A Day in the Life of Cota Bellamy

The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and dust flew as I raced for my life down the dirt road.

 

The wind whistled past my ear as I sprinted. The pounding of footsteps was just audible over the blood rushing in my ears.

 

“Get back here, smart guy!” came a shout from behind me, too close for comfort.

 

“Stupid, Cota.” I admonished myself as my lungs burned, as I tried to put on more speed.

 

One day, Kalen’s desire to help every person he happened across would get me killed. Possibly him, too, if he weren’t this good at disappearing on that day. Remembering Aunt Lyra’s complaint about Kalen’s excessive use of his favorite orange shirt. I frantically glanced around, hoping for any sign that might point me to its whereabouts.

 

The small, hilly mountain town whizzed by me, but I still managed to nod a quick—yet polite—hello to old lady Cronwell, making her way to the bakery. I dodged down the next alley, planning to circle back around to see if Kalen would eventually join me. I also decided that this was the perfect time to check how close my pursuers were.

 

The sensation of a rough stone cutting against my arm let me know I had been wrong. While looking over my shoulder, I hadn’t turned wide enough to avoid the side of one of the buildings that led to the alley. I couldn’t stop myself from stumbling forward, falling at the frantic speed I’d been at. Pain lanced through my wrist as I fell on it and rolled across the dirty, trash-strewn alley.

 

I would have lain there for a few moments longer, even with the smell of rotting trash filling my nose and grit scraping my cheeks. But the malicious chuckles that had broken the momentary silence in the alley told me it was time to move. I forced myself to lunge up only to notice that I had taken the wrong turn in my haste.

 

This was the blocked alley!

 

The old butcher had gotten tired of kids like us running around, and sometimes through, his shop. To stop this from happening, he had thrown a makeshift wall of boxes, barrels, and heavy grain bags together in the cluttered alley.

 

“You have a problem with how I talk to you, magicless loser?” a cruelly cheerful voice called from behind me.

 

“Everyone has magic,” was my half-hearted, defiant reply. I was trying to buy time, to keep looking for an escape as their ringleader, Dez, went over why he was so much better because he went to magic school and was allowed to use his magic.

 

As reluctant as I was to admit that Dez was right about anything, I had to admit that he was right about one thing. He was unique for being chosen to learn how to use his magic.

 

“Psh.”

 

It had been a soft sound, one that the ranting Dez probably couldn’t have heard over the sounds of his own voice. But I was used to the sound and the voice that made it, so I caught it instantly.I angled my body left as I backed away from the bullies who followed me further into the alley.

 

“Your brother isn’t here to save you this time. Guess you have no luck at all, cursed twin,” Dez said with a mocking chuckle as he stalked towards me, his goons fanning out to prevent an escape. “Now, I’ll decorate the walls with your blood.”

 

“I see your magical talent isn’t in prophecy. I’ll always be here to protect him!” a voice called out.

 

I took the bully’s momentary distraction as they looked for the speaker to climb on the box closest to the way I had been angling. Once I stood up, I immediately grabbed onto the knotted rope that was now hanging over the top of the barrel and grain bags. I scrambled to climb up as quickly as possible when pain shot through my wrist. BBarely avoiding letting the rope go and dropping back down. I felt the rope yank up before a tug on the back of my shirt was hauling me up and over to the safety of the stacked boxes on the other side.

 

“This isn’t over, freak twins!” Dez shouted.

 

I let out a sigh before turning to Kalen. We were identical twins, tanned-skinned with blonde hair so light it was hard to call it blonde. Our faces were the same, save for a few scars Kalen had from other bullying incidents. And our eyes. He had blue-green eyes that everyone compared to the color of beautiful lakes and rivers, while mine were black.

 

It was seen as a bad omen in our ‘old ways’ small village. Proof that I was the cursed twin.

 

“Close call on that one. Lucky!” Kalen said with his usual easygoing grin and hand raised for a high-five.

 

Our expressions were rarely identical, either.

 

“My arm disagrees with you,” I replied, holding none of my annoyance with my carefree brother out of my voice or expression.

 

Kalen yanked my arm around to have a closer look, and I swatted at him.

 

Doesn’t look too bad,” Kalen said, smile blindingly bright and optimistic again. “Just a minor scrape or two while we were roughhousing. Aunt Lyra will believe that. No problems.”

 

~

 

We walked into the house, and as usual, Kalen started telling Aunt Lyra and Uncle Simon about our day and what we had gotten up to. This time, like a handful of others, Kalen told his story while Aunt Lyra had me pinned to the floor every time I so much as fidgeted, as if I would try to leave.

