First Light, page 17
At that, the rotund priest dismissed himself from the room and left Gelroy and the young prince alone. Gelroy’s presence instilled a fear in Lestreus that he simply could not shake. Gelroy’s only response to the situation was to continue giving Lestreus a strange, hollow smile. The man then dropped a massive pile of books onto the desk with a resounding thud. “Shall we begin?”
Each of the tomes was nearly three or four fingers thick. The one that Gelroy opened crackled in protest as though it had been left unread for decades. Lestreus could almost see a cloud of dust spray into the air from between the sheets of paper. “As you say, Father Gelroy,” he mumbled.
“You only have so much time before we leave for Jelmoore. When we leave Nefera, we will have to hire Vanguard warriors as an escort. Southern roads after Jilt become unsafe,” Gelroy informed him.
Lestreus nodded. Henner had told him of such things already. The church and local guards worked together to keep the roads in the northern territories safe from monsters and bandits through regular patrols. Unfortunately, those patrols ceased just south of Nefera. By the time people got to Jilt, they were forced to suffer dirt roads, potential highwaymen and monster attacks.
“Can we not use church guards or even royal guards as an escort? I may only be the fourteenth prince, but I am still royalty. Surely—”
“No, young prince,” Gelroy cut him off quickly. “Marching through southern nobles’ territories with too large an escort will not be seen in a positive light. Besides, if you are to attend the Vanguard Academy, then we should arrive with Vanguard warriors. Though we may not feel their importance, appearances do matter. As I am sure you are aware.”
“Understood,” he said finally. All of this could have been avoided if the southern nobles just partnered with the Crucidian Church, but in their stubborn pride, they refused such help. Nonsense.
Chapter Sixteen
Rune
Intense pulses of pain bounced around Rune’s head so intensely that it felt as if his brain was being blended inside of his skull. A part of him almost wished it would be so he could find relief from the sensation. The usual roar of conversation from the bar below felt louder than usual and only increased his discomfort. He thought back to the night before, where he was once again celebrating with his party of friends. Ever since the fight with the Razortusks, he had taken part in almost every celebratory dinner with the party. Last night, like most nights, they had drunk until Jeruul had had enough of his brother’s shenanigans.
After the more responsible twin had carted his brother back to their rooms in the Hall, Teryn and Rune had completed their new ritual of drinking water and eating stale bread to sober up just enough to prevent a hangover. Unfortunately, they had been particularly excited after a much larger payout than planned, so it was impossible to pinpoint when they had actually done that last and very important part of their drinking ritual. If they had even remembered to do so.
Their job had had them confronting a swarm of Aura Bats that had taken to roosting in the barns of an unfortunate farmer north of Hilden. Aura Bats were pests most of the time, but when they gathered in large numbers, they could cause a lot of damage. For such small creatures, they held a large concentration of Aura in their bodies. Once they felt their swarms were large enough to take down larger creatures, they would attack almost anything that moved with Aura-enhanced teeth and claws.
Eventually, he realized he was on the floor and leaning against the bed instead of laying on it. He reached up to use the bed as a brace to help him stand, but his hand landed on something that felt vastly different from a blanket or mattress. Rune slowly looked over and saw a dainty hand move out from under the blanket, and a light moan and rustling came from the bed. A moment later, Teryn’s visage appeared.
“Morning, Rune,” she said with a yawn.
Rune’s face drained of all its color. “I am so sorry, I don’t…”
Teryn looked at her friend with an expression of visible confusion. Her eyes glanced about the room. They latched briefly onto Rune, then moved to the bed she was laying in before finally glancing at Rune’s letters on the writing desk that were not yet sent. A look of realization came to her face as she finally understood this was neither her bedroom, nor a campsite out in the field.
“Well…” she said slowly before a smirk formed on her face, “How was I?”
Rune broke into a fit of coughs, choking on spit as he accidentally inhaled from shock. “Wait! So, we… did we really…? I didn’t… I don’t…” he stammered.
