Hide and Seek

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She scrabbled up the side of the tree, bare hands scraping against the rough bark as she searched for traction. Her shoes were worn so far through that she could feel the bark against her feet, and she gave a sigh of relief as she finally pulled herself up to a crook in the branches. She breathed softly through her mouth, shifting until she was at least somewhat comfortable.

She braced her feet against the branches and let her arms hang down, her canvas bag hanging from her wrist and blending in with the bark behind it. The first time she’d been out here, in the wilderness like this, she had been terrified of heights, but she’d been more terrified of running into any of the wandering bands of men, the lawless ones who called no city-state their home.

She snorted. Guess I’m one of them, now.

She looked out across the wilderness, a wilderness that seemed even more forlorn peppered as it was by the remnants of civilization. The process was a long one, the reclaiming of the suburbs by the wild. Of course, the plague only affected those living, so for many, many years the buildings had stood simply empty, the lawns growing more and more unkempt, the trees falling down and destroying the buildings they once guarded.

At least, that’s what was said. Papa said his grandmother used to tell stories, passed down throughout the generations, of how before the plague came food was plentiful and water came out of a tube in your house. Then again, the same grandparents told stories of fairies and goblins, so she wasn’t taking such ideas at face value.

She glanced out over at the wilderness around her. She was at the edge of an old suburb – cement could just barely been seen amongst the weeds on the ground, remnants of old roads, and the foundation of a house stood next to her tree, half filled with dirt.

Further, still, through the thin layer of trees, she could see the skyscrapers, or what was left, their top floors fallen down among the streets where people lived.

Utopia, he called it. That was the name Papa O’Leary gave it, at least, and when he ran the place, it certainly was a utopia in comparison to the wilderness. The rationing was strict, the guards even stricter, and all lawbreakers were punished harshly, but it was better than the wilderness. At least, until O’Leary decided to up and die and leave his son Ian in charge.

She suspected the man was paranoid. Maybe just jealous. But the moments he got his hands on Utopia, he decided to turn it to hell for mages like her.

Magic, so she’d heard, was a relatively new thing. With all the old technology gone, people thought to turn back to older arts. And, to their surprise, it worked.

It took a certain talent and a great deal of study to master even one discipline, and the power it afforded one… it was no surprise Ian was paranoid. Mages were called monsters, ill omens, accused of all kinds of filth, and people had no choice but to follow along with it. Ian had the guard in his pocket. Eventually, people started to believe it. And she and Papa slowly fell back to the edge of Utopia, standing on a knife’s edge between the unknown wilderness and the hell of the city.

She knew they couldn’t hide forever. Papa was getting old, too – too old to survive living outside. So she’d left.

She shifted uncomfortably, closing her eyes as she balanced on the branches. She focused, taking a deep breath, letting her thoughts slip away, all her cares fade. She reached for the words, muttering a short incantation under her breath.

To an observer, should they care to look up, she would have appeared to simply… fade. Disappear into the foliage of the tree, blend in with the bark.

She felt the spell take effect and opened her eyes, dragging her canvas bag up to her lap and pulling out what food she had. She ate only a little, careful to store the rest in spite of her hunger.

She was safe here, she was sure. Should anyone so much as approach, not only was she unseen, but they’d likely trip any of the traps she’d set up around the place. She’d used this place as her camp for long enough that she figured she’d invest in some additional defenses.

She rolled her eyes as he went into one of his historical researcher rants again. "That's not what I mean," she said, though it was nice to know the why of it. "Numbers. How many guards, how many mages here, where they keep the other mages, important stuff."

She smirked. She came in at just the right time, it seemed, then. "Alright," she said, thinking, drawing her knees up to her chest. His attacks on the guards should make this much easier. "These cages are old and poorly maintained. Rust on the bottom of the bars, at least on mine. That's how we'll get out. After your injuries heal," she said, cutting a glance at him. "Pretend like they've won for maybe a week or so. Can your pride handle that?"

She nodded, silent. She took a deep breath before speaking again.

"I... imagine they will expect me to resist, at least once," she said. "I'm afraid if I don't try to fight them at least once it'll look... suspicious." She glanced over at him again. "...What should I expect?"

She nodded, and said nothing more, scooting to the back of her cell. Now it was only to wait for them to show up and try to take her... wherever. She breathed in slowly, crossed her legs, and started to meditate.

