Chapter 6: Chapter 5

Third Person View

 

Aladora was born in Black City, the largest and most populous city in the world.

 

Situated in the middle of the Black Empire, stretching from the foot of a mountain to the lowest part of its valley, this place was the capital of the Empire back in the day.

 

The Black City that everyone wanted to visit was the most precious jewel the previous Emperor could offer.

 

The lustrous whiteness of the marble houses that sat beautifully behind flower-filled lawns and breathtaking gardens, the blinding grandeur of the government buildings in the middle of the city, the aristocratic quarters with exquisite shops and exceptional workshops - everything made one think of a great and wealthy metropolis.

 

It is normal that such a city needed something to stand on, like a house needs a foundation. 

 

And the foundations of Black City are underneath it, in the deepest part of the valley, after those roads that no one recommends visiting and that end with gates rusted by time and skulls and signs that scream 'be wary.’

 

In fact, while back then there were at most four million people in Black City proper, the remaining eight million lived in the other three parts into which the city was divided. 

 

Those three parts, named districts, communicated with each other.

 

Still, they were divided by walls and fences from the upper and rich area, as if those who lived in the lower side were sick with the plague.

 

In reality, the precautions made sense.

 

The underside was as a shadow, one that such a luxurious place necessarily casts. 

 

It was crowded with homeless people devoid of any possession, the most dangerous criminals in the world and a perpetually ruling darkness.

 

These areas had no access to the sun with the upper zone directly above them and the lighting they received was scarce. 

 

Thus, it was the perfect place for scary men and women to hide like moles, especially those with bounties placed on them.

 

Kelgos was the innermost and least densely populated of the four districts of Black City.

 

A cobra among snakes -- as the inhabitants of the other districts below Black City proper ironically called it -- for it was a place where even they were afraid to go. 

 

It was rumoured that the most horrific crimes took place there, because of all the safety measures that prevented outsiders from being witness to them.

 

It was touted as the very place where murderers, mercenaries and grey eminences who were hunted down by the law lived. 

 

It was the perfect place to vanish to because no one had the courage to enter it.

 

The isolation in which Kelgos found itself had given rise to a very distinct dialect from the original Blackian, the tongue that is spoken throughout the Empire with a few regional variations, and which is extremely well established and spoken all over the globe.

 

A brief example will suffice. 

 

Whereas in Blackian the word 'violence' is translated as 'arladau', in Kelegi the term 'aladora' is used.

 

And it is from here that begins the tale of a figure who deeply influenced Kelgos, in ways that no one else had ever done and probably no one else ever will.

 

Born in a dark, dimly lit alleyway, whose only decorations were barrels placed here and there and a small window leading into a flat, was a skinny infant. Her eyes shone the same green as the magic-powered street lamps that populated the city.

 

Her parents named her 'Aladora'. Then they abandoned her, letting everyone know what name they had left by means of a scrap of paper in the basket in which they had laid her.

 

She never met her parents and so couldn't know why they had chosen such a name, but the girl felt even as a child that her name was akin to a prophecy. 

 

Like something she was meant to be.

 

In Kelgos there are not many alternatives, after all. Where a civilised system fails, the struggle for survival takes over. The five hundred thousand inhabitants of this district were all quite adept at survival. 

 

Those who were not were already dead or had fled away.

 

It was not advisable to have children in Kelgos. 

 

Since they had to be defended with the utmost energy, they weakened those who had them. 

 

And the only way this place kept its population growing was through the immigration of people in trouble, who usually became as accustomed to the original traditions of the place as those who were born there.

 

The upper class families had resided in the area for generations though, and boasted many children.

 

Several times Aladora, whilst still an adorable-looking child with wonderfully short blond hair, had pondered whether she also hailed from one of these families. 

 

She also wondered if she would ever be found by her parents.

 

Then she became more of a realist. 

 

Her parents had left her to die, it was fortunate that she had been rescued by some low-level thugs, but none of that was ever guaranteed.

 

There was no guarantee she'd be alive.

 

In any case, these delinquents that had found her as a newborn really needed new blood.

 

A boy named Jai Hailarr, a member of a labouring family in the adjacent district, had been robbing his family and was disowned when discovered.

 

Realising that there was no way to stay in his district with all the rumours about him, and that he'd starve with how little everyone would trust him for a job, the man had chosen in desperation to go through the gates to Kelgos.

 

It was from then on that he had built up a small band of thieves which he led.

 

But deep down he was not a wicked man. He had a problem with anger and kleptomania, but he wouldn't have been able to kill a fly.

 

So, upon seeing a baby in the middle of an alley where he used to go with his comrades to divide up spoils, he managed to convince them that he could not abandon her.

 

“Look at her.” He told his mates, who were not as enthusiastic. “She’s so cute! I bet y’all she’ll be great in the future! Just what we need.”

 

Luck aided young Jai for a long time.

 

Despite his inexperience, he was able to stay alive long enough to see his beautiful sandy blond hair turn grey, his brawny boyish face turn into a brazen bearded one, his legs lose that flair they had used to have, that rapidity that allowed him to rob.

 

But Jai was also a mage.

 

In the two decades he spent in Kelgos he had honed his skills but he would still hardly have been better than a wizard in the Imperial Army.

 

What he lacked, so would say Aladora as she grew up, was creativity. Using magic is not just about knowing many spells or being talented at casting.

 

It also involves thinking quickly about what must be used, adapting your attacks to suit the enemy and the situation and knowing how to truly shock your opponent.

