Her braided crown had loosened to long curls that mirrored flames as she ran, her magic pulsating from her body as emotions ravaged her mind. All she could hear was her heartbeat in her ears as her mind revertebrated Dorian’s words.
The Fae.
She growled in anger and continued running through passageway after passageway until she arrived at the bottom of the spiral staircase that would bring her to the crystal with magic to open a portal.
“Aurelia!” A voice called, and Aurelia turned to see Cressida hobbling towards her, a sword and belt in hand.
“You can’t go unarmed,” She said quietly, holding out the sword to her, a silent understanding falling between the pair. It wasn’t just any sword – but the sword of the Damaris kingdom, engraved with the ancient lunar language that only the king of Damaris – Dorian – had used. “Go kill her. Make her pay for what she’s done.”
Aurelia snatched it from her hand, fastening the belt around her waist, placing her golden dagger on the other side.
Aided by both the light and the darkness.
Aurelia choked back the tears that threatened to spill at the surprising kindness regarding the woman before her. After all this time, she considered Cressida a friend, an ally, the two of them bonded by the horrors within the Damaris castle. “Thank you,” Aurelia whispered, and before she let emotion overtake her, she rushed up the spiral staircase, not stopping once until she arrived at the tower door.
The door swung open, her magic pulsating against the room, the padlock forgotten. She hurried to the dresser filled with crystals, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she skimmed the shelves.
Jade green, jade green, jade green...
There.
She snatched it up, feeling it respond to her touch, the stone radiating warmth in her palm. It was as if the magic within the small stone was pulling at her magic, the two forces attracting each other, beckoning to be conjoined.
Closing her eyes, she wrapped her hands around the stone, focusing as she released the power within her like a great wave, enveloping around her while luring the crystal’s magic outwards. Quickly she felt the foreign magic slide into her body. Unlike her magic, it did little other than aid her in its purpose: forming a portal.
Aurelia glanced nervously around the room before focusing on the empty space in the center, holding her hands out, concentrating on forming the same light that Amadrya had created to return them to Damaris.
“Bring me to Calathis,” Aurelia murmured, and pushed the foreign magic out of her, this time towards the center of the room. It burst into a bright light, blinding her, and she shielded her eyes, taking a moment to register the new glowing circle in front of her. It was at least three times the size of any portal she had seen before and within the blinding light, she could see glimpses of the familiar landscape, of the castle that was her home.
It had worked.
Jumping upwards, she sprinted into the blinding light without looking back.
Like all of the times she had been through a portal before, it felt as if she were on a rollercoaster, tumbling through space and time until she was slammed into the ground of the foreign place, falling to her knees, breathing heavily.
It took a moment to gather herself, too dizzy to sit up, before she could focus on her surroundings. The portal had brought her in the middle of the thick woods that led to the capital of Calathis, not another soul in sight. Uneasily she forced herself up, her mind reeling from her mission.
In the distance, she heard the clashes of swords against each other, the air smelling slightly of smoke and another more pungent smell that it took Aurelia a moment to place.
Of death.
The thought gave Aurelia a rush of adrenaline. She began teleporting closer to the castle, appearing every few meters or so to see if she could get a better glance of the battle.
Dread snaked up her spine at the increasing sound of swordfighting, the endless cries of despair and destruction. Her eyes followed the plumes of smoke that rose in the exact direction of the castle itself. She swallowed the panic that threatened to envelop her as the trees thinned and she was finally able to see the slaughter.
The grassy field in front of the Calathis capital was where the Fae had staged the attack. The beautiful sea of grass was stained bright red, bodies strewn everywhere.
The Fae had advanced to the gates of the castle, farther in the distance, in which the Calathis warriors were putting up one hell of a fight. She watched in horror as the Fae slaughtered both the Damaris and Calathis warriors alike, sneaking up behind them to kill them all to gain the power for themselves. Her eyes could just barely register the familiar monsters that had been attacking Calathis for months, now roaring fire onto the capital’s walls as the warriors fought to the death.
