Legosia’s forces are pushing us from the east. He intends to drive us towards his southern army to crush us. Unluckily for him, that sort of tactic only works for an unorganized group of hallowmancers.

I can pull out my army at any time using my Afterburners, but he doesn’t need to know that. My former Remont need only believe what is convenient for him.

-From The Recently Deciphered Notes of King Arneshal, 4th Grouping

“And this is a delicacy?” Leane asked as she took a spoonful of the dessert. It had a flaky outer shell and a soft inside of warm fruits.

“To me? Definitely. Pies are the greatest foodstuff ever invented,” Galeon said, grabbing a slice with his bare hands. He tried to shove the entire pie into his mouth, stopping only when Leane raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, habit. Never know when we might be called into work,” Galeon told her. He took a smaller bite instead, while Leane still used her spoon.

They were sat around a single wooden table, though not inside of the army tent. The head chef, Lakon, had made an exception just for Leane, which Galeon was jealous of. Galeon was in uniform, while Leane had on a dress fit for winter.

He would’ve raised a protest, but he was happy enough that Lakon had served him too. Behave yourself around the girl. We don’t want her to run off scared, he said when Galeon asked.

What about Galeon would scare her, though? She acted strange around hallowmancers, but that would go away with time, surely.

Lakon came out, taking away the tins once they were finished with their meals.

“Anything else I can get you, girl?” Lakon asked her, pointedly ignoring Galeon.

“No, thank you. The pie was very delicious!” Leane gave him a smile, and the old man looked embarrassed.

“Well, come back any time then,” he muttered shuffling out of the way. Galeon and Leane left the table. He stretched his arms up and grunted.

“Least he’ll serve me food now,” Galeon said idly.

“You’ve been starving this entire time?” Leane asked.

“I’ve been eating, but just not the good stuff Lakon makes.”

“What did you do to the good chef to draw his ire?”

Galeon paused to think.

“I could tell you what I didn’t do?”

Leane laughed.

“The King must make many exceptions for you,” Leane said. The statement stung at Galeon though, and he felt as though the King was staring at him again. He didn’t even hear when Leane said something, his mind occupied with the image of a Ravenishtani blade and the morose man who wielded it.

“Leon?” Leane asked.

“Uh, yeah?” Galeon replied, snapping out of the trance he’d put himself in.

“You said there were other locations you wanted to show me. What were those?” Leane asked.

“Show you… Ah, right, the shops. Come here,” he asked, and Leane cautiously approached. Galeon placed his jets and held out his arm. She placed a hand in his, and Galeon pulled her close.

Thrust ignited in his jets, and Galeon took off into the air with Leane clutching him. She stayed frozen, like a statue, as Galeon ascended into the sky.

“Trust me, you get used to the height. And the view…” he breathed out, “that never gets old.”

He took her flying over the camp. Leane kept her eyes closed for much of the flight, but she peeled them open for brief moments. Galeon angled her upwards, letting her get a full view of the camp. He tried to keep himself slow, but it was hard to after years of instincts building.

“That’s where we sleep and train. When we’re not in a mission or working, usually we’re allowed to roam of our own accord,” Galeon explained loudly over the sound of rushing wind.

“Why are they there right now?!” Leane shouted back, pointing at a squadron of soldiers practicing with a spear.

“It’s a hallowmancer privilege, I guess,” Galeon shot back, “There’s the area for the commoners and nobles. That one is newer, but there’s fun people there!”

Leane scrunched her eyebrows, though maybe that was because of the wind.

“You bring children to the frontlines?” she asked.

“No, they’re just… here. We missed our families, so they came to visit and just… stuck around after. It’s been like this since,” Galeon explained.

“And you?”

“What?” Galeon hadn’t expected the question.

“What about your family, Galeon?” Leane inquired.

“My mother and father are long gone…”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Leane replied, looking saddened. Galeon smiled at her.

“I was raised by a baker, actually. Garl made the best pies in the village, and he’d feed me anything he’d have left over,” Galeon replied.

“This baker… was he a hallowmancer as well?”

Galeon chuckled.

“No, Garl wasn’t the sort to care about that. He said it wouldn’t really help him in what he loves, so why envy the powers?”

“He sounds like a wise man, Galeon,” Leane complimented.

“He is,” Galeon looked down at the shops and smiled, “We’re here!”

He dropped to the ground softly, carefully letting Leane off. She took a testing step on the ground, before placing both feet down and steadying herself.

“Couldn’t you travel easier?” Leane asked.

“I could skate across the ground, though I take sharper turns.”

