The darkness of the room obscured Aiden’s expression as he stared at the two Sovrans.
The duty of an overseer was maintaining order and investigating accusations of crime, and few were fool enough to do anything that might draw their attention. For them to come out was a matter most uncommon, but today was not a regular day—the Ascension ceremony still echoed in the defeated murmurs of the unchosen.
“Greystone.” Overseer Corvanis turned to face him, hands behind his back. “What brings you here?”
Aiden almost snapped back an insult at the Sovran’s ridiculous question. It had to be a provocation. Why do you think, you stupid fucker? Instead, he took a deep breath, and controlled his rage.
“It’s my home.”
“Wrong.” The other Sovran, Overseer Travor, shook his head.
His hair was black and trimmed short, while a square jaw aided the scowl that never left his face. The Sovran had always been impatient, but the look on his face today had a tinge of danger mixed into it.
“This house is assigned to Irena Greystone and her family. Last I heard, you’re not her son,” he said.
“She’s—”
“Not your mother.” Travor snapped. “Do us a favor and fuck off, ratling. Whenever I’ve to deal with your ilk, my skin always gets itchy. I’m allergic.”
Aiden simmered. His heart pounded in his ears like drums. Deep breaths. His stomach burned painfully. You piece of shit… deep breaths, Aiden. He wanted to lash back, but there was no point.
The rage subsided, his thoughts becoming sharper. A day would come when the two Sovrans paid for their actions, but it was not today. Aiden had no means of achieving anything more than a painful death.
“I’ll pack my things,” he said.
“No, you won’t—” Travor started, but Overseer Corvanis interrupted him.
“Be quick about it, Greystone.” Overseer Corvanis waved, shooing him away. “Do you wish to file another death to the Ministry of the White Garden when the ratling dies of cold, Travor?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Travor shot Aiden a glare before falling silent.
With his head down, Aiden made his way inside the house’s stone confines, more aware than ever of the frigid stone beneath his bare feet. The warmth is gone. A sigh escaped him as he entered the bedroom, wary of watchful eyes and the dangerous curiosity of Sovrans.
There’s only one thing I need to get.
The rag bed was untouched, likely because of disgust rather than respect. Good. Better to suffer their contempt than the consequences of being caught with the drawings of runes, he assured himself, before plunging his hand into the familiar spot and retrieving the book.
"Well, well, well," Overseer Travor laughed. “What do we have here?”
Aiden turned around, hiding the book behind his back and inside his pants, sweat immediately gathering on his forehead—the perfect image of someone caught red-handed. Did he see it? Aiden did not dare meet the overseer’s eyes as the man struggled to fit inside the tiny room.
“Don’t be shy, little ratling. You can show it to me.” Overseer Travor approached with a predatory smile. Despite his size, he moved without making a sound. “Come on, let’s see it.”
“See… what? I don’t know what you mean.” Aiden stumbled back.
“Must you torture the poor creature, Travor? Are you going to inspect him for any dirty rags he decides to take?” Corvanis voiced his displeasure in the kitchen. “Let it go so we can be done with this.”
“Not this time.” Travor’s voice lost its scorn and playful tone. “His heart’s telling me a lot of things. I know this tune well, Corvanis.” A smile split his features. “Oh, no! He caught me. I better hide this or I’ll get in trouble. Something along those lines. And I’ve to say, now I need to see just what the ratling is hiding.”
Bloodsense! He’s hearing my heartbeat.
“Are you certain?” Corvanis frowned, taking the matter seriously for the first time.
“Oh yes. This one’s hiding something important, something dangerous.” Travor took a step forward. “Something taboo.”
In and out. In and out. Breathe!
Aiden tried to control his breathing, to steady his heartbeat, but the damage was already done. Sweat dripped from his forehead into his eyes, reminding him of his split lip with a sharp stab of pain. I gotta go. Now. He inched away from the man until his back touched the wall.
Nowhere to run. Aiden took a deep breath and decided to risk it all. Can only change things if you take risks, Aiden.
“You know, little ratling, there are things that can get you killed. But I suppose you already know that, given what happened to your father. He was smart, for a ratling, always treated his betters with respect and subservience.” Travor threw Corvanis a look. “Quite the surprise when he attacked a Sovran on duty. Maker’s mercy, what sort of rabid beast bites the hand that feeds it?”
