Chapter 4: Heat

The four of us are currently gathered in another inn near the palace, which took a good bit of running to do. If it weren't for the smoke and dust my fire spell rose into the air, our faces would've been seen, and we would've wound up being branded as criminals. That pretty much would have put a massive kink in my plans, which are already half-assed at best.

Raksha was meditating mid-air, while Yukiji stared at him in wonder. Honestly, in some ways, she's more a five-year-old than a teenager, which really doesn't do much to rid me of my protective instincts toward her. I constantly have to remind myself that, despite her exclamation of not wanting to kill anymore, it is something she has done before. If I let my guard down, she could have my throat in my sleep. Ban is out getting us food, since we'd rather not go to the very public dining area of this inn. Now, how to proceed?

"Raksha" I say, and the djinn opens one eye to look at me, "do you believe in the Child of Light and Shadow?"

"Of course. The Child was promised, and so he or she will come."

"What do you know of the origins of the prophecy?"

"Nothing, just like everybody else. It was given to man directly by nature. It is an occurrence, just like rain or wind. It has always been there." Well, that's helpful.

Yukiji glances at me. "You think you're him?" Wow, she catches on fast. MY surprise must have shown, because she quickly adds, "It's why you're only moving us near the palace." Fair enough. "Why, though? Why would you want that? No good can come of being a magic knight."

I frown. "It's the best job in the kingdom."

"It's the best-paying job, but you're likely to be experimented on, or killed if you learn the wrong thing." I guess she'd know. I wonder if she's lost any friends that way – or if she ever even had any. "So, what do we do?"

I cock my head to the side – a mannerism I've adopted to avoid looking emotionless, which has, at times, been a criticism directed at me. I'm not completely inexpressive by nature, but my face does tend to stay blank on most occasions. I had to work hard to turn this reaction into an instinctual one. "You'll be coming with us?"

Yukiji looks out the window. "I guess."

"The Apostles are gonna recognize you."

"I'll stay in the shadows."

"You don't have to, you know – not ever again. You're free now. If you wanted to escape the kingdom, there aren't many people who could stop you."

"I don't deserve to be free," she tells me, then pinches her left hand with her right. It looks like it hurts. "I'm a killer. I've killed many people. When some of my former colleagues defected, I was the one who killed them. Someone like me should just know her place, and accept the scraps she's given."

So wrong in so many ways. If I tell her that, however, I risk losing her. What do I do, then? Do I take the morally right path and tell her she really is free, or do I keep her around?

"You could try for redemption," I tell her, and my stomach turns slightly. "The Apostles are bad news – at least the two I'm familiar with. Getting rid of them will help people. You could assist in doing that."

She nods, trying hard to control her feelings. "What do we do, then?"

Raksha scoffs. "Do not expect one such as Jonah to have a plan ready, girl."

I put my hand on the urn. "Go run a lap around the inn."

Turning red, the djinn complies. One of these days, he's bound to learn. I might make him flash a group of kids if he keeps the lip up.

"What do you know of the Festival?" I ask, trusting that Yukiji at least has some info about it, being from the palace herself. "What are the trials? How strong are the usual contestants? Any info might help."

"Three trials," she replies, walking over to a wall, then placing her back against it and sitting down. "They're about retrieving things. One can only be done through light, another only through shadow, and the third through a mix of both."

"Light and shadow magic?" I can't do either of those right now.

"Light and shadow shades of magic," the girl corrects.

"Come again?"

"You're new to magic, aren't you?"

"So teach me, oh wise one."

She smiles softly, then speaks again. "Depending on the nature of your mana, your magic will either be influences by your good emotions or your bad ones. Love and joy fuel light magic, and anger and hate fuel shadow magic – not the king Apostle Ryan uses, but the darker shade of mana. You really should learn more about magic before entering. The competition can be fierce."

"How many contestants?" I ask. "How do I enter?"

"You stand in line and you get chosen," she tells me. They'll hand you a mana seed. They grow on contact with mana. The more potent the mana, the larger a tree the seed will turn into. Three of the largest trees will get chosen to compete in the three trials, over the course of three days."

"And these competitors – how skilled are they in an average year?"

"It varies, since mana potency has nothing to do with knowledge in magic. They could be rookies, like you, or they could be masters like the Apostles. That won't affect the outcome much."

