183 - Dawn (Patreon)

The sun came out in increments and the seemingly never-ending night was lifted. 

Medics flooded the Wesley estate, along with investigators, ministry officials, and geomancers clearing the air of its poisonous demonic influence. Efforts were already underway to clear the debris and fix the damage caused to the buildings. Most of that was led by Elric.

Although some things had been put back together again, it felt like nothing was the same. 

They had lost so many people all at once. 

Lord Wesley had walked the estate, taking note of all that had been lost, receiving reports from his security system. He’d seen bodies of demons, of people. Once the blood-pumping rush of war had gone, he saw how much had been wasted, including the lives of some of his guards, footmen, and servants. His guests. Many more were injured, and they had lost five of their masters.

And Archmage Lenore…

She had sacrificed herself for them.

When he'd watched her fall, it had taken his breath away.

Like watching a titan collapse. 

It had been a very long time since he'd seen an Archmage die. And the fact that she had done it for them, giving them all a protective luck shield that kept them alive long enough for help to arrive. He'd put his hand on hers as she'd been carried away by healers and held back tears.

Now he was in his suite with his family. His healer was dead, but one of the ones who had arrived with the cavalry had already attended to them all and healed all their injuries.

Lady Wesley had been put on strict bed rest and was currently asleep in his bedroom. Through the open door, he saw Edward at her bedside, holding her hand as she slept. 

Wulfric stood by the window of the parlor, with his mother sitting, clinging to his hand.

Lord Wesley sat alone.

They were all quiet. No one knew what to say. His sons both looked pale and traumatized, even as all their wounds healed. Lady Borjas wasn’t much better and Lady Wesely….

Lord Wulfric’s mind was full of thorns. 

His guests had died on his property, on the day of his annual Iverson ball, tainting the event forever.

Nothing would be the same again.

Suddenly he was filled with rage. 

All the pent-up energy from the battles they had fought should have given way to exhaustion, but instead, wrath pumped through his veins.

The demons had to die.

All of them.

They could no longer allow their species to terrorize them like this. For so long humanity had been on the defensive. No more.

They needed to wipe out the entire species, so humanity was not at risk anymore. They could have all died today. Lady Wesley had come close to it. 

The demons had to pay for that. 

Lord Wesley organized the proposal in his mind and planned on bringing it up at the council meeting happening probably later today. His rage kept him occupied as the seconds ticked by. 

Somewhere in all that anger was guilt.

He couldn’t help feeling like this was his fault. 

He had been the one to invite people to his event. He’d hired the staff that worked here. He'd promised safety, relaxation, enjoyment, fair wages.

Instead, they’d met death and devastation. 

No one expected anything like this to happen under his watch. No one had expected a failure this catastrophic. 

His expensive, state-of-the-art security systems had been entirely useless, and he couldn't even say why.

The leather groaned as his hand gripped the seat. 

The night might be over, but it would torment him for a long time. Nevertheless, he would make sure that something like this never happened again. 

The air in the room changed a second before the door opened.

Queen Di Santinael walked in, bending slightly so that her head did not hit the door jamb.

"Your Highness." Lord Wesley and his family–except his sleeping wife–rose to their feet and bowed instantly. His soul skittered in the presence of the Legendary. Unbidden awe arose in him.

Most Archmages and Masters had honed the skill of restraining their authority all their lives. Legendaries had no hope of doing so. Their aura filled the room instantly, so heavy it was oppressive.

“Wesley." She spoke in a voice softer than her daughter's, but no less commanding. "The investigators are currently obtaining evidence from witnesses' testimony. I’ve managed to piece together most of it, but I'd like to hear from you directly: what happened?"

Lord Wesley sighed, shame heating his face as he straightened.

"I wish I could tell you more, Your Majesty," he said. "All I know is that the demons somehow managed to invade my home, and I'm still not entirely sure how."

"There was no sign?"

"Not at first," he said.

"Yes, there was," Wulfric said, and Lord Welsey pinched his nose in swift recollection.  

"Oh, of course. I forgot. Elric."

"Who?" Queen Di Santinael inquired.

"Elric. Son of Albert Earthbinder."

"Ah. Of course. What about him?"

"He seemed to realize something was wrong," Lord Wesley said. "Before anyone else. And he said that he believed the demons were travelling through the abyss."

"I see. And did he give a rationale as to why and how he believed they were doing so?"

Her eyes were shrewd, her tone placid, but something about it gave Lord Wesley pause.

Before he could answer, the door opened, and Elric appeared, looking around frantically.

"Ah, speak of the devil," Lord Wesley said.

