The Powered

This is a story by SilverTheIcewingHybrid!

Chapter 1
Slam, Slam, Slam! Delaney's worn leather boots pounded the earth as she ran through alleyway after alleyway, trying to get away from her pursuers. She turned onto a main road, shocked immediately by the sudden heat as the sun began to beat down on her back. Her braid of thick red hair didn't help, either, as it hit her back with every stride she took. She looked behind her, wondering if they had given up the chase, but they were still following her, and gaining on her at that.

Delaney realized suddenly that she was leading them to the trading port that marked the end of town, or, in other words, a dead end. She looked frantically around for an escape route, hoping that she could make a quick getaway while also causing them to give up the chase. They'd been following her for a while now, waiting for her to slip up or get too tired to continue. But she wouldn't let that happen, not on her life.

Her pursuers were the Agroti, servants to the High Priestess Hecate who masqueraded as nuns and monks. They were easily recognizable by their leather cloaks, boots, and pants. They were also easily recognizable by that cold, hard look in their eyes that always made them seem as if they were birds of prey searching for a kill. The two that were chasing her today were tall and lanky, good at running but not notably muscular by the looks of them. Delaney, on the other hand, was an average height and prided herself on her muscle. She could beat almost everyone at the tavern where she worked and lived, and none of that was due to her Power to read feelings.

She looked around one last time, hoping against hope that a hiding place would reveal itself. Just as she was about to give up, she saw it. A few feet ahead, there was a ditch that was hidden enough to only be spotted by the keenest eye, and long enough for her to fit into if she curled up. She made a flying leap just as they were picking up speed, and landed just barely in the ditch. She tucked in her limbs and held her breath as she heard the Agroti's paces slow, and winced as they stopped mere feet from her.

"I saw her jump and then disappear around here, I SWEAR I did!" said a pleading female voice.

"We both did, Kennedy, don't be stupid!" said another woman in a gravelly voice. Delaney heard a sigh of resignation, probably from the woman named Kennedy.

"Well, we lost her, thanks to you." the second woman said glaringly. Delaney listened to the feelings and argument receding into the distance and assumed it was safe to come out. She dusted off her own cotton pants and tunic, flipping her braid over her back and stalking around the back ways to the main square, where she nicked a loaf of bread and some cheese from a nearby stall, trying to keep herself hidden.

She entered the tavern through the back door quietly, finding the small satchel in the storage room where she hid her savings. She sifted through them and removed a thin chain necklace, a couple of unnecessary petticoats, and a picture of her and her family. She paused as her gaze fell onto the center of the black-and-white photo, looking into her sister's serious eyes. She could barely even think her name. Caitlin. She nearly cried as her eyes drifted to Caitlin's long red hair that reached her waist. Delaney had tried and tried to grow her hair out when she was a child, all in an attempt to be like her big sister. But now she couldn't, being Powered and working to escape from town. She obviously didn't have the time.

She then looked at her parents' unsmiling faces. Of course, they didn't hold as special of a place in her heart as Caitlin, if they held any at all, mostly because she never saw them. They were always off with other socialite friends, coming home drunk and staggering into their bedroom, giggling like schoolgirls. She glanced over her mother's tight bun and her father's messy red hair, thinking that they didn't look anything like a couple. She almost laughed at the idea. Their only redeeming quality was that they were so in love.

Delaney shook her head to clear it and slid the photo out of its frame, ripping the part with her parents out of it and tucking the part with her and Caitlin inside her cloak pocket. She dug a little more through her satchel, pulling out a wooden hairbrush and a small book. She opened it to the cover page and saw that it was Caitlin's diary, the one she had kept ever since she could piece words together to write in it. She looked at the date, seeing that it was the second year of the Constantine Dynasty, making her only six and Caitlin twelve. She skimmed through the book, memories flooding back to her. Suddenly, she stopped as her eyes reached a passage.

I can do things that shouldn't be possible and I don't know why. I always know why. I know why Mother and Father are never home. I know why Mother can't cook to save her life. I know why I get giddy when Ian's around. Delaney needs me to know why. I need me to know why. But I don't know why and it's tearing me apart. I can move things without touching them and I don't know why. I can summon things with just thinking about them and I don't know why. I hope I'm imagining this. Because if I don't know why, something is seriously messed up.

Delaney looked up from the page, frozen in place like a hunted rabbit. Was Caitlin Powered, too? That seemed like the only explanation, but she didn't want to think on it now. She slowly closed the book and placed it next to the photo in her cloak, finishing the sorting of her personal effects and standing up. She took one last look around the room that was her home for the past year, and turned to go. Just as she put her hand on the door, however, a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Delaney?"

Delaney turned around slowly and saw him standing there, that chestnut hair framing his face.

"Liam." She said it flatly, surprising herself. She had been prepared to be a spluttering, babbling lunatic but instead was calm and collected.

"What are you doing? Shouldn't you be working?"

