Chapter Two

  After he examined the pool, the water seemed bottomless. The slow-moving lights made it look like there was no path. He wondered if they were all just standing over a cistern.

  “This is awesome. I can come tomorrow and put a camera down there?”

  “Yeah, but you’ve got to deal with the stuff for work first.”

  “The kid actually beat you to the punch. He brought everything already,” Joshua said. “I’ll go get the rest of the stuff from the truck bed.”

  John smiled at his son. “Henry brought a ladder in.” He pointed to a stone column. “It’s behind there.”

  As Casey passed him by, his father patted his shoulder.

  Casey did his work with an accuracy and speed not befitting his age. He and Joshua had it all set up in under an hour. They’d brought solar panels, batteries, and an inverter to run the site off of.

  Outside, they’d set the batteries in a mobile plastic shed. Casey cleaned his hands on a rag, watching as the grease and dirt simply smeared. He sighed, knowing he’d have to go home dirty again.

  Joshua and his dad stood in the parking lot. The workers from urban renewal had already left.

  Joshua said, “I’m having a bad feeling about this.” He asked, “Since when do we need close ties to Cordonne?”

  “Well, I’ve heard some things recently, Josh. Some people I respect think that it might be needed. But for me, I think they’re acting too early. It’ll unsettle some people.”

  Joshua usually had an interest in anything on social media. Casey had to admit he usually knew what he was talking about—unless it was about women. He chuckled.

  Casey threw the rag in the back of the truck and placed his briefcases in the back seat.

  “Kid.” Joshua looked for backup. “What do you think?”

  “About us and Aelthren joining the Southeastern Coalition of countries? It’ll do us good as a country. And the elves too.”

  Joshua spoke. “Bimini doesn’t need the coalition. We’re a self-sustaining country. Okay, sometimes we might need some help from the elves, but we don’t need anyone else.”

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  John walked off for a moment and came back.

  “Case, drop Josh off for me? The cars are getting service tomorrow.” He drove off in his car.

  It was after five by the time they’d left. The clouds had cleared, and the ride to Joshua’s was entirely smooth now. He lived about four miles away from Casey.

  Old Providence was a mixture of trees and homes in the western section, and purely urban in Casey’s eastern area. To the south was a business district, all at least three stories up. The rules weren’t really there, so you’d find stores in any district. They’d just be less known.

  Joshua left quietly. The way he was texting and smiling gave Casey some kind of idea.

  Casey drove home. He didn’t stop for any food or even to get a drink. He really just wanted to rest. Their home was a two-story, pretty, light-brown house. He passed through the stained glass and immediately made his way to the shower. He needed the dirt gone.

  His dad came home much later. Recently, Casey had been finding sleep harder to grasp. This period would be when he’d talk to Nadene. Another hour, and he fell asleep

  Part2

  Casey woke up at 6:00 a.m. At which point, the sun was barely on the front of the house.

  If he wasn’t too exhausted, he’d train himself, when he was off. Running his fingers through his low cut, he sat up for a bit, prayed, then grabbed his practice sword, and headed to the backyard.

  He wore thin black cloth shoes, a black T-shirt, and white sweatpants. Casey’s tall frame stood still and allowing his eyes to adjust. He placed the sword against the glass back door.

  The light in the sky was more purple than blue on this side of the house. The wind was a little cold. Training out in the backyard would be very private. Casey ran his eyes over the yard just to be sure.

  Their brown fence ran three hundred feet along the backyard. Big, very big. A yellow and white color scheme of short hedges lined the fence. And a well-kept lawn filled the space to their pool. Their pool was like a teardrop, white stones around its rim. The only problem was the smell of chlorine floating on the drafty air

  Casey closed his eyes. Sorcery worked by feeling the source of an element through nodes in the body. You could feel heat from light from the sun. Collect that heat and project it from the node.

  The body could feel some mana, not as much as a node, not as accurately. Because of this, Casey strengthened himself with composite mana.

  His upper body moved unnaturally fast. The air being torn apart as he twisted his blows. His guard stayed tight. Wind whistled, loudly.

  His legs bounced back and then stepped in. Lowering himself to land a liver blow. Sliding his left foot to the left to throw a sharp unchambered uppercut.

  He moved well. Through sets of punch combinations, dodges, and beautiful parries. The unarmed movements lasted fifteen minutes, exactly.

  The sword swings were patient, andwatchful. He used a single-handed sword. This blade would leave blurs in the air. They lingered. Then you would see the blur collapse. He moved faster. Leaving fourteen blurs in two seconds. As they collapsed, a heavy messy wind swept through all sides of the backyard.

  His dad tapped on the back glass and mouthed, nice. Smiling and holding both thumbs up.

  Casey gave a laugh.

  While working out just know he had made a breakthrough. He tightened his fist and held a primal shout. The smile never left his face.