Chapter 17 Flesh and Blood
"Okay, so what's the plan now?" Melody asked.
"We're basically stuck on the outskirts of New Molina. The closest exit is near Market Square. If we can make it there, we might be able to escape," Kimora answered.
"That would at least buy us some time to figure out our next move," I added.
"The gates might be heavily guarded. We need to make sure our escape route isn't blocked before we make a move," I said, thinking aloud.
"True, but if we all go at once, it'll draw too much attention," Neptune noted.
"Neptune and I aren't exactly the best in a fight," Kimora admitted. "Even though we know the area, I suggest one of you goes instead."
"I know how your temper gets, Melody, so I think I should go," I said quickly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped, glaring at me.
"Nothing! I'm just saying... maybe sit this one out," I replied, backpedaling.
"Fine," she said with a pout, arms crossed.
"Okay, listen, Madoxx," Kimora said, and she gave me detailed directions on how to reach Market Square and the gate.
Town Square
It was the first time I'd truly been by myself. That was all I could think about. I'd always had someone—at the orphanage, my friends; in the forest, Eliza and Mel; in Lilith's burrow; on this journey, Melody, Kimora, and Neptune. But now, walking through Town Square... it was just me.
Neptune had handed me a cloak meant to make me less noticeable. It worked, kind of. But I still felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb.
The deeper I walked into the square, the more I saw it—the rot behind the glamour. The nobles strutted through the streets like they owned every inch of it. Maybe they did. Carriages rolled past, each more extravagant than the last, trimmed with gold, draped in silk. The people inside barely glanced out their windows, noses high like the very air offended them.
A young servant girl stumbled nearby, struggling with a heavy basket. As she passed a royal guard, she tripped. Before she could get up, he kicked her basket aside, scattering its contents across the street. She scrambled to gather everything, face red with shame, but the guard just sneered and walked away.
By a grand fountain, nobles lounged like they were in some palace garden. Servants fanned them, fed them, poured their drinks. One woman waved her hand dismissively, demanding more food without even looking up. Just a few feet away, a pair of street kids stared at the feast, their faces gaunt with hunger. The nobles? They didn't even notice.
A little further along, I saw an old man in a torn cloak reaching out to a passing noble. He pleaded—quiet, desperate—for anything. A coin, a scrap of bread. The noble rolled his eyes and tossed a single coin to the ground, then laughed as the old man crawled after it, humiliated.
It was disgusting. Rage boiled in my chest. My fists clenched. How could they live like this? How could they be so blind? So cruel?
When I finally made it to the gate, my heart sank. It was under lockdown—at least twenty guards were stationed there, fully armed. No one came in. No one left.
Frustrated, I turned back.
"The gate's locked down. Twenty guards, maybe more. There's no way through right now," I reported when I returned.
I hesitated, then turned to Neptune. "On my way back... I saw something. Something bad. I wanted to ask you about it."
He looked up.
"Last night, I had questions I didn't get the chance to ask. You mentioned a law that was passed years ago—the one that put your father on edge. What happened, Neptune? What's going on in Veloria?"
He didn't answer right away. So I continued.
"There was a castle I passed. Outside, I saw a woman and a man... crying. Begging. Guards surrounded them."
I could still hear her screams.
The woman's voice cracked with grief. "We've changed our minds! We don't want this anymore. Give her back!"
The man, on his knees, sobbed. "Please... give her back. We can't live without her."
The guard looked down at them like they were insects. "The king has accepted your worth. There's no going back."
"No! I didn't know—I thought I could live with it, but I can't," the woman wept, dragging herself forward, her hands bloodied on the stones. "Give them back. I want my babies back."
The guard's eyes darkened. Without a word, he kicked her in the ribs, hard. She crumpled to the ground, choking out a cry.
"You fleas are all the same," he spat. "Never satisfied. If you want more kids, go have some more."
Still gasping, the woman rasped, "My sweet baby girls... my sun, my moon…" Her voice broke completely.
Her husband snapped. He leapt to his feet, charging the guard in a blind rage.
The guard didn't flinch. He pulled out a wand, muttered a spell—and the man's body seized mid-run. He collapsed instantly, lifeless. The guard laughed and called back to his friends in the carriage. "Guess he won't be having any more kids after all."
Then he spat on the corpse and kicked it for good measure.
The woman let out a scream so raw and silent, it shook me more than anything else. Her eyes—red, wide, shattered—stared at nothing as she crawled to her husband's body. She clutched him, tears mixing with the blood pooling beneath them.
"And as horrific as it was…" I said quietly, my fists trembling, "the people around them just... watched. They did nothing. I did nothing."
