Outside the city, Aerean and Elion were making their way through the forest. Stretching out from the city in all eight cardinal directions was a system of roads – shaped somewhat like a spider, which is partially what the city got its name from. To get from one road to the other, one would usually have to cross through the city itself. In each of the eight pie-shaped parts that was between each road was a thick forest consisting mostly of leafy trees that had lost most of their greenery over the past few months leading up to winter. Due to the low amount of leaves left the two of them had little cover, but thicker vegetation lining the roads at least gave them a small amount of security. It would take a long time to get from the western road to the eastern road, but Elion was not complaining whatsoever. After all, what could be better than talking to Aerean and getting to know her better. He could think of very little.

  “So, those gems of yours, are there any others?” he asked while walking a few steps ahead of her, paving them a way through the forest in an effort to get them through as quick as possible.

  “There should be, although I really don’t know if they’re still around. Even if they are, I’m already lucky enough to have retrieved three of them. I doubt I’ll be lucky enough to get the other two,” Aerean remarked regretfully. “It’s unfortunate really. You should have seen me when I used all five, I think you would have liked it.” Elion turned around to see Aerean smile at him suggestively.

  “How do you mean?” he asked.

  “I just think you would have liked it. I used to be pretty impressive, you know?” Elion laughed, nodding as he turned back around and continued paving their way through the trees.

  “For the record, I already think you’re pretty impressive. Gems or not.”

  “Well, yeah, you say that now… but without any gems I’m just that bird you found caged in a kobold den.”

  “And even back then I thought you were the most beautiful bird I had ever seen…” Elion shut up just as he realised that what he had said sounded kind of… creepy.

  “Beautiful? That’s how you would describe me?” Aerean asked in return.

  Stammering, Elion tried to formulate a response.

  “Well, of course, I mean- I hunt for a living. I’ve learned to respect the beauty of nature…”

  “So you’d compare me to one of the deer you shot down to skin and sell?”

  “What? No, of course not! It’s just-”

  “I’m just messing with you Elion, calm down. It’s alright, I know what you meant,” Aerean interrupted him. Elion breathed out a heavy sigh of relief before she overtook him and decided it was her turn to lead the two of them.

  “You know, the forest is kind of my specialty,” Elion remarked.

  “Oh is it now? Because from where I was standing it looked like you were tripping over more than just your sentences just now,” Aerean said. Elion could feel his cheeks flush with blood, but decided to comply instead of trying to overtake Aerean – who was noticeably lighter on her feet than he was.

  “So, these gems, what do the other two do?” he asked a few minutes later, trying to get the conversation back to a slightly less awkward topic – awkward for him that is, Aerean was having fun flustering him.

  “Well, they were created to help me live a normal life despite my curse. The gem of strength – the one that makes my avian form considerably larger and much stronger – helped with my physicality. The gem of awareness – the one I found embedded into those sandals – helps with my focus, allowing me to hear and see things I otherwise would not be able to. Then there is the perfect gem, the one that cancels out my curse,” Aerean explained, pointing to each of the gems as she talked. “The two that I haven’t retrieved yet are very different from each other – especially in importance. One of them allows me to speak to others telepathically – quite useful on the battlefield, but not vital considering I can communicate and get around pretty easily. I’ve been trying to find it mostly because I’m curious if perhaps it could work for Tallioth.” She looked up at the sound of a branch breaking, only to see a bird flying up as it got startled by their presence. The wind beneath its wings, soaring freely through the sky.

  “The last gem enhances my inherent magic. Ornids have a natural control over wind and air, but mine has never been that powerful – a side-effect of my curse; the only part of my curse that doesn’t get lifted with the perfect gem. Using the gem of potential all the magical energy locked away by my curse is unleashed, allowing me to create powerful storms and guide the winds exactly where I want them to go. At least I would be able to if I had the skill, which unfortunately I don’t. Even though my inherent power is greatly amplified, I still need to actually know how to use it…which is where I’ve failed thus far.”

  “I know how you feel,” Elion said. “Back in the catacombs, I felt this huge well of power inside of me trying to break the surface. It was a pressure like that of a huge lake being held back by a fragile dam. However, even the diluted version of my powers that managed to seep through the cracks was too much for me to make use of efficiently.”

  “How do you know that?” Aerean asked him.

  “Think about it,” Elion started. “Artoris used this power – this exact same power – to shape the universe. Our entire world was created by connecting and moulding pure chaos into an ordered structure. All I managed to do was pull on a few strings.”

