Lawrence sat in the office. The old chair beneath him creaked as he adjusted himself. The office was small, containing only an old desk at the center. Sunlight spilled from the large windows at the side, irritating his eyes.
Lawrence was not been too happy, sitting across from Old jack and the Ignus commander, Sir Clinton Edger. Draped in a dark brown long coat, etched with the emblem of a dark stag on his chest. The symbol of his house no doubt. Sir Clinton had a hard look on his face gazing at the young man in front of him.
"I wasn't informed that Hudston had an interest in the recent phenomena." Clinton expressed, direct and hard. Commander Clinton was a millitary man through and through. He wasn't one to hide behind words.
Lawrence tightened his grip on the armrest of his chair. "I wasn't aware we needed to announce our actions to anyone."
"The College of Hudston has no power within the Empire of Ignus." He said, his voice as cold as a winter breeze.
"We have an Alliance!" rasped Lawrence, rising to his feet.
"And so we allow you to exist." Clinton said. "But do not make the mistake of believing that you are allowed to venture into our lands without permission." He continued, looking at the boy not even a quater of his age. "Or I will have your head, boy."
Lawrence felt his head pound, he clenched and unclenched his hands. "One of ours died!" He shouted but Clinton did not seem to care.
"You are required to vacate the premesis, but you will have to turn over all your research papers, documents and matterial you have collected. Old Jack, my people will be camped outside the Elderwoods east of the Shane Valley. By day's end, you will deliver us a detailed report of all the residents of Concaves." Clinton stood up, snatching the sword he had left by the door as he left.
"Bastard!" Hissed Lawrence.
"He's an Ignusian." Said old jack finally. No one liked Ignusians, madmen they called them.
"Fucking Imperialist." Lawrence cursed, "Professor Lupin will hear of this, Hudston will hear of this!" he swore, before storming off, his cloak billowing in his wake.
***
With a belly full of bear, Veythar gave his wary arms a wide stretch, looking at the ceiling of his cottage from a bed he'd made out of furs.
It had taken longer than he'd liked, a little over two months, but he had finished constructing a proper place of shelter.
Taking a big yawn, his eyelids started to get heavy. And for the first time in three months, he slept. On this night, he did not dream of the hells, of life or anything really, it was complete and total darkness.
It had been noon when he woke up to the sound of someone's firm banging on his door, forcing his eyes open, he was alerted of three soldiers on his doorstep. Eosira had been the one to open the door. She had woken up at dawn, just like always and had been studying how to control her spirit.
"Are you Eosira morningstar?" A short, bulky man asked in a gruff voice, though he sounded like he already knew the answer.
The young girl stared at the dark-skinned man, draped in full dark metal armor bearing the crest of a sword piercing an anvil on the left side of their chest and at the center of his cape.
'A sword in an anvil?' The young girl thought, nodding her head.
The short bulky man tsked. "There is another... a nobleman. You've been recorded venturing with a boy with white hair and silver eyes."
"That would be me." Veythar said, stepping out of a shadow and in a few breaths he was beside Eosira.
"Your name?"
Veythar closed the door in his face. Turning to Eosira, he said, "Remember, stranger danger." He yawned, walking back to his room, reminescent of the best sleep in his life.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Open up! Open up!" Shouted the Ignusian soldier. "Open up I say!"
The door creaked and groaned but held steadfast strong and hard, like iron. It began to glow with a runic symbol. It brightened before the eyes of the Ignusian soldiers, turning their eyes wide. They grew pensive, taking a few steps back, they looked at each other and left.
Eosira watched as they left through the window and turned her penetrating gaze at his door before going back to her room to resume her training. She had gine to check on him earlier but found him at rest, she smiled seeing him sleep.
A few hour later, the soldiers returned. This time though, they were accompanied by a woman who bore the cape of a sword piercing an anvil. She stared up at the door. Traced her fingers along the frame and stepped back once her eyes graced the runic symbol.
