Fire's Mage (Book One) Kyoko of Fire Country

Chapter Four

As she was coming around, she felt something poke her in the check. A second later something jabbed her in the hip and another whacked her just above the knee, all three of them hard enough to leave bruises.

Opening her eyes she spotted children, all of them younger then she was. One of them which is knew. Between the ages of five and nine, all of them holding some kind of weapon in their hands. Small daggers, broken knives and pieces of broken metal.

Those who lived in Red Light learnt quickly to always carrying weapons on your person, anything you could get your hand on. Even something as harmless looking as painted on smiles as they pickpocket any stupid outsider who wandered away from the main street. Some even found themselves in alleys with a knife held to their throats.

"Rosemary," Kyoko greeted as she pushed herself up moving her leg from another hit. The nail marks an angry red on her arms, she had almost been killed again.

She was going to have to do something about that if she wanted to defend herself from Lullaby. If she didn't want Lullaby to kill her, even if she didn't understand the reason Lullaby was keeping her alive.

Lullaby could have killed her anytime she pleased, she was more skilled in magic then she was. Better trained and had more expedience in battle. Which hit her a pride a bit if she was being completely honest.

"Kyoko," Rosemary told her as she helped her up, Rosemary's mother lived on the same floor as she did. Grandmother Sapphire would babysit her, along with other children of those in the building, which was how they knew each other.

Rosemary was also taller then her, but they had been told that Rosemary was unnaturally tall for a little girl. Her hair the colour of dark coffee, the same colour as her skin and her eyes a dark brown.

"Fire witch," a small muttered, large hazel eyes trained on her hip pouch.

"You know better than sleep in an alleyway like a drunk," Rosemary told her, hands on her hips. She might be a year younger then her, but Rosemary had always been the mother hen of their little group.

"You know I don't drunk," Kyoko told her, looking up at the moon, still wasn't midnight. Most likely had been out for two hours, which meant she could get some sleep.

Stuff it, she was still teleporting to the Academy. On the sole factor that she didn't want to be ran over by banshee one and two, not when she felt like someone had stabbed her arms with needles, which had happened.

"Fire Mage," she gently corrected. The alleyway was broken, as was most of the streets and outside buildings. At least those which were found away from the main street.

It reflected the people perfectly. Red Light was filled with people with broken hopes, dreams and prays. Most giving up that they'd get anywhere in life, that they were stuck and there was nothing more to their lives than this.

Realising that all hope was pointless. That the only way they were going to leave the sin in life was through death, some not even escaping the dark alleyways after that. Spirits roamed Red Light, moaning and attacking outsiders who left the main street.

"You have any food?" Rosemary asked.

"Always," Kyoko told her as she floated above the ground, her ankle was bothering her. It always bothering, if she put too much weight on it, it would feel like she was going to fall.

"She safe?" a small girl asked.

"She's safe," Rosemary told her grabbing her hand into her own, messing up her hair. "I wouldn't trust her for you lot if she wasn't."