Chunks of glittering dawnstone protruded from the earth as Reial crested lake Yalon. A small body of water located on the southern outskirts of La’Shenta. Fishermen on small boats floated out onto the center of the lake, casting their lines with ease. What kind of fish lived in these parts?

Charette knelt by the shore, scooping up glimmering fragments in the water. Despite their shattered state, they thrummed with energy. Like Essence, but different. Alive, yet dull. What had they been used for in the past aside from making the Remnants? And why did they choose to build Remnants with that alone?

Charette’s scarlet eyes scrutinized the relics as she rolled them around in palm of her hand. Though they were fragmented, dawnstone didn’t erode. It remained whole in that sense. No dust, no finer grain.

Reial reached down and scooped up a handful himself. There weren’t many in the area, save for the shore they stood on. What were they when they were whole?

The dawnstone tingled like electricity in his hands. Tame, unlike the volatile Essence that belonged to a Strider. It shifted from side to side, pulling towards Charette’s own handful, but unable to fully bring itself to might. Exhausted, that’s what it was. But how can something inanimate be exhausted?

“You’re too curious sometimes.” The voice mumbled sleepily in his mind.

Great, even in its slumber It still had time to ridicule him. It wasn’t like he could just stop being so curious. Eston had taught him the values of questioning. Wanting to know why something worked the way it did, why people thought how they did, why events passed as they did. The world was filled with just as many answers as questions, the difficult part was assigning which to which. It also gave him something to distract his mind.

Picking a fragment of dawnstone with her freehand, Charette winded her arm back and tossed it. Skipping the dawnstone pebble across the lake’s surface.

“Nice throw,” Reial complimented.

Charette grinned. “Thanks, it’s all that experience from skipping pebbles at the pond.”

Rubble and debris. That’s all these fragments were now. Did that lessen their historical authenticity, or was it only natural for them to discard its forgotten significance?

Picking a smooth fragment from his palm, he cocked his arm back and whirled it across the lake with a charge of his Essence. Waves generated by the skips of the stone sloshed together as it traveled the entire length of water before crashing into a tree on the opposite side. It was of the shorter, white-leafed variety. Star-milks. Mundane in just about every corner of the globe.

The star-milk leaned back, bending and snapping before it collapsed on its neighbors, causing a chain-reaction that knocked down an entire line of trees. Birds fluttered to the safety of the skies, displaced from their homes by his unintentionally destructive toss.

Reial and Charette watched as several of the broken trees rolled down the shore and submerged themselves in the lake’s depths. Sharing a look of dread, they dropped their dawnstone chunks and silently left.

Scorch joined them as they returned to the road, his mouth full of glittering rocks. Wait…

“Scorch, why do you have dawnstone in your mouth?” Reial asked.

The drog bounced up and down, tossing his head back then throwing it forward, flinging a single pebble from his mouth.

Reial sighed. “I’m not going to do that again.”

Scorch whimpered and shot him a look that said “why.”

“I’d rather avoid deforestation going on my criminal record.”

Scorch’s eyes narrowed as he shook his head and made a low guttural sound.

“The birds aren’t going to be happy if I keep displacing them, Scorch.”

Scorch blinked slowly.

“No means no, now drop the dawnstone before you accidentally swallow it.”

With a gruff, Scorch released the many dawnstone chunks in his mouth. The saliva covered sunrise creamy stone gathering into a pile. Reial watched curiously, wondering if they would come together.

But nothing happened.

Putting that behind them, they continued down the road. Unlike northern Aunesfern, the southern half was less forested. Opening to wide-open fields, hills, lakes, and the occasional ruins. Those were usually built out of ordinary stone.

Reial had thought that ruins would be more prevalent in the northern reaches of the state. After all, that’s where Rei had grown and spread his influence. Then again, the Unification Wars, Nether Dweller Invasion, and the Hazrakian Descent must’ve had a part to play in their absence. Even Aunesfern’s many riches and detailed histories weren’t enough for it to survive unscathed.

Peering up at the partially cloudy sky, he caught a glimpse of the sun hiding in the midst. It was a good idea to have spent the night in La’Shenta, mostly because it had saved him from Charette’s bad hair moodiness due to a recent windstorm.

“Do you think the ancients liked shiny things?” Charette asked unexpectedly.

Reial arched a questioning brow.

“You know, because of dawnstone.”

“Probably?”

“It seems odd that they built entire things out of it. Look at the Remnants! They’re all made of dawnstone. Wouldn’t it have been easier to make them out of stone instead? Or steel?”

Reial frowned. The Remnants were the last surviving pieces of their past, monolithic works of art whose histories had been lost to time. They weren’t sure why anyone bothered to build on that scale. It seemed a pointless waste of resources.

