章 3: The orphanage disaster
Ah, what do we have here? A mission to steal the moon! It sounds like we're talking about stealing an apple from my grandfather's orchard!
I wonder, aren't there greater challenges than this? Perhaps climbing icy mountains with your hands tied behind your back, or diving into the depths of a lake of fire to retrieve an eternal flame? It seems the office is starting to lack imagination...
I'll need to prepare a shopping list: thermal gloves, magical ropes, and maybe an anti-gravity shield. Of course, I won't forget the guidebook "Celestial Theft for Beginners" because obviously, the moon won't just pluck itself out of the sky!
Not to mention all the effects Earth will suffer from losing the moon. Who's going to take care of all those annoying creatures that will find themselves in complete darkness without their friendly moon?
Humans might need group therapy sessions to overcome the trauma of the moon's disappearance.
Let's not forget that we might anger magical beings. All those sacred beasts that rely on moonlight to regulate their magical activities might start showing their wrath. We're talking about a world filled with magical chaos and confused creatures.
Steal the moon? Really, office?!
---
I sit in what feels like a large cell, my mind muddled, thinking only: if I were a mage, there might be a slim chance. But a Luminy? Even dark magic wouldn't achieve anything in my situation.
When a person is born in this world, in this empire specifically, a magical test is performed to determine their magical affinity. This test literally dictates the course of their life.
If you're born a regular human, welcome to the ordinary jobs: farmer, blacksmith, politician, or any job that doesn't require magic.
If it turns out you're magical, welcome to the world of magic. You attend one of the magic academies and might become a priest, a warrior, or even a Guardian of the Empire. Your family's entire trajectory could change.
But if you're a "Luminy," spit on your luck and welcome to misery and suffering. Most people believe "Luminies" are cursed, just like "Outcasts," so your parents might kill you upon birth to avoid misfortune. Some greedy parents might secretly sell you to a dark sorcerer. At best, you might live and work as a power source in one of the magic houses.
I was much luckier! I was born in a small village in the Nightspeak region, surrounded by mountains and dense forests. When my father conducted the knowledge test and he and my mother saw the result, they understood what it meant. But instead of fear, hatred, or greed, I felt their love and tenderness enveloping me. They knew I was different, but they didn't see my existence as a problem.
Instead of killing me, selling me, or even surrendering me to the empire, my parents decided to protect me at all costs.
They sold everything they owned and opened an orphanage in a distant location, registering me there as if I were an orphan. My presence there shielded me from prying eyes.
The orphanage was an old building surrounded by a small garden. It was filled with children who had lost their parents for various reasons, but I was the only one who wasn't truly an orphan. My parents, who became the orphanage's directors, ensured I lived as normal a life as possible.
I learned how to be part of a group, playing and studying with the other children. They saw me as one of them, never suspecting I was a "Luminy."
I never felt orphaned, knowing from the start that the director and directress were my parents. My love for them manifested in every moment. Despite all the hardships they faced, they remained examples of genuine love and sacrifice.
Until I turned seven, I lived like an ordinary child—until disaster struck.
The night was unusually quiet, the sky heavy with clouds that hid the stars. Inside the orphanage, the children slept peacefully, unaware of what was coming. I sat in my small room, thinking about the world beyond the orphanage. How wonderful it would be to see it, though my mother warned me against it. Outside, the world is merciless.
Indeed, it is merciless. That night, a nightmare was about to erupt. The sound of doors and windows shattering woke everyone from their sleep. A group of masked intruders stormed into the orphanage like a raging storm, their faces emotionless, their eyes carrying unspeakable malice. Their swords gleamed menacingly in the firelight. The screams of the waking children scattered like sparks in the air, and chaos roared like a crashing wave.
I rushed out of my room to see bodies falling one after another, each movement like the strike of a ravenous hawk. Screams of pain echoed all around as our dreams were shattered in seconds.
The scene was a nightmare. I saw my parents, each trying to protect the other. My mother, her eyes filled with fear, tried to shield me, stepping toward the attackers.
"Go, get back!" she shouted anxiously. In that moment, everything around me froze.
My mother fell to the ground, her scream lingering in the air. Her body seemed to vanish as if destined to be forgotten, while my eyes searched for my father.
I spotted him with the orphanage workers trying to resist, but the intruders' numbers and superior weapons overwhelmed them. Their strength was bolstered by the presence of a mage among them wielding a flaming sword.
I couldn't move, frozen with fear. As the mage cut through the children and workers, his flaming sword scattering charred remains, his companions stepped back to avoid being burned.
