The Girl Born of Smoke (5 page)

“Do you know where Roxanne worked before she
left?”

He grinned. “Of course! Is she working there
again?”

Aurora nodded. “Well, at least, she was
going to try and get her job back.”

“Fantastic.” He leapt out into the sunlight.
“I haven't been to that place in ages, basically since Roxanne
left, I think. It was so dull without her around.”

“How come?” Aurora asked, following after
him.

He shrugged. “She would tell us stories
about stuff if she wasn't busy, give us free drinks, things like
that. Basically just let us hang out in there. Without her around,
it was just another dirty, smelly bar.”

“Yeah, sounds like Roxanne,” Aurora
laughed.

They followed the steep roads around the
edge of town, coming out on top of the cliffs that bordered the
ocean. Gesturing, Djerr led her through an open doorway, into the
bar. They stood for a moment in the warm beam of sunlight leaking
into the room as their eyes adjusted to the darkness.

The bar was mostly empty with only a couple
young women sitting at one of the tables by the dusty window,
talking quietly while they ate, and one older man sitting at the
bar, laughing as Roxanne talked to him with a grin on her face. She
glanced over when the floor creaked, announcing their presence. Her
smile broadened as she saw who it was. “Aurora!” she called, waving
them over. “What're you two doing here? You're...Djerr, right?”

“That's right!” Djerr sounded pleased. “I'm
just showing Aurora around town and she wanted to see where you
worked.”

“Well, this is it.” Roxanne gestured widely.
“Not all that great, but it'll be better now that I'm back.”

“That's what Djerr told me,” Aurora said,
nudging Djerr.

Roxanne laughed. “The boy obviously knows
what he's talking about. You listen to him, alright? Anyway, you
should've seen what happened when I got here this morning. I walked
in the door right as they were opening. The manager is this old,
old guy. I was a little surprised to still see him here. Thought he
might’ve died while I was gone, right? So anyway, he looks over at
me, squints, looks me up and down, and then looks over at this girl
I don't recognize. She must be new, because she looks real awkward.
She's walking around with a tray in one hand, picking up all the
dirty glasses from the night before and trying to balance them on
the tray. Anyway, she's teetering around, trying not to drop it all
with this really concentrated look on her face. She finally glances
up at me, the tray still wobbling, just staring at me. The whole
place is silent until the manager sighs really loudly and just
says, 'Git outta here, girl.' The girl kind of grins, looking down,
because she clearly thinks he was talking to me, until I walk over,
take the tray from her and turn away, picking up where she left
off. I can tell she's staring at me, her mouth probably dropped
open. I glance back and she looks over at the manager and finally
realizes he was telling her to leave, not me. She makes this little
squeaky noise and runs out of the bar, slamming the door behind
her. It was hilarious.”

Djerr and Aurora burst into laughter, along
with the man at the bar, who had been listening. “See, she’s a
natural storyteller,” Djerr said to Aurora.

“Ha, you should hear some of the stories
about my trip,” Roxanne said, sounding pleased. “There are some
crazy funny people out there, Djerr. Hey, why don't you two sit
down. I'll get you something to drink, alright?”

“Er, just water for me, thanks,” Djerr said,
looking awkward.

“Oh, that’s right,” Roxanne scrunched up her
face, looking embarrassed. “It’s been awhile, I’ve started
forgetting everyone’s drinks.” She walked back behind the bar,
pulling out two large glasses from underneath the counter. Djerr
and Aurora sat down at the bar, a couple seats away from the old
man, who grinned over at them.

“Say, are you two together or is that pretty
little thing up for grabs?” he winked at Aurora and scooted his bar
stool closer. His balding brown hair was streaked with gray, but
his face was surprisingly free of wrinkles, except around his
eyes.

“Hands off, Oliver,” Roxanne said sharply.
“That one's off limits.”