“I’m not sure if I’m qualified to answer that question.” He admitted.

Charette rolled her eyes. “I don’t need hard answers, I just want to know what you think.”

“I think the ancients had too much free time on their hands.” He answered reluctantly. “As for a proper response, I really don’t know. I’m no architect, I’m a Veil Strider. I’d probably break the dawnstone if I tried fitting it into place.”

“Sometimes I forget that.”

“You forget your own brother is a Strider?”

She nodded. “You’re more than that to me.”

“Then what do you see me as?”

She looked at him with that same curious expression he had grown accustomed to. “Never mind.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Before he could question her on the matter, Charette ran off ahead, motioning for Scorch to hurry to her side. Reial sighed and followed her, and although she wasn’t a Strider, she didn’t tire easily.

That could mostly be attributed to the exercise they got around the forest. Playing games of chase with Scorch and helping around the manor as was Aunesfernish tradition. No matter how high in society you ranked, you were expected to help your parents and the household. Rei was said to have done this to his children to instill a sense of unity and humility.

Thunder rumbled in the distance as encroaching storm clouds crossed into Aunesfernish territory. They ran down the hill, hoping that they could get to some shelter before the rain come. Then, a shiver ran down his spine. It was there again. He couldn’t see it, nor hear it like last time, but he could sense it.

The thing was following them again.

He acted oblivious to it, calling after Charette to slow down so he could catch up. Whatever it was, it probably didn’t know he was a Strider.

How could something that eluded his eyes chase them all that distance? If there was one thing Reial was certain of, it was that this wasn’t an ordinary creature. Animals themselves were incapable of producing the same effects of Striding, Gliding, and even Shifting. That left him to consider his final option. That it was a Courser tailing them.

Coursers were famed for performing their jobs quickly and with exact precision. And though they weren’t all inherently Striders—reportedly, some were said to be ordinary Solvaylian Students—they were trained and equipped with the best gear to capture and detain such individuals. So why was it that they had done nothing but stalk them for nigh on three weeks?

Surely, there were times when they could’ve more than easily captured and returned him and his sister to their parents. That way, the government could keep things under wrap. Such was the nature of the secretive Coursers.

After half an hour of running, they found themselves again in the thick of the Aunesfernish forest. No matter how far you ran from them, the trees always caught up. Charette leaned forward, wiping the thin beads of sweat that had gathered at her forehead.

“Hyvas, don’t these trees ever go away?” Charette muttered.

“Perhaps they like us.” Reial teased.

“I’d prefer if they kept a minimal distance from me.”

He grinned. “Don’t worry, we’ll escape them soon enough. Recunda’s what? A few days travel from here?”

“Something like that.”

Reial ignored the hidden gaze that was burning into his back. Who was watching them? An ordinary man or woman? Or of the more deadly variety, like the Striders, Gliders, and Shifters. He never understood how you could convince a Shifter to do anything safely. You were always more afraid that they would completely obliterate their target. Unlike a Strider, they lacked control.

Luckily, he had the element of surprise with him. He hadn’t shown his true capabilities back when he had first sensed the Courser. At best, the person thought they were a Veil Seer and nothing more.

“Why don’t you ever use the sword Eston gave you?” Charette asked.

Reial blinked. “It’s for self-defense, Charette. I’m not going to flail it around looking for a fight.”

“Seems like a waste to have it strapped to your bag. Why not wear it instead? I bet it would look good on you. Just look at that white and gold! Stylish.”

Reial twisted his head around to see the pommel at face level with him. It wasn’t traditional metal, but a twisted version of cosmocury. “It does look good, but I don’t want to go and break it. At least not without looking at it first.”

“You haven’t even looked at it?”

“I didn’t bother to. I’m a Strider.”

She pouted. “But didn’t Eston gift it to you?”

Reial’s lips thinned into a line. The real reason he didn’t want to look at it was so he wouldn’t be reminded of the man. That, and he was afraid of how much money he had spent on the sword. He told him cryptically that it was “one of a kind.”

Slipping his bag from his shoulders, he fiddled around with the straps until the scabbard and belt slipped off. Hyvas, even the belt looked nice. The dark leather was interspersed with silvery rivets of an Empyrean’s respective symbol, with the buckle taking the uniform shape of the Empyreans Crown. His gaze shifted from the belt to the scabbard, which matched his jacket perfectly. Stark white with golden bits along the tip, midsection, and top. However, there was one thing he didn’t recognize. Three dots flanked by concave curves. Was that a symbol?

Reial stared at, hoping it would rekindle some lost memory. Nothing. Disgruntled, he wrapped the belt around his waist and buckled it. When he was satisfied with the pressure, he took a moment to admire it. It did look rather nice. If there was one thing Reial appreciated, it was matching items.

