I ran past a family of three, the young boy dancing happily with a lollipop in his mouth. They looked happy, like a real family. The stranger was right again. Dave wasn't my father, we weren't family. We were never meant to be together. I passed another block and spotted the Traveler's Inn across the market. It looked like the only person I could turn to was someone I didn't even know.

With a sigh, I pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped into the inn, immediately getting bombarded by a boisterous crowd in the lobby that was parallel to the size of the market. Shoving aside, I walked to the front desk where a beautiful auburn-haired hostess sat behind an immeasurable amount of paperwork. She would have made my heart skip a beat if not for what had happened earlier, and I approached her easily.

"Excuse me, ma'am, I'm looking for a man with a black cape," I said.

She looked up from her desk, a slightly irritated look on her face. "First of all, who're you calling 'ma'am'? Do I really look that old?"

I blushed and scrambled to apologize. "Sorry, Ms..."

"Levine." She said, smirking. "And second of all, a man with a black cape is almost half our customers here."

She waved her hand around the lobby and indeed many people met the description. Perhaps the commonality was why the stranger chose to wear such an indistinct outfit, to blend in that is. "Wait," I said. "He also has a small red hat."

"A small red hat." Ms. Levine tapped her chin thoughtfully before brightening up. "Yes! I do remember a man like that checking in a few days ago. His room number is..."

She fished a bulky folder from the desk drawer and plopped it beside the stack of paperwork. "Let's see here. Alright, Ken Katz, room 209. That's on the second floor, by the way."

I nodded and left the front desk, heading towards the stairwell. As I walked towards it, I took in the lively atmosphere of the lobby, the aroma of crisp lemon from the candles, and watery plants lined against the shelves on the walls. It certainly was nicer than our makeshift tavern, and the subtle details made everything just a little more accentuated.

Little butterflies fluttered around in my stomach at the thought of the restaurant, but I caught them in a net and pushed them away. I was never going back there.

My feet pounded rhythmically against the floorboards as I climbed up the spiral staircase. Even the front of the stairs had little decorations: drawings of animals, and fake jewels that tickled my feet.

I reached the top of the climb and headed down a short hallway to the room. Simple, yet eye-catching wallpaper lined the walls, and the fuzzy floor gave me tingly sensations all over. It was nothing like the restaurant where the cracked walls barely held themselves together with plaster and the ice-cold floor sent shivers all over my spine.

An ornate sign with a golden lining informed me I was at the doorway of room 209. The door was tightly shut and seeing no other way to get in, I gave the door three, sharp knocks before stepping back.

The door creaked open and the stranger—Ken was his name, right?—poked his tired face out. Upon spotting me, his face lit up immediately and he gestured for me to join him.

I gingerly stepped into the room and was greeted with an interior that was small, but cozy and filled with all the necessities.

"Hey," Ken said, cracking a smile. "I wasn't expecting you this early. Well, anyways, I'm glad you came to your senses."

"Yeah," I muttered. I had left partly knowing the situation, but also of what had happened earlier.

Ken clasped his hands together and looked around nervously as if someone was eavesdropping. He lowered his voice to whisper. "Well, you must have a million questions swimming through your mind. Rest assured they will be answered. But first, we have to leave here."

"To where, though?" I asked.

"That's a great question! ...That I don't know the answer to." Ken said, "But—"

"And why are you helping me? What's in it for you, huh?" I must have caught him off guard and he gave me a surprised look. His expression tightened and he sighed, as if regretful to tell me.

"Your father, he's the flame keeper. Was the flame keeper." He explained. "I was a good friend of his and one could say that maybe the best of friends. We went to the same classes in the academy, and then he became the flame keeper. His powers were incredible, even more than what you can imagine."

He sighed and went on. "The day before he vanished with the flame, he handed me a tattered birth certificate and told me to find you. I suppose he was fearful of the capital coming for you after his disappearance—you are his only alive kin we know of—and here we are right now."

I nodded, digesting his words. If what he said was true, he was probably my best bet at staying alive and answering my questions. "Why did he leave me in the first place?" I asked.

