The First War Mage: City in the Sky

"Come on, wake up!" I could hear a hushed panic... Who was talking to me? My head was spinning, the brain felt like it was hammering against the sides of my skull trying to break free. The pain was unbearable to such a degree that I could barely push out a pitiful groan of pain.

"Come on Kirin... I need your help!" I could hear the voice again through my still ringing ears, how long was it since they talked last? A few moments? Minutes? Hours? I couldn't tell. Time felt meaningless when every other sense was so scrambled that I couldn't tell up from down.

Only once I felt a soft push against my arm did my eyes start moving slowly. My jaw felt numb, unsettling so until I tried to reach for it. In a instant the memories of what happened started flowing back to me, I could feel the cold stone floor underneath me, and the searing, white hot pain against the side of my head where I could feel immense swelling from the blow that knocked me out. The entire room was spinning so quickly that I thought I was moving when I opened my eyes, only to settle when I looked at Tulip.

I could still see and feel the room shaking, spinning around me. Yet now that I had a stationary thing to examine I could at least tell it was just my head spinning. Taking in heavy, shaking breaths I slowly, and even more painfully, pushed myself to sit up. My head lurched forwards as I sat up, but I was able to slowly comprehend my surroundings while I heard nothing but silence from Tulip.

"W-where... Are we?..." I finally managed to force my still numb jaw to move, I could feel bruising on the side of it as if I had been punched more after the one that had knocked me unconscious.

"A Slaver Guild... I... Didn't know one was active in the city... I'm..." Tulip had lost her usual confidence, her peppy, happy go lucky voice was diminished into something that could barely even be called pathetic with how soft it was. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have brought us out here..." Tulip had tears staining her eyes, and her clothes looked degraded, covered in dirt, water, and seemingly whatever other items whoever was here could throw at her while they passed by.

"Slaver guild?..." I asked slowly as my eyes turned forwards towards the bars before me. I felt rage boiling up inside of me, and panic followed at the same moment. How could I get out of this situation?

"They are a... Illegal practice that's highly lucrative... They kidnap and sell people on markets... It's almost as valuable as drug trades... And seen as a 'lesser' crime in the law because it... 'Doesn't kill as many'..." Tulip forced her words out between broken shakes of her body. I could see bruises all over her, the sight made the rage inside of me boil forwards even further.

"How long have we been here?" My mind was still reeling itself back together. My speech was at least no longer slurred together and I could properly start moving my jaw, though I still felt far from fine.

"Two days... You've been... Stirring every so often... I was scared that you wouldn't wake up after the last time..." Tulip pulled her legs tight to herself, shaking.

I took in a slow breath and started taking everything in around me, we were in a tight cell with only one possible way out. Directly in front of us, a wall of bars with a gate, each bar was easily thicker around than one of my legs. The ground, floor, walls, and ceiling were all paved stone, meaning we were inside of a building. And judging by the gentle rumbling I could ever so faintly hear over the horrific ringing in my right ear, I could assume us to be inside the city still. Maybe even underneath a road.

"Why hasn't anyone found us... I thought... What was her name, Lotus?- I thought she said she would send a search party if we were late!" I was trying to make sense of how we hadn't been found still, but Tulip just gestured to the torn section on her suit, and looking down at the clothes I was wearing I could see a similar tear. They dropped our Insignias somewhere.

"Whoever they are... This isn't the first time they've done this to Arcadians..." Tulip spoke slowly. She didn't stop shaking, and with a wave of pity I knew one of us had to do something. I just didn't know what, or how we could do anything here. I reached my hands out, gently placing them on the sides of Tulip's head.

"Focus on me... Calm down, alright?... We'll have a chance to get out... Somewhere, somehow. Okay?" I tried to push confidence that I didn't have myself out in my voice. I couldn't stand seeing someone who was so peppy suddenly be so depressive, and broken, after only a few days in this situation. Though, after a few moments thought it didn't take long for me to realize that Tulip had probably been pampered... Especially when compared to someone who grew up in prison cells like this.

"How can we get out?... When would we ever have a chance for that?..." Tulip begged, her voice was desperate for answers I didn't have. Answers I couldn't even begin to think of until an idea started to bloom in the back of my mind.

"You know how to use magic, can't you try and get us out of here somehow?" I offered up the seemingly obvious solution, though I had my doubts if it could work. If it were that easy Tulip wouldn't still be in here with me, and I would probably be long gone, sold into slavery somewhere else in the world.

"I can't..." Tulip raised her arms as she spoke, showing a pair of metal cuffs. I was confused as I looked at them, and it was seemingly visible on my face. "Its... A type of mage steel that absorbs ambient mana... if I try and use my magic it will heat up and burn through my hands... I can't..."

I was left baffled as I looked at the metal. Something like that existed? Looking at my wrists I could see that there was no such thing on my arms. Which confused me even further, if they knew we were Arcadians then shouldn't they have assumed we could both use magic?

