The Aether Knight

by E A Hooper

  “You three,” the chancellor said. “Go along with the servant by the door over there. You’ll be working in the west hall.”

  The children nodded, but then Marian leaped toward Pyre and hugged him. The other two joined her, and Pyre gaped at them.

  “Thank you so much,” Marian said, crying.

  “I—uh,” Pyre mumbled, trying not to cry. “I just did what I could.”

  The three children left with the servant, and Pyre waved at them. I wish I could’ve saved the others too. Hopefully, those three will be safe here.

  “I see father’s aura moving in this direction,” Tachios told them.

  “Excellent,” Helmor said. “I’ll leave you all for now. I have a lot of work to do, especially with all the guests that we’ll be hosting. If any of you need me, simply ask a servant to retrieve me, and I’ll help you in any way possible.” The chancellor bowed to them and then left through the door the three children had taken.

  They waited in the great hall, and Pyre felt nervousness in his gut. I’m going to meet my dad. After all these years. When I was little, I always wished I could meet him. Always asked mom about him. Now, I wish I didn’t have to. I almost wished they’d put me in another cell where I wouldn’t have to talk to this bastard. But I got to act nice. Got to get along with him until Radu’s here.

  Pyre nervously tapped his foot and looked around the hall. He noticed Tachios peering around as well. “You okay, brother?”

  “I’ve just never noticed all this before,” Tachios replied.

  “Noticed what?” Pyre asked.

  “Do you remember when you told me about finding my power, even when Eldsworth had it suppressed?”

  “Oh, yeah. Is your sight stronger now?”

  “It is. I see all the auras in the castle so clearly. Even cats and dogs. Dragons in their den behind the castle. In the courtyard, I saw strings of light dancing off the plants. Almost like invisible energy moving between the plants, the air, the light. I can even see tiny strings of people’s auras intermingling. Like invisible connections between us.” He looked at his own hand and smiled. “I’ve never seen the world like this before. It’s beautiful.”

  Eldsworth scoffed. “No wonder Reaper likes his bastards more than you. You have the most useless power I’ve ever heard about.”

  Tachios chuckled. “You know something, Eldsworth? I don’t see anyone’s aura connecting with yours. Not even your entourage out in the outer courtyard. Even my long-lost brother and I have a small thread connecting us.”

  “Maybe I’m not close enough to my entourage,” Eldsworth grumbled. “They adore me.”

  Tachios shook his head. “When I look close enough at Pyre’s aura, I see strings that stretch off into the distance so far that I can’t see where they lead. He has a lot of people that care about him. I can see those connections despite how far away they are. And there’s one line in particular that’s very visible. It must be Radu.”

  Pyre smiled at his brother and struggled not to cry again.

  A door creaked open at the end of the hall, and a man in a long coat stepped into the room. His green eyes fell on their group, and he approached with slow steps. Pyre eyed his sleek black and gray hair and serious expression.

  Play nice, Pyre. Don’t cause trouble. I mean, the man only left your mother for her to raise two sons all alone in poverty.

  “Hey!” Pyre shouted as the man approached.

  Reaper stopped in front of Pyre and looked at his son with a curious expression.

  “This is for my mom,” Pyre said, striking Reaper in the face with a quick jab.

  Reaper leaned back from the punch, but it still caught him in the nose. Everyone in the room jumped in surprise, and the servants cleaning the suits of armor froze with fear. Reaper raised his hand, and five swords jumped from the hands of their armor and flew toward Pyre. The swords surrounded him and pressed against him with one blade hovering in front of his neck.

  “What the hell, Pyre?” Tachios screamed.

  “Oh my,” Eldsworth gasped, trying to hold back a laugh.

  Reaper wiped a trickle of blood from his nose with his free hand, but his other hand kept the blades hovering around Pyre. “I apologize.”

  Everyone in the hall gaped at Reaper.

  “What’s that?” Pyre said.

  “I’m sorry about your mother,” the lord replied. “I loved her dearly, but it was her choice to leave. I would’ve rather she stayed here and live a long, happy life.”

