“How old are you?” Astor asked as they walked through the damp forest floor. The rain had long stopped, but the sky that was getting brighter by the moment was still cloudy.

  “Eh… 16…” Amber replied. “How about you…”

  “I am 15… And call me Young master!” he scolded.

  “Oh… right… Young master…” she said after some hesitation..

  “Now tell me, how did you end up with those guys?” he asked as the terrain began to become easier, they were now on a dirt road, a clear sign that they were near human habitat.

  “Ah… My brother and I are orphans, we lived in a mining vilge on the other side of the forest… Yesterday, when the firestorm came, both of us Awakened…” she said as she struggled to keep up with him.

  “You know what Awakening means?” he asked.

  “It was the orphanage manager who told us after a few embers fell from the fire in the sky and hit us…. It was very painful…” she said, scratching her shoulder where the embers fell. “After that, he took us to the vilge chief, who made us wait in a room in his house before bringing those bad guys and selling us to them!” she said with clear anger.

  “I see,” he nodded. “Is that guy your biological brother?”

  “He… Yes, Jim is my real brother! Our parents were miners who passed away in a colpse,” she said, feeling a little sad.

  He just nodded as he kept walking.

  “What about you… Yu… Young master?” she asked after a few minutes.

  “I have awakened at that time too, my situation is not a lot different from yours… That’s all you need to know!” He didn't eborate as he quickened his pace further.

  “You said that you are going to catch the train… Where are we going?” she asked as, again, she struggled to keep up.

  “To the Royal Academy,” he said. “It is an institute where those who have Awakened would be able to get proper training to use their powers, you would no longer fear someone kidnapping you once your name enters the imperial registry!”

  “OH!” she nodded.

  “The train tickets I have were stolen from the Grabbers, the guys who kidnapped you,” he expined. “They will definitely be there also!”

  “Ah…. I understand…” she swallowed. If those guys managed to get her brother, he would definitely be there!

  “Now listen up,” he said as he slowed down, he could barely see the tall walls of some outpost in the distance. “From now on, you will say that you are my sister! And say that when we were on our way to the city in a caravan to meet our father who works there, we were ambushed by a rge demonic monster in the forest and had to escape!”

  “Ah… Ok!”

  “Never say anything about Awakening!” he said. “Unless you want both of us to be kidnapped!”

  “I understand!” she nodded nervously.

  “Good… untie your hair and bring it forward to cover your face… I want you to be unrecognizable…” he said.

  “Why…”

  “Just do it!” he scolded.

  She swallowed and reluctantly untied her ponytail, bringing her hair forward, clumsily.

  He sighed and stepped forward, using his hand to dishevel her hair and making it look as if she had just survived some great ordeal!

  “Now it’s my turn…” he said as he closed his eyes and touched his face. As he removed his hand, his face became somehow simir to Amber’s brother, Jim.

  “Hssss…..” Amber gasped. “This…”

  “You will learn to use such powers in the Academy… Do I look like him?” he asked.

  “Not quite… But very simir…” she said after some hesitation.

  “Well, I couldn’t make out his features in the dark st night…” he sighed. “But this would be enough to fool anyone who wanted to investigate ter!” This change was just an illusion, using his Sparks' power of dreams. Still, it was very weak due to him not having enough energy and having to save up for emergencies. If someone were to touch his face or scrutinize him, he would be found out, so Astor added a yer of mud on top of it.

  “Investigate?” Amber asked nervously.

  “Not something you should concern yourself about… From now on, call me Jim!” he said. “Now follow me…” he said as he walked toward what seemed to be a frontier vilge in front of them with its long walls topped by barbed wire, a feature that all frontier vilges had to fend against, Demonic Monsters..

  The first thing that welcomed them was two zy guards in cheap leather armor and shotguns at the rge metal gate.

  “Hey! Identify yourselves?” one of them ordered defensively as he watched Astor hurry toward them with a relieved look on his face.

  “I am Jim, and this is my sister Amber… Our caravan had been attacked by monsters st night, and we barely managed to escape….” Astor said. “We thought we were gonners!” he added as tears began to fill his eyes.

  “Oh…” the guard hesitated, inspecting them as if suspecting some foul py.

  “Let’s get them to the mayor’s office for now and get them something warm to drink…” his friend, who was clearly more experienced, said.

  “Ah… ok! Follow me!” the guard said, unlocking the Vilge’s metal gate and walking inside. Astor and Amber quickly followed.