"I see." At least I know the basics now. I'll still have to learn a bit more before I qualify. My potential won't do me any good if I wind up being incapable of doing a thing during the trials – if I'm chosen for them, that is. What do I do if I'm not? Old Lady Makena didn't really take me through that part. I can't well just attack an Apostle, and going to the other knights is out of the question. Do I send Yukiji to kill them? That might work, but it likely won't get my family back, if they're even alive.

"When and where is the line of people they'll choose gonna be?"

"Right now."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, they'll put you all in a line tomorrow at noon, but they're already scouting all the mages who come near the palace."

Ah, I see. Let's hope my talent led to something good, or I'll be back to square one. I should start coming up with plans after A.

Raksha returns to the room, not even out of breath. Curious. I'd've assumed they were only good with magic, leaving them physically weaker. He looks at me, then speaks. "Your friend has left us."

"We're already an us, eh?"

"Do not mock me!"

"It's more like teasing, really," I assure him, then get back on topic. "Ban left?" Honestly, I've always been iffy about him. He doesn't seem as useful as these two, anyway. Grateful that he helped me get Raksha, but his usefulness was waning, and things have been strained between us ever since my stint with the rock. Oh, well. Guess we're down to three. "It's fine. We'll leave him be."

Raksha rolls his eyes haughtily. "While I understand how a human would not be much use, he was the one paying for everything."

My eyes widen. "Son of a-"

"I can steal," Yukiji offers.

"I will not resort to such methods," Raksha says.

"Do it," I reply, and the djinn turns to look at me.

"Have you no shame?"

"Not really, no."

"Well, you should!"

"How does another lap sound?"

He glares daggers at me, and I just smile back, doing my best to seem as condescending as possible. For a moment, I think he'll relent, but then he opens his mouth again, and I force him on another run.

"You should be nicer to him," Yukiji tells me. I give her a shrug.

"He starts it most of the time."

"You started it this time."

"He'll live. Want a bagel?"

Her eyes light up, and she stands up – a kid ready to get a treat. "There are bagels?"

I hold up my finger, trying not to seem too sly as I smile. "If you steal some jacks for us, there are."

She deflates slightly, and puffs out her cheeks. "I can get some kings, you know."

"Don't bother. People are gonna notice commoners walking around with kings in their pockets, and it'll rouse suspicion."

"We could buy some clothes. Then it'll be normal."

I think on it a bit. This outfit is the only thing I've been wearing for over a year. Clothes have never been a priority. It might be nice to switch it up. Is it really necessary, though? Of course not. Still...

"We're not doing anything now," I say, and she nods, heading out immediately. "Wait. Someone will recognize-"

She whirls around intensely enough to briefly stun me, frowning. "What do I look like?"

I'm a bit taken aback by this. What is she talking about?

"My hair – my eyes – what do they look like?"

"Uh, black and black?" I probably shouldn't mention the eye shape. The last time I did that, the customer threw a plate at me. Seems like a sensitive topic.

"Jonah," Yukiji says, "I'm using a glamour."

I look her up and down. "You mean your hair's not really black?"

"No."

"Then I think your glamour is broken. Try a different Pool."

"The Reflection Pool I used works just fine. To everyone but you, I'm a blonde."

Huh? What's she getting at? "What do you-"

"The glamour has no effect on you, Jonah. I've been glamoured all along, and you've been seeing me as this all along."

Really? "How's that possible."

She gives me a shrug, then leaves the room and goes on her merry way. Raksha returns right after, so I use the opportunity to practice some more. "Teach me attack magic."

He folds his arms across his chest, refusing to look out of breath, though I can tell the runs are gonna have an effect on him. "You seem to be doing just fine with fire magic."

"At creating and releasing it, yes, but I can't control it."

"Beg your pardon."

I channel my mana the way he thought me, and make a small fire appear in my palm. "I can do this, and I can let it all out, but I don't know how to send the spell far away. That's gonna be a must if I'm to learn to fight."

"You ought to be satisfied that you've learned it so quickly at all. Your potential rivals that of an average djinn."

"Thank you, kind sir. I've always wanted to be average."

He waves his hand in front of himself, and conjures up a small bird made of fire. "If it will make you stop talking, I will teach you; You simply sever your mana. You sever the bit you are using to make fire from the rest, and then it will leave your body along with the spell, allowing you to control the mana within the spell. This way, you can both send it away and control it after it is cast, though you would do well to remember that you will not have enough time to focus to do it for longer periods of time during a battle." He then gives me the biggest I-am-looking-down-on-you smirk I've ever received. "This is the hardest bit of elemental magic one can perform. Do not think you can simply-"

I cut him off by severing a tiny fraction of my mana, then controlling the little ball of fire in my palm and making it sing his pants. He starts grumbling, quickly turning red, and refuses to meet my gaze. "What? Like it's hard."

