Breach of Darkness

    Aden swept autumn leaves off the path. He had a big broom that was better suited for the job, but it was back in the shed and he didn't really care. He found it hard to care much about any of his work anymore.
    Three months he'd been at Stonewall Academy, but not as a student. The others his age called him the broom boy. He cleaned the walls and the patios. He scrubbed the dishes and hung sheets out to dry.
    The only thing he had to look forward to every day was watching the academy girls walk back from their classes, especially one. Her name was Abby and she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever laid eyes on. They'd had a history together, but not the kind he wanted. She pretended she didn't even know him anymore.
    “If I didn't know any better, I'd think you had a lame leg,” a voice said behind him. It was Ian, his room mate. “Let's move it along now, shall we?”
    Aden smiled. It had taken him a long time to realize it, but Ian was the best friend he had there. “Save me,” he muttered.
    “Honestly,” Ian said, grimacing at the falling leaves. “He's having you sweep this again? I wonder if he's just ran out of chores.”
    “How's class?”
    “Riveting,” Ian said, too excited. “It was utterly fascinating. Old Diorus really raised the bar today.” It was sarcasm, all of it. Nothing Ian ever said was sincere, unless it was something serious. “Actually, something did seem odd today. The old man had something else on his mind.”
    “You off to study?”
    “Of course. Do you mind bringing me my supper later? I have so much to do, I'll have no time to eat. Perhaps you can sit by my side and shove it down my throat as I read?”
    “You know, I never understand what you say anymore,” Aden said, turning away.
    Ian cracked a stifled smile, “You're coming with, then?”
    “Where are you going?”
    “Where do you want to go?”
    “I'm hungry,” Aden said.
    “You're always hungry,” He looked Aden up and down and grimaced. “And really, you're getting fat. You should stop eating.” He wasn't getting fat.
    Aden flexed his bicep and pursed his lips. “It's muscle. All of it. And you're jealous.”
    “Are you coming?”
    He sighed and twirled the broom around. “I have to finish this...”
    Ian took it from him and dropped it in the grass. “The leaves will still be here tomorrow and you can sweep them then. We're getting food now.”
    Aden let himself be pushed away. Diorus wouldn't mind. He might raise an eyebrow and threaten to send him to the streets, but he would ever actually do it, mostly because he'd grown to like him the last few months. But partly for because of other reasons, other reasons besides affection that Aden kept secret from everyone.

                                                                       *        *        *   

    “Aden,” Diorus called. It was morning and Aden was walking, sleepy-eyed, to the broom closet. He stepped back and peeked into Diorus' office.
    “Yes?”
    “I noticed the paths weren't swept yesterday,” Diorus said without looking up. He was the master of the academy and he made the appearance of a very busy man.
    “Oh yeah,” Aden said, thinking quickly of an excuse.
    “Come here.” Diorus ruffled through some pieces of parchment and still avoided eye contact. “I put you in Ian's room because he had the dorm to himself, but I wonder if he's been a bad influence on you.”
    “It's not him,” Aden said quickly.
    “Really?” Diorus said. “So you admit to having bad influence?” Finally, Diorus looked up at him with wrinkled eyes and smiled.
    Aden was a bit annoyed, but grinned obediently. Diorus meant well, and he really did seem to care about him, despite everything.
    “Your work has been... suffering lately.”
    “I get the job done,” Aden said, shuffling his feet.
    “But you're not applying yourself anymore.”
    Aden took a breath and looked Diorus in the eye. “With all due respect, sir, I'm not one of your students. I'm just here to clean.”
    Diorus chuckled. “It would seem you have yet to do that, even.” He looked past Aden's eyes, at something he'd seen before his time. “I just see so much of your father in you. You could have made a great skyborn.”
    The world thought he wasn't. Diorus thought he wasn't. Even Ian thought he wasn't. Skyborn of his day were all one kind, one type. The inherent ability to control various magic was so exclusively theirs. If Diorus hadn't seen it in Aden's mother, why would he see it in her son?
    “I'm sorry if I upset you,” Diorus said, blinking several times.
    Aden stepped closer to Diorus, just within an arm's width away. “Do you think... do you think I could still be one and not know it? I mean, what if I just wasn't like you? My father didn't control light essence. What if...”
    Diorus interrupted him. “Aden, there are no shades of grey in skyborn magic. You have it or you don't. If your father had trained to do so, he could have channeled the power of light essence, too.” He looked sympathetically in Aden's eyes. “We've been through this before.”
    “I know.”
    “It still bothers you.”
    “I'm grateful for my place here,” Aden said, “But I'm so different than the others. I feel sometimes like... I'm not worth as much.”
    Diorus turned back to his papers. “It all depends on how you measure worth.”
    Aden touched Diorus' shoulder. How could someone so wise be so blind? “Let me take the day off,” Aden said.
    Diorus glanced back up at him. The old man would feel nothing, but a great power had just surged through him, a power so secret. It was skyborn magic of a different kind.
    “Alright,” the bound man said. He smiled with wrinkled eyes. “But I expect you to start working harder tomorrow.”
    Aden let go of his shoulder and nodded politely. He left the office and shut the door quietly behind him.