Leane looked around, finding a carriage full of fruits.

“What about a cart?” she asked, nodding towards it. Galeon looked at his hands.

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“I’ll tell you when I can turn into a cart,” he replied.

He took her all over the streets, showing her around the various stalls and shops in the district. Hours went by as Lenae poked and prodded everything there. Some of the people grew annoyed with her antics, but Galeon’s presence soothed them.

She picked out a few dresses, some ornamental cups and a knife that she found beautiful. Galeon was forced to carry that, and hoped that she wouldn’t clear out the King’s coffers in the process. He was her honoured guest, after all, and maybe the reputation was enough for her to get whatever she wanted.

When she was done, Galeon had to go and drop off her belongings. He came back to find her missing confusingly. Galeon dropped to the ground and dispersed his jets, looking around the streets.

“Leane!” he shouted out, but heard nothing in response. A smith pointed him in the right direction, and Galeon crossed over into an empty street. Empty save for the automatons that worked on paving the roads, but those wouldn’t be of any help.

“Lea-” Galeon shouted again, stopping when he found her in between tents. She was looking at another woman sat on a stool. Galeon recognized her despite the hood she wore over her head. It was the same Necromancer he’d seen before, Argen. And it seemed Leane had struck up a conversation with her.

“Why are you sitting here all alone?” she asked.

“Because I like the quiet, that you are ruining,” Argen replied, trying to scare the girl off. One of the automatons came back, the rough jointed metal statue collapsing in front of her. It lost its burnt yellow glow soon after, as Galeon watched.

Argen sighed, pulling down her sleeve and touching the automaton with two fingers.

“What are you doing with that thing?” Leane asked.

“Animating it. Which is my job. Why do you care?” Argen asked, as if expecting to hear an argument.

“Can I watch?”

“You… want to?” Argen spoke in disbelief.

“I’ve never seen it before. I want to know how it works,” Leane replied simply. Argen looked past her at Galeon, who shrugged.

“I can’t bother with the both of you anyways. You’re free to do as you wish,” Argen replied, letting out a breath and closing her eyes as her fingers met the automaton.

Yellow light, bordering on orange, ignited on the surface of the automaton. It rose to life, working its joints in much the same way a human. Then it walked away, set to a task by its master.

“Are you satisfied, now?” Argen asked, annoyed.

“That was… beautiful. How did you do it?” Leane replied, undeterred.

“It’s a forbidden hallowmancy. I can’t tell you how it works, but I do know there aren’t many of us left,” Argen explained.

“Why? What happened to the rest of your kind?” Leane asked. Argen shook her head.

“We don’t know. We’re a dying breed. But I suppose that doesn’t matter to His Highness,” Argen said bitterly.

“That’s not true, Argen. You know the King values your powers highly,” Galeon chimed in.

“If that were true, Afterburner, would I have to stay here? Be kept hidden like something embarrassing?” Argen asked.

Galeon opened his mouth for a reply, but nothing came.

“I thought so. Now leave me, I’ve got roads to finish paving,” Argen told them. Leane wanted to ask more questions, but Galeon pulled her away from the scene. Seraphas have mercy on you, godless hallowmancer.

They crossed over into another street, walking for a bit until the sun began to set. Galeon looked up into the sky and grinned softly. Finally, I can show her.

“Leane, do you want to see something amazing?” he asked her. Leane hesitated.

“Yes, I suppose,” and locked her arms around Galeon.

“You’ll love this,” he said and they began to fly. Galeon rose slowly, so as not to hurt Leane. If he moved too fast, her ears would pop, or she’d feel disoriented. Galeon let her appreciate the sight of the camp as they flew higher into the sky.

The workers who were tidying up, the children getting tired, and the soldiers marching along. The buildings and tents arranged around half-formed roads and spires constructed hastily for the Afterburners. All those sights receded from view, till they were nothing more than barely noticeable fixtures.

Leane stared for a long time, at that sight, enraptured by its look.

“We’re going to go to a scholar after this,” Galeon said, grabbing her attention.

“To get me checked?” Leane asked.

“In a way, I guess. I just wanted you to know, whatever the result, you won’t miss this sight,” Galeon said, then gestured over in front of him.

The sun cast down streaks of red, yellow and orange, mixing with the blue of the sky to show purple on the horizon. The spectrum of light shone down on each building, each person, in the camp, painting a beautiful sight reserved only for those in the skies.

Leane was left speechless. For a long moment, she simply took in everything there was to offer; Drank greedily of the picture painted before her.

“It’s… beautiful,” Leane spoke.

