13 Chapter 13: memory
4 years ago
The smog clouded her nostrils as Rain pulled herself through the crowd. Hundreds had gathered to the western gates of the alienage, and hundreds more were still gathering. For three days the announcement of employment filled the streets carried by public officials with dry voices and elaborate styled clothing. They were the omnipotent arbiters, the so called aristocracy of the alienage. Overly pompous, and equally diluted. Despite there promises, none of them were present at the courtyard or gatehouses on that day.
Her height gave her an advantage as she looked in a sea of pressing elbows and matted grease stained hair. Unlike the horde she wasn't there to compete for one of the few job openings being offered. She was looking for a very particular head among the crowd.
The noise was deafening as confusion and cries poured into the air. To be offered a job at the tannery was rare amongst the alienage, the positions like treasure. To be employed was to be offered real money, to be allowed to leave the alienage for days at a time.
The privilege alone was enough for most to want to apply, to scrounge any living outside of the alienage confines was a luxury few saw. Rain wasn't a fool, she knew it wasn't meant to be for her. She would never leave the walls, not that she didn't want too.
She found her mother's dark hair amid the crowd, or at least she thought she did. She found the crowd reluctant to part their way, their clamoring impossible to beseech.
She called out to her from the distance, her mother didn't hear her. It was necessary she stop her from getting any closer to the bosses at the gate. Under no circumstances could her mother work, despite how desperate they had become.
Just three days ago her mother complained of difficulty breathing. Shortly afterward she was coughing up blood. When the overseers proclaimed the opportunity for work Rain had offered to try to join. Her mother protested, she was too young and would most certainly be abused.
"That place isn't for young pretty girls like you my darling, better I go if it must be one of us." After days of argument she got her mother to agree not to attempt to sign up. When morning came however she discovered her mother had broken her promise.
She cried for her mother to come back, or at least to gain her attention. She watched in horror as her mother made it to the bosses for inspection, Rain was still in the opposite side of the yard.
She prayed to the gods, the ever chosen, even the human goddess for her mother to be rejected. She might be old but was still strong enough and skilled enough to work with leather. But the work would most certainly kill her faster than anything.
The boss looked at her mother as he did with dozens of others. He wasn't impressed, in fact he seemed annoyed. The lone human was a brute of a man, a square solid face with a fat nose. He had a ring on every finger and the yellow sash around the vest of his tunic was soaked in jewels. He gave one look to Rains mother and waved her away. Instead he pointed to others in the crowd, mostly younger women. Rain didn't understand why the boss looking for employees was only choosing the prettiest and least starved elf girls in the crowd. As he chose the women from the crowd his eyes gazed further out. He looked at her, his crooked smirk sent shivers down Rains spine. Her height betrayed her, and the human boss pointed his finger to her.
Even at such great distance, Rain knew she was being chosen for whatever qualifies as work. But his smirk told her she should avoid it. Immediately after pointing to her however a hand smacked him. Hard enough to brush aside his orders and enrage him. Rain's mother had stood up for her daughter.
Laying hand in a human was expressively forbidden. With the back of his hand he hurt her mother, hitting her hard enough to collapse on the ground.
One would think that alone would be enough to silence the crowd...far from it. A horde of vengeful elves descended on the man causing mass panic. The city guard stormed through the gates, their spears drawn.
It would become to be known as the West Gate Massacre. Hundreds would be slain as example. But the boss never got the vengeance he wanted most or the prize he spied from afar. The old woman and beautiful daughter had freed themselves from his grasp amid the chaos. A noble human is known to quickly forget about a troublesome elf however, and soon moved on to the others he had kidnapped that day for his own enjoyment.
A few days after the massacre Rain found the courage to ask her mother why she had tried to find work at the tannery.
"Because one day you must leave this place, and if it has to be over my dead bones than so be it."
The words frightened her. She gave her apology for being picked out in the crowd, her mother simply smiled, "I know it's hard to understand now my daughter, but you have been singled out since birth to do more than languish in this prison. One day you will see, no the world will see just who you are."
"What do you mean mother? Who am I"?
"You are a fire that is untamable," she answered.
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Present day
The fire erupted and consumed her aggressor. The knights blade burned and was repelled by the sheer velocity of the incinerating blast. She didn't stop there, she pushed back, her arm outstretched with raw fury in her eyes.
Olsen had not been prepared for such magic, his armor saved him from imminent demise. Instead it had encased him like a pot of boiling water.
He screamed as the heat melted his skin. Somehow he had the strength, or discipline to throw himself backward. He landed on the stairs, the crunching sound of broken armor plates intermingling with the sound of scorching rock.
The first time she used her magic she nearly fainted, this time it felt invigorating as the magic poured through her. She poured too much into her casting, the fire didn't relent but instead grew brighter. It impacted the ceiling and walls above burning through ancient wards and shattering protective seals.
That only made her want to use her power more, she felt the vellum grow and pour more strength into her. It felt unlike anything she ever experienced. Her hand became a fist, and the fires slowed until eventually dying.
Free from the wards, the vellum had expanded unmolested. The marking covered her body quickly, making up for lost time. The training Zane had given her to focus and slow its growth was abandoned. It expanded to most of her back, and long strands of elaborate markings cupped around her right breast and the right side of her torso. She felt it extend to reach the base of her opposite shoulder as well.
As that happened, her skin grew darker becoming more grey. The mark started emitting a violent purple glow.
"You are a monster, I should've killed you the moment you stepped out of that wing." Rain could hear the pain in Olsens words as he spoke them.
"Yes you should have," Rain extended her hand again, ready to light the air on fire.
Sir Olsen, unwilling to die retrieved a vial from his pouch and casted it to the ground. As soon as it impacted it created a shockwave that vibrates the air and blinded her. Rain shielded her eyes from the sudden light as the noise of the detonation briefly made her deaf.
The ringing in her ears was unbearable, but as Rain refocused she knew he was gone. Sir Olsen had retreated further into the catacombs.
Rain put her tunic back on, and with her head spinning she grabbed and fastened the leather vest. She barely had time to catch her breath or refocus before the sounds of screams and metal against metal bled through the ringing. She knew Sir Olsen wasn't alone, the ambush had been sprung.
Rain grabbed her dagger, and ran into the hallway that would lead to the commons above. She took one moment to glance at her unfortunate lover, she realized she actually never learned his name.
As she crossed into hallways with their wards intact she felt her power dampened, the flow of magic nearly ceased all together. She didn't like that, but suddenly remembered what Zane had told her, "It will try to consume you." The feeling she experienced before was so pure, so powerful...she wanted to feel it again. Was that wrong? Even if it meant ultimately becoming something like the creature that gave her the mark, was it worth it?
All of this went through her mind and more as she continued running up the stairway and into the sound of slaughter.
