CAPITAL ISLAND:

I rub my temples trying to push away the headache that presses in on me. It has been a trying day; I fear we have worse ones ahead of us. I hear the crashing of waves against the cliffside and stand up from my vanity stool. I don’t need to see the same old wrinkled face anyway. I prefer to look at myself through memories of the past, back when my hair was a vibrant orange like the sunset with golden eyes to match. Back when these old bones didn’t creak when I move, back when this mind wasn’t full of so many memories of those now gone.

I step across the solid stone floor touching my thin-skinned fingertips against the velvet fabric of my bed, and then the silky drapes caressing my balcony door. So many textures in the world around us that so many of us ignore being distracted by our eyes. I feel the stone change under my feet to the brickwork of my balcony as I open the doors, the brass handle is cold in my hands.

I pull in a deep breath as a gust of biting wind blows through my body and droplets of seawater mist onto my face. The sea is far below, I can hear its roaring distance, but the wind will still carry. I’ve spent my life here, in this building, on this island. A life with little left to it now. Our people say that old age is the best blessing one could receive, the privilege of living so long that one can get old is uncommon. Funny though how it’s never old people that say that.

I breathe in a slow deep breath smelling the salt in the air, I do love the ocean. I always wanted to travel it, thought I would in earnest. But we do not so much choose the life we lead as it chooses us. Or is chosen for us. It hasn’t been a bad life, difficult, a bit lonely, but not bad. I was a prodigy at the academy, my tutors saw me as a bastion of hope. I could change the world if I wanted to, or at least keep us all living for another century. The latter, I have accomplished, though everything has its cost. I fear though that we are reaching a point where there is no price I can pay any longer for survival. No appeasement to be made. I was supposed to be the one to lead our people forwards, keep us going. Now I fear I will preside over our demise.

Three firm raps on the door echo through my chambers. I grip the railing in front of me and call back towards the door. “Come in.”

I hear footsteps enter the room, almost silent steps as if trying to sneak up on someone. My face pulls itself into a soft grin and I imagine all of the wrinkles crinkling on top of each other, I’m thankful I don’t see it. Faleen’s almost inaudible gait glides across my chambers to join me on the balcony, another gust kicks up sucking the wind from my lungs.

“Is this wise Aulon?” The young woman rests a slight hand on my shoulder, her touch is soft and hovering. Every movement she makes is graceful like a bird.

I pull my shriveled old fingers up to tap the back of her hand. “It’s fine Faleen. The cold won’t kill me. I just wanted to enjoy the waves at night.”

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Faleen pauses and takes in an awkward breath. “Aulon, the suns are only now beginning to set.”

I let out a sigh. “It’s all night to me these days.”

Her hand rests on my shoulders and gives a faint squeeze. “I am here to give you any support you need counsel-”

I wave my hand at her and scoff. “Oh, hush now. We are in private company; you know to call me Aulon.” Silence falls between us; I chuckle at the poor thing. “I know what it is like to be the young new counselor. It feels intimidating, challenging, and overwhelming. From day one you have these powerful people you have to prove yourself to and they feel so far ahead of you.”

“Yes, exactly.” Faleen breathes in with a slow breath, the kind taken when trying to breathe away worries. “You were the youngest member admitted to the council, weren’t you?”

I nod with a hum. “Yes. I was a young sprat of thirty-three. Below the required age by many decades. But they made an exception.”

I can hear Faleen’s arms lean forward and rest on the railing. “Why?”

I gesture off to my right at nothing but a blur of dark gray. “Oh, because I was amazing. Not only best in the class, best in academy history. There was no argument I couldn’t bring peace to, no solution I couldn’t find, no problem I couldn’t solve. I aced every test, memorized every line of every book, I was made for this.” I let out a disappointed breath, I was made for this. Now I don’t know. “Counselors have their appointments for life, unless they violate their vows of duty. A position opened up and no one knew when another one would. I was only the overseer of a small district in Thraz for my first assignment. But they offered me the job anyway.”

Faleen hums to herself with a happy tone. “They speak of you at the academy. Aulon, you have been at this post for one hundred and thirty-one years. In your time you have unified the cities, you have stopped infighting, you have prevented wars. The collective has blossomed in your time.”

I pat her on the arm and turn from the balcony to enter my chambers, the chill is getting to these bones of mine. I hear the slight, soft, footsteps of Faleen following me. The hinges on the door creak as she closes it. I run my fingers through the silky drapes again and find the soft covers of my bed, easing myself down to sit.

I pat the bed beside me. “Every blossom withers and falls eventually.”

“Aulon, if this is about you complaining about being old again-”

I cut her off. “To my desk, the top left drawer. There is a letter that came by wind duster this morning. Read it, aloud please.”

Faleen’s steps glide across the stone to the corner where my desk sits, a drawer opens with wood groaning against wood. Papers shuffle against one another until the wooden drawer shuts again.

The strong but soft voice speaks with all its proper tone as she reads aloud. “High Counselor Aulon our investigation of Arinos is complete. We send you this letter by wind duster, the information is too urgent to wait by messenger. We have found the wall was destroyed by way of explosive. We do not know how; we have inquired at Terra Guard but they confirm there is no explosive we know of that can cause this amount of destruction. The investigation found no equipment, armories, mines, or anything of the kind that could have caused an accident for nightstalkers to exploit. End of report.”

I reach my hand out as Faleen slips the small piece of paper into it. I set it down on the table beside me as I feel the bed shift with another person now sitting beside me. She breathes out with a tone of worry creeping into her otherwise calm demeanor. “What does this mean?”

I rub my temples again; the headache is coming back. I knew this report would not bring me any measure of comfort, I knew what it was going to say. “It means that our civilization is at its end. The nightstalkers have discovered the weakness to our walls.” I raise a hand cutting her off before she can object, shock evident in her gasp. “Nothing is without weakness. Our walls are formidable, but not impenetrable as we claim. Our only advantage has been the secret we have kept, a secret someone has learned of. Arinos was their test, and it has succeeded.”

Faleen’s voice trembles as she reaches out to take my hand. “Who could do this? The Srexi would not do anything like this, they-“

I reach a hand up to silence her. “I am blind dear, but I do not need a lesson on nightstalker clans. Speculation is pointless as we do not have enough information. We do not know who, how, when, or why. But we do know one thing. Death is coming and we are utterly unprepared to stop it.”