Domain

Colin looked between the two before finally settling on Aerowyn, “What do you mean, your own Trait? You don’t have one. The King and Queen would have known. Explain yourself, Aerowyn.”

Iris interrupted before Aerowyn could explain, “I can feel it. There’s this…feeling. It’s like I know I could pick you out of a crowd with no trouble.” She struggled to pull her eyes away from Aerowyn now that she knew what to look for.

“But—how did you hide that before?” Colin asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“It’s part of my Trait. Now, are we just going sit around and talk about this all day? Maybe have a repeat of today? Or are we going to walk out of here together?”

“Like I said earlier today, Aerowyn. I refuse to sully my family’s name. I can’t go with you.” Colin said, sitting back down.

“Ah, to be young and dumb.” Aerowyn said, getting a look from Colin, “Hear me out—let’s play pretend, shall we? You stay, and while under your watch, our examinee over here escapes. You…as the sole protector and guard of Iris, not only allowed her to escape, but you’re not injured, there was no fight to signify you tried your best to stop her supposed kidnapping or release. Forget your family name, what do you think will happen to you? The young and upstart Graven, fully incapable of keeping a frail little woman in a cell, breaking the tradition after countless cycles. So tell me, Colin…how do you plan to explain that to the King and Queen?”

“I can’t let that happen, you know that.” Colin resolutely stated, drawing his weapon.

Aerowyn looked down at the blade and chuckled, “You may be strong, but you underestimate how much Traits help even things out. In this case? I could walk out of here with Iris before you knew what happened.”

Upon finishing his last sentence, Aerowyn’s body faded away like he was being erased from reality, and his voice, this time in a different location, had the heads of both Iris and Colin whipping around to find him now standing just behind Colin, a smile on his face.

”One more time, Colin…how do you plan to explain that to the King and Queen?”

“I…” he trailed off, failing to find a proper excuse.

Aerowyn added more kindling to the simmering fire, “Regardless of your choice, young Graven, I will be taking Iris with me. I’ve seen too much of what happens when royalty seeks only more power, never satisfied with what they already have. Elyria’s ruling family have been in power for too long—the things they have done…the gifts they’ve forsaken…privileges from the Mother they’ve stained with blood…

“It has to end, Colin. This is now up to you to decide what side of the board you want to play for.”

Moving forward, Aerowyn took the key to the lock from the wall where it was hanging and unlocked the door to Iris’ cell, swinging open the door and beckoning her to follow. The whole time, Colin sat with a faraway look, contemplating his choices. Aerowyn paused in front of him, leaning down to put a hand on the young man’s shoulder, “This path will not be forgiving nor easygoing, but should you decide to take it, I will be there to guide you every step of the way, just like I will for Iris.”

After a pause, Aerowyn made his way down the hallway with Iris in tow, leaving Colin behind.

Losing sight of Colin around a bend in the hallway, Iris was relieved to be out of the vicinity of the daunting man, still unable to forget the torture he had put her through earlier in the day.

After a short pause, she could feel a rush of wind along with a sound akin to the crackle of remnant lightning, and she involuntarily jerked, spinning around in recognition of the sound. Standing right behind her was Colin, looking at Aerowyn’s back resolutely. His sudden appearance caused Iris to yelp in fright and raise her arms defensively, expecting another punch or kick. Aerowyn, for his part, merely turned his head while stopping in the middle of the dungeon’s hallway, “Have you decided? If you’ve come to stop me from bringing Iris away from her inevitable end at the hands of you or some Oathbound, I’ll tell you now—it won’t be an easy fight.” He fully turned around and started exuding a confident yet relaxed posture, setting Iris and Colin on edge.

“I–no, I haven’t come to stop you or Iris from leaving. After seeing today’s ritual, I don’t think I would be able to just sit by and watch as more and more Broken are enslaved in the name of protection. So I’m coming with you, consequences be damned, I don’t think I’ll be alive to see another day if I stayed anyways.” The look in his eyes was one Iris could somewhat relate to—having everything out of your control gave you a feeling of hopelessness and acceptance that didn’t sit well.