  The Vilge inside was very small, more like an outpost than a formal vilge. It was made up of 14 or 15 houses, and its main business was clearly logging from the rge machines parked near the gates.

  They followed a trail until they reached a central house, where the guard knocked at the door.

  A fat, burly man who had a rge shaggy beard opened it and walked out. “What?” he asked rudely.

  The guard just stepped forward and whispered something in his ear.

  “Oh… Jim and Amber… I see… Come in!” the rge man said. “I am Tomas, this vilge’s mayor!” he said as he gestured for them inside. “Make sure to take off your boots!” he added as they crossed the door.

  Astor and Amber complied, taking off their muddy boots as they stepped inside and automatically hurried toward the firepce in the center, as they were really cold.

  “Grab these… Use them to dry your hair while I get you something to drink…” the mayor said, throwing two (not so clean) towels at them before turning and walking toward a side room.

  He returned 10 minutes ter with two mismatched cups that were filled to the brim with a steaming hot liquid.

  “Hope you don’t mind some old stale coffee… But that’s all we have here!” he chuckled as he handed the cups to them without waiting for their answer.

  “Thanks a lot!” Astor, who just finished drying his hair, said as he grabbed his cup, then took a seat on the couch beside the firepce.

  “Thanks…” Amber also said politely as she sat beside him with the towel over her head.

  Both of them just sipped their coffee for a few minutes… Well, only Astor did any sipping. Amber only tried it once, and then didn’t dare to let that filthy liquid enter her mouth ever again, so she decided to just use the hot cup to warm her hands.

  “So… What’s your story?”

  “As I said, we were in a caravan when this rge monster that looked like a cat with two heads attacked, destroying the armored vehicle with one sweep of its cw…” Astor said with a fearful voice, if Amber wasn’t sure he was lying, she would have definitely believed him!” There were 10 guys, including the driver, but when it happened, everyone scattered in different directions. My sisters and I just kept running until we found a dirt road and followed it here!”

  “Oh… The cat, what was its color?”

  “It was dark and it happened too fast, but I think it was red with bck spots…” Astor said after some pondering.

  “Hsssss…. A 3rd ranked twin Lava Cat….” the mayor hissed. “You two were very lucky… That thing is one of the most savage things around!” he said. “Unlike higher beasts that don’t really care about humans, this thing is one of the few that purposely goes out of their zone to hunt!” he said.

  “Ah… Really…. Thank goodness…” Astor said, grabbing Amber’s hand and looking at her passionately.

  “What were you doing that deep in the forest to begin with?” the mayor asked. “Don’t you guys know how dangerous it would become during the firestorm?” he asked as if he were an elder scolding a few kids.

  “It’s all our old man’s fault! He sent us there to some clearing in the forest in the hope that we would awaken…” Astor compined. “I don’t know where he heard it from, that the further you go into the wilderness, the higher your chances are…”

  “Oh… I know about this, the idea is that with fewer people around, the chances of awakening become higher…” the mayor expined. “But from my experience, the chances are the same… Did you awaken, by the way?” he asked, with some greed hidden in his eyes.

  “No…" Astor squeezed his fist as he shot a very angry look toward Amber for a moment before quickly hiding it. "The guy who sat next to us managed to do that, though… Too bad I saw the monster jump him as we ran away… Talk about exhausting his luck!“ he compined.

  “Oh…” the mayor frowned.

  “Now I guess my father will really send me to military school and marry Amber off to that young master…” Astor said as he squeezed his fist in anger.

  “Young master?” the mayor asked.

  “Yeah… A noble guy from the Noir family is interested in her, but my father wanted to try to awaken her first to try and make her the main wife as the young master also had pnned for another girl…” Astor sighed with a sad tone. In this patriarchal world, those rich and powerful men usually married many wives, and the families of the said wives usually fought for the position of the main wife who would bear the heir. “Now, we will have to find another way!” he added, grabbing his sister’s hand as she also looked down in order not to make the mayor notice her weird expression. She was now convinced that Astor was a natural-born liar!

  “Oh… Noir family? Is your father some bigshot to make that connection…” the mayor said as he began to suspect Amber, wondering if she was that pretty to grab the attention of a young master from one of the sovereign families.

  “Yes… He works in the Awakened Registry bureau!” Astor said proudly. “I will also go to work there once I graduate!”

  “Oh! I see…” the mayor nodded, losing interest in what he pnned to do. Their father was influential, but not rich enough. The risk of kidnapping them far outweighed the benefits. But he might be able to get some cash if he pyed his cards right. “What was your father’s name?” he asked.

