Emotionless: (Prototype: Zero book 1) Read online

  When I got to the top, I pushed on the drain lid, but it was too heavy. Puffing cheeks, I scrambled a little way down, raised my finger and whispered, “Attack rune, push.” Pressured wind gushed upwards, and the lid flew off and dimly morning light cast down from the rising sun. “Deactivate,” I murmured, and then I scrambled out of the hole. Veins stopped glowing from reassurance once Isilies clasped hold of my arm and helped me up.

  I straightened up, looked down the manhole and noticed the ladder I went up was now rustic and broken. It didn’t feel like that going up. The rabbit hole is ideal for manipulation as it twisted back to reality.

  “Water, down it.” Isilies handed me water, and I chugged seven large mouthfuls of it. When I was finished, I placed the lid back on and gave it to Isilies for him to drink some more. On my right is Nixon. His head bowed between legs and vomit gurgled out of his mouth while Donte recorded it all. “He refused water.”

  He should know better than to deny water after going out of the rabbit hole. It is his own fault Donte was recording him vomit on the main street surrounded by humans who looked on with disgust and worry.

  “I hate you,” Nixon gurgled between his legs that were separated from the vomit.

  “You’re already famous on Magtube,” Donte laughed. “Seven hundred hits within three minutes!”

  “Masters, we need to leave for the train or else we are going to miss it.” Hopper appeared from behind me, a disappointed look on his face when he noticed Nixon. “Allow me.” He helped Nixon up into a straightened position, went into his suit pocket and pulled out a fluoro orange liquid. “Master, drink this please.”

  “Stomach aid,” Nixon said with a grin. “Nice.”

  After a couple minutes, Nixon was racing after Donte with an enraged look on his face. We were back on track of going to the train that is at the port of Maple City.

  The train station isn’t any train station. We stood at the cement boarding deck. The salty morning cold chilled skin and was howling with the wind that crashed and roared at the surface edge. Moments later, I heard the rumbling that was coming from underground. It vibrated the whole deck as the long chute came up first. Bubbled smoke rose from the ocean along with the back of the train. The train rose like a giant monstrous submarine from under the water. The wheels rolling as if it was on an invisible railway track. It chugged towards us. I looked on with awe at the train that went to a screeching stop right before my eyes. Some windows opened, and deep-sea fish flung out with seaweed from laughing wet passengers.

  Hopper grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back, so I was behind the yellow line when the doors burst open. Many passengers that barely looked around came bustling out with suitcases that wheeled behind them.

  Once it was all clear, a railway mage flicked his long bony finger at Isilies and us. I was pushed forward, so I stepped on right after Hopper. My identical brothers came up from behind me, and Isilies stood at the doors. Hopper flashed four cards that looked similar to student I.D cards. Our pictures on a square in the right-hand corner and our names were on the other side.

  The Railway Mage flickered a unique look and must have acknowledged our last names because he turned wide-eyed. Puffing cheeks, I stepped behind Hopper so he wouldn’t be able to see me clearly and looked down at the edge of the doors. Protective runes were on the wooden ledge, activated and a lovely pure bright blue. Crouching low, I raised my pointer finger and moved it to the rune when I felt a push from the rune. It was telling me to back off. The level of magic that someone would have to place a defence on a protect rune was high.

  “Book.” I raised my hand to Hopper as I stared at the rune intensely.

  “Eileen, you’re in my way,” Donte said. I looked up to see Nixon stepping up on the wall to pass me. Hopper flattened himself against the wall with that annoyed look on his face. “Oh! Can we climb walls in here?”

  “It is uncommon,” the Railway Mage had answered with a frown. “Mongrel, can you move your Highborn Mistress. She is blocking others from entering through this door.”

  “He’s a shapeshifter,” muttered Isilies.

  “That’s what I said.”

  I noticed fuel to the flame. I needed to disperse this argument before Nixon and Donte joined in.

  “But –” I trailed off and stared up at the Railway Mage. “Can you tell them to go to another door, please?” His eyes widened, and I looked away and mumbled, “Thank you.”