Instinctively, I hid in my room, under the bed, thinking like a child that this would save me.
Suddenly, the bed caught fire—it was the mage!
The scene before me was a living nightmare. Amid the chaos, the mage appeared with his flaming sword, its fiery glow reflecting in his eyes as if he carried the souls of darkness itself. He walked with heavy steps, time seeming to freeze around him.
My father appeared, half his body scorched, grabbing the mage's sword with his bare hands. "Stay away from him!" he shouted bravely, but the mage wouldn't relent.
"Oh, the misery of protecting this slave!"
With a single motion, the flame surged, enveloping the area in a dark aura. The sword's glow intensified rapidly, as if life itself faded in that instant.
I watched as my father was consumed by the flames, his eyes filled with confusion and pain. He reached out with his burned hand, searching for hope. When I extended my hand, I couldn't grasp his. I was too cowardly to act. Too cowardly to protect my family—unlike my father and mother!
I, along with five of my friends, were taken to an unknown place. That's where I first met Lianna, who was five years old, and the mage Gosho.
Every night, I'm dragged into what looks like an arena beneath this castle, at its center a smooth, cold stone slab. The air is thick with dampness, as if waters from other realms had seeped into this place. I'm cloaked in darkness, my senses overwhelmed by fear and awe.
I have to strip because the ritual requires direct contact with the stone. When I first lay on it, I shivered from the biting cold.
This was the beginning of the "Emergence" ritual, a forbidden spell that transfers magical mana from a Luminy to a normal human.
Lianna stands a step away from me, and the bald, bearded man leading the ritual, named Gosho, begins chanting.
Lights began to sparkle around us. I should've felt warmth, but instead, I felt cold seeping into my heart. Slowly, I felt something strange tearing inside my chest, as if a cord was being severed from my life. Sounds faded, and everything became blurry.
When Gosho started the ritual, I felt a strange entity feeding on my energy. Pain flared through my bones like fire, each heartbeat deepening the wound inside me. It was as if my energy was being drained drop by drop, and a storm-like pressure surrounded me.
I let out a piercing scream, its echo reaching Lianna beside me, but I couldn't move my tongue. Her wide eyes stared at me as though trying to understand the suffering I was enduring. She saw the pain in my eyes but made no expression, as if she didn't understand that I was in agony!
The longer the mage continued, the more my vision faded. I felt like I was slowly dying, burning from within. Every cell in my body screamed, telling me I was losing something precious, something I would never recover. But unfortunately, this inexhaustible source would never run dry.
I've been doing this for nearly 13 years, almost every day.
I'm not alone in the cell. There are five others—my friends from the orphanage. They're all Luminy, abandoned by their parents, as I learned much later.
Everyone is asleep except for two. One of them approaches me and taps my head. It's my closest friend, Oliver.
"We're a hundred miles away from the nearest village, surrounded by mountains. Even the king uses magic to reach here… and you're thinking of escaping?"
He reprimands me harshly, but I don't mind. In fact, it brings back fond memories, as he's always cared for me since our time in the orphanage. Despite his unappealing bear-like appearance and all those pimples, he was loved by everyone for his personality.
On the other hand, I don't have a pleasant appearance either: white hair people used to tell me was a blessing from the heavens (which earned me the nickname "Abyad" that stuck like a real name), a tall and thin body resembling a frightening skeleton. Yet, I made friends.
"I'm sorry, Oliver. It won't happen again," I try to reassure him.
"Man, the rituals will end soon. That's what the mage told us, and then we'll earn our freedom. Just hold on a bit longer; we've been through worse."
"Maybe he saw something he shouldn't have!"
Oliver turns to the third person. He has pale skin like a vampire but is handsome with green eyes. Unlike us, his good looks didn't earn him friends due to his personality. It's Ratos.
Leaning against the wall, he stares at me with a smug smile, one I've always disliked.
"Tell us, what drove you to attempt such an escape?" Ratos asks slyly. Oliver also looks at me, seemingly eager for an answer.
I think for a moment, then say:
"Nothing, I just felt like going out. Believe me, if anything happened, I'd tell everyone." I smile, then head to my bed.
Oliver goes to his bed without pressing further. He knows I won't talk, so he falls asleep.
Ratos remains leaning against the wall. Even though I'm turned away, I can feel his piercing gaze on my back.
I lied to them!
I can't tell them that we will be sacrificed at the end of the "Emergence" ritual very soon!
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