"Elian, wake up!"
Elian's eyes snapped open at the sound of his mother's voice.
"The collectors are here. Get off that bed before they catch you sleeping in a house you haven't paid for!" Lydia Vance, his mother, screamed again.
He groaned and rolled over, blinking against the dim light filtering through the cracks in the walls.
Like every morning, Elian was disappointed to wake up in Destitropolis again. There were 13 citadels in Aetheris, but he was unfortunate to be born without a talent, meaning he would be stuck in Destitropolis forever.
Some nights, he prayed to wake up in Aetherforge, the citadel for forgers. He would imagine all the weapons and things he could make until he dozed off.
Other days, he imagined being a bounty hunter or even a healer. But day after day, Elian woke up to the foul stench of poverty in the small shack they called a house. Year after year, he began to lose hope of ever becoming anything in life.
"Boy, now!"
"I'm coming, Ma!" Elian pulled on his tattered, hole-filled shirt, ignoring the chill in the air.
Pushing himself up, he ran a hand through his jet-black hair, trying to give it a form of order before he stepped outside. Elian liked his hair because it was the only shiny part of his body. The rest of his skin was dull and grey because of the weather in Destitropolis and the harsh life they lived.
He walked to the living room, which was nothing but a cramped space filled with rusted pans and bent metal scraps. Fiona, his younger sister, stood by the door, her hands wringing nervously.
Outside their house, two collectors waited like vultures.
They never failed to show up every month, taxing the poor people of Destitropolis for rent even though most of them had no means of livelihood.
But nobody could stand up to them. They worked for the supreme leader, and any citadel that failed to serve the supreme leader would be destroyed. And since Destitropolis was filled with talentless people who contributed nothing to the realm, paying rent was the only way to remain alive.
"You're trading here as well," one of the collectors sneered as Elian drew closer. "That's double the rent."
The collectors were demanding double the rent because his mother had turned part of the house into a shop where she traded simple commodities like the metals they scavenged for daily.
"We…" Elian started, but his mother gave him a small push to keep him shut.
"We barely make enough to eat," Lydia continued instead, pleading with her hands clasped. "These are scraps, old metal pieces. You think I've made a fortune selling this junk?"
"That is none of our concern." The collector stated coldly.
Elian's mother continued begging. "You should know how hard it is here. And yet Lysander and his fat friends sit 'up there' in luxury, swimming in aether coins while we, the poor masses, starve!"
"Ma," Elian cut in, stepping forward. "Stop bad-mouthing the supreme leader."
His mother shot him a glare. "Shut up, boy, before I shut you up myself, and that would be a quicker punishment than any supreme leader would give you!"
Meanwhile, the collectors watched the exchange with disgusted looks on their faces. One of them rolled his eyes and turned to Lydia with his hand outstretched. "Bring what you have. And make it quick. We do not have all day."
"Y-Yes, of course. Thank you!" Lydia stammered gratefully, dipping her hand into her tiny, worn-out purse and emptying the contents into her palm. The sounds of coins tinkling against each other filled the air as Lydia began to count the coins in her hand. She counted ten aether coins, which was all she had at the moment.
She stretched her hand out, pleading, "This is all I have. Please, just this once…"
Before she could finish, one of the collectors slapped her hand away. The coins scattered onto the ground noisily.
"Ten coins?" he barked. "You think this is enough? That's half of the normal rent! If you are stupid enough to dare offer ten coins to us, then perhaps you should be thrown out!"
"Please…."
"It's twenty aether coins or nothing, and if you cannot pay, I will kick you out of this house and rent it out to someone who can actually afford it." The collector threatened.
Elian clenched his fists, urging himself to control his temper as he bent down to pick up the coins. Ten aether coins could be considered useless, but not in Destitropolis, not to his family. The collector's insults grew louder, and when Elian stood to face him- all the coins in his hand, it was so noticeable that he was furious.
"Please, this is truly all we have. Please accept it. By next month, hopefully, there shall be–"
Elian gasped when he felt a strong palm connect to his cheek in a hard slap.
WHACK!
"How dare you open that hole in your face to talk to me?!" the collector barked. "You are nothing but a stupid, talentless boy who isn't even worthy of talking to me, not to speak of bargaining with me. What more could I expect anyway? Your useless whore of a mother failed to discipline you properly."
Elian's chest heaved with anger as different thoughts zoomed through his mind. He was not very strong, but he was prepared to fight. If the man had just insulted him, he could have taken it without a word. But no, he had dragged his mother into it.
Noticing the look of rage on his face, the collector drew closer.
"What? You want to fight me?" he mocked Elian in a challenge. "Is that your talent? Making stupid decisions?"
"Sir, please.."
"Shut up!" the collector barked at Elian's mother, who had tried to intervene.
"Elian…" Fiona whispered, grabbing Elian's arm when she noticed him approaching. "Don't. If you fight him, we'll lose the house."
The collector's eyes gleamed with more malice as he noticed Elian's clenched fists. He stepped even closer. "Are you just going to stand there, growling like the rabid dog you are?" When Elian didn't respond, he smiled. "What else can I expect from a poor, foolish boy begging for scraps in the slums of the worst citadel in the realm, huh?" he spat thick, heavy mucus to the ground.
Elian clenched his fists but did not say a word. Despite the anger and disgust flowing through him, he knew his sister was right. Acting out right now would only backfire on them.
At the same time, the other collector, who had been silent the whole time, walked closer to his partner and whispered something in his ear that made him smile wickedly. Then, the collector faced them again.
"After a brief deliberation with my partner, we have decided that since you cannot afford the rent, we shall take anything of value from the house." He said, smirking.
Lydia's face paled. She couldn't afford to let them take the goods she wanted to sell. How else would she raise money for her family?
"Please try to understand." She pleaded. "We will find a way to make up for it next month. We have nothing of value in the house to give away."
But she didn't know the collectors wanted something else.
The man's gaze shifted to Fiona, his eyes going over her with disgusting intent. "You're wrong. You have something quite valuable here."
Elian, noticing the lustful eyes on his sister, moved faster than he thought possible, stepping in front of Fiona to shield her. Seeing the protective nature of Elian on Fiona only agitated the collectors to want her more.
The disgusting smile spread more across the collector's face. "Oh, I beg to argue. The girl's worth at least five Aether coins a night. She'll pay off your debt in no time, and I will bring her back when she is done."
Anger, hot like lava, rushed through Elian's veins.
"You're not touching her!" He said to the collector, who was already advancing. Without thinking, he accompanied his warning with a brutal punch to the man's face.
The collector flew into a rage, and immediately, a fight broke out between them. Lydia Vance let out a scream as she watched her son get beaten by the man.
"Stop! He is just a boy, please!!"
Lydia and Fiona tried to break up the fight to no avail. The other collector attacked Elian from the back while the first one punched him in the face. As this commotion was ongoing, a loud thud sounded in the distance.
BOOM!
It was enough to cause a vibration.
Then, a deafening scream followed. What was happening?
Distracted by the noise, the collectors took the opportunity to beat up Elian.
The first one swung his fist hard, beating him to a stupor until he was bleeding from his nose.
"No!!" Lydia screamed at the state of her son. She rushed to shield her son from the collector, who was about to stamp his boot on Elian to finish him off.
The second collector urged his partner on. "Kill him! Teach him a lesso–"
He never got to finish his sentence because, out of nowhere, a large creature descended from the sky and swooped him off the ground in seconds.
Before anyone could understand what was happening, the collector's body fell from the sky.
Dead. Blood spattered everywhere.
He was dead.