The Second Stranger

—Was I going to fight a kid? Yes. I thought stepping up the ramp.

I followed the group out of the shop, my blood boiling. The cat-girl guards eyed us curiously as we passed, but said nothing. We turned down an isolated alley. Thirty feet wide and covered by an overhanging green tarp high above. The far end faded into darkness, opening to another part of the city I couldn’t see.

Carlyle’s mocking voice grated against my ears. “I can’t believe a Voidblood thinks he stands a chance. Are you really that stupid?”

I clenched my fists. Anger rose in my chest. I was stuck in a body that wasn’t mine, in a world where magic was everything - and I had none. I was a second-class citizen because of something I couldn’t control. And Noah... where the hell was he? Was he trapped like me, lost in someone else’s body?

—‘This is insane Erik,’ Fern’s voice echoed in my head. ‘I don’t do things like this. Voidbloods don’t do things like this.’

—Stop trying to talk me out of it, I thought back. I’m not letting this punk walk all over us.

“Hey!” Carlyle’s shout snapped me out of my thoughts. “Are you ready to start this duel? You can still back out if you lick my boots.”

I glared at him, swallowed excess spit, and breathed.

“Let’s do this,” I whispered, raising my fists.

Lotrick stepped between us, his face looking disinterested as it had been all day. “As much as I hate to admit it, this duel is legitimate, as declared by the laws of the Crown Prince. However, there must be ground rules.”

He stepped in front of me and looked into my eyes. He squinted, leaned forward, and sighed. “You better not get him hurt.”

“Wait, what do you mean by that?” I said, reaching out to Lotrick, but he had turned away.

Lotrick waved his hands at the small alley that surrounded us. Translucent beams of light shot out from his hands and painted the stones with lines around us. Carlyle sneered and started stretching his hands.

“Stay within the boundaries. If you cross them, you lose. No killing, obviously. No damage to the face or hands, and absolutely no property damage.” Lotrick gestured to the building on my right we had exited from. “Are we clear?”

Carlyle’s smug grin widened as he bowed. “Crystal.”

I tensed my body, ready for anything. I felt my muscles tighten. The strong fibers that Fern earned hammering metal in the forge poised to react.

Carlyle held out his hands, palms faced together, and fingers outstretched. Between his fingers, I saw it - a faint shimmer in the air gave birth to small threads of light, like yarn. The strings reached out from one hand to the other and met in the space between. A small symbol twisted in the center between Carlyle’s palms.

Then he twisted his fingers, and the symbol shook violently.

Flames erupted from his palms with the force of a fire hydrant. My body reacted on instinct, muscles coiling and releasing faster than I thought possible. I leaped sideways, propelling myself ten feet across the alley in a single sidestep.

The sudden burst of speed caught me off guard. My body was lighter and easier to move than I thought possible. My feet hit the ground at an awkward angle, and I stumbled to the ground just before crossing the boundary Lotrick had put up.

—‘What the hell was that?’ Fern shouted, equally confused as I was.

I didn’t have time to respond. Carlyle was already preparing his next attack. His fingers danced in the air as if catching the glowing string, forming a new shape in between his hands. I pushed myself to my feet. The symbol between his hands danced like before.

I watched Carlyle’s hands intently, trying to expect his next move. The moment he flexed his fingers, I saw the symbol shake. This time, water bolts now shot toward me, faster than the fire had.

I trusted my new strength. My legs twitched, and I burst forward. I felt cold slivers of water cut my left arm as I narrowly dodged the full brunt of Carlyle’s attack. I slid into a crouch and heard the water slam into the ground where I had stood moments before. Confidence was building inside me. I could dodge his spells.

“Stand still, you little rat!” Carlyle snarled, his composure cracking. He twisted his body towards me. I twisted as well. His fingers flexed, and the symbol danced. I flexed my legs as hard as I could and jumped.

The volley of water bolts shot below my feet. I felt weightless as I leaped high in the air. My eyes darted around the battlefield, taking in every detail, and processed my next moves in an instant. I landed gracefully this time, expecting to wince in pain as I landed, but my legs absorbed the shock completely.

I ran, trying to close the distance as Carlyle backed up, launching barrage after barrage of water and fire blasts.

Small crashes of water and fire echoed in the alleyway like fireworks. The walls were getting charred and steam was forming on the ground. I kept dodging as I closed in on Carlyle.

Fern breathed heavily in my mind like he was moving with me.

—‘How are you…how are we moving like this?’ He asked.

I had no answer. I just kept moving, driven by instinct and my strange new awareness.

