Aura of the Moon - Chapter 13-15 (Patreon)

Chapter 13

The two robed men stood on either side of Haron as she left the projection. The Shape was released for both the illusion and the sending. Both men lowered their hands. They were stood atop the side of a sloped rooftop a block away, closer to the Gates leading out of town.

“You spoke to her.” The one said.

“It's time to go.” The other added.

Haron nodded her head. “Thank you for humoring me.” She turned, but stopped moving in mid step. The brothers stood perfectly still as well as a weight fell over them. Haron made an about face. All three of them regarded a young man in his late twenties with short black hair and golden eyes. A black cloak rested over a set of advanced-looking plate armor adorned with chains and curios. Various symbols of the Empire and Sol. A sign of royal blood. A sign of the followers of Sol. An insignia of Castezin itself and his family. Many symbols.
“This was faster than I anticipated.” Haron's hood fell back over her head as she bent at the waist into a low, exaggerated bow out of respect.
“What a pleasure to meet Almos Castezin in the flesh.”

“What an unfortunate circumstance to meet the former Master of the Moon Tower in my domain.” He responded with a sneer. The man stood at the other end of the sloped roof. He began walking forward assuredly.

Haron rose, sweat on her brow. “The Moon Tower is already a relic of the past. You have quite a good memory, Your Grace. You were this big when it was brought down.” Haron playfully laid her hand flat at the level of her waist.
“You may not remember me, but I knew your father quite well as a Patron of our Tower. He was a great man.” She offered diplomatically.

“How nice that you came to repay my Father's kindness by kidnapping my people. Is there a reason Castezin is paying for your grudge against the Empire?” He probed.

“I truly have no grudge. Being Silenced was not an end for me so I do not consider it as something grudge-worthy.”

“You doing this in my territory without any grudge just infuriates me even more. You think this Duchy is an easy target?”

“Yes.” She stated flatly.

“Haron!” One of the brothers snapped at her.

The woman sighed, tussling her wavy raven hair. “What? He is not going to let us go without a fight, regardless. There is no point in sugar coating things. The land of Castezin is an easy target Your Grace, and a convenient one. Or so I thought. Such strange interference from one the most unexpected sources, I must say.”

“The girl?”

“Did you bring her here purposefully?”

Almos did not let on even a whiff of what he was thinking or feeling as she said that. He was stone. “Not your concern.”

“Did you know everything already? It feels as though my plans were directly targeted. It is as though someone is seeing into the future.”

“How could that be?” He continued walking forward, stopping when they were roughly ten yards apart.

“That's enough!” One brother shouted.

“We've already been talking for too long! Why are we just standing around speaking when he intends to hold us here and kill us?” The other brother to Haron's right raised his hands. Castezin readied himself. The first Brother on her left placed a hand on Haron and began to turn with purpose in his eye.

Haron was distracted, her eyes wide in confusion. “Why... Something's wrong.” She muttered. Whatever it was, it felt wrong and distracted. Rather than escape she observed and attempted to think through what she was feeling while the brothers acted without her.

The brother that was about to rest a hand on her spoke hurriedly, with definite signs of frustration in her. “You know I need you to be in motion for the Blink conditions. Move!” He was still in the midst of turning, resting his eyes on a point far away. With his other hand he was in the process of raising it with his thumb and pointer circled like a monocle. On the other side of Haron the man was about to clap his hands together hard.

Almos tensed, the hairs on his neck standing up. He felt the forceful movement of air around him like two objects closing in rapidly. He expended Energy to lurch forward as the Brother's hands closed together. There was a clap, a small sound from the man's hands coming together, but behind Castezin a deafening crack resonated and sent a shock-wave out from it that had roof shingled flying in every direction. Things were moving quickly So many actions were taking place over the course of seconds. The Brother opened his hands and turned them, one at his chest and his other forward by a foot. He clapped like that. Crack.

Before the brother could open his hands again, Castezin was lunging towards the other Brother and Haron with her sword. It was a long, thin sword with a small guard. There was nothing fancy about it, it was a sword for a man that simply viewed weapons as tools.
“Varsham!”

The brother named Varsham stopped what he was doing and tried to turn. His left arm with his hand closed except for his middle and pointer finger pointed back in the direction of Castezin before he could fully face the man. He fired blind, but aim was not a real issue.
“Flare!” Varsham shouted.

A fireball was a kind of a Shape; a rudimentary Shape that fire could take and Aurors could produce with enough effort and study, because a ball was a simple three-dimensional object and fire was a concept that was understood well. Castezin was not shocked by fire, and he was not daunted at all by most Shapes that Aurars could produce with only pure destructive power, but the fact that the word Flare left the Aurar's mouth forced him back ten paces, then out of the way ten more in the blink of an eye. Even then he wrapped himself in so much Aura as to be fully protected. This is because a Flare, one of the Highest Shapes of fire was not a power obtained by an imagined orb combined with a concept of explosive firepower. It was an observation of Sol's power given form. A waft of hot air blasted the Auror's loose cloak away like a bag being blown in the wind. The revealed figure was an older bald man with sunken cheeks and auburn eyes. He wore a white shirt with rolled up sleeves and a patterned black and gold vest. His tailored pants had creases in them and his boots were pattenred similarly to the vest with leopard spots. He had a gold chain that hung from his belt and ended in his pocket.

From Varsham's two extended fingers came a red and gold flame that shaped into something akin to a loosely woven rope with multiple strings coming loose. It licked out like the tongue of a dragon tasting the air. It swelled in spots and sent out wisps of those smaller gold and red strings all around it unpredictably as it twisted in air towards where Castezin was moments before when the Shape was aimed. The Shape of Flare wound over the roof in a twisting, unpredictable path before finally dissipating. In it's wake, melted tiles formed a hot crater in the roof that was still dripping white-hot tile. It allowed them to see into the floor below. A barren home with no one inside.

