The Summer Cry

„Listen here, Reggie.“, Tiyana started, taking a sip of coffee from her cup. „You cannot keep doing things as you go! Charging headfirst into whatever situation you see in front of you is going to get you hurt – or worse, killed, you dumb, thick-skulled, musclebrain!“ she set down her cup and stared crossly at Reginald. He had a naughty grin, as if he had just stolen a freshly baked cookie from the tray reserved for guests. And it fit perfectly on his boyish face framed by his messy, brown hair.

They were patrol officers in the Elderhearth Police, sitting in The Brick Street, a bar on the Common Third, somewhere on the Outer Terrace District. Whenever they were on a break, Tiyana would break into a scolding rant, sometimes even yelling at Reginald, as he calmly sipped his coffee and nodded obediently to whatever critique or insult she would hurl at him next.

“It’s instinctual. I was always like this. And YOU know it, T.” he threw another peanut in his mouth, immediately picking up another, and lazily rolled it around his hand.

Tiyana scowled at him, as her green eyes assumed an irritated gaze, and shook her head. Her golden hair tied in a ponytail gently swayed. She opened her mouth to start another tirade, but Reginald was quicker.

“Wait. How long have you known me?” he asked.

“Since we were kids. That makes it twenty-two years now.” She said quietly, with audible irritation in her voice.

“And you know I’ve had my powers for the last ten years? By Dawnbringer's Mercy, you were the first person that I’ve shown my powers to. Remember that?” he threw another peanut in his mouth.

“Yes, yes, yes. What’s your point with this?” she scoffed.

“AND you KNOW I completed my Librarian Training, and I have been a properly trained mage for the last 6 years.” He allowed himself a wry smile.

“Get. To. The. Point.” She proceeded to take a long sip of her coffee out of irritation, but it was still too hot for long gulps, so she stuck her tongue out, looking even angrier.

“I’ve never broken a single bone, in all those years of porting around like – as you so graciously call it, a thick-skulled musclebrain. And I ain’t planning on doing it anytime soon.” He took another peanut, rolled it around his fingertips and then flicked it towards the door, using his middle finger and thumb. No one seemed to notice, except for Tiyana, who was glaring at him.

“Have I ever told you that you could be such a pleasant person?” he asked her.

That confused her. “What-“

“If only you didn’t have those knives instead of your eyes. I have seen people bigger and tougher than me feel uncomfortable once you start stabbing them with your gaze.” He snickered, as he gestured with his fingers.

“If it was socially acceptable to hit stupid people for being stupid, you’d be my favorite punching bag.” She downed her coffee.

“Oh, is that a threat? The gun-toting, trigger-happy, sharpshooter who has at least seven guns on her person at all times – BECAUSE – she doesn’t like physical contact and prefers to inflict pain from afar – just threatened me with…” Reginald made a wide-eyed, surprised face “…a punch?”

Tiyana swung her fist at Reginald, but in a sudden burst of purple mist, he disappeared from his chair, and her fist struck nothing. She loudly groaned as she looked at the peanut that was now placed on Reginald’s chair.

“Come on, T. Break’s over. And also you’re paying.” Reginald said loudly and went out the door.
Tiyana fished out four Pelaris from her wallet and started towards the door. “I hate when he does that.” She muttered to herself.

The street of the Outer Terrace District of the Common Third was as busy as ever. Especially now, at half past noon, with delivery wagons and other carriages rummaging through the middle of the street, driving their cargo to its location. It was late summer, and the turquoise blue sky that was visible from the Outer Terrace District was streaked with cotton-white clouds. The sun was shining brightly, and the Elderhearthian streets exploded with color. Especially here, in the Commons, where many people from all around the world come to visit, for business or pleasure. From the military-styled waistcoats in various dark colors worn by the people from Siewersk, brightly coloured, frilled dresses and tunics worn by Dubrovais sailors who even had their hair dyed in various hues of red, blue and green, to rich Selmani outfits, decorated with many jewels, and heavyset merchants with long, bushy beards wearing gigantic turbani wraps on their heads.
In that crowd, you could see the sun reflecting off of metal, from people who had exposed their Crystalimbs, and Elderhearthian Guard armors, an occasional Blackthorne officer with their great helms, and two young police officers, who had long, summer coats lined with crystallum plates – who were lazily making their way through the crowd.

