Interlude I: Kala

It barely took a few minutes for Kala to pack up the necessities. It helped that there weren't too many things that belonged to her or her brother in that house. Whatever valuables there were had all been sold off for pennies by her father—none of that hurt as much as the hard-earned coins he'd cleaned out. Still, that drunken crackhead did not know everywhere she had them hidden. At least she had enough to get her and her brother out of this hellhole. From then on it would be up to her to make a living. Well, nothing she hadn't already done here, though it would mean she'd have to begin from scratch again.

There was no shortage of work, especially for the awakened. With her Noble Class prowess, anyone would hire her. The problem was not getting into anything nefarious—something she had great trouble staying away from here in Karmir.

Honestly, Kala would not be too against it so long as she could get away from their abusive father, and keep her little brother from being drawn into the same life as her. Still, it would be better to get a job where she did not have to worry about waking up with a knife plunged into her chest.

Making sure the daggers were hidden within her hooded cloak, she crept to her brother's room for the most difficult of tasks—convincing him to leave with her. Runi was a couple of years younger than her. Only six summers strong, he still had the innocence about him, sleeping so soundly as if the world were not breaking around him.

Kala exhaled sharply and patted his forehead, whispering, "Runi, wake up. Runi."

He mumbled incoherently in his sleep, turning away. She had to jostle him a little before he opened his eyes.

"Kala." His voice was low, still sleepy. He noted the hooded cloak she was wearing through bleary eyes and said, "Are you going to work? You said you would not work for Shac."

"I am not," she said. "Come on, get ready. You're coming with me."

"Right now?" He sat up straighter, looking towards the window where no sunlight filtered through the worn-out blinds. "Blighted earth, it's still dark outside. Where are we going at this hour?"

"To Aunt Ramona's." Kala lied.

Perhaps she could go to Aunt Ramona, but her father would likely search there first, and her aunt, despite all her well wishes, was not nearly built to face their father and the thugs he had got himself involved with. If it was up to her—which it was—Kala would like to leave Thera completely, go as far away as possible, perhaps even to Nayanda, where the Oracle Academy was. So long as Runi became a pupil of the academy, she would not have to worry over his safety anymore. But that was easier said than done. Ignoring the fact that the City of Stars was half a world away—that she would have to cross either the Deadlands, or the Chasma, or both to get there—Runi still lacked proper guidance in his skills, despite how powerful his gift was.

"Come now." She handed him a tunic and a cloak to wear over it. "Don't ask questions. I will tell you all about it on the way."

Yet Runi did not seem to hear her, eyeing the adjacent room. "What about Father?"

"I have spoken to him beforehand," she lied again. "He's still asleep. You know how he gets if you wake him early."

A shiver ran down her brother's spine, and he did not question her anymore. After he quickly changed into the hooded clothes, Kala did a swift inspection of her father's room. That old bastard was still snoring, the room wafting a thick stench of ecstasy.

Kala did not even give a second look at the home she had lived in all her life as she led her little brother out in the dead of the night. The sunrise was still a few hours away. With her capability, it should not pose too many challenges to sneak past the wall and the guards inconspicuously.

They walked at a normal pace, pausing only when she noted a patrolling guard. Half an hour at this pace, and the thirty-foot-tall grand wall came into view. It stood nigh invisible despite the light constructs beaming every couple of hundred metres, with a couple of guards posted atop the wall. A whole squadron was posted at the gate at west front. But of course, she was not going to cross through that and put their name on the registry. That would invite unwanted attention, and attention was the last thing she needed.

"We're not going through the gate?" Runi whispered, having the tact to understand what she was attempting.

"No."

Kala crept south, clutching his arm. She'd already noted an opening there, even used it countless times to slip by. If it were only her, she would be gone by now.

She led him to the edge of the great wall, towards where it met the hills. Kala only stopped, noting an unguarded staircase carved into the wall. She could not even see any silhouettes on the wall, either.

I can't be that lucky. Her gaze drifted in all directions to make sure she was not making a mistake.

Convinced, she climbed the stairs, pulling her brother with her. She did not announce her presence once she reached the top, but peeked her head over to make out four figures playing dice on the side, under the only light construct. The light could not reach her, but Kala was sure if she made a move, at least with her brother, it would be noticed by their sharp senses.

The sensible thing was to wait. An opportunity would present itself soon enough. She gestured a finger over her lips to Runi to keep silent, and lay latched onto the stairs with him by her side.

Minutes passed, and their game came to no end, their barking boisterous laughter filling the night. Half an hour later, they collected their things to line up on the barricade over the wall. Kala peeked, unsure what they were doing, and as she figured it out she almost facepalmed in disgust.