Ken placed his hat down next to a bulging backpack on the bed and scratched his head. "Well," he said. "I never knew that he had a son until he told me to find you, so I can only guess. I suppose he was also fearful of the capital finding you then, but why? I don't have a clue."

We stood in silence for a few moments before Ken picked up his hat and backpack and started out the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" I said as I scrambled after him.

He was by the stairwell when he turned around with an agitated look on his face. "The train station, of course. The earlier we get out of here, the better."

He disappeared into the stairwell and I followed closely behind, my feet crunching the floorboards as I bounced off one stair to the next. We arrived at the lobby and Ken instructed me to wait for him while he checked out.

I plopped down on a worn green couch by a fireplace and let out a sigh. My head throbbed and all I could think about was everything I didn't know. So many questions, and so few answers.

The flame danced behind the iron bars and as I leaned forward to catch the warmth on my skin, it seemed like the sun had come into my mind and cleared up all the clouds and fog that had congested it. I sat up a bit straighter and felt a tingling sensation in my hands once again. They were a light hue of red and felt only a bit warmer than room temperature as I pressed them against my cheeks. But unlike the incident at the restaurant, I seemed more in control. Not that I could manipulate my power to some degree, but it wasn't just a disastrous display of uncontrolled power.

I wiggled my fingers and laughed. Of all the things I thought I would be in control of, I hadn't thought it would be this. But then again, when your life is spiraling out of control, you begin to notice the little things around you.

"Hey, quit staring into space!" Ken's voice pierced through my mind like a bolt of lightning. "We don't have all day."

Reluctantly, I pushed myself off the comfort of the couch and walked over to Ken, who was standing by the doorway.

A blast of cold air smacked me in the face as Ken swung open the door and stepped outside. The sun had started to sink down to the horizon and a patch of gray clouds drifted above us.

"We don't have much time until the next train arrives," Ken said as he checked his watch. I leaned closer as I had never seen a watch in my life, especially something quite elaborate.

I was so fixated studying the features of the watch that I almost didn't spot Benjamin and Dave rounding the corner, their features incomprehensible. Benjamin had a worried look on his face, while Dave seemed to be struggling to contain his anger—a vein pulsed dangerously on his forehead as he whipped his head around wildly.

I froze for a moment before coming to my senses and sprinting back into the inn. Sprawled against the wall, my heart pounded rapidly against my chest, and my breathing quickened. A tingling sensation washed over me, but it was different again. The warm, fuzzy feeling that would have been soothing only heightened my senses. My ears perked up, and the ambient noise pounded against them to the rhythm of my heart.

"Hey, what's going on?" Ken had turned back and shut the inn door behind him.

I could only speak in short sentences as I struggled to regain my breath. "They're—here. I left the restaurant after... a heated argument. I can't stay here. I have to leave."

Ken stared at me until his eyes lit up like a lightbulb had been turned on inside his head. He wrestled with the backpack straps until it landed with a thud on the floor, and then slipped off his cape. "Here, wear this for now."

The dark cape smelled of ash and burnt wood, which was oddly calming as it tickled my nose. The silky fabric wrapped snugly around me made me feel almost like a bat, and Ken chuckled at the sight of me. My breathing had slowed, and I stood up, my eyes still darting around anxiously but with the cape, I felt infinitely better. It even had a large hood that I hastily threw over my head.

"Alright, we should get going," Ken swung his backpack and headed out onto the street.

I bounded after him, clutching the cape closely against myself. A quick peek out of the hood nearly made my heart skip a beat—Benjamin and Dave were right beside me! But with the cape on, Benjamin just continued calling my name, oblivious to my presence, and Dave, well, we'll say he just called me some names.

We left the market behind us and as we passed the restaurant, I didn't dare look for fear of bringing back the past. A few twists and turns later, the pavement transitioned into a worn-down dirt path where grass and weeds grew freely between the cracks of the ground. The lesser buildings that surrounded the heart of the city had come into view and only occasionally did a person walk past us.

