by Thomas Green
“When my turn came, a large man stared down at me. ‘Name and age, kid.’
“I knew neither. He tried again, but I did not have the answer.
“‘Meh, black hair… I will write you down as Raven, age six.’
“They brought me in a cell with ten other men.
“Ever since then, I have been living in the complex and fighting in the arena.”
Luna sat down next to him. “Have you ever been without shackles?”
“No.”
Okay, in retrospect, my childhood wasn’t so bad, and I need to apologize to James. “What’s the thing you enjoy the most?”
“Nibbles’ company. From my work… I guess battling mercenaries. They come to fight by their own will, have a plan and are not afraid of dying.”
What did I expect? “What do you like the least?”
“Killing animals. They never deserve death, and I hate to watch the fear in them as they see their end has arrived.”
She made a mental note not to eat animals in front of him, for she was sure he would love how she breaks their legs and devours them when they are still alive. “I barely remember my parents and never found what their names were. My only memory of them is how we traveled through a forest. They were merchants, I guess, as I remember myself sitting on a merchant wagon. Then it came, a blur of fur, claws, and teeth. The creature broke apart the cart, tore people to shreds and then stood before me. I didn’t reach up to its knees.
“The beast picked me up with its claws, threw me to the air and opened its jaw to gulp me down like a cherry. I fell into its mouth, impaling myself on the teeth of its bottom jaw. I screamed in pain but saw the top jaw and the rest of the head wasn’t there. In its place was but a fountain of blood. The monster collapsed and I with it. Above me stood a man, tall with deathly gray skin and shining blue eyes.
“‘Tough luck, kid,’ he said before he spun around and left. I was so angry I kept crawling through the forest, following his scent or what I thought it was. I don’t know how long it took. I only remember the pure anger and agony.
“Suddenly, he stood above me once more. ‘Refusing to die?’
“His voice was alluring like the full moon while he was as terrifying as darkness itself. Next thing I remember is that I was lying in bed, covered by dry blood with remainders of a corpse by my side and the man towering above me.” Luna took a pause. “That was James.”
The beast within her grunted into her mind. ‘Why do you always mention how James killed me and not the part where he put my soul into you so you would live?’
Because I wish you never existed. She raised her chin, banishing the beast from her thoughts.
Raven smiled. “Sounds like a good man.”
Luna laughed. “When I recovered enough to walk, he took me outside, saying ‘Kid, I know nothing about raising children, so the only thing I can teach you is to become me.’
“I giggled, and he kicked me so hard all bones in my body broke. I regenerated. He did it again and kept going until my regeneration ran out. Then he fed me, and we started over the next day.”
Raven stared at her, his face but a mask of disgust.
“Only years later I realized this was the only way I could grow because my regeneration keeps me the same. We were doing this for most of my life, and when I grew older, he taught me how to wear a uniform, hunt, fight, utilize aether, escape from chains, pick locks, deploy armies, dance and hundreds of other things I don’t think I will ever use.” Luna smiled, her eyes unfocused as if gazing into the past. “And then he took me to his friend, Jean Pierre, who employed me in his smithy and James left without as much as saying goodbye.” She sighed. “At least he made me strong, or so I thought before you stabbed me like it was nothing. How the hell did you do that?”
Raven returned her smile. “Why can’t I shake the feeling you will not believe me if I say I used strengthening?”
Luna smirked. “Of course not. Strengthening is the most basic manifestation of aether, which almost everyone can do. I have fought that dozens of times, so I am sure my bones are tougher than steel and thus no blade can slice through them. But you did.”
Raven nodded. “Not going to tell you what my aether does.”
Luna shook her head. “Let’s give each other the general idea of what aether manifestation we wield. It can’t work otherwise.” She showed him her hand and made her fingertips extend into vicious claws. “I call mine shifting.”
Raven raised an eyebrow. “How much can you shift?”
“Hands and mouth… I fail at everything other than strengthening.”
“And the regeneration?”
Luna did her best to hide the smile creeping up her face, for he apparently did not notice her lie. “That happens by itself. But it drains my strength, so getting wounded too heavily throws me into backlash like every other aether wielder.”
Raven’s smile lost its joy. “I use my aether to temporarily change any aspect of the world around me.”
After taking a short pause to absorb it, Luna narrowed her eyes. “Can you show me an example?”
“Throw a dagger at the wall.”
Luna did as he said. When the dagger hit the stone, its blade shattered as if it was made of glass. She stared at the pieces, frozen. In disbelief, she lifted a shard of the broken dagger’s blade. The steel was cold and ordinary. The three thousand wins assigned to his name stopped feeling as an exaggeration. She gulped. While she doubted he could do this to an item filled by aether or a person with aether defenses like she kept when fighting, this was not from the realm of what she considered possible. Until now. “Okay, I guess we should get back to practicing.”
Raven rose. “Have an idea. To train, we both strengthen the swords to the limit. Should help us both.”
An uneasy thought crept into her mind. She skipped the better half of her power when describing her manifestation and the idea of Raven doing the same did not bring her peace. If this was the weaker, the less important part of his strength, then she was sure she never wanted to face the stronger half. She forced out a weak smile. “Sure. That sounds like fun.”
