I groggily woke up. By the Gods I was tired. All I remember is being too excited to sleep. Being excited about… Free Day! I bolted out of bed. I didn't care how tired I was. I wasn’t going to miss this. Oh, first let me explain. Free Day is where every kid in the orphanage (which was run by priests) older then 10 (lucky for me I was 14) gets to use the money at the local market that they have saved up from helping the Priests with certain jobs. I had 5 copper pieces, 2 silver pieces and one gold piece! To get the gold piece I had to clean out the stables; don't ask me what that was like… Yuck!
As soon as I got dressed which composed of loose pants and a short sleeved shirt (my only outside clothes) I hurried down the stairs and saw a Priest saying the rules of Free Day to the 10 year olds that were going out for the first time. I hurried over to the bigger kids who already knew the rules. They were just about to leave but one of the priests saw me come in late. She shook her head and said,”Goddess Syphide will not be pleased if you are late again Tran – all right everyone let’s go”.
When we reached the market we all split off in different directions. My favourite spot was a fair distance so I had to do a lot of walking. Unfortunately I had to walk by the gallows. I saw a man already roped up. A Priest was naming his crimes. There was only one law he was breaking - being a Psionicist. This is one of the laws in this land. It is illegal to be a Psionicist. Some countries are stricter than others are. Some just put you in jail for a very long time. Other countries would torture a Psionicist, but hanging was the most common punishment. Oh yeah, another thing. Psionicist use their minds to create magical effects.
Weaker Psionicists can lift up objects but I've heard that more powerful ones can even take control of people's minds. I was told that a long time ago a group of Psionicists tried to take over the world. That's why all Psionicists are outlaws.
I was walking through a maze of shops to find my shop. Then I saw the quickest way to my store. It was a narrow space between two buildings. You could call it an alleyway, but nobody ever goes there, so I ran in. I was just about to get to the other end when two big guys jumped out. I tried to turn around and go back, but there was another guy following behind me, blocking my way.
I was surrounded and scared. I tried to push back the one guy by himself but he just pushed me back. One of the first guys that jumped out said, "give us your money and we'll let you go…" Then I felt a cold touch of metal on my neck. "Or we'll cut your throat out. The decision is yours," he sneered. The other two guys came closer. The Priests had taught me something about self-defense. So I elbowed the guy behind me in the stomach and knocked the blade out of his hand. He took a few steps back. One of them charged towards me and I reacted before I even knew what was happening. I was afraid and wanted to stop him but didn't know how. I could feel an odd pressure building up in my forehead. It felt like painful sparks in my mind but I was more scared of the guy running towards me. To this day all I can remember is pushing the sparks in my head towards him and hoping it hurt him more than it was hurting me.
Then the pressure stopped. The guy flew backward through the air and his head landed on a sharp rock. He tensioned for a second and then lay still. I felt like I was going to throw up. The other two guys sprinted off in opposite directions.
I've heard stories about this happening but I never thought it would happen to me. I was a Psionicist. I turned around and ran. I didn't want to be hung. All I knew was that I had to run away and try to find a safe haven.
When I ran out of the alleyway I saw an officer of the watch (they catch and bring criminals to Justice). Lucky to me he didn’t see me yet and I wasn't about to let him. I took a quick look around and saw a large pile of carpets and rugs neatly folded. This'll do, I said to my self. So I ran and jumped over the rugs. When I landed on the other side it took me a second to catch my breath. Then I saw a little gap in-between two of the folded rugs. When I looked between them I saw the officer of the watch standing right where I was just about 10 seconds ago. Then I noticed a man standing next to the officer, he was pointing at the alleyway. Then I remembered him; it was the guy who had the knife at the back of my neck.
Now I really was in serious trouble, the officers of the watch were looking for me now. Both the officer of the watch and the stinking criminal were walking down the alleyway at quick but leisurely pace. As soon as I couldn't see them any more I took a deep breath and leapt back over the pile of rugs. I ran straight for the gate. When I got there I saw a big problem. Quite a few officers of the watch were at the gate, and worst of all they were checking each and every person's face that was leaving the city. Then I saw something that gave me an idea. I saw a wagon full of barrels that were lying on their side. I followed it closely and when we were about to reach the officers of the watch I undid the knots that were holding up the wooden sides that were holding the barrels in. Barrels went every where, I was lucky none hit me!
