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Chapter 53
From the beginning, Ezabel was completely entranced by a great number of Attendants. She read all about their triumphs and spent countless hours daydreaming about what they might have looked like. She treasured the idea of each of them being a paragon of strength, kindness, and charm. There was no opportunity for any other interest to make an impact on her.
Even now, she was extremely fond of the evenings she spent under her bedsheets. It was always right before she slept and it was always in the middle of one of Alm’s famous white winters. To be wrapped under her blanket was the coziest she had ever felt. It was even better when she managed to steal the sealstone lantern they had so that she could read in the dark.
There was Gatrie Addington, the Guardian of the Amber Coast. Roseline Bellpine, the Pride of Bellpine Thicket. Syras Redcrest, the Shade. - It did not matter who she read about and what they could have done to deserve such celebrity. Ezabel imagined them with a beautiful or handsome face. And, of course, they stood tall and proud. It may have been superficial, but her younger self held a little too much influence on her at the moment.
Despite it all, Ezabel fell silent as she stood there in the garden. Her doe eyes were wide with awe and her breath had stopped suddenly. She could not explain what it was about Soren then that had captured her notice so firmly. - His eyes were set alight by the fire of the Echo, but there was something else within them that made his gaze far more deadly. It was genuine and powerful, as if he had every purpose in the realm to destroy the boulder before him. Ezabel had never seen such focus. Not even in Xavier did she find any semblance of the same drive.
At once, she realized that there was something more to Soren than she had believed. It lasted only a second, but it was already a stark contrast to the kind personality he had shown her so many times before. If nothing else, that moment made her truly believe him to be a far more worthy teacher than anything she could have hoped for.
When the hail of crushed stone subsided, only a divot remained in the boulder’s place. Soren took his arm back and let it fall under his cloak. His steel gray eyes then shifted to Ezabel and Dani, the latter of which took a step back out of sheer surprise.
"Neither of you will be able to make a dent in the trials if you can’t figure out how to successfully fuse the Echo with your body. Starting now, we will be practicing every morning. I don’t need to tell you what happens if you approach this without any care.”
Soren was right. Both Ezabel and Dani were witnesses to the assessments in Angoulet. A great number of people failed to even activate a knightstone. Worse, there were those that did and were unable to tame its power. There were many injuries that evening; broken bones, bent limbs, and even collapses. The last thing either of them wanted was to suffer the same fate.
“How are we going to practice without a knightstone?”, Dani interrupted. Her words were quick to shake Ezabel from the thought of broken bones.
“Who said that we don’t have a knightstone?”
At once, Soren pulled from the pouch on his belt, a gleaming marble. He held it between two fingers where the sun shone through it like glass. It was all too strange to think that such a small, insignificant object held within it the power to become a legend. Through it, an infinite amount of potential waited. It was an intimidating thought. But, Ezabel braced her resolve. She had already used such an object once. She could surely do it again.
“Where did you get that!?”, Dani perked up. “I mean, I didn’t know Attendants could possess more than one knightstone!”
“They can’t.”, Soren shook his head. “This knightstone is a courtesy that the Citadel has given to the two of you. Since you are sponsored candidates, they have allowed you to practice utilizing one under my supervision.”
Dani looked excited. Her eyes were wide open and her palms were held tight; they practically shivered. But, they suddenly stopped. There was no doubting her enthusiasm and absolute obsession with all things concerning spellcraft. However, she would be the first to admit that the notion of wielding a knightstone frightened her. Her body was not very cooperative with the Echo and it nearly put her in danger several times.
Her latest attempt came during the assessment in Angoulet. After the monster attack and Ezabel passing out, Leonora offered the remaining candidates the opportunity to finish out the assessment. Dani took the chance, of course. But, her results were no different from the previous year.
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Hesitation sunk into the deepest part of her being. Even with Soren’s guidance, Dani could not be certain that she had the discipline to avoid hurting herself. To throw herself at the task at hand was a tall order. Her feet even struggled to take a step forward.
“Ezabel.”, Soren called. “Let's have you go first.”
Admittedly, Ezabel kept her consideration largely on Dani when she noticed the sudden change in her excitement. It was strange to say the least. She had known Dani to always be on the cusp of losing her mind if the topic of spellcraft ever came up. Now, she had the opportunity to begin on that very path. Yet, she was hesitant? - Ezabel turned quickly when she was called.
“O-okay!”
She found it difficult to refuse Soren’s suggestion for her to begin. Mostly because he was larger in her eyes now. His presence was all the more potent and impressive now that she saw his strength first hand. But, most importantly, it was that fleeting moment of drive in his eyes that Ezabel was so strangely beguiled by. She hoped that she could find even the slightest drop of his confidence or his discipline.