                                                                       *        *        *

    Aden channeled the power of persuasion. There was not a person alive who knew this. His parents had died fifteen years earlier. His village had been burned to the ground that summer, along with anyone who knew his secret.
    The bell tolled in the courtyard and Aden grinned. The girls would be coming out of the dorms now. He jumped up on the ledge of a vine-covered wall and dangled his feet beneath. There they went- Sienna, Mia, Jenevive, three dark-haired beauties who didn't care if he existed. Next were the younger ones who'd be cute in a year or so. Then Abby stepped out of the doors, tying up her hair as she hurried to catch up to the other girls.
    He loved her morning hair. It messy and free. The sun cast it in a yellow glow that curled around her cheeks. She always took a deep breath when she stepped outside. She always blinked a bit too long when the sun hit her face.
    She saw him watching and he nodded to her. She seemed amused, but didn't say 'hello.' They never did. He wasn't worth anything to them. They were skyborn and they were on a different course in life. If only he'd had another chance to talk to her, another chance to touch her again.
    The power of persuasion could do amazing things. One touch and he could make her do anything he wanted. There were fantasies he would play in his mind every day.
    She was a beautiful girl, but it was something else about her that drove him crazy. He liked the way she laughed and smiled. He'd hear someone talking about her and find a reason to stop and listen. He'd think about her all the time, what their lives would be like together, conversations they'd have.
    Realistically, she was a girl who didn't want anything to do with him. He could change that. Just one touch, one word and she'd be his no matter what. No one would even have to know. He could tell her to keep it secret.
    But it wasn't right. Only in his darkest times did he actually think he'd go through with it. She deserved better than that. Abby's defilement was unsettling to him for some reason.
    And there was still something there. No matter how much she ignored him, she always glanced at him a bit longer than the other girls. When she walked past, she always shook her hair so it bounced and she walked so her body curved different ways. He couldn't shake the feeling that she'd be his someday, honestly and completely, and then he knew he'd have her forever.