The train that came two times at dusk and midnight wasn't a passenger train, instead, it held a seemingly endless line of cargo cars that rumbled past the tracks. Other than that, I knew nothing about it, and with that, how the heck were we going to get out of here?

"Ah, the warehouse is ahead," Ken said. "The rail yard should be just around the corner."

"Yeah, about that..."

"Hmm?" Ken stopped in front of the small, beige-colored warehouse, and it smelled of fresh paint. A few workers had propped up a ladder next to an unfinished section of the warehouse, their clothes stained with paint. Others had been at various tasks within the interior: fixing the shelves, reorganizing boxes of produce, and preparing for the next freight train to arrive. Speaking of which, we were too.

"Um, how exactly are we going to get on the train? We can't just hitch a ride, right?"

"Who says we can't? We have a fifteen or so minute window so there should be plenty of time to find a cargo car and get comfortable." Ken gave me a mischievous smile and headed towards the rail yard.

The tip of the sun could only be seen over the horizon and a shrill train whistle in the distance sent shivers down my spine. Dusk was falling rapidly and soon, under the cape, I became almost invisible.

The rumbling of the train only grew louder as it barreled along the tracks, screeching slowly to a halt. Dozens of cargo cars passed by in a blur and the cape flapped wildly against me, threatening to fly off into the distance.

I stood in awe at the sheer size of the train and when it finally ground to a halt, a large cloud of water vapor drifted above it, almost obscuring the sky. A quick inhale clouded my mind and I coughed, spitting out bits of water and saliva.

"First time with this much vapor, huh?" Ken let his head loose as he laughed at my hacking figure. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

He took in a deep breath and exhaled a shower of water drops. Right in front of my face. I gasped, trying to breathe, which just got me another mouthful of vapor. I can't quite believe it, but it didn't feel too bad, just a little tickle on my tongue.

I was about to take another breath of the water vapor when Ken interjected, still laughing at me. "Hah! Don't get too used to it. If you take in too much of it really messes with your mana pool. It's something to do with the trace amounts of excess particles that find their way into the lysis chamber in the train—where the water is converted into usable hydrogen, of course."

"Mana pool?"

I stared at him in confusion and he just sighed. "Just another thing that I need to teach you. It's starting to be hard to believe your father was one of the most promising mages."

He must have noticed the shame crawling up my face and reassured me, "It's fine, you can blame your father for asking me to teach you. Of course, I can make my life and your life easier if I don't teach you..."

"No!" I didn't know what it was, but something stirred inside me, a curiosity for the unknown. "I-I want to learn how to use magic."

Ken's smile seemed to almost radiate joy and he chuckled, "Alright, alright. If you really want to."

The train whistle sounded again, jolting me and Ken back into reality. "C'mon, we only have a few minutes before the train departs."

Crouched, Ken and I treaded through the rail yard, our feet padding against the dirt. I was not one for exercise and as I struggled to keep up, my toe caught one of the tracks and splat went my face against the dirt.

Before I could even stand up, Ken stopped in his tracks and spun around to help me. I clutched onto his outstretched hand and stood back up, my face stained with dirt and little blades of grass. I almost unconsciously wiped the grime with the cape before stopping mid-air at the sight of Ken, who was staring unhappily at the muddy cape.

"Sorry about your cape," I grinned sheepishly, trying not to look Ken in the eye.

"Yeah, it's alright. It's an old cape anyways." He said though the look on his face told me otherwise.

The freight train was only a few paces ahead and we hurriedly dashed towards it, leaping over the tracks carefully this time.

"Hey! Stop right there!" A voice broke through the night and as I turned around, one of the workers stepped out from the warehouse, his face illuminated by a flaming torch. I squinted, making out two others, a young man and a woman, who had followed him.

A hand snatched me by the arm, dragging me across the rail yard. It was Ken. "Keep running! I'll take care of this. Take my backpack with you."

The backpack and I landed with a thud against the train as Ken let go of his grip and approached the workers with a steely gaze. My mind yelled at me to run, to get on the train before things got ugly, but my legs wouldn't budge. All I could do was stare at whatever was going to happen next.