 

"Tonight I will teach you magic." 

 

One day, when Ala was only six years old, Jai told her such a thing. 

 

Before that morning, her days had been strange. She was locked in some room waiting for the group of bandits to return, completely unaware of what they did during the day.

 

If the Aladora of the Academy period tried to remember what she was thinking during those days, she might not even be able to. 

 

She did not speak, perhaps for lack of a true parental figure to talk to.

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Jai was not her father. 

 

He enjoyed treating her as his equal, trying to explain things to her and make her survive, but he had no sincere affection.

 

He was an empathetic boy, that was all. He did not want a person to suffer because they were unable to defend themselves in a dangerous place.

 

During those days Ala would stand by the closed door, listening to the conversations and bad jokes that the bandits would exchange with each other after finishing some cunning deception.

 

"Ala is a strange girl." So Jai used to say to his people when they asked him why he did not speak and constantly looked at them.

 

“But I hope she will be able to talk soon. To be useful she needs to learn magic."

 

That was one of Kelgos' biggest problems. The streets were narrow and one could hear a lot both inside and outside the light rock-and-wooden walls of the houses, which were not soundproof at all for the most part. 

 

To say something dangerous could put a life at risk. Sometimes even just being heard could put a life at risk.

 

For this reason, using a spell was especially risky. There was no known way to do it without alerting, be it through voice, the sound of an apparition or simply the magical intuition developed by anyone who had been fiddling with high-level spells for a few years.

 

In Kelgos, there was no such thing as surprise effect. For this reason, the struggle for survival of the weakest against the strongest included knowing when not to use magic, because defeating an enemy could involve being sidetracked and killed a few minutes later.

 

That night, Jai had chosen to stay far away from all his other mates, who all deep down despised the little girl a little bit for being defenceless. 

 

That was one thing he did understand, because they were more used to this district than he was. They could feel she was out of place without skills.

 

In the middle of an empty square, this she still remembers, he spoke and broke the silence.

 

"D’know if you notice, but you gotta be ‘dam good to survive here!" Then he lit his own cigarette. The green light of the square at night was tainted by the smoke coming out from his mouth.

 

She looked at him without speaking.

 

"Y’ask if I’m good? Of course I am. One of the best. Have you seen how much cash we have?" He boasted and laughed. 

 

Jai was still an immature boy in spite of all the growth he had had since the day he stole from his family, but he was one of those immature boys that it was hard not to like.

 

"You should talk to me, first of all… I'm basically yo’ father, am I not? Just a bit mo' handsome and I also think less of milk!"

 

Silence.

 

"Ah, maybe you can't get that joke, but trust me girl, it’s funny! You’ll laugh one day. Any case... take a good look at me. Magic is difficult but I trust you!"

 

After saying that, he stretched his arms holding his palm up and lowered his head. He’d show her with an example, because he didn’t know much about theory.

 

The little girl looked at him in amazement.

 

She had never seen anything like this, they had never shown it to her. 

 

She always stayed at home when they went on 'missions'. She barely knew what mages did.

 

So her surprise when red flames leaked from Jai's palms was palpable. 

 

He exclaimed: 'flame!' It was one of the simplest spells and would have been a good start for someone who had never done anything of the sort.

 

"Doesn't that make you talk, Aladora?" He asked, smiling. "Did you have a trauma or something? I used to talk without a problem when I was six, little girl!"

 

Then he let go of the flames, which fanned a barely lit lamppost’s green flame and mixed with the smoke from his cigarette up in the sky.

 

And he added the most serious thing he could muster.

 

"If you are a slow learner, you die here."

 

"Do as I did. Put your palm towards the sk-- towards whatever is above us. Then close your eyes, lower your head, think about what you want to bring to life and say it out loud!"

 

"Well, care! Speakin’ out loud, shoutin’, both never good in this town. You might bring in the unwanted, may I say so!”

 

"So think hard! Every time you're about to cast a spell, think about what you should do."

 

"Take care. Few things hold you back when learning magic.”

 

“Your talent, fo’ of all. Because I wouldn't be able to make a super huge flame, I lack the magical power.”

 

“And your intelligence, because if you throw water at an enemy in the sea then you deserve to die."

 

"Do you understand, Aladora? With that name of yours, surely you'll be good! But first you must speak.”

 

And he looked into her eyes, and she looked at him. She didn't seem to have any expression.

 

Jai had known many people, many children, but there was something about this girl that was completely incomprehensible to him. 

 

She was hard to read, always looked melancholic and never spoke.

 

"In this place, without magic you die. I don't care if you hate talking. You will have to." Snap.

 

"Go ahead.”

 

It took a few seconds for Ala to get into the same position the tall boy in front of her had been in a short time before.

Her palms were turned towards the sky, her face lowered and her eyes closed. 

And then came the moment to speak.

 

'F-f-f-flame.'

 

The words jammed, but the flame came out anyway. Weak, unsure, feeble, but it was there.

 

“Good girl. You'll have to improve, though. The capacity of your flames only depends on how much you trust yourself."

 

Ala smiled. “Thanks.” She muttered.

 

“No problem, girl.” He answered easily. 

 

“Wohoo!” He then screamed into the night, expressing all his happiness at his success for the day.

 

Jai had never felt like a father.

 

He'd thought he didn't deserve a sibling, that it was something that belonged to people who were more mature than him, but he liked this exchange.

 

He was happy to have something to do with a child, to teach her.

 

So much so that he did not remember one of the most important rules of Kelgos. One must never scream in public.

 

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