"Can you break it, lady Ira?" The short man asked. Dane, they called him.
#
Ira Cloven stepped forward, running her hands on the door. "I could,... in fact, anyone could. All they would need is a firebolt." She began, mystified. "I don't think we should though." She said, feeling as the door was pushing her away. " This rune protects against physical contact. Oh! Soliana's grace, I've never seen a rune like this one. And you said kids live here?"
"Yes my lady." Said Dane. "Eosira...and a white-headed boy. We tried talking to them but-"
"They slammed the door in our face." One of the Ignusian soldiers cut in.
"We're you rude?"
The three soldiers glanced at each other before turning to Lady Ira, as if asking 'why does that matter?'
Lady Ira sighed before softly knocking on the door.
The door opened to reveal the pure glimmer of moonlight reflected in the boy's eyes.
He stared, "You're still here."
Lady Ira was surprised, she could not sense his spirit or determine how many stars he had if he even had any. She harself had five. At first when she heard Dane speaking about kids hiding out in a rural cottage, she had been curious.But she was surprised to see how young they were, they were practically babes.
"My name is Ira Cloven." She introduced herself "Accolyte of the Ignus empire and graduate of the Hudston college. Would you mind telling me your name?"
"Soren." He lied.
"Wait! Why id you tell her and not us!?" Shouted one of the soldiers, a middle aged man of average height and unassuming face.
"Because she didn't interrupt my nap." He replied simply, not even acknowledging the man's presence."Now what can I do for you."
"Big brother..." Eosira called then, peeping her head out of her room. She set her gaze on the pretty woman by the door, with pale milky skin, her silky pich black hair fluttered in the wind styled into a high ponytail highlighting her slender ocean blue eyes that would surely warm any man's heart. She might have been the prettiest woman she had ever seen.
She waddled over to the door and stood behind Veythar. Staring at the stunning woman.
"Hello. My name is Ira." She said to the lovely girl.
"Eosira, Eosira Morningstar."
"Daughter of the light beyond the dawn." Ira mused. "What a lovely name. Might I ask how old you are Eosira?" She asked, she could feel the specks of Arcana in her heart, purer than anything she had ever seen.
"Six" The young girl cheerfully replied.
"And you?"
Veythar did not answer, and instead stepped out of the house. "What can I do for you? I don't think I have done anything to incur the wrath of soldiers at my door."
"You've done nothing wrong." Ira clarified. "... The lightning that shook the whole world. We were sent here to investigate. We've been going door to door inquiring on what people experienced on that day. So if you could please tell us what you know?"
"Or we could hang you by the ancle and have you face the whip." Dane scuffed, but silenced the moment Ira through a cold look his way.
Veythar stayed silent, thinking long and hard before diving into his explanation. He talked about how he had lost consciousness when the lightning fell and later woke up covered in soot and ash.
Eosira's story was about the same. She said she had eaten something funny and lost consciousness only to wake up when it was dark.
Lady Ira continued to ask them questions to which most they could not answer, or chose not to.
After she finished asking the questions, she sighed. "Alright... but before I leave, could you tell me who inscribed this rune?"
"I did." Veythar answered. "Might you be interested in my rune of protection?"
"You did?" Ira whispered, feeling her eyes widen. She shook her head, "If that rune could be applied to armor, it would make us invincible..."
"Not invincible," Veythar explained, " Above a particular threshold, the rune would simply shatter. Any arcanist with a fundamental mastery over body augmentation would be able to break it." "Magic would also nullify all of it's usefulness."
"Still... I would like to study it." Ira said. She had notbeen inclined to believed that he was the one to inscribe the rune, but history had seen many genius who shattered the norm. The Magusus and Archmuguses were living proof if it.
"If you'd like, you could purchase it." He said spotting an opportunity. "I could also inscribe formulas to refine different materials, but that will cost you extra."