Almos breathed heavily. His expression showed that he was at least wary of them at this point. One side of his face was burned red from where the Flare only came close, even with his Aura wrapped around him as a protective measure. Before he could recover the first Brother had already reeled his hand back and brought his palm down towards Castezin who was standing at most fifteen yards away at the top of the roof. As his hand came down an invisible force crashed into Castezin from above, collapsing the entire roof beneath him and sending him to the ground floor with the hand's follow through.
“We did it.” He muttered.
“Let's get out of-”

“No!” Haron bit the corner of her lip, chewing a little to the point of drawing blood. It was not for no purpose at all, it simply confirmed something in her mind.

“What?” Varsham looked at her.

“We are dreaming! Wake up!” She shouted. From the beginning the scenario was all wrong. Without even realizing it they had been lured into talking. Instead of using their power to leave they were drawn into a fight. It was as if they had been piloted towards those actions without knowing. They were not completely without sense, however. To fight him instead of run immediately was an option. However, things did not add up after that either. There was no one else around. Even the home below was empty and they were drawing no attention when previously the Knights were extremely quick to respond.
“Varsham, Reyod! Wake up!” She reiterated.

“Shit.” Reyod tried slapping himself.
“For how long have we been dreaming?” Nothing was working.

“Less than a second.” The Duke advised.
“Outside of this dream I am in the process of lunging at one of you.”

“If we take him at his word the dilation within the dream is great. We have spent roughly a minute inside, which means that a minute amounts to almost a half-second at this time?” She closed her eyes and attempted to think.
“We have less than a minute. How do we wake up? Think.”

Castezin clicked his tongue. “How does one wake up from a dream? Maybe you can't.” He suggested gravely. Haron looked around. They could hear him but not see him. She knew it was impossible for there to be no way out, otherwise the Dream would be imperfect and weak. Power in any form required established rules and logic.

“This is the Shape of Dreams. It doesn't need to be governed by logic but there needs to be a type of logic to the structure.” Varsham thought out loud.
“Think about the rules of this dream that we've seen so far.”

Haron also voiced her thoughts. “Time dilation.”

“Allegedly.” Reyod muttered.
“There's no reason for him to tell us the truth, either.”

“If it isn't the truth we're already dead or captured and it doesn't matter.” Varshad counted down in his head.
“Maybe ten more seconds according to his rules and our estimate. Either could be off.”

Almos landed beside the second brother. The shocked Rayod looked up at him. “Rayod, was it?”

Rayod did not answer, but merely flexed his palms and breathed. It was all he had time to do. Castezin took his hand and shook it. Rayod popped out of existence within the dream. Both Haron and Varsham saw that much.

“It's touch!” Varsham reached out but Almos avoided him, and Haron easily. He disappeared into smoke that was still being sent up by the smoldering roof.

“No.” Haron saw it more-so than Varsham. The handshake had drawn Varsham's eyes but not hers. She saw Castezin's blade sinking into Rayod's chest from the side before he disappeared.
“It's death.”

“Are you sure?” Varsham's voice was shaking.

“We will meet in the afterlife regardless if we do not leave.” No sooner than she said that did the rooftop where they stood ignite in a brilliant explosion of red and white light.

Haron awoke. She was staring straight ahead. Her eyes slowly moved but were not fast enough to catch the blur that was Duke Castezin. Rayod was slightly faster. His arms outstretched, his hands open. Then before he could clap, like a sausage on a butcher's table his arms began to be cut starting with his fingers. His wrists separated, then his forearm, then his elbows and his bicep until all was gone right up to his shoulder. He fell back in stunned silence. Castezin stood over him as Rayod fell back. Less than a second was a true estimate. The Duke had traversed who knows how far in less than a second. Then in less time than that Rayod was crippled and effectively silenced due to his unique Shape. Varsham acted quickly and pointed with two fingers. The Duke clicked his tongue and bounced back farther than he did in the dream. Explosive movement required no precision. Great distances could be covered quickly if all that was needed was to move from one end of a roof to another in a blink of an eye. To get back, however, Varsham calculated that he needed to slow down within five yards for fine movement, otherwise he would be vulnerable. That meant he had time.

“He saw everything in the dream! In an instant he gathered all that information.” Varsham uttered in bitter admiration as he wheeled around, took both Haron and Rayod and blinked Rayod close; he disappeared an a flash. Rayod's body that was falling back landed on a lower rooftop fifty yards away. As Almos rushed forward Varsham used his free hand to form a monocle with his thumb and forefinger that showed him the land outside of town as clearly as if he were standing just far enough away from it. Haron disappeared next. He felt the air licking at his neck from Castezin's sword as he stared down while falling forward. He landed on his stomach on the same roof as Rayod, who was bleeding out. Castezin cursed to see the Aurors make a clean escape from there.

Rast landed beside him. Almos pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “That's a face I haven't seen often in all my years.” Rast observed.

“The Moon Tower Master, two Tenth Ring Aurars at least, and our new Knight. I wasn't looking hard enough, it seems.”

“Could they be together?”

“No.” Almos touched his lip with the side of his finger as he thought it through.
“Too much fear and anger and sadness from her. It's not a guess to say that the girl was trying to stop the Moon Tower Master's plan. But why? And how?”

“There's too much precise info in play for all matters involved to just be coincidences.”

Castezin waved his hand before leaving. “We'll find out. Tend to them and see to it they all take medicine to help them sleep.”

