TIGHTROPE | fitz vacker

Prologue.

"AZALEA," A VOICE said.

   'Mom,' Azalea immediately registered the voice as her mother's.

   "Azalea," her mother cooed. "Wake up."

   Azalea groaned and turned her body away from her mother.

   "It's time to wake up, my dear. Come on." Azalea's mother took her arms and pulled her into a sitting position.

   Azalea rubbed the remainders of sleep from her eyes. As her vision cleared, she saw her mother in a blue gown with intricate lace designs on the bodice. Her blonde hair was in an updo and her blue eyes gleamed with excitement.

   "What's going on?" Eleven-year-old Azalea said, her ice blue eyes bright with innocence.

   "Today is a special day, my dear," Azalea's mother said.

   With only eleven years of knowledge, Azalea treated her mother with more respect and admiration than she did anyone. Azalea smiled widely, "Are we going to the Vackers'? Oh! Are we going to prank Keefe? He ate my pudding puffs. Or are we going to get a pet? I really want a pet, Momma."

   "Not yet, my dear," Azalea's mother said. "Hold my hand. We're going somewhere."

   Excited, Azalea clung on to her mother's arm as they walked to the Leapmaster. Azalea didn't think of much when her mother said, "The Sanctuary."

   WARM LIGHT DROPPED them at the base of the Himalayas. Azalea shivered which caught her mother's attention. "You'll need to learn to regulate your temperature, my dear," her mother said as she lay her cape on Azalea's small shoulders.

   Azalea's mother put her hand on Azalea's back and nudged her forward. "Go up, my dear, and after you've walked a mile..."

   Azalea's mother smiled eerily, making Azalea shudder under her mother's warm cape. Her mother kneeled down to Azalea's height.

   Then she whispered, "Use your powers."

   "But, Momma," Azalea complained. "I don't like it."

   "Dear," Azalea's mother caressed her cheek. "Your ability is a gift. A wonderful gift. You have to embrace it. Embrace the power. Control it."

   "But it's scary, Momma," Azalea said.

   "Do you trust me?"

   Azalea nodded.

   "Then you shall do as I say."

   Then, her mother looked straight into her eyes. "My dear, can you keep a secret?"

   Azalea nodded.

   "Then don't tell anyone that I was here."

   Azalea watched as her mother straightened up and walked away from her.

   "Momma?" Azalea asked. "Will you tell Keefe that I forgive him? For eating my pudding puffs. I know he's having a hard time in school and with Dad. I shouldn't have shouted at him. And I'm too scared to tell him."

   Azalea's mom smiled softly, but there was no love in her eyes. Just pure accomplishment. "I will. And remember, Azalea, everything is going to change. For the better."

   With that, Gisela Sencen leaped away, leaving her eleven-year-old daughter on an icy mountain. The child made her way up, not knowing how long a mile is. She stopped after almost two hours of climbing, where she could faintly see silver gates. She revisited her mother's words: "Use your powers."

   Azalea concentrated on her heartbeat. She listened closely as the cold wind howled in her ears.

   Ba-bum.

   Ba-bum.

   Ba-bum.

   Ba-bum.

   Azalea took in a deep breath.

   She breathed out, and let go.

   Boom.

   Violet light swirled around her and the temperature rose. The dome of Violet light alerted the guard at the doors of the Sanctuary. He ran away from the dome that had destroyed the gates, contacting the Council.

   It wasn't long before the Council arrived, greeted by a crater, with a young girl in the middle of it.

   There was no tribunal.

   What happened next was immediate.

   Azalea Sencen was banished from the Lost Cities.