It laid in the back of her mind, but there was always the lingering worry of being consumed by the very same presence that haunted her beneath the amphitheater. Even in Angoulet, the Echo brought to her the strange feeling of being watched. It was as if her usage of a knightstone and the Echo was being ridiculed or hated.
It was a foolish thought. She thought it might have been caused by the stress of the trials. Whatever the case, it remained a small portion of her mind. It was not quite enough to chase her away from pursuing what she hoped to accomplish here in Gracewind. So, it was with a firm first step that she began to approach Soren and the knightstone.
°°
Disaster did not strike the heart of Gracewind often. In fact, any of the city’s inhabitants would be hard pressed to identify any moment in recent history that they could even consider as a disaster. The capital was impenetrable. Not to mention the fact that it was the home of the Order of Attendant Knights. No one in their right mind would even attempt to make a scene here. And yet, a portion of Duncan’s Yard had been shut down for that very reason.
Being higher than the rest of the city, the sun beat down hard on the dock that Leland found himself on. Although the situation had already been explained to him, he combed his gaze through the place with a great deal of vigilance. Toward the edge of the dock, a large airship called the ‘Ambrose’ was landed. It was tilted in a way that suggested a great deal of force had been applied to it in one way or another.
Of course, Leland had already been briefed as to why it appeared in such an orientation. It was for the very same reason that a great handful of soldiers from the city guard were present all across the dock. Captain Gareth of the Clover Brigade had engaged and subdued a mysterious creature here the night before. These were the scars that clash had left behind.
The surface of the dock was beaten and battered; it was torn and scratched so deep that it would not be unrealistic to say that it was no longer structurally sound. - Leland looked to be idle, but in reality, his attention passed from one end of the scene to the other. This was all too familiar to him, and it was irritating to say the least.
“I never thought that these things would be bold enough to come here of all places.”
A voice called out from behind Leland. Despite her small stature, Yuel Jenas of the Zinnia Brigade stood firm with her arms crossed outside of her cloak. The omon looked just as vexed as Leland did, so much so that her horns nearly steamed with anger.
“It may be an isolated incident.”, Leland answered, although his attention was still very much on the hull of the Ambrose. “This was much too sloppy to be the design of an enemy’s.”
“Sloppy? The damn thing set its disgusting feet in our home. We need to get to the bottom of these mock-knighstones, Leland.”
“There’s no one else here who would love to do that more than me. But, you heard Atalanta. This stays a secret until the Order can decide how to proceed.”
His words put Yuel in near shock.
“Um, excuse me? Am I talking to the right guy here? When the hell did you start listening to what Atalanta had to say?”
She was right. This was entirely out of character for Leland. On any other day, he would already be setting out with a plan to pursue the first lead he could find on the whereabouts of one of these ‘mock’ knightstones. They were far too dangerous to be left to the unknown. Anyone in the realm could be hurt at any second because of the Order’s inability to locate a source for them. Yet, there was something about the scene that did not sit right with Leland.
“The Ambrose was carrying a knightstone, was it not?”, Leland practically ignored Yuel.
“Yeah, it was. It was meant for the trials; one the Order wanted to lend to the candidates for practice.”, Yuel tilted her head. “Why do you ask?”
Leland did not give her an answer. His gaze kept to the ship’s hull and peered inward, even from a distance. To his knowledge, this was the second time one of those monsters had appeared in the vicinity of a knightstone. It may have been a coincidence seeing as how he, Yuel, and Gareth had their own respective encounters with the monsters, all without the presence of a knightstone they were aware of. However, the thought was beginning to earn its keep in Leland’s mind.
It was worth looking into. If only the Order had not commanded them to sit tight while they convened on the next step against this issue. - In the grand scheme of things, this was on the lesser side of troubles the Order had ever dealt with. It was no stranger to dealing with unknown creatures or the unchecked use of the Echo. And, it was precisely that fact that began to worry Leland. This had all the potential to become something that could present a great threat to the realm. Not only were these creatures abundantly strong, they were an absolute enigma.
There was no commonality between the places they had appeared thus far. And, there was no pattern to their attacks. They were feral and more than a match for an Attendant. To make matters worse, the Order did not have a lead concerning their origin. - Gareth and the Clover Brigade did well to kill the creature the previous night. Leland paused at the thought.
“Yuel.”, Leland called out once again.
“Hm?”
“The creature, did Gareth kill it?”
“No. It was subdued when another brigade arrived to help.”
“What?”, for the first time, Leland turned his gaze toward her. “Where is it?”
“It’s been taken to the Citadel.”
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