Jack being Jack could not refuse to help anyone.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, approaching the gate of their home.
‘It’s my son,’ the woman said, pointing towards the house. ‘He has a nasty burn on his leg. Might you heal it? I’ll pay you, of course.’
‘I – well – yes, of course,’ said Jack, shocked. ‘But – how did you know I-’
The woman waved her hand dismissively. ‘I can see Power. Please, won’t you help?’ She said. ‘I’ve been keeping an eye out for a Healer for days.’
‘Of course’
The woman opened the gate and allowed Jack through. I went to follow, but she held up a hand to stop me.
‘No, I’m sorry. I shan’t allow a Fire-Mage into my home.’
I stopped and stared. ‘Why?’ I asked, looking imploringly at Jack for support. ‘I am perfectly safe.’
‘She is.’ Jack added, ‘She is harmless, really.’
‘I’m sorry.’ The woman said again, shaking her head, ‘It is a matter of principal. How do you think my son got his burn?’
‘A Fire-Mage did it?’ I asked, stunned. I had never met a Fire-Mage that I wasn’t related to.
‘Yes, a little girl, no older than eleven.’ The woman turned to Jack. ‘Shall we?’
‘Uh,’ Jack paused, looking at me for direction.
‘It’s fine,’ I said waving a hand. ‘I’ll wait here.’
Jack allowed himself to be steered inside the woman’s home. I waited nervously on the pathway, looking around and disliking being alone. I watched the man on the roof as he hammered nails into the wooden planks being used to cover the gaping hole. It took me a few moments to notice that there was no ladder leading up to the roof. How would he get down? This question was answered almost immediately as the man jumped from the roof and landed as light as a feather on his toes.
‘That looks fun,’ I said to him.
‘Weight-Shifter’ he said pointing to his chest.
‘Weight-Shifter?’ I repeated. ‘I have never heard of that before.’
He shrugged. ‘I can manipulate my weight. I can be lighter than air or heavier than twenty men put together, without my physical size changing.’
I frowned. ‘Is that useful?’ I didn’t mean to be rude, I was just curious. The man obviously didn’t find it rude and simply laughed.
‘Sometimes, when I’m happy I just float into the air, like a bubble.’
I grinned. ‘You can fly?’
He shook his head. ‘Hardly, it’s more like being carried on the wind. I can’t really control where I go.’
‘It sounds nice though,’ I said, thinking about floating through the clouds peacefully.
‘But when I get mad,’ He gave a little shudder, ‘the floor will warp beneath my weight.’
‘I suppose you can’t get into too many arguments with your wife then?’ I smirked.
He looked towards his front door to make sure his wife wasn’t listening. ‘The floor throughout our entire house is ruined,’ he said cheekily in an undertone.
I laughed and he allowed himself a smile.
‘So what do you do?’ he asked.
I wondered whether it was a wise idea to reveal my Power, considering this man’s son was suffering from burns, however, his wife was already aware, so what was the harm?
‘I’m a Fire-Mage,’ I said, then quickly added, ‘but don’t worry, I’m not related to the Mage that burned your son.’
He eyed my suspiciously. ‘How do you know?’
I crossed my arms over my chest. ‘I just know. Why did she attack your son anyway?’
The man pursed his lips. ‘The girl that burned my son was from The Realm,’ he said, crossing his arms over his chest too. ‘She was with a group of officials, all in red cloaks.’
‘The Realm?’ I repeated. ‘Why did they attack your son?’
He scoffed. ‘Haven’t you seen the town? They destroyed half of our homes. Looking for Humans I think. They hurt anyone who refused to answer their questions. They took the entire family next door.’
‘Why?’
‘Their little boy hadn’t shown any Powers yet,’ he said as he glanced next door, ‘but he was only eight… there was still time for his Power to appear.’
‘But your wife can see Power, can’t she?’ I asked. ‘Couldn’t she tell them that his Power had not arrived yet?’
The man looked suddenly uncomfortable at these words. ‘Well, she tried, but the kid didn’t have a trace of Power in him, according to her.’
‘You mean he was Human?’ I asked. ‘But he was of a Mage bloodline, right?’
He nodded. ‘I mean, as far as we know. Funny isn’t it? I had never heard of a Human being born to Mage parents.’
I frowned, ‘No … me either.’ I lied.
‘Maybe he was adopted,’ the man said thoughtfully.
So, another family had been taken away by The Realm of Mages for having a Human child. Was The Realm scouring the cities, searching for the Powerless?
As my head swirled with this new information, Jack emerged from the house, accompanied by the man’s wife.