-26-
[https://i.imgur.com/LoYByv0.png]
The chamber door closed behind me as I gleefully raced out to the entryway of the assembly hall. Having sent my companions away hours ago, I was on my own to make my way back to the Triple Monarch.
Both Consular Gracci and Lord Adellin had offered to arrange for a guard detail—after I declined Lady Elin’s insistence that she make a call to the Astral Knights to send an escort. I declined the three of them as I wanted to spend some time around the city myself.
A shiver ran down my spine as I crossed the room at the thought of the scolding I’d get from both Hailey and Julius if they knew I was going to trounce off on my own.
Better make sure they just don’t find out!
I pushed open one of the double-doors, preparing to meet a bright and sunny day. Instead it seemed the day was already well into the evening. Not realizing just how long I’d been conversing with the elven council members my arm instinctively reached up to scratch at my cheek.
Ah, they’re definitely gonna kill me when I get back to the inn…
“Heh.” I let out a nervous chuckle and stepped down the stairway, disappearing into the winding streets of Umbraedomis.
My destination was a market district that was in the direction of, and pretty close to, the Triple Monarch. Unlike the shopping we’d done at the shops near the canals yesterday which were on the far south-eastern end of the city.
Rounding the corner of what was likely an alleyway, I emerged onto the main road that opened up to the main market.
Stalls were scattered all across an expansive white-stone terrace. They ranged from smaller one to two person outfits, to larger ones that housed a few dozen people browsing merchandise. Most of the stalls were flashy, with bright cloth and shiny trimming.
One such garish stall caught my eye, as they had two posed mannequin figures sporting beautiful cloaks. I found one that met my preference, that it be in a red that matched my uniform. Of the possible choices, it seemed to be around average, between being too overly gaudy or awfully plain.
I approached a woman seated at a table near the front.
“Excuse me,” I inquired in elvish, “Do you accept imperial coinage for sales?”
The woman lifted her head up with a puzzled look, likely wondering why I had asked such a weird question.
“Of course I do, what other payments would… Oh, by the stars! A human at my shop? My husband will never believe it.”
“Ah, well my apologies for the trouble. I’ve only recently arrived and wasn’t sure if everyone accepted them.”
In truth, we’d purchased our swimming wear and a few other necessities when we were with Lira yesterday, but she had handled the purchases and I didn’t even think to ask what sort of currency the people here used.
I gave the woman a single gold coin, and received a dozen silver in return. The price wasn’t too far off what you’d pay for something similar in Axio, so I was satisfied.
The shopkeeper remarked that I looked rather well armored for a traveler, her gaze lingered on my circlet and chron… chromiansteel?—my armor. She had a few questions about how many humans were in the city I came from, if I was some sort of adventurer, and if other humans knew about their city.
I tried my best to answer her while also trying to deflect and not tell too much, since I had just agreed to the Consular’s request that we hold off on any sort of announcements to the Aestori population.
After managing to sate the woman’s curiosity, I set off through the market again clad in my new cloak with its hood raised. With any luck I’d avoid any more conversations about humanity’s fate tonight.
----------------------------------------
Sitting on a bench at the edge of the market, I gently chewed on pieces of some kind of salted nut that I’d purchased from a nearby stall.
I watched as people made their way through the shops, my heart ached with a mix of guilt and jealousy.
If I could give the people back in Tolin even a fraction of the serenity found here—Huh? What was that?
A blur of motion interrupted the peace in the square. One figure came racing through the main street, being chased by half a dozen bulky figures. Probably city guards, judging by their tight formation.
I dropped my interest in the guards and tried to spot their quarry, if they were chasing someone through the city there must be some sort of reason. I was still snacking on my salty treat and was curious to see how this would play out, so I quickly took off after them.
The figure being followed was much more nimble than their pursuers, but not faster.
One of the guards nearly grabbed them, a hand flailed through the air as their prey rolled to the right and leapt towards a nearby narrow alleyway.
I was trailing behind the group to avoid suspicion, but as I peeked around the corner I saw an unbelievable feat of athleticism.
The person being chased jumped at one of the walls, kicked up off on the smooth stone flinging themselves higher to the parallel wall, and with another graceful thrust pushed themselves up onto the roofs above.
Anguished shouts echoed down the alleyway and the guards raced to follow them from the ground.
