An invisible pressure bore down on me as the young woman narrowed her eyes. My already frayed nerves and muscles seared in agony as energy from the domain blanketed the area. I did my best to keep an expressionless face but the unstable flickering of the small green flame in my eye displayed the true struggle rampaging inside my body.
In response, the small kitten at my side let out an angry mewl. Golden flames erupted from Nox as the kitten grew to become a mighty lion. The squeaky meow transformed into a ferocious roar. A few of the soldiers that surrounded our island stumbled backwards in fear of the sudden appearance of the beast.
The woman’s eyes widened as she looked at Nox and the invisible pressure of her domain vanished. “What a pretty fire,” she said breathlessly. She then turned towards the soldiers that surrounded us and raised her voice. “Everyone disperse. Return to your homes. I need to talk to our guests.”
The soldiers hesitated for a second. One that looked like he might be a higher-level officer wanted to say something, but he was silenced with a single glare from the woman. The soldier gave a salute and backed away. Though, I noticed many of the soldiers only backed up enough to give the impression of following the order. They still held their weapons at the ready and starred at the island suspiciously.
The woman did not seem to mind the halfhearted actions. She leapt up, floating weightlessly as she landed on the edge of the island. My dad tensed as his blade partially pulled free of its scabbard by a finger’s length. The woman ignored my dad and everyone else as she walked past them. Her eyes were unwaveringly locked on Nox.
Nox growled threateningly as the woman reached out to touch the oversized feline. Golden flames flared brighter engulfing Nox entirely.
Unperturbed by Nox’s reaction, the woman continued to reach out. Her hand submerged into the golden fire. I winced, expecting the worst, but surprisingly the woman was completely unharmed by the golden fire as she scratched Nox under the chin.
“You are beautiful,” the woman said with a bright smile.
Nox closed his eyes and started purring as he leaned in closer to the woman. Through my connection with the cat, I could feel his contentment. A soft warmth radiated from the woman that calmed Nox completely. He shrunk back down to the size of a kitten and leapt into the woman’s arms.
“You little traitor,” I said with my hands on my hips.
Nox completely ignored me as he buried himself in the woman’s arms and purred even louder.
The smile faded from the woman’s face as she looked at me. “In the past fifty years I have been in this land, there have been more than a dozen people claiming to be a part of the Aevus family. Each one was executed when their lie was exposed. You have a choice. You can turn back now, vow never to speak the name of any member of the Aevus family again and we will let you live, or you can follow me and prove your identity. Think carefully. You will only get this opportunity once. If you are lying, you and all those with you will die.”
“I have nothing to fear,” I replied, meeting the woman’s hardened gaze with one of my own.
“Hmm. You seem more confident than the others at least. You may call me Cyra.”
Still holding Nox, Cyra hopped down from the island and landed gently on the grass below. “Come along. I will bring you to meet Svend. He will verify your identity.”
My family and I clambered down from the island with much less grace than Cyra and followed behind her. With a wave from me, the small bird Sylvie landed on my shoulder. She preened her feathers and puffed out her chest when she saw Nox in Cyra’s arms.
As we crossed the field, Donte leaned close, whispering, “Did you say she was a Tressan? As in founders of the First Division, city of Tressa, Tressan. How can you tell?”
“You see the tattooed lines under her skin?” I replied without bothering to lower my voice, “All Tressans have these markings from the moment they are born. They are a matter of pride for most Tressans, though right now Cyra is using them just to make her skin sparkle. In reality, these markings allow for the flow of energy with much less strain on the body than a normal person, allowing her to use her innate talent with far easier than you or I.”
“That is amazing!” Donte said while practically bouncing with hyper energy, “Is there a way I can get something like that?”
“Survival rate is about twenty-five percent for those under the age of twelve,” Cyra said after clearing her throat, “Twelve percent for a teenager and less than six percent for an adult. If you want to imitate the physic of a Tressan, you must be prepared to risk your life.”
I placed my hand on Donte’s shoulder as I glared at Cyra’s back. “It is also a highly illegal process, not something you should be sharing randomly.”
Cyra shrugged. “A little knowledge never hurt anyone. We are well outside the First Division’s enforcement here.”
“Why are you here, anyway?” I asked curiously, “I was only told about Svend, not you. What family do you belong to?”
Cyra stopped walking and turned to look at me with a smile. Her eyes began to glow with a yellow light and a small puff of flames escaped her mouth as she spoke a single word. “Fire.”