  “Why do I feel compelled to do as she says?” The Railway Mage asked as he walked to the door. “This section is forbidden to pass through. There are doors Carlos and Marcos on the left and right of you. They’re very friendly Mages who can let you through,” he bellowed.

  Sitting there, the familiar feel of leather rubbed against my fingertips, and I grasped my book. I flipped through the pages to an empty one, unclipped the pen on the flexible loop and concentrated on the rune. I didn’t bother to look up at Isilies who stepped past after my brother’s wall climbing. The Railway Mage shut the large steel door and his leather shoes that were in the corner of my eyes vanished.

  Now focusing on the rune, I tried to erase the art style around the symbols of P and D and focus only on the Protect and Defend. They look joint somehow. It was as if they’re supposed to be meshed and morphed together. The intensity of the rune is incredible. I spent hours sitting here to perfect it.

  Closing the book, I raised my hand and felt the leather slip away from my grasp. Straightening to a stand, I noticed Hopper who already had one of the glass doors open for me to enter. I walked down the train, and the hallway looked short as if the door to the other side was within grasping reach. If I did move my hand out, I would probably grab hold of the handle and open it to get to the next cart.

  Moving forward, the door to the other side started to distance, and several doors on my left and right appeared. Hopper said, ‘Room 38’ so I trudged along. The hallway was getting longer and longer until my eyes settled on the room door. The copper number plate lit up, and the door unlocked when Hopper raised the tag.

  Opening it inwards, the first thing my eyes set its sight on is the gleaming large crystal chandelier in the walkway. Afterwards, it was the shoes that were kicked off near the shoe rack and then the opened spaced room that had cream carpet and a soft brown couch that Nixon was sleeping on. He didn’t make it to one of the rooms and must have settled there while Donte was lounging on one of the bunks in a room. Pursing lips, I opened the second door to a small bathroom. Blue tiles, black ceramic toilet seat, a shower in the corner and a waterfall hand washer that has bubble soap popping and floating in the air. Closing the door softly, I went towards the one Hopper stood before. He opened the door, and I walked into a modern bedroom with a single bed and a long mirror that stretched out to one whole strip of wall.

  “Are you hungry? You didn’t eat much for breakfast, and it is nearly lunch time, my Mistress,” Hopper asked from the doorway to the room. I shook my head, and he gave a slight incline. “If you need me, I will be out in the living room. There is also a clock in the chamber with a countdown until we arrive at Sorcerer city.”

  The time was counting down to thirteen hours on the floating clock next to the single bed that was pressed against the sidewall, near the window that overlooked the view of the ocean. With a nod, I waited until Hopper left when I slipped off my boot, raised my finger that has the attack rune on it and narrowed eyes.

  “Activate, Laser burn,” I said, and my finger lit up. A tiny red line zapped onto the thick slab of leather.

  With focus and accuracy, I tattooed the jump rune on the sole of my left and right shoe and made sure that they lined up in the exact place so when I do jump, my feet weren’t going to go in opposite directions. Once that was established, I activated the rune, lifted both shoes and dropped them onto the ground. They bounced up, launched forward and landed on the bed swiftly. That was with soft pressure. I could only imagine what it would be like if I jumped off a building. The stronger the fall,
the higher I jump. Deactivating them, I put them back on my feet, sat on my bed, and waited for time to pass.

  Chapter 4

  Eileen – rune of betrayal.

  The fish from the ocean turned from aquatic marine life to dangerous and mutated. The barriers broke, and the magnetic fields zapped along the train as static would along an electric fence. It prevents any vibration of magic to leak out and infect their wildlife because a mages wildlife is much more creative and talented. Neon, glowing jellyfish bobbed past in groups. Some were with small vibrant four finned fishes that had swordtails and their eyes of a cat that glows in the night. A large vibration rattled the cart along with something that was similar to crying. A low-pitched O sound came from above the train. Tapping on the glass, it extended outwards and the cracks made small fish wiggle through along with droplets of water. The breathable fish swam in the air as if it was water and out of the room. Once they left, I looked back up at the giant whale. It was the colour of deep grey, and its tiny fingernail-sized scales shined silver in the vibrant sunlight. The whale’s fins slowly, tantalisingly moved up and down slowly. The nozzle was long, and it swayed side to side as the whale swam.