At this point I feared I’d lose them as well so, hoping that they’d have enough magicka for me to sense them, I channeled part of my mental focus into tracking their magicka signature.
Since only a few entities were moving quickly through the nearby area, it was simple to isolate the person being chased from the pursuing guards.
I ran through the streets, following the mental blip as it ran east, clutching at my hood to keep it in place.
The market square was separated on its eastern edge by a cliff-faced drop off, and soon the one fleeing had ran out of roof tops to bound from. Along the elevated terrain were a series of stairways and walkways that led down the cliffs or across them to other hilly outcrops.
One of those walkways was a fairly wide bridge that spanned a valley overgrown with tall grass and unkempt bushes.
I stared in awe as the figure jumped from the last row of buildings down to the bridge, sliding through a break in the railing, and disappearing into the foliage below.
Expecting them to continue running, I quickly began my descent to follow—but came to a stop on a ledge about halfway down, as the mental blip remained stationary.
Maybe they hurt themselves during the slide and fell?
I had no way of knowing if they were a criminal or some sort of wicked-minded person, but if they were injured and left down there on their own they might die. I waited until the guards passed by and then starting climbing down again.
After nearly losing my footing on the last rocky ledge I landed on solid ground and stumbled awkwardly towards the magicka signature.
Between the setting sun and the wild brush around me, there was no way anyone could’ve spotted them. Which probably made my emergence from the tall grass that much more surprising for the person trying to hide just a few feet ahead of me.
Sitting in the dirt clutching her arms close to her chest was a small and slender girl. She looked no bigger than a child not quite into adolescence. A tattered white cloth was draped over a gilded black bodysuit. Her arms were wrapped in what looked like a leather cloak.
She pushed herself back against the cliff walls in surprise, trembling in place.
“Hey, hey, easy there. I’m not here to hurt you.” I raised my hands up slowly with my palms out, “Are you hurt? I can take a look and heal any injuries you have.”
The girl turned her head erratically to both ends of the valley, though only for a fraction of a second before focusing back on me.
Realizing I’d just tried to calm the poor girl down in common I switched to elvish and repeated my offer to help her, though her stare remained unchanged. Undaunted, I crept forwards slowly while making myself as small and nonthreatening as possible.
The mental blips for the guards had all left the immediate area and I was certain nobody would be scaling their way down here immediately, so I quickly channeled a small amount of magicka to cast AURA OF LIGHT on myself.
Soft golden light radiated around me, illuminating both myself and the girl as I approached—revealing that my initial judgment was off. By quite a bit. I’d assumed that she would be an elf. A bias formed from her delicate size and graceful agility she’d shown while escaping from the guards.
Dark horns about six or seven inches long stuck up through her messy pink hair. What I’d thought was a cloak covering her up was actually wings that extended from her arms and hands, like a bat’s. Curled up around her trembling body was a slender tail that came to an end in fine translucent strands that looked like fur.
And to top it all off, glistening in the glow of my aura, were her uncanny orange eyes. An orange I was very familiar with… The same vibrant and eerie color as chaos magick. The color of Capricorn.
There’s no way. Right? No. No way this is the rebellious child that Capricorn was talking about.
But it was hard to ignore the similarities between them. Though the other two I’d met, Mors and Vita, both looked so much more similar to each other; Feathered wings and human-like features. It was possible not all of Capricorn’s children look that way.
Regardless, she was covered in scratches and bruises all over her legs. I reached my hand out to the frightened girl, but she flinched and clung to herself tighter.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Broken by her shuddering, a small voice came out from behind her bat-like wings, “Rek’Vari Sig! Yan Si Xe’Auhn!”
She spoke in a language I’ve never heard, but the emotion in her voice was clear… She was pleading for me to stay back. To not hurt her.
I hope this earns me just a little bit of trust.
Channeling my healing magick, I tugged at the internal thread that tied me to Capricorn and did a quick mental adjustment to the sigils that made up my HEAL spells to increase their range so that I could use them outside of touch range.
“Divine light, Heal!”
Golden light washed over the girl, who grimaced briefly as the healing magick took effect. Her pained face softened once the wounds had sealed and a barely audible sigh of relief escaped her lips.
I sat down on the ground with my legs crossed, keeping my current distance from her. “I just want to help you,” I whined, “What else can I do to get you to trust me?”
As we both sat facing each other in the dirt, I continued speaking to her in a calm tone. I had no real basis to trust that she understood what I was saying, but I had a feeling that she could.