Chapter 14

Rayod was shaking and growing pale. His wounds were bleeding far too much. Varsham had to make a serious decision.
“I'm sorry, Rayod.” He held his hands to each of the stumps and concentrated on igniting the wounds to cauterize them. Rayod screamed in agony, but it was not the pain that Varsham was apologizing fore. He knew that his brother would never be able to use his Shape again. To begin with, Rayod had restricted his Aura all down to one simplistic concept, like a Knight. As an Auror it provided an extremely high level of power to the Shape that was chosen. Varsham did the same, but in a more general direction with flame. He could use other Shapes as any Auror, but they were diminished in effectiveness. He relaxed a little as Rayod stopped bleeding.

“I know I would've died if you didn't do that.” Rayod had his head hung. Varsham could tell that his brother was wondering if there was a reason to stay alive at all. As they were both recovering, the remaining mercenaries who were able to use Soma met with them. There were six in total. A mercenary was a reliable sort. In the sense that the employer could always expect to be found again for payment if one or more were left alive.

“This whole damn thing was supposed to be a cakewalk!” A man shouted, yanking his mask down under his chin while pointing his sword at Varsham.
“Where's that damn woman? Either you pay us here, all of us the entire sum or we find another way to collect.”

Varsham looked at the man. “Haron is responsible for payment, and payment is not even a problem for us. As discussed, the full amount that was to be paid per person will instead be split among those that were left. Where is the Captain? He was supposed to be strong. Close to a Named Knight.” There were two reasons the Blood Eagle remnants were hired. They were acting as an illegal company to begin with, and also their leader Becker was on the cusp of becoming a Named Mercenary, just without the Mercenary title.

The man relaxed a little. Varsham's calm tone and clear explanation told the defacto leader that everything said was the truth. “The Captain's gone. The Winter Knight showed up. It was a wash.”

Varsham had to acknowledge that it would be hopeless, in that case. “We had to escape from the Duke as well. My Brother lost his arms. Believe me when I say we had no intention of it ending up like this.”

“Okay fine. What do we do now? Where's that woman with our money?”

Varsham concentrated for a moment, breathing slowly. “She left through another means but we know where to meet her. We're close to the-” He stopped, his brow furrowing.
“Something's coming. One person. Not the Duke. Not the Winter Knight. I can promise that.” There was something called Brightness. After using Aura an individual was simple to find using detection methods.

“No one you know?”

“No.” Varsham looked again.
“They are... Not someone I can pick out at the moment.”

“Tell your fastest man to take my Brother and go north. Haron will find them eventually. Whoever is approaching is too fast to escape from. My brother is useless right now and if one of us dies your contract is docked.” Varsham argued. The merc was reluctant to lose a man, but agreed the moment money was involved. He picked out a man quickly and had Varsham hand his brother off. Rayod was carried off by the fast mercenary at a dash.

“So it's a fight. There's literally no one else here that's bad news aside from those two. We fought off the Elites to make it here.” He pulled his mask back up over his nose.
“Let's make 'em regret following us!” The five remaining mercenaries all gave a light salute by tapping their left shoulder with their fist. Varsham looked with Aura to make sure Rayod was making good time. He nodded once they were already at leasta  click away. To far to catch. That made a remaining group of five elite mercenaries and one Tenth-Ring Aurar. So long as it was not the Duke or Rast, Varsham guessed that there was no one in Castezin that could cause them trouble. So, the plan was to eliminate the tail and move to follow Rayod quickly before more showed up.

“Don't let him get away, either, by the way. If he follows us-”

“You think I'm a rookie? This guy is done for.” The merc interjected while pointing to the others. They each began to spread out in a circle.

“They're here. They slowed down.” Varsham advised.

“It's too dark, guy. Can you do something about that?” The acting captain whispered.

Varsham made a crossing motion with his arms and shook his head while whispering back. “You want me to tell anyone else in the area exactly where we are?”

“Point taken...” The man grunted.

They could hear steps. Boots crunching dirty. The figure was veiled by night, since Varsham wanted to prevent any light from giving away their location. The man that walked in a seemingly clueless fashion into the center of their spread-out formation was reasonably tall with a short cloak that hung around his elbows. His arms were curled not in a ready stance, but as if his hands were in his pockets. He stopped. There was an uncomfortable silence.
“Oh...” The pompous voice trailed off.
“No light? Then allow me.”

- Minutes Earlier -

“She must have had a plan when choosing this place. She really said nothing to you, Brother?” Nealin probed. The two were seated in a carriage that was bouncing uncomfortably along the road into Castezin. They had a light escort of just two Knights riding alongside them. Earlier in his life Caelin would have required more protection. However, as he grew strong he became more satisfied just having one trusted guardian. That spot used to be reserved for Ayla. In her absence he begrudgingly took two veterans to at least have the appearance of security.

“There's almost no rationalizing it. If she had an idea she'd at least tell me. If anything it felt like she was avoiding me.” He scratched at the corner of his eye and stared out the window into the dark.
“My letter of recommendation that I thought Father would be receiving instead floated over to Almos Castezin? I have no clue what she's thinking.”

“It's lucky that the Duke hosts an open banquet event after every Full Moon.”

Caelin rolled his eyes and waved away the comment. “Barely anyone goes to this backwater event except the vassals under him.”

Nealin grinned. “It is open, so we don't have to send word ahead of us, but I still think that bastard will feel insulted.”

“Good.” Caelin uttered, leaning his chin on his palm as he continued  to stare out the window.
“Would Ayla know that I have my eye on Castezin? Maybe I took her for too much of a fool.”