"You've seen the posters, Liam, I'm sure you're too smart to assume I'd still be working here."

"I know, I just... Where will you go?"

She looked him straight in the eye, taking in the worry in his gaze. Again, she surprised herself with her calmness as she replied.

"Wherever the road takes me."

With that, Liam nodded, looking hurt, but for the life of her Delaney couldn't tell why.

"Goodbye, Liam," she said, closing the gap between them. "Please, take the clothes for Ian's children. Your nieces. They'll grow into them." She was about to pull away when he took her hand and pulled her back so their faces were nearly touching.

"Don't go," he breathed, desperation in his voice.

"You know I have to," she said, walking away. This time, she behaved as expected, wiping a tear from her cheek as she left.

As much as Delaney hated leaving Liam, she knew that staying here would be too dangerous, given the constant hunt for everyone who might have the smallest trace of a Power. She pushed open the door, slightly vexed. Not at anything in particular, but rather at everything. She was mad that she had to leave Liam and the only town she ever knew, she was angry that she could never speak to anyone lest they murder her, and she was furious that her family was dead. In the end, it always came to that. Her dead family. Caitlin. Her mother. Her father. It was like she could never escape it.

Delaney shook it off and moved on. She couldn't get nostalgic now. She walked quickly and quietly, like an ephemeral shadow, only in one place for a moment. While she stalked along the path, her mind wandered around her internal map of the town, racking itself for all possible escape routes. Eventually, however, the sky began to darken, and she knew that night was falling. Even though she knew that nighttime is the perfect time to travel while you're a fugitive, overwhelming tiredness crept over her, as surely and quickly as darkness swept over the streets. She sat down in the back of an alley, where the torches were already burning brightly enough to see by. Delaney huddled up in the corner and drifted off to sleep, looking up at the stars.

She was woken up by a thud, followed by soft clinking. She kept her eyes closed, not sure if she wanted to betray the fact that she was awake just yet. This didn't last for long, though, because she felt that she needed to open her eyes and move when the first arrow lodged itself in her shirt, almost incapacitating her.

"Wha…?" she mumbled as she shot up, tearing the long blouse she was wearing. Her short form made it easy for her to dodge the next few flying weapons, but soon enough the man who was shooting ran out of arrows. Delaney almost laughed at loud at her luck. That is, until more artillery was flying at her. Scraps of metal berated her, scraping her face and hands, and almost taking out her eyes. She dodged and weaved as best she could, but the metal kept coming, and unlike arrows, this metal was thick. She panted as the ammunition hit her hands as she held them up to block her heart and stomach, bowing her head against the storm. Suddenly, the metal storm came to a stop. Delaney looked up. She realized her attacker was shirtless, and she blushed a little, immediately scolding herself. This man was trying to kill her and she was blushing!

Not a man, she realized, noting the innocence and tenderness in his eyes, as if he was still hoping that this wasn't his lot in life. He's just a boy. Delaney took this time in which the metal was still and gone to read his feelings, but she came up empty. For some reason, this boy's feelings were muddled and confused, and she couldn't get a good read on him. As she was puzzling over this anomaly, she noticed that the metal was beginning to shudder and move, and that the boy was staring at it as if he was willing it to do so. His Power! Delaney realized, and it was as if a curtain was being lifted. Of course! That's how he nearly killed me with the metal. And he's doing it again! She ran forward, straight at the mysterious boy, but to no avail. The metal had been formed into a bar and was pressing against her torso, dragging her backwards to the wall.

She was against the wall, struggling to breathe and writhing under her restraint as the boy stalked closer with an arrow. She realized that the tip of said arrow was extremely sharp and felt a burst of both fear and anger, shoving against the bar with all her might. To her surprise, the metal burst apart into a thousand tiny fragments, scraping the stranger's bare chest, face, and hands. He cried out in both surprise and pain, and staggered backwards like a wounded animal. Delaney looked at her hands, in awe of what she just witnessed. Did I... do that? She wondered as the boy regained his composure. He began to start at her again, so she grabbed a torch and waved it in front of her in a feeble attempt to wave him off. The boy stopped, chuckling.

"And what will you do with that?" he asked, the first time he'd spoken all night.

"I'll throw it," Delaney threatened, almost wincing at her attempt at scaring him.

"No you won't. We both know you're too nice for that," the boy countered, raising his eyebrows leeringly.

"And how would you know that?" she asked, thoroughly disturbed.

"I've seen you at the tavern. Delaney Brown. The champion arm wrestler." he said this sarcastically, with a false grandeur. She bristled at this, taking it as a personal attack.

"Now that you mention it, I've seen you too," she countered, "A pint of beer every Sunday, and you leave before you pay. What kind of man would do such a wicked thing? A thief? An orphan? Or maybe he's still just a boy with no money."

"And maybe you're still just a girl with no class. But let's not go into that, shall we? I'm Aiden." the boy stuck out his hand as he stated his name. "And you'd be wise to take my help."

Chapter 2
Coming soon!