Natalan

Was it the Denai family name, or he, Kelius, who was worth nothing? Kelius came to slowly. I must still have my glasses on, he thought as he took in the blurriness of his surroundings. The light was dim - perhaps it is night and there is torchlight nearby - and a chill made him shudder, reaffirming that conclusion. The shiver, and the jarring motion he made to remove his glasses, resonated to awaken those aches and bruises which he had - apparently - forgotten. He realized that he had been lying down, the blood flow along his right arm cut off by his poorly positioned mass. Moreover, he recognized that he had been lying outside in an alleyway. His shirt, which hit against his back as he sat up, was uncomfortably wet.

Kelius let out a moan as all of the ailments coalesced. His head ached, his hip throbbed, his arm stung, his scabs had reopened, and he smelled of urine.

Yet all of those corporeal concerns were drowned out by an overwhelming despair; he felt his neck. His crystal was gone.

Perhaps it was only his assumption that others in Kethadria felt the same as he. Kelius, son of two immigrants from Mesopotamia, was destined to continue in his parent's footsteps - a laborer for his entire life. Were it not for the favorable family to whom his parents had been indentured, the Denais, and for his own apparent affinity for Kethadria's magics, Kelius would have likely led an uneventful life. But, at five, he had been tested and found worthy, and had worn a Kethadrian crystal of citizenry for the fourteen years since. Now, three years into his apprenticeship at Penelus Thanner, Master Tinker's workshop, Keli awoke after being mugged in an alleyway.

He had not parted with his crystal even since first laying eyes on it, and had never seen a citizen without it. He had not heard of a crystal even stolen before - not even after a murder. And yet here he was, still alive, but the crystal was missing. Keli groaned as he stood up with difficulty, unsure if the lost crystal or the aches were at fault.

The walk back to the Denai residence was unbearable. Keli's feet tripped him up at every loose stone. His eyes refused to focus, even though he had removed his goggles. And the only thoughts that ran through his mind were of his stolen crystal - a part of him that was now gone. It had defined him - a child of laborers, accepted into the higher echelons of society. With the crystal gone, would he sink back down into the muck? A firm hand grasped his shoulder as the flickering torchlight was eclipsed by some large shape.

"Laborer! If I ask you again you will get the baton! Who is your owner?"

The large shape was a patrolman, towering above him just an arm's length away.

"I'm... I'm not a laborer, I'm a..."

His voice cracked before he could call himself a citizen. Through tearful sobs he named himself.

"I am Kelius Denai, apprentice to Penelus Thanner, Master Tinker. I was beaten and robbed... and my... crystal... was... stolen."

Kelius looked to the patrolman. The other's eyes betrayed his bewilderment.

"I don't know about you, but I haven't seen any crystal thefts. Ever. And his story checks out - Penelus was mighty angry when we roused him."

Kelius drifted in his thoughts, but snippets of the lieutenant and patrolman's conversation made it through. What did one do without a crystal? Kelius supposed that one trained to channel the elements through it would no longer have that power; Kelius had no such powers anyway. Was it simply the topical loss of "citizenship" that seemed to loom over him? Keli had known laborer life, even after acquiring citizenship. The Denais were a gracious family, but not a stupid one - he too had worked at maintaining the Denai standing and way of life. Did he fear that the loss of the crystal returned him there? That was preposterous.

"Kid, we'd better take you to the Denai residence for now."

He trudged along. Could a new crystal be issued for him from Aiatse? He doubted it.

But what if... Penelus would lend him the use of a shop crystal for golems? What would that feel like?