Everything in my body screamed that I should run. Run as fast as I could and don't look back. My heart pounded in my chest. My lungs burned as I inhaled the clean, crisp air of the early evening. Along with it, that bizarre sensation from the prison warmed my blood. It coursed uncomfortably through my veins.

  The massive crowds prevented my hasty retreat through the harbor city. Outside the double doors of the prison, I found myself caught in the throngs of commoners and nobles alike lining the cobblestone street. I twisted my way between them like a tailor guiding a needle through fine cloth.

  I froze in my tracks. The booming call of a horn echoed through the street as I forced my way forward. Head down. Now! Saints, help me. Let me disappear into this crowd.

  “Make way for his Royal Highness!” The mass of people compressed against me, pushing me back toward the towering brick buildings. I uttered gratitude to the saints under my breath. A young man sliding along the walls should slip through unnoticed.

  I collided with a large man slumped against the wall beneath a lantern struggling to stay lit. He reeked of herbs, sweat, and the foul-smelling liquids used to tan leather. My nose wrinkled in disgust.

  “Get gone, pup!”

  “Out of my way.” I glared at the man blocking the path. Like a lifeless doll, he stepped aside. I slipped past, returning my gaze to the immaculate stones of the pathway. The clopping of hooves grew louder as the clamoring crowd fell silent.

  Clop. Clop. Clop. My heart thundered in my ears as the heavy tread of a horse passed by. Please, keep going. Please. I squeezed my eyes shut. One step at a time. I inhaled sharply and held my breath.

  The commotion in the crowd resumed as lively conversation rippled out among the citizens of New Janderus. I exhaled, feeling the tension release from my shoulders. But my moment of relief was cut tragically short by the sound of jangling chainmail and heavy boots slamming against the road.

  “Lord Freyja, sir! He's escaped.”

  I ignored the gasps and curious stares of the townsfolk as I darted past them, desperate to find my way out. Whenever I lost my bearings, I stopped to demand directions to the gate from the nearest passerby. Each time, they would freeze and slowly lift a single finger, pointing me onward.

  After many twists and turns, I found the massive wooden doors that sealed New Janderus off from the outside world. The square before them was brightly illuminated by lanterns identical to those lining the city streets. At its center stood a fountain with a stone fish that spat water from its mouth into a gleaming basin. It lent the square an elegance only a wealthy city could afford. Under other circumstances, I might have paused to admire it. But right now, escape was all that mattered.

  “Find him!” Angered voices rang through the alleyways behind me. Without hesitation, I strode into the square and planted myself before the fountain. I looked up at a dimly lit wooden balcony. Heavy footsteps thudded ominously above my head.

  “State your business, beggar boy,” a guard barked from the balcony above the gate. Thankfully, word of my escape hadn't yet reached the outskirts of the city.

  “Open the gate and give me a horse.”

  Minutes ticked by as I waited. Slowly, the gate creaked open, revealing the darkening road beyond. A horse reared and screamed in panic as an emotionless guard jerked on his lead. I ran. My eyes focused only on the horse. My key to escape. I vaulted into the saddle and drove my heels into his sides. He bolted down the path.

  I didn't know which way to go, but it didn't matter. I gave the horse his head, and he surged forward, flying down the road. Travelers cried out and leapt aside as the black streak of warhorse galloped by.

  I urged the horse onward as the sun slipped behind the horizon. The pale sliver of the rising moon shimmered in the calm river beside the road. I was grateful for the peaceful meadows of the riverlands. I'd hear the thundering of hooves if the New Janderus guards decided to give chase.

  Eventually, my powerful steed’s energy began to wane and his swift pace slowed to a sluggish walk. The adrenaline that drove me to escape faded with it. Fatigue and pain rushed in to take its place, overwhelming my body. I had no choice but to stop along the roadside.

  I slid off the stallion nearly collapsing on my hands and knees in the process. The bizarre sensation in me faded, leaving my body open to an extreme weakness and the telltale signs of a magic-induced headache.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Off you go, back to New Janderus.” My eyes met the stallion's dark eye and I weakly smacked his rump. He didn’t run off. He stood there, staring at me. I waved him off.

  “Go!”

  With a defiant snort, the stallion turned and trudged down the road. The soft, rhythmic thudding of his lazy pace filled the calm, evening air. I didn't look back. Instead of pressing on, I sank to the ground and crawled beneath the dense cover of a thicket. I longed for the gentle embrace of sleep, but the pain radiating through my body denied me the rest I desperately craved.

  There I lay, staring up at the pale moonlight, pressing my hands against my burning forehead, ignoring the sticks digging into the flesh of my bare arms. If I couldn’t sleep, I could at least try to understand what had happened back in the cell.

