Page 32 of A Touch of Gold and Madness

I sprinted through the double glass doors of the Royal Domain’s high-rise. The mid-morning sun beamed down upon me while the briskness of the late October air revived my lungs. Red, orange, and gold painted the abandoned cityscape with displaced beauty in a bleak world.

I wasfinallyfree. Free from my father’s control. Free from the suffocating propriety.

Fifteen minutes into my escape, my legs weakened, and my lungs felt like they’d collapse from the constant sprinting. My chest burned from the exertion, so I stopped to recover. I dropped my bag to the ground, resting my linked hands atop my head while I focused on slowing my breaths. Two abandoned high-end stores stood on either side of me. Moldy moss grew on the light, gray stucco from the humid climate, bringing nature to a once bustling city.

I needed to keep moving.

Trains were off-limits as the Royal Domain ran and monitored them with magic.

Unless…

An idea formed in my mind as I caught my breath and stretched my cramped muscles.

My hand absentmindedly caressed the black crystal that swung from my neck on its leather string. I conjured the image of what I imagined my birth mother and father looked like in my mind. There’d been no photos of either of them, but it never stopped me from envisioning them as a child.

With a jolt, I remembered the magnetic bracelets Scarlett and Cotton had packed for me. The King’s Palace was equipped with Kinetics who could trace my magic. I needed to suppress it until I was a safer distance away. And as I clicked the metal band into place, a large part of me wondered…

Would I ever be a safe distance away from King Forest?

Dusk fell while I sat in tall grass, waiting for the next train to pass through. I scratched unreachable places as tiny insects skittered inside my garments. I wasn’t ashamed to admit I’d slapped my face in an effort to murder mosquitoes. And ants? Ants were the devil’s spawn.

I’d been waiting two hours for the next train’s arrival. Impatience ate at me like the insects that gnawed on my skin. Paranoia had me checking the trees at every sound for scouts, anticipating an ambush at any given moment.

Wildlife crunched through the forest behind me while I stared at the bare train tracks. Their sounds served as fuel for my magic reserves. Sitting in nature’s purity seemed to cleanse the lingering darkness within me. It was the first chance I’d had to process everything that had unfolded in the past forty-eight hours. Almost dying by Griffin’s hands was something I could stomach, but nearly dying by my father’s—adopted or not—was something I struggled to cope with. I replayed Hazel’s words regarding my father’s plans—and Slate’s knowledge of it.

A pang of longing mixed with betrayal hit me every time I thought about it.

I wondered what the king’s public story would’ve been had he succeeded in killing me. My chest tightened at the thought.

My introverted nature, combined with Forest’s passive-aggressive attitude toward me, did me no favors with the Kinetics who disapproved of me. Now, I no longer needed to worry about the delicate dance of propriety to avoid the smallest of scandals. Despite the shitty situation I was in, I embraced the fact I could breathe for the first time.

I wasfree.

In the distance, steel chugged along the tracks. A horn blasted through the pink and orange sky, startling the wildlife. I jolted upright, snapping me from my hazy exhaustion. I looked around, seeking a spot to obscure myself in the shadows.

The next stop wasn’t for another thirty miles south to the next city. The Kinetic conductor couldn’t know I would be onboard, leaving me with one option. I would need to jump onto a moving train.

I didn’t know where to go. I knew I needed to head south to the more rural areas because north wasn’t an option. The Kennesaw Domain had close connections with the Royal Domain, and past Kennesaw, there was Chattanooga. All the smaller domains throughout the continent answered to the Royal. Domains were broken up to reside in larger cities where we had more external energy sources to replenish our magic. Before Devolution Day, highly populated cities made more sense for us due to the booming technology that incessantly fed our magic. For now, rural areas were where I needed to hide until I could figure out my next plan to reduce the risk of getting caught.

I rose to my feet and threw my duffel across my shoulder. The thunderous roar of the train pumped streams of adrenaline through my veins as I waited, revitalizing my lethargic mind.

I fell into a casual jog, warming up my stiff muscles and joints. The deafening cry of the train trudged closer, so I increasedmy speed. The weight of the duffel wanted to slow me down, but I pushed my legs harder, the cold air burning my throat with each step.

The locomotive pressed on my back as it loomed closer. Its light shined into nature, giving the forest an eerie glow. Tall grass slapped against the leather of my pants as I pushed myself harder.

I glanced over my shoulder and spotted an open car clad in graffiti. I sprinted closer to the tracks, gravel rolling under my feet.

I poured every ounce of strength in my body into making a blind leap. Grasping onto the makeshift handle in the opening, I used my arms to swing myself into the train, then allowed gravity to drop me to the aluminum floor.

My body felt submerged in tar with all my energy spent. I needed sleep, and not the type of sleep poisoning had forced me to endure.

I adjusted my duffel to act as a back cushion against the ridges in the aluminum walls. The repetitive motion of moving down the tracks almost lulled me to sleep, so I tried to spot trees in the darkness through the opening to stay awake despite the burning in my eyes.

To keep my brain ticking, I prepared for unexpected developments that would arise. Pretending to be human would be key. I could join a human militia and hope I wouldn’t get recognized. Having an armed group surrounding me would serve as protection. It was the last place the king would think to look, too.

Or I could lay low and remain solitary instead. But then, I’d run the risk of encountering Elementals. And I couldn’t forget that there were Endarkened thirsting for an opportunity to deplete a Kinetic like myself.

With a potent sense of resolve fueled by wrath, I promised the gods that if I went down, I’d take the whole fucking lot of Kinetics with me.

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