“Tomorrow’s the Grand Bazaar, and now half the world is right here.” Reginald grunted, as he nervously flipped a blunt throwing knife through his hands.

“I don’t like big crowds. If something bad happens, it’ll be me and you who are at fault because we didn’t stop it.” Tiyana walked straight-backed, with an iron discipline of a veteran military officer showing in her posture, a skill she picked up from her father.
“And leave that damn thing in your pocket. You might cause trouble yourself, playing with a knife in the middle of a crowd.” she whisper-yelled at Reginald.

“I happen to think that being on alert and ready to strike at all times is a good thing.” He replied and switched hands with the knife.

“You could literally use any small object or thing. You ported with a peanut today. Why a knife, of all things?”

“Please, T. It’s a THROWING knife. It has excellent balance and will fly further than a coin or a ball. I tried.” He replied.

“How many do you carry on yourself, right now?” she asked him.

“How much guns does my young lady carry at the moment?” he replied, using a posh accent, imitating the speech of the people from the Higher Levels.

Tiyana blushed. “Nine.” She said, subconsciously fixing the holster of her shotgun, hanging at her side.

“NINE? Woman, do you give birth to guns? What is your deal?” Reginald was genuinely surprised by this.

“Yeah, shut up. I was the first one to ask.”

“Well, ignoring this one in my hand.” With a quick sleight of his hand, the small throwing knife disappeared in the sleeve of his coat. “I have twenty-six pieces on me.” And with a flick of his wrist, he produced another knife in his other hand. “twenty-five.” He added, with a smile.

“And I’m the crazy weapons freak with my nine guns.” She rolled her eyes.

“Knowing you, the Captain knows only about the two shotguns.”

“One.” She said, which made Reginald stare at her in wide-eyed disbelief.

“This girl…” he muttered, and continued scouring the crowd with his eyes.

Suddenly, a loud scream pierced the din of the street, silencing everyone who’d heard it. Tiyana and Reginald immediately stopped to figure out what was happening.
From their side, they heard a muffled boom and a man was sent flying through the air, followed by a man who was sprinting through the crowd, clutching something at his chest.

“Put down that gun, you’ll never get him in this crowd!” Reginald yelled at Tiyana who was already trying to aim down her sights, while giving chase after the running man. Tiyana sighed, and holstered her gun, breaking into a run herself.
They were very good athletes, so they could navigate the crowded street effectively, without losing much speed. This wasn’t their first time they'd chased someone on foot.
The man was not a very good runner in the crowd, so he had to slam people out of his way.
Reginald was still far away from being able to tackle him, so he kept on running.
Tiyana cursed the extra weight, in the form of nine heavy guns, she had strapped to herself that morning. She was the faster runner of the two, but Reginald had the advantage of being unburdened by clunky weapons. “Damn it!” she screamed and kept on running, falling back behind Reginald significantly.

The man was heading straight towards a group of Selmani merchants that were standing in the middle of the street, and there was no way that he would be able to knock all of them over, nor could he quickly go around them without stopping, thought Reginald. “That’s when I’ll get him.” He smiled, but his idea was suddenly impossible because he saw the air around the running man’s hand shimmer.
“Oh no.” Reginald grunted, as he tried to fasten his pace. But he was too slow, as the running man outstretched his hand toward the Selmani tourists, who were violently thrown to the side with a cacophony of pained screams, after a large blast of concentrated air knocked them from the man’s path.
“He’s a fucking mage!” he screamed, hoping that Tiyana would hear him.
He turned around and saw her golden head bouncing in the crowd.