“The kind which needs to be put down,” Corvanis said matter-of-factly.
The controlled rage almost exploded, but Aiden subdued it with an icy grip. It was not the first time someone mocked his father’s death, but by the Maker, it would be the last.
“There are also crimes that’ll get you more than a slap on the wrist or a blade through the neck—nasty stuff, those. Things worthy of an Excision.” Travor placed one massive hand on his shoulder. “Opening the gate is one of them.”
Aiden’s heart skipped a beat.
“He knows about the gate, Corvanis!” Travor shouted, distracted by the possibility of finding the clue they had been looking for.
“That’s… right.” It was all the cue Aiden needed. A plan formed in his head. “I saw the gate opening, my lords. B-but… I swear, I didn’t have anything to do with it. It was all that man!”This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“Maker protect us all,” Corvanis said, closing his eyes.
“Out with it, you cretin. Who’s that man? What did you see?” Travor’s eyes quivered with fear.
Aiden knew his fate was already sealed the moment the Sovran sensed the fear in his heartbeat. Proof meant nothing to them; after a night spent under their torture, Aiden suspected he would confess to being the Maker himself.
They’re gonna kill me no matter what I say.
“A man walked through the gate.” Aiden ignored their incredulous shouts, bringing the book forward and opening it so the runes were visible only to him. “He dropped this book.”
The Sovrans looked at him as if transfixed, their attention fully focused on the book Aiden held in his hands. Before any of them had a chance to react, Aiden pivoted it toward them, shoving the notebook in their faces.
The reaction was instant and unavoidable. Sovran or miner, it did not matter. Travor’s hand on his shoulder fell as he collapsed onto his backside. Corvanis blinked through tears and stumbled backward.
Aiden grabbed the book, ducked low to avoid Corvanis’s blind swing, and ran.
That’s not gonna hold them for long. Thirty seconds, if I’m lucky.
The wind hit his face as the roars inside the house haunted his maddened run. The puffs of his breathless gasps somehow overpowered the loud beating of his heart, but not the sound of stone walls caving under the Sovrans’s rage.
“Aiden?!” Tom shouted behind him. “Wait!”
Aiden threw him a glance. Sorry, Tom, but it’s better if you stay away from me. It lasted no more than a second, but the man seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation, his steps slowing until he gave up with a heavy nod.
“Greystone!” The shout echoed through the entire district.
Aiden shoved the notebook into his pants, and the dark ring slipped out, pinging against the stone. He caught it as he ran, snatching it mid-bound as if the Maker himself had bestowed him the grace of a thief. Can’t lose you, can I? The ring stayed in his hand.
Attracting attention would not be a problem where Aiden headed—no sane person would willingly head closer to the gate. Just until I lose them. With a resolute exhale, Aiden shoved the ring onto his finger.
AZ’TENRI CIRCLET INITIATED
“Ah!” Aiden threw a blind punch behind his head and missed a step.
He heard a man’s voice just over his shoulder, but it belonged to none of the Sovrans he knew. None of that mattered, as Aiden crashed hard against the ground, his knee and shoulder burning hot.
Who’s that?
Aiden picked himself up and ran faster than before, sparing only a glance back to ensure no one was following him. No one. Thank the Maker.
The ruins replaced the residential buildings within moments as he fled.
Am I going crazy? I could have sworn somebody spoke just now. Maybe I’m losing my mind…
WELCOME, DRAVEN VON ASTRAIS
“Shit! Who—” Aiden was ready this time. It was not a whisper over his head, but a voice that spoke inside his mind. “Sovran magic…”
Words formed in the corners of his vision, floating in thin air and matching his pace with effortless grace.
“Who in the abyss is Draven von Astrais?” He read the text. Wait, I can’t read! Nobody had ever taught him how to do it, yet he understood every single word as if studied in Elysium.
Magic. It’s gotta be magic.
AWAITING CATALYST
Get out of my head!
The black ring on his finger grew colder, its dark surface swirling with increased momentum until it became uncomfortable. It hissed, and before Aiden could do anything, it popped like a bubble, spreading an inky dark liquid on his hand.
