A Shot At Nothing

Chapter 3

The only thing Cala received from the vendors, were looks of disgust as she walked past them, dripping and miserable.

"I even wore my nice dress" she thought to herself. "I'll just buy what I need and slip on out of here."

Cala trudged over to the very end of the market, where a wall seemed to signify a stopping point. Cala pulled out a paper, that was wet and wrinkled. She frowned.

"Push the third brick?" she muttered to herself. "What instructions are these? Is it the third brick from the left, top bottom?"

Angrily, she stomped on the wall, hoping that a door would open up.

And one did. Just not in the way she expected.

The entire wall crumbled, falling apart. People shouted as bricks tumbled down. Crashes filled the street. Bricks hit the ground and tumbled into stalls, smashing fruits. A chicken squaked . Dust rose in the the air as the last brick tumbled town. Cala gaped in surprise.

On the other side, were giant, golden shops, and streets paved with the glowing bioluminescent rock she had seen before. There were people too, dressed in fine silks, and diamond necklaces. As the dust cleared, Cala could see that the people on the other side had frozen, in shock or surprise.

It was for a few moments, that there was completes silence. Then, pandemonium broke out. The people on the small market side, rushed forwards angrily screaming, "Who are you people", "Are you aliens?", and " I want those goods!"

On the other side, the silk cladded people screamed and pointed at Cala replying with, "We've been exposed", " Stay back peasants", and "Arrest her!"

Finally, before a fight could break out, the royal guards barged in. They looked around for the source of trouble, and their gazes landed on Cala. They scowled. Cala wasn't sure if it was because she broke the wall and destroyed priceless goods, or if she had exposed the wealthy people of the kings court to the now ready to rebel, "peasants."

"Your coming with us" one of them grumbled, hauling her to her feet. Cala hissed.

"No!" she yelled in panic, " I have to buy the card. Please! The antidote!"

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a vender slipping away, a very shiny card in hand.

"Wait!" she screamed at him, "Please wait!"

The guards looked over, but the man had already slipped into the shadows.

Cala dropped, and stopped struggling.

"Come on" one of the guards sighed, hauling her away, "We don't have time for this."

"Where should we take her?" asked another guard. This guard was obviously inexperienced, since he still looked up to the other guards with respect. And probably young, based on the high pitched quality of his voice.

"To the dungeons" said the guard hauling her towards his horse, "She'll face the king eventually."

Cala froze.

She had heard about the King. Apparently he studied people with the infection. Like animals. And he didn't care what happened to them. Legend even said, that he bleeded them dry, while they were alive, in hopes of finding out how their powers worked.

Cala did not want to meet the king.

Which meant Cala only had one option.

She focused, and narrowed her eyes, glaring at the earlier inexperienced guard.

"Come on!" she hissed. The guard looked up.

"Umm.." he started, "She looks like she's going to kill me, can we-"

The guard never finished. Cala dove into his mind. Searching for something to pull on. The guards mind was surprisingly empty.

But there. She found it. It was only a small one, the tiniest wish, hope, dream. But it would work.

She pulled on it, and it spread, like a mist, through his head and out into the air.

He froze.

"What in the..," and then he was clutching his head, bent over in agony.

"No!" he cried, stumbling around. Trapped in an illusion of his dream that no one else could see. Except for Cala of course.

"I'm sorry. I'll do better I didn't mean it!"

Cala felt pity for him. After all, it was an innocent dream; belonging. Hoping the other guards would finally talk to him like a member of the Royal Guard, and not a newbie.

Innocent, small, but powerful.

The others guards turned, looking at Cala.

"What are you doing? Release him!"

It was then, that Cala realized she had made a mistake. Her goal was to be subtle, just to where the new guard would let go of her so she could run.

A public display of power was not the best way to keep hidden. And furthermore, Cala was very bad at using her power. Already, she felt exhausted. She tried to release her hold and run, but she couldn't do either. Instead, she collapsed in the gravel, the magic flowing out of her refusing to give up her prey.

Someone hit her in the head with a pan, yelling, and she promptly black out.