 

It wasn’t even a terrifying look or anything. Aunt Lyra didn’t glare at me or give me a disapproving scowl. She would fix me with a blank, no-nonsense face as she waited for Kalen to finish his tale. When he did, Aunt Lyra turned and walked over to stand in front of me.

 

I had promised myself I would be strong and withstand this, for once. I had steeled my nerves to do what I had to do, here and now.

 

“Cota, what happened to your arm?” she asked as she stared into my eyes, clearly noticing the way I was cradling it a bit.

 

I wished I could avoid this and just ice my wrist, then take a nap until dinner.

 

I paused for one fatal moment, and it all came rushing out.

 

“We saw these bullies picking on some younger kids, so we,” I fibbed a bit, trying to save my twin a little after my instant betrayal. “Decided we should intervene. The bullies didn’t like that, and I ran into a wall while not paying attention during the chase. But we got away fine, other than that.” I trailed off and whispered the last weakly.

 

I could see Kalen facing me behind Aunt Lyra. His shoulders were slumped, but he had a dopey, resigned grin like he had expected nothing less. But then, I hadn’t passed the Aunt Lyra stare test once yet.

 

“You both decided to, did you?” Aunt Lyra asked, sounding perfectly sure of the true answer.

 

“Yes, ma’am.” I piped up immediately before Kalen could begin condemning only himself—the usual after my caving.

 

Aunt Lyra hummed a sarcastic affirmative before rounding on Kalen, who, for his part, had already straightened back up and was trying to look less…smack-able?

 

“A simple scrape from roughhousing?“ Aunt Lyra asked with a smile that clearly wasn’t one.

 

“A spirited round of chase with others after a brief debate?“ Kalen said, sounding more like a question, as if to ask if that would fly.

 

Aunt Lyra opened her mouth, but was interrupted from her tirade by a slightly forceful, if awkward and somewhat amused, cough. “Lyra, dear, the roast?”

 

She paused, then turned a fierce look on us both. “Go get cleaned up for dinner.”

 

As we made our way down the hall, I whispered, “Sorry, Kal.”

 

“Quickly!“ Aunt Lyra shouted behind us, so we picked up the pace.

 

~

 

Once seated at the table for dinner, Aunt Lyra didn’t hesitate to pick the conversation back up, albeit calmer than she seemed she would have been earlier.

 

“So, were these pals you had your spirited game of chase with the McAlister, Dodwell, and Pierre boys?“ Kalen paused, his fork hovering before his first bite.

 

I, however, didn’t hold back. Aunt Lyra’s pot roast was my favorite, and I wasn’t technically the one being interrogated now.

 

“They were, in fact,“ Kalen answered begrudgingly.

 

“This is about magic again!“ Aunt Lyra barked. Kalen said nothing and looked down at his plate. “Why can’t you let this go?”

 

“Because it’s not fair!“ Kalen burst. “Our parents, who had actual magic enough to be chosen by the Gate, died helping this country. Yet guys like them treat us like dirt for not having enough magic to be chosen when their parents paid for them to be accepted. That’s stupid!”

 

“Again with this conspiracy! Kalen, you don’t know that! The Gate is a powerful artifact created to uphold the Uprising Accords. Money doesn’t sway the Gate,“ Aunt Lyra said persuasively.

 

The Uprising Accords.

 

So many of my Aunt and brother’s “debates“ lately seemed to come back to the Accords or the Uprising itself, as they clashed over their viewpoints on magic.

 

About 50 years ago, a rebellion broke out amongst the working class. The Elite had their city to live in and didn’t often trouble themselves with the affairs of the rest of Seradaun, except when they desired to pass down new laws and taxes for the rest of their citizens. Citizens became malcontent with the state of their world compared to that of the Elite.

 

That’s what began the Uprising.

 

The citizens had marched on the capital city of Daun and attacked with the might of their magic. The death toll for the six-month Uprising was said to have been in the tens of thousands. While the citizens had the advantage of numbers, they didn’t have much well-trained magic. They were workers who had dedicated themselves to their way of making a living, not the study of magic, which didn’t improve or simplify that process.

 

They had, however, had enough power on their side to force the Elite to take them seriously, as well as most of the goods the Elite needed. The agreement they had signed to end the rebellion was known as the Uprising Accords. For improved living conditions throughout Seradaun, a high price was demanded of all to ensure nothing like the Uprising happened again.