The guard hauled a chest of gold from the carriage and dumped it beside the corpses—payment, I guessed, for whatever deal had been made. Then they left. Just like that.
And the square? It went right back to its usual chaos. Laughter. Chatter. Like nothing had happened.
I turned to Neptune and kimora, who had been listening from the shadows.
"What's wrong with the people here?" I asked, my voice sharp.
But they didn't answer.
They just looked down.
Kimora finally spoke, her voice steady.
"There are four main regions here in Veloria. Molina—the poor district—is better known as the City of No Worth. New Molina is the City of Lost Morals. Then there's the king's personal domain, a vast stretch of land he calls Perri Sall Vermont, reserved solely for housing his own luxuries and guards. And lastly, there's Bountyreach—the district that produces everything: food, clothing, water, potions, wands. It's the kingdom's lifeline."
She paused, then added, "Society here's long been split between two groups—the Deserters and the Faithful. To live comfortably in Veloria, you need worth—in the eyes of the king, or the kingdom."
"In the past, before Magnus gained full control over the king, worth was measured by your contributions. You could work, offer services, provide skills—basic stuff. But then a law was passed that changed everything."
Kimora's voice went cold.
"On that day, my father refused to ever work for the king again. That decision got him killed. Both my parents were asked to do something they couldn't... something no decent person should have to do. The same thing the king wants me to do to prove my worth."
She looked me dead in the eye.
"To gain any worth, one had to sacrifice their firstborn child. In return, they'd be granted noble status. Wealth. A place among the elite. Everything they'd ever wanted."
"Veloria used to be steady. Progress was slow, sure, but no one starved. No one was rich, but no one was truly poor either. Everyone got by. We weren't thriving... at least not in the way some wanted. That law changed everything."
"Not everyone accepted it. Those who did became the Deserters—relocated to New Molina, which had once been a royal zone. It had enough space to house them all. Those who rejected the law were left in Molina. The land of the Faithful. The poor. The ones who refused to sacrifice their flesh and blood for wealth."
Kimora went on, her tone colder now.
"But the king didn't stop there. Eventually, another law was introduced, creating further class divides. To maintain your noble status, you had to keep sacrificing. It wasn't just the firstborn anymore. The more you gave, the more you got. Wealth. Fame. Power."
She paused.
"But not all children were equal."
Her face turned unreadable.
"Children born with strong magic potential were considered the most valuable. Their sacrifice granted royal rank. Those with average or weaker magic brought a modest fortune. And those born with no magic? They were basically worthless. Maybe enough to buy a few extra coins, if that."
Neptunes voice cut in, softer. "The people of Molina were abandoned. Bountyreach belonged to the king, so no resources ever reached us. We were left to starve, get sick, or die—unless we chose to become Deserters. Eventually, a second law was passed that made it illegal to help us at all. Anyone who did was deemed 'aiding the worthless.'"
"But I saw a royal give a poor man a gold coin in the street," I said. "No one stopped him. Nothing happened."
"Those are Fallen Royals," she explained. "People who once made the ultimate sacrifice... but either spent all their wealth, or their conscience finally outweighed their greed. Now they survive on scraps like the rest of us. It's not illegal to help them. Even though they're not worth anything."
The room fell quiet—until Melody's voice broke through.
"What actually happens to the children?" she asked, her voice low. "The ones sacrificed to the king?"
Neptune's face darkened. "They're sent to a place called Hules Orphanage."
A chill ran down my spine.
I-
Melody looked at me, concern written all over her face. "Why are the children sent there?"
"That... I don't know," Kimora admitted.
"No. I do," I said, my voice cold.
"Eliza and I... the night we escaped... we saw a statue of a woman. And one of our friends was strapped to an altar in front of it. They were draining him—sucking the magic straight out of his body."
I could barely breathe.
"They took everything from him. His spark, his life, like he was some kind of battery. White particles floated out of his chest, straight into the statue. Into her."
My fists clenched so hard they dug into my skin.
"We were nothing more than fuel. Living batteries. Strengthened, trained... only to be harvested."
My teeth ground together.
The room went silent. Shock on everyone's faces.
Mel came closer, gently touching my arm. She didn't say anything. She didn't need to. No one did.
And just like that—almost as if on cue—the Codex in my locker rattled, then landed on the table with a loud thud. It flipped through page after page on its own, like it had a mind of its own.
It stopped on a blank page.
Once more, it wrote:
Madoxx. Now you are ready to finally see your chapter.
The title appeared next, written in bold, black ink:
Livana.
My heart froze.
I knew that name.
The girl from my nightmares. The shadow that always followed me in my sleep.
Livana.
The Codex kept writing.
The Library must grow.