Mayhara floated amongst the trees and dreamed about the future. Free of the cruel fate that had loomed over her childhood, the paths that spread before her dazzled and enticed. It felt like centuries of ash had been cleaned from a wall to reveal a vibrant mosaic full of colour and beauty. The world had changed.
Choice is a luxury, and the most luxurious option of all is to do nothing.Amongst the majesty of the forest, all that mattered was the present. Mayhara was content to just… drift. She tapped her tinminds and felt her senses expand, strengthening her connection to the unhurried life that surrounded her. Leaves rustled in the wind, birds flitted from branch to branch, and small creatures scurried amongst the litter.
Something much larger blundered through the undergrowth, leaving an uneasy silence in its wake. Mayhara sighed. Farwen always knew where to find her, and he always seemed offended by her persistent attempts to avoid their allotted time together. She would do her duty someday of course, but she saw no reason to hurry—she could memorise the books at any time. For now she would much prefer to bask in the glow of her freedom.
Even so, she didn't want to get into too much trouble. Mayhara pushed against a nearby branch, launching herself into a downwards drift while still filling her ironmind to keep her weight low. She landed softly on her feet close to where Farwen's footsteps had stopped, and returned her weight and senses to their normal levels. She stepped out from behind a pair of trees, and her excuses died before they could be voiced.
A stranger stood before her—a hulking man with a bruised face and matted hair full of twigs. His dull clothes were torn and bloodied, and he stank of smoke and sweat. He stared at her with wild eyes, and for a moment he seemed as terrified of her as she was of him. Mayhara took a step backwards, and prepared to tap speed at any moment.
The stranger glanced around wildly, breathing heavily and cursing under his breath. His attention returned to Mayhara, and his eyes narrowed. "You're not a devil. Are you with them?"
Mayhara blinked. "Devil? With them? What is that supposed to mean?"
The man seemed unable speak evenly, stumbling over his words and shifting in intensity at random. "They're here, and all they want is blood. If you're not one of them, then you need to run. They want death. I don't know if anyone else got out. You should come with me, I think."
The haunted tone of the man's voice made Mayhara shiver, and she edged further away from him while he rambled on. Something was wrong with him, clearly. The elders would know how to help him, but even with her metalminds she might have trouble handling him for long enough to bring him back to the city by herself. Better to fetch someone who could help her than try to bring him back alone. They could easily track him in the forest, and in his state he probably wouldn't get far.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand. Please wait here, I'm going to get help."
Before he could reply, Mayhara ran. She tapped speed, draining almost her entire steelmind to put as much distance behind her as possible. She reached the edge of the forest in a blur, travelling a half-hour's walk in a matter of seconds. She marked her trail by planting a stick in the ground, and set out to find help.
***
Ash fell from the sky.
Mayhara stood at the top of a rise, looking down towards Tathingdwen in disbelief. Smoke rose from the city, combining with the ashfall to paint the entire sky with a shifting grey that obscured the distance. Several blocks of buildings on the outskirts near to her were being consumed by flames, yet she could see no-one attempting to put them out. It must be even worse in the center for them to abandon entire blocks.
She ran down the hill and into the city, storing her sense of smell in one of her tinminds to make the acrid odour of the fires bearable. The smoke made her eyes water, and the spasms of the dying buildings made it impossible to pick out any sounds of life.
The fires seemed unevenly spread, leaving some areas devastated while others were untouched. She worked her way around the worst of the damage, hoping to find someone—anyone—but the tall and graceful buildings were eerily empty.
She picked her way southwards, and reached the crossroads at center of the city without seeing a single person. The only explanation she could think of was an evacuation, which would have taken the city's residents southwards down the canals. However, such drastic action made no sense. The city was damaged, but it was not lost. The Terris people were used to hard work, she was sure they could have saved the city from this.
Her pace slowed, and she glanced around warily. Maybe the man in the forest hadn't been as crazy as he had seemed. What in the world could he have meant by 'devils' though? She took comfort in the presence of her metalminds - iron, steel, tin, pewter, zinc. They would protect her against the unknown. Copper would be little help, and she had always hated filling her goldminds.
Perhaps she should use the rest of her speed, follow the canals and hope to catch up with people further south, assuming that's where they were heading. That would mean abandoning the man who was wandering in the forest to the north. Either way, she couldn't help him without finding others first. Decision made, she took one last look around the square, turning back towards the north, and paused uncertainly.
A figure approached, shrouded in swirls of ash and smoke.
"Are you lost, child?" The shadow's voice was gritty and distorted, and seemed devoid of emotion.
Its features resolved into grotesque clarity as it advanced. It was unnaturally tall, its body cloaked in tattered fabric. It was completely bald and its forehead and temples were covered by intricate tattoos, but those were not the details that froze Mayhara into place. The creature had two gigantic metal spikes where its eyes should have been.
It's not some kind of devil. Worse - it's an inquisitor. A chill went down Mayhara's spine, her heart began to race, and she shrank back involuntarily.
The inquisitor smiled. "If you are not lost yet, you soon will be."
Mayhara tapped zinc, speeding up her thoughts. Most of her metalminds were small, and had pitiful reserves that would be quickly depleted. Surprise was her only hope, her only chance.
"Yes, I'm lost. Would you help me find my people?" She walked towards the inquisitor, every instinct screaming at her to run in the opposite direction.
A trace of confusion passed over the inquisitor's face, replaced by an even broader smile. At the last moment—just beyond arm's reach—Mayhara tapped the last of her speed and strength. Her muscles screamed in protest as she leaped forward and knocked the inquisitor over, who cried out in pain and anger.
Before it could retaliate, Mayhara threw herself on top of the fallen inquisitor and tapped iron.
She had four ironminds, each far larger than the average metalmind. For months she had spent as much time as she could floating amongst the trees, lost amongst her daydreams. The force stored through hundreds of hours of weightlessness was unleashed in the blink of an eye, crushing the inquisitor savagely.
Mayhara stood up shakily, blood dripping from her clothes. The inquisitor's corpse lay at her feet, almost unrecognisable. Even the spikes in its body had been flattened into discs. Dizzied by the sight, and by the realisation that she had survived, Mayhara stumbled away from the body and started moving to the south again.
She tapped gold to heal the scrapes and bruises she had suffered, then tapped zinc, allowing herself to think more clearly again and plan ahead. If they feared the inquisitors, her people would likely travel away from the canals. They must still be alive, otherwise she would have seen some evidence of death in amongst the rubble. Hopefully their numbers would slow them down enough for her to catch up.
She looked up, and froze mid-stride. Directly in her path, three figures stood waiting in the smoke. Shaking with fear, Mayhara crept towards a side street as quietly as possible.
One of the figures dropped a coin, and they shot into the air, diverging slightly as they rose. Mayhara watched in awe as they soared through the sky, then in terror as all three shifted direction in midair and fell directly towards her.
She had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and nothing useful left in her metalminds.
Perhaps choices aren't such a luxury after all.