“Seems like a long shot for her. Like you said, she didn't talk to you about it. What conclusion can we draw?”

“I thought that woman was nothing until I saw her the night of the Full Moon. If I assume that she's stupid again now and pass over a good opportunity I would deserve to lose her.” He shifted comfortably where he sat, uncrossing one of his legs.
“That's what I think, anyway. This is far too coincidental.”

Nealin's gaze flashed to the north. “Brother, there's people gathered in the woods a few hundred meters out from us. Two of them are bright, so they've been using Aura.”

As Nealin said that one of the Knights knocked on the glass. Nealin opened it. The Knight leaned down and alerted Caelin.
“Lights are up over Castezin. That's a sign of an emergency if they're using fireworrks to that extent. What should we do, Your Highness?”

“I will discuss it with my Brother and let you know what we decide.” Caelin offered in a friendly tone. Nealin shut the window. He looked over and saw his brother had a dangerous look about him.
“I think I should go for a walk. No reason to tell the Knights, just close the blinds.” He opened the opposite door at an opportune moment and leaped out into the night before any protest could be spoken. Nealin could not find a reason to be worried at all. His brother had, after all, just received the Shape his blood granted him as a member of the Imperial family, and while it was difficult to tell, Nealin estimated that it was close to the strongest version of it in the history of the Empire since it's inception.

-

The Night lit up. The Prince stood before them as a picture of nobility in white and gold. It was not a friendly light like the night of day. They were angry rays emanating from a toiling red and gold orb floating and spinning a foot above Caelin's right shoulder. It was mostly red and spat fire like a Flare just by existing. Varsham was so awed by the sight of an effortless recreation of Sol that he only barely avoided disaster. As the moment the sun appeared over Caelin's shoulder he felt a jarring shift, and a jerk. He dove to the side and grabbed a tree as he felt himself being pulled towards the Prince. Varsham dragged himself up fearfully, like someone being chased onto a boat by a monster. He stood up shakily but found he was able to remain fully erect on the formerly vertical surface of the tree. Gravity had shifted. It was drawing towards the Prince. He looked for a moment. It was a mistake. He shielded his eyes in time. The body of the prince was masked in blinding light. The only thing that could be seen was the angry image of Sol spinning. He blinked away the spots in his vision.
“Do not look at it! Remain in shade!  Attempt to climb out of range!” Varsham read the Shape immediately as a person that had studied Sol exhaustively, and the Shape the Prince was using had the logic of the Sol behind it in so many respects that could not be ignored. It was similar to the highest Shape possible for an Aurar that specialized in fire, but still different.

“It uses Sol's logic. It carries things in it's orbit to keep them close, it blinds those who stare at it-”

“If it pulls us in we just have to jump down and attack with momentum! Go!” The merc in charge ordered from a higher tree near Varsham. The entire landscape was changed from their perspective. The ground was a sheer cliff and all the trees in the forest were merely branches that were protruding out. Looking up, the ends of  the trees were bending down as well, close to cracking.

“No!” Varsham screamed. He could not look. He heard holding back a chuckle. Two men that blindly jumped down with the plan of using the gravity against Caelin by reaching him with momentum were burned as they reached a certain point. Then in the remaining time it took them to fall towards the Prince their skin and clothes were gone, then their bones as well turned to ash and as their weapons and armor fell further those became red, then white, then disappeared into nothing. Dust circled for a few moments, then even that was pulled into Sol.

“Th-this is insane!” The merc whined.

“I told you! We have to leave.” Varsham insisted.

Caelan began to speak. “I recognize one of you by voice. The men that escaped punishment by pretending to not be involved.” He shook his head, making a tutting sound.
“That was a humiliating moment for me, you know? My lowest point in all my years. I couldn't believe that anyone would be able to escape punishment. But here you are. Blood Eagles? I assume you go by a different title, now. To be frank, I don't even need to show any judgment here in dealing with you. The punishment for disobeying an Imperial order is death.” He sounded giddy.
“If all of you want to jump into this Shape of Sol right away, go ahead. But I'll warn you, everything follows logically. As one of you seems to already have found out.” Caelin pointed up. The sun was slowly moving.
“For further information, this sun is not permanent. Just as in reality this version of Sol appears in the 'East' over my right shoulder and slowly moves over my head to set in the 'West' over my left shoulder. I can not move from this spot even an inch in exchange for the power to keep all of you here with me with Sol's gravity.” Varsham's mind took in the conditions rapidly. He was wondering how long it took to set.
“My more intelligent friend here is probably wondering how long it takes to set. If you look...” He paused to see if anyone would, then sighed when no one took the bait.
“Though, it's not a good idea to look at Sol, you can take my word that it is already half way to 'noon.' The time overall is six minutes.” He removed his hands from his pockets and flashed three fingers on each hand, not that they could see.

“If- If we last six minutes in the shade we can probably finish him off.” Varsham advised.
“Or we can continue trying to get out of range of his 'orbit.'”

“Anyone that tries to escape that way, I will stop personally.” Caelin advised.

“Bullshit.” Varsham grunted.

“Agreed. Everyone just get out. Jump from tree to tree like you're climbing a cliff.” The captain ordered.

“Stay in the shade, as well! As long as you can between jumps.” Varsham added.

As the remaining four mercenaries, including their new leader, tried to jump Varsham stopped before his own attempt as he heard something terrifying. Caelin pointed with two fingers and said calmly.
“Flare.” Varsham stared with terrified eyes as a winding string of red and gold licked out and struck through one of the jumping mercs in mid air. As the flare shot through him, his body disintegrated out from the impact in an instant. The man was dust before he even knew he died.

