The cage was not far away. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes before I was dragged along and hurled into one of a dozen cages mounted on a ship.
"Try to escape and we will kill your family, kid," one of the armed men grunted, while the other let out a snort.
"As if he could get out of an Essencium cage."
Then they left without another word. No explanation. Nothing.
"Why are you doing this to me?!" I screamed, fingers coiled around the grid. It was to no avail.
"Why? Just… just why?" The strength left my body as the men disappeared, leaving me alone on the wooden deck.
It was pristine, flawless even, but no beauty in the world mattered more than the beauty of freedom.
The faces of my parents flashed before my eyes as my legs caved in. I slumped to the ground, tears welling in my eyes.
"Father."
He had been angry, hadn't he? His face was engraved in my mind. Every little detail. And it crushed me.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to swallow the panic that threatened to consume all reason. Now was not the time to panic. Yet it was my bladder that grounded me. It raged and wreaked havoc, so… so I did the only thing I could think of.
I got back up, turned toward the ship's mast, and pulled my pants down. The stream followed shortly, emptying my bladder and flushing out fear and anxiety before they could set roots.
The piss was heavenly. Was that what the gods' blessing felt like?
The gods… yeah… A mirthless chuckle escaped my lips.
"Is that what the gods planned for me?" I looked around the wooden deck, jaw clenched.
Being on a flying ship had been a dream of mine. When I was young, I always wanted to soar through the sky aboard one. The plan had not been to be imprisoned in the meantime, for whatever reason.
Nobody explained anything to me. They just dragged me away, and that was that. It was as ridiculous as it was terrifying.
Nonetheless, the flying ship was quite impressive. It was worth a fortune. Not even the town's wealthiest merchants could afford the smallest flying ship. Not that they would be able to even if they had the financial means. Only nobles and a particular few were allowed to possess one.
"Xavier! Xavier!!" A distant voice echoed in my ears, pulling my attention to a familiar figure running toward the ship. It was my brother, his face bringing a smile to my lips. A smile that died as soon as armed men appeared in a blur.
They were nowhere to be seen a moment ago, and then they were there. One towered over my brother, his arm flashing as he punched him in the face.
"Noo!" I screamed until my throat ached. Blood spurted through the air, and my brother stumbled to the ground.
"Let him go!!" My shouts reached no one. They met deaf ears as the armed men continued to lunge at my brother again and again.
What are they doing? Are they… are they going to kill him? The worst fears materialized in my mind, and my screams grew even louder. Loud enough to finally get a reaction from one of the armed men.
"Silence, or we will kill him." His voice was no more than a whisper, but it carried far.
I wanted to call the man out on his threat, to say that he wasn't allowed to kill innocent civilians, but my mouth was sealed shut. The coldness in the armed man's voice was unmistakable. His words rang true enough in my ears, and I did the only thing I could think of: I kept my mouth shut.
After one final comment rang out, "Don't worry about me, brother! Take care of our parents and that little troublemaker!"
Tears streaked down my face at the finality of those words. I didn't know what was about to happen–or how I had ended up here–but I didn't have a good feeling about it. It felt like we were never going to see each other again.
The armed men stopped the one-sided beating and disappeared, leaving my brother to fend for himself. He twitched on the ground for what felt like an eternity, then scrambled to his feet, face and shirt covered in blood.
"We love you, Xavier," he shouted, his voice croaked and pained. A shudder ran through him, followed by a groan, and he retreated, never turning his back to me. "Survive. Please!"
A few minutes later, he disappeared as well.
In his place came more people. Armed men dragged two unfortunate souls onto the deck and hurled them into the neighboring cages, disgustingly satisfied expressions marring their faces.
I wanted to punch them so badly, but the gods wouldn't let me. Instead, I turned to the other prisoners. Their ages didn't differ much from mine. It was obvious that they, too, had finished the Choosing and had been given a Power by the gods–a Power that led to their imprisonment, just like mine had. Somehow.
As far as I could remember, something like this had never happened before. Powers that dyed the orb red had existed in the past. Their wielders received extra lessons from the Order and were often invited to join them to deepen their education and understanding of their Powers. But this? Getting dragged away by force?
That was new. So was a Power that dyed the Orb of Power as black as the starless night.
"Just what did I awaken?"
At some point, more armed men and the Wizard stepped onto the ship. Nobody paid us a single glance, even as the young woman in the cage beside me cried out loudly, mourning the death of her family.
They were killed. For what? Because they tried to protect her.
The armed men executed them on the spot. Quick and ruthless.
Nobody cared for her cries, and nobody checked on us as the flying ship departed, ascending into the sky.
It was like we never even existed.