Ayden spat blood on the ground and glanced at his captors. Two held him, one by each arm. Two brawny street kids, with twice as much malice than he ever had toward them. The third boy, larger than his lackeys glared down at him with crossed arms. “Now listen, Ayd,” Talda said, chewing on a pipe that wasn’t lit. “I thought I told you to keep out.”

  “Sorry,” said Ayden. He meant it too. “See that pole?” he asked.

  They glanced up at a taller building under construction. It was to be a residential unit administered by the lord of their province. It soared higher than most other buildings and many complained about its unnecessary height. However, atop the structure rested a pole that jutted out. An unfinished section of the scaffolding that gleamed in the sunlight.

  “Yeah,” said Talda. “What about it?”

  “I was trying to climb up there.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  “Tonight, the stars align and if I can chann-”

  Talda shoved his meaty hand onto Ayden’s mouth, lancing pain into his split lip, and smearing the blood over his face. “Don’t care.” He patted him on the cheek. “Just don’t be seen around here.”

  “Only for tonight!” cried Ayden. “If I can get-”

  Talda squeezed Ayden’s cheeks together as he grabbed his face and yanked him up, straining his shoulders as they grew taut under the other two boys’ grapple. They snickered at his groan. “I don’t care. If you want to be seen, get ready for a lot of pain. I mean it.”

  It didn’t make sense. Why did it matter? He knew these tough kids were territorial. Something about family rivalries on the streets and a show of strength. He wished people put aside the tribal stubbornness and just reasoned with one another.

  Unfortunately for Ayden, such reasoning only ever came in the form of an agonizing beat down. Talda rammed his fist into Ayden’s stomach. He didn’t need to. Again, it only proved that he could and Ayden couldn’t do anything about it.

  Ayden tightened his fists and Talda and the boys whistled at his sudden irritation. I could show them. I could light their pants on fire right now. I could blast them back on their asses. If Ayden did, then the roaming band of Silterran Academy Mages that came around every once in a while to find talent would use the offense as a reason to not accept him. They were arriving here soon, and he needed to be ready.

  He didn’t have the mentors and the resources as every other boy and girl in Eleda Town, but if he could use an experimental conduit to channel the star power into his body, he could clear the gap between them and him. Or so mentioned the book he’d read. If only Talda didn’t have to show how much of a bloody man he was.

  “Tell you what,” said Talda. “My boys and I are going to grab a few things around the corner. That should give you enough time to skip your way out of here. Do NOT be here when we’re back.”

  Talda and his two lackeys snickered and sauntered off. Ayden wiped his mouth and decided he could try climbing now and hope he made it far enough up before they came back. He steeled himself for the journey and decided it was his only choice. He ignored the threat of falling or slipping from his own blood.

  Maybe I should worry, he thought. He wiped his hands and cracked his neck. “Alright, here we go.”

  He latched onto a handhold in the scaffolding and pulled himself up. He looked down and gulped. Only a foot off the ground. He could do this. He heard the voices return from the corner.

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  “I swear if he’s still there,” Ayden heard Talda say.

  Ayden panicked and decided to commit. He could take a beating. He couldn’t miss this opportunity. He yanked himself up on another handhold. Again and again he scaled higher and higher until sweat beaded from his face and his breath came out in rasps. Below in the alley Talda rounded the corner and laughed.

  “Not here,” he said. “Coward.”

  Ayden continued to climb. He was almost to the third floor when his foot slipped and he let out a yelp.

  “Oi!” Talda cried. “He’s up there!”

  “He’s actually climbing!” cried his first lackey.

  “Throw something!” cried the second lackey.

  Ayden winced as the rock almost struck his head.

  “Close one, Talda!” laughed the first lackey.

  “Leave me alone!” cried Ayden as another rock cracked against a beam a hand’s width away from his knee. “Just let this go!”

  Talda scoffed. “Now it’s a matter of principle, Ayd.” The third rock struck his back and he gaped in a silent scream.

  Ayden wished he knew how to heal, but he always struggled to channel Green.

  “Good one!” cried the second lackey.

  “Ayd!” called Talda. “Come down now, or you’ll break a leg or two. We’ll settle this like men.”

  Shaking his head, and gritting his teeth, Ayden continued to climb. Another rock slapped against a crossbar between his legs.

  “Small target,” mused Talda. “I’ll try again.”

  Ayden continued to climb even after the next rock struck his thigh. He feared to see the bruise that sprouted there. Another rammed into the back of his hand causing him to nearly fall. He held on with one hand and several of the boys below hooted and whistled. Now more boys and girls started to gather at the commotion and cried out to see him so high up.

  A guardsman or two called up at him and ordered him to come down.

  He could do time in a cell. He just couldn’t miss this opportunity. The sun started to descend and he panicked as he realized he may miss his chance! Ayden decided he was ready to die for this. It seemed so childish and a wild decision to make, but if he wasn’t all in on his dream of leaving this trash town, then he shouldn’t ever be a mage. Steeling himself he pushed on even after the final rock cracked into the back of his head, dazing him, and sending a trickle of blood down the back of his neck.

  The crowd below gasped and a few even cheered.

  The guardsmen started to chase Talda and the other boys off. Parents of the guardsmen and the boys involved themselves and a brawl began in the alley. Ayden only caught it through jeers and taunts and curses. He was too focused on keeping an iron grip on the ledge.

  He resumed scaling once his bearings returned. Finally dusk enveloped the land and the urgent stars of the night twinkled above him. The Star of Paradoxes gleamed the brightest, and the Temple Star burned a little dimmer under it. He grinned and felt the cool breeze wash over him from the height. Even Talda couldn’t nab him here.

  He’d have to get the full construction site’s equipment to climb. Had Ayden been a daring rebel, he’d have stolen one of those ladders or rope mechanisms to propel himself up. He supposed in some ways scaling it illegally was just as daring. People would tell tales of this moment when Ayden became the power house he knew he could.

  From inside his coat he procured his gemstone.

  He blinked at it.

  Cracked. The gemstone was cracked and thus, couldn’t sap the aligned powers of the stars. Ayden blinked again and remembered how they’d tackled him and he’d landed on the streets. Was it a faulty stone? Or had he truly fallen so hard?

  He started to shake as he realized he’d struggled for nothing. “I can’t believe it,” he rasped. “I… I hate myself. I hate Talda. I hate his lackeys. I… I HATE YOU!” he roared, staring up at the skies. A blast of fire erupted from his mouth. The crowd below exclaimed at his burst of power.

  Ayden felt shocked. So much so he let go of the pole and fell off the building. The stars didn’t get smaller. The building just rushed passed him and he realized he would die for nothing.