They trained for the rest of the day and went back to sleep in their cell.
***
A jolt of pain from the side of her head woke Luna up. She shook her head, throwing away Nibbles, who was biting her earlobe. She glared at the rat. “I will give you a bite, you little shit!” She reached after him but froze mid-movement.
He sat sagged against the wall in a pool of his own blood, cracked stone behind him.
“Raven?” She leapt out of her bed to rush to him. “Wake up!”
He didn’t move.
If he dies, I will be bear the blame and become a wanted outcast! Panic flooded her veins. Shit! She grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him up. Luna dragged him through the compound, cursing at every step, wishing she knew how to carry him not to hurt him further.
As fast as she could, she brought him to the Healer’s Quarters and kicked the door open, not bothering to check whether it was locked. The rooms lay empty. Luna took a deep breath to shout. “We need help here, now!”
A sleepy voice sounded from a side room. “Is someone there?”
Luna carried Raven toward the origin of the sound.
The door opened, and a middle-aged woman with long, ginger hair stood behind them. She gawked at the blood that covered Luna. “Oh my God, what happened to you?”
“Not me! Him!”
The woman turned pale as she focused her eyes on Raven.
Together, they dragged him to her small infirmary. Flowers besieged the room that featured a narrow bed in the middle with stools and tables scattered by the green-painted walls. The woman poured a yellow-brown liquid over him and worked her aether, running her elegant fingers around his body, tracing invisible symbols.
Luna sat down by the side, petrified. She tried to pivot her thoughts to what happened and to what excuse she would use if Stallington wanted to cast her out
for this. Not that he would have been wrong to do so, for she was sure it was, at least indirectly, her fault. Whenever something terrible occurred near her presence, it was always because of her. She dropped her head by his on the bed and squeezed his hand tightly. “Will he be alright?”
She sighed. “I don’t know. He lost a lot of blood, his spine and most ribs are broken while his skull is almost smashed.”
I am so sorry, Raven. Please don’t die on me. The cell was much better than being a criminal hunted by monster hunters. She turned to the woman, forcing her mind away from the exile from this region that was on its way. “Sorry, I’m Luna.”
“Samantha,” she said and then worked for many long hours before she finally succumbed to her exhaustion and dropped herself onto a stool.
In the meantime, Luna’s mind ran through all the possible escape paths, and plans were she to be blamed for this. No matter how much she analyzed her options, her only hope was to run back to Jean Pierre and beg him to accept her back to the smithy while paying off her bounty. Tears nearly shot into her eyes while the embarrassment twisted her insides at the mere thought of having to do this, but she saw no other options.
With her last bits of hope, Luna turned to Samantha. “Were you able to heal him?”
“Likely. I have seen him get out of worse wounds. I will go make ointments and tea.” Samantha rose to her feet after a short break.
Luna exhaled, trying not to tear up from the relief. “Is there any way I can help?”
“Stay here with him. He needs a friend more than anything,” she said with a smile. Luna had no answer.
Raven’s eyes opened. He cleared his throat before he said, “Morning.”
Luna leapt on him for a hug.
Raven groaned in pain as she did.
I’m so sorry! Luna detached to step back.
He smiled. “Still a little weak.”
She wanted to smack him but stopped herself. Fool…
They spent the morning there. Luna helped Samantha wash the blood off him and put healing ointments onto the wounds. Raven kept saying he was okay, but he had no real chance against them both. He wanted to go back to the cell, but Samantha denied him every time, insisting he wasn’t going anywhere other than to another bed.
I can do that. Luna opened the door and almost stumbled into Prince Stallington. She slid to the side, making space for him to enter while trying to appear as invisible as she could, praying he wouldn’t point the accusing finger at her.
He measured Raven with a cold stare. “You lost a fight?”
Raven turned his gaze to the ground. “Kind of.”
Stallington scoffed. “Pathetic.” He turned to Samantha. “Make sure he recovers.”
She bowed. “Your Highness.”
The prince spun on his heel and left.
All of Luna’s muscles unclenched, and as she exhaled, a wave of tiredness hit her so strongly she nearly fainted. She waited for a few minutes before she dared exit and search the complex for an available bed. She soon found an unoccupied room from which she borrowed a bed. She pushed it to their cell, snarling away anyone who tried to help her.
At least this much I can do for him. After arranging the bed inside their place, Luna washed the blood off the cracked wall and the ground.
She realized Nibbles was sitting on the table, watching her. “Sorry about yesterday.”
He squeaked in approval.
This rat is too smart. As she went to make her own bed and change herself from the bloodied nightgown, she saw a black wooden case hidden beneath her duvet, one decorated with carvings and a red ribbon. Luna ripped the bow apart, opened the case and gasped at the contents. Inside was a thin, double-edged longsword with a black blade covered by runes. She lifted the weapon, amazed at how weightless it was. At the bottom of the wooden case lay a note with a text scribbled on it:
‘If he tries something on you, stab him with it. James.’