  This time, Pyre couldn’t stop himself from crying. “You bastard,” he whimpered. “She always talked about you. How much she missed you. Even when the sickness took hold of her. Even when she was half-delirious. You should’ve been there for her. Your spies should’ve told you her health was decaying. It was slow. It was painful for her, and you should’ve been there.”

  “I’m sorry,” Reaper said, his face somber. “I wanted to go to her, but she made me promise to never seek her out. I was supposed to leave her alone for the rest of her days.”

  “Gods-dammit,” Pyre shouted. “You’re known as the greatest liar and schemer in Ter’al. That’s the one promise you actually should’ve broken.”

  “She was one of the few people I couldn’t lie to,” Reaper said. “I couldn’t break my promise to her. Not ever.”

  “This is a little awkward,” Eldsworth interrupted. “I think I’ll find my room and settle in.”

  “You won’t be staying at the castle,” Reaper said. “Didn’t Helmor tell you? You’ll stay at Fort Darkwood at the edge of the city. Then you can extend your power where it won’t reach the castle but will cover the fields where the other armies will be staying.”

  “Fort Darkwood?” Eldsworth huffed. “Are you serious?”

  “I need you to make it look like powers are suppressed in Varsith,” Reaper replied. “That way, no one gets any ideas of repeating what happened at Castle Stoneborn.”

  “I’m a lord, I should be here at the castle to discuss plans.”

  “When Cyril arrives, I’ll send him to Fort Darkwood too. You two can discuss plans together. And I’ll set certain days when you can visit.”

  “It’d make more sense if I stayed here and disabled powers until the peace summit is over.”

  “No, you know I don’t like having my powers suppressed. You’ll do as I say while you’re in my city. Understand, Eldsworth?”

  Eldsworth glared at Reaper. “Is this because I put your son in a fighting pit?”

  “It’s for the reasons I just said and nothing more. Your business with Pyre was your own. He paid for interfering with the North. If anything, I’m thankful you gave him to me. I’ll be certain to remember your kindness when we’re working out the details of the peace summit.”

  “So, you’re not—” Eldsworth paused. “It’s really only that? A peace summit?”

  “Of course. What’d you think I was doing?”

  “I thought you’d capture Thod and wipe out his forces. And whatever forces the East sends.”

  “That’s a rather simple-minded plan, isn’t it? I won’t need to use force. By the time they reach us, I’ll have too much leverage for them to ignore any of our demands. Then we can focus on the real threat at hand.”

  “You mean Fey’al? So, everything Tachios told me is true? I almost thought he was trying to trick me. Like a joke to get me to look stupid when I came to speak to you.”

  “It’s not a joke. The threat of Fey’al is real. That’s what all this was about. The republic. The war.”

  “And why didn’t you tell us lords?”

  “I always planned to at the right time, but the right time never came.”

  “You’re not hiding anything else from us, are you?”

  “Of course, I am. Just like you’re all hiding stuff from me and one another. It’s how the clans operate. I don’t care what secrets you keep from me as long as we’re still allies in the end.”

  Eldsworth sighed. “My clan doesn’t care for
secrets like the rest of the North. We value honesty and openness. But I’ll play along because we’re allies, Reaper. The republic is in this together. It’s what separates us from the other nations.”

  “I agree. And I hope a day comes when everyone in Ter’al sees each other that way. Else the Feyans will destroy everything that we’ve built.”

  Eldsworth gulped. “If you think it’s best, then I’ll go to Fort Darkwood. Come along, Bels.”

  “Hey, wait,” Pyre said, standing still to avoid cutting himself on the floating blades. “Let Bels stay here. I really wanted to get to know my sister better.”

  “She’ll go with Eldsworth,” Reaper said. “She belongs to him.”

  “Father,” Tachios said, nervously. “It would be nice to have Bels home for a while.”

  Reaper glared at his children. “She’ll go with Eldsworth. Do you understand, Bels?”

  Bels quivered and nodded.

  “Good,” Reaper said.