Iris started feeling like hearing so much about the Broken and this ritual was able to help her put some pieces together. “Is this ritual something the Broken are put through? To make them that way?” she asked.

“Now is not the time to have that discussion. As for your point, Colin, I’d be happy for you to join us. But I need both of you to stay close to me. I’ve never tried this before with other people, so the closer you are, the easier this will be on me.”

Iris huffed, not enjoying being kept out of the loop. But they started moving before she could think too much on the subject. The entire way up the stairs leading out of the dungeon, Aerowyn had a look of pure concentration, giving her the idea he was doing something. She couldn’t tell anything was off, nor could she feel anything, so she gave up and just allowed him the silence he needed to get them out of there. She did notice the feeling of his Trait had disappeared again, like it had never been there in the first place.

Once they were at the entrance to the dungeon, Colin moved to the front to open the door, but a hand from Aerowyn stopped him before he could touch the handle. They looked at each other, and Aerowyn just gave a shake of his head, waving off Colin and nudging him back behind Iris. Slowly, but with a surety, Aerowyn grasped the handle and opened the door until he could peek out from the opening.

Evidently, it was clear because Aerowyn opened the door the rest of the way, allowing Iris and Colin to exit the gloom of the dungeon stairwell. Through some of the windows sparsed throughout the hallway, Iris could just make out the stars blinking in the night sky.

Aerowyn nudged her from behind, focusing her on the present and cueing her to get a move on. They stepped silently through the castle’s interior, making their way to what Iris hoped wasn’t the main entrance. Surely, people would take notice of three individuals just casually walking out the front door, right?

They passed a few servants and guards along the way, even two or three Oathbound–a couple which had a Trait, based on the gut-pulling feeling Iris was getting from those individuals. She was worried sick they would be stopped and questioned, ending up with her back in the dungeon. Yet every time they just strolled right on by, not even a glance in their direction, like they didn’t even know they were there.

She could tell Colin was also warily watching every passerby, every now and then scrutinizing Aerowyn as they walked. It wasn’t until they hit one of the last junctions to their destination that they hit a roadblock.

Standing at the intersecting hallways were two Oathbound, judging by their pristine golden capes and gleaming armor. She could tell one of them had a Trait from the gut-pulling feeling she was getting from him. Just a few paces away, Iris was expecting them to pass like normal with none the wiser, but one of the Oathbound suddenly stopped his conversation, stiffening up as he unerringly turned to their location.

Aerowyn must have not expected this, as his eyes were wide with surprise, and she heard Colin curse from behind her.

“Shit! It’s Milo, he’s got a domain-like Trait!” he whispered, only for the three of them to hear.

“I can see you. Drop the veil.” Milo sneered, his voice gravelly like stones rolling against each other. The other Oathbound started scanning his surroundings, unaware of their presence, yet on alert.

Aerowyn must have done so, because the Traitless Oathbound turned towards them, only briefly adopting a shocked expression before turning back to a neutral professional.

Milo looked them over, stopping on Iris. “What is she doing here? I’d heard she’s meant to be in the dungeon.”

“Colin managed to figure out the girl’s Trait while she was in the cell. She can apparently procure veils like the one you just saw.” Aerowyn said, face stoic.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Are you daft, Oathbound? As King Valdoc wanted, we have successfully activated her Trait, so now Colin and I are bringing her to see him so he can decide who will be gifted the Trait.”

For Iris, she had quickly put together Aerowyn’s act. She let her face transform into one of desperate acceptance, as though she was really just existing through her final hours of life.

“The King has retired for the night, such a Trait isn’t one worth waking him. Take her back to her cell, advisor.” Milo stated, leaving no room for debate.