  As I looked, other rooms beside mine popped the glass so that they could have a closer look at the marine life. Bubbles pushed past me when a shark with tiger stripes swam. A killer dolphin was following its trail. A frenzy went underway as the carnivorous dolphin with fins that resembled claws latched onto the shark. Strange blood, not exactly the colour of crimson, a little darker, a reddish brown, streamed in the water. I heard the awe in mages vocal chords, as they watched a dolphin tear apart a shark. Blinking slowly, I retracted the glass, bored when the dolphin sped off.

  “Why is there fish in my shower with me?” Donte shouted along with a wailing scream and a strangled voice saying, “stop cleaning me!”

  “Masters, the train will be breaking the water soon, and we will be at the entrance of Sorcerer City. It would be wise to get ready soon,” Hopper said in a more exasperated voice than anything.

  “Hey, Eileen?” I looked up at Isilies who was tapping the open door of the bedroom. “Can I come in?”

  Lifting my legs that were hanging off from the side, I tucked them up to my chest, wrapped my arms around them, and nodded. Isilies walked in and looked around dully before settling on the bed. He leant back and heaved a huge sigh that dragged out.

  “We are nearly at Sorcerer City. It is the one place Mages like us can be ourselves. You have never been there. It will be daunting around so many others who will be manipulating magic all the time. Not only is there that but creatures who’re forbidden to go outside live there.”

  “Ok?” I questioned, and he slouched his shoulders.

  “It means, if you see a rune you’re interested in, don’t go running over and trying to draw it in your book. Also, maybe don’t go into any suspicious shops or talk to Mages or –”

  “But –”

  “No.” he straightened up and hardened his eyes. “When you trail off at a start of a sentence, you tend to be the most manipulative Mage alive. I know it doesn’t work with family, but I always wondered how you could ask for something and they will do it.” He furrowed his brows and stared down in concentration.

  “Ok.”

  “Huh, oh, that’s good. It will be hard watching Donte and Nixon. I don’t want to be constantly on the lookout for you.”

  “Ok.”

  “Hopper is probably going to come in to ask you to get ready. You have sea water on your sleeves, and you smell of flying fish.” He wrinkled his nose, and I looked down with flushed cheeks. “Alright, I am going to get ready now. I wonder if those pains in the arse brothers are going to be in the class I am teaching in.”

  He left, and I just sat there until Hopper came in to say that the train is boarding the deck.

  We stood near the doors. The round circle porthole sloshed up above the water. My eyes widened at the illuminated city lights that gleamed blue and green. It was blurry because of the cascading water droplets. It was huge, with large tower homes that have the pointed roofs. I can distinctively see the island brick path that swirled and weaved through the streets all the way up to Mage Academy. The hugest building of all sits at the top of the mountain, and it was a dark brick exterior that looms over everything with a sense of dominance.

  Looking at the Academy gives me the chills. As I stepped forward, I tried to suppress the long ice-gliding shiver that crept up my spine. This place is resonating with magic. The aura around it is palpable. As if when I step outside, I would be able to feel the comfort and the streams of it. Like moving in a current. Unfortunately, when I did take that step out, all I felt was the frosty air of night.

  Standing awkwardly on the deck, I listened to the water that lapped against the shore and the murmured voices of Mages that are still out well after dark. You can’t feel the magic nor sense where it was coming from, but you can hear the zipping and firework crackling sounds that are unfamiliar to me.

  Being trapped with the o-d-h, I had to hide everything about me outside of my home. I have never had the experience of the casual conversations amongst mages or the usual magic in the streets that make the city more tantalising. Everything done had to have been hidden and controlled. But seeing it now, even at ten at night, with the green and blue lights glowing like street lamps, this whole place looks majestic.

  “Wow!” Donte and Nixon gasped. “Can we look around, Hopper?”

