Craft by Lynnie Purcell

sounded logical – there would always be
aberrations to the natural order of things – but ‘most’ sounded
like a lot more than just two people.
    “Except for my family and yours, I’ve
never met another who could do magic,” Thane admitted.
    “How many people have you met?” Ellie
asked skeptically.
    “Lots and lots,” he said. “I’ve been
in more cities than you have, remember?”
    Ellie felt her world shift with the
revelation. How was it that no one in her family had mentioned a
whole world out there with people who could not craft? Was she the
weird one in a world of people without craft? She had spent her
whole life feeling as if she was the opposite of special. She was
boring. Simple. Learning that her craft was unique was difficult to
wrap her mind around when she had proof she was anything but
unique.
    “Weird,” was as all she could think to
say.
    “Yeah,” Thane agreed.
    Thane grabbed Ellie on the arm, his
face worried as he looked behind them. He was not eager to stand
around and wait for trouble to find them while discussing the
ins-and-outs of the non-magical world. Not when trouble was
carrying a gun and looking for blood.
    “We should probably keep moving,” he
warned. “They know this area better than we do…We don’t need them
catching up with us.”
    “Right,” Ellie said.
    Ellie definitely did not want them
catching her. One near miss was enough. Thane pulled her away from
her tree and they walked a fast pace toward town.
    They walked parallel to the railroad
tracks for a couple more hours, though they stuck to the edge of
the woods. Their encounter with the men made them tense. It had
them prepared to duck into the bushes at a second’s notice. Ellie
wholeheartedly hoped the men had given up the chase. She hoped she
had scared them. She was not eager to face another bullet. Caw
stayed on Ellie’s shoulder as they walked. There was no more
swooping away to search out bugs or stretch his wings in the wind.
Danger lurked in even the most peaceful of settings. They had
learned caution.
    It was dusk when the train tracks
branched off to reveal more tracks on the forest floor. The tracks
merged in and out of each other in a design Ellie did not quite
understand. They walked for another mile before the tracks gave way
to buildings. The tracks continued their course around long rows of
tall, industrial buildings. The forest ended abruptly at the
buildings. Ellie and Thane stopped at the edge of the trees and
looked out over the tracks, a sense of accomplishment surging
through them at the sight. They had made it.
    “Is that town?” Ellie asked in awe as
she looked at the tall, shiny buildings.
    “Of course not,” Thane said. “This is
the shipping yard. Ships bring goods here then the trains and
trucks take the goods inland.”
    Ellie blushed at his condescending
tone. She felt stupid and more out of place than ever. She felt
silly to be so impressed with just a shipping yard.
    “Oh,” she said, hoping he would not
notice her blush.
    Ellie looked around the shipping yard
again in suppressed wonder. Despite the fact that it was not town,
it was the largest set of buildings she had ever seen. The light
from the setting sun reflected off the buildings, making them look
as if they were glowing. It was as if they were saying ‘hello’ to
her through the light. Ellie was dazzled by the sight. It made her
more excited to see town. If the edge of town was so amazing, the
center had to be beyond beautiful.
    “Well, we’re out of the woods,” Thane
said slowly, bringing Ellie back to the reality of their situation.
“I guess this is the end of our truce.”
    Ellie nodded. She was a bit sad to
lose her guide, but there was no help for it. They had promised to
set the feud aside in the forest, not beyond. He would not be
convinced otherwise. Town was his home. He could not pretend they
were not enemies there.
    “Reckon so,” Ellie agreed.
    Thane pointed straight ahead. A bridge
was