The Glass Thief

Chapter Three

VIA

"Come with us quietly, now," one of my captors jeered, advancing slowly with a length of rope in his hands. "Nobody has to get hurt."

My head still ringing from where I'd hit the floor, I desperately tried to think of a way out.

But there were five of them, and only one of me.

"I--I don't have any money," I tried.

Back at the counter, Alben snorted. "Liar. You were going to buy a book."

Damn. Before I could think of something else to say, the man with the rope told me, "He's not after your money anyway. He wanted you."

I blinked in confusion. What does that even mean?

And more importantly, who was he?

I struggled to get to my feet, but the man planted his boot in the middle of my back and twisted my arms behind me. The coarse rope wrapped around my wrists.

"Leave me alone!" I screamed, but my captor only laughed and tied the knots tighter.

Tarah wouldn't be back in time to save me.

But I still had one weapon left.

"I warned you," I whispered, then called on the magic of Tarah's Pendant. Even now, the marble-sized bead of glass itched against my skin.

Its sigil was Apoy. Fire.

The Pendant blazed with light, moments before a tendril of flame incinerated the rope at my wrists. Charred strands fell away, making my captor yell with pain and surprise as he jumped back.

As soon as he was gone I rolled to my feet, grimacing at the pain in my wrists.

Perhaps I should've used the Pendant before they tied me up...

Trying to sound braver than I felt, I looked all the men in the eye.

"Let me go. Or I'll use this Pendant on all of you."

There was a moment of silence before, to my despair, Alben scoffed.

"I might not be an Academy scholar like you, missy, but I know enough sigilcraft to tell when a Pendant's magic is almost up."

He smiled. "After that little trick you just pulled, you won't have enough fire left to really hurt us."

My heart sank as I realised the fake bookseller was right--again.

The amount of magic held in a sigil depended on its size, with larger sigils able to hold more magic.

With a sigil as small as the one on this Pendant, there wasn't much more magic to draw upon.

But as the kidnappers advanced on me once more, I did the only thing I could.

I let the rest of the Pendant's magic go.

As soon as I did, I felt something inside me release--as if a part of me that hadn't fit quite right before finally fell into place. My palms began to itch, then burn, as if the flesh was about to melt from my bones.

I gasped, reeling backwards as twin streams of fire blazed from my hands.

The thieves stumbled away, cursing loudly. Alben's face was a mask of shock lit by burning light.

The flames hit the nearest shelf, which went up in a whoosh as the fake books caught alight.

Fire licked up the store's flimsy walls. Within moments, the room had been transformed into a blazing inferno.

Horrified, I commanded the Pendant to stop. When that didn't work, I tried to clench my hands shut, but the fire poured between my fingers like it was coming out of me.

"He was right," I heard Alben say over the roar of the flames. "She truly is the--"

The burning shelf finally collapsed, burying the old man beneath the folly of his trade.

"Run!" one of the other men shouted. "The whole place is coming down!"

I tried to take a step forward, but my legs gave way and I fell to my knees.

Fire still blazed out of me, seeming to leach all the strength from my body, as the building burned down around me.