  “No,” he said crisply. “I will gladly take you in the daylight. However, some strange shops are restricted during the day, and those are the stores I want you both to . . .” he heaved a sigh, turned around and sagged shoulders. “They left, didn’t they?”

  “Damn it,” Isilies groaned and stomped forward and muttered, “I will go find my responsibilities.”

  It seemed I was the only one who seen Donte and Nixon drink an invisibility potion. I expected them already to know how Donte and Nixon work. They don’t listen to authority.

  “Just me and you, my Mistress,” he said with a warm smile. “Let me show you to Mage Academy.”

  “But, Hopper. . .” I trailed off and stared at my feet. “Can you carry me?” I asked.

  I sound childish. I haven’t had a wink of sleep. When I tried, I ended up staring outside of the window and watched the fish swim by carelessly. There were too many thoughts that were running through my mind. The main one coming into this city was the ever-growing thoughts of my grandfather.

  Giving a yawn, I rubbed eyes and looked up at Hopper and the resigned look on his face.

  “As small as you are, you have to remember that you are sixteen, my Mistress,” he complained but was willing enough to carry me. However, after what he said, I was getting second thoughts.

  I am not a child any longer. I have to accept that I have to start doing some things on my own and not to ask for help with every chance that I can get.

  “This will do,” I mumbled and grabbed the edge of his suit jacket.

  With the warm smile that is so similar to a bunny, we walked down the port and towards the entrance of Sorcerer City. A tantalising place that also happens to have a horror of what happened at Mage Academy. The brutality and disturbed description of the deaths of Highborn were nothing of rebellion. It was a massacre. Hidden within this city, they pushed down and tried to conceal the fact that that happened and I guess that is what bothers me the most. The betrayal is pressed down and ignored even annually for something that killed off almost all Highborn in the world and nearly the whole bloodlines.

  Walking towards the Mage Academy wasn’t the issue. Walking there with so many pairs of eyes is daunting. It was hard to look down at my feet regularly when I can feel the static and zing of someone watching me. It wasn’t as if we stood out. Everyone wears simple clothing as o-d-h. There is no special capes or cloaks, pointed hats or anything like that. They wore regular clothes. Of course, some were wearing suits like Hopper. The Shapeshifter shoes and
straight cut black or grey pants. They wore sleeveless black suits with long-sleeved white button-up tops and smoothed down collars. Like Hopper, they have their real form and human form. Most that I see were in original forms. One even so vast and grotesque that he towered over some shops, similar to a giant. The ground didn’t even shake when he walked, and I noticed he had glowing blue runes on his large feet. Silence runes that muffled whatever sound he makes into the regular sound of an average human. It peaked my interest slightly. However, when I tried to move towards the giant in the long pathway, Hopper instinctively tried to catch my attention and pointed to houses and shops.

  It wasn’t working.

  My eyes cast to almost everything that glowed and was similar to a rune. Doors, floors, walls, clothes and clear skin. Yes, I saw virtually all of these runes before, however, seeing them on the internet isn’t as enjoyable as seeing them in person. A picture of it on a website doesn’t have the texture of looking at one perfected on lumpy bricks on the path.

  “. . . Also, the mages here have rune wars every Monday and Thursday,” Hopper said as I crouched down at the bricks that had rune markings on them.

  I was nearly about to touch the rune when Hopper stated that. Looking up mechanically, Hopper smiled. He knew that I would stop what I was doing for any social talk about rune wars. What was even more interesting is the fact that it is Wednesday. That means I can go and visually see what rune wars are. I suppose school here has its benefits after all.

  We went up the steep slope, and the shops and homes slanted to the side, and the brick path seemed to move as if it was showing us where we’re destined to go. Blocks rolled to the surface, up from the green grass and turned around every corner Hopper was going. This section of the city was supposed to be confusing to move around, so they called it ‘Destination Road’. Out of the large shopping outlet, where almost all the convenient places to go to eat and shop for, we went into a cluster of homes with unique random areas that twist and turn. The only way to get out of this maze is to follow the path.