  Eldsworth took Bels by the hand, and they left with their servants. Bels looked back at Pyre, and he gnashed his teeth. He tried to push one sword away, but Reaper clenched his fist, and the swords tightened against his body.

  “Yeah, I’m getting uncomfortable here,” Pyre said. “You think you can pull back on those blades a bit? This is a neat power, though. You move swords?”

  “I move objects,” Reaper replied. “Tachios says I move them with my aura, but I can’t see it the way he can.”

  “I can throw fire,” Pyre told him.

  “I’ve heard. You also possess metamorphosis. Can you show me?”

  “I don’t know how. That was kind of an accident because that bastard Cyril killed my friend.”

  “So, you were angry? You wanted to kill him?”

  “I was angry. Sad. Startled. All kinds of emotions happening all at once.”

  “That’s like Lilan’s trigger. Powers tied to emotions can be easier to access, but they have the downside of being more difficult to control. I was much older than you when I first used metamorphosis, but after that first time, I could use it whenever I pleased. What about Radu’s trigger?”

  “He gets all calm and collected. I don’t know how that works.”

  “That’s more like my power.” Reaper stopped to think. “And Valx?”

  “He says he first used his power because he wanted to kill someone.”

  Reaper opened his hand, and the swords flew away from Pyre. “Can you contain yourself now?”

  “Yeah, I just needed to punch you once. I won’t cause any more problems. I know this peace summit is important.”

  “Good,” Reaper said, sending the swords back into the hands of the suits of armor along the hall. The lord turned and walked away. “Tachios, show him around. Make him feel at home. Oh, and take him to the east wing. There’s someone that wants to see him.”

  “Is it Aque?” Pyre questioned, but his father didn’t answer. He looked at Tachios. “Did she marry Reaper?”

  Tachios shook his head. “She didn’t marry him.”

  “So, why’s she still here?”

  “Father is collecting as many greatborn as possible to marry other greatborn. That way, we might have more like us to fight the Feyans. Aque has a couple of suitors already lined up, but she hasn’t picked one yet. Maybe father intends to marry you two together. Were you close to her? I thought her allies killed your friend?”

  “Yeah, but that wasn’t her fault. Hell, she and I spent the night together once.”

  “You—you two had sex?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then we should go see her first. I wish you had told me you were intimate with her. There’s something I would’ve told you. I don’t know if this would’ve made your time with Eldsworth easier or worse.”

  “Tell me what?”

  “Let’s just go see her. That might be simpler.”

  Chapter 17

  Aether flashed brighter and brighter in Valx’s hands, illuminating the walled-off garden with a blue glow. His brother’s old training spot had become the perfect location for he and Lilan to practice alone while Thod’s army waited at Castle Stoneborn for their surveyors to send word back from Varsith that everything looked safe. To even Thod’s surprise, Lt General Maliss and Lt General Ashworth had volunteered to go themselves. They’d already sent one courier back, informing the king that they had passed into Reaper’s domain unharmed. In fact, the North had sent a party to show them a shortcut through Farwood that Thod’s army could safely take when they followed.

  Valx had felt uneasy about his return to the castle where he’d slain his own brother. His father’s worldscar cast a purple haze over the city, and storms struck the castle for five days in a row. Valx continued his training with Lilan between the storms, and his father’s worldscar seemed to calm itself the more time Valx spent in the garden.

  It’s like he’s watching and wondering if I achieve metamorphosis, Valx thought, glancing briefly at the dark sky above the garden. At night, he could see a slight purple aurora. This is where my brother unlocked his power. Under our father’s fearsome sky. But Dragon knows I’m the last of his bloodline. It doesn’t matter if he’s angry at me for killing Wyvern. His and Reaper’s grand scheme can’t be completed without me.

  Valx released a blast of aether that vaporized the dummy that stood before him. You see this power, father? Not even Wyvern had power like this.

  “Stop fooling around,” Lilan said. “Try to release all your power again. Draw everything out. Let it burn you from the inside out. Just like the day you killed Wyvern.”

  Valx tensed his muscles, and static-like aether rippled across his body. The air felt heavy with his power, and even the nearby plants shook and pulled away from him. Lilan’s breathing grew heavy, and she awed at him.