 

From that day forth, magic would be sealed for all to prevent it from being used to cause such bloodshed ever again. Only some selected Seradaunians would be allowed to have the seal broken, and if they did, they were then required to use those gifts for the protection and advancement of all of Seradaun. This had given rise to magical equipment that helped with mining, farming, and everyday things like lighting in homes. Crystals infused with magic were used to give magical access to these new magical inventions to all.

 

To keep the selection process fair, it would only be those born with true magical gifts who would be chosen. With only the magically strong chosen, it would still keep magic users to a limited group and prevent them from having overwhelming numbers. A magical artifact called the Testing Gate was even created at the end of the Uprising that could check this in an unbiased way.

 

But Kalen, and truthfully, many others, doubted how that was being handled. They believed a new wave of Elites was being created directly from the old one.

 

“You don’t have magic, and you need to leave those boys alone before you both get seriously hurt,“ Aunt Lyra huffed and moved to begin clearing the table, leaving Kalen to finish his barely touched food.

 

I quietly got up to help her, since it was my night to help clean the dishes, catching the frustration my twin was trying to hide by staring down into his food.

 

~

 

After finishing up in the kitchen, I found Kalen on his hands and knees, peering under his bed when I returned to our room.

 

“What are you looking for?“ I asked.

 

My brother was clearly distracted because he was startled by my voice and hit his head on the bed frame. “Ow!”

 

“Sorry,“ I whispered as I closed our bedroom door. “Can I help?”

 

Kalen merely waved me off with a quick, easy smile, already looking better than when I’d seen him at the table. “That was the last place I was looking. I think I lost my lucky medallion while we were out running today.“  

 

I glanced out the crack in the curtain to verify that it was, in fact, dark now. “We can go look for it tomorrow.”

 

“Don’t worry.“ I began to relax. “I’ll go look real quick by myself. I think I have an idea where it might be.”

 

I hesitated to admonish him for the idea after getting him into trouble earlier. Mistaking my hesitation for consent, he had his jacket on and the finicky window open as quietly as possible within moments. I sighed and flopped onto my bed and let him go.

 

Most people thought that Kalen and I spent almost all of our time together as twins.

 

It was true enough.

 

Lately, however, Kalen seemed to be wandering off on his own more with one excuse or another, so I didn’t need to go with him. Aunt Lyra seemed to think it was normal and nothing for me to worry about. But I could admit some curiosity, especially on a nighttime trip without me! Anything could happen at night—safety in numbers, and all that.

 

I raced to put on shoes and a coat with that unpleasant thought. I quickly turned off our room light and put some clothes and other odds and ends lying around under our blankets, in case a quick inspection was done. Then, I, too, was out the window and onto the night streets of our town.

 

I would just follow behind Kalen and make sure nothing happened to him. Then, when he seemed to be heading back home, I would race back to get in bed first.

 

To watch his back and make sure he was safe. And nothing more.

 

~

 

Kalen made his way through town, mainly keeping to alleyways and side streets. Being on a stealth mission, I realized this was very good for me. However, I wasn’t sure how much longer it would be a “stealth“ mission if we kept it like this. The last gasp I couldn’t contain after a rat had scurried over my foot had been particularly loud.

 

The intelligent part of using less-used streets only increased my nerves. Being my first time sneaking out of the house, this was the first time I had seen this eerie side of our little village. Though the days were warming up, the nighttime air was chilled enough to catch a hint of my breath. A low fog also seemed to have rolled in, drastically changing the view that I often had to double-check my landmarks in a town I had lived in for as long as I could remember.

 

As the fog grew thicker, I decided to keep closer to Kalen.

 

In case he needed me quickly!

 

After jumping for the third time at the sound the wind or some rat scuttling about made, I began to notice my brother’s relaxed demeanor. The nervous tension I felt was clearly not being shared by my twin. He moved smoothly, unhurriedly, and confidently as he made his way to wherever he thought his lost medallion was.

 

Which was another thing that had been pestering me; this lucky medallion that we were out here at night for was a new thing. Kalen didn’t usually put much stock in “lucky“ stuff. Since the very people who considered such items lucky thought I was cursed, Kalen scoffed at “such a ridiculous notion.“ He usually didn’t go for such things.

 

He had been given the medallion by a “seer“ at the last solstice festival.

 

It supposedly had the power to “help you protect that which was most important to you.“ I had teased him when we got home that night, after I found out he kept it, since real seers didn’t come out to small villages like ours.

 

He had said, “Who knows, maybe it’ll help me be there when you need me one day.“

 

I had teased him more.

 

Now I wondered if my twin had bought into all that after all. And what possibly could have convinced him?

