Defying Equilibrium

Interlude II

4 years ago, in the Xalin Forges

Dakora wiped the sweat from her forehead. The forges were sweltering with the heat of the flames and molten metal, and the long work hours were taxing. She hardly ever felt truly rested, she was always on edge. If she let her guard down, even just for a minute, the consequences could be tremendous. If they caught her slacking off she'd be punished, and sentences here were harsh and merciless.

She was only fourteen years old, but she had already been working the forges for over half her life. Life was hard and unforgiving within the walls of the forges, but the one comfort was her only friend, Stephen, who made life bearable. He was a few years older than her, and she had a small crush on him too (although she kept that to herself). However, they had no time for stuff like that here. Their life consisted of their work.

Her job was to charm the shields, to lay magic deep into the core of the hunk of metal and wood. To conjure the magic for each shield took such an effort that it took immense concentration to not simply pass out after charming each one. And if she did, the guards stationed at each door would simply hit her on the back of the head with the butt of their swords to wake her up.

To bring up the magic, first she had to calm herself, and focus. Because she had no formal training in magic, she was not able to control it, or harness it properly. And she didn't know any way to use it other than to charm the shields. After she was focused, she had to think deeply about the attributes she was trying to give the object. She had to think about what it meant to be strong, to be unbreakable, to be unbeatable. To be invincible. It felt amazing, in that one moment when the magic took control of her, she felt so strong and invincible. And then she had to transfer this feeling into the shield, and the feeling wasn't hers anymore.

She had just finished charming her tenth shield of the day, and it was taking enormous effort to stop her eyelids from falling. Suddenly, there was a large crash to her right. One of the guards right next to Dakora lay groaning in pain beside. The other guards came running, and two of them hauled Dakora to her feet while the other attended to his fallen comrade.

"What the hell did you do to him?" One of the guards yelled at Dakora, holding a sword to her throat. She tried to cry that she hadn't done anything, that she had nothing to do with it, but her voice had seized up in fear.

The guard on the floor was writhing around in pain, and Dakora immediately knew that someone had attacked him with magic. It was the invisible weapon, and he mustn't have seen it coming. She also knew immediately that it must have been Stephen, as he was the only one capable of this, as well as the only other magic user in the room. He had been through a lot more magical training before coming to the forges, and he could have easily attacked the guard from the other side of the room without even breaking a sweat. A glance at him confirmed her suspicions, as he was staring at her with a mix of accomplishment and a slight bit of guilt.

As the guards hauled her away, she tried to tell them that it wasn't her, that someone else had done it, but she couldn't speak. And even if she could, they probably would not have listened anyway. But why didn't Stephen say anything? He was her friend, wasn't he? Why wouldn't he admit to what he'd done, instead of letting her take the fall for it?

The guards dragged her down to a room she had never seen before. It contained twelve identical cells, each one sealed by a door of thick steel bars and a massive metal lock. One guard unlocked one of the doors, and it creaked like fingernails down a blackboard as it opened. The guards threw her inside, and she landed on her backside on the hard rock floor. The door clanged shut with a loud bang, and all of a sudden she was alone in this cold dark cell. Or so she thought.

Scared, she spun around when she heard a noise behind her. When she turned, she saw a young man sitting in the corner. Her initial reaction was to scream out in fear, but then she saw the man's eyes. They were clear and blue, and they were saddest eyes that Dakora had ever seen. The man stared at her, but then dropped his head again, as if she wasn't worth taking much notice of. He had long hair that had probably been blonde once, but it was now so dirty it was impossible to tell.