After introducing myself, I explained that I’d seen her being chased and wanted to find out what happened. I wanted to convince her that I wasn’t with the guards who’d ran after her.
Eventually she relaxed her posture and let her arms down from hugging her legs. Whether it was because I was making progress or if she was just exhausted, I had no clue. I chalked it up to a win on my end regardless, and tried my luck to see if I could get a little closer to her.
I made it obvious I was shifting my position, and came to sit about an arm’s length away from her.
Though she was no longer shaking in fear, she was now shivering as the night set in and the air grew cold. I unclasped the fastener keeping my cloak around my neck and placed it around her. The cloth enveloped her tiny frame like a large blanket.
I sat back and smiled, “Hopefully that helps you feel a little warmer.”
To my surprise, the horned girl inched herself forwards so that her face was close to my neck. She closed her eyes and sniffed at me twice. It was a weird exchange, like how a cat might warily acknowledge someone new. Aside from the obviously strangeness, I had to admit it was also kind of cute.
She backed away a little and sat on the heels of her feet. With a quick motion her fingers traced out a sigil using runes I wasn’t familiar with.
“YOU SMELL LIKE MOM.”
Huh!?
Her words sounded inside my head—but not in a gentle way like when the Celestials spoke, which was more like a whisper in my ear—this made me feel uneasy, like the words were forcing their way into my mind—Like a certain Archdemon I’d encountered…
Could this girl be a demon?
I shook my head, clearing the disturbing thought, and refocused on the mysterious young girl.
“I smell like your mother? Don’t tell me you actually are one of Capricorn’s children…”
Her head cocked to the side in obvious confusion. A finger lingered in the air as she hesitated to drawn another rune in the air. Her expression became more muddled and she swiped her hand, dispelling the start of the runic tracing.
She leaned forwards to me again, but this time her forehead came to rest against mine, her skin felt frigid against my own. Words sounded in my head, but this time they weren’t as aggressive as before.
“What is a cah-pra-corn?”
So she can understand me!
“Uhmmm,” I muttered, “Nevermind that for now. Listen, I don’t think it’s safe here for you. It’s going to get too cold to stay outside, and you were being chased by those people from before. Do you know why?”
She shook her head gently. “I don’t know why. I’m not even sure where here is.”
“You don’t know where you are? You’re in the middle of the elven city of Umbraedomis.”
Head tilted to the side again, she looked at me with the same face as before, “Elven?”
“Those people chasing you were elves. They’re similar to my people, I’m a human—well kinda, but the difference isn’t important.”
“Human? You look like me and mom, but with no horns,” she grasped at her horns under the hood with both of her taloned hands, “Or wings… or a tail.”
The noise of footsteps stomping overhead echoed under the bridge as a group of guards passed by. The girl shrank down and pressed herself against me, clutching at my coat tightly.
Crap, the light of my aura probably alerted the guards now that it’s gotten so dark out.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.” I pulled the cloak over her head and positioned myself so I’d block anyone’s vision of her. With my aura’s light effect, it should make it hard to see anything behind me in the dark.
The sound of boots sliding down the rocky cliff were followed by the appearance of a guard stumbling out of the tall grass. The minute he saw me he lifted up his weapon, but after seeing I wasn’t the one they were chasing after, lowered it right away.
His armor looked similar in style to what Champion Varla was wearing this morning, and I recognized the Astral Knights emblem on his chestplate.
“A human, thank the stars. You’re one of the Empress’ party, right? What’re you doing down here?”
“Ah, I uh,” I reached into my uniform pocket and pulled out my coin, “I’m ashamed to admit it, but I clumsily dropped a family heirloom over the edge of the walkway above. It’s a one of a kind good luck relic, so I couldn’t leave it.”
“Is that right? Well, While you were searching for your coin there, has anything suspicious passed through this way? We’re responding to a demon sighting.”
Demon sighting? So they think this girl is a demon. I guess I get it with the horns and wings… and especially the way she initially spoke to me. But she’s so timid.
I felt the girl grip onto the back of my uniform coat, her hands began to shake.
“I haven’t, but demons in the city sure sound dangerous. I’ll ask the others back at the inn to keep an eye out for you.”
“Oh, don’t trouble yourselves. It’s just the one, and we’ve injured it already. You should probably leave this district if you want to make it back to your people, we’ll be putting it in lockdown. Once that’s in place you’ll be stuck here for a while, don’t want that Empress of yours getting worried one of her people is missing.”
