Tassuri utilised the competitive nature of Dhaherites to control them. It was a bestial, illogical drive, which made them perfect for the Kagosae’s entertainment trials. At least, this was what the founders of the Tassurian Union believed, and in seven hundred years, they had yet to be significantly challenged.  

Steady economy did not spark the same flames of rebellion that had split the earth in pre-Tassurian days. And by the 2nd century – ATII – the Tassurian economy had flourished and by the fourth century it had steadied in an unprecedented manner. The founders had set their roots into the bedrock of the continent, and its citizens built cathedrals of science where once had stood temples to the gods. 

A Dhaherite rebellion in AT114 prompted the beginnings of the Kagosae. It was a show of faux solidarity, of course, a way in which to sate the growing anti-imperial sentiment among the Dhaherite population. In its first year, AT119, the Kagosae provided a platform for Dhaherites to exercise their abilities and be lauded for it. Infamy became the priority of Dhaherites, and soon they forgot to rebel. The history books wrote that the First Kagosae was created by the leaders of Tassuri and the leaders of the rebellion movement as a declaration of peace, though the names of the latter were not recorded, nor were they seen in history again. 

A week after receiving Klara’s blessing, Eric took Ellie to the park. He collected her from school and bundled her into the car. She, like her mother, didn’t take well to the cold, and the sky had indeed decided to spit snow. The girl was such a mess of scarf and mitten and puffy coat that he could barely see her skin. Her eyes peeked out between the rim of a knitted red hat and a pink scarf she’d borrowed from Klara. It suited them both. 

‘Did you have a good day?’ he asked, glancing at her through the rear-view mirror. 

‘It was okay.’

‘Okay.’

He drove through the city’s west gate and entered Oswald National Park, so named after his grandfather who had proposed the protection of the land west and north of the city walls. The gate wasn’t anything spectacular; a concrete arch of twenty feet, wide enough to fit four lanes of cars. It buzzed with traffic in and out of the city. The looming masse of trees, which announced the park’s border, bore a peppering of white from the snowfall. 

Eric pulled into one of the carparks dotted along the border fence, then ushered Ellie out to join him. The girl tottered along beside him as they passed through the small Gatters Gateway. The entrance of the park wasn’t the closest to the city, so avoided being overcrowded. 

He opened the simple pine gate for Ellie and closed it behind them. The air was crisp enough that Eric began to wish he’d brought gloves, so he stuffed his hands deep within his pockets and kept a slow pace beside Ellie. She was watching the ground as she walked, stepping hesitantly, swaying to the left or right when a patch looked particularly frosty. Snow hadn’t settled too much on the ground yet, but spots of black ice could be treacherous to a clumsy one like Ellie. 

‘Your principal said you took another aptitude test this week?’

‘It went okay.’

‘Define okay.’

‘I have a good base in everything. I was exposed…there’s a boy in my class who’s quite quick. I think he’s Dhaherite too. I was sitting with him at lunch and afterwards I was quicker, too. My agility test in the speed category was higher than before.’

‘Liam Gregory?’

Ellie glanced up through her tufts of wool. She continued to sway across the path, avoiding tricky patches even without looking. Eric glanced between her agile footwork and her face. She nodded.

‘I know of him. Show me.’

Ellie looked away. She made no change to her movements for a handful of seconds, then quite suddenly, she moved, and was directly in front of him in a swift dash. Eric drew to an abrupt halt so he wouldn’t walk into her, but she was gone again, flitting a hundred metres down the pathway in six seconds. She turned and trotted back to him at a regular pace. Her scarf had blown free from the speed and revealed an exhilarated grin.

‘Did you see? I’m really good!’

‘You’ve adapted quickly.’

‘Yes, and my head feels more…I feel like I know things better. Maybe there is someone else with a mental dhaheri who I’ve taken from?’

‘Maybe,’ Eric said, though he knew Ellie’s newfound aptitudes were because of him. For the past week, Eric had been feeding Ellie a small dosage of Crë’s surface crust. He’d processed the substance into a powder which he mixed with sugar and pressed into small tablets. Ellie had taken one each morning under the guise of a new multivitamin. She didn’t know, but her body appeared to be adapting well. The millennial cycle of the Kagosae was fast approaching. Perhaps Ellie would have a chance of participating in it after all and perhaps she could finally wipe away the smear she had forced upon his family. Eric had sixteen years to prepare her.  

‘I’d love to fly someday,’ said Ellie. 

‘Humans can’t fly, Ellie. Even Dhaherites.’

Ellie continued to stare longingly at the darkening sky.