Elric took note of the Legendary and bowed deeply to her before saying, "Good morning, Your Majesty. Lord Wesley. Have any of you seen Arielle?"

Tension was injected into the atmosphere as Wulfric snapped straight. 

"I thought she was with you and Camhanach," Wesley said.

"She was. But then towards the end...I lost her. I assumed that once everything was lifted she would be back, but I've searched for her everywhere and asked everyone I possibly can." The panic was clear on his face. "Do you think..." He didn't complete the sentence, but he began pacing.

"Calm down, Elric," Lord Wesley said. "If they killed her, her body would be here." Even as the words left his mouth, Wesley winced at how callous that sounded. He rubbed his forehead. "Forgive me. My nerves are raw, and I spoke without thinking. What I meant to say is I'm sure Arielle is fine, and she might be with her friends or somewhere else on the estate–"

"She's not," Elric said. His tension was apparent. "I thought the same and have searched for the past hour. She is not here."

"Then where could she be?"

"They could have taken her," Elric announced. "The demons."

"For what?"

"Hostage negotiations."

"Hostage..." Lord Wesley trailed off as the horror sank in. "Since when do demons care about hostages?"

"Yes, but we–"

“Sorry to interrupt,” Queen Di Santinael said, “But I will need to speak to you, Elric, to know more of what you saw that alerted you to the demon invasion.”

"I discovered a trio performing a demonic ritual," Elric said quickly. "And a man who had been injured."

"How did this trio get in here, and how did you know early on that they moved through the abyss rather than a simple failure of the security system, or a hidden rift with an anchor to earth, enabling them to teleport in and out?"

"Because of the nature of the movement,” he said and bowed again. “With all due respect, Your Grace, I’ll be glad to give a full report later. But my cousin is missing, and I really must find her.”

The legendary mage nodded. “Fine.We expect a full report as soon as possible. This is all very unusual, and we need to know how the demons attained the power that they have. I also heard reports of a strange mage using magic like my daughter's."

"I believe it was your daughter's soul clone," Lord Wesley said.

"Where is she now?"

"A demon took her."

"What?" Elric exploded, and they all looked at him.

"I mean...the soul clone is part of Vittoria, right? Shouldn’t we go get her right now?" He looked to the Legendary. "I would like to request emergency access to the demonic realm."

"Unnecessary," the Legendary responded. "I appreciate your concern, but my daughter is well capable of handling a demon or even a legion of them by herself. She will see it as an insult if I imply otherwise by showing up there." She straightened. "I have other matters to attend to."

"Archmage Lenore," Lord Wesley said before the Legendary could depart. "Is she..."

The Legendary weighed her words before she spoke. "She's hanging on by a thin thread. The probability of her making it is low, especially with the array of luck spells she cast."

He nodded. He knew it was most likely the case, but he just had to hear it from someone else.

"We will honor her sacrifice here at Iverson Manor forever."

"Noted." She turned to Elric. "I await your report, Archmage."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Elric bowed once more as she vanished.  

Then without saying a word to anyone, he walked away.

"Elric." Lord Wesley followed him out of his suite and into the hallway, but Elric vanished without hesitation.

It was unusually frantic behavior from him, but Wesley didn't blame him, though. He too was worried about Arielle.

"Father."

Lord Wesley turned around and found Wulfric approaching him tentatively. The look on his face reminded Wesley of the young mischievous boy he'd once been, scared he would get in trouble for breaking the wrong dish or saying the wrong thing.

But Wulfric hadn't been that young boy hours ago. 

Not with Gormod's sword in hand, cutting through the battlefield like a menace. Despite the darkness of the situation, Lord Wesley couldn't help but be proud of his son. He had reacted bravely, and most importantly heroically. His pulling the sword of Gormod before Edward did complicated matters a little, but that could all be dealt with later.

Lord Wesley was about to express his filial pride, when Wulfic blurted out, "I need to tell you something. It's about Arielle."

Wesley cocked his head. "What is it?"

"I don't think it was Elric who knew something was wrong," he said. "I think it was Arielle. She’s the one who saved us."

***

Pain wracked her body.

Pain and heat.

Arielle jolted every time it zapped over her skin, her bones feeling like they were breaking and healing just to be broken all over again. Her inner organs twisted around, her blood boiling. Sweat stuck to her skin, and she didn’t even have time to register that discomfort because her brain was on fire and someone was rolling sandpaper down her throat, and she was so miserable she could scream, but she didn’t even know how to open her mouth.

She thought she heard voices, but she couldn’t make out much of what was being said. Nevertheless, the voices let her know that help was close by. Maybe someone could take this agony away, or at least soothe the burning. If only she could reach them. 