Carlyle’s friends jeered from the sidelines, their taunts muffled by the hiss of steam forming from his attacks. Carlyle’s attacks grew wilder, his frustration mounting with each miss. “Fight back, coward!” he roared, unleashing more attacks.

I sidestepped each blast. My skin was beading with sweat from the heat and my muscles ached suddenly.

—Already? I thought.

“This has to be against the rules, right?” I shouted to Lotrick. I turned and saw he had narrowed his eyes and was studying me. Rosie’s eyes were wide. She backed away further from the fight in the alley, slowly stepping back one step at a time.

A sharp burn on my right leg punished me for looking away from Carlyle. Before another blast of fire could hit me, I jumped back. Turning towards the boy, I saw my opening. He dropped his gaze from me to make sure he was still in the boundary. I surged forward, crossing the distance between us. He turned just in time to see my fist drive into his gut. I intended to push him outside of the boundary with that punch. He flew much further.

The impact was like nothing I’d felt before. Carlyle’s body folded around my fist, all the air driven from his lungs in a single pained gasp. He slid against the stone ground, past the boundary line, and into the alley wall. For a moment, everything was silent. Then, chaos erupted.

Carlyle’s friends rushed to his side, shouting and cursing. One of them pointed at me, his face contorted with rage.

“You’ll pay for this, trash! Do you have any idea who he is? He’s supposed to be leaving for the school!” The friend gestured to Fern’s brother and Rosie. “We all are, except for you, you roach! Useless ones like you have no purpose except to harm us good folk! A commoner with Mageblood is more useful than a waste of life like you. You’re worse than a beast. Your kind is evil!”

Carlyle’s other friend lifted him onto his back and glared at me. “I knew all Voidbloods were devil-men.”

I froze.

—Crap…I’m so screwed, aren’t I?

—‘I can’t believe this Erik. You have signed our death. My Death! All because of you!’ Fern shouted.

—Calm down Fern it was just a small fight, He will be ok.

As the friends ran away carrying Carlyle, Lotrick stepped up to me. His face was flat. He raised his hands, and I saw the golden threads Zola used on me snake out from inside his palms. They shimmered in the air, then curled around his fingers, beautiful and terrifying.

With a flick of his wrist, the threads shot towards me. They wrapped around me, constricting my body. The pain was immediate and intense, like being tied up in a burning wire. I couldn’t hold back my screams.

Through the haze of pain, I saw Rosie step up behind Lotrick. Her voice cut through the air, sharp with concern.

“Lotrick, put him down!”

Lotrick’s response chilled me to the bone. “This isn’t Fern.”

I stared at him, shock momentarily overriding the pain. How?

Lotrick’s eyes dug into mine.

“His movement, his behavior today, even his eyes look different. Even if Fern is nothing more than a slave, he’s still my brother. Right now there’s someone inside him.”

I grunted as the golden threads tightened, sending waves of searing agony through my body. It felt like my skin was on fire, but when I glanced at the thread, now burns were being made.

“Eh?” Rosie said, shocked. “What do you mean? His eyes look the same.” She stepped forward and hesitantly leaned forward.

“Oh, you can’t tell?” Lotrick let out a small grin. “Must be because you’re not as advanced as me. But I can tell there are two people inside Fern’s body. One of them isn’t him. Now, who are you?”

He raised his hand and my body lowered to the ground, held in place by the magic strings.

—Fuck it Fern, I’m telling him. I don't think he'll hurt us. I told Fern.

—‘Why did I have to bear this fate along with being a Voidblood? Was I so terrible in the previous life?’ He cried.

I ignored him.

“Wait!” I gasped. “I can explain! Please!”

For a moment, I thought Lotrick would ignore me. His cold eyes looked at me like one would look at a scuttling bug they were about to squish, but then the pressure from the threads vanished and I could breathe again. My throat ached with each new breath. Eventually, I recovered my breath. I rubbed my neck and sat back up, looking at Fern’s little brother.

“Explain,” Lotrick commanded, his voice hard as steel. He looked so young, but he commanded authority. I guess that’s the confidence you get with magic strength like his. Rosie stood behind him, looking at me with confusion. I couldn’t help but notice her hands were outstretched next to her as if she might attack me too.

I gulped.

“I don’t even know how to explain this properly without you killing me. Let me start by telling you, that your brother is safe. He is here inside me.” I pointed to myself.

Lotrick raised an eyebrow and then held up his hands again, poised to entangle me again.