                                                                       *        *        *

    Aden walked back to the dorms that afternoon. Ian was there, leaning on the dried fountain. A thin pipe was balancing between his lips with the entrails of smoke twirling around him. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Aden.
    “You look chipper,” he said.
    “Diorus gave me the day off.”
    “Again?”
    Aden sat next to him on the fountain. “Shouldn't you be studying or something?”
    Ian shrugged and exhaled a cloud of smoke. “Shouldn't you be earning your keep?”
    Aden snatched the pipe out of Ian's mouth. He put it to his lips and inhaled, feeling the smoke burn his chest. “You're wearing your fancy hat,” Aden said. “What's the occasion?”
    “We're going out.”
    “What, did Daddy send you money again?”
    Ian's lips pursed into a smile and he nodded. “I need a new shirt.” He jumped off the fountain. “Come on.”
    They walked to the town square, out through the main gates of the academy and into the streets of Stonewall. To get to the square, they had to pass the outskirts of the market, a long maze of tented alleys with intriguing smells that wafted through the air.
    The square was large and simple. A statue stood at its center, surrounded by merchants and buyers of the upper class, all bundled in thick clothing to fight the autumn breeze. There were two-story shops of perfume, clothing, hats, china, and textiles on all sides. Ian knew exactly where he wanted to go.
    “Ian,” Aden asked. “What do you know about other types of skyborn magic?”
    “Why?” Ian asked quickly, too quickly.
    “Just wondering.”
    Ian held his step and looked at Aden. “That's an odd thing to wonder about.”
    “I just asked a question,” Aden said. “Come on, you take classes in this, right?”
    Ian shrugged. “The academy... doesn't really teach us much about other kinds.”
    “But you have to learn about them.”
    “Aden,” Ian said, “Most of what I've learned is by my own reading. Since the war, light essence has been the only form in Ashland.”
    “I know that,” Aden said.
    “Then why are you asking?” He was being too defensive. It wasn't like him.
    “Forget it.”
    They stepped into a clothing store. Ian nodded to man behind a wide desk.
    “Good evening,” the clerk said without looking up. “What are you looking for?” He was cutting a large piece of fabric.
    Aden stepped away and looked out the window, past a rack of frilly-looking white shirts. This wasn't his world. He followed Ian through it like a loyal puppy, not really ever sure what was going on but just curious enough to stick around.
    “What do you think of this?” Ian asked a few minutes later. He was wearing a fancy shirt, all white with silk embroidery.
    Aden lifted an eyebrow. “Looks alright.”
    “Next one, please,” Ian muttered to the clerk. He took off the shirt and was handed another one. He'd learned not to trust Aden's instincts. Aden had learned not to give Ian an honest opinion.
    The next shirt was frilly, but less obtrusive. “Better, I would think,” Ian said. “I have a feathered hat that would go with this.”
    “Yeah,” Aden said, looking over his shoulder to a full-length mirror. “Then you'd look like a big, white cock.”
    The clerk scowled but Ian looked amused. “I'll take it,” he said.
    Aden rolled his eyes. They stepped outside, noticing a particularly cold breeze.
    “Aden,” Ian began a bit apprehensively. “About what you said before...”
    “When?”
    “Rather, what you asked before...”
    They were interrupted by a hand gripping each of their shoulders. “Shopping?” The young man asked. “Really? Is this what you two do all day?”
    “Jason,” Ian said, then he noticed another one. “Wyeth.” They were two boys from the academy. “Fancy seeing you both here.”
    “Yes,” Jason said. “Fancy that.”
    “Might I ask what you are doing?” Ian asked dryly.
    “Following you,” Jason said. He started to scope out the square, as if he was looking for something else to do. “Thought you might be up to no good.”
    “How thoughtful,” Ian said.
    “Come on,” Wyeth said to Jason. “We've already wasted enough time.”
    Aden spoke up. “You mean you were following us just in case we did something wrong?”
    Jason turned to Wyeth. “Is he speaking to me? I never knew the vermin could talk.”
    “What, were you going to run and tell your professor what we're up to?” Aden continued.
    Jason held his palm inches away from Aden's face. He wiggled his fingers and sparks of light flickered around them. “No, I had much different plans.”
    Ian batted his hand away. “Back off.”
    “Yes,” Jason laughed. “Protect the broom boy.”
    Wyeth was looking out to the edge of the square, right by the market. “I think we've got something here.”
    Jason looked excitedly. “Really?”
    “Look at the grey shirt by the yellow stand. I think he just stole a spool of linen.”
    “Are you sure? We don't want to be wrong about this.”
    “Well, he took it,” Wyeth said. “Let's see if he pays.”
    “What are they doing?” Aden asked Ian, loud enough so Jason could hear.
    “Patrolling,” Jason said. “For people like you.”
    “Excuse me?”