"You lots got no chances today," said the only diminutive guard. "I haven't had a chance to offload since noon."

"You did that last Torsday as well, Rakib," barked another.

"You better see it off to a mender before your prick explodes."

"Kek, that would be a poor way to go, before even giving away your maidenhead."

"You daft lots know nothing, I tell you..."

Kala forced herself not to listen to these fools in their pissing contest, and led her brother, picking him up on her back. She moved like a housecat, enabled by her gift. Kala felt soft as a feather. Well, not with Runi on her back, but she managed to go unnoticed by the pissing lots and cross to the staircase on the other side.

She did not let go of him even there. The staircase on that side was broken down for the last few steps. She waited for them to finish and go their way before she finally climbed down and jumped.

"Oh, you boneheaded pissants!" A loud voice clamoured from the top of the wall. "How many times have I warned against pissing there. My nose is bleeding with that reek. The Oracle knows what shit you lots drink to stink more than an Ironhorned goat."

"The problem is not with our piss, Jemma, but your overzealous nose and that stinky-ass gift of yours."

"At least you should wear something if you cannot turn off your gift."

"Easy for you to say," barked the man named Jemma. "Unlike you, I take— Huh, who goes there?"

Kala waited no longer. She made the jump and dashed before the glaring torchlight flashed upon her. Runi hoisted his arms around to cling to her.

"Who goes there?" More lights blared in their direction. Kala even heard some footsteps behind her.

Kala's heart remained steady. She channelled all her power to dash away, knowing so long as she overtook the light, they could completely fall into the overwhelming darkness. She didn't quite enable her gift, however. While dampening her weight had its advantages in speed and flexibility, it also dampened her strength. The boost was not effective when she was carrying a half-grown boy on her back. So far, only the torches managed to close in, then finally, she found a tallish silhouette standing in her path.

Kala did not slow down. She enabled her gift—not to decrease her weight, but to propel it considerably as she lunged. She did not even attack, but the man staggered away as if being crushed by a battering ram. He certainly was not prepared for it. That was the last obstacle she faced before she pressed onwards into the hills. A couple of kilometres more into the nightly obscurity, and she would lose them all.

With her gift and at the middle tier of her Noble Class, Kala could outpace and defend against most guards. The problem was when more than a couple of them joined against her. Thankfully, it did not feel like many of them were giving chase.

Half an hour of running had left her heart racing, but Kala only stopped when she spotted a hidden natural alcove-like space in the hill.

"Kala," her brother voiced. "We are not going to Aunt Ramona's, are we?"

"Ahh," she let out an exasperated breath. "No. We are not."

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"Then where?"

"Somewhere." She met his gaze and clasped his palm. "Somewhere far, far away from Karmir, from Thera. Somewhere Father won't find us."

"But. . ."

"I'll explain once we've crossed the hills."

After a minute, they were on the road again. Kala had been in this wilderness many times, but even still she found it challenging to make out the distance. The first rays of the sun beamed through the peaks rather quickly as they quickened their pace. Kala would have liked to be crossing the nearby village by now. At least they were not caught.

The sunlight was still not bright enough to illuminate the land, and the obscuring mist did its best to hide them. The only problem was that it also made it difficult for her to traverse the hills. She knew her way through, being familiar with the terrain. Then an oppressive chill weighed down on her shoulders, and only then did she realise they were heading the wrong direction. She did not have the least confidence of crossing the Chasma.

The sunlight filtered brightly by the time they overtook the correct path.

"Kala, I'm hungry."

"Hold on, I have some bread saved in the bags." She opened one of the sacks and retrieved a loaf to hand to her brother. The waterskin hardly held much water. Thankfully, she could refill it at the village. They would need more rations for the way, but Kala did not believe she'd find much in there, not at this hour at least.

"So where are we going?" her brother asked once again.

"Somewhere we don't have to worry about Father beating us for even the smallest mistakes."

"Can we really?" There was hope in his tone as well as horror. "Mother tried..."

He did not complete his sentence. He did not need to. Their mother had tried to escape their father as well. She had taken Runi with her when he was but a mere child. Unfortunately, her attempt was pathetic enough that she did not even cross the wall. The old bastard brought her back by pulling her hair.

"Don't worry," she assured, tousling his damp curly hair. "I have fully mapped out the way. Before that old drunk even wakes up, we'll be well out of his reach."

Only a handful of people seemed to be awake when they reached the village. That mattered little, as she navigated to find a well to refill the waterskin. With what she had, they could go on for another day easily—two days if she stretched it. She was prepared to go unfed, though there was little chance of that if everything went well.