“T! I’m going after him! You keep giving chase!” he yelled in her direction at the top of his lungs, and positioned himself in a throwing stance. Luck was on his side, as the street they were running through was going straight for another few kilometers, so he wouldn’t lose him in the narrow, winding corners behind the buildings.

He took a deep breath, and invited flows of Essence, Body and Air into himself. He felt his entire body pulsate with energy, as he flung the throwing knife as far as he could in the air, above the running man.
He felt the knife’s location and then he took another deep breath and focused on the command word:

Switch.

His body was sent flying through the air, in the form of a purple mist, twisting and streaking forward to the knife’s location. In mere two seconds, Reginald had switched the position of his body with the item he had thrown last. He was now falling from 30 meters of height, streaking to the ground from mid-air.

“Not today, you bastard. No one can outrun me.” He smiled as he flung another knife, diagonally, into the ground below him and focused. Switch.

His feet were firmly planted on the ground, but since he was falling for a few seconds, he bent his knees, and threw himself into a forward roll. As he rose to his feet, in one unbroken motion, he used all of his momentum and flung himself forward, with his fist outstretched in front of his body – and slammed it directly into the face of the running man who was sent flying backwards, landing hard on the ground with a loud crack.

He just lay there like a limp sack of potatoes. Reginald was sure that the running man had broken something, as he took a really nasty fall. Looking over the knocked out man, he saw Tiyana closing in and waved at her. Then he took out his badge and flailed it around, announcing himself to the people that were now gathered in a circle around them.


“Everything is under control, ladies and gentlemen! My name is Officer Reginald Graye, and the rampant mage has been put down. Reinforcements shall be coming soon to take him in. Please, hurry along!”

A few people whispered something to one another, and more and more were pointing at the downed mage. Reginald looked at him, and he stopped dead in his tracks. His entire body froze over as he stared at the cylinder the mage was holding up. It had a timer on it, which said 00:59, which became 00:58 in a second.

“N-no one will be leaving here, officer. At least n-not alive. Ha ha-“, the mage said weakly, as he coughed and sputtered blood, with the bomb falling out of his hand. It rolled on the ground and stopped at Tiyana’s feet. She was staring at it, and then looked up at Reginald. Her usually angry or annoyed face was now locked in fear and panic.

00:50

“Think. Think. Think. Think. Think. THINK, DAMN YOU!” Reginald growled loudly, and put both of his hands on his head and rubbed his hair in frustration.

00:40

“Thick-skulled, musclebrain who’s charging headfirst into every situation.” Tiyana’s words echoed in his head. “I should do what I do best. Charge headfirst without thinking.” He took a deep breath and calmed himself. Then he walked over to where Tiyana and the bomb were.

00:30

He reached over and hugged Tiyana tightly. And he held her there as she was trying to push him away, yelling at him “IT’S GOING TO EXPLODE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” The atmosphere around them erupted in terrified, panicked screaming, as people started to run in every direction, looking for a place to hide.

00:20

“Take care of yourself, T.” Reginald whispered in her ear, and she suddenly went completely numb. He let her go, and picked the bomb up from the floor. With a flourish, he produced a throwing knife between his fingers. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

00:10

He spun around and used the momentum to fling the knife as far up in the air as he could.
His eyes locked with Tiyana’s and he gave her one last mischievous smile. He suddenly vanished in a purple mist, as his throwing knife clattered against the stone pavement.

00:00

The explosion was deafening. Being so far in the air didn’t stop the shockwave from washing over the people on the ground, forcing some of them to their knees, and raising clouds of dust from the roofs and the street.

The expanding explosive cloud changed the colors of its crystal fire from purple to blue, like a beautiful fractal, until it completely faded away into nothingness.

Tiyana kneeled over Reginald’s throwing knife and weakly picked it up to her chest, as tears started to stream down her face.

She clutched at it firmly, pressing her closed fist against her chest until she drew blood.

Her mournful cries echoed throughout the street of the Outer Terrace District of the Common Third level of Elderhearth, as the people gathered around her, and watched in silence.