"It is unnatural. A human cannot do these things so easily. You'll meet your limit soon, Jonah, and I shall be there to laugh at you."

"Not while running laps, you won't."

As he leaves for a third round of punishment, I start altering the fire I've created. Controlling it appears to be using up no mana at all, which is nice. I guess there's a link between my mind and my mana, because that's the only way I can rationalize it. Whatever I picture the flame to be, that is what it becomes. Odd. When Makena first attempted to teach me ice magic, I completely failed, and she concluded that I was bad with the elements. Does this mean fire is my natural attribute? What more can I do with it? I can create it, and now I can control it. What more is there to learn? Curses and jinxes?

I twist the fire into a snake, then have it fly circles above me. Could I make money as an entertainer by doing this? I'd have to go pretty far from the palace, though. People here are used to seeing magic, and it wouldn't impress anyone.

"There you are," a familiar voice calls to me, making me lose my focus, which results in the fire disappearing. I look around the room, but can't find anyone with me. "I'm here, boy. Look down." I do just that, and see glowing red eyes staring up at me from my shadow. "Did you really think you could kidnap one of my best assassins without me noticing? I'll have to kill you for that."

Yes, because you weren't going to kill me before. "Apostle Ryan?"

The woman chuckles as I prepare to run. "You needn't be in such haste. I am nowhere near you, though I will come sometime today. Make sure you run fast, boy. If you get away quickly enough, I might just forget your face, and then you'll be safe."

Huh? Is she an idiot?

"What if I were to tell you I needed Yukiji?"

"Then that would be reason enough to kill you." Don't tell me...

"You'd kill someone you've never met before just for that?"

She gives me a wicked giggle, reminding me of a little boy plucking wings off of insects. "Don't be silly. I've met you now, haven't I?" Bingo. She's already forgotten the last time we met. Consequences of her magic?

"How did you find me?"

"Through my Magus Crown, of course! It lets me see through the Shadow World. So long as you have a shadow, I'll be able to find you, boy. There's nowhere to run. Just give me my slave back, and the score shall be settled. Believe me when I tell you you want me to be the one you deal with, and not my associates. They're a worse bunch than I."

She can't possibly mean all of the Apostles. I know for a fact that some of them are genuinely good people. Does she mean the woman in white? Does this mean there's someone else working with them? Not good. Dealing with two Apostles is scary enough, but three would just about be suicide.

I feel Ryan's presence vanish, allowing me to breathe normally once more. I bring my thumb to my lips, then bite down on its tip – an old habit of mine. It happens whenever I need to think on something.

The door room opens, and Raksha walks in for a third time, now breathing unsteadily. "Please, no more." Then he seems to notice my distress. "What is wrong?"

"An Apostle found us. We need to move."

He huffs out his chest as if I've just insulted him. "The djinn do not run from battles. I can handle this Apostle for you."

That takes me aback. "You'd do that?"

"With the urn, I would have no choice." He's right. He'd probably be able to at least take one of them on, giving me enough time to get strong enough to fight another. Shouldn't take too long, at the rate I'm going. Still...

"I'm not going to force you to fight."

"Why not?"

"It would be wrong." I shouldn't be telling him this. "I have some darker impulses, and need to keep them in check, or risk letting them loose. Ban – the man who was with us earlier – I almost killed him just to gain the trust of you djinn. I even went and attacked, and he only survived by being stronger than me. If I use you to solve all my problems, I'm gonna become reliant on it, and then that's all I'll know."

"You have changed the topic pretty swiftly toward the end there."

I look away. Now's not the time to have an in-depth discussion. "Besides, as long as they're able to get to the urn, they can turn you against me."

"Not so," Raksha says, walking over to the bed to sit on it. I notice a little bit of sweat on his forehead, so I take a handkerchief out of my back pocket and hand it to him. "Only he who has imprisoned me can control me, and only he can release me. Stripping you of the urn will simply make you lose your hold on me, but it would not give the hold to another," he explains, wiping himself off. I've last a good bit before getting hit by it, but now I'm now his constant shirtlessness is starting to hit me.

"We need to get you some clothes."

He frowns, confused. "But I like my clothes."

"Trust me. They're gonna be a problem. Now, let's go and find Yukiji. We need to move our asses." Ryan's coming.