The young woman broke out in laughter at the poor friend she was teasing. “Don’t worry, Rune. Nothing happened. Unlike you, I sobered up well before we returned to the Hall. You, on the other hand, fell a few times on the way home. I was worried you’d drown in your own vomit if no one was here to watch you.”
Rune sighed. “Thank the gods…”
Not that I’m opposed. She is quite beautiful…
Teryn’s jovial disposition quickly faded, replaced by offense and annoyance. “Thank the gods for what, you little shit?” she growled. “I’ll have you know I am a catch, and you’d be lucky to have spent a night with me.”
She once again sat there while Rune fumbled over his own words, attempting to find an apology to not make things worse or awkward. Once again, the Volari woman laughed at his predicament. She bid her goodbyes and turned to leave the room. Rune stood to walk her down since they were both already dressed, having passed out in their armor. Just as he reached the door, the world spun. The pain in his head surged in intensity. Rune’s vision blurred before going completely black, and he felt himself fall. The last thing he heard before his consciousness left him was Teryn shouting his name.
Teryn
Her wounded screams brought a wave of people up the stairs. The ever-present rumble of conversation from the crowds below instantly ceased, casting an uncomfortable silence unfamiliar to the Hall. The first to enter the room were Jeruul and Master Jacob. Teryn was on her knees, cradling Rune in her lap. She held two fingers under his nose to make sure he was breathing.
His breaths were so shallow and quick that the rise in his chest was nearly imperceptible. She then placed two fingers on his neck to check for his pulse. It was there, but it was also erratic and weak. A crowd of people had quickly gathered outside the room with Jeruul and Dannon rushing to the front to keep them back. Jacob broke through the crowd while he shouted for someone to fetch Karl.
“Girl, what happened?”
“I don’t know. We woke up and were about to leave to meet our party and take another job. He followed me to the door and suddenly collapsed like this.”
Dannon raised his eyebrows at the ‘we woke up’ part, but said nothing. Teryn realized that while he was a loudmouth, he seemed to understand the time and place for whatever comments in his head was not that moment. Jacob shouted out once again, yelling for someone to get Karl in the room. Several excruciating minutes later, the disheveled man finally stepped into the room.
“Damn fools don’t know how to move out of a man’s way,” he grumbled. “What’s going on?”
Teryn quickly explained to him what had happened. She backtracked all the way to their last fight against some Shadow Wolves that had been pestering Dorn and finished with the moment Rune fell. Karl was observing him before whispering something to Jacob. Jacob nodded and shouted at everyone to leave and head downstairs, Jeruul and Dannon included. He allowed Teryn to stay, much to her surprise.
She was about to ask what was happening when Karl closed his eyes and ran his hand over Rune’s chest. He did not actually touch Rune, rather he hovered about an inch or two away from the boy. A faint glow then emanate from Karl’s palm.
“What is…” Teryn asked. She had seen Karl’s eyes, so she knew he was not a Volari, yet he seemed to manipulate Aura like one would.
“I am not doing what you think I am doing. I am very much not a Volari,” Karl stated. His eyes were still closed, but he seemed to feel Teryn’s intense gaze and easily guessed her thoughts. “What you are about to witness, you will tell no one. Including Rune. If you do, you will put him, yourself, and your other friends in danger.”
Teryn nodded slowly. Normally, she would not agree to such a vague request, but for her friend’s safety, she had no other choice. Karl accepted her response. He quickly glanced at Jacob and nodded. Jacob responded in kind and pulled out a dagger, holding it in Karl’s general direction. Seizing the unconscious boy by the neck, Karl whispered the activation of a skill. “Drain.” His voice was gravelly and dark; a far cry from his normal upbeat tone. The act of him grabbing Rune’s throat made Teryn twitch, but she held her trust in the man who had brought them together.