    Jason turned. “I don't know how you snuck your way into the academy, but you don't belong there. If I were in charge, justice would be served.”
    Aden considered touching him and telling him to kiss Ian's butt, but decided against it. Jason wasn't worth it at all.
    “There he goes,” Wyeth said. His had a jaguar's eyes, waiting to pounce.
    “Let's go. Stop thief!” Jason called, attracting the attention of everyone nearby.
    The thief heard and picked up his speed. The crowd parted slightly in their path, to avoid the confrontation.
    Jason's hands lit up with a blinding light. It was light essence, the material of the brigade. Like a striking serpent, the light lashed forward at the thief. The line struck him and maintained its grasp, creating a channel between Jason and his prey.
    The thief screamed. Light essence can heal, but it is extremely torturous to touch.
    Wyeth appeared out of the crowd and his hands lit up as well. It wasn't the same as Jason's. He didn't have the natural grace Jason did and his spark was lighter, more jittery, without the same intensity.
    Wyeth spread his hands out to the crowd. Sparks jumped from palm to palm, warning onlookers not to get too close.
    The thief's screams were desperate. It wasn't justice. It was torture.
    “Ian,” Aden said. “This isn't right.”
    “Who said it was?” Ian asked, strangely quiet.
    Jason still held his grip on the thief, the light essence pulsed between them. He was enjoying it, sadistically.
    “Jason!” Aden yelled. Jason ignored him. He ran up behind and gripped his shoulder. “Let him go!”
    Instantly, the light essence died and Jason turned around. Aden lost his grip. If he wasn't touching Jason, he couldn't persuade him. That wasn't good.
    “Excuse me?” Jason asked. The thief ran away in a scramble behind.
    “You heard me,” Aden said.
    “Who are you to question the brigade?”
    “You're not part of the brigade yet,” Aden answered quickly. He tried to make himself look taller.
    “And who are you?” he demanded. His hands sparked. “I should teach you a lesson.”
    “Don't touch me.”
    Wyeth looked amused. “Touch him, Jason.”
    “Back off,” Ian said, stepping partly in front of Aden.
    “Do it,” Aden said. He stepped forward, as close to Jason as possible.
    Jason lifted both of his palms. They were sparkling. “Have it your way.”
    Aden's fist jabbed forward suddenly. He punched Jason right in the nose, sending him back several steps. Wyeth grabbed Aden's shoulder and pulled him back, but Aden wriggled free. He somehow slammed Wyeth into the cobblestone in the process. Aden leapt at Jason, grabbing his neck with both hands.
    Light essence was suddenly on him, everywhere, all over his body. Jason's hands were grasping Aden's wrists sending a current through his very being. It hurt more than anything he could remember, but now they were touching. Aden could use a little magic of his own.
    “Let go,” Aden commanded. Jason let go. He said the next part in whispers, so no one else could hear. “Leave now. Go back to the academy. Be ashamed and don't...�h
    Wyeth was up again and he tore Aden off of his friend. Jason immediately ran away, doing as he was told. Wyeth barely noticed. He lit up his hands, mustered an angry bolt of light and shot it forward.
    Ian caught it. Aden didn't know how or why, but somehow essences could catch other skyborn magic. Ian caught Wyeth's attack with his own, absorbing it as Wyeth channeled it forward.
    It didn't hurt Ian, but he was straining. Both of them were straining. Aden knew it had something to do with their control of the essence, their strength and manipulative power. Ian wasn't strong. He was one of the weakest in the academy. But it became clear that Wyeth wasn't strong, either.
    The light from both sources met between them, moving steadily towards Ian. Wyeth knew it. Ian knew it. Both were weak, but Ian would lose.
    Ian stepped forward and Wyeth readied his stance. Ian's right hand was in the light, but his left hand reached out to Wyeth's chest. When it touched, something happened. Aden saw a glimmer under his palm, something barely perceptible, but something that  was undoubtedly there altogether.
    Wyeth's eyes lit up in exasperation and he breathed deeply, suddenly released of all his energy. He stumbled, letting go of the light and stepping back. There was a look of disbelief and fear in his eyes, and for a second Aden wasn't sure what he would do. Then Wyeth shook his head and ran away, back to the academy.
    The crowd erupted in chatter, not really caring who won or lost, but just excited that they saw a skyborn fight.
    “You alright?” Aden asked. Ian nodded. “Thanks for stepping in.”
    Ian shrugged as if it was nothing. “Let's get back to the academy,” he said. “I'm sure you've got chores to do.”
    They walked back in relative silence. Aden couldn't stop thinking about what Ian had done with his left hand. It was magic, no doubt, but it was skyborn magic of a different kind. It had an effect on Wyeth he hadn't seen before. Aden couldn't quite figure it out. Wyeth's eyes weren't full of pain, they were full of something else entirely.