It took her effort to lift her arm up. It took even more to croak, “Help.”

“That’s what we’re trying to do.” The voice was unfamiliar, soothing but disconcertingly strange. “Please relax, miss, or you will make it worse.”

Worse? How much worse could it get?

“I've done as much as I can.” She heard again through the ringing in her ears. “She has to ride it out. It will be terrible for the next few hours, and then it will begin to subside. However, I recommend at least twenty-four hours of strict bed rest. Ensure that she has enough fluids."

“Sure." The second voice sounded more familiar, although it did not bring her any comfort. She didn’t know who it came from, but deep inside she knew that she was supposed to run, to escape from it. She had the image of glowing eyes, white hair, and sharp teeth that flashed within lips curved in maniacal laughter. 

She groaned, but she couldn't move.

Crows chased her down in her dreams, and the laughter followed her, and she screamed because it was going to capture her, and there was nothing she could do about it. Butterflies were suddenly there, surrounding her, carrying her away from the black crows.

But then the butterflies started chasing her too, and it was all so confusing; she didn’t know what to make of it.

Here and there she would hear the sound of a door opening and closing. She would also feel something cool travelling down her throat, and it felt like heaven, but the cooling effect never lasted long enough.

She didn’t know how long had passed, and she reached out and said again, “Help me. Please.”

“There’s nothing I can do,” the second voice said. “You’re the one who went overboard with the pain suppression, on top of the poison."

Pain suppression? Someone suppressed her pain? Then why did she still have so much left of it?

Arielle didn’t know how much more agony she could take, but at some point a cold hand went over her brow, and she suddenly got very drowsy. 

That was the last thing she remembered until she opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. 

It was painted in gold with blue accents that she thought were meant to represent ocean waves. It was hard to tell from how abstract it was, but it seemed like the stick figures and the cursive inkwork represented some type of battle and ships arriving at a shore. Hanging from the center of the painting was a single light fixture that spread rays across the entire room. The room smelled of lilacs, and it remained a nice, cool temperature, despite the large windows to her left remaining shuttered, for some reason.

She stared at it for some time, trying to remember where she was, and then she realized that she didn’t recognize it. Any of it.

She was in a strange place.

She jerked up and immediately regretted it when a familiar sting rushed through her entire body. 

“Take it easy,” said the same voice from her dreams…or nightmares, depending on how one wanted to classify them. “You’re not recovered yet.”

She leaned back slightly, and the pain seized her chest, making it hard to breathe. Eventually, though, her vision unblurred enough for her to see who was on the other side.

It was Gio, sitting in a blue upholstered seat, with his hair tied in a bun at the top of his head, and wearing what seemed to be a night robe.

He watched her unblinkingly for some time and had a fairly irritated expression.

Arielle shifted uncomfortably, clearing her throat. “Have you been there watching me the whole time?”

He made a face. “No. What kind of person do you think I am?”

She shrugged and then asked, “What happened?” 

“How much do you remember?”

She shook her head slowly, because there was no single scenario in which she could imagine willingly coming to Gio’s home, but she didn’t recall being kidnapped either. . 

Then it all came back to her in a rush. 

The ball. The demons. Leviathan. Her friends.

“Elric!” she finally said, jerking up again, and ignoring the pain this time. “Lyra and Maus. How are they?”

He shrugged lazily. “Elric is alive. I don’t know who those other two are, and I don’t care.”

“Maus is my friend whom you knocked out.”

“Oh,” he said. He didn't add anything to it and yawned.

Arielle gritted her teeth. She started to move to get out of bed to find out for herself, and Gio said, “I don’t recommend you do that."

She ignored him, but when she put her foot on the ground and attempted to stand, she collapsed into a heap, her head knocking into the dresser. 

“Ow,” she said 

“Told you,” he said, and with a snap she was airborne and back into bed. 

“Don’t do that again,” he said. “It’s pointless, and we can’t have Elric pout and blame me because you accidentally hurt yourself.”

“Where is he?”

“On his way, I’m assuming. I mean, I only sent him a message a few seconds ago, but frankly I thought he would have figured it out earlier. In any case, I got tired of waiting.”

“What?”

Suddenly the door slammed open, with Elric standing in the doorway. He looked wide-eyed, disheveled, with black blood on his clothes.

His face went slack with relief when he saw her.  

“Arielle,” he exhaled, storming in and grabbing her by the shoulders, pulling her in for a hug that made her groan, despite how gentle it was. “Good heavens, I’ve been searching for you everywhere.”

"I think I've been here the whole time." She pushed away quickly because, as much as she was happy about his presence, he smelled almost as bad as he looked.

