The City

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I tapped my foot impatiently as I waited in line to enter the city of Sadona.

Security had been increased since the city was recently attacked by one of the Unik. Five years ago people with terrifying and out of control abilities began appearing in Sadona and were dubbed the Unik, unique beings with unimaginable power. No one knew where they came from our why they chose to attack Sadona of all places but the crown regularly sent teams out into the woods where they dwelled to capture and hopefully rehabilitate them.

I touched the flame generator that was discretely attached to my arm. The sneaky contraption was developed by Stella and me to ensure people saw a regular member of society and not the long lost powerless daughter of Finn and Grace Beladin. It was a thin circular piece of metal coated with a substance that allowed whatever it touched to mimic it's surroundings that being my palm at the moment. Two compounds that when combined would produce a burst of flame was separated in the disk. The small size only allowed for two uses which was a bit of a bummer.

"Next!" the guard in front of me called. I stepped forward.

"Name" he questioned without looking up from his tablet.

"Bella Nordin" I answered clearly.

"State and display your power" Another guard requested in a monotone voice while the first one typed in my name.

"Flame manipulation" I stated before flicking my wrist causing the divider in the disk to retract and a small burst of fire to erupt from my palm.

"Enter" The guard stated gesturing that I walk forward.

I let out a small breath as I walked past the city's large metal gates. A small part of me was always nervous about entering the city, fearing that for some odd reason the generator wouldn't work and I would be found out.

The loud sounds and abrasive smells of the city assaulted my senses like they always did on the two days a week I came to either gather supplies or sell our wares in the square.

Metal transport pods and trains zipped across the sky emanating a low humming sound.  Quite a nifty invention created by a man with the power to cause things to partially lose their sense of gravity and essentially float. It was amazing the things you could create in a society full of gifted people.

I looked at the tall surrounding apartment buildings covered almost entirely by greenery looking very much like stacks of honeycombs with there hundreds of hexagonal shaped windows.

Fitting considering everyone in there are just mindless drones. I thought to myself as I strolled past.

Those buildings housed council members, their extended family and the lawmakers that made Sadona so oppressive at least for the lower class who had to pay the King's outrageous taxes in order to live safely within the city's walls away from the Unik.

"Miss interested in a glass figurine!" An old man with one tooth and rheumy eyes shouted at me from a table set up at the side of the street. He took a large chunk of glass from the table and molded it in his hands until it resembled my face. I shook my head ignoring his shouts that I wouldn't find better quality anywhere else as I continued on my way. I learned the best way to deal with crazy salesmen was to just keep walking.

As I neared the marketplace the number of people thickened until I felt like I was swimming in a human soup. If it wasn't for Stella's fear of large crowds I wouldn't step within five feet of this place.

The name "the marketplace" made this place sound like a lovely rustic square where everyone happily sold goods from wooden booths with their wares hanging behind them for humble townspeople to see. In reality, it was more of a large open air shopping centre with lots of stores selling the latest everything.

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