“F-fuck! Use it! He can't cast that again for a few-” The defacto merc leader began, before being interrupted by Varsham shouting.

“No! Get down! It uses the logic of Sol!” He cringed, watching the flare arc around until it struck through another merc in mid air before returning to the red ball it emerged from. Like a true solar flare it returned in an arc without escaping. Varsham shook and remained in place. The defacto leader remained as well. All of the trees that had been close to the flare's trajectory at all were burning and those too slowly cracked and were pulled down into other trees, disintegrating once they came too close to Caelin. The parts of the entire forest within range that were not shaded, as well as the leaves and branches were blackened and crumbling as well, if they had not already burned. Smoke, debris, everything that was kicked up was sucked into Sol and disappeared.

“We- We have to wait.” Varsham admitted. His fire was not powerful enough to fight Sol. He knew that from the beginning.

Caelin mimicked the chiming of a bell. “ Ding... Ding... It's almost noon.” He hinted. Varsham was frowning, staring down. All he could do was stave off despair with the hope that the worst was over past noon. The remaining merc was crying, clinging to the shade like a child gripping his mothers dress.

“There are those that said I cried at that time. They said it in private rooms, spreading that rumor throughout the capital.” He sighed heavily.
“Since neither of you are leaving, I'll admit it. It wasn't a rumor. I did. I was afraid.” As the Sun was nearly over his head Caelin continued to monologue.
“For every season since I was born I've had attempts at my life. People that wished to kill me. Threats from the shadows. The shadows... I hated the dark. Even today I hate it. I hate every small nook and cranny that bastards like you can hide in with every fiber of my being.” He paused and confessed in a shaky tone..
“I'm afraid of it still.”

“Wait...” Varsham readied a defense. Confirming his fear, he looked down to see the shadow of the tree he was standing on shrinking slowly inward, the light blackening and burning the bark that was touched by it instantly. Varsham closed his eyes and concentrated.
“I'm sorry.” He muttered to the merc, though the blubbering man could not hear him to receive the apology.

“That's why an additional condition was added through my own fear... It was something unexpected, but extremely satisfying. When Sol is highest above my head for six seconds all of the shadows will disappear into light. It does not obey logic directly, but my emotion and my hatred of the dark was enough to bend things slightly. At two minutes and fifty-seven seconds there is no longer any place to hid for just six seconds.”

Varsham held his breath and wrapped himself in Aura. He closed his eyes tight as well. `Six seconds!` He steeled himself. He heard the merc screaming as he burned. He was far enough from Caelin so it was a slow death, not like those that were disintegrated instantly. He felt bad.

`Damn... I should have told him to jump instead of apologizing.` Varsham thought he would die. No matter how much Aura was layered over his body his skin began to heat up and his clothes smoked. His hair singed at the edge and wound down towards his skull like a fuse.

`Two.` He held on, trying not to breath or open his eyes.

`One.` The heat passed and the shadows grew as promised. Varsham gulped back warm air and collapsed onto the tree. He was not actually sure why he even tried.
“How many times can you cast flare?” Varsham asked.

“Would you believe that it's only limited by how much time there is?”

Varsham let out a wheezing cough as he tried to laugh madly. He slowly pushed himself up. He sat down on the tree.
“Why aren't you just killing me?” He rasped.

“Because I'm curious what you'll do. Just so you know, waiting was never an option.”

“Yeah.” Varsham steadied his breathing.
“My name is Varsham, formerly of the Moon Tower.”

“Interesting.”

“I am a Tenth-Ring Aurar and the shape that my Aura takes, by my choice, is flame. Becuase fire is the Emperor of all Shape.” He explained, readying a Shape in his mind.

“I think you have good taste, Varsham of the Moon Tower.” Caelin smiled. The sun was beginning to dip.

“There is a Shape that I was never able to master.”

“Why's something you can't do important to me now?”

“Because I know what it looks like, I just don't know how to save myself if I use it yet.” He grinned.
“Honestly... I'm the type of person that wants to stare into Sol as I die so that I can see what I'm not supposed to see.” He turned and pressed his hands against the tree. The target was a little over Caelin's head by a couple feet. He waited until his breathing was steady. Until he was ready. Then he spoke the words as the Shape formed in his mind.
“Second Sun.” He was happy. Unless he had waited a decade, it was a Shape he would never have been able to use or even see unless he was willing to die to see it.  As he spent the entirety of his Mana a larger Sun grew into existence above Caelin's head and began to suck at the small version of Sol and everything else in the area around it. Heat increased exponentially within the area and the tree Varsham was standing on rapidly crumbled and lost it's shade. He was without enough Mana to wrap his Aura around himself for defense; if he could it still would not matter. Varsham clapped excitedly because it no longer mattered. He was going to see it. The tree broke and Varsham was exposed.
“I will watch.” he announced in a pained tone.

“You were right about one thing, Varsham. I think you know the answer to this already. Out of all the Shapes, Fire is undoubtedly the Emperor.” He pointed up.
“But what is the Emperor of Fire?”

Varsham stared, just as promised. His skin blackened. He quickly lost his sight because his eyes had boiled and popped and the sockets as well cauterized instantly. His hair was gone, his clothes were latticed to his burnt skin. He wheezed.
“Sol.” The Second Sun rapidly began to shrink and fade as the Shape of Sol sucked every last wisp of it's flame inside. Just as that was happening the Shape finished it's arc and disappeared over Caelin's left shoulder. He slowly walked over to the blackened body and was a little shocked to see twitching.

“You're alive?” He wondered out loud.

“Kill me.” Varsham writhed to the extent that he was even able to move at all, which was not a lot. The words he spoke seemed to be the last he was able to utter at all.