Kala stowed away the waterskin after helping herself to a bellyful of water. "Runi," she asked, holding the wooden bucket to her brother. "Drink. We won't have more chances on the way."

Runi drank obediently as she held it before his lips. But as soon as she dropped the bucket, Kala froze. Only a dozen paces ahead of them stood a portly man. A savage look crossed his expression as soon as his eyes darted to them.

"Father." A gasp left Runi's lips as he quickly tried to hide behind her.

Kala could not fathom how that drunken bastard had managed to cross such a great distance and appear before them. But that mattered little as a violent aura radiated from the man and he barrelled towards them.

"You disobedient children," he shouted, "it seems the freedom I gave you was too uplifting. From now on, I'll have you chained if I must."

"That's some freedom you speak of, old bastard," Kala said, gritting her teeth, "attempting to sell your own children to slavery."

His eyes narrowed, staring at her unblinkingly. Kala did not fall back, meeting his gaze with equal parts hostility.

His gaze shifted to her brother. "Runi, come over here right away while I'm still being polite."

Kala could practically feel her brother shaking. His body reacted to the commanding tone and he stepped forward. She caught him before he got another step.

"Go with you?" She glared at her father. "So that you can sell us like slaves? I have seen awful human beings in the few years I have lived, but even amongst them—to sell your own children into slavery—you are worse scum than a blighted demon's spawn."

"You do not understand," the old shit stammered. "I only looked for good work for you to invest your capabilities in."

Kala did not want to be angry, as anger would always push her to make the wrong choices, but hearing the bastard spit lies made her fume all over. The good work he had found for her was amongst thieves and local thugs. It was a genuine miracle that she had managed to keep herself alive this long. But there was no way she was letting him do that to her little brother.

He took another step. "Runi is gifted. With you and him working there, we will get rid of all our debts in no time."

"And what will you do?" she swore. "Loan more coins and waste them all on ecstasy, florins, and whores?"

A wave of aura burst out from her father, but Kala remained stalwart. "You do not understand," he barked. "If I don't pay back the debts, they'll... they'll kill us."

"I hope that was the only truth I heard out of your mouth, because we are not returning with you."

He stared at them, his aura at boiling point, only waiting to bear down. Kala brandished her own aura, ready for anything her father could throw at them.

"You've left me with no choice."

With that, he made his move. It was surprising that the bloated man still had it in him to move that fast. But Kala was no slouch. He might have been a seasoned hunter in his heydays, but he was merely a husk of that man now—high on Floren.

Increasing her weight fourfold, she met his fist, crashing her fingertips against it with a blow far more powerful than he had known her capable of delivering. He was flung backwards, blood lacerating his fist. He steadied himself, looking at her in a new light.

"You have been hiding your strength, I see."

She patted her brother on the shoulders. "Runi, go hide behind that house."

"No, Kala, I—"

"Runi, go. Please."

As her brother obeyed, she stepped forward, dampening her weight to shoot towards her father. A crashing aura blasted out from him as soon as she reached him. Kala saw it coming and flipped over to avoid it, drawing her hidden daggers to slash at his back.

"Gah! You blighted whore!" He staggered towards her.

Kala met him without reserve. His bare fist met her daggers, ripping through his fingertips and wrists. She could not admit how much she enjoyed hurting him.

"Bastard! You are killing me. You are killing your own father!" the man shouted at the top of his lungs, rousing more than a few villagers from their sleep to witness all the commotion.

"That's enough shit out of your mouth, you miserable prick."

She quickly shifted between dampening and heightening states, dealing more wounds on her father. There was no room for mistakes. In her dampened state, not only was her strength diminished, but the defence of her body was decreased to a greater degree. Any wound she received in that form would be devastating. Unfortunately, despite his awful form and control, his deranged gift and surging vitality led him to grow more ferocious as the battle wore on.

Then she heard a scream.

"Kala!" She turned and found her brother was captured by a man, a man of foreign ethnicity. His brown hair and blue eyes indicated him likely to be an Alberian. But why would an Alberian—

Kala had no time to assess the situation when a mad fist clubbed the back of her head, flinging her away. Even in that heightened state, a devastating agony burned through her skull, making her dizzy. As she oriented herself, she found her father standing before her, uncorking a vial to pour some drug tonic into his mouth. At once, his aura exploded, surging in red plumes in all directions.

Kala had a desperate urge to vomit. A powerful kick sent her tumbling backwards. She could only hold onto her heightened state to endure it all.