“Whoa! Wait, man!” I coughed. “How the hell do you think I’m gonna answer with you choking me?”

Lotrick sighed and lowered his hands.

“Speak. Now. Rosie, be ready for anything,” he nodded towards her hands. Her cheerful expression transformed into a face of concentration.

“I’ll ask you again, calmly this time,” Lotrick said. “Who are you?”

I took a deep breath. “This will sound crazy, but maybe you have heard of something like this happening. If not, please, I beg of you, take a moment to understand what I am saying because it is the truth. My name is Erik. I am not from your world. My world has no magic, and no beastmen. Last night, a portal, gate, or dimension, I'm not sure what it was, opened up in my home. I stepped into it, and after hours of painful torture in a pitch-black void, I ended up inside your brother’s body.”

Lotrick said nothing. Rosie said nothing. Silence filled the alley, and when Lotrick crouched and looked into my eyes, he eventually spoke.

“If what you’re saying is true,” Lotrick said slowly, looking at my chest. “Then, Fern is in there?”

I hesitated, unsure how to explain the strange duality of my existence. “He’s... he’s still here. In my head. We can communicate, but I’m the one in control of the body. Not by choice. I want my body back. I want my-” I cut myself off before telling him about Noah. Some things I shouldn’t so easily tell. What if they kill me and then go after my brother?

Lotrick’s eyes narrowed, his skepticism clear. “If what you’re saying is true, tell me something only Fern would know, something Fern and I share. Something that no one would know.”

—Well? Help me out, Fern. I know you are pissed at me, but look, he is trying to help. I pleaded with Fern. He needed to get over his anger at me for now. I need his help, so we both make it out of this.

There was silence in my head for a moment.

“Well?” Lotrick asked, standing back up, his hands on his hips.

“He’s being stubborn. Hold on.”

—Fern, please! I promise you will get your body back. I will give it back to you. Now, help me out here so we don’t end up dead before I can do that.

—‘Lightcutter.’

—Lightcutter? What is that? Fern, what does that mean? Give me more.

“Well?” Lotrick said, raising his hands. Rose stretched her fingers out, following Lotrick’s lead.

“Lightcutter, Lightcutter! He said Lightcutter,” I blurted out. My heart was pounding. I can’t take more of that burning pain. “That’s all Fern said, I swear. He’s sort of mad at me for, you know, taking control of the whole body thing, but it’s not like I had a choice.” I said, the words practically falling out of my mouth.

Lotrick lowered his hands, and a smile cracked across his face. He leaned down and looked not into my eyes but past them. As if he was talking to Fern.

“Fern! You scorching idiot.” He started laughing. “Just had to get yourself into this sort of mess, didn’t you? Truly, your luck is abysmal, brother.” He pushed back his gold and purple-flecked hair and waved his hand at Rosie, telling her to relax her guard.

I breathed a sigh of relief at seeing Lotrick behave this way. He must care for his brother. He wouldn’t kill me or report me knowing that Fern was in here.

“Second question…Erik, is that right?” Lotrick asked.

“Yes, it’s Erik.”

“Just what do you plan to do now?” He stopped smiling.

“I…well, to be honest, everything has happened so fast I am not sure. I know that this place is dangerous for Fern. It seems everyone hates him. Or at least hates what he is.”

“A Voidblood, yes. Our society has a certain distaste for them.” Lotrick rubbed his chin. The fourteen-year-old behaved like an old man.

“So…with that known, I hoped to get somewhere safe where I could regroup, figure out how to get my old body back, and give back Ferns. I have my own personal plans after that,” I said.

“What other plans? Tell me now, Erik. I will not have you deceive me or my brother or my country in the future.” Lotrick raised his hands again.

—This fucking kid. He's a pushy brat.

—‘He’s a genius is what he is,’ Fern said, sounding happier seeing how this is all unfolding on me.

“Okay, okay! Jeez, when I came through the portal, I was following my brother, Noah. He came here before me. We sort of had an argument, and now, I’m trying to find him. That’s it, Lotrick. I want my body back. Fern gets his body back, and I want to find my brother.” I looked with my eyebrows furrowed.

Lotrick’s expression didn’t change. “I see. Rosie, I can take it from here. Go back home and don’t tell anyone about what we learned here.”

Rosie wrinkled her nose at him.

“Fine, but you better fill me in on everything tomorrow. I’m gonna find you on the train and I want all the details.” She started down the alleyway and turned around. She looked down at me. “Hang in there, Fern.”

When Rosie was out of sight, Lotrick turned towards me and crouched down. Then, a small, calculating smile appeared on his face.

