Without much language to articulate myself, I have a hard time communicating.
It seems like this creature has a better understanding of the human tongue.
"Can you tell me where I am" I question casually.
"You are along the southeastern coastline; you humans have been fighting a war south of here for as long as I or my kin have been".
"I see".
My mind starts making connections from everything I have seen since birth.
All sorts of theories start building up, but I push them aside and focus on the moment at hand.
"Why am I being kept here"?
This time I am not so casual about it and stare at her with a hint of desperation.
She hesitates for a moment but seems to get over her internal battle quickly before replying.
"You are a slave".
I am not surprised by her answer, but I am surprised that she told me.
I mean I don't owe her anything, she could kill me and be done with it.
"How do you know this"?
She grins at my question; her smile stretches past her eyes revealing sharp, shark-like rear teeth.
"Humans aren't the only ones that can take prisoners".
'She must have consumed information from someone they captured'.
My thoughts are dark.
With a thoughtful expression on my face, I ponder the information but again focus on the moment because her energy has enveloped me leaving me in a white egg of her energy.
She could snap my neck in a moment if I am not careful.
Stillness.
I continue to add energy to the exoskeleton of mana reinforcing my bones and joints.
She continues to look at me as if waiting for something.
Then she speaks up.
"Are you the only one here"?
"Yes" I would nod but she has me held tight.
"Odd, I felt a mana sense but you are too young to be a mage".
"What is a mage"?
"Humans that can use mana call themselves mages."
She answers calmly, yet still maintains her vigilance.
"Are there a lot of mages"?
"Humans don't condense mana in their body until about thirteen years of age and even then, one out of ten will do it safely".
She takes a deep breath and exhales.
When she does, I see the skin on her neck flap out.
It looks like three gills layered on each side of her neck, unnoticed unless she is breathing in or out through them.
We talked for some time she answered many of my questions patiently but always maintained a solid hold of her mana, ready for any attack.
I learned that the lake extended over one hundred miles north.
On the west side is a forest that extends out for another six hundred miles.
East of the river is an ocean, and to the south is a narrow passage connecting to another continent like the Silk Road back on Earth.
She tells me more about the west, and the wild forest leading inland with a popular village situated before it.
After explaining the geography to me we both fall silent until slowly she recedes her mana but keeps it solidified around her.
"I have never met one so young and adept in mana manipulation".
I remain silent, not confirming or denying.
"If you're the only one up here then you must have sent out that mana sense" she answers my unasked question.
'They make use of Occam's Razor in this world also' I chuckled inwardly.
"I cannot offer you freedom, I am not even sure you know what that is but if that mana sense was yours, I don't think the humans would be able to cage you," she says while staring at me curiously.
"Why do you say that"? I ask.
Her lips curl into a savage grin again.
"Because I don't know a mage in this region with such powerful mana sense although it's not on par with warriors of our race it should take care of most human mages".
I ponder this and ask, "Why are humans so much weaker"?
"Because you don't condense mana until puberty and your lives are pitiably short unless you condense your core".
"How long can I live with a condensed core," I asked.
"A little over three hundred years" she replies as if that is still a short time but continues on.
"Most humans need to condense a core before twenty-one or else they have a much harder time".
She was very calm and patient when answering my questions almost like a professor at my university, but the topic was war and slavery.
"They have kept you since birth you are more than likely a child of a captured woman".
"They use children like you as slaves back in the capital in the north".
"If I were you I would escape west into the forest" she gives me a knowing look.
"I'm sure you will be fine".
She abruptly turns around, jumping high into the air, creating a mana platform for herself in the air to jump even higher, and then diving into the water from over thirty feet.
I immediately head back to the settlement.
'It seems west is the way to go, even if I want to double back and go south to the next continent, I can still make that happen'.
Turning around I trudge back to the house, a plan coming together in my mind.
At the field, I build a 3D model of the area with a mound of dirt.
The west side of the compound was covered by red grass and had outposts.
They look like ours with other children, and others with soldiers and sentry.
West is the route I need to take.
To the north, I map out the lake and the western six-hundred-mile forest.
The human Kingdom of Terra although it is a monarchy will probably still be a mage.
The Northern mage association doesn't give a damn about Olim lives, and even bought, and raised them to be mages assisting in "tasks" as Mislin put it.
To the south, I mapped a narrow passage surrounded by ocean on both sides leading to a greater wide expanse ruled by the Olim.
