Rebellion in the Mist, page 1
Copyright © 2025 by Marley Ferguson
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The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.
Book Cover by Vivien Reis
Edited by Ana Hansen
ISBN-13: 979-8-218-68055-8
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Contents
Dedication
Foreword
Map of the Realm
1. Chapter One
2. Chapter Two
3. Chapter Three
4. Chapter Four
5. Chapter Five
6. Chapter Six
7. Chapter Seven
8. Chapter Eight
9. Chapter Nine
10. Chapter Ten
11. Chapter Eleven
12. Chapter Twelve
13. Chapter Thirteen
14. Chapter Fourteen
15. Chapter Fifteen
16. Chapter Sixteen
17. Chapter Seventeen
18. Chapter Eighteen
19. Chapter Nineteen
20. Chapter Twenty
21. Chapter Twenty-One
22. Chapter Twenty-Two
23. Chapter Twenty-Three
24. Chapter Twenty-Four
25. Chapter Twenty-Five
26. Chapter Twenty-Six
27. Chapter Twenty-Seven
28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
30. Chapter Thirty
31. Chapter Thirty-One
32. Chapter Thirty-Two
33. Chapter Thirty-Three
34. Chapter Thirty-Four
35. Chapter Thirty-Five
36. Chapter Thirty-Six
37. Chapter Thirty-Seven
38. Chapter Thirty-Eight
39. Chapter Thirty-Nine
40. Chapter Forty
41. Chapter Forty-One
42. Chapter Forty-Two
43. Chapter Forty-Three
44. Chapter Forty-Four
45. Chapter Forty-Five
46. Chapter Forty-Six
47. Chapter Forty-Seven
Content Warning
Acknowledgements
About the author
For everyone who is the only person that can save the realm.
Especially when the realm is your household.
Foreword
The following story is interpreted into modern English from the original texts. All units of measure and time are shown as their closest modern approximation. All idioms, expressions, and colloquialisms are used to convey their original spirit.
Map of the Realm
Chapter one
Golden rays of morning sun poured in from the open windows, illuminating motes of dust drifting lazily through the air. I watched them tumble along the breeze until they were lost to the shadows.
The serene moment was ruined for me by the presence of dozens of seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds chattering throughout the amphitheater-shaped room and acting like, well, teenagers.
From my vantage point facing the class, I could easily pick out the groups with budding friendships making tentative conversations, the circles that knew each other before last month telling raucous stories, and the most entertaining—individuals trying to flirt with other first years.
A gangly teen that fell into the last group picked up a piece of parchment that had blown on the floor, handing it back to a fellow fae, who smiled much more broadly than necessary as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
It would be a sweet moment to witness, if I hadn't seen it so many times before. The same love stories wrote themselves year after year with a different cast of characters. After a decade of training newly unlocked magic wielders, the specks of dust were less predictable than the students.
I cleared my throat, and the students quieted to stare at me expectantly. “Today we’ll begin wielding water,” I announced.
Smiles bloomed in front of me, excitement lighting the faces of the Protectors. The first few times I had announced this to a class, I’d been just as excited as them, but the tenth time around, I just wanted to get it over with. Now the most exciting part of the water unit for me was discovering which days I would finish teaching with water in my boots and a wet uniform.
“But we still don’t know how to do that wind shield thing you showed us on the first day,” said one of the students sitting in the first row. His rusty hair was already clumped with sweat from the summer heat blanketing the room.
“There’s still a lot to learn with air, Henson,” I said, “but you have the basics. We’re going to move on to the fundamentals of the other three elements, and then you will learn the more complicated magic wielding for each one, like the wind barrier.”
“Does that mean we’ll learn to heal soon?” asked a girl in the second row, her long black ponytail bouncing around as her eyes widened.
“Not just yet, Kayer,” I said, tucking an escaping curl behind my ear. The braid I typically wore was the only defense I had against the tangle of frizz my hair would become. With the humidity coming from the nearby rivers, it seemed the plait was already losing the battle today.
“We’ll spend a month on water, just like we did for air, then we’ll do another four weeks on fire before moving to Earth magic.” My eyes moved across the three rows of fae who’d had their powers unlocked on the solstice four weeks ago. “But learning to heal with Earth magic will take one to three months.”
“Why is there a range, Trainer Riseworth?” asked a slender wielder in the back row, whose name I was pretty sure was Tarwin. I used to pride myself on memorizing everyone’s name within the first two weeks. This year, I hadn’t tried as hard. After all, I wasn’t even going to finish out the year with them.
“Didn’t Commander Ianth cover all this with you after you touched Cavilth and went to the unlocking orientation?” I asked rhetorically.