"Then..." I paused, trying to think for a few moments. I didn't know the first thing about magic, I had only used it twice and both times were on utter accident that left me more injured and exhausted than anything. "Teach me. I don't need to know how to do it right. I just need to know how to do it, enough to get out of here." I knew in the back of my head that my magic could be destructive, maybe not enough to break the bars, maybe not even enough to break through the ceiling. But I had to do something.

"Do you have any idea... What your magic even is? For all we know you have healing magic and it would be worthless here..." Tulip questioned slowly, but I just offered a smile for once having some level of hopeful confidence.

"I don't know exactly. But I know I can destroy stuff with it. I... Did it on accident when I lost control of my emotions at the prison, I ended up doing almost two days of work in a few minutes... Before almost passing out." I sighed a little, trying to think of exactly what I had done, what it felt like, but I came up utterly short.

"That... Doesn't give me anything to work off of... I don't even know what your type of magic is." Tulip was clearly trying to think of answers alongside me, and with having little to no knowledge of magic I couldn't give any answers to help. "But fine... It's the only chance we really have..."

I took in a shaky breath, I could feel excitement for a moment at the thought of finally learning magic, yet that excitement left in an instant as I turned my gaze back towards the bars holding us in this cage. I could hear footsteps and voices approaching slowly.

My hope fell away quickly as dread began to climb my spine, I could feel bile in the back of my throat just at the thought of the people approaching, and what kind of sick bastards they must have been. Two people walked towards our cell, staring in at us. Tulip looked away, I didn't even have to look at her to feel the fear she held for them, while I stared defiantly at the pair.

I had no way of telling if these were the same two that had brought us here, as their faces were no longer covered. One was clearly older, holding a darker, more tanned skin color akin to what one would expect of a sailor spending days on end in the sunlight, the only hair on his head was on his face in a poorly kept beard. While the other was a younger man with a well trimmed head of brown hair, and a clean face. Yet his eyes were cold and calculated.

"Now now, what do we have here? A defiant little runt?" The older man spoke with an awful chuckle to his voice. His tone was grating, like he rarely spoke in anything other than a hushed whisper.

"Curious, I would have expected the princess to be more defiant, and not such an easy one to break. Now this girl is a mystery, who would she be to be by the princesses side." The younger man spoke, his voice was softer, more regal almost. If I had to guess, he was the face and voice of whatever 'business' this was. "Quite curious indeed. Markus, keep a closer eye on these two, and give her extra food. We'll never sell someone that frail."

Markus, the older man scoffed as he looked at his partner, grumbling something that I couldn't quite understand as they both walked away, presumably looking at the other 'inventory' for their sick company. I remained utterly silent while they moved away, not even taking my eyes away from the cell door until their footsteps and voices hadn't been heard for entire minutes.

"Why are you... So confident?" Tulip sputtered out slowly, her own shaking never stopped.

"Because I'm not staying in another prison cell. I spent my entire life in a cell for a crime I didn't commit, for a sentence that not a single person is even allowed to tell me about. I don't even know what my dad supposedly did, but I'm not staying in another cell. Not when I have a chance to do something about it." I spoke with spiteful confidence, I had my goal, my will to work towards something. I just had to focus on it. Glancing at Tulip I could see she was far too shaken to do anything right now.

"Just, get some sleep... We can try and start when you wake up, alright? I promise, I'll get us both out of here." I felt determination and conviction behind those words as I spoke them, I just had to hope they could be true.

"What do you mean the two of them are missing?!" Levi's voice could be heard, shaking the entire building as he screamed out his anger and disappointment towards the guards before him. His eyes settling upon Lotus, who flinched under his gaze.

"It is my fault, sir." Lotus spoke quickly. "I let them go without an escort, as per the Princesses insistence. I... Made the mistake of assuming that if any danger came to them, that they would not know to search the Princess for her insignia. Meaning that this is, entirely my fault." Lotus didn't let her voice shake as she spoke, forcing confidence that she didn't really have forwards.

"Please tell me you have any information on who took them at the very least?" Levi spoke with a sigh, bringing his massive hands to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"There are several leads in that area that my guards have been investigating. However, the primary suspect is a slaver guild we know to be working in the area. The issue however, is that we do not have any way to confirm their existence, nor their location outside of a radius we assume non Arcadian's to be capable of moving the pair in the few hours it took us to find their Insignia's." Lotus spoke quickly, procuring a sheet of paper that she passed forwards to Levi. "It covers most of the coastal section of the city, we have every port under extreme searches in and out for every crew member and piece of cargo, alongside the caravans coming in and out of the city. If they wish to move them, they will be spotted."

"So we're playing a game of cat and mouse now... With the Princess, and the Vulender as the 'prize' that both are after." Levi spoke softly, his jaw clenching somewhat. "Keep me updated on anything you find, Lotus."

"Of course sir." Lotus gave a quick salute and turned, leaving with her two men who were in the room with her. Leaving Levi on his own, sighing greatly at the headache this was already becoming for him.