“It looks amazing!” Charette exclaimed. “I suppose Eston does have a sense of fashion after all.”

Reial smiled shyly. Eston had a penchant for teaching class in nothing more than a plain shirt, pants, and mismatched slippers. Then again, he was Uvandran. They didn’t care much about style. Save for Lacon. Tracing the silver swept hilt with a finger, his gaze gravitated to the odd pommel. It was shaped after a gem, which gem, he didn’t know.

The road continued to stretch ever forward, giving no indication of ever ending. Much like the constant burn of those eyes boring into him. What could he do? Attacking a Courser was illegal, after all, they were government agents. Non-violent means were the way to go, but what could they do? There wasn’t a place for them to run or hide.

He’s here, isn’t he? Came Charette’s message.

Unfortunately. He’s been following us for a while now.

What do we do?

Reial hesitated. Remain calm. That’s all we can do.

Charette shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket. She scanned the area ahead of them and frowned. Can’t we run?

I don’t think I’d be fast enough to outrun him for long. Especially with you two.

Hyvas!

Reial caught a glimmer of green light in his peripheral. There weren’t many options available to him. He couldn’t fight a Courser, considering they were government agents. Then there was a high chance they were significantly more experienced in combat than he was.

That’s when he saw it. A lone, decrepit stone shed in a clearing beyond. He sent a mental image of it through his link with Charette, and immediately began down the waning path.

Heaps of rubble were strewn across the area like jagged hills. The ground was scarred with scores of deep gashes, the air shimmered, and beyond all of that, there was a distant, pained howling of a distorted voice echoing from the shed’s dark interior. It was so faint that Reial could’ve mistaken it for the wind.

He hesitated as he stood at the foot of the entrance. This place was wrong. The cobbled steps led down into a bottomless inky black abyss. Even with his Sight, he couldn’t make out more than three steps before everything was shrouded in a deep nothingness. Whatever this place was, it overshadowed his fears of being captured by the Courser.

Charette looked at him with uncertainty, concerned about what could be wallowing in that abyss. If they did go down, however, that would leave little space for the Courser to hide. Then what? He thought. Get into a skirmish on the stairs?

The longer they stayed staring down the stairwell, the more Reial realized how limited his options were. Better this than continue traveling on the road.

A chill ran down his spine as he stepped into the shadows. That howling, that dwelling howling. It was louder now that he was inside. He looked back at Charette, motioning for her to enter. She did so and stiffened. Did she hear it too? Scorch slipped in underneath them, growling at the suffocating shadows.

“What now?” She whispered, her eyes darting down to where Scorch was.

A distraction. Something to occupy the Courser’s attention, but what? Causing a commotion would only garner more of their interest. Reial glanced at his faint shadow as beams of light filtered past them. Even in this darkness they flickered and distorted.

That’s it! “Charette, do you happen to know the chemical composition of humans and drogs?” He asked.

Charette gave him an odd look. “Kind of.”

“See if you can fact-check it on the Sygnal.”

“Why—Oh.” She finally seemed to realize what he was suggesting.

Charette settled further down on the staircase, as did he. For several minutes Reial watched as her face scrunched up as she memorized passages of scientific studies and evidence. If she were to do this, she had to know exactly how they functioned, else she would expend too much energy in casting this Trick.

Then, she breathed. Envisioning, imagining. Shaping nothing into something as she wielded the power of creation itself. The space in front of them shimmered and hummed, coalescing into a distinct shape of colors and features. Say what you will about her, there was no denying she was a quick learner.

Three figures popped into reality, one of Charette, Scorch, and himself. The copy of Charette stared at him, her features twitching as if she were trying to learn how to express herself. She looked at the copy of him and managed a smile. It looked sad to him. Scorch’s duplicate tossed his head from side to side, snarling at something behind them. Reial soon found himself face to face with his copy as it knelt to stare at him. Had Charette not given them commands yet?

“Where should I send them?” She asked him.

Apparently not. “How about back up the road to La’Shenta?”

“Wouldn’t they be suspicious if we returned the way we came?” She reasoned.

“Then what about sending them on our path? We could take a detour to Ereles and go from there.” Ereles was the name of a town in the southwestern edge of Aunesfern.

She nodded. “That can work.”

Turning to the copies, she reiterated his idea. Whether she gave them the ability to communicate or not, he didn’t know. They wordlessly hiked up the stairs without complaint. Scorch—that is the real one—looked at the facsimiles and then back to them in confusion.

“They’re just illusions,” Charette explained to him.

Seeming to understand, Scorch lay close to them as they waited; glaring down at the bottomless pit that threatened to devour them.