  The white-haired man gnashed his teeth and tried to push the power out of his body. Blue light exploded and danced around him. The night sky overhead seemed to reflect his light, and the purple aurora above turned blue.

  “Almost,” Lilan said. “You almost got it. Keep pushing. Let your power consume you. Let it take over. Let go of everything.”

  Valx tried to imagine the power he had when he killed his brother. He tried to remember the feeling of using his power for the first time when he needed to kill Nuface. He recalled lighting the cave near Central with his power. I’ll have power beyond Wyvern. Beyond my father. Beyond anything the North can throw at me. If they try anything at the peace meeting, I’ll destroy them all. Even Reaper.

  “You’re thinking too much,” Lilan shouted over the flickering waves of aether. “I can see it on your face. You’re concentrating too much. Just let go. Give yourself to your power.”

  “How?” Valx shouted. The flickering aether turned erratic and collapsed inward before vanishing. Valx’s fists shook with anger. “Dammit! What am I doing wrong? My father had metamorphosis by this age. Wyvern too. Yet my power should be greater than his.”

  Lilan frowned. “It’s more complicated than power. I unlocked metamorphosis at a younger age than Wyvern even though he was more powerful. You just have to keep trying.”

  “Keep trying? That’s the best advice you have?” Valx looked at the broken pieces of dummies lying around in the dirt. He pointed his finger at an arm and blasted it to pieces. Then he vaporized all the rest of the wooden parts. “Tell Jocy to bring us more dummies.”

  “Those were the last,” Lilan said, nervously.

  “Gods dammit. I’ll just use this garden for target practice then.”

  Valx pointed at the nearest tree and released a bolt of aether that burned halfway into the tree’s trunk. He charged another shot, but Lilan grabbed his arm.

  “Don’t ruin the garden,” she begged. “I like it. It’s romantic being alone here with you.”

  “It’s my brother’s garden. It should’ve been burned down after he died.”

  He blasted another tree, and Lilan pulled his arm up to prevent him from taking another shot. Valx
jerked his arm to the side, pushing the girl away.

  “Don’t touch me,” he warned.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “Please don’t burn the garden.”

  Valx stared at her frightened eyes. He realized his hand still glowed with aether, and he calmed himself and let his power fade. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be yelling at you, no matter how much I hate your father. Dragon’s worldscar puts a constant weight on me. The longer I stay at this castle, the more I feel like he’s influencing me. Trying to make me more like him.”

  “You don’t have to apologize. You can be angry if you want.”

  “No, I can’t keep being angry all the time. I’m losing my damn mind. That’s why Roz chose Myamere over me. It’s why Mil still won’t talk to me. You’re the only woman in my life that doesn’t hate me, and it’s only because your father has you brainwashed that you’re supposed to fall in love with me.”

  “He never told me to fall in love with you. I did that on my own.”

  “You’re just obsessed with my power. That’s it.”

  “Your power is part of you. That’s what I keep telling you. The more you distance yourself from your power, the harder it will be to achieve metamorphosis. That power is the real you. All your anger and pain. I don’t want you to hold back. I don’t want you to hide your anger. Even if it’s directed at me.”

  “That’s not a healthy way to live my life. It’s why I’m not happy.”

  “Do you want to be happy, or do you want to be the most powerful greatborn in Ter’al?”

  “Can’t I be both? Isn’t there any easier way to get metamorphosis than making myself mad?”

  “There might be something,” Lilan said, thinking. “I’ll be right back.” She hurried across the dense garden, and Valx thought he heard the door creak. A minute later, Lilan returned. “Jocy will bring us something that might help you.”

  “Gods, I hope it’s honeybeer. I could go for a drink right about now.”

  “Well, you’re in luck.”

  “You told her to get us beer?”

  “My father only drinks on the anniversary of Dragon’s death. It just so happens that he unlocked his metamorphosis during a night of drinking. He says it helped him let go. He even had me drink wine to make it easier for me to kill slaves with my power.”