All the officers of the watch guarding the gate came running to stop the barrels from hurting any one. In such commotion who would notice one person slipping through the gates. When I was out of danger of being hit with a barrel I turned around. One of the officers of the watch turned around and saw me, his face went pale and he yelled, "hey! Stop there". I turned around and ran in the opposite direction. Instead of taking the main road I took the old forest rode instead because there would be no people in my way. I took a quick look behind me: there were 5 officers of the watch behind me with their swords out yelling things like Halt and freeze. That’s all the encouragement I needed; I started sprinting down the path. I was just about to run out fuel when I ran over a suspension bridge over rapids.
I instantly knew what to do. I turned around and saw that the 5 officers of the watch were further back then I remember last time but gaining fast, it wouldn't take them less then a minute to reach me. So I concentrated, then I felt it again; that weird pressure which felt like painful sparks in my mind. But I held it in; the pain got more intense. I looked up when the pain was too much to bear. The officers of the watch were one quarter of the way across when I let the pressure go. I concentrated on the two ropes that were holding the bridge up… The edge of my vision faded to black with the effort I was using. Officers of the Watch were at the centre when the ropes broke. The whole bridge collapsed. The last thing I saw was them flowing down the rapids, and then I collapsed too.
By the gods what a nightmare. But then I tried to sit up and I almost fainted again with the effort. My eyes felt like lead weights. But I could also smell something. It wasn’t like home -- it smelled like wet leaves in the morning, and damp wool mixed together. I was just able to open up my eyes and I almost did pass out. Above my head were trees. I tried to sit up but I couldn't. I scanned the area around me… With as little head movement as possible. I was able to see the remains of what looked like a fire. But then I saw something on the other side of the fire pit that looked like a big bundle of cloth. But then it moved. And a hood lifted up. I tried to move to get away but I couldn't. And then the stranger said, "Ah, I see my guest is awake". I opened up my mouth but all I was able to say was" who… are… you?" "Shhh "said the stranger putting a finger up to what I suppose was his lips, "you need to rest - don’t worry. All will be answered soon". I tried to ask more questions but I fell to sleep before I could say another word.
I had a very uneasy sleep, but the next time I became fully conscious I felt much better. I opined up my eyes and saw it was early morning, I tried to move and I could but my head still felt like it was about to explode. I looked and saw that the fire was now burning, but the stranger was not there. When I tried to sit up I painfully found out that the effort almost did make my head explode. Feeling dizzy I moved back until my back touched the tree behind me. I sat there a few moments with my head in my hands waiting for the head ache to stop. When the head ache finally receded I looked up and almost jumped out of my skin: the man was standing on the other side of the fire with an arm full of sticks, but his face was still concealed with that darn hood.
He then stated casually throwing sticks in the fire. “So, I see you are much better,” said the man. Then bringing one of his hands up to his chest he kindly said, “My name is Padrai.” I decided I could trust him so I said, “My name is Tran.” But then I looked at him more seriously and said, “But who are you really?” Then he took off his hood. At first I almost mistook him for an older elf, with his slanted eyes and fine features, but his very dark skin and the lack of pointed ears told me otherwise. He smiled at me and he said, “You and I are a lot alike. We’ve both been shunned and hunted by the people we’ve trusted, all for the powers we have. We have been punished for what is not our fault and for what some with our powers have tried to do.”
I took a sharp sudden breath. He was a Psionicist too. Padrai’s face hardened,”I can teach you the way of a Psionicist and I can be a companion; keep you safe from holders of the low. But the decision is yours, it does nothing to hinder or benefit me, I only give you a chance to master your power as I said before the design is yours.” It took me a moment to take it all in, but then I made a decision that would change my life forever. “I will travel with you and learn the ways of a Psionicist.” He nodded his head and then said, “We will leave now.” He threw me a backpack. He must have known I was going to say yes. He started off and I followed. So ends one journey and the beginning of another.
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