  Aerean nodded understandingly. Back in her childhood, she had witnessed her mother weave incredible storms to fend off enemies, floating through the air as she forced the currents to bend to her will. Back then, she looked up to her mother. Before all the bad things happened. In a way, Elion looked up to Artoris in much the same way. Of course Artoris had done things – there was a literal mythology written around all his wrongdoings – but he was a shining example when it came to utilising the power Elion now bore. And who could ever live up to the literal god who created the world?

  “I think you’ll surpass him. Someday,” she said as she turned around to face him. Standing face-to-face, she could see the tears start to well up in Elion’s eyes. She hadn’t noticed how beautifully coloured they were, the bright green of the one contrasting with the deep purple of the other – both looking incredibly sincere. “After all – and forgive me if this sounds corny – but you have something Artoris never had.”

  “And that is?” Elion asked.

  “Us. We’re all here to help you Elion. I don’t know what it is, but I doubt it’s a coincidence that you ran into me and Tallioth – nor do I believe that you meeting Randan or taking Aly with you was up to chance. When I saw you for the very first time I felt drawn to you. Tallioth as well, he knew that you would be the ones to free us – that you were the direction we were supposed to go. It all feels destined somehow, fated,” she said.

  She – of course – was right. I don’t take credit for any of it. I don’t decide the course of history, nor do I decide the future. That role belongs to a much higher power, one that even I cannot truly explain. I can only see what will happen and play my part accordingly.

  Elion looked up into her eyes, still amazed himself at their brightness. He could feel how watery his eyes were, the tears just waiting to jump out and start rolling across his face, but he refused to let them. Instead, he hugged Aerean.

  “Thank you,” he whispered into her ear. It felt slightly awkward, especially as he slowly realised that it was in fact the first time he had embraced her this tightly. There are rules – unspoken ones – as to how long you can hold a hug before it becomes clear that friendship is not the only emotion at play, and they surpassed that threshold by a lot. Luckily for him, Aerean held him just as tightly as he held her, and together they stood like that for a while.

  Once the tears in Elion’s eyes had subsided, they let go of each other. He felt the need to apologise at first, but decided not to when he saw her smile. It was a smile that radiated nothing but warmth and comfort, immediately making him forget about all the worries in the world.

  No words were spoken as they continued walking through the forest, but an air of emotion hung between them. Casual smiles and stolen looks, the occasional brushing of one hand against another. As they walked, Elion forgot all about his troubles and actually managed to relax and be happy for the first time in a while. It was a nice break.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  ???

  As the last bit of sunlight filtered through the barren trees and twilight fell upon them, Elion and Aerean looked for a place to set up camp. Elion gathered some firewood while Aerean took a bunch of fallen trees and stacked them together to form a wall. With the lack of foliage, they were at a high risk of being spotted through the trees from a far distance – especially with a fire at night. However, winter had now officially begun and at night the cold was too much to bear without a fire.

  They had found a nice place with four large trees forming a square around them. Between each tree, Aerean built one of these improvised log walls. This way, they could avoid being seen as well as keeping the warmth of the fire from spreading too far. It took some help from Elion to actually get the walls built as high as they needed them to be, but in the end they had quite a nice campsite for the two of them. As long as they kept the fire contained and kept the flames low to the ground, no one would be able to spot them.

  After their dinner – well after the sun had set and darkness had fallen upon them – Elion decided to stand up and peer over the walls. It was a decision fuelled mostly by curious paranoia, but one that paid off greatly. For in the distance – towards the east, where they would have been walking as soon as the first light of day shone through the trees – he saw the lights of multiple fires flickering. From what he could see, it was a camp many times larger than their own. The fires were way off in the distance but he counted at least five smaller ones and one large bonfire in the middle of the camp.

  “Aery, check this out,” he said, waving Aerean over to him. Aerean, who had been dozing off by the fire, was jolted awake suddenly by Elion’s voice. She could hear the worry in his voice.

  “We’re not alone,” he continued, pointing out the collection of fires. Apart from the dancing lights, they could see very little, but Elion faintly heard the sounds of singing and laughter.

  Aerean clasped her hands together, uniting the two halves of the gem of awareness she still had embedded into her wristbands. She had asked Randan and the others to get her some actual metal wristbands, as the leather ones she had now were rather…flimsy. Still, they were functional enough. With the two halves of the gem united, Aerean could feel her senses sharpen. Even though there was very little light – no more than the moonlight trickling through the branches of the forest and the flames casting dancing shadows against the trees – she could see as if it were a bright summer’s day. She focused on the faint sounds of merriment coming from the camp. The sounds became clearer and soon she felt like she was right there, standing by the large bonfire. She couldn’t see what was around here, but she could form a mental image of the camp that combined both the things she heard and what little she could see from her vantage point.