 

The fog began to thin as we moved towards the center of town, until we eventually came to the blocked-up butcher’s alley. I peeked around the corner to see as Kalen moved to grab something near the box I had jumped up from to grab the rope he had provided for me earlier. Seeing him smile as he held it, what he had grabbed up to catch the moonlight, I decided that now would be an excellent time to get started on the ‘run back and don’t get caught‘ part of my plan.

 

I began to jog back to the house and was about halfway there when I turned a corner and saw them. Dez and his crew were slinking down the street.

 

I darted to hide behind a large round topiary in front of the bakery before they could spot me.

 

“Please don’t turn left,“ was my barely audible prayer as I moved around the bush to escape Dez’s sight as they continued down the street, back the way I had just come.

 

They then turned left.

 

No, no, no.

 

Kalen was back that way, and I doubted even Dez would have forgiven and forgotten about today that fast. I glanced back in the direction of home and then to the corner they had just turned down. If I went now, I would end up facing them alone. But if I went home, I could get help…by betraying Kalen for a second time today.

 

I headed back for my brother.

 

~

 

I had deliberated my decision and clung to my greenery savehaven longer than I was proud of. Then I took an extra minute to gather my courage for a potential fight. By the time I had caught up with Dez, he had found Kalen already.

 

Kalen was heading off the road towards the forest trails…while Dez and his crew were skulking around the library, slowly following behind Kalen.

 

It was an ambush! And they all had magic, while Kalen didn’t.

 

As they left the corner of the library to head into the woods, I quickly moved to follow, yet stayed quiet. I could jump in and surprise the gang of bullies so Kalen and I could get the best of them, as we had done on occasion, but only if they didn’t suspect I was here.

 

“-left your cursed brother tucked in bed, did you?“ I could hear the mocking grin on Dez’s face, even though I had come up to a tree behind him.

 

I stayed low to keep out of Kalen’s view as well—no reason to get caught if this turned out to be nothing. But as I leaned around my tree to see the group, I caught sight of the annoyance on my twin’s face. It looked like that so rarely.

 

“I suggest you go back to bed, Dez,“ Kalen said, voice sounding flat despite his evident anger.

 

“Before we pay you back for today? I don’t think so.“ As Dez raised his hand, blue streaks of magic began to appear. The blue raced around his hands, giving off a beautiful, dull light.

 

I pulled myself up, ready to move when an opening came.

 

“My patience is in short supply today. I suggest you try again tomorrow,“ Kalen said with a threatening tilt to his usually carefree grin.

 

No one said another word, but Dez’s goons moved in with their faint glows. I grabbed a pair of thicker branches lying around, one for me and one for Kalen, and stepped from behind the tree. Dez’s hand stretched forward, and the magic raced towards Kalen!

 

I took a running step or two forward before a blast of dark red magic burst forth in a wave to swallow up everything—trees, sky, Dez—and then I was being slammed back with a cracking wall of pressure that sent me flying until bark stabbed into my spine and pain exploded in the back of my skull.

 

I felt myself falling, but my vision was dark.

 

~

 

My eyelids felt heavy and scratched at my eyes as I tried to open them. The smell of metal and green things filled my nostrils, reminding me that I was outside following my brother. I moved to rub my eyes, hoping to clear them and get a better look at what had happened after the blast. Pain immediately shot up my arm, and I groaned as my stomach flipped with the waves of pain.

 

I held my breath, trying to preserve the wonderful pot roast Aunt Lyra had made for us.

 

My sprained wrist might have just become a broken wrist.

 

When the pain lessened to a degree where I could breathe again, I carefully used my other arm to wipe my eyes and roll to my side. The scene before me was something straight out of a nightmare.

 

Dez and his goons all lay sprawled in the new, small clearing created by the blast.

 

All of them lay motionless with growing wet pools catching the moonlight around them.

 

With threads of red magic still crackling off him, Kalen stood unharmed and looking down at the destruction.

 

Kalen…had magic.

 

Since when?

 

And the scene before me would be classified as a blatant abuse of magic. They would label my brother a criminal.

 

As Kalen surveyed the scene, his eyes were unusually blank. Finally, his gaze landed on me as he inspected the wreckage. I lay prone on the ground, but not so hidden with all the damage to the trees. Pure panic entered his eyes, unlike anything I had ever seen before.

 

“Cota…“ he whispered as he took a shaky step towards me.

 

I could only stare, wide-eyed, at him and the bodies around him. He turned to look at them as well, and when his gaze turned back to me, the panic was gone from his eyes. It was like it wasn’t his face at all, but someone wearing it.

