Aetheria Falling

Hunted

Aureus and Xiomara had made it only a few blocks from their home before running into their first obstacle. In the time they had spent preparing to flee Alatyr, the city was already being affected by Aureus's new power.

"We do not have time for this," Xiomara said. "We must get to the embassy."

Ahead, a large crowd gathered around a wrecked ethercar. By the looks of it, it'd fallen from the sky and onto the broad footpath below. Two other ethercars—one belonging to a bystander and the other to a pair of watchmen—were parked near the downed vehicle. One watchman was attempting to handle the curious crowd while the other spoke to the driver of the crashed car.

Aureus felt a pang of guilt. "I did this..."

"Not on purpose," Xiomara reminded him. "Besides, it does not seem anyone was hurt, which is a lucky thing, but it is all the more reason to leave."

He took stock of their surroundings.

High-rise tenement buildings flanked them on both sides, enclosing the footpath leading deeper into the city and, subsequently, toward the embassy. Unfortunately, no nearby alleyways were available to circumvent the crowd, and backtracking to the nearest intersecting path would only lead them away from their destination. "Damn," he said. The whirring sound of a descending ethercar caught his attention. He turned and spotted the Arcanarium emblem. "Shit. Xio..."

"I see them," Xiomara replied. "The watchmen must have called in the accident. Your ability to absorb magic from your surroundings makes you easy to trace. We need to leave."

Four hexwardens exited the vehicle and made their way to the crash from the back of the crowd.

Xiomara pressed forward.

In contrast to her graceful navigation of the throng, Aureus bumbled along behind her in an attempt to keep up as they moved away from the approaching hexwardens. "Xio, what are you doing?"

"We cannot afford to linger. If we do, we will be arrested."

"That doesn't answer my question!"

"We are going to steal that ethercar," Xiomara replied, pointing at the bystander's vehicle. "It is still running, which means you have not yet drained it of magic. With luck, we can use it to get away."

He apologized for stepping on someone's toes as he struggled to keep up. "And what if it falls from the sky like that one did? Besides, we can't just steal someone's car. We'll be caught anyway—or worse, killed in the crash. We should find another way!"

"This is the best course of action."

"They'll just chase us when we take off!" Aureus protested.

Xiomara stopped and turned to face him, emergency lights flashing across her face. "That person will get back in their vehicle and may also die in a crash. We should take the risk for them and try to leave. If we die in our escape, we will have died in their place, and the scales will remain balanced. By lingering here, your power threatens to bring all of Alatyr to ruin. Many will die unnecessarily, and we will have been caught for nothing other than to satisfy your desire to avoid guilt and risk."

The logic reminded Aureus that he wasn't speaking to a human. Despite her pragmatic views, he found her forethought difficult to argue with. He adored her wisdom as much as it infuriated him.

He stole a glance back.

The hexwardens were advancing, closing the gap quickly.

When he turned back to face Xiomara, she was already making her way to the front of the crowd. No one seemed to notice her as she opened the unlocked door and casually slid into the driver's seat of the civilian ethercar. Aureus, however, hesitated too long at the rear of the vehicle—still hung up on the same moral dilemma Xiomara had no issue resolving for herself.