Shouts echoed from the distance as the Fae continued their massacre, using magic she had never seen before that defied all possibilities and sense of the magic that she had learned. For every Calathis and Damaris warrior there were ten Fae spitting magic that seemed to deaden the horizon, darkness blanketing the beloved kingdom of light. Aurelia watched as the monsters roared, shaking the ground she stood upon, unrelenting in their attacks on the warriors, looking as if they were created directly from the dark magic itself.
Aurelia’s eyebrows furrowed as her mind returned to what Amadrya had said when they had arrived at Ardwen – of the possibilities of both Fae and Elven magic, too advanced and complex to be understood.
The monsters were never sent from Damaris.
Rage overwhelmed Aurelia as she paused at the forest line, in the exact same place she had appeared all those months ago. How much she had changed was not lost on her, of how the woman she was now completed the shadow of a woman she had been before. For right now, despite the mission ahead of her, she no longer was afraid of breaking, of falling to pieces. She stood tall. Unyielding.
Taking a deep breath, Aurelia took a small moment to mourn the dead that surrounded her, pulling energy from the anger and despair that radiated across the battlefield before she focused on the task that laid ahead. An eerie sense of focus overtook her as her magic throbbed in her body, the anger and betrayal giving her calm amongst the chaos.
The gravel path to Calathis was covered in bodies, Fae soldiers in their long, purple robes abandoning their posts to join the fight up the mountain near the castle.
She began the long trek over, teleporting every few meters or so as she neared the battle. She quickly drew her sword, taking in everything around her. She couldn’t afford to miss anything.
Ahead of her, a group of three Fae had teamed up against a Calathian warrior, her fluid movements the only thing evading their strikes of black magic. Aurelia teleported through space to appear next to the warrior, her sword raised.
As fast as light she was upon them, matching her sword to theirs as the other warrior took on the other two. They sparred in circles, Aurelia teleporting behind them to get in a few strikes before they caught up with her, having no time to summon their magic.
Yet unlike Aurelia, they did not carry rage from a broken heart, and as they began to grow tired, she only grew angrier, striking harder, finally finding an opening to stab her sword directly into one of the Fae’s chest as if they were the ones to betray her and not Ambrose.
The Fae leaked blood as black as Aurelia’s dress, a cruel grin upon her face as she met Aurelia’s gaze.
“You won’t win,” She choked out before her body stilled, her eyes glazing over. The Fae had torn Aurelia’s sleeves to shreds, her arms covered in small cuts from the sword. Her skirt, once sparkling of the night sky, now was coated in the blood of her enemies.
“You’re wrong,” Aurelia hissed, but life had already left her body, fading to the place that souls went to after death.
The other warrior had dismantled one of the other Faes, her motions sharp and precise, quickly avoiding the oncoming attacks. In a split second, she had stabbed one of the Fae deep in the chest, the other landing a deep blow to the warrior’s leg as he fell to the ground. Yet the warrior stood her ground, weakly sparring the last of the three.
Without hesitation Aurelia teleported behind the last one, shoving her sword’s hilt deep within their back. They fell forward, coughing the same black blood as the first.
Aurelia pulled the Damaris sword out of the Fae’s body, her heart racing from the battle.
“Aurelia?” The warrior said in surprise and Aurelia looked up to meet the gaze of a bloodied, dirt-coated warrior.
Dinevra.
“Dinevra,” Aurelia gasped, rushing forward to embrace her old friend tightly. She pulled away, assessing her wounds. “Are you alright? Where are you hurt?”
Without waiting for her response, she tightened her grip on Dinvera’s shoulders, her magic rushing to her aid to heal the deep cuts the Fae had bestowed upon her, the rush of magic making them both jump. Her signature warrior leathers had been torn to shreds and though Aurelia had healed her wounds, her eyes had dark circles beneath them.
They had been fighting for hours – hours that Ambrose knew, and didn’t tell her.
A wave of anger overtook Aurelia and she forced it down, attempting to calm the magic that threatened to overwhelm her in response to the rage.
