The three of them lingered in the field long after their drills ended, sweat still dampening their tunics. Fireflies blinked at the edges of the grass, and the sky above had begun to purple with dusk.
Riel finally looked up from where was sitting down, breathing heavily, catching Kaelith smile. A ripple moved through him, a flicker only his strange sight could catch. For an instant, a shadow slithered through him, a shape that did not belong to this world. It twisted, snarling, and was gone.
He blinked, then went back to drawing lines in the dirt as if nothing had happened. He'd grown used to moments like that. Horrors came and went—passing through people like storms through windows. No sense in worrying about it
Kaelith spun his claymore idly and smirked. "You two really don't listen in class, do you?"
Elaine crossed her arms, chin tilting. "I listen. It's just… the way they explain things makes it sound like riddles."
"And you?" Kaelith's eyes slid to Riel.
Riel shrugged, "I don't know, i never would've thought i even have a promising future, didn't think there was any point" Riel thought The memory of sinking wood into nightmare flesh still burned in his chest, raw and heady. "now i do i guess"
Kaelith clicked his tongue. "That's exactly why you're both staring at me like lost lambs. Fine, I'll spell it out. Ascension isn't about power now. It's about preparing. Think of yourselves as vessels. Right now, sealed jars. All this training—breathing, channeling essence, drills—it's just carving the clay, strengthening it, so that when your soul awakens, it doesn't shatter."
Elaine's brows knitted, but there was eagerness beneath her uncertainty. "So all of this… is shaping us for the moment our souls reveal their images?"
"Exactly." Kaelith pointed at her with the butt of his staff. "Each of us is tied to a god. For disciples of the Moon, your soul will reflect her—silver light, shadows, illusions. The image is unique to you, but always of her domain. When that day comes, you'll finally see yourself for what you are meant to be."
Riel leaned forward, eyes alight with a hunger he barely noticed himself. "Then all this waiting is just the edge of the cliff. I want to reach that moment already. To see it. To… know."
Kaelith stretched his arms behind his head, grinning in that infuriating way of his.
"You know," he said, "for Moon disciples, soul images tend to be pretty… poetic. Silver crescents, veils of shadow, dreamlike mirrors—that sort of thing."
Elaine tilted her head, curiosity lighting her face. "Really? That sounds… beautiful."
Kaelith smirked, eyes flicking toward Riel. "Though, with how gloomy he is, I wouldn't be surprised if his soul showed up as a lump of shadow sulking in the corner."
Riel shot him a look sharp enough to cut stone. "Very funny."
"Hey, I'm just saying," Kaelith chuckled, dodging a half-hearted swipe from Riel. "Better a sulking shadow than nothing at all. Some poor fools awaken with soul images so faint they're barely there."
Elaine bit back a laugh, covering her mouth. catching Kaelith's mischief. She looked at Riel, softer than she meant to. "Still… I understand wanting to see it. I do too."
Riel met her gaze briefly before looking away, the corner of his mouth twitching into a half-smile. Kaelith groaned theatrically and dropped into the grass.
For a moment, even with unseen horrors drifting at the edge of his vision, Riel let himself feel it—this simple, ordinary peace.
The three had reconvened after yesterday's Viel trial the trio really stuck and Elaine was a welcome improvement to Kaeliths constant banter at least that's what Riel thought. They would be going to the Cradle of the Gods soon Kaelith and Riel, Riel only a hand nevertheless but it was good enough. Elaine was going to study elsewhere sadly but she also decided to walk on the path of power.
As the glow of the waning sun disappeared and twilight filled the sky Kaelith yawned as he got up "Alright you two against me, enough resting"
The other two got up knowing this was for their own good they lagged to far behind Kaelith at least for now.
The night air was cool, humming with the sound of cicadas. Kaelith rolled his shoulders, claymore resting casually against his back. Fireflies blinked at the field's edge, their glow paling before the faint shimmer that already gathered around him.
"Don't disappoint me," he said, voice edged with amusement. "Two on one means you'd better make me bleed."
Riel flicked his wrist, chain uncoiling with a metallic hiss. Elaine already had an arrow nocked, her stance low, steady. They exchanged a glance—silent agreement—and lunged.
The arrow loosed first, a streak of silver aimed at Kaelith's chest. He tilted his head, the shaft grazing his cheek before clattering against the grass.
"That's more like it." His grin widened.
Then he surged forward. The claymore swung in a wide arc, so fast the air itself cracked.
Riel's chain snapped forward, the hooked end wrapping around Kaelith's claymore for a heartbeat before he wrenched it free with a twist of his wrist. Sparks scattered, followed by a sharp flare of pale lunar fire licking down the length of his blade.
Elaine loosed two arrows in quick succession, both searing toward his chest. Kaelith shifted, blade sweeping upward—flame caught on steel, the arrows disintegrating into ash before they reached him. He stepped in close, a shockwave of light bursting outward from his body and knocking Elaine back a few paces.
Riel frowned. "That's not just moonfire. What the hell are you pulling?"
Kaelith's smirk was infuriating. "You two really don't listen in class, do you?" His claymore swung again, a line of fire following its arc—not only silver, but streaked with a faint gold that shimmered like dawn on water.