"I should have taught you this lesson long ago, before you became such an insolent whore!"

She barely staggered back onto her feet when another punch crashed towards her gut. Kala barely managed to avoid it when another kick rammed her down the path, slamming her against a hovel and breaking its wooden beams in the wake.

Her mind screamed, and the only voice that broke through the echoing blur was her brother's cry: "Kala! Run away!"

She stood up once more, decreasing her weight to hasten herself. However, her father's speed almost matched hers now. He abused her like never before, uncaring whether she lived or died. Kala could only return to her heightened state, hoping the resilience it granted would outlast the drug he had taken.

"You are just like your whore mother!" He plunged his foot into her face, already disfigured, with her nose broken, a tooth or two knocked out, blood and snot gushing out. "No, you are far more audacious. You even tried to murder your own father. Some luck I had to father an ungrateful spawn like you."

He caught her by the hair and lifted her up into the air, her legs dangling aimlessly. Kala barely managed to keep her eyes trained on him. Any grasp over her ability escaped her as her arms struggled to reach towards him. She stammered a couple of solid jabs, but the mad son of a whore stood like a demon incarnate.

"Come now, Yahel," a heavy-accented voice said from behind—likely his foreign companion. "You won't get a fair price for damaged goods."

But her bastard of a father didn't listen to reason. He flung her by the hair, plunging an unstoppable punch into her solar plexus. Kala coughed up dark blood, her breath disoriented as though the air couldn't figure out which way to come in or where to leave.

"Are you going to defy me again?" A kick to her sternum sent her back to the hard earth, but even there he chased her. "Are you going to run away again?" Another kick, then a punch, then he strangled her neck to lift her into the air.

"I'll teach you a lesson your body won't forget. Even if your mind could think of a shrewd plan to run away, your body won't be able to."

"Father, stop," Runi's voice cried. "Please! Stop!"

"That's quite enough, Yahel."

Even the man tried to stop him, but he rammed a merciless punch to shut him up. He threw her at him, screaming at the top of his lungs, "Shut up! Just for a few coins, you think you own me? Me, Yahel Al Rakin!"

That gave Runi his freedom. She hoped he'd choose to flee. Their father would crash soon. If he was lucky, perhaps he'd get away. Instead, he chose the worst outcome. He came to her rescue.

"Step back, boy!" The madman glared with bloodshot eyes.

"No!" Runi cried, standing before her protectively. "I'll listen to anything you say. Don't hurt her."

No, Runi, flee! Kala cried helplessly, watching as the robust arm swung at his juvenile face, hurtling him aside. "NO!"

Kala staggered to her limbs to crawl towards him, but once again the bastard strangled her by the neck, squeezing the life out of her.

"I said, don't hurt her!" Runi screamed.

Their father—the madman—froze. Not by the words, nor by the aura that swept past him. He froze as a rain of sharp projectiles struck him. Shards of glass, as small as fingertips to as long as her wrist, hurtled towards him without warning and embedded in his back. He shrieked as he finally registered the pain. But more sharp splinters rained down on him, plunging deeper, even penetrating him. Even Kala was not unhurt, though she escaped most of the blows, shielded by her father's massive form.

He fell, utterly mutilated, with hundreds of sharp glass splinters sticking out from his body like a porcupine's quills. Kala barely managed to escape being crushed beneath him.

Runi's scream had stopped, as had the rain of glass. Not because his anger was satiated, but because he had run out of essence to channel. He too staggered on his legs and fell to his knees, his gaze darting from what he had done to their father, then to her.

"Runi." She quickly staggered over to embrace him. "It's all right. You are fine."

Her brother still stared at the disfigured form. "Is he... dead?"

"No," she mumbled, unsure herself. We aren't that lucky.

Unfortunately, she couldn't say the same about the bystander villagers. As her eyes darted all around, she found more than half a dozen corpses with similar clear projectiles sticking out of their bodies. Runi's cast was powerful. Unfortunately, anger had clouded his judgment, and he was not skilled at handling his gift in any case. Despite having all his anger channelled at their father, the bystanders had suffered the awry attack. Even those struck by half a shard were devastatingly injured, while more than half a dozen lay dead on the cold earth. The foreign man was among them, though he was clearly still living.

Kala made sure to block the view from her brother, turning him away. "Quick, we need to leave."

Mustering her power, she kicked the Alberian man in the face before darting in one direction. She had to pull Runi, despite barely having any strength to stand herself. The few villagers that still lived had already run away after one look at her.

Kala was in pain, not only in her body, but she made certain to pull Runi away from all the corpses as they made their way out.