Caelin sighed, slicking his blonde hair back, out of his face. “A death sentence, served and survived can not be given again for the same crime. That is Imperial Law.” He squatted down, looking over the pained form of Varsham. A small, satisfied smile crept across his thin lips.
“I also don't believe in mercy. Live or die by yourself, Varsham.” He stood up and made his way back with a cheerful skip in his step.

Chapter 15

Ayla's head hung low, she swayed while feeling dizzy. She blinked weariness from her eyes and looked up. She thought she saw ground at first, then she understood she was in a dense forest which made her worried that she had been sleepwalking. Finally, when she stared straight ahead she was confused by the sight of a tall tower of pale stone. It was like a pillar to heaven, those spoke of by the church as being forbidden by Sol. Not marble, it was something else with all the impurities that one would typically avoid. It glowed faintly, even in the dark, but it was a dim light. As she stared at it for longer she saw the imperfections on the stone walls and found it to be similar to the moon with it's graying blotches. It stirred something in her, but something else served as a pacifying presence.
“Does a place like this exist here?” Ayla tried to find anything she could recognize as being in Castezin. It felt just like she had sleepwalked into the forest, and she was undoubtedly lost.

“It's called the Moon Tower.” A voice came from beside her. She turned her head in it's direction and saw a shadow of a person. No other features except their outline and wisps of what looked like smoke around them to obscure any possible hint of what they were.

“Have you ever been to this place?” It asked with a welcoming curiosity. She did not know why it felt welcome, or why she acted normally around it. She simply felt as though it would be safe and trustworthy.

“No.” She shook her head.
“Never.”

“I see. Would you like to go inside?”

“Okay.” Ayla walked and the shadow followed. She was surprisingly able to enter the tower easily just by pushing on the heavy stone door.

“Does it feel strange that the door is so light?”

“It feels strange.” She continued walking through the door and arrived in a grand entryway. There were two sets of stairs ascending in a helix higher into the tower at the back of the circular room. The space felt inappropriately wide for how the tower looked on the outside, and even still there were doors for rooms around the outside, it was unlikely there would be any space for them. The floors were white and black, arranged in a checker pattern at the bottom. As she approached the stairs, in the center of them there was a single stairwell leading down to a solid-looking door.

“It looks like the basement. What do you think we'll find?”

“I'm not sure.” Ayla shrugged and descended slowly. She tried the doorknob on the off chance that it was not locked. She was expecting it to be locked, but as she turned the handle the door opened. She glanced back. The shadow was close behind her and she could feel some anticipation from it. She stepped through and found herself in a prison. It was dressed nicely for one, but she recognized individual cells with large metal doors. She walked up to one and looked inside. There was nothing. She felt nothing in particular looking into any of the cells, nor the long hallway that held them all.

“Really? This place doesn't stir you at all?”

“Why would it?” She questioned.
“I already said I've never been here.”

“I see. Perhaps that is the case. How about we go up?”

Ayla agreed and walked back up the stairs from the basement. The thought occurred to her. “How am I going to get home from here?”

“What's home to you?”

“Home is... Castezin now.”

“Interesting.”

“Is that an unexpected answer? What should I have said?” Ayla wondered out loud, climbing one of the helix staircases while holding her head. She felt strange. Lucid, but also not entirely all there at the same time, if such a paradox was even possible.

“You said what you said. You are a very honest woman, Ayla.” She did not ask why it knew her name and simply continued walking. She passed many statues that were also ascending in a helix at the sides of the stairwell. Human representations of various gods. At the center, prominent within the Helix was a statue of a woman holding up the moon with one hand, and reaching out towards a stained glass window with the other. It was half way up the spiraling stairs and stood many times larger than the others. She passed many unfamiliar gods. One was two men on a single pedestal. They were positioned with one kneeling and the other standing, a hand on the kneeling god's shoulder. They were pointed  towards the statue of the woman in the center, looking up at her.

“Any thoughts?”

“Looks like a temple.” She guessed.
“Yours?”

It chuckled. “In a sense. It was a passing interest due to the things that were being done here.”

“What was being done?”

“Let's see. Keep going.” It never struck her to follow up a question when he decided not to answer. It also never occurred to her to wonder who or what it was. They reached the top of the stairs to find a circular room with a model of the solar system carved into the floor out of coarse gray stone. There was nothing of interest for Ayla there, she barely even paid attention to the murals on the side of the room. She was staring at an ordinary looking wooden door with wide eyes.
“Familiar?”

“I don't know.”

“What do you mean?”

“It isn't, but it is. As soon as I looked at it I felt like it was the second time. Like deja vu.”

“Try opening it.”

“Okay.” She approached the door and entered without much thought. Once they were inside the room Ayla began inspecting her surroundings.

The shadow asked. “Do you feel the same sensation in here? Deja vu?”

“I'm not sure.”

“Interesting. You don't recognize anything. You have keen senses, however. What do you think? Who lived here?”

Ayla saw toys scattered across the floor, stuffed animals on the bed. “A child.” but that was not the end of her observations. She crossed the room to inspect the table.
“Two chairs. Two places set.” She opened the wardrobe.

“Dresses for an adult woman. Advanced books.” But they were not just laying around, they were on a shelf. It would be pointless to have them if the adult did not also live in the room. Same with the dresses and the other clothes.
“It seems like a parent and child lived in this room. Mother.”

“What about the child?”

Ayla knelt down and checked every drawer. Nothing. She turned and eyed the bed, spotting something. She gripped it and pulled out a short trunk. When she opened it there were many smaller dresses inside, and other items for a girl that were neatly organized.
“Mother and Daughter. Girl could not have been older than... Four. Age of the Mother is uncertain.”