 

Suddenly, his previous panic seemed to fill my chest and strangle me as he moved toward me with red glow of magic crackling brighter across his fingers. He moved like my brother, but everything else was wrong—the blankness in his eyes, the way the red light crawled over his fingers like something alive.

 

“K-Kal?“ was my squeaked response as I tried to scramble back. I collapsed as pain coursed through my arm.

 

He said nothing as he moved to kneel over me, face empty as I’d never seen it before. I could do nothing but stare up at him helplessly.

 

Fingers sparking with magic, Kalen placed his hands on my temples. His grip was tight, and his nails dug into my scalp. I couldn’t even move my hands to try to loosen his grip because the force of his magic, as it slammed into me again, held me motionless.

 

Scenes of the day flew through my mind, quick as lightning.

 

Confronting Dez.

 

Running through the streets.

 

Kalen’s smiles after saving me.

 

Then, memories that I couldn’t clearly remember began to flash in scenes.

 

A cloaked woman in the woods was speaking of a prophecy.

 

Aunt Lyra’s face was red with outrage.

 

Magic sparked in my hands as I practiced.

 

In the background of the flood of memories, mine and clearly not mine, was a litany of quiet, insidious thoughts underlining everything.

 

My brother had magic.

 

He had never told me.

 

He turned it against me.

 

He never told me.

 

As the thoughts drifted through my mind, I stared at Kalen’s face, which was set with lines, determination, and fierce desperation. I had no choice but to submit to his magic as the background thoughts and memories all began to fade away.

 

The boy above me—who was he—suddenly cursed. He pulled his hands back from my head and stared at them, stained dark.

 

“Cota, are you alright?“ he asked.

 

“I’m a little worse for wear, but I will manage. Can you help me home… what’s your name?”

 

A look of horror crossed the boy’s face.

 

I tried to ask him what was wrong, but my mouth wouldn’t cooperate, and suddenly my eyes grew heavy. The pain was taking a toll. I would rest and then tell the kind boy where my house was.

 

~ ~

 

I opened my eyes again to see a different face hovering above mine, backlit by fluorescent lighting instead of moonlight. This man had black hair salted in patches, sharp but plain blue eyes, and a paler face—nothing like the mirror image of my own younger face.

 

“Hey, are you alright?“ the man asked, his voice calm but with notes of worry in the creases around his eyes, as if he were forcing it down

 

I took a moment to think about his question. Was I alright?

 

“Yeah…fine.“ I managed to grumble out as I shook my head to reorient myself. I tried to think despite the vicious throbbing behind my eyes.

 

The flashback was from the day before I was told my twin brother had been kidnapped. The day they also told me I had magic amnesia. A severe case that had stripped every memory of my kidnapped twin completely, leaving me with blurry memories of my life at best and raging headaches when trying to recall blank spaces.

 

“What’s your name?“ was the next question from the man.

 

“Cota Bellamy,“ the answers were coming more quickly.

 

“Who do you work for?“ my partner, Walt, asked.

 

“Magic Police Department as a detective.“ A career path I had been driven towards to continue my never-ending search for new information that might lead me to the twin I had always felt was still alive out there.

 

Never-ending.

 

“Where are we? What is your current assignment?”

 

“New Daun’s 5th shopping district. Investigating a previously flagged magical signature.”

 

The MPD had flagged a magical signature recorded in an old cold case, my old cold case, just this morning. It was the moment I had been waiting for all this time. I’d bullied my way onto the team being dispatched.

 

As we’d walked through the bustling streets of New Daun’s shopping district, something had caught my eye—probably the white blonde hair initially.

 

A mirror image of myself had walked towards me down the street. I had made split-second eye contact with the brilliant green gaze before my head had exploded and my magically stolen memories had returned.

 

I quickly scanned the crowd for a shock of white hair or the raven-haired beauty that I remembered being by Kalen’s side.

 

I saw neither.

 

So, it would be another “spirited game of chase,“ would it?

 

Pushing myself up from the row of seats, my partner had apparently managed to get me to after I’d started to fall into him. Somehow keeping me out of the way of traffic, the infirmary, and from being kicked off this mission. I performed another quick scan before straightening my clothes and pushing up to make Walt step back to give me space.

 

“I’m fine, Walt. Let’s get going. I believe our target has already left the area, but we may still be able to get some clues.”

 

Walt still looked concerned and confused, but trusted me enough—and knew how much this meant to me—to just nod once and follow me to where we were supposed to report to about the flagged signature.

 

Game on, brother.

 

~