“What the fuck!”
Aiden shook his hand, trying to fling the substance off, but it didn’t work. The movement failed to wrench a single drop of the strange liquid free. Instead, it spread further up his arm, melding with his skin, merging with the flesh until it was gone.
Maker’s mercy, I hope this thing isn’t poison.
Aiden didn’t know what in the Abyss the mad geezer from the Beyond had given him, but it was something that touched the arcane forces held by the Sovrans. He was certain of it, for there was a foreign presence behind his thoughts—a feeling unlike anything he had ever experienced. It was closer to the awareness of a limb.
Aiden flexed it like a muscle.
Draven von AstraisProvidence: NonePath: None
Words forged of blue light manifested before his eyes, the hue familiar like the glow of runes. Aiden skimmed the glowing text, worried he was going insane, but none of it made much sense, except the name von Astrais. It was his father’s last name, according to the mad Sovran.
“There!” Travor’s snarl shattered his hopes of fleeing.
The Sovran ran with unreal speed, his feet devouring the ground in great bounds that cracked the stone. A sphere of blood hovered over his hand, vibrating with every step Aiden took, guiding the Sovran in his chase.
Damned magic! Why don’t you play fair?
Corvanis followed close behind, his eyes devoid of sympathy or mercy. “I will handle this,” he rasped.
Purple energy emerged from his skin, flowing like strands of lightning that crawled over his pristine clothes like serpents. His steps did not just crack the stone beneath him—they caved it. With a deafening explosion that sent pebbles flying, he was gone.
Before Aiden reacted, stray stones struck his face, sending him sprawling onto the ground. Warm blood trickled down his chest in fresh bursts of pain. The world spun. His ears rang as muffled voices called to him.
An enormous pressure pinned him against the ground. Aiden could not breathe—could not think. He struggled to understand what had happened. A massive hand grabbed him by the neck, lifting him high into the air, high enough he saw the rooftops of the ruins. An effortless display of strength.
Overseer Corvanis’s blue eyes stabbed bloody holes through him. He opened his mouth to say something, but all Aiden could hear was the deafening ringing in his ears.
Aiden blinked, his confused gaze slowly sharpening as the dust cloud settled around them. The Sovran stood at the center of a crater in the stone, but he could have sworn no such thing existed in this area.
Not unless he made it.
The Sovran shook his head, raised a hand, and slapped Aiden across the face. It was as if someone had started a fire using his cheek as fuel. It burned with an intensity to wake even the dead, much less the stunned.
The presence swirling dormant inside Aiden’s head twitched. He spat blood and a broken tooth. Shit. I’m dead. They had him. He was going to hang for what he had done.
“Why did you make things harder?” Corvanis looked at him with clear displeasure.
Travor arrived, his sphere of floating blood still hovering above his palm. With a smile and a clench of his fist, the magic dissipated into the air. “Kind of you to leave your blood behind, ratling. I’m not sure we could’ve caught you without your help.”
Corvanis glanced at him from the corner of his eye. “Answer my question.”
What question? You didn’t ask anything! Aiden gasped for breath. “What are you—”
Corvanis tightened his grip on Aiden’s neck, choking the words into silence. “Never mind, Greystone. You can keep your secrets, if you must.” The blue-eyed Sovran nodded. “All the information we need will come when they send in the Evoker.”
He’s insane! How can I say anything like this? It doesn’t make sense. Aiden’s eyes bulged. Let me speak and I’ll tell you, I swear!
Corvanis pried the book from Aiden’s pocket, handling it as if it had the plague.
“Evoker?” Travor whistled. “Damn, Corvanis, that’s a bit heavy-handed coming from you.”
He looked concerned at the mention of that word, almost fearful. Aiden sweated all the more. Whatever scared a Sovran was not something anyone would look forward to facing.
“What do you expect? The gate just opened, and this… child—ratling—has a whole book filled with runes.” Corvanis watched as Aiden’s face turned purple from lack of breath. “Let Elysium handle this. But first, we’ll make him a lesson for those who dare bite their master’s hand.”
Those were the last words Aiden heard before everything turned dark.