“If it's a room at the very top it would likely belong to the Master of the tower.” The shadow advised.

“If you say so. You know more than me.”

“Not quite. I actually had no idea this room existed, nor what it looked like until you opened the door and walked in. None of these details you described are things that I knew about, either.”

“Is that... Good?”

“You've been a good helper.”

“Glad I could be of help.” She gave a slight bow instinctively.

Ayla sat straight up, swaying. She rubbed her eyes. It did not feel as though she got any sleep at all, but she was sure she was asleep because she had been dreaming. She tried to think but it was already gone. Ayla forced herself out of bed without giving any more time to the thought.

-

“Why do we need to bring something?” Ayla was holding a basket of bread from the old woman at the bakery. They were customers this time.

“It's polite. Gretta, Ryan's wife'll appreciate it if we bring something to help her out.”

“All the times I've had dinner somewhere with others it was prepared beforehand.”

“Someone's gotta make the food.”

“You guys are title owners so I thought you would have servants.”

Miller laughed. “It's not like that. We can't hire maids full time. Our lands basically provide just enough to cover the costs of ownership. We aren't at all impressive landowners.” He added encouragingly.
“We're almost there.” It was near the edge of the town where the walls encompassed Castezin to the west. There were many homes slotted along narrow streets with no alleyway between them.”

“You both live within the walls?”

“That's right. We also both have plots of land outside that are good enough to farm during the right seasons, but I just rent it out to a man that wants to grow crops in bulk in that area. I get a piece of the profits. Ryan does the same.”

“Interesting.” She had gone from a commoner to essentially a Noble in her past life by sticking next to the prince, so she had never tasted how those just above the common folk lived. It seemed far more humble than she would have thought.

“Are you a bit antsy since we don't have any work before the Full Moon?”

“Not used to breaks.” She admitted. Rast had given them all time off in consideration of what happened.
“I'm not used to stints where I don't do anything so it's difficult. Also... At this time I would prefer to be working. I'd rather remain close to His Grace and I also wish I knew how Hans is doing and what they plan to do.” She was not in her right mind to talk to the Duke about it at the time that he was taken, though it somehow seemed as though he knew even without needing to be told. When she asked Rast after she calmed down it seemed as though Hans was being taken care of, not killed. She was happy and nervous. The Full Moon was in two more nights. When the night they were on passed, and the next night came they would have a day until it rose. They would figure out if Hans was going to turn at that point.

“You know. I have something that I remember when I get anxious.” He began in a sagely tone.
“Most things can change, but nothing was ever changed by pointless worrying. There's no way for you to actually do what you feel you need to do right now, right?”

“Right.”

“And... Do you trust His Grace, Rast and all the other Knights?”

Ayla smiled. She felt warm as he put it into perspective for her. “I do.”

“Taking a break to clear your head is a decision that was made on purpose. They decided we need to unwind. We went through something crazy so it's natural that we'd rest after. It's lucky that we live in a time where we got the luxury to.”

“That's true. Nothing has happened yet and I don't know what else I can do right now.”

Miller perked a brow when she said the word 'yet', but set it aside. “We're here. Chateau Samson.” He opened his arms wide, motioning towards a charming two-story building with three windows on the top floor and one on the bottom, with a door on the right. There was a raised porch sprouting off from the door and on that porch Samson was seated with a tall crutch leaned against the wall. Ayla looked and saw a girl perched on his lap that could not be any older than four.
“Hey, don't get up or anything!” Miller joked, hurrying up the steps. Ayla followed.

“Get this monkey off me. I feel like I'm gonna die.” He complained gently.

The girl stretched out her arms. Miller picked her up without hesitation and held her. “Hi Uncle Zach.” She said while staring over Miller's shoulder at Ayla. Her face buried somewhat in Miller's shoulder.
“Who's that girl?” As Miller turned, the girls head turned on a swivel to stare, but she still clung to him cautiously. Ayla averted her eyes from the kid awkwardly, not ever sure what to do in the presence of children.

“That, Little Miss, is Ayla. A very important person to your dad and me.”

Ayla inclined her head. “I am Ayla. Nice to meet you...” She waited.

The girl did not smile or frown. She just kept staring. “I'm Elly.” She spoke quietly. The small voice was only carried by Ayla's sharp senses.

Samson grunted, grabbing the crutch next to him. He seemed fine getting up and mostly used it as a way to steady himself like a cane. Ayla noticed he had bandages below his shirt. At his side on a table next to the chair there was a book with an early page folded. She realized she was not paying adequate attention to the girl and turned back, but thankfully Miller was already talking to her about her day while carrying her inside.
“Some guys are just made to be fathers.” Samson grunted.

“Do you need a hand at all, Samson?” Ayla asked attentively.

“I can walk. I just can't do anything to strain my stomach area. Standing and sitting and sleeping and... Oh... well I guess most thing I do gotta be done carefully.” He looked to the book. Ayla noticed he would have to bend down to grab it so she swift walked around him and picked it up. She read the cover and found it to be a book on Aura, but she could not tell much else about it.

“You're studying?”

“Thanks Ayla.” Samson nodded.
“And yeah. I've got a lot of time to do nothing, so I figured I'd start brushing up on this theory for when  the Aurar comes.”

Ayla walked with him inside. “You found a teacher?”

“Second Ring Aurar. Anything above that is out of my pay range.”

“If memory serves, A Second Ring Aurar is someone who has just reached the end of their initial studies.”

“That's right. Graduates of Aura studies aren't rare. That's why I can afford to bring one out. Someone like that can teach me to get to First Ring and then from that point on it's up to me.”