“I’ll head back to our lodging right away then, thank you.”
The guard scrambled quickly back up the way he came, leaving the two of us alone again. The girl’s steel grip lessened and she collapsed against my side.
“Hey! You don’t look so well—shit, didn’t that guard say they injured you?”
I gently pulled the cloak away from her body and noticed that it clung to her backside. The cloth was dark and wet just above her hips. Peeling the cloak all the way revealed the extent of her injuries.
A deep gash ran down half the length of her spine. My mind raced with concern at the level of damage. She shouldn’t have been able to move, let alone hold a conversation with me.
Why didn’t you say anything before!?
“If you can still hear me, this is gonna hurt. Probably a lot. But you have to keep quiet or the guards will come rushing back over here, okay?”
“Okay.”
She didn’t make any effort to move in acknowledgment, it was like her body had passed out, but her mind was still aware of what was going on.
I positioned her so that her body was lying down flat, keeping her head on my lap. I place my hands over the wound and channeled my magick into it.
“Blessed and divine light, I pray to you. Grant me the power of your golden flame. Bestow your warmth unto me and save this one from harm. Heal!”
Soft golden light coalesced around the torn tissues, and they began to knit themselves back together. As the wound healed, I instinctively patted the girl’s head.
“You should be fine, I know it doesn’t feel pleasant, so thank you for not crying out. Do you think you can stand now?”
“No… I don’t think so. My body isn’t listening to me.”
She must still be in shock. How strange that she can still hear me and respond though.
“It’s not a good idea to stay here, I can carry you back to where I’m staying if you’d allow me. You’ll be safe there.”
A long pause made me wonder if her consciousness finally faded to match her body’s state, but after a minute I got my answer.
“I trust you.”
----------------------------------------
I raced through the back alleys of the city, avoiding the crowded and well lit parts of the main streets.
Wrapped in my cloak and being carried on my back as if it was a small bundle or pack, was the strange girl I’d saved from the city guards.
“Hey,” I muttered softly, “are you still doing okay?”
Silence followed my question for some time before a weak answer sounded in my mind.
“Yes.”
“I was wondering what I should call you. Do you have a name?”
“Mom calls me Akari.”
“Akari. That’s a pretty name. Do you know where you’re from?”
“Where I’m from?”
“Like, where were you before you were—shit, another patrol.” I zipped further into a darkened alley to avoid a group of guards marching down the road. I muttered under my breath, “So much for just locking down the one district.”
“Anyway, you said you didn’t know where or what this city was. Do you know where you were before here?”
“Home.”
“And do you know where home is?”
“Home is… Home?”
“Don’t worry about it too much. We’ll figure it out.”
I rounded a street corner and emerged onto one of the main roads, one that led directly past the plaza where the Triple Monarch was.
“We’re almost there, are you feeling better?”
“I think so. I think I can tell my body to wake up now.”
A shifting of weight on my back signaled Akari’s successful awakening. She squirmed into a different position as I continued to push down the road.
As we approached the complex, Akari insisted she could walk on her own so I set let her down and we crossed the remainder of the open space together.
“Okay. This is the place. My room is on the second floor, so we’ll have to sneak past everyone. I’ll head in and see if anyone is around, then I’ll come back to get you. Can you wait here? I’ll be right back, I promise.”
“Which room is it?”
I pointed at the balcony closest to us, “It’s that one, but we—”
Akari bent her legs, and kicked off the ground with a force that caused the air around me to swirl. Her winged arms fluttered and she gently landed on the patio outside my room.
“Will this work to sneak me inside?”
Both my hands had come up in my surprise.
“Keeeee-keeee!”
A high pitched cry interrupted the tension, and my head jerked to the source of the sound.
Mei’s eagle companion, Valiance, swooped down from one of the massive silver aspen monarchs.
I collected myself and motioned for Akari to stay where she was and sprinted through the reception lounge, taking the stairs a couple at a time. I blitzed past Julius, who gaped in disbelief as I flew down the hallway. As the door slammed behind me, I frantically turned the lock for good measure before rushing the balcony door.
Akari stood in the doorway with her head tilted to the side. The way my cloak hung so loosely on her gave the appearance of a child wearing clothing many sizes too big. I pulled her inside and pushed the door closed with my foot.