  Simply put, I lost myself.

  Anger, pain, and desperation awakened something that consumed everything I was. I felt nothing but a single, burning drive to escape. The force didn’t care how it achieved its goal. But the worst part was, it wasn’t some external force acting through me.

  It was me.

  I knew what I was doing. Every word I spoke was mine. Every step I took was mine. I let it happen. I indulged in the rush of power and authority.

  The image of the two bodies I stepped over in my cell burned in my mind. John. He showed me nothing but kindness in that cruel world. And how did I repay him? He wouldn’t be going home tonight.

  Whether it was the migraine or the horror settling in, I turned and retched, despite my empty stomach. My body trembled as the full weight of the realization crashed down on me.

  Fern had warned me that ancient magic would destroy me if I didn’t learn to control it. But how could I control something I don’t understand? With time, the physical strain of magic subsides. But my soul? After today, one thing was painfully clear. With every surge of magic I kept buried inside me, I risked losing myself entirely.

  “Fern,” I sobbed. My nose and throat closed up as I inhaled the dry leaves around me.

  I didn’t know how to go on, knowing I had killed two men. I rolled onto my stomach folding my arms beneath my head as a makeshift pillow. I cried myself to sleep beneath that lonely bush.

  ──── ? ────

  Barking. It couldn't be. My drowsy mind had to be playing tricks on me. I slowly opened my eyes, wincing as sharp rays from the morning sun pierced through the bushes into them. More barking. It was not a cruel joke from my exhausted mind. The dogs were coming.

  Lightheaded and weak, I struggled to free myself from the grasping twigs snagged on my clothing and hair. My body felt like lead, urging me to stay and surrender myself to the hunting party closing in. But I forced myself to my feet. A gnawing pain twisted in my stomach as I strained to make sense of the cacophony coming toward me from New Janderus.

  The river lay closer to the road than I had first thought. It carved its way through a shallow valley in the vast plains of the riverlands. I clawed my way up the grassy dune overlooking the riverbed, casting a quick glace over my shoulder for any sign of pursuit. A light breeze tousled my hair and carried the faint shouting of men with it.

  Quickly I scanned the river looking for somewhere to hide. I bit my lip as my gaze focused on a small, weedy pocket of stagnant water trapped in a shallow alcove. Dead bits of leaves and seaweed floated on the its still surface.

  There. If I can make it. I might have a chance. Dogs yipped and snarled in the distance as the hunting party closed in.

  “He's close!” I faintly heard as I sprinted toward the weedy bog by the river. I paused long enough to catch my breath before plunging into the foul, standing water.

  Go away. Go away. I begged. My lungs burned, screaming for air. My knees stiffened as I crouched in the shallow water. It was too shallow to stand in comfortably, but I didn't dare to try to lay down. Any noise could alert the hounds to my presence.

  “Let's go! He's not here,” a muffled voice called out above the surface. “He's heading to Zudrugen. Send a messenger!”

  I couldn’t hold my breath any longer. Air. I needed air. I pinched my nose and squeezed my eyes tighter.

  Hold on, Abel. Just a few seconds more.

  I held on as long as I could before dragging myself out of the water onto the shore. I staggered to my feet before a coughing fit brought me down to my hands and knees.

  Breathe in. Breathe out. Water streamed down my face as I forced myself to take deep breaths of the cold fall air. Slowly the the pain in my lungs faded away.

  “Thank you, saints,” I whispered to the damp grass as I pushed myself to my feet and climbed up the dune.

  Cold. My wet clothes clung to my shivering body as I trudged down the road toward Zudrugen. Every time I scratched my itching scalp, black dye smeared across my fingers and stuck under my nails. I wiped them on my already stained shirt.

  I should stop and try to wash a little more of the dye out of my hair and clothes. I just didn't have the energy.

  Honestly, I didn’t care anymore.

  By the time I dropped onto a patch of grass by the road, the sun was already high in the cloudless sky. I laid my head on my knees and stared at my muddy boots. One hand clutched the fabric of my shirt over my aching stomach while the other idly picked at dry blades of grass. I swallowed as my mouth watered thinking about how they might taste. When was my last meal? I couldn’t recall.

  Slow clop of hooves and the creak of a rickety cart interrupted my thoughts. A woman's gentle voice murmured as she hushed a little girl's laughter. Two heavy feet landed in front of me with a soft thud. I didn't look up from my boots.

  A shadow fell across my face. I looked up at an outstretched hand careful to avoid its owner’s eyes.

  “Hey, lad. You look like you could use some help.”