“I assure you, Valdoc will surely want to hear about this. Think of the ramifications of such a Trait! This ability, in the right hands, can serve as the perfect tool for assassination! No need for political squabbling with minor nuisances such as other Houses. The ability to eavesdrop on conversations not meant for others.” Aerowyn’s eyes gleamed. Iris wasn’t sure how much of that was an act, so good was he at hammering home his point.

“This isn’t a discussion. Cell…now.”

Milo placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, stepping forward to—

BOOM!

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Iris' hair whipped into her face from the displaced air as the only indication of Colin’s movement, followed by the sound of buzzing electricity. Colin stood where Milo was, fist outstretched and body crackling with barely restrained lightning. The wall opposite cracked as Milo crashed through into the room beyond, a burst of dust shooting out from the broken foundation. The other Oathbound was delayed in catching up to the action, turning his head to see Colin in Milo’s place. His battle senses were sharp, however, and he quickly made to unsheath his blade strapped at his side. He didn’t get far, as once again Colin seemed to almost teleport from where he was, and this time it was the other Oathbound’s turn to crash through the wall.

Maybe Iris was seeing things, but to her, Colin seemed way faster than he was during the examination. Had he gone easy on her? At least then he seemed like a blur, but now she couldn’t track his speed if her life depended on it.

Thankfully, Aerowyn was quick on the uptake, and he shouted at her, “Move, now!” He then turned towards Colin who was still standing in the hallway, looking at both holes with a mix of frustration and doubt. “Colin! Look at me! Follow the ice!” Aerowyn grabbed her arm and took off at a sprint down the hallway, defying what Iris thought an older body like his should be able to handle. She was dragged along, yet managed to find her footing after a second, grateful he didn’t empower his body to move faster than she could handle.

Trusting Colin would follow after them, she didn’t even look back to see the aftermath of the bout.

***

Colin

Damn, this was not how Colin was expecting the day to go. Thinking on the fiasco that led up to this point, he wondered why in all the cycles where nothing had apparently gone wrong with the rituals, it had to be him that would encounter the outlier.

Milo was crawling out of the hole Colin had just put him though, looking worse than the man probably felt, if his expression was anything to go on. Warily, Colin glanced towards the other man-shaped hole, expecting the other Oathbound to come out any second.

“Yeah, he’s probably out for the count over there.” Milo said, briefly limbering up in the meantime.

Colin offered no response, but was furiously wondering how Milo had reacted to his amped up movement speed. It was the only thing that had saved the man from an assured knock out.

Somehow reading his confusion, Milo chuckled, “I can see you’re confused. ‘How did he react to o’ blessed great speed of the Graven House?’ I’ll tell you since this was the first time I’ve ever been able to experience this myself. You know how my Trait works, but that can’t make up for the difference in speed, right?”

Colin just stared back.

“Wrong. Well…not fully, anyways. You’re still annoyingly fast, you little freak, and it did pack a punch, but that’s where my Trait comes in. We react a lot faster to physical stimulus than we do visual stimulus, especially when our brain has to comprehend what we are seeing. But to me, my domain is like an extension of my body. The minute your muscles exploded into motion, I was instinctively reacting. Now, let’s see how far it can keep me in the fight. Put ‘em up.”

With that, Milo launched himself at Colin, fist cocked back ready to swing. Seeing this, Colin flooded himself with Auris once again, the energy transforming into the usual lightning that danced across his skin while strengthening the rest of his physical capabilities.

His senses may be heightened in this state and things may seem slightly slower to him, but his brain still wasn’t able to keep up with how fast he could move, turning certain his surroundings and motions into a blur if he pushed too hard on his speed. He might never understand how his grandfather, who had the same ability, had been able to keep up with everything in this state.

By this point, Milo was only two strides away from Colin, grin reflecting the enjoyment he was having in their fight, the damn battle maniac. Milo’s fist came forward, causing Colin to lean to one side in preparation for a counter. Instead of following through with the swing, Milo angled his fist into a downward through, releasing a small object towards the ground that Colin couldn’t make out.