Teryn pushed power through her eyes and witnessed a massive amount of Aura leave Rune’s body and flow into Karl. It had been some time since she had actually looked at Rune through her Volari Aura Sight. The last time had been when they first met and he seemed so devoid of Aura she thought he was suffering from Aura Deprevation. Now, there seemed to be so much in him that it nearly blinded her. Such a sight shocked her out of her concentration, returning her vision to normal. Somehow, though, she still could see a light purple and pink mist shed from Karl’s body. Whatever the mist was, it spilled out of his every pore.
Jacob lightly tapped the man on the shoulder with the blade of his weapon. He looked on edge and was ready to pounce. Karl grunted and let go of Rune’s neck. The strange mist was still falling off him while he sweat profusely. Karl’s breath turned ragged.
“Jacob, I need to go let out some steam after this. Have the Vanguard stay away from the woods for a day or so. I’ll be back,” Karl choked out. Each word sounded painful, but the man quickly left the room. Teryn was left alone with Jacob in a confused silence, with her friend unconscious in her lap. Rune’s breathing stabilized, though, and she felt her muscles relax.
Teryn slowly ran a hand through Rune’s hair while brushing it away from his forehead. She felt that his fever was gone and saw his face was no longer contorted in pain. Her eyes met Hall Master Jacob, questioning him. He simply shook his head while rubbing his temples, clearly at a loss on how to explain to the girl what she had just witnessed.
“Karl is…” Jacob began slowly. He swallowed before he continued, “Unique. I think that’s the best way to put it. What you saw is something you should never share with anyone in the Hall. Rune also needs to be kept in the dark about what happened.”
Teryn’s eyes widened in sudden panic. Her grip tightened around the young man in her arms. In contrast to his normal strength, he seemed so fragile at that moment. “But what if it happens again? What if he needs Karl to help again?”
“Don’t worry. He can be told that Karl helped him. You can also tell him to continue to go to Karl for any help, just like he has been doing. Nothing needs to change. Simply leave out some details.”
Teryn visibly relaxed once she confirmed that her friend’s health would not be in danger in the future. A few seconds of silence passed while she watched the gentle rise and fall of Rune’s chest. “Master, is Karl a Reaver?”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees. The young Volari did not dare to look up at the Hall Master. She knew if she did, what she saw would strip her of any drive to continue her questioning. She felt the intensity of Jacob’s stare, but she needed to confirm what she had seen. Karl was definitely not a Volari. What the man had done was extract Aura directly from Rune’s body; an impossible feat, even if he was Volari, as they could not remove Aura from an object, only manipulate it. This was how Volari clerics would do their work. They would move the Aura within someone’s body to force the energy to focus on supporting the body’s natural healing processes in the local area of injury. No, she knew Karl was doing something different. He was capable of something shared as myths, legends…campfire stories at best. It didn’t seem real.
“Yes,” Jacob answered, his voice dripping with frustration. “Karl is a Reaver.”
Based on the tone and the look on the master’s face, she knew that the threat from Karl earlier had been true. If she did not keep silent about what she learned, then she and her friends would be in a lot of danger. Master Jacob appeared so resolute in keeping this information a secret that it was likely the dagger he concealed would find itself in Teryn’s heart if she blabbed. Teryn locked eyes with her Hall Master before she nodded in solemn understanding.
Brick
Tayven stood in the training ring of one of the academy’s many practice rooms under the mirthful and watchful eyes of his much larger friend. The young noble’s opponent was a small, raven-haired girl with piercing green eyes. She held two wooden daggers, while Tayven held his wooden longsword and a practice shield. The two of them had sparred a few times already. Each match was almost exclusively started in response to them getting into an argument.
Tayven could not keep himself from making small comments that seemed innocuous to him, but in reality, came off rudely. This continued despite Brick’s earlier warnings. The girl, Venraya, was rather quick to anger and was still yet to get along with anyone else in class. In fact, the only person she seemed to do okay with was the professors. Though Brick had to admit, he had no particularly negative interactions with her himself.
