In Another Life || Kanej

Illusions

Kaz and Jordie Rietveld strolled down the street, excitedly heading towards the edge of town where professional Suli acrobats would be performing that night. The tickets had been Jordie's seventeenth birthday present to his brother.

Kaz loved all things seemingly magical, and in a way the impossible balance acrobats learned was like a magic trick. It was precise and took practice. It seemed impossible to anyone but those who knew it's secrets.

The tent was large and purple, appearing to glow with lantern light, golden against the starry canvas backdrop.

Voices floated around as people excited discussed what they might see, the acts that would be performed. Kaz studied the lanterns that looked to be floating, picking out the nearly invisible wires.

This was his kind of place.

He and Jordie settled into their seats, talking enthusiastically. The lights dimmed and a friendly looking Suli man walked out into the center of the stage.

The show started and Kaz was in his element. There was all sorts of seemingly impossible deceptions, carefully practiced acts and tricks.

But then the first part ended and another act came on. 

Training his eyes on the ladder he could barely make out on the dark stage, Kaz saw a small shadow moving soundlessly up it, climbing towards the top where a high wire was strung.

"No trick like this has ever been attempted before, and certainly never by someone so young!" The Suli man cried, gathering the audience attention and building suspense and Kaz watched the shadow continue up the ladder. "Above you, behold the terrifying high wire." 

A spotlight came on, lighting the wire so it looked like the frailest skein of cobwebs strung across the tent. Kaz knew lighting tricks, and this was certainly an impressive one.

"Gentlemen, take your lady's hand in yours." The announcer called to the audience. "See how slender her fingers are? Now imagine, if you will, trying to walk across something so slender, so fragile as that!" 

This man certainly knew how to get the crowd's attention, Kaz thought.

"Who would dare such a thing? Who would dare to defy death itself?" The spotlight illuminating him on the stage rose, to show a Suli girl barely younger than Kaz standing atop the pole, hands on her hips. She looked radiant in the light, her dark eyes and hair shone darker as the lantern light seemed to swell with the crowd's excitement.

"I will!" She shouted, and Kaz was enthralled. The audience gasped collectively, horrified at the idea.

"But wait, no, this can't be right," the man said, now offstage, his voice reverberating around with their shock, "a little girl?"

The audience went wild. Women swooned and a man stood up, calling out to try and stop the show.

But the show didn't stop, and the girl stepped out onto the high wire.

It was because Kaz was watching so intently that he saw the moment she ceased to be a girl atop a pole and became a creature with wings, traversing the wire as if that was where she belonged. Her steps were confident and sure, just the same as if she was walking on solid ground.

She was almost halfway across, the audience caught up in her act, breath collectively held as she walked, all eyes fixed on her.

Kaz saw her shoulders roll as if she was preparing for something, and then her steps faltered. He felt his heart drop slightly as she stumbled, trying to regain her balance. Then, he scolded himself for falling for it. He'd seen the signs that meant it was all part of the act, her shoulders rolling and steps slowing, but he was swept up in in all, and he almost believe for a second that she was about to fall.

The crowd felt the same, as someone screamed and several people stood up, as if to come to her aid somehow.

But then the girl was straightening up, her balance flawless once more.

She walked forward and then stumbled again, harder this time, tumbling forward until she was clutching the wire with only her hands, swinging up into a handstand.

More people screamed this time, but they cheered and clapped at the girl traversed the rest of the wire entirely on her hands.

She took a bow and the lights went off as she climbed back down.

Kaz watched her descent, merely a shadow moving swiftly down. 

She was a magician, like him, keeping the audience under her spell and enthralled, unable to look away.

Kaz knew he had to talk to this girl. It wasn't just the act, her incredible performance.

He was certain he'd seen her before, though he knew he never had. She was familiar in a way he couldn't describe, as if they'd been friends in another life. Or maybe more than that. Something about looking at her felt tender and comforting, as if he never wanted to do anything else.

It was strange, how familiar she felt. When she'd stumbled, he could have sworn he remembered something he'd wanted to say to her before.

I couldn't bear to watch you fall.

And then another thought, like a distant memory at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

A Ghafa doesn't work with a net. The girl from the wire had told him, rolling her shoulders like she had before she 'stumbled', brimming with confidence.

What did any of it mean? Kaz had never seen her before, never spoke to her.

So what was this feeling, this absolute surety that he knew her when he didn't?

There was only one way to find out, and Kaz's mind was already scheming, the cogs set in motion.