Oliver chuckled. “Sorry Roxanne,” he called
over to her. “Didn't mean to make you jealous.” He lowered his
voice. “You two kids sure know where to come for a good time. I
couldn't believe my eyes when I walked in here this afternoon and
saw Roxanne standing there. Since she left, they've gone through at
least one new girl a month. Can't seem to keep anyone here, so they
never know what they're doing and screw up all the drinks. Got so
bad I thought I might have to find somewhere else to spend my time
and money.” He winked at Roxanne. “Thank goodness this girl decided
to wander on back to Kain and grace us with her presence
again.”

Roxanne plopped down a glass of water in
front of Djerr and one brimming with foam in front of Aurora. “Here
you go, kids,” she said. “Enjoy! This is a little present from me,
so don't worry about paying this one time.”

Taking a gulp of the bubbly drink, Aurora
made a face and swallowed. “Tastes weird,” she said, but took
several more gulps. It tasted bland at first, the bubbles tickling
her tongue and throat, but left a slightly sweet aftertaste behind.
She heard the thick footsteps of someone else entering the bar and
looked up. When she saw who it was, she swallowed hard and pushed
her half-empty glass away.

“Hey Kirian!” Roxanne called lightly. “Want
a drink?”

He locked eyes with Aurora and strode over
to her, looking angry. “What do you think you're doing?” he growled
at Roxanne, grabbing Aurora's arm and pulling her roughly down from
the barstool.

“Oh, don't worry.” Roxanne looked amused. “I
didn't make it very strong, it was just a taste.”

“That's not the point!” Kirian threw his
hands in the air. “This isn't the kind of place a kid should be.
What the hell were you thinking?”

Aurora was vaguely aware of everyone in the
bar staring in her direction, including Djerr, who looked nervous.
Flushing red, she looked down at the ground and closed her eyes,
wishing they could just leave. She tugged at a strand of her short
hair and listened as Kirian and Roxanne bickered. Finally, Kirian
whirled around and tugged Aurora out of the bar.

She walked quickly to keep up with him. They
didn't talk on their way home and Aurora shuffled off to her room
as soon as they got there. Closing her bedroom door behind her, she
looked hopelessly around at the small, mostly empty room and
finally sat down on her bed, kicking her feet and trying not to
think.

“Psst!”

Startled, she jumped and turned to face the
window where the sound had come from. Djerr peered in at her and
smiled half-heartedly. Climbing up onto the rickety desk, she
kneeled and looked down at him. “What're you doing here?” she
asked, mystified.

“You forgot all your stuff at my house!” he
explained, handing her bag up to her, through the window.

“Oh wow, I totally forgot about that,” she
said gratefully, tossing it onto her bed.

Suddenly looking more serious, he continued,
“Look, I'm really sorry about what happened. I shouldn't have
brought you there. I didn't realize Kirian would get so mad.”

Aurora shook her head. “Don't worry about
it. I was the one who asked to go there.”

There was an awkward silence and Djerr idly
brushed his curly hair back, out of his face. “Well, I don't want
to get you in any more trouble,” he said, finally, “so I'd better
get going.”

“Alright.” She smiled sadly at him. “I had
fun today. Thanks for the tour and everything.”

“Hey, no problem,” he said brightly. “We
should hang out again sometime.”

She nodded and climbed down from the desk as
he dashed off with a wave. Late that night, she was woken up by the
sound of the front door opening and closing and the low sound of
arguing. Pulling her blanket up over her head, she managed to block
out the sound and drifted back off to sleep.

Chapter 3

Aurora didn’t immediately run into Djerr
again. As she spent her days wandering around the city, she
considered walking past his house, but rejected the idea almost
immediately. There was something undeniably creepy about the place
that she wanted to avoid. She avoided the bar where Roxanne worked
as well.

Wandering through the streets, she worried
first about getting lost, but quickly worked out the layout of the
city: two main roads, perpendicular to each other with innumerable
side-streets. As long as you kept walking in one direction you were
bound to run into either one of the main streets or the edge of the
city.

She was sitting on the cliffs above the
beach one day, watching the kites below flutter in the breeze when
someone sat down next to her, feet dangling off the edge of the
rocks. “Heya,” Djerr said.

“Hi Djerr!” she said brightly, turning
toward him.