I had been there along with the other trainers when they’d pulled the wielders aside from the rest of the new Protectors. Each summer solstice, hundreds of residents of the Empire signed their contracts to serve in the Imperial Protectorate. Their signature on that contract gave them permission to touch Cavilth, a magical stone that would unlock the ability to wield the elements if they had enough fae lineage left in their blood.
If the stone glowed when they touched it, they were beholden to ten years in the Protectorate and officially a magic wielder, with their life span tripled and a year of learning to use those powers ahead of them. Those who found out they were mortal on the solstice only had to serve the Protectorate for three years and were given a month of combat training before being placed throughout the Empire.
“She did,” said Tarwin, his interest seemingly to the floor rather than the unintentional scowl on my face. “But it was a lot to take in on our first day.”
I leaned my arms on the lectern in front of me and tried to remind myself that I only had five more months of this. These students had just left the life they had known before this. Everything was new to them, their future unknown. No one made the best choices or remembers everything in times like those.
“After you have the basics of the four elements, your time spent training with each will be individualized based on your aptitude. If you take to healing, you’ll do rotations for an extra two months with the Healer’s Wing to see if you have what it takes to be assigned there.”
“Aren’t the Healers the best of the best?” Kayer asked, practically bouncing out of her seat with excitement.
“No, the most elite become Compound guards,” a blonde wielder said from the middle row. Jeffers, maybe?
“You’re both right in your own way,” I said. “Only the best of the best with Earth magic are selected to be Healers. The most elite fighters become guards for the Compound. As I said, it will be individualized to your strengths.”
Tarwin raised his hand. “If you aren't selected for either of those—”
I cut him off, knowing where his head was. “You will continue honing the elements and rotate through all the duty stations until command determines the best assignment for you.”
“Can we request our station?” asked Henson.
Better to warn them now.
“You can put in requests for reassignments, but don’t hold out hope. Command does not like having their decisions questioned. Reassignments are few and far between.”
“What if we’re not good at any of the stations?” Tarwin asked quietly.
“Then you get assigned to be a Trainer,” said a voice from the doorway. “But don’t worry, I only know of one wielder who was assigned to start training right after her first year. The rest of us served our
I turned my head to the door behind me. “Trainer Sheab,” I said, trying to keep my tone even in front of the class, even as I stared daggers at him. “You’re a little early for small group practice. We’re still in instruction.”
He pushed off the doorframe, running a hand through his coiffed hair as he swaggered into the room. I barely suppressed an eye roll. A few of the first years gazed at him dreamily.
“Commander Ianth told me to take over your lecture. She wants to see you in her office immediately.”
He didn’t completely hide his smirk as the room full of teens gasped and whispered. Even only a month in, they knew being suddenly pulled aside to speak with your commanding officer was not a good sign. Sheab could have pulled me into the hallway to tell me this. Dick.
“We were just starting water basics,” I started to explain.
“Don’t worry, Riseworth. I can handle it. You don’t want to keep command waiting.”
Chapter two
The dark slate floors of the Imperial Compound passed under my feet unnoticed while my mind skittered along the dozens of tiny infractions that could have landed me a disciplinary meeting.
Spending the night in another Protector’s dormitory room wasn’t strictly allowed, but no one was ever punished for it, and it had been a long time since I’d fallen asleep in one of my friends’ rooms.
Using the secret passageways of the Compound was certainly forbidden, but it had been a while since I’d done that too. And I had never been seen using the tunnels.
As I entered Commander Ianth’s small, windowless office, I was no closer to figuring out why I was being summoned. She sat behind her desk, straight-backed with her hands folded over a piece of paper. Her hawkish gaze followed me as I closed the door and sat in the simple wooden chair across from her. She smoothed her hand along her already impeccably tamed hair to the low bun at the nape of her neck.
The sparse room was furnished only with her desk and the two chairs we were seated in. I had been in her office many times before and always took her minimalism as tidy and professional, but today it made her seem austere.
“Trainer Riseworth,” she said in greeting.
“Commander.” I tucked my hands under my thighs, trying to prevent myself from fidgeting like a first year.
She took a deep breath and splayed her hands over the paper, covering it almost entirely. “You have been asked to cover a patrol shift this morning.”
“Ma’am?” My brows drew together in confusion. I was missing something, clearly. In ten years, I had never been asked to cover a patrol shift.
She sighed, her eyes softening slightly. “You are our most experienced trainer, but your service to the Empire is over in five months. My understanding is that you do not plan to extend your contract.” I shook my head. “It would be beneficial for the other trainers to have practice teaching without you, then.”