“Look, Miss Venraya, I’m sure I don’t understand why you are so pissed off at me this time, but this fight will end, like all the others, in your defeat.” Tayven sighed.
“Really? You snot-nosed punk! I don’t know how your breakfast tasted on that silver spoon you shoved up your ass, but maybe if you spent a little less time acting so high and mighty and a little more time learning tact, then you might actually make another friend aside from Brick.”
“Ouch,” Brick mumbled. Tayven shot him a look, which Brick returned with an apologetic shrug. I tried to warn you. Thought you listened; yet here we are. Brick only smiled and kept his thoughts to himself.
While Tayven was distracted, Venraya attempted to take advantage of the situation and charged towards the blue-haired noble. It worked for the first attack, as her dagger contacted the outside part of his shield arm and ripped the young man’s sleeve, but the second was easily parried by Tayven’s sword. Tayven stepped forward to make a swing, but missed when Venraya quickly moved out of his striking range.
She’s improving.
This earned a small huff from the male combatant. In every fight, Tayven would take at least a few hits and though he tried to play it off as an allowance, Brick knew it showed Venraya’s skill. Brick remembered his friend complaining not too long ago that he could find no one to fight ‘for real’ with, but now that he had a worthy opponent, he was not enjoying what that meant. Brick was highly amused by the sight of his friend taking a few hits. He could always strike Tayven, but after a handful of matches, Tayven had quit sparring with Brick altogether.
Tayven grunted in pain again as Venraya landed a second hit on him. This time, she had baited a swing from her opponent before ducking beneath the blade and swiping at Tayven’s leg.
“Oh! That’s gonna bruise!”
“Shut up, you are not helping, asshole!” Tayven shouted.
“I’m not supposed to help!” Brick laughed.
“You are not supposed to distract me, either!”
Their fight continued for another few minutes before Tayven began to sweat from the exertion. Venraya was taking some shaky breaths too, but was still in a lot better shape than her opponent. This surprised both men since Venraya had been moving around easily two or three times as much as Tayven had during the fight.
“You ready to eat dirt, asshole?” Venraya said as she began a last lunge. About halfway into it, she threw her primary dagger straight at Tayven’s face. He instinctively brought his shield up to block. This blocked his line of sight of Venraya, who had dropped low to the ground. She quickly swept his legs as she slid past him, sending Tayven flat on his face. Faster than he could blink, she was on his back with her dagger pressed to the side of his neck.
“I yield, Miss Venraya, and for whatever it is worth, I apologize.”
“Good,” she said while rising from the ground. She glanced at Tayven’s outstretched hand before leaving the room without assisting him up from the ground.
Brick followed her and waited till out of earshot of Tayven. “I wanted to let you in on a little bit of information. While Tayven may occasionally say things in a way that appears rude or tone-deaf, he certainly does not mean it. It is hard to combat one’s upbringing. I assure you, his tone and his intentions do not always coincide. Also, I think you should know that he earned his way here. His father cut him off financially, so if he cannot perform adequately, he’s out.”
His word seemed to make Venraya to pause for a moment before she turned and faced him. “I didn’t know that. I just assumed he was using daddy’s money to buy his way through the ranks.”
“Actually, he’s only an E-Rank like us. He earned it himself after signing up in his hometown and doing his first ranking exam in Tennfeld to avoid any preferential treatment,” Brick informed her. He watched her closely and noticed that there was a blend of annoyance, guilt, and understanding flashing through her eyes in rapid succession, each replacing the other.
“I’ll keep that in mind. He’s pretty good with the sword at least. He can’t fake that, I suppose.”
“No, he cannot.”
By this point, Tayven had dusted himself off and stowed the practice equipment away. He had easily caught up to them and obviously overheard a portion of their conversation.
“Miss Venraya, I thank you for the compliment to my sword skills. Moving forward, I will endeavor to better understand how my words can impact others, even when unintentional.” Tayven bowed towards Venraya and then extended a hand. “Friends?”