“So I realized something,” he said, as if
they were already deep in conversation. “I kind of showed you
around town a bit, but there’s a lot to see outside of town too.
Have you been to the meadow yet? We hang out in the forest a lot
too, but let’s take this one step at a time.”

“I didn’t even know there was a meadow,” she
admitted.

“Perfect!” he jumped up and smiled down at
her, his face framed by the sun. “Come on, there’s something I want
to show you out there. It’s kind of a secret, so don’t go showing
everyone, okay?”

“Sure. I won’t start leading any tours out
there or anything.” She rose to her feet and followed him down from
the cliffs. They meandered through the busy streets, slowly heading
out of town while the sun slid across the sky overhead. As they
exited Kain, the road expanded into a large dusty path which
gradually faded into the grass on either side. There were only a
couple other people on the path and she realized it was an exit
different than the one she had entered with Roxanne and Kirian.
Ahead of them, Aurora could see the ground dip down slightly into a
huge expanse of long grass that stretched on for a long way until
the ground was swept up into the hills and mountains far in the
distance.

Djerr led her along the path for a short
distance then cut through the tall grass. Laughing, she broke out
into a run, arms extended and the grass swishing around her
shoulders. Spinning around, she lost her balance and fell in a heap
in the soft grass, the clouds swirling above. She heard footsteps
and Djerr’s face appeared above her.

“Enjoying yourself?” he asked, rolling his
eyes and hiding a smile.

“I’ve never seen grass this tall before!”
she exclaimed, jumping back up. “It’s like an entire lake of
grass.”

“Uh-huh. Well, that’s not what I wanted to
show you. It’s what’s hidden inside this lake of grass.”

The two continued forward, further away from
the city until it was hidden behind a hill. “There,” Djerr said,
pointing. “Down at the bottom.”

In the distance, at the bottom of the slope,
Aurora spotted a small tree standing off by itself, covered with
lavender-colored blossoms. Below, partially hidden in its shadow
were sections of an old, stone structure sticking up out of the
grass in several places. “What’s that?”

“That's what we came here for. Come on!” He
grinned and took off running. She ran through the meadow after him,
the long grass sliding across her bare arms. As the sun slipped
behind a cloud, shadows raced across the ground. Crickets chirped
in the thick grass around her and a light breeze swept across the
meadow, causing the grass to sway and dance.

As she grew closer, she saw the structure
was an elegantly constructed complex of buildings full of archways
and smooth stone paths. Aurora drew to a halt, panting. Walking up
past where Djerr stood, she saw a short stone wall surrounded the
building, covered in thin green vines. Small white flowers
blossomed on the twisting vines. In the dim light, she saw a small
group of children run between the walls of two old, stone
buildings. Giggling, they rounded the corner and vanished from
sight.

As the sun peeked back out from behind the
clouds and sunlight spilled over the area, Aurora watched as the
flowers wilted and died, the green vines crumbled and fell from the
wall, and stones soundlessly fell from the buildings, creating a
dusty, lifeless ruin.

Djerr spoke from behind Aurora, “This used
to be the Academy of Magic.”

“The what?

“Remember when I mentioned that war that’s
going on?”

Aurora nodded and continued to stare at the
old building, unable to take her eyes away.

“Well, do you want to know more about that?”
He waited for her to nod again. “See, back in the days of magic,
there were wizards and non-wizards. A long time ago, there was
peace between them. Wizards helped heal the people, stop droughts,
and all sorts of stuff. They wandered all over the place, going
from town to town, seeing what they could do to help. However, some
wizards weren't happy with that way of life.

“Around 75 years ago, one wizard set up a
school for young wizards to practice their skills and share ideas.
That's this place, here. It turns out, a lot of wizards liked the
idea. They wanted a place to call home and the people were becoming
too reliant on them, demanding and expecting. The wizards that
continued to wander the land were met with outrage, instead of
respect. It used to be a great honor and celebration when parents
discovered their child was blessed with magic. When a passing
wizard came by, they would take the child on as their apprentice.
Instead, the young wizards were often disowned by their family. The
Academy of Magic was soon full of children, outcasts of the
world.