The Olim is a darker-skinned human race and the Terra the lighter in complexion me being a mix of the two.
If history serves to be a guide, I will be discriminated against in either kingdom.
The Southern mage association is just as brutal as the North everything has been settled with violence for hundreds of years.
To the east, I display the ocean recalling all the different creatures I had seen throughout my fish life.
The ocean breeds many mysterious creatures.
Remembering a quote from my life on Earth by Robert Wyland I smile.
"The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination, and brings eternal joy to the soul".
If only Robert knew what I knew, I sigh heavily before finishing my meal, cleaning up my map, and heading to bed.
From what I could tell of the weather, it never snowed here but it rained for about three months out of the year.
The rain is oddly very cold in comparison to the hot environment.
Usually, the children do not work on days of rain but still dread the day that follows because the heat would cause the moisture to rise, creating a humidity that was almost unbearable to breathe in let alone work in.
But the beatings the older kids would get from the overweight man if they missed the quota would roll down the social hill, motivating everyone to work.
I relished the humid days because the mana in the atmosphere would be abundant, refining my mana cores almost twice as fast.
The physical taxation was also beneficial to me because the more I exerted, and tore my muscles the stronger they would be after I healed them at night.
I had no problems hunting game, although the two boys had caught on about my hunting at this point, and glared daggers at me for not sharing with them.
"So, you think you can just hog everything to yourself," said Kirle as he had cornered me at the door one night as I was walking back in.
"After we took care of you since you were a baby you couldn't even pass us a piece of meat"?
Tume adds behind him scornfully.
I remain passive with the same dazed look I usually give them awaiting the closed fist that I knew was coming.
He did not disappoint cuffing me in the ear and tripping me to the ground.
"You think you are better than us you lame idiot"?
The punching and the kicking began as I curled myself into a ball to protect my vitals.
The benefit of having them beat me like this is that my body becomes sturdier after healing.
I roll over to the other side catching a glimpse of the cruel smiles on their small faces.
'If poverty limits one's imagination, then slavery limits one's humanity' As that thought crosses my mind, I hear a high-pitched growl as Isla comes crashing into Kirle pushing him off of me.
"You'!
Kirle seems genuinely shocked that she would fight back.
Even I was a little astonished.
His lips trembling in anger and unjustified indignation.
"Hold her down" Kirle screamed to Tume as he stood up.
Like a good puppy, Tume leaps at her pinning her down underneath him.
"Hold her hand out," he says in a savage voice that does not match his thin frame.
As Tume pins her left hand down with both hands Isla begins to smash her tiny fist against Tume's side, but her position and tiny frame prevent her from hurting him.
Kirle walks over to her, intending to stomp on her arm.
"I hate that we have to take care of useless things like you".
Isla shuts her eyes and stops resisting, a tear trickling down her cheekbone.
Before his foot hits her arm a resounding 'slap' echoes in our tiny abode.
For the second time, another look of disbelief paints Kirle's face.
"What…" he almost whispers before screaming at the top of his lungs
"WHAT THE HELL" striking out with a right punch aimed at my head.
He stands a head taller than me, but with mana overflowing my central cortex my reaction time is multiplied slowing down his punch.
I strike with a left smacking his bicep with my knuckles, he winces at the sharp pain and I slap him again.
He struggles again to lift his right arm, but it is uselessly limping at his side.
Swinging his left he was met with the same fate.
Again, I slap him, I continue to slap him backing him against the wall.
My arm reaches out and chokes him.
The pressure in the room is palpable as I squeeze the life out of this ill-fated boy.
He stares into my eyes, face reddening, and eyes bulging.
"Please…" he whispers as he investigates my cold apathetic face for a shred of mercy.
Instead of giving him any response, I turn my head making eye contact with Tume.
He remains still on top of Isla, both with mouths ajar.
After a moment of staring Tume seems to get the message and jumps off Isla.
I let him go and walked over to Isla looking at her while standing up.
She gets herself off the ground, and that is when I start moving over to our room.
Allowing Isla to enter first, I turn around make eye contact with the boys and place my finger over my lips.
The universal sign of being quiet, but a small wave of mana implied the "or else".
In the room, I sit on my bed cross-legged and meditate.
Isla comes up to the bed and sits next to me, she stares at me wondering things children wonder.
I open my eyes and look at her.
She curls up at my side and starts to quietly sob I pet her head as she cries herself to sleep.