I blinked in surprise. “You are a pure lineage? What a rare sight, even for a Tressan. Now I am even more curious what you are doing here.”
“I am repaying a debt,” Cyra said curtly as she turned and continued walking.
Donte looked at me with eyes sparkling in curiosity, but I just shook my head. “I will explain another time. Politics of Tressa are complicated and convoluted at best.”
Donte bit his tongue and nodded reluctantly. He followed silently for a few minutes as we started to enter the city proper before he suddenly froze mid-step. A vertical, glowing third eye formed of pure energy opened on his forehead as he lost focus.
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I quickly spun Donte around, hiding the glowing eye from Cyra's view just in case she recognized its origin. My words were a low growl as I shook Donte’s shoulders in annoyance. “What do you think you are doing! Why are you connecting with the ruin right now?”
Donte blinked a few times in confusion as the third eye closed. “I… I can’t go any further.”
“What do you mean you can’t go any further?”
“I can’t go any further from Dragon’s Nest. The ruin won’t let me.” I could hear a slight panic in Donte’s voice as he looked back at the Preateritum ruin.
I frowned as I comprehended the full weight of Donte’s words. I knew very little about Preateritum remnants. My teacher owned one and I knew for a fact that it did not limit his movement. However, Donte had not yet learned all the functions of the ruin. Maybe there was some restriction I did not know about when the operator left the remnant behind. That was not even considering how the damaged power core might influence it.
“Can you command the ruin from here?” I asked Donte.
“Yes.”
“Then just have it float over our heads for now so that you do not walk out of range. Cyra should not have too many complaints. I will try and figure out the problem. Just give me some time.”
Donte nodded and the nearby island began to float up into the clouds above, following behind the boy like an oversized balloon.
Cyra looked at us curiously but when I explained that Donte was bound to the island and could not go too far from it, she just shrugged and said “I have seen stranger things. I don’t see any weapons on it so it should be fine. Just do not cause any problems for the locals. They are a superstitious bunch at the best of times.”
I heard Esben huff in indignation at Cyra’s words but did not refute her. We walked in silence for a little longer until we passed the first ‘house’.
It was far bigger down on the ground than it appeared in the air. It looked more like a small castle built into the side of a hill than a place people lived. Completely made of stone with thick metal plates bolted on to various locations, the building was surprisingly imposing, despite its squat stature. There were even archer slits instead of windows built into the face of the building. Most eye catching of all however was not the building itself, but a massive stone monument standing proudly in front of the building.
The monument was one massive piece of solid stone carved into a smooth rectangle. Standing upright, the monument had thousands of tallies etched into the stone, recording… something. In the distance, I could see a nearly identical stone in front of each building. The only difference was the number of markings on each stone.
“What are these tally stones?” Donte asked as he ran his hand across the stone.
A nearby man that had been tending a garden glared at Donte, but after looking at Cyra he stayed silent.
“Monuments of Sacrifice,” Esben replied as he grabbed Donte’s hand and pulled it away from the stone, “It records how much each family has given in preparation for the Great Demise. They are extremely sacred to each family and not something to be touched without permission.”
Donte’s face blushed a deep shade of red. He turned to the nearby man still glaring at him and lowered his head. “I am sorry. I did not know.”
“It is fine, kid. Just do not do it again,” the man said with a huff.
“Seriously Donte, you nearly lost your arm last time you touched something without thinking. Just because that turned out ok does not mean you should go touching things randomly.” Charly chastised as he pulled Donte away from the stone.
I stared at the monument silently for a moment and looked at the hundreds of markings across its surface. I bit my lip as I wondered what each family had sacrificed in preparation for a war that should never have been theirs.
I clenched my hand into a tight fist. Pain radiated through my arm as I followed Cyra through the city in silence.
It took nearly an hour before we finally arrived in front of the giant stone structure that looked more like an upside-down boat than a palace. Cyra stopped at the stairs at the front of the building at turned to look at me.
“I hope you are ready because there is no turning back now. Svend Is waiting for you inside. If you really are Aurielle Aevus, you have nothing to fear. If not, well, it was nice meeting you.”
I nodded and walked up the stairs and placed my hands on the rough wooden door at the front of the building. Nox squirmed free of Cyra’s arms and trotted to my side, meowing encouragingly as he nudged my leg.
“Ah! No, pretty kitten come back,” Cyra pouted but Nox ignored her.
I smiled down at the kitten, straitened my back, and took a deep breath before pushing open the door.