“So I heard." Elric pulled back and glared at Gio, who gave him a tight smile. “Thank you for letting me know where she was five hours later."

"You're welcome."

"Seriously, Gio. Was that necessary?"

"Of course. Or did you forget your threat of what you would do if I came near her again? I had to debate whether or not to tell you, you know.” He put his hand on his chest in dramatic fashion. “I feared for my life."

Elric gave him an annoyed and disbelieving look.

"You also made it quite apparent that we aren't friends," Gio continued. "So there was no reason to do you any favors, was there?"

"It would simply have been the decent thing to do."

"And what made you think I was the decent sort?"

Elric shook his head and returned his attention to Arielle.

“How are Lyra and Maus?” she asked. 

“They’re fine. Everyone’s getting looked over at Iverson manor, although some of the guests have already left for their respective territories. There are some in critical condition, but Lyra and Maus aren't one of them."

Arielle felt like she could finally breathe. “How many people died?”

Elric hesitated and nodded. “We had quite a few casualties. Lenore is in critical condition. We don’t know if she’ll make it yet.”

"What about Riorke and Lacey? And Professor Valeria? And Wulfric?"

"I saw Riorke and Wulfric. They seemed to be doing fine. I have not seen the professor or Lacey."

Dread sank into Arielle’s stomach. 

No. They couldn't be dead. They just couldn't.

Gio yawned loudly again, and Elric shot him a look. 

“Not that I’m not enjoying this riveting conversation,” he said "But I would like my bed back now.”’

“Your bed?”

“Yes. This is the guest room, but I had to sacrifice my precious mattress as the healer thought this one might be more comfortable for her to sleep in. Of course, it still didn't stop her from screaming half the night."

"Screaming?" Elric asked.

"My body hurt," Arielle admitted. "Still does."

"She used a series of pain suppression spells for too long, and pushed herself to the limit,” Gio said. “Oh and she was pretty significantly poisoned by a demon. It was quite difficult to get that out of her completely, and only my healer’s expertise managed to do that before significant damage was done." 

“Did you say poison?” Elric choked on the words, but Gio was already talking over him. 

"She's magically brilliant but physically inadequate. You should do something about that."

Elric nodded slowly. He seemed like he wasn’t truly sure what to make of Gio in this conversation.

Neither was she. 

Arielle supposed there were a lot of things to consider here.

Gio had discovered Arielle’s alternate identity. He had also saved her life, but then he had kept her presence here from Elric to punish him. He’d mistreated her friend and forced her to spar with him. Then he’d given her his favorite mattress to sleep on.

He was unpredictable, and Arielle got the feeling that even after several sessions with the dean, she would find it impossible to understand him. 

There were so many facets to this new terrain that she herself did not know quite how to navigate it. 

"We need to talk," Elric said.

"Of course," Gio said. "We have so much to discuss. But we’ll have to do it after I have at least eight hours of sleep. Otherwise, I could get quite...antsy."

Elric swallowed and nodded.

Arielle figured it was time to let Gio have his own bed. She tried to lift herself with magic but received an error alert.

[Warning: Mandatory Core Reevaluation Required].

[Core Abnormalities Noted].

[Type: Extensive].

[Temporary Magic Limit Instituted]

[Restricted Access to Grimoire]

[EPUQ Disabled]

[Please See System Center Before Attempting Further Magic Use]

Ari frowned.

"What's an extensive reevaluation?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"My system screen tells me that I need to have a mandatory core reevaluation before I use magic again? And that I need to go to the System Center. What does that mean?"

The simple question seemed to have an outsized effect on both men.

Elric paled, his jaw slackening.

Gio's irritation dropped, eyebrows rising in clear interest.

"What?" she asked. "Am I going to see Master Phineas again?"

Elric's eyes closed.

"No," he whispered. "This can’t be happening. Damn it, this is exactly what I was afraid of."

"What is it?"

"You won't be seeing Phineas," Gio explained when Elric didn't speak. "You have apparently caught the interest of the system center, and you will be seeing the crones who manage this system of ours."

"You mean the High Ascendant?" Fear turned her tongue to dust.

"No. But they do report their findings directly to him, and their center is one of the most heavily guarded and secretive there is. So are their methods and their process, which is also terrifyingly accurate. They hold the secrets to our universe. Quite a few mages have gotten their cores suppressed there, although they mostly deal with powerful evil sorcerers who are on the verge of world domination, not children." 

Gio spoke casually as though he weren't revealing world-changing news. He yawned again. 

 "In other words, Ms. Arielle Blacksoil, your days of hiding are probably over."

***

AN: Wanted to get this chapter out earlier today, as a surprise, but it didn't work out haha. Enjoy!