The object's impact against the ground was telling enough, as it instantly shattered and a dense cloud of magical smoke spread out to fill the entire hallway within a single breadth.

Colin cursed, losing track of Milo in the haze. A slight shifting of the smoke was the only warning he got as Milo’s punch took him directly on the cheek, a proper revenge for the hit from earlier.

In response, he tried to grab the man’s arm, but Milo just retreated back into the smoke, leaving Colin once again turning around looking for a way out. His sense of direction was thrown off, the explosion from the smoke happening at a time when he hadn’t been paying too much attention to his orientation.

Next thing he knew, his left leg buckled as Milo struck him behind the knee. Rather than catch himself, Colin played along with the hit, exaggerating the opening it would give Milo by leaning backwards and swinging out his arms as though he was trying to catch his balance.

In such beautiful fashion, Milo took the bait, flying out of the smoke from his right side. Colin hastily saturated his ‘buckled’ leg with even more Auris in a move that his grandfather would’ve surely disagreed with, providing the muscles the strength to whip him back up and around, haymaker poised and ready to impact Milo head on.

The other man saw this, obviously, and reacted well by raising his arms to block. This would give him the time or the knockback needed to recede back into the smoke, which Colin didn’t want.

Thank the Mother it was a feint.

Doing what he had done to his leg to his entire body, he stopped his fist from connecting with Milo’s bracers and brought his other fist into an uppercut at a speed he rarely used in combat. View blocked by his own bracers, Milo didn’t see the attack coming towards his chin until it was too late.

The real punch from below, his other hand rocketing forward just after he stopped his haymaker from connecting with Milo’s bracers, the uppercut cleanly connecting his opponent’s chin.

Milo’s head whipped back, eyes glazing over as he collapsed to the floor. With it, the magical cloud obscuring Colin’s vision also dispersed, leaving him to believe the item’s effects had been tied to Milo in some way.

The scuffle had barely lasted any time at all with how quick the two had been moving, but Colin still felt as though more Oathbound were going to round the corner at any moment. If it was the Slayers, he might as well off himself right there, as there wasn’t a chance he’d even be able to put up a fight against them.

Remembering the way he’d seen Aerowyn and Iris go, he started off in that direction. There was a chance he wasn’t going to be able to find them, but those fears were squashed when a glint on a wall at the next junction caught his eye.

“Ha, I see what you meant, you cheeky old man.”

***

Iris

They sprinted through hallways, up some stairs, down others, the maze-like structure making her head spin. There were some maids running along with them, guards running towards the disturbance, but Aerowyn must have activated his Trait again, as no one paid them any attention. Every so often, he would mark the walls with a burst of Auris, creating a crystalline structure of ice that stuck to the stone. After a short while and many twists and turns later, Aerowyn skidded to a stop next to a much smaller door. As he opened the door which led to a small T-intersection of tunnels with maids bustling about, Iris heard the familiar buzz of lightning and felt the gust of air, signaling Colin was back.

Why was she getting so used to that sound? It didn’t even scare her anymore.

Colin was looking around, confused at the lack of more ice clinging to the walls, but Aerowyn just folded him into his Trait-bound power, allowing him to see them standing before the open door.

Iris noticed Colin had a slight bruise forming over his cheek, but decided not to comment. It totally didn’t have to do with the fact she was out of breath.

Definitely not.

The advisor nodded towards Colin once before ushering them into the claustrophobic tunnels where they joined the tide of maids rushing to and fro.

Once more, Iris was led through another set of branching directions, and she wondered if they were ever going to make it.

Perhaps she’d be able to see Tarros again. She knew Elder Varron wouldn’t believe the couple of days she’d had. He was probably worried sick about her.

