There have been three recorded eras of sorcery.
The era of gods.
The forbidden era.
And the modern era.
Ezra slammed another book into the table, creating a soft thud and the flutter of dust into the air. Gia gave him a sly grin from across the table— the kind someone makes when they're either enjoying your suffering or just finding entertainment in it.
"All these books are from the Era of Gods." He muttered, rubbing the tension from his forehead.
Gia snatched the book, scanning the page with wide curious eyes.
"Isn't that cool? Most pre-modern texts were banned in the west."
She pointed towards a faded word etched between ancient glyphs.
"See, forbidden language. This one says d-e-m-o-n."
Ezra rolled his eyes and stood, pushing his chair back. Naturally, he stood too, sticking like a mosquito trying to drain his life energy.
"Why can't we use these words anymore anyway… A demon's basically just an ashkin."
"No" Ezra shook his head.
"The organisation prefers the word ashkin sure. But 'demon'… that's different."
"How?"
"Certain words don't just describe ash, they feed on it. Demon is one of them. Saying it increases ash flow. Draws out fear, emotions… the unstable stuff."
The word demon didn't describe monsters. It made them.
The two of them left the library and wandered into the small town beneath the estate, Rentou.
One of shia's major trading hubs, yet compared to the western towns they were used to, Rentou felt almost quaint. Like an open air mall stripped of noise, greed and desperate consumption.
Ezra, still simmering with quiet frustration, looked down at the book he had for some reason decided to buy.
"It's hard to take anything concrete from pre-modern text. They all read like fairytales… written by the overly ambitious."
Gia shot him an exaggerated look up and down, the. Burst out laughing.
"Then why did you buy it?"
He didn't answer the way she expected. His expression eased, softening into something almost gentle. A rare genuine smile lightly stretched his mouth.
"They remind me of the stories an old man used to tell me."
Rentou was alive in a way that caught them off guard.
Stalls lined the stone path, selling goods neither of them had ever seen. Gia stopped at every single one, dragging Ezra with her. Shops displayed traditional Shian clothing— the kind that would cost a fortune anywhere else.
But more than colours and the scents, it was the people that stood out. Despite war. Despite the distortions.
They smiled.
Ezra took a reluctant lick of the ice cream Gia had bullied him into buying.
"Why did you follow me here anyway? Ciro said we could do whatever we want while waiting for distortions. I figured you would go clothes shopping or… something else."
Gia closed in, plucked the ice cream comb right out of his hand and took a victorious bite.
"You're fun to annoy. And I sent all my money back home, so I need someone to treat me." She winked.
Oh.
So that's why Re left the moment he could.
*tick*
*tick*
*tick*
Ezra sat confused, only now realising the compass in his back pocket had gone berserk.
Without a word the two of them dashed towards the dock, following the violently twitching red dial. The cheerful vendors who had been chatting and selling food minutes ago were gone.
"Wait… before we enter, let me call Dex—"
Gia snatched the phone from his hand.
"Forget about that guy. He's always on edge. He'll just tell us to wait for Ciro.."
She glanced down at her watch.
"It's neg-3 distortion… It out ranks us, or me at least. But the people are trapped." She grabbed her wrist, hiding the shaking.
Ezra nodded.
"Fine. Just shoot Ciro text before we lose signal."
I don't want to worry her, but these things are probably stronger than neg-3. Rentou was too peaceful for a distortion to open naturally. Something's baiting us in.
"Hey, I'll go in first and you just—"
Before Ezra could finish, Gia stepped into the distortion radius.
Damn it…
He followed.
The world snapped into the same dock as before— but now the rain hammered down in sheets. Not just water, ash. Thick, clinging ash that crawled over their skin like uninvited hands. They could both feel it, the heaviness, the pressure on the lungs, the twisting wrongness of a distortion.
Gia shivered.
"Where are the people? They were just here"
Ezra pulled off his soaked sunglasses, keeping his eyes closed. He inhaled deeply, head tilting upwards.
The people were there— entangled in an ash woven net suspended above the sea.
Gia sprinted toward them but Ezra threw out a hand.
"Stop. Let me find it first."
The air around him sharpened. Gia could feel it, as if his presence temporarily changed the atmosphere itself.
"It's in the water under the net. It's trying to bait us in." Ezra said quietly.
"Huh… you found it already."
A blast of water shot towards Ezra.
Gia flinched— but the water stopped motionless mid air, sliding off an invisible barrier in front of him.
A large humanoid creature rose from the sea. Its skin shrivelled like drowned flesh, gills ripping open along its ribs. Its limbs ended in rope like tendrils, and its head was wrapped in something like a fishing net fused to its skull.
It lashes one arm toward.
Ezra stepped between them and the tendrils wrapped him instantly in a loose ash forged net.
He inhaled—
The net squeezed in, tightening around his ribs.
Gia rushed forward.
"Ezra!"
"No!"
The command cracked through the rain freezing in place.
Every breath I take draws the net closer. It's tightening with each inhale… it's messing with my conversion.
He took another breath and released a barrage of slicing air. The tore— only to reform instantly.
Its reserves are larger than mine. And I can't get enough air to output more slices.
This net… It's just ash trying to mimic steel.
***
"If ash can't be created, how do ashkin use their abilities? Like that ice guy." Ezra had asked him once.
Pedro laughed at his ignorance.
"Ash replicates kids. It can't create. Cos fire beats ash fire every time, even with the same energy output."
He took another swig.
"But ashkin… Their reserves are massive. They drown you with raw output, especially inside distortions."
***
Ezra inhaled again— as hard as he physically could. The net pressed against his skin like it wanted to merge with him.
"Conversion—release"
" spiral blaze"
Fire erupted around him. A towering tornado of flames that consumed both him and the net. Ash netting vaporised instantly.
Gia stared, breath caught in her throat as the flames died down.
Only now did she realise how powerful Ezra truly was…