I spiraled into doubt. Was I so bad at my job that they didn’t want me to pollute the other Trainers’ lessons? I wanted to voice my concerns, but I had just lectured the first year wielders on how command hated being questioned. Thankfully, she volunteered a small amount of reassurance. “This is not a permanent reassignment. You are only being asked to cover this one shift.”
I could handle that. One, single shift walking around the streets of Capital City.
“Who am I paired with?”
“They are very short on patrol Protectors today. It seems you will be unaccompanied.”
I frowned. “What route am I supposed to patrol?”
“That was not provided in this missive. You are to stop by the guards at the gate for further instruction.”
She lifted her hands to point to the parchment, but stopped short, covering the parchment again and clearing her throat.
“Riseworth, this request came from the general’s office.” She tapped her index finger on it several times before continuing. “Just patrol how you should, and you’ll be back in the classroom tomorrow.”
A cloud of uncertainty hung around me as I left Commander Ianth’s office. I didn’t have much experience with patrols, unless you counted accompanying the first years on their trial rotations, but that was always overseen by experienced patrol Protectors. I was only there to answer wielding questions.
I hope I don’t have to bring in any law-breakers during my shift.
I snorted a laugh to myself. The arresting of citizens was the main duty of the Protectorate—in fact, protection patrol was where the majority of Protectors were placed after their training, hence the title—but I had never done it outside of those training rounds.
I stopped by my room to strap on my rarely used leather armor before heading back down toward the front gate.
As I was passing near the wielding classroom, a ball of water as tall as me rounded the corner and rolled toward me. Henson from my class followed the orb as he guided it along the wide hallway, moving it from side to side, cleaning the dirt from the dark stone floor as he went. Behind him, the bouncy-ponytailed Kayer was blowing gusts of air along the floor to dry it in his wake. Trainer Sheab was following behind the two first years.
My brows raised at Sheab when he looked at me. Cleaning tasks were usually reserved for a few weeks from now, to ensure the new wielders had enough control before allowing them to potentially ruin a passing noble’s day.
“Alright, Henson, let’s bring the water to a controlled stop while holding its form,” Sheab said, ignoring my look. “Gently roll your hands back to get it to slow down.”
Henson tentatively started the motion, but the ball of water continued to tumble my way. I shuffled to the side of the hallway, making myself a smaller target as I waited to see if he would get it under control.
I really hoped I wasn’t about to start my patrol duty doused in dirty water.
The ball crept closer to me, now only two feet away.
“Whoa, bring it back!” Sheab called.
Henson panicked and jerked his hands back as far as he could. That was enough to keep the water from drenching me, but it reversed directions and began barreling toward the others.
Kayer forced a gust of air at the water, trying to shield her group from getting soaked without knowing the proper technique. Her air slammed into the ball, and it exploded, drenching their end of the hallway in grimy water.
After the initial shock wore off the first years’ faces, I stepped over the murky pools to their end of the hallway.
“You need to hook your fingers more when changing the direction of the water,” I said to Henson. I demonstrated the motion as a dingy drop fell from the ceiling into his hair. “It helps control the pull and makes it more nimble to your will.” I moved to Kayer and her now-drooping ponytail. “And Kayer, remember, if you are panicked while wielding, your magic will respond in kind. Especially when trying to do something new.”
Sheab shot me a look as a drip fell from his soaked tunic with a plop to a puddle on the floor.
“Henson, Kayer, practice those motions while working together to collect the water again,” Sheab said, taking me by my elbow to lead me into a shadowy alcove. “I was handling it,” he hissed, low enough that the two new wielders wouldn’t hear.
“Sorry, it looked like you could use some help,” I said. “Coaching after mistakes is your biggest opportunity to make a memorable impression. I was just passing along the things that have worked best for me.”
“Just because you’ve been training wielders since you got here doesn’t mean you’re better at this than everyone else, Riseworth.” His dark eyes narrowed on my face. “Despite what you think.”
“You made that clear to the entire classroom,” I said, pulling my arm from his grip. “Apparently ten years of training just makes me inferior. I can’t help where I was placed after my first year, or that all my requests for reassignment were denied. But don’t worry, you can teach them however you see fit.” I waved a hand at him, gross water and all.
He turned, shoes squelching, and strode back to Henson and Kayer, his earlier swagger washed away.
Chapter three
As I made my way out of the shade of the Compound buildings and crossed the hard-packed dirt path to the wall’s main gate, I tried to shake off my annoyance at Sheab. His accusation that I thought I was a better trainer than everyone else was unfounded. I was only trying to help him and the first years.