***

Eloise

Eloise walked through the door Valdoc opened for her, entering their bedchamber.

“I’m telling you, dear. That girl looks familiar! For the life of me I can’t figure out why!” She said, pondering that very thought. She started undressing in preparation for the bath she knew was now sitting cold after the time wasted trying to see what that girl’s Trait was going to manifest as. It would be so much easier if they could ask the Broken what the trait was, but that was a hard ask when the sad saps were busy screaming near constantly.

Closing the door behind him, Valdoc went over to the bath and placed a hand on its bronze side. He channeled Auris into his desired outcome, pulling the energy through his body until his hand turned so hot it would melt through flesh. He showed no discomfort as the tub started to heat up to levels that boiled the water inside in moments.

He turned towards her, “Eloise, we’ve met so many people within this Kingdom of ours. It wouldn’t be out of line to say she could be some bastard child of a minor House, or perhaps even a Major House!” He walked over, placing a hand on her cheek which she leaned into lovingly, “Besides, what does it matter? She’s going to be dead soon anyways once we figure out this Trait, and then you’re never going to see her again…sound good?”

She signed, moving to step into the piping hot bath, “I know, I know. It’s just…one of those things where I know the answer is right there, and I’m just not seeing it. You understand how that makes me feel, right?”

“So just don’t think about it, honey. It’ll pass.”

Eloise stepped into the tub, earning herself a groan of satisfaction at the steaming water. “That’s not the point, Valdoc. I don’t want a solution, I want you to understand how I feel. Ugh…sometimes talking to you feels like I’m talking to—“

Boom!

The sound reverberated through the walls, although distant.

They looked at each other, concern etched across their features.

“What was that?” Eloise asked.

“I don’t know…” Valdoc walked towards the door, stopping by the dresser to grab the ceremonial blade off the mantle mounted to the wall.

The door burst open, and one of the Traitless Oathbound ran in, sword drawn as he addressed Valdoc, “Sovereign, I heard the commotion, I’m here to…” he trailed off, seeing the look of rage on Valdoc’s face. The Oathbound turned towards where Eloise was lying in the bath, nude as the day she was born.

The Oathbound threw himself into a horizontal bow as fast as he could, eyes glued to the floor as fear shot through every part of his body. He turned to leave as he spoke, “I apologize, Crownmother, I didn't mean to—”

“Kneel.”

The King’s Trait-infused speech stopped the young Oathbound cold, and he dropped to the ground, head bowed with one arm draped over the knee.

“You come barging into the King’s room, concerned for our safety? Noble, boy. But beyond stupid. You do a disservice to the Oathbound for your lack of self-control and thinking. You disrespect your Queen by daring to glimpse upon her royal figure while in the nude. You’ve brought this upon yourself…”

If the Oathbound’s body trembled anymore, he might phase out of reality itself as the weight of the King’s ire was impressed on the man’s soul.

“Kill yourself.”

Raw unfiltered fear peered through the eyes of the young Oathbound, but his body responded to the command of the King, his will upon the world unrelenting. Reversing his grip on the sword clutched within his grasp, he positioned the point so it was touching his throat, causing a bead of blood to swell up from the spot. Placing the hilt end on the ground, he threw his body forward, impaling the blade through his neck and severing the spine. The momentum and weight of his body assisted his fall until his neck made contact with the pommel, all life now gone from the young man’s eyes.

Eloise looked on with disgust, “Did you really have to do that here? The room smells like blood, piss, and shit now.”

Valdoc came down from his self-induced rage, looking over the scene with new eyes. Blood now stained the expensive carpet, and he too could smell the excrements from the now dead corpse.

He cursed, “I’ll have one of the other Oathbound clean it up after you’re done, Eloise. I’m going to find someone to tell me what is going on in this damned castle.”

“Mmm.” She wrinkled her nose from the smell, but her mind wandered back to that strange girl that somehow had Eloise thinking why her features were so thought-provoking.