“We need to get rid of him,” Rohaan said. "At this point, he’s just a waste of our gold. We need fighters, not wise men to help us grow crops.”

“That seems a bit harsh," Godric said. “Thaumaturges are arguably more valuable than fighters and are certainly rarer.”

“Why do you care,” Rohaan shot back. “He is weak and far below our station.”

“Everyone's below my station,” Godric quipped. “You're just lucky to have met me here and not in my palace.”

“If you two are going to bicker, do it somewhere else,” Azmina spat tired of Rohaan’s constant attempts to remove Brand from The Hall.

“You need to face the truth Mina,” Rohaan said forcefully. “He will never be more than what he is now. Take back the gold we spent and seal what little magic he has. You could always keep him as a servant.”

Azmina's power flared with her anger causing the pressure in the room to increase. Mana could have unexpected effects on the environment. This time, a crushing force was being directed in Rohaan's direction.

Azmina was sick of being told her Brand was worthless. He'd already completed several arcane mysteries that she herself was still working through.

“By the time we leave for Ram he’ll be a mage adept while you have yet to complete a single arcane mystery,” Azmina said.

Rohaan flexed his mana pushing against his sister's. “I'm not destined to be some robe-wearing weakling like him.”

Azmina took conscious control of her mana using it to slam into Rohaan's protective aura. His skin grew red as he strained, the air between the siblings began to shimmer with a rainbow of colors.

“Enough of this,” Godric said as if he was talking to toddlers. “Love, I know you don't like Brand, but having a thaumaturge working for you can only be a boon. My court mage gained his position solely because of his thaumaturgy skills.”

Azmina looked at Godric with surprise while Rohaan gave voice to his shock. “Only kings have court-.”

The door to the room opened, stealing the words from Rohaan's mouth. Brand walked in moving around the collection of unstable mana in the center of the room without a glance or comment. He went straight for a series of books he’d written notes in stashing them in a bag wrapped around his shoulder. Tanya entered behind him, pausing at seeing what looked like a magical dual of brute force.

“Are we interrupting something?” she asked timidly.

Azmina released her power allowing Rohaan to do the same. “Oh no, we were just having a chat.”

“I'm surprised to see you back on your feet after they were cut off not four hours ago,” Rohaan said, probably hoping for a raise out of Brand.

“The cuts were clean this time, so the healers reattached them with no need to regrow anything,” Brand replied, seeming to not care or realized that Rohaan was trying to shame him. Without another word, he walked back for the door pausing only a moment to address Azmina. “I'll be back in a few hours, don't wait up for me.” And then he was gone; back to whatever experiments he hoped would yield a viable weapon for tomorrow.

Tanya turned to follow him but was stopped when Azmina called to her. “I see you around Brandy often,” She said matter of factly then waited for Tanya's explanation.

“I’m, um, his friend,” she answered.

“Tanya, what are you waiting for?” Brand shouted from down the hallway.

Tanya looked in his direction then back at Azmina giving a polite bow. “I really have to go.” Then she left with a bottle of dark liquid in her hand.

“That girl has no idea how important she really is,” Godric huffed. “I bet if she were human, she’d make us bow to her.”

“Then why does she cling to Brandy?” Azmina asked. “She’s with him more than I am.”

“Don't you go getting jealous,” Godric said. “That man of yours belongs to you all night and won't stray for a child like Tanya. What concerns me is that he hasn't left the martial mysteries.” Godric pointed a finger at Azmina. “Or that you haven't forced him to leave yet. I mean come on Mina; he’s gotten used to losing limbs!”

Even Rohaan looked a bit squeamish at the pronouncement.

Azmina's hand brushed against her legs. That day, Brand lost his to a cultivator that used whips that cut like sharpened steel. It had not been the first time something like that happened and if he did not quit or find a way to defend himself, it would not be the last.

“Quitting never yields results,” Azmina said, quoting a young monk she had an uplifting conversation with a few weeks prior. “Killing means immediate sealing of your mana by the monks so no one will dare slay him. I’ll give up on him when he gives up on himself.”

Rohaan shuddered. “Then the next four years are going to be very painful.”

****

Candle lights seemed to dim as Elma entered a dark room. It was filled with orphans whose allegiance was hers not even a year ago. They'd all been stolen from her by the boy she had come to see.

He paid the biggest and strongest to join his ranks. With a sizable force behind him, more joined in hopes of sharing in the profits he brought in hand over fist.

Elma tried to force him to bend to her, to take charge, but his strange powers handled anything she tried.

It was as if every plan she had he knew soon as it was spoken. Even now she felt eyes all around her, but she couldn't see from where.

Elma stopped several passes from the boy in charge. His unnerving smile contrasted with his childish face creating a disturbing aura about him. His mere presence made her instinctively reach for her hidden dagger. Fear blossomed in her chest as she realized her knife was gone breaking her unbothered demeanor.

“Looking for this?” Uhtred said, spinning Elma's knife around his fingers. His smile grew as Elma fought herself to not show anger. She soon failed when a growl escaped her throat.

Something flew past her face cutting away a bit of her eyebrow and nothing else. The knife never found the ground; it returned the thrower’s hand ready to be used again if Elma showed her aggression once more.

“No need for that Astrid. Elma came to us for a favor. She’ll behave,” Uhtred said mockingly.

Astrid showed herself, falling from a roof covered in an unnatural darkness. Before reaching the floor, she pushed off the chairs and tables slowly dancing around the room.

“What can we do for ya?” Astrid asked as she floated by Elma's face.

Elma bit her lip in frustration. Why did Brand have to leave her with these two? All she had to do was leave him alone to be on his good side, or at least not his bad side.