“How long until you come back?” Ayla asked.

“Oh... About a month at most, according to my dear father in law. Gretta wants me to take a month after that and she's kind of the law around here so I guess I'll be out for two months.” She could tell he was trying not to laugh as he said that. Instead he just adopted a wide, placating smile.

“That's right. If they want you back in a month, you go back in two. Father says that you will be recovered but more time is never bad for an injury like that.”

Ayla saw the woman standing in the entryway to another room. Miller was seated with Elly in the sitting room poking a fire. She was tall and quite bulky with dark hair and familiar blue eyes. She spoke with a slight accent from another land that made it click for her.
“You are... Related to that Doctor?”

“My Father.” The woman inclined her head, her arms crossed under her large chest.
“Pleasure to meet you, Dame. I am Gretta Samson, Ryan's wife.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Ma'am. I am Ayla. Feel free to call me that.” Ayla bowed shallowly. When she lifted her head the woman was right in front, reaching out to whisk her away. She nervously went along with being dragged into the next room. It was a kitchen with the smell of savory stew and other dishes cooking. Gretta took the basket of bread and placed it down anywhere that had space. As Gretta pulled Ayla towards the back of the room, out of sight in the door her stomach sank. Ayla was vaguely aware that she had put the woman's husband in danger.

“I deserve any words you have for me.” Ayla said to preempt anything the woman might say, all while looking somewhere else anxiously.

“Thank you.” Gretta said genuinely. The words were followed by a tight hug. Ayla's head turned suddenly. She was staring down the woman's back from over her shoulder.

“But-”

“Samson already told me. We talk quite a bit and I am very nosy to begin with. He said that Dame Ayla recognized the danger before it was upon you both and gave him time to get away. He also said that you were brave, and saved Zach in the same breath without hesitation. For that, I am doubly thankful.” Ayla felt emotional and uncertain of what to say. Her mouth opened and closed a few times. Gretta released Ayla from the hug but moved to hold her hands instead.
“You train harder than both of those clods. I can tell by the way your palms feel. My Ryan is also reading books on Aura now!” She laughed loudly.

“I- I don't understand.”

“What do you not understand?” Gretta tilted towards Ayla perceptively.

“Neither of them would be there if I didn't decided to investigate.”

“That's true.”

That was that. If she had not brought them, they would not have been in danger at all and Samson would not be injured.
“That poor boy would've still been with those criminals.” Ayla was shocked to hear that. Gretta waved a hand.
“I can't fault you all for doing your duty. To be honest I hate that Ryan is a Knight, but my family does not allow us to do anything halfheartedly, even if we hate it. From my perspective it was something that had to be done, and you did the right thing.” Ayla was silent. She was still unsure of what to say or do. As if sensing the tension, Elly ran into the room and grabbed onto her mothers dress while staring up at Ayla the same way she had been before. Gretta rested a hand on the girl's soft brown mane.
“Did you introduce yourself?” She asked quietly.

“Yes Mamma.”

Gretta nodded, then looked to Ayla before returning her gaze to her daughter. “This is the person that saved your Dad and Uncle.” Ayla could say the look  of the woman was almost devious, but there was no ill intent behind it.

Elly stared at Ayla with wide, auburn eyes. “Oh!” She seemed to be thinking for a few moments, then after gathering the courage she released her mothers dress and stretched her arms out towards Ayla.

“Uhm...” Ayla was not positive what she should do, but she decided to drop to one knee. The girl practically jumped on her, wrapping her small arms around Ayla's neck. She stayed like that for a few seconds.

“Aunt, pick me up.” Elly ordered. She did not even look back at her mother to see the stare she was receiving before correcting herself with a cute pout.
“Please.”

Ayla lifted her in a similar fashion to how she saw Miller carry the girl. “H-hello. What do you like?” She questioned awkwardly as Gretta pushed her gently back into the sitting room. Miller and Samson greeted her. They were each sitting. Samson had his own chair by the fire while Miller had vacated that seat for the cushioned couch.

“I have dolls. And I like to play outside.” Elly explained.

Ayla had no idea about dolls so she asked as she sat down next to Miller. “What do you play outside?”

“I like to play games with other kids and I also like to go to school.”

“You go to school? What's that like? What games do you play?” It only took a few moments going back and forth for Ayla to get completely sucked into conversing with Elly sitting on her lap. It was like nothing else was in the room. Time passed so quickly that dinner was ready by the moment she glanced up. Elly hopped off Ayla's lap. She watched the girl go until Elly was out of sight, curious to understand what she was feeling in that moment.

Miller chuckled. “Sorry about that. She's a clinger. You looked like a deer caught in headlights at first but I'm glad you didn't seem to hate it for long.”

Ayla stood up and moved to help Samson up. “It was interesting. I didn't know what children really did before.”

“Really?” Miller asked.
“I'm curious what kind of kid you were.”

“Bad.” Ayla said without thinking.

“What?” Samson asked breathlessly. Miller looked at her as well.

“I- I meant to say, I don't really know. I didn't do the things Elly did. It was different. I don't think I knew any kids that were like that. Even my brother before-” She remembered.

“You don't have to say any more, Ayla. Sorry.”

Samson added. “When you have time we'll talk. If you want, of course.”

“Okay.” Ayla nodded, unsure what to do with that offer.

“Also, Ayla.” Samson stared at her sternly. She was ready for the scolding that she had avoided so far. He motioned towards himself.
“My name is Ryan. That idiot over there's named Zach for short.” He winked at her.

Ayla immediately understood the meaning. Heat rushed into her cheeks. “Thank you Ryan. Zach.”

Miller grinned. “Let's eat Gretta's delicious food!”