  It was a large camp, twenty tents at least, probably each filled with four or so people. Many of them were soldiers, but far from all of them wore weapons. The ones that did wore a large two-handed broadsword on their back and a smaller sabre on their hip. The weapons most commonly associated with the Brotherhood of Alen – the human branch of the Church of Alen.

  Usually, the elven and human branches of the church tried to stay as separate as possible. Clearly, something had happened that forced the two to work together. Aerean didn’t know for sure, but she guessed that Elion had something to do with it. She tried to hone in on the largest tent – the only one clearly not meant to be used as a sleeping tent.

  “Octari has found one, a tendril. Apparently it’s right beneath the city. He wants our men to go in and get rid of it,” an older male said.

  “Why doesn’t he send his own damn men in for a change? I swear Gard, they treat the brotherhood like their own personal army! We are ranked just as high as he is, yet he acts like he can command us like pawns in his twisted little game!” protested a younger man, clearly more zealous and less accustomed to the politics of the world than the first.

  “As I explained before, we want the same thing. We want the heir. Octari’s intelligence is vital for the success of our mission, we need the information he has. If we do this for him he’ll provide us with everything he has.”

  “He promised us the exact same thing last time!” the young man protested again.

  “Lower your voice, captain! Or must I remind you which one of us ranks the highest? Lord Artir has chosen us for this mission, but make no mistake. You lead your troops, I lead the mission,” the older man – presumably named Gard – said to his subordinate. “Inga, you’ve been unusually silent. Any thoughts?” Gard turned to another person in the tent, one who had indeed been so silent that Aerean hadn’t even noticed her.

  “None. At least none that matter. I’m going out,” the woman named Inga said before standing up and moving towards the tent door.

  “For Alen’s sake Inga, you’re just as much an officer as we are. Act like one for a change,” the young man commented.

  “Iagar, shut up. I might be an officer in rank, but we all know I have very little to do with management.” A few seconds of silence followed, the younger man – Iagar – apparently being dumbfounded by Inga’s response.

  “Just tell me where this tendril is and I’ll deal with it. No men necessary,” Inga continued.

  Gard sighed heavily, clearly growing tired from dealing with these significantly younger officers.

  “It’s below the bathhouse, somewhere in the basement. Deal with it quietly, please?” he said.

  “No promises, boss,” Inga said as she left the tent and flung herself into the air. Aerean had heard about these soldiers, although fortunately never having run into one herself. The Brotherhood of Alen rewarded highly skilled warriors with mechanical enhancements – courtesy of Alinaian engineers. If this Inga was confident enough to take on an abyssal tendril by herself – as well as having made it far enough to be rewarded with a high rank in the brotherhood – she was likely somewhat of a one-man army.

  Then again, so was she. Aerean followed Inga’s presence for as long as she could. She didn’t know how she did it exactly but Inga appeared to be hopping from tree to tree, launching herself across the canopy. Simply fascinating. A part of her almost wanted to go after her and challenge the woman to a fight, just for the fun of it. The part that fought for fun had been buried long ago however, and she refused to let it come back to the surface.

  Aerean broke her focus, and returned to their own camp – still sitting next to Elion who had been waiting patiently.

  “What’s the news?” he asked.

  “The Brotherhood of Alen has set up camp right next to us. Tomorrow we’ll have to find a way around them, but that’s not all. They’re actively hunting you. And they have a mechanically enhanced soldier with them that’s strong and skilled enough to routinely take out tendrils.” Elion’s eyes widened, and he took a second to reflect on the news. It was way worse than he’d expected.

  “That might become an issue,” he said eventually. Aerean nodded, walking back over to the fire.

  “Not much we can do about it though,” she said.

  “Do you think we could take her on?”

  “Depends, what we do you mean? The two of us? Perhaps. Would be far easier with all five of us though. And keep in mind, she’s not alone. She is most likely the biggest threat, but there’s a small army of trained warriors stationed in that camp as well. Judging by their size I think it’s the only camp they have in the area, but still. Let’s just hope the others get what they need and we can get out of here as soon as possible without drawing too much attention to ourselves.”

  On that note, Aerean went to sleep by the side of the fire. Elion still spent a good hour tossing and turning, worried about what would happen. He decided that if the worst happened and they were forced into a fight they could not win, there was only one way to give them an undoubtable advantage.

  He would have to lift the enchantments cast upon him, and deal with the consequences.