“I don’t think they like me.”
“You just don’t understand our customs. Transcendents never formally introduce themselves to outsiders on the first meeting. Exceptions can and have been made, but they are very traditional. If you piss them off…trust me, you’ll know.”
“I guess so.”
“Come, lets get up here and get a better view.”
She walked over to the side of the structure where there were several large cracks where she planted her feet and clambered up onto the second level. She reached down and pulled him up there as well. They walked over to the opposite side, where it became more apparent what this structure used to be. The battlements were heavily weathered but still held a vague outline of their shape.
“What is this place?” Naurus asked, seeing what looked like the remains of a gun carriage.
“Way back when, this was called the Empire’s Edge. This fort was the furthest protuberance of land on the edge of our empire. This here is where the first shots of the war rang out too.”
“What do you mean?”
“Come look.”
She walked over to the corner and sat down on the edge of the crumbling gun carriage, then beckoned him to sit down next to her. He hadn’t even sat down before he noticed what she was looking at. Far down below in the distance, on the end of a long and gentle downhill slope that made up the cliff wall, was a bay that sparkled. It wasn’t the water that sparkled though. It was the dozens and dozens of armor-clad ships of various shapes and sizes that were anchored down there. The armor was so new and shiny it hadn’t lost its luster, and that was painfully apparent to the two of them.
They sat silently for some time, observing the city which was hardly obscured by the hazy smoke rising from its foundries and the tin roofs which occasionally glinted in the sun as clouds passed overhead.
“Down there, long ago, we had a delegation of warships docked in the harbor. They knew we were sitting ducks. They knew they were going to retaliate, it was only a matter of time. I knew it…but didn’t believe it would be here, with me and my fleet. I saw it, the first shots. The horrible realization that the smoke coming from up here wasn’t some sort of salute. The shells crashed in all around us, sinking several ships before they could possibly move. I just barely made it out with my life, being that I had already set sail before they opened up on us. From there…it was a long and ugly road to where we are now.”
He didn’t respond for some time. He didn’t really know how to.
“We aren’t going to win this war, are we?” He asked, realizing they had nothing of the sort like these ironclads.
“I truly don’t know if there will be a war…maybe diplomacy will win the day. I thought wrong thinking that their raid would trigger an instant declaration of war. Our King seems to be reticent to call a war economy and call for a total mobilization.”
“Well…what about our mission?”
“The mission?” She giggled, looking at him. “Let’s call the espionage a successful failure. I’ll consider the survival behind enemy lines a pyrrhic victory thus far.”
“But we have to get back home and Recht isn’t gonna be happy, let alone the King.”
“Why do you think that? He was nice enough to absolve you of your curse as a token of appreciation for your enlistment to come out here.”
“I guess so. I still don’t get it…how were you getting into my—”
“Dreams…I thought you’d ask that.” She butted in, smiling. “When you dream, your conscious leaves our plane and goes to something called the Astral Plane. This is where I could find you every time you slept. Our Blood Vow imbued us with a connection that makes that sort of telepathy very easy…at least with the knowledge my parents had.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, my mother is an apothecarist by trade, my father was an alchemist turned field surgeon during the war and dabbled in the schools of restoration and healing. Together, they figured out a safe way to transport me there.”
“But why couldn’t you show me your face or just tell me your name that whole time?!”
She tussled his hair, giggling as she usually did at his frustrations.
“Things are much different in the Astral Plane. You are very exposed to the scrying and other forms of eavesdropping your enemies may have. I didn’t want to risk it. I kept bringing you here, based on my memories of this place. It looks a bit different, I know. But its consistent and I wanted to make sure you would know this place when you found it.”
“I found it alright. But you didn’t have to sneak up on me…you could just say ‘hey’ like a normal person!”
“What’s the fun in that?” She quipped, awaiting an answer that didn’t come. “I thought so. Did you camp here for the night?”
“Yeah…oh crap. I need to remember my satchel before I leave.”
“Worry not, we will get your man purse soon.”
He groaned, and she wrapped an arm around him and pulled him in.
“I’m still mad at you.”
“Oh, well that’s just tragic. But this whole debacle is mostly my fault. I suppose I can make it up to you somehow. How about I’ll answer any two questions you have?” She asked.
“Okay! Um…since your kind are so cagey about these sorts of things…how about your surname?”
She sneered and flicked his ear.
“How did I know that was coming? First, our surnames are essentially based on the circumstances of our birth and are basically an entire sentence. It doesn’t always exactly translate, but I will try. So my full name would be ‘Morra Maxima Ex Luce Et Tenebris Noctis’. The rough translation would be ‘Morra, born of the darkest night and the longest dawn.’ Happy?”
“But…what does that even mean?”
“My story isn’t terribly exciting. My mother almost died during childbirth, since the labor happened to take up that entire pitch-black night into the next dawn. She was bedridden for some time after, but here I am.”
Naurus smiled, finally learning something that had been eating him for longer than he cared to admit.
“One more?”
“Fine.” She acquiesced.
“What’s Dezlyn’s surname?”
She twisted her face up and looked perplexed for a moment.
“I’m starting to regret my life’s decisions…oh for the love of the gods don’t give me those puppy eyes. Fine…let me think. I believe it’s ‘Dezlyn Iactati Undis Et Turbine Natus’ which is something like ‘Dezlyn, born of the waves and tempest tossed.’ I’m sure you can piece together the story there.”
“Sounds like your kind doesn’t have good luck with child birth.”
She cackled. “Yeah…you’re not far from the truth. Now it’s my turn.”
“For what?”
“My question, mister brown nose. What’s your surname?”
“You already know that!”
“Don’t make me ask twice.”
“Darknight! I’m pretty sure it’s made up…I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“I figured it was, given your fathers past. That’s alright…maybe I can help you find the truth there.” She said, scratching at his scruffy face. “And on the way there I need to give you another damn shave!”
He blushed slightly and rubbed his face, not realizing how long it had grown out.
“I have one more…”
She looked at him sidelong, saying nothing but he knew what that meant.
“What was that thing you did back at the tavern? When you got attacked, I just remember standing there one moment then the next I was waking up on the smoldering floor and the room was full of smoke. What the hell was that?”
“I didn’t intend to hit you with that, apologies. But it’s a very dangerous channeling of destructive magick called chain lightning. It could have killed me too, and truth be told it would have had my parents not known exactly what to do when they found me. It’s incredibly stupid to do near anyone you don’t
wish to harm, let alone inside a packed tavern. It must have knocked you out for a brief time. You looked like hell when you were outside with me, not to mention your nose was running red.”
“It’s okay…I wish I could do something that cool.”
“One day, I’m sure you will.”
She looked away back towards the bay and the started cupping the mana in his hands again, rolling it around until he felt the solid yet invisible mass. It was much faster and easier this time. He suddenly was struck with a mischievous idea.
“Morra?”
“Hm?”
“Look at this cool thing I found!”
She turned towards him, only to be blasted in the face with a ball of wind that blew her hair back and forced her eyes closed. Her grimace soon turned into a smirk.
“If I didn’t like you so much, I would be hurling you down this cliff right about now. Where the hell did you learn that?”
“My dad! He taught me how to channel mana…but that’s the only thing I can do for now.”
“I guess the old man is good for something after all.”
She pulled him back in and mussed his hair.
“Well…we need to make it home, so what’s next?” He asked.
“And so our story continues.”
Empire's Edge (Path of Light Book 2) Page 27