“How about a deal? You make an oath to me and keep my brother alive, and I can get you to a safe place. The only safe place for someone like Fern, like you.”

I forced myself to breathe in and out of my nose and think slowly. Lotrick was my only option. I couldn’t trust that I could get out of this situation on my own. Even with the new speed I had, it was not reliable. The aches in my body were evidence enough of that. Any help I could get, I needed to take.

—If I’m understanding correctly, your brother will leave this city to go to some magic school tomorrow. Where will that leave us, Fern? The full focus of your abusive mother will crush us.

—‘You are right. I’ve been worried for some time now that Mother would sell me to the dock slavers for extra money once Lotrick had left for the Capital. Father would be against it, but Mother will get her way.’ Fern answered.

—A slave on the docks, huh? That won’t get us closer to solving this body issue. I’m taking his offer. I promised you I’d get your body back, and I promised myself I’d find Noah too. We need this.

—‘Thank you, Erik,’ Fern whispered.

“You have a deal,” I said, sticking my hand out for Lotrick to shake. Despite his large presence when he uses magic and speaks like a grown adult, his hands were so small in mine when I shook them.

“Perfect. Now, I’ve been waiting to show you this, Fer- Erik.” Lotrick pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper from his back pocket and cracked a sly smile. “Asked Master Wor in Jade Supply for this. He had it hanging on his bounty board a month ago. I did my research on it, and, well, look for yourself.”

I rubbed my head, stood up, and grabbed the paper from Lotrick’s hand. It was a one-page paper ad.

The Threaded Trumpet, Vol. 9880

Editor-in-Chief: Prince-Favored Quill Inkwright

WANTED: ABLE-BODIED VOIDBLOODS

Reward: 5,000 Fabriks (No Negotiation!)

Ladies, gentlemen, and assorted beastmen of questionable taxonomy, it’s that time again! The Cinders, our beloved Princes’ pack of monster-mauling misfits, are on the prowl for fresh meat. While we’ve been busy debating the finer points of princely warfare over tea, another litter of fang-toothed graduates have clawed their way out of the Academy of Ash.

Ah, Ash! That delightful vacation spot where only the most resilient of cockroaches can survive that toxic land and emerge as vicious hounds.

Each year, we ship off several hundred Voidbloods there to offer them a chance at a slightly better slave life. Many a loyal citizen have found their pockets considerably heavier, thanks to our benevolent Princes’ “catch and release” program.

But fret not, dear readers! The wait is over, and opportunity knocks once more with its iron-clad fist.

Have a spare Voidblood cluttering up your basement? Perhaps a neighbor’s child who’s a bit too ugly for comfort? Well, dust them off and drag them down to your local Guard post!

For the low, low price of one (1) able-bodied Voidblood, you too can be the proud owner of a voucher worth 5,000 Fabriks! That’s right, folks–turn in your troublesome teens and walk away with enough coin to buy that self-stirring cauldron you’ve always wanted.

Remember, this offer only comes around once a year. So don’t delay–cash in on your local Voidbloods today! After all, it’s not like they were doing anything useful anyway, right?

(The Threaded Trumpet accepts no responsibility for any moral quandaries, existential crises, or karmic retribution resulting from this public service announcement. Voidbloods must be of 15 or 16 years of age, no older or younger.)

“Well, that’s a little…” I started.

“Distasteful?” Lotrick laughed and grabbed the newspaper back.

“So what you’re saying is we, Fern and I, go to this sort of forced military academy?”

“I wouldn’t call the Cinders military. More like enforced mercenaries. Seeing as you don’t get any of the honors that come with being a true Mageblood soldier,” Lotrick chuckled to himself.

“I guess I have no choice, huh? When do we leave?” I asked, wiping away dry blood that had caked on my arms.

Lotrick waved his hand as he walked. “Fern has never had a choice in his life. You will leave tonight. Don’t worry, I will take care of everything.” He continued walking down the street. “Come now, brother, we must not keep our sweet mom waiting.”

He pointed to the backpack full of his things. The paper slipped out of Lotrick’s pocket and fell to the ground. I groaned as I walked over to grab paper and the pack full of Lotrick’s gear for school. Dust flew up into my eyes and I shielded my arm.

“Fer- Erik, come on now!” Lotrick called for me.

I wiped my eyes and turned the ad over, about to roll it back up. On the back was an article written by the city. An announcement. The article had a picture of my brother, Noah.

NOAH STARBRINGER RETURNS FROM FIVE YEAR EXPEDITION