Dinevra gaped up at Aurelia. “You’re so....” Her eyes fell down to her long black dress, the vibrant silver sword at her side. She stood strong, unafraid. A different woman than Dinevra had stumbled upon on the very same pathway, all those days ago. “Different.”
Aurelia smiled, though whether it was a compliment or note of concern, she didn’t know nor care. No longer was she the descendant of the goddess of the sun, but a merging of the light and darkness, a power residing within her that had unimaginable limits, inexplicable possibilities. She could never be the woman she was before.
“Where is Elowyn?” Aurelia asked, her focus sharp on getting to her grandmother. She was the only one Aurelia had left.
They both turned to look towards the castle under attack. Dinevra smiled grimly. “She’s holding off the monsters from destroying the protective enchantments surrounding the city.”
Aurelia turned towards her. “Thank you. I must go to her.”
“Aurelia,” Dinevra said suddenly right before she teleported closer, her eyes fixated on the horizon.
Aurelia turned back, meeting her gaze, her eyes dark. “Be careful.” Her eyes communicated what her words did not – their losses had been catastrophic. Where she was heading was dangerous and filled with the Fae. There weren’t many Calathians left.
Aurelia nodded and before Dinevra could get in another word, she disappeared into a flash of light, appearing farther along the pathway, mere steps away from the battle. She held her sword at the ready, bringing down as many Fae as she could as she snuck through the battlefield, making her way closer to the castle.
“Aurelia!” A voice shouted behind her, and she spun around, matching her sword to the Fae next to her, turning just in time to shove her sword deep into the stomach of another. His eyes were dark as he fell to the ground, his teeth bared.
Her eyes followed the sound to another Calathian warrior who stood fighting three other Faes with ease as more approached, her eyes wild and focused as she defeated them. They were amidst chaos – all around them, the sharp smell of blood tinged the air, roars of anger piercing the deafening sound of battle. There were very few that could fight as well as she did, never mind survive the onslaught of enemies.
Clodovea.
“How did you get here?” She shouted, and they backed up to each other, swords pointed in opposite directions, fighting the Fae that surrounded them.
“I escaped,” Aurelia yelled back, sparring with a male Fae who was too bulky to move at her speed. “What else?”
Clodovea grunted and sliced her sword across the necks of the Fae in front of her before turning to help Aurelia, giving her a moment of respite. “Your fighting has improved,” She noted breathlessly. “Who’s been teaching you?”
Aurelia maneuvered her sword so that it slammed into the Fae that was attacking her from behind, moments before his sword would’ve stuck through Clodovea’s stomach. “Who do you think?” She gasped, summoning her magic to ignite the grass around them, attacking the group of Faes that were oncoming. Her magic created a ring of fire surrounding Clodovea and Aurelia, buying them a moment of respite, the Fae around them burning from her magical flame.
Clodovea nodded appreciatively before a demeanor of seriousness overtook her. “I’m so sorry. That you were kidnapped and held there for so long, I—“ She sighed. “It was a personal failure. And as commander of the Royal Guard, I vow that it will never happen again.”
She gave a quick bow to Aurelia, her eyes dark. “I swear my service to you for as long as we both shall live. I shall harm all those that dare threaten you or wish you ill, and will protect you from danger for as long as I walk the earth.”
Aurelia stepped forward to embrace Clodovea tightly. “Thank you.” She murmured, and as the Fae approached them, her magic exploded, throwing the approaching Fae to the ground.
Clodovea’s eyes widened in shock, her mouth gaped open as she stepped back, looking at the circle of bodies around them. “How—“
Aurelia raised her sword, the etched moons down the hilt a nod to the moon. “The prophecy.” She responded quickly, sheathing her sword and looking towards the castle. “There’s no time. I must get to Elowyn.” Her eyes scanned the hill before them in search of a familiar figure.
Her eyes landed upon the capital’s gates where a collection of the dark creatures stood. A woman in the center was matching their magic with her own, keeping them from entering the castle’s gates.
Her grandmother.
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