                                                                       *        *        *

    After the night classes, Aden watched the students leave and walk back to the dorms. He had his broom and he swept the path, even though he didn't need to. He didn't have much else to do, and part of him felt a bit guilty.
    The older boys walked back to the dorms. Jason and Wyeth walked by without a word. Jason had glanced at him briefly, but said nothing. What would he be feeling? Did he know what had happened? Despite his progress, Aden still did not understand so much of his power. And he wasn't sure he ever would.
    Then she was there again. Abby walked alone. The other girls weren't far behind her. Aden rested on the broom. He didn't care if she saw him watching. He wanted her to know.
    Her eyes met his and she didn't look away. Her books were held close, snug against her breasts. Her blond hair dangled at the edge of her cheek. And her lips...
    She tripped suddenly, right in front of him. There was a high cobblestone Aden was grateful he'd never fixed. He was there beside her, instantly in one motion.
    Her hand was in his. “Let me help you,” he said to her.
    “Thanks.”
    Abby was in his arms and ready to be helped. Was it by her will or persuasion? He'd never know. The other girls weren't far behind. She saw. “Thanks,” she said again, ready to go.
    “Wait,” he commanded. She obeyed, standing still in his arms.
    The girls walked past, looking at both of them as if they were naked. Abby looked horrified, but she couldn't move. “Aden,” she began. How could she explain her own behavior?
    How could Aden explain his? “I'm sorry,” he said quickly. “I just... wanted to ask you.”
    “What?”
    The things he could ask her. “I...”
    “I have to go, Aden,” she said. Her hand was still in his.
    “I know, I'm sorry, just...”
    “Just what?”
    The warm sun had already dipped below the horizon. He loved her hair in the morning, but now torches lined the path. And in Abby's eyes he saw the fires burning all around him.
    “Don't move,” he told her. He took her by each shoulder and kissed her, tasting her lips for the first time. His whole body was overwhelmed but in each moment he felt part of him escaping, a hollow opening inside. She wasn't his and he took her.
    “Aden,” she said, backing away. They parted touch. She stared at him with wide eyes, out of the torchlight and now dark holes.
    He walked away first. The broom was left in the leaves. Abby was left on the path. He didn't feel right. He shouldn't have done that to her, but the feeling inside was unmistakable. He'd loved every second of it and wanted more. If it was so horrible, why did he feel so good?