Elaine's eyes narrowed. "That's—sunfire. You're not supposed to…"
"Most disciples can't." Kaelith pressed forward, fire curling between silver and gold, his strikes glowing brighter with each swing. "But I'm not most. A god's chosen doesn't belong to just one patron. I serve the Moon—but the Infinite Dawn saw fit to leave his mark as well."
Riel's chain lashed again, forcing Kaelith to parry. "Main god and sub god," Kaelith explained with a short, mocking laugh. "Moon and sun. The rest of you would've burned alive by now."
Riel cursed, adjusting his grip. He twisted the chain, looping it toward Kaelith's ankle. For a heartbeat, it caught—Kaelith's leg jerked back, balance tipping—
But he snarled, silver fire bursting from his body in a shockwave. The chain went slack, flung away as Riel staggered back, chest burning from the flare.
"Close," Kaelith said, lunging again. "But not enough."
Elaine rolled to the side, her bow discarded in favor of a dagger. When Kaelith's claymore came down like a guillotine, she darted in, blade sparking against his armguard. Her strike was quick—too quick for most to see—but Kaelith's lunar fire erupted once more, a searing flash forcing her back.
Riel gritted his teeth, chain whirling overhead. He lashed out again and again, sparks flying as steel struck claymore. Kaelith met every blow with brutal strength, driving him toward the ground, forcing him to his knees.
"Strength without will is nothing!" Kaelith roared, shoving him back.
But Riel's strange sight cut through the blur of Kaelith's illusions—the flickers, the doubles, the silver afterimages. He saw where Kaelith truly stood, and his chain struck true, wrapping tight around the claymore's hilt.
"Now, Elaine!"
She was already moving. An arrow whistled through the air, this one glowing faintly with essence. Kaelith snarled, jerking his claymore up to deflect—but Riel's chain held it fast.
The arrow struck his shoulder. Not deep, but enough.
Kaelith grunted, eyes flashing with something like pride through the pain. He yanked, the chain snapping free in a flare of silver fire, but it was too late—Elaine had closed in. Her dagger pressed against his ribs, Riel's chain drawn taut once more across his back like a noose.
The three froze in the stillness that followed, sweat dripping, breaths ragged.
Kaelith laughed then—low at first, then rolling into something fierce and genuine. "Not bad. You worked for that one."
The lunar fire guttered, then flared once more, brighter than before. In an instant, the air itself seemed to shimmer with silver heat, and with a sharp twist of his body, both Riel and Elaine were shoved back by another shockwave of light.
Kaelith's claymore burned cold white, the edge gleaming like moonlight on a blade.
"Remember this," he said, voice steady, eyes glinting. "I've ascended. Sentinel rank. This—" he swept the claymore through the air, flame trailing behind in a crescent arc "—is just a taste. If I didn't want you to win, you wouldn't have touched me."
Despite the words, there was no mockery in his tone now—only acknowledgment. His smirk was sharp, but there was something warmer beneath it.
Riel rubbed his scorched chain, chest still heaving. Elaine lowered her dagger, eyes never leaving the pale fire that licked along Kaelith's blade.
For all their effort, all their triumph, they understood something clearly now:
They were still chasing him.
The three of them lay sprawled on the training field's grass, heads turned toward the deepening sky where the first stars blinked awake. The air smelled faintly of dust and steel, but also of summer.
"What are your dreams, Elaine?" Kaelith asked, his voice a little teasing but without malice. He rested his claymore across his chest, one arm behind his head.
Elaine hesitated. "I've never really thought about dreams," she said quietly. "I'm from a mundane family—only child. My parents could never afford another. They're just simple farmers. I thought I'd never be talented enough to keep walking this path of ascension. Never understood much in class. I was never a bright presence."
She swallowed, eyes fixed on the sky. "Like Edris said… I didn't matter. But in just one day with you two, I've shone brighter than ever before. I don't want to disappear again. I just want my parents to be safe and happy, and to live a life where I shine and matter." Determination trembled faintly beneath her soft tone.
"No one's a 'simple' anything, Elaine," Kaelith said, turning his head toward her. "Your parents feed countless others. They're the backbone of our world. They've got loves and hates, stories we'll never know. Everyone matters. Everyone's life is more complex than we think."
Elaine blinked, caught off guard by his certainty.
Kaelith grinned faintly, looking back to the stars. "I'm an orphan. They call me Kaelith of the Veil. No surname. No parents. A child of the temple. But that's never stopped me." His voice stayed warm, light, as if the weight of his past didn't quite reach his smile.
Riel lay quiet between them, staring at the sky. His body still ached from yesterday's fight with the nightmare, but the memory of the blow he'd landed sent a faint thrill through him. For the first time in years, he felt… capable. He'd tuned out most lessons in the past, sure he'd never be strong enough to matter. But now—now he wanted more.
As Kaelith spoke, a strange flicker passed through his eyes—something like pain or a shadow curling behind his smile. Riel noticed it, but didn't dwell on it. Everyone had their ghosts.
He glanced at Elaine, catching the way her hand curled in the grass, and then at Kaelith, whose claymore rose like a black line against the twilight. A warmth moved somewhere in his chest, subtle and unspoken, gone as quickly as it came.