Uhtred was nothing like his friend. Where Brand wanted to be the biggest most intimidating thing in the room Uhtred wanted to own the room itself. Worse was that he was also the most dangerous person in the room too.

His ability to manipulate darkness made fighting him a fool’s errand if you weren't outside when the sun was high. Elma tried her hand at it but fighting him only gained her a swollen shin and busted lip for her troubles.

She took a long moment before she spoke. “Can you get me a job on the outside?”

Uhtred stopped playing with the knife to look at her. “With my connections, I could get you something a lot better than being a whore and even something for Ooba if the gangster’s life isn’t for him, but you’re not going to need it.”

“The Woodlands won't -.”

“I’m not talking about that shit hole. I’m talking about where we all end up after leaving.”

Uhtred's words left Elma very confused. Being confused made her angry which brought her growl back without her realizing it. Several of Uhtred’s orphans moved forward until he raised his hand stopping them. He gestured for her to take a seat which she did, reluctantly.

“A few months back, I was planning to make my own little gang,” Uhtred said. “It was going to be made up of people like us who were raised in Saint Hilda’s. The first step of my plan was to see where most of us ended up after leaving, you know, recruit who was already on the streets. To my surprise, I could barely find anyone. The few that I did find came in two flavors. One was made up of kids I just knew were pieces of shit. Remember that one asshole Vrarn."

Elma tilted her head remembering the bastard. He was a lazy good-for-nothing that Magna had trouble handling. If not for the matron, Vrarn would have killed someone long before he left Saint Hilda’s.

“I found Vrarn and those like him in gangs or as servants if not dead.” Uhtred stared past Elma as if looking through a window. “The others were, well, only the three I could find weren't where I expected. Can't say I have a clue what they're doing, but they live behind Mur as if they were born there.”

“So, you think we're being given away after we leave this place,” Elma guessed.

“Not given,” Uhtred proclaimed. “We’re being recruited. So, you don't need a job offer, all you need to do, is not be a piece of shit when you walk out those doors for the last time.”

The door to the room wrenched open with a great heave knocking a girl that leaned against it to the side. The unnatural darkness in the room receded just as Magna stuck her head in to look around. The moment her eyes found Uhtred’s, she bellowed.

“Uhtred, it’s your turn to clean the dishes! Stop playing gangsters and guards and come to the kitchen, right now!”

A deep blush swelled on Uhtred’s pale face. “Yes, ma'am.”

****

“This is horse shit!” Ooba fumed. “The guards should have taken me! My focus is amazing!” He was failing to hold back tears as Magna hugged him.

“It will be ok Ooba,” she said and kissed him on the cheek. “You'll be fine. In no time someone will see how special you are. It’s just that electricity is hard to control. Most in Vellia won’t risk something so dangerous going awry.”

Ooba’s crying now came unrestrained. He put all his hopes on being a guard and never looked for an alternative. Now he was aimless with only the money Maga had given him.

Elma was also scared but Uhtred’s predictions gave her hope. The only question was how long Magna’s mysterious patron would take to rescue them. The worry burned at her insides until she could wait no longer, so she asked Magna directly.

“Miss Magna, when do your men come for us?”

A rare look of befuddlement crept onto Magna’s face. “My men?”

Elma lowered her voice a bit. “The men that will take us in if we’re good. How long will we be in the Nulls until they take us in?”

Magna laughed, wiping tears from her eyes. “That’s ridiculous. Girl, who told you that?”

For a moment, Elma felt embarrassed that she had believed Uhtred's lies. He sent her on her way without any help by spoon-feeding her a paper-thin story.

“Uhtred told me,” she admitted.

Magna’s laughter died slowly as she ran out of breath. “Did you tell this to anyone else?”

“Just Ooba, but he didn't believe me,” Elma said truthfully.

Magna squeezed Elma’s shoulder to comfort her. “Then no harm done. Let’s head outside to meet the others. It’s best to leave as a group for protection.”

The matron turned, heading for the entrance. Elma followed behind her with the hopelessness of the last year stronger than ever. She paused for a bit to dry her eyes then felt a shift in temperature as she opened them to pitch-black darkness.

Elma dropped closer to the wooden floor looking around but seeing nothing. “Uhtred is dead when I get my hands on him,” she thought knowing he was the only one with magic that could do anything close to what was happening to her.

A popping noise came from a few feet in front of her prompting her to move back.

“What the fuck!” screamed a voice that had to be Ooba’s. “What the fuck! What the fuck!”

“Shut up you idiot! Panicking will not help,” Elma said recognizing Ooba’s voice

Hearing her voice, Ooba ran towards crashing into her thanks to their shared blindness. He managed to get a hold of her hand pulling her in for a hug. “Thank the gods you're here. Magna said you left already.”

“Shush. If Magna told you I left then-,”

A second popping sound echoed through the space as a third person came into the room.

“Elma, where the hells are we?” Uhtred said, sounding far more angry than confused.

Elma put a hand on Ooba's mouth to keep him quiet as she listened for Uhtred's movement. The boy walked around then came to what Elma thought must be the room’s walls and knocked his fist against them softly.

“You have dark-vision,” Elma said.

“Of course I do,” Uhtred taunted with a grin in his words. “You think I’d rid myself of light if I didn't”

Elma didn’t care for Uhtred’s teasing. She was more interested in finding out what was happening. “What’s going brat?”

Uhtred hit the floor before he could answer. Then Ooba became heavy when his legs gave out. Elma let him down before she too felt the effects of what had put the boys to sleep. She fought against it twice as long as the others, but her eyes shut before she hit the ground.