                                                                       *        *        *

    Ian was back in the dorm. He lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Aden walked in and sat down on his bed without a word.
    “Today is just a happy day, isn't it?” Ian said.
    Aden agreed in a muffled response.
    “I saw you with Abby,” Ian prompted. This time, Aden said nothing. “First time I saw you talk to her since this summer.”
    “I kissed her,” Aden said suddenly.
    Ian's expression didn't waver. “Really? Did she... allow it?”
    Aden turned to face him. He didn't know if she allowed it. He'd never know. He didn't know anything about the power of persuasion. The only other type of skyborn magic he'd ever seen was what Ian had done earlier that day.
    “Ian,” he asked, “what happened today?”
    “That's what I'm asking.”
    “No, I mean what happened this afternoon at the square?”
    Ian shrugged. “Jason and Wyeth are idiots.”
    “You did something to Wyeth,” Aden said directly. “It was some kind of magic.”
    “Light essence.”
    “No,” Aden said. “That was something else.”
    “How would you know?”
    “Because I know what light essence does to people. There was something else in Wyeth's eyes.”
    Ian stared at Aden for a long while. He knew he was caught. It changed nothing. “You don't know anything about light essence,” he said, turning away. The conversation could have been over.
    “Ian,” Aden said quietly. “Can I see your hand for a second?”
    Ian lifted an eyebrow and seemed uncomfortable, nervous even. He extended his arm and let Aden take his hand.
    Just one touch and they'll do anything. “Tell me the truth,” Aden asked. “What did you do to Wyeth at the square?”
    Ian chuckled. There was a sudden excitement in his eyes, as if he'd just decided to tell Aden the truth on his own.
    “Dark essence,” he said.
    Aden let go. “What?”
    “Dark essence,” Ian repeated. “The opposite of light.”
    “It's skyborn?”
    Ian nodded. “I found a book in my father's chambers, away from the others. The power runs in my family. I've been practicing it in secret for a year now.”
    “You're serious?  But that's...”
    “Against the rules?” Ian laughed. “Aden, I wasn't meant for light essence. It took me years to understand it, to wrap my head around it. When I found this book, it all made sense. Everything makes sense.”
    “What makes sense?” Aden asked. “It's... evil.” He was repeating what he was told, what they'd all been told.
    “It is evil to force an unnatural power onto a child,” Ian said. “I was meant for this, Aden. Dark essence can do great things.”
    “What things?”
    “You've felt the touch of light essence? They say that there is no greater pain in the world.”
    “And dark essence?”
    Ian smiled deviously. He lifted his palm. In a moment, his hand was dark and cluttered. Every crevice seemed to suck the very light out of it's surrounding, collecting into a dark, empty void. “Stay still,” he said. He reached his hand forward and touched Aden's chest.
    Aden arched his back. The feeling was rhythmic, powerful. He breathed and each limb was warm with ecstasy. All at once he felt desire, love, and pure lust all about him. Ian's hand burned in his chest and he welcomed the touch, wanting more infinitely.
    He pulled back, just away from Ian's black hand. The feeling was gone. But just as the trails of light essence leave a wash of pain, Aden felt the dark essence still. It was maddening and he wanted more.
    “Don't...” Aden said, unsure what else to do. What was that feeling? Now it was anger, primal frustration and he didn't know why.
    “What?” Ian asked, amused. “You don't like it?”
    “I don't understand. It felt like...”
    “I know,” Ian said. “Imagine what you could do with this.”
    Aden shook his head. He couldn't look Ian in the eye. It bothered him. Everything about dark essence was just unsettling. “I don't like it,” he finally said.
    “Yes, you do,” Ian said. “But you don't like being manipulated.”
    That was something Aden understood. No one likes being manipulated. “Why are you hiding this?”
    Ian shrugged. “It's not allowed. We're being trained instead in the ways of torture.”
    “Torture that heals,” Aden corrected. “Does dark essence heal?”
    “No,” Ian said. “It is the opposite of light.”
    “So it kills?”
    Ian nodded solemnly. “Slowly, it drains the soul. Each moment brings you closer to death.”
    “Permanently?”
    “No. How do you feel now?”
    Aden was feeling back to normal. He felt refreshed, new again. All the negative feelings he'd had moments earlier were gone.
    “Do you...” Ian started to ask with a mischievous smile. “Do you want it again?”
    Part of him wanted it and would want always want it again. But not from Ian. He wanted that feeling from someone else. “No,” he said, and stood up. “I'm... I'll be back in a bit.” He slipped back on his shoes and went out the door, even forgetting his coat.

                                                                       *        *        *

    He knocked on Abby's door, unsure what he'd say or what he'd do when she answered. It took her a few moments, and he started to regret coming to her door. What would she say?
    Finally it opened. Abby's eyes were wide and confused. She didn't know what to say, either. She asked warily, “What are you doing here?”
    He shuffled his feet. “I'm... I wanted to say I'm sorry for what I did today.”
    “As you should be,” Abby said quickly. There was buried hate in her words.
    “I'm...”
    “What were you thinking, Aden?” She asked, crossing her arms.
    And there it was, the way she said his name. It was different than other words. She said it with care, as if she'd practiced saying it several times before.
    “I wasn't,” he admitted.
    “I mean,” Abby gestured to the rooms behind her. “The other girls saw, Aden.”
    He tried lightening the mood. “You could have slapped me or something.”
    “I don't know why I didn't,” Abby said. She really didn't. “I must have been so surprised...”
    “In a good way?”
    “No, Aden,” she said. “You can't just do that to people.”
    “I'm sorry,” he said again.
    “Well words aren't going to change things,” she said. She tried to close the door. “Goodnight.”
    “Wait!” Aden said, reaching out. He touched the back of her hand, which clenched the door. She listened. He didn't know why. Was it persuasion? “Tell me one thing,” he said.
    She held the door open obediently. He could let go of her hand. He could let her make her own choices. But right then again, she was his. She pursed her lips together,  moistening them. What would he ask her?
    There in the darkness, the torchlight gleamed. There again he knew that she would give him everything if he asked. He could watch her tomorrow morning, blond hair gleaming in the sunlight, never really sure what could have been. Or he could have her then. One command, one question. That was all it took.
    “Do you... ever think of me?” He asked. “I mean, do I ever cross your mind?”
    Abby smiled. There was uncertainty still, but all too well she knew the answer. “All the time,” she answered.
    Aden let go of her hand and she closed the door. He was warm, all over, and in that moment he knew that no amount of dark essence could match what he felt inside.