  “5th rank official Zifar Dilvo!” Astor replied.

  “Oh… Wait… How is he reted to German Dilvo?” The mayor quickly asked.

  “He is our great uncle… Never met him though… Do you know him?” Astor asked as he brightened up.

  “Just heard of him…” the mayor replied, sweating a little. He better not mess with those kids.

  Astor smirked secretly. German Dilvo was a general in the southern army, well known for being an asshole. And he really had a nephew in the Bearu called Zifar. All the information he supplied, but those about him and Amber were 100% correct!

  “Oh…” Astor nodded. “Do you know how we can reach the Remal city?” Astor suddenly asked. “Our father would be waiting for us at the train station there!” he expined. Remal was the pce the tickets were issued from, and it was really the closest city to their position.

  “Remal? That’s easy, at noon one of my men would drive a truck there to deliver the goods, you can ride along!” the mayor replied dismissively.

  “Really? We are very thankful!” Astor said.

  “It’s ok… We should all help each other…” the mayor sighed. “Why don’t you two rest a bit? Now I have something to do, I will get you when the truck is about to leave!” he said as he stood up and walked out of the house.

  “Thanks!” Astor said as he watched him walk out.

  “What…” Amber wanted to speak as soon as the door was closed, but before she could do that, Adrian spped her face, making her fall to the couch.

  “Listen up you bitch… You'd better not try to run away again! Young master Noir had already spoken, and you will be his concubine!” he said. “If you dare ask for help, believe it or not, all those who would dare to do that will face his wrath! Remember what happened to your nanny... I bet they still can't find all her bones,” he said in a mocking voice.

  "..."

  "Choosing not to speak ha.... It is all your fault for making me miss the chance to awaken at the tower with the nobles having to run after you! Bitch!” he said as he kicked the couch, pinching her cheek at the same time.

  “Ah……………” she couldn’t help but scream, feeling a little aggrieved. That was until she noticed him winking at her and realized that someone was eavesdropping on them. Still, her face hurt….

  “... Useless bitch… If it were not for your pretty face, father would have long disposed of a filthy lowborn bitch like you!” Adrian said angrily.

  “...” she didn’t even know how to reply, so she remained silent, wondering how someone could make so many lies on the fly!

  Noticing her silence, Astor said nothing. He just gave that mayor all the info he needed to stay out of their way, and to make sure that they would arrive safely at the station, lest he would be held responsible if the girl were to run away!

  Now all he had was to wait!

  Four hours ter, the mayor returned as promised.

  “Did you two rest?” he asked, noticing Amber’s swollen cheek but choosing not to comment on it.

  “Ah... What... When did I fall asleep?” Astor asked as he sat up abruptly, and then, after making sure Amber was still by his side, he slowly stretched, as if he had just woken up and was having difficulty opening his eyes. “Sorry.. I guess I am really tired...” he added as he clumisily stood up while yawning. He had to act this way; the coffee he drank was spiced by a soft sedative after all.

  “It's ok... You had a touch day yesterday…” the mayor said as if he had done nothing wrong. Thankfully, he only used something light.

  “Sis… Wake up… Let’s go…” Astor ignored him and shook Amber's arm softly like a caring brother, waking her up, then helping her to her feet while shooting her warning gres.

  The mayor felt a shiver run through his spine as he watched Astor’s contrasting behavior to what he had witnessed before while spying on them, feeling a little fear. A guy like this was definitely the kind who stabbed people in the back while smiling, so he affirmed his resolve to just make sure to get rid of those two ASAP! “Follow me…” he said, turning and heading out of the house.

  Astor quickly followed with Amber, his hand grabbing her wrist hard at all times!

  Crossing the mostly empty vilge streets, they quickly reached a huge old truck filled to the brims with long, dark brown logs.

  “Those are the two I told you about… Make sure to deliver them safely to the station! SAFELY…” the mayor repeated to the driver who was getting things ready in his seat.

  “Sure boss… No problem!” the old driver nodded, giving the two teenagers a fleeting gnce before bending to the other side and unlocking the door. “Hope on…” he said. “Can you climb?” he asked.

  “Yeah… “Astor said. Then, after pushing Amber into the cabinet, he climbed in after her. “Thanks, Mr. Mayor… I will make sure to mention you to my father when I meet him!” he said in a friendly tone.

  “It is ok… There is no need, I am only doing my duty!” the mayor said, then signaled the driver to drive off.