7:31 PM

The 77th of Spring, 1551

“You’re the one with the temper. Everyone thinks I’m the one with anger issues, but you take the fucking cake.” Isaac said without looking. His slanted amber eyes were fixed on the path in front. Isaac Atrisse walked how he always walked;  carefree and confident, all while sheathing, unsheathing, twirling, and fanning the hammer of his red wooden toy gun.  

“If you think being funny right now is helping at all, please find the strength to keep that mouth of yours shut.” retorted Damon, the teenager walking next to Isaac. Damon’s emerald eyes were angled down to the ground. His expression was almost blank aside the traces of shock and fear that feathered his eyes and mouth. The split lip and a swelling eye he sported completed his look. Almost dragging his feet, Damon looked like the avatar of doom and gloom.  

The two were walking down a long, dark alley made darker still by the setting of the sun. Their irises had a glow to them that made them shine in the dark, a sign of being Duna. The brick walls on either side were worn down and the once vibrant vines that caressed them were shriveled and dry. The atmosphere of Caster’s Landing was haunted by human conflict. The sound of scuffling, the clashing of metal, and the shrieking and jeering of the masses all coalesced into the symphony of disorder that the boys were retreating from. Isaac looked up, the clouds in the sky were scorched crimson, a fitting color for the day's events. 

“Sorry.” said Isaac, his tone now carrying a heavier weight. “This is new territory for me too. I just-” Isaac flipped his gun into its holster and stopped, directing his gaze at Damon. “What happened back there?” 

Damon’s recollection was spoken with a nervous hurriedness that made him stutter. “I don’t know. My authority was working fine and I was healing the damage as it was coming in but then my mana looped into him by accident. I wanted to pull away, but the more I saw the angrier I got and I- I felt this pressure building in my head and the more we fought the stronger it got. Th- th- the pressure broke something and what happened, happened.”   

“I figured this is the first time. Doubt you would blow up everyone's mind with an enforcer’s memories and incite mayhem on purpose. Causing a riot was always on MY bucket list why’d you- “ The sound of sirens and flashing of red lights approaching the alley’s end cut Isaac off. The two ducked behind a green metal trash bin. They waited for the interruption to pass, the filthy smell of human waste creeping up into their noses.

“Let’s hurry up, no more talking.” Damon said.

And so, they ran. Into the city. Into the night. The freedom of boyhood made absent as consequence now ruled their world.