The rain fell in heavy sheets as Caelen hurried down the twisting alleys of Terracore. Water splashed up around his boots soaking the hem of his cloak. In his arms Talli whimpered her fever burning hotter with every step.
The slums were a labyrinth of crumbling walls and broken archways but Caelen knew them better than he knew his own heartbeat. He moved without thinking slipping between piles of refuse and ducking under broken beams.
Ahead the crooked sign of the Weaver's hut swung wildly in the wind. Caelen stumbled up the steps and knocked in the old pattern. Three quick raps a pause then two more.
A narrow slit opened in the door and a sharp pair of brown eyes stared out.
"Who comes?" the voice rasped suspicious and rough as old leather.
"Caelen Dusk" he gasped "I need shelter. She needs help."
The door swung open with a reluctant creak. The Weaver stood framed in the doorway wrapped in a cloak of patched cloth. Her hair was a tangled nest of gray and black her face lined like a map of old griefs.
"Inside boy quickly" she said.
Caelen entered the hut the door banging shut behind him. The air inside smelled of herbs smoke and wet wool. Strange symbols were stitched into the curtains and colorful threads hung from the rafters.
"Lay her down by the fire" the Weaver instructed.
He crossed the room and knelt before the hearth easing Talli onto a mattress stuffed with straw and rags. Her small body shivered violently her skin slick with sweat.
The Weaver crouched beside her muttering to herself. She pressed a cool hand to Talli's forehead then opened a battered chest rummaging through bundles of herbs and stoppered bottles.
"She burns with the Red Fever" the Weaver said grimly. "Lucky you brought her when you did."
"Will she live?" Caelen asked his voice tight with fear.
"If the spirits favor her" the Weaver said. She crushed a handful of leaves into a bowl poured steaming water over them and stirred until the air filled with a bitter sharp scent. She lifted Talli's head and trickled the liquid between her chapped lips.
The girl coughed but swallowed.
Caelen sat back on his heels wiping rain from his face. He glanced around the small room cluttered with weaving looms broken furniture and baskets of thread. Every surface was layered with dust and memories.
"You did not come only for her" the Weaver said suddenly her eyes sharp.
Caelen stiffened. "I need to leave Terracore."
She cackled a low dry sound. "Everyone wants to leave this cursed city. Few manage it."
"I have no choice" Caelen said. "They are hunting me."
The Weaver's eyes narrowed. She leaned closer studying him as if she could read his soul through his skin.
"There is fire in your blood boy. Ancient fire. I should have known when you were still a gutter-rat stealing bread from my windowsill."
Caelen's heart lurched.
"You know?" he whispered.
"I know enough" she said. "Enough to see that you carry something old and dangerous."
She turned and disappeared into the back room her footsteps soft as moth wings. When she returned she held a scrap of yellowed parchment.
"This will show you the hidden ways out of Terracore" she said. "Old tunnels forgotten gates paths carved when the city was young."
Caelen took it reverently. Ink lines twisted and curved across the page marking routes through the slums past the dead wells and under the city walls. One path was circled in faded red ink leading north toward the ruins of the Citadel.
He looked up. "Why are you helping me?"
The Weaver smiled and for a moment Caelen glimpsed something young and fierce in her eyes.
"Because once long ago someone helped me when I was running" she said. "And because the world needs its flamebearers now more than ever."
A sudden crash sounded outside. Shouts echoed down the alleyway.
"Guards" Caelen hissed.
The Weaver moved swiftly throwing open a loose plank in the floorboards. Beneath was a dark narrow tunnel barely wide enough for a grown man.
"Go now" she said. "Follow the map. Trust no one. And boy…"
He paused one foot already in the tunnel.
"Your fire is a gift but also a curse. Do not let it consume you."
He nodded once fiercely then dropped into the tunnel. The floor closed above him plunging him into darkness.
The tunnel stank of mold and old blood. Caelen crawled forward guided only by the faint glow of his ember-stirred blood. His hands brushed damp stones slick with slime.
The tunnel sloped upward then widened into an abandoned sewer. Rats skittered away from his footsteps. The map had shown this path clearly.
Left at the broken arch. Right past the flooded stairwell. Up through the cracked cistern.
He moved faster his breath coming hard.
The sounds of the city faded behind him swallowed by the earth.
When he finally emerged he stood on a barren hill overlooking Terracore. The city's spires jutted into the sky black against the roiling clouds.
For the first time since he could remember Caelen Dusk stood beyond the walls.
The air smelled cleaner up here sharp and cold.
He tucked the map into his tunic adjusted his cloak and turned north toward the dark line of the forests beyond the ruins of the Citadel.
The Weaver's words echoed in his mind.
Flamebearer.
Gift. Curse.
Caelen clenched his fists feeling the ember pulse hot beneath his skin.
He would not be hunted forever.
He would forge a new path.
And if the world wanted a flame it would get a wildfire.
He set off into the night the rain washing away the last of his fear.