“It’s what I see every time I come up here. From this distance, everything looks so small, doesn’t it?” Galeon replied.

Leane nodded.

“Small, yes, but not insignificant,” Leane said.

“Really?” Galeon asked.

“I think so. If it wasn’t important, I don’t think I would care for the sight,” Leane said, in an almost rueful tone.

“We should get back down. The King will want to talk to me, I’m sure,” she added, and Galeon agreed.

He brought her down from the skies, gently letting her onto the ground in front of Egil. The old scholar was twirling what little hair he had on top of his head, and beamed at the sight of Galeon.

“Back for more experiments, boy? We could always use your hallowmancy,” He said.

“Where would you even apply it, Egil?” Galeon asked.

“Think of it. Carts not pulled by horses, but pushed by Afterburner jets!” Egil said.

“Sure, if you want a bunch of angry and insomniac Afterburners after you,” Galeon replied to the absurd idea.

“Bah! What are you here for, then?” Egil asked, losing all interest in the conversation.

“Leane,” Galeon said, pointing,” The King said I should have her checked for hallowmancy from you,” he added.

Egil gave her barely a glance before concluding, “She doesn’t have any.”

“What? But you haven’t even checked her!” Galeon asked, annoyed.

“Don’t need to. Just look at the cuts on her body. Faded, but you can tell they’re old.”

“So? That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have powers!”

Egil shook his head. “It proves that before whatever happened to her, she didn’t use them. Or there wouldn’t be scars in the first place,” he told the both of them.

Leane rubbed a hand over her scars, looking pensive.

“Maybe she didn’t know she had powers before that, either! I didn’t know I had any until I was ten!” Galeon countered, growing annoyed.

“Very unlikely. But if you’re going to be so adamant, fine.” Egil moved from his workstation and took off the gloves he had on. He looked Leane all over, much in the same way a doctor would, before producing a bewllan crystal from his pockets.

He flicked the crystal over to her and she caught it clumsily.

“Try to drink from that. If you can’t, well…” Egil didn’t finish, moving away.

“I think he may be correct, Galeon. I don’t remember anything about hallowmancy… maybe I don’t have it,” she said, but Galeon remained convinced.

“Come on. There must’ve been a reason you were inside of Sanasira! Just try!” Galeon told her.

She focused on the bewllan, trying to sense the energy contained within the crystal. Even with encouragement from Galeon, it proved difficult. The words he’d give didn’t help much, and Leane grew more frustrated by the moment.

At the end of it all, she threw the crystal away.

“I can’t do it!” she shouted, and Galeon backed off. She crossed her arms and refused to meet his gaze.

“I’m sorry. You were just… very annoying,” Leane told him. Galeon chuckled.

“You could’ve at least pretended to apologize,” he told her. She let a smirk crawl onto her face.

“Why waste the effort?” Leane replied. Though she looked a bit better, she still stared off at that bewllan crystal laying on the ground.

“I must not really be that special, am I?” she asked. Galeon saw the disappointment on the girl’s face. She really had thought she could do it.

“Garl wasn’t the only one to raise me,” Galeon began to speak.

“There was another?”

“Two, actually. A smith named Linhlo and a tailor called Jance. Linhlo taught me that my powers shouldn’t be my crutch. That I should walk on my own two feet so I don’t forget how to. Jance taught me that I should walk with other people. If I got too prideful about my powers, they’d make sure to bring me down to their level.”

“Neither of them had powers, but I respected them regardless. They made do without what I had, and they didn’t feel lesser for it.”

Galeon thought back to the smiles on Linhlo’s face when Galeon first forged something with her. It was a crude knife, but he loved it so much that he used it for everything. When he was done, he would change out of his clothes and into the ones Jance had sewn for him.

The tailor always complained that Galeon was growing too fast, but he never once refused to make him something to wear.

“The powers, Leane, they limit us as much as they give us freedom. I’m expected to fly around, given that I’m an Afterburner. Expected to worship Seraphas, our patron God. But you? You could do whatever you wanted without anyone thinking otherwise. Pick whatever sect you wish to join,” Galeon told her.

“You really believe I could do that?” Leane asked.

“Wholeheartedly. You said it yourself. You’re the daughter of Elneshe, and we’re going to figure out what that means together,” Galeon told her. Leane looked down, to where he couldn’t see her expression.

“Thank you, Galeon.”

“Come on, we’ve got to get you back to His Highness.”

And the two of them took off once more, leaving the ground for the skies for their last flight of the day. Galeon caught Leane staring at the camp while they flew, her eyes kept open every moment of the way back.