Her eyes filled with tears. He remembered. She remembered too. Today was eleven years away from when she first met James. My birthday… and he almost killed Raven for stabbing me. That soulless idiot...
As her memory flared, she examined the sword. The runes were ancient, the metal unlike any she had ever seen while strange leather wrapped the hilt. She couldn’t assign it to any creature or animal she knew. At the cross guard, she found a small symbol of a rose. She knew this sword. James’s house had a wall displaying weapons, and this weapon hung at its center.
She stared at the blade for a long while, digging through her memory.
‘I want that one,’ little Luna pointed at the thin, black sword hanging on the wall.
James sighed. ‘You are not ready for it, Lunariel Laen’Ash, I’ve told you for a hundred times already.’
‘I don’t like that name! Give me another!’
James ignored her.
‘It sounds awkward! Everyone will laugh at me!’
He shrugged. ‘Nobody laughs at me.’
Luna paused. ‘That’s another reason why I can’t have it. I am not of your blood and nothing like you! There is no way anyone would ever believe it.’
‘That is not for you to decide,’ he said, ‘for one day, I will pass the sword of our bloodline to you. If it accepts you, you are worthy of bearing the name of Laen’Ash, and you will carry our legacy as the next of the forsaken roses wherever the road takes you.’
‘What if it doesn’t? What road?’
‘The road of your life. If it doesn’t accept you, then you will die, and I will retrieve it.’
Luna clicked her tongue. ‘I don’t want it, and I’m not walking on some stupid road!’
‘You are not ready, anyway.’ James smiled and kicked her in the chest so hard her body flew out of the house and almost shattered when she hit the tree outside. ‘Time to get back to training.’
As the memory dissipated, she knew what it meant.
Thank you, James, for everything. Luna turned the blade around and ran it through her own heart.
4
Luna
Luna woke up in her bed, her vision blurred and misty. She stretched her muscles, which were stiff, tired, almost disobedient. She rose slowly and saw Raven sagged by the wall, his eyes focused on her. “What happened?”
He ignored her.
She stomped. “Would you listen?”
He shook his head, snapping back to reality. “Curious how you did that.”
She stopped, frowning. “Did… what?”
“Your aether disappeared from you, but you didn’t die, and it has returned, different.”
Her mouth gaped as she stared at him. “Did you just say you can see aether?”
“Not see, feel.”
She gulped, making a note never to fight him. Aether was invisible and undetectable for everyone. Or so she thought. She clicked her tongue, raising her chin. “Stop being so dramatic about this! Nothing happened!”
His gaze did not yield. “What’s that nothing?”
“Attaching this.” She extended her right hand. Out of nowhere, a thin black longsword appeared with its hilt in her palm.
Raven stared. “What?”
“It’s a sword I got it from James.”
“James?”
Luna’s cheeks flared up. “Did you listen to anything I told you about myself?”
He arched an eyebrow. “Thought the James you talked of was a human.”
She forced out an awkward smile. “Not exactly. Anyway, enough sitting around. Let’s do something.”
He did not rise. “Before that. From where did you pull the sword?”
“My soul chamber in Limbo… I guess.”
Recognition flashed through his eyes, and he rose. “Can watch the finals of the qualifiers.”
The sphere of existence that lay straight beyond reality, Limbo, was something Luna thought almost nobody knew of. Yet him knowing of it did not surprise her. “From where do you know what Limbo is?”
“Tutors.” Raven str
etched, his joints popping. “Jonathan has been sending them to team me about warfare and aether.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why? And why do you keep calling him by his first name?”
He forced out a smile while a shadow of sadness filled his eyes. “His wife left him, taking the kids, so he’s been raising me instead.”
“Then why do you live in a dungeon and are chained?”
Raven shrugged. “Suppose he considers it educative.”
Luna sighed, not knowing what to think of this. “Anyway, why are there qualifiers? It’s not like we need any teammates.”
“Jonathan insists.”
“I’m bored already.” Luna followed him into the maze of corridors.
They walked through the arena complex, through which he led her to an empty tribune hidden in the wall. Despite being beneath the main tribunes, the stench of sweat was as overwhelming as on them. Luna stepped to the slit in the stone wall of the barren room and peeked into the arena. Inside, two teams were fighting.
One was a typical bunch of mercenaries in breastplates complemented by chain mail, painted to a semblance of a uniform. The other was an adventuring troupe dressed in outfits made of breastplates, greaves, gauntlets, helmets and chain mail, all fashioned in a mixture of white and bright pink. Letters etched onto their armor read Rapacious Reavers.
They’re kidding me, right? I am not going anywhere next to these fools! Luna reached into her pockets to take out her collection of toxins. If she were not to have fun, there was no reason not to use this moment to test what toxins would not make her go on a rampage when in the presence of this many people. She ate a small black mold.
Raven arched an eyebrow. “That is a strong toxin.”
Luna paused. “How would you know?”
“Aside from tutors, Stallington would sometimes send me female slaves, who often used toxins to heighten their pleasure. Why are you taking it?”
“The stench of sweat from so many people makes me want to go berserk, and this helps,” Luna said. “I don’t become addicted though, a perk of my regeneration.”