The air in the Commons was different that morning. Heavier.
Mothers stood in their doorways, eyes scanning the place, holding their children close. Fathers gripped old farming tools or rusted blades, not because they'd win a fight, but because they had to try.
They had heard the rumors. Everyone had.
A new order from the king. Every Hollow-born child over the age of ten was to be brought to the city square for testing. Refusal meant death. Not just for the child, for the entire household.
A slow march of soldiers entered the Commons just after dawn, their red-and-gold armor glinting in the pale sun. Behind them came a dark-robed sorcerer, his eyes glowing faintly, a silver orb floating above his palm.
The moment people saw him, panic exploded like fire.
"No! Please!" a woman screamed, holding her son tight. "He's only eleven! He hasn't even..."
The guards yanked the child from her arms. He fought, his little hands sparking with flickers of light. The sorcerer smiled coldly.
Another soldier slammed the mother to the ground.
A few streets away, Miren, a skinny twelve-year-old with sharp eyes and bare feet, crouched behind a broken cart. He watched as his best friend, Daron, was dragged into the square with a dozen other children, all terrified, some bleeding.
Miren's heart pounded. He had seen it the night before, Daron had begun to glow. Just a soft shimmer under his skin, but it was there.
They had played together in the rain, laughing, unaware that the moment had sealed Daron's fate.
Now he was gone.
Miren bit his knuckles to keep from crying. He wanted to run, to scream, to fight, but he was just a boy. And boys didn't fight the king.
The robed sorcerer raised his hand. The silver orb above him began to hum, vibrating in the air like it was hungry.
"By the order of the King," he announced, "we purge what threatens our peace. The Hollow-born will be tested. If their power burns too bright… it shall be extinguished."
He walked down the line of children, one by one. The orb floated over their heads. Some remained dull. Some glowed. The ones who glowed? Were taken behind the palace carts. None returned.
Miren's breath caught as Daron began to shine again, his skin a soft golden light. The orb vibrated violently.
The sorcerer smirked.
"Another," he said to the guards.
"No!" Daron cried. "Please! I didn't ask for this!"
A guard slapped him across the face. Miren almost stood up to run, almost screamed for them to stop, but his mother's voice echoed in his head: "Don't ever make them look at you."
So he stayed hidden, trembling, helpless.
As the carts rolled away with the children, only the weeping of parents remained. Some fell to their knees. Others stood in silence, knowing they would never see their sons or daughters again.
The air was cold and heavy beneath the palace, deep underground where no citizen had ever walked. This was the king's secret place, dark, silent, and built for one thing only: hiding the truth.
Seven children stood in chains. They were from the Commons, taken by force after showing signs of magical power. The youngest was just ten, the oldest maybe twelve. Some cried softly. Others stared with wide, terrified eyes. Their wrists were sore and red from the iron cuffs.
King Malrik stood watching them with no emotion on his face. Around him were a few trusted guards, the royal elders, including Cassius, the king's dark sorcerer. Cassius wore black robes with strange symbols and held a long staff. In front of him floated a glowing circle of green light, his spell.
Elder Sylvain Maelis stayed near the back. He looked tired, his eyes full of sadness as he looked at the children. He said nothing, but inside, he was angry. The other elders didn't seem to care.
"Start," the king said simply.
Cassius raised his staff, and the spell began to spin faster. He stepped toward the children, one by one, reading the magic inside them.
The first boy had earth magic. His hands would've grown vines if he had lived long enough.
The second had power over sound. A rare gift, he could control voices.
Another girl shimmered. Her body flickered like light, she had the gift of invisibility.
Cassius called out each power quietly to the king. Malrik nodded.
Then Cassius did the ritual to steal their powers. He chanted dark words and waved his staff. A glowing stream of light, each child's magic, was pulled from their chest and sealed into a crystal orb. The child would fall. Some died immediately. Others screamed and then went quiet.
Sylvain stepped forward, his voice shaking.
"These are just children," he said. "You said this was for the good of the kingdom, not murder."
King Malrik still didn't look at him.
"It is for the good of the kingdom," Malrik said calmly. "If people knew Hollow-borns had magic, they would panic. They'd fear them. Maybe even follow them."
Elder Ithros Velkaar added, "They would destroy everything we've built."
Elder Zephron Rael nodded. "The old laws are clear, uncontrolled power must be erased."
Sylvain clenched his jaw.
"Those old laws were built on lies."
This time, Malrik looked at him.
"And those lies have kept us in power for generations," he said. "We will not let Hollow-borns rise. These children are a threat to our rule. This is not cruelty. This is control."
He walked to the last child, a girl, crying and shaking.
"No survivors," he said coldly.
Cassius finished the last spell. He sealed the seventh orb and whispered something only the king could hear.
"They're getting stronger," he said. "This girl's power could've matched a full-trained mage in a few years."
Malrik's eyes narrowed.
"Then we must move faster," he replied.
The guards picked up the lifeless bodies and wrapped them in dark cloth. No one outside the dungeon would ever know what happened.
Sylvain didn't move. His eyes followed the final orb as Cassius slipped it into his cloak.
Seven children. Seven stolen powers. And no one would ever know.
.
.
Far away, inside Theron's house on the outskirts of the Merchant Quarters, Solene lay asleep, her breath shallow and uneven. Moonlight poured in from the window above her bed.
Suddenly, her body tensed.
A vision struck her, fast and violent.
She saw children being dragged by soldiers.
Their arms were tied. Their mouths gagged. They were screaming, but the vision was silent.
Solene stood in a dark space now.
The air was cold, and everything was black, except the circle of green light hovering in the center. One by one, the children were pulled inside.
And they fell.
Dead.
Light left their bodies. Their eyes lost all color. Their small hands trembled, then stopped moving.
She saw a man, his face cloaked in shadow, holding a crystal orb filled with swirling power. Behind him stood another figure, tall and dressed in black and gold.
Then the vision ended in a shattering scream.
Back in Reality
Solene shot up in bed, gasping for air. Her face was wet with tears, and her chest felt like it was being crushed.
"The children…" she whispered. "No. No!"
Suddenly, the air around her changed. The bed beneath her shimmered, then froze into solid ice. The walls of Theron's house shook as though the wind had slammed against them. Books flew from shelves. A vase cracked and shattered.
Theron and Kain ran into the room.
"Solene!" Kain shouted, eyes wide as he felt the cold pierce his skin.
Theron's face was serious, but not surprised.
"She's awakening again."
Solene clutched her chest, sobbing.
"I saw them… I saw the children. They're dead, Kain. They were taken from the Commons. The king, he… he's killing them."
Kain stood frozen. Even he, who had seen war and cruelty, hadn't imagined this.
Theron moved toward her slowly. His voice was soft but commanding.
"The power inside you responds to your pain, Solene. But this vision… it's not just your gift. It's a warning."
"What do you mean?" she cried, trembling.
"You're connected to something larger now. You saw what the kingdom tries to hide. And soon… you'll see even more."
The house creaked again, and the cold slowly began to fade as Solene's breathing settled. But her heart still raced.
"I have to stop him," she whispered. "I can't let him kill another child."
Theron looked at her, eyes burning with something ancient and fierce.
"Then you must become the one the darkness fears."