt of pain through Elian’s arm. They’d been on the road since daybreak, traveling through fields and villages. Another one was coming up. Small wooden houses clustered together on each side of the road. Stalls with produce lined the open space that served as the village square.

Elian had been here before, maybe a year ago. They’d stopped a rather large attack -- thirteen tunnels – and had been celebrated as heroes afterward. But this time there was no cheering, no children with starstruck eyes running up to hand him sweets or flowers. Now doors slammed shut as they passed, or people turned away, covering the eyes of their children. As if looking upon him would condemn them too.

The two soldiers escorting him were chatting quietly on the box seat, the well-stocked basket between them sending wafts of grilled meat back to him. Not that he had an appetite. Curled up in the back, he clutched the loaf of bread and water skin Sergeant Lucen had given him, remembering his words.

‘You’ll be taken to the crossroad just beyond the village of Innsworth. Follow the left path until you reach the big lake. Look for the silver trees, and you’ll see a small hunter’s hut. Wait there. I have some things to handle, but I’ll find you.’

By the time they reached their destination, the sun had started dipping behind the trees. The cart came to a stop just before the crossroad.

“Off you go, kid,” one of the soldiers said, not unkindly. Stiff from so many hours of sitting, Elian climbed down, looking around. The deep shadows under the trees were dark and menacing while the setting sun had turned the sky into fire.

Fire.

He quickly looked at the ground instead.

“Here you go, kid. For the road.” A sizeable grilled bird leg was held out to him, and he grasped it carefully. He might not have an appetite, but it smelled delicious.

“What are you doing?” The other soldier angrily let go of the reins and snatched it out of Elian’s hand. “He’s a criminal. He doesn’t get treats.”

“Oh come on, he’s just a kid.”

“Tell that to the parents whose kids he burned to death.”

“Still…”

“S okay,” Elian whispered. “I don’t want it.”

The men climbed back onto the cart and turned it around. The kind one raised a hand, offering a last, “Good luck, kid.”

Then he was alone.

Night had fallen by the time he found the lake, but the moons and stars reflecting in the water gave enough light to navigate by. The nightly chirping and buzzing made his heart race in near panic, until he realized it was only tiny insects, natural to this land, making the sounds.

By the time he found the silvery trees, shimmering in the moonlight, he was shivering. Outside the small hunter’s shed was a sizable ring of stones, a pile of chopped-up wood next to it. He carefully placed some of them in the ring, adding some dry grass to make the fire catch easier.

Fire. He held his right hand over the logs while his heart beat faster and faster. He’d lit fires hundreds, no thousands, of times. His mark grew warm, eager… but instead he lowered his hand and curled up on the floor inside the rough shelter. To his surprise, he fell asleep as soon as his eyes shut.

The next morning he finished the bread and drank most of the water. Birds were chirping, the sun shining, as if the world didn’t care what had happened. As if all was well. As if nineteen children weren’t dead. The sun moved slowly across the sky and Elian kept piling wood on the fire he still couldn’t make himself light. Sergeant Lucen came by in the late afternoon, eyeing the unused logs before sitting down, cross-legged.

“Lior?” Elian asked. “How is he?”

“No change.” And we’re not expecting one. Elian could almost hear the unspoken words. Lucen shook off his satchel and handed Elian some bread and hard cheese. “You should eat, we have a long walk in front of us.”

“Walk? But I can’t leave. Lior…”

“...is beyond anyone’s help. And you can never return to our kingdom.” He rubbed a hand over his tired face, sighing. “It’s probably for the best if you stay away from any human settlement in the future. Just in case.”

“I can’t go back to my family?”

“No. This world is lost to you. Despite the King’s ruling, some are still arguing for your death, and should you break your exile…” He left the words unsaid, but the meaning was clear. “Also… there’s something about this that’s bothering me. That second wave of fire… Has that ever happened to you before?”

Elian shook his head. “No, but I’ve never passed out before either… It should’ve gone out then, but maybe it went crazy instead? To protect me somehow?”

“Perhaps. Unlike you, I’ve seen several mages pass out while using magic, and their powers always stopped before they even hit the ground.”

They ate in silence, then the Sergeant got on his feet. “Let’s go. I’ve arranged for an old friend to meet us. You’ll be safe with him.”

They set off deeper into the forest and it didn’t take long until Elian lost all sense of direction, simply stumbling along behind. Was he being sent to another unit? In another kingdom? He never wanted to use magic ever again. The king was right, he couldn’t be trusted. 

Just as dusk swallowed the last sunshine and the first moon rose, they reached a magnificent silver oak standing alone in a small glade, long branches reaching into the sky.

“We’ll wait here. You hungry?” Elian shook his head, but Lucen opened his bag anyway.

“I have something for you.”

“Why? I don’t deserve…”

“Because you always did your best and no matter what you think right now, you deserve a second chance.” Lucen smiled and reached into his pocket. Resting in his palm was a simple necklace, a leather band holding a single blue stone, with a speck of red in it.

Elian’s eyes widened. That was Lior’s.

“I thought you’d like something of his.” Elian took it with shaking fingers, eyes filling with tears. Then he slipped it over his head, feeling the cold stone settle against his chest. Somehow he felt less lonely.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Lucen reached out to ruffle his already messy hair, then turned and stared into the shadows.

“Welcome, friend. This is the pup I spoke of.”

One of the shadows broke free from the trees and stepped closer, spreading its arms in a silent greeting. The welcoming words Elian had prepared died on his tongue as he stared into the newcomer’s eyes. Big, hypnotizing, amber.

Not human.