Colorless

35 - Invisible

Rinian followed them at what seemed like a safe distance. There was a spat between Kin and the red-headed man whose name escaped him, but they soon moved on and kept along the road heading west.

White grasses tickled his nose, and he bit his tongue to keep from sneezing. No doubt they were going to the capital. If they kept going at their pace, they could catch up with his mother. Meira was always a slow walker and easily distracted by her surroundings. But Kin and Nell and the redhead were fueled by anger and weren't even speaking to each other anymore.

He wished he knew where Ianthe was. After realizing he'd been following her, she learned to conceal her magic. Rinian could no longer find her. He just hoped she'd stay away. If she attacked them again, he didn't want to have to intervene.

Ianthe or no Ianthe, Rinian had to slow them down. He didn't know what would happen if they ran into Meira, but he didn't think it would be wise for her and Kin to meet. She'd made her feelings about him very clear, and he had tried to kill her in the past.

And him. Kin had also tried to kill him.

Rinian allowed some more distance to grow between him and their sulky group.

That made three objectives: to keep Kin away from Meira, to keep Ianthe away from Kin, and to keep himself away from them all.

It wouldn't be easy, but it gave him something to do. Being a runaway was boring and lonely. So much so that Rinian had almost started missing his mother. She may have rarely talked to him, but at least she sometimes did.

The problem was, Rinian didn't know how to slow them. He only had a handful of magics at his disposal. He could drain their blood through their skin—though he'd have to touch them to do so, and he had no desire to kill any of them. He could disappear, but Rinian wasn't even sure if that was the result of magic or in inattentive mother. Healing pain had no use in this situation either. Perhaps he could start a fire in the grass, but he worried it could grow out of control and hurt someone. But there was one magic he could use. One that he'd learned from Kin.

A gust of wind flattened the grass around him, and Rinian dropped to the dirt to remain hidden.

Then a familiar voice sent sharp chills up his spine. "Are you playing a game?" Rinian could hear the ever-present grin on his lips.

In an instant, he'd jumped up from the ground and into a low crouch. Something howled in his mind. A warning. Get away.

"Can I join?" Kaden asked.

Rinian couldn't find him. If not for the mocking sound of his voice, there'd be no hint of the creature. Even his magic was hidden from Rinian.

"Where are you?"

Something tapped his shoulder, and Rinian spun on one foot, holding his other leg in front of him to kick whatever had touched him. His foot sliced through the grass without resistance.

The grass.

Rinian looked around him again until he saw it, a disturbance in the even field of white. There, the grass bent and warped around a shape, the rough size of a human man.

He pretended not to notice, looking around more as he scooped a small rock up from the ground. It sat in the palm of his hand, held out flat beside him. Focusing on the magic running through his body, he called to mind the memory of Kin using his magic. It was simple in theory and so Rinian didn't think it would be difficult in practice either. A simple push of magic from his palm. He'd done it once before, although that time, the magic had been more of an explosion than a simple push. Still, mastering a new magic took time and focus, and it took a great deal of concentration to call upon it.