She opened her eyes as the man spoke, giving him a scathing look before she closed them again and returned to her meditation. She reached slowly for a spell, waiting for them to come inside and try to drag her out.

She kept her eyes shut, starting to mumble half to herself as she heard the guard and a few others - three pairs of footsteps, walk into her cell.

"Get the hell up, bitch, before I - "

The man had started to reach down to yank her up, and, her spell finished, Laura's eyes shot open. The man recoiled, and she reached out one hand to grab his wrist before he could pull back. Her eyes seemed to glow black, if that was even possible, her shadow lengthening on the wall, her smile positively demonic.

Just a simple fear spell. But those were always rather fun.

"Make me," she said, and before he could react she jammed the heel of her hand up, slamming into his fingers and bending them back until several snapped.

She closed her eyes, trying to breathe through the pain. Focus. Just focus. God, she'd almost blacked out there for a moment when that bastard was having his temper tantrum. Her back felt wet - had she torn her wounds back open, while he was shocking her?

She took another breath, clearing her mind and focusing on feeding that flame, willing the pain to go away. As they dragged her upright, she tried to support herself, but her limbs twitched, not wanting to obey her orders. She drew in a ragged breath as they dragged her out, closing her eyes. It's over now. The pain will pass.

She tried to catch Raziel's eye, and gave him just the barest hint of a smile. I'm fine.

Laura collapsed down in the machine, and jolted up as she felt something pulling at her. Not physically, but worse - like something was pulling at the very core of her being.

She fought the urge to throw herself out of the damned thing, but right now that might just be suicidal. She cringed, trying to hold back her panic. Damn it. A week. Just a week and you can bust out. She had to cling to that thought.

She felt sick from the pain, and she cautiously reached back to check the wound on her back. Her fingers came back wet. She'd be fine - probably. Nothing to do but take it.

Laura grabbed her food and limped in the direction of Raziel. The bleeding had stopped fairly quickly, painting a faint red stain on her back that blended into her shirt and caused her shirt to cling to her back like a needy boyfriend. She grimaced, sitting down near Raziel, but not right next to him, on the opposite side of the healer. She didn't want to look like she was associating too much with the guy who was a known problem.

Laura jumped as the woman reached out to grab her, nearly pulling away as a spark of silver light grew from her hand. She felt the ache from her wounds subside, and she raised her eyebrows, amazed as the wound in her leg seemed to finally heal itself.

She allowed herself to barely smile. Better than I ever hoped. Now she had her mobility back.

She looked over at the two of them as they spoke and nodded, thinking, glancing around at the mages around them. She shrugged. "If you can get extra food, take it," she said simply, pretending to focus on her bowl of shit as she scanned the room. She would guess about a hundred and twenty, as Raziel said. Most of them looked exhausted, weak, beaten, and she scowled.

Fuck this town. She was starting to get really pissed off. Maybe it won't just be me and Raziel busting out...

She glanced over at Natalie - she guessed she wouldn't rat. She wasn't so sure about the other mages. "Hopefully you'll only have to deal with it for a week," she said, keeping her head down.

She sighed. "I'm not saying it aloud," Laura said, looking over at Raziel quickly, trying to confirm that she could trust this woman. She seemed too weak and earnest to be a rat. Most of the time, the rats were well fed until they were no longer needed. Like Julian - treacherous bastard thought he was clever, turning in nearly everyone in his family to O'Leary and living like a king until it became clear he wasn't useful anymore...

Either that, or they were the people scared enough to do anything to make the pain stop. She glanced around the room. That could be anybody here. "Natalie, you've been here for a while, right? Can you tell me who the rats are?"

“Of course they were,” she muttered, half to herself. A revolt of weak, sickly mages against healthy armed guards? It would have been a slaughter.

She looked around her again. Damn, she felt crowded. Too many people in too small a space. She shook her head finally. “Anyway, I ain’t planning something like that.” She wasn’t entirely sure what she was planning yet, but the way that thing had sucked on her magic… “If I didn’t have that damn thing sucking on my magic all day, we’d have more options,” she said bitterly. “But for now…”

She sighed. “I can’t say I’ll be able to free this whole place, but I can at least get you two out,” she said. “But I need to come up with a plan, first.”