Chapter 65 - Trust me.
The back yard of the Hall lay in a square between the white wall of the fence and the rear of the building itself. Above the fence rose the roofs of Midar, with a bank of clouds moving over them, and the balcony of the upper gallery jutted out over the yard on two columns with gilded capitals.
And at that moment, from the very middle of the back yard, came the ringing of blades meeting.
Olen turned an attack aside with his magical blade and skidded on his feet across the ground before dropping to one knee, long white strands falling over his face.
"Do we really have to be doing this now?" he said, letting out a breath as he got to his feet.
Artus stood opposite him, the blade of his sword driven into the ground and both hands set on the base of the hilt.
His white tunic with its gold embroidery along the standing collar was still fastened on him up to his very throat, and his close-cropped hair had not slipped so much as a finger's width, whereas Olen had only a white shirt, open across the chest, and sleeves rolled up to the elbow.
"As soldiers, we have to keep up our training and stay in shape. Even... in spite of this assignment of ours..." he said.
Olen sighed and rubbed the back of his head under his tangled hair.
"You know yourself how ridiculous all of this looks... Our service... our real service was only supposed to be starting, and instead they sent the two of us back to keep an eye on this outsider..."
"Carrying out the Archon's orders is our service," Artus answered.
"Oh sure. Especially the part where most of the time we just hang around here and walk Aren from the house to the University and back?... A fine and noble service... Just great."
Artus looked away and let a short silence pass, then took the hilt and drew his sword out of the ground.
"Whether we like it or not, an order is an order, and we are bound to carry it out."
"God, you really are such a bor—" Olen began, and threw up a block against Artus's attack.
"Less talking and more doing!" said Artus, drawing the sword back and swinging it up in an arc from below.
Olen dodged with a turn to the side and countered straight after with a swing of his own, forcing Artus into a block.
He did not stop, driving a foot into Artus's stomach in the same second, so that Artus stepped back and bent slightly, holding there with his eyes down.
Olen smirked and shifted his grip on the sword, while Artus slowly raised his cold gaze.
"Ah hell," said Olen, at which Artus made a swift lunge in his direction.
He began giving ground, parrying and slipping Artus's endless attacks.
At one point Olen countered, but Artus came off the line of attack with a turn of the shoulder and instantly swung his free hand, catching Olen in the face with the back of his fist, which sent him reeling back.
Olen ran his fingers over his nose and saw blood on one of them, then looked at Artus.
"All right then..." he said, flinging his sword aside and rushing forward.
Artus swung his blade, but Olen activated the photocyte on his forearm and materialized a small magical shield on it, which took the blow of the blade.
Olen did not stop, stepping in further and dragging the blade and Artus's arm off to the side, which gave him the chance to seize the attacking arm and knock the blade loose through a lock that then carried over into a grapple.
He bore down with his whole weight, applying a joint lock on Artus and trying to put him on the ground, keeping a hard grip on his arm, but Artus would not give in and slowly, through the pain, lifted Olen, still clinging to him, off the ground and slammed his body into it.
Olen let out a breath of pain at the impact, and still did not release the arm, hauling it further toward the break, while Artus could no longer get up, teeth set and taking the pain out in a growl.
"I see the two of you are spending your service productively," came Niavey's voice from the balcony of the Hall.
"Master Niavey!" said Olen in surprise, and in that instant Artus took advantage of the distraction and, gathering all his strength, caught Olen's elbow with his second hand, came up off the ground once more and slammed him into it again, at which he finally let the arm go, and Artus straightened up, breathing out heavily and deeply.
"Are you finished?" Niavey asked.
"Y-yes..." Artus answered with a sigh, turning to him, while Olen raised his torso with difficulty into a sitting position and laid an arm on his bent knee, a gold pendant swaying in his ear all the while.
"Has something happened? Aren is still at the university, and we're supposed to come for him in... about three hours, I think," Artus added.
"He has a practical session with companions today, if I'm not mistaken," said Olen.
"Yes, but since he doesn't have a companion, he's almost certainly just sitting in the stands," Artus answered, turning his head slightly toward him.
Niavey did not answer at once, running his eyes from one cadet to the other.
"That's right. Today there was a practical session, and it ended with more than half the students taking serious injuries, including the Magister, who was attacked by Aren."
Artus and Olen froze at first without answering, and then exchanged a look.
DeAren and Eveline were meanwhile sitting on the balcony of her house, looking at the temple of light that rose in the very center of the city above every roof, while the bank of clouds moved over Midar and let the sun onto its tiers and then closed over it again.
Eveline took a vial of dark brown potion, opened it and swallowed several mouthfuls, at which a faint gold aura spread across her body.
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"Well? Has the pain gone?" Aren asked, watching her put a hand to the small of her back.
"I wish... it's eased a little, but I can still feel it."
"What... hold on, isn't a healing potion supposed to handle something like that easily?"
"It is, but how well a potion works depends on the strength of your Pandorum."
Aren lowered his eyes in thought to the street that lay several floors below.
"So for Nulls potions are useless?" he asked.
"The ones I know of, yes. Maybe somewhere in other countries they've made other kinds of potion, but the ones we have only work together with Pandorum."
He gave no answer and went on looking at the city, with the sun already past its zenith.
When he turned his eyes to Eveline, who was sitting at his right shoulder, he caught the upset, lowered look on her face, while the wind moved her white strands slowly.
"Listen... how do students find themselves companions?" he asked.
Eveline raised her brows and then looked at Aren.
"Out of everything that ought to be worrying you right now... that's the one question you've landed on?"
"What's wrong with it?"
Eveline did not answer at once, held still in that same surprise.
"Aren, they're almost certainly looking for you as we speak. It's only a matter of time before they come here... I'm sitting here turning over every option in my head, working out how to get you out of this in the way that's safest for you... and you... ask me that..."
Aren gave no answer and lowered his eyes, sinking into thoughts of his own, at which her fingers pressed a little harder into her knees.
"... in Anuxar..." she added, which brought him back out of them.
"In the southern part of the republic... there's a city called Anuxar. It's one of the oldest cities there is, where the Great Houses have been taming and breeding magical creatures for hundreds of years."
"Anuxar..." Aren repeated quietly.
"Every year the first-years travel there, and that's where they go through the stage of choosing their future companion. Or rather, the two of them choose each other. And sometimes the Great Houses provide companions directly to other Great Houses, like Gray for instance. He got Alvazar before he ever started at the university. That's the privilege of the first Archon's family for you."
"So on one of those trips, you and Rexy chose each other?"
Eveline laughed quietly and then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Not exactly. When it was our turn... everyone found pets of their own... they were large and magnificent... but nobody chose me. I don't know whether it has to do with my Pandorum, but the fact that every creature I approached backed straight off or else bared its teeth at me... it really knocked my spirits down that day."
Aren listened closely, not taking his eyes off her profile while she went on with the story.
"The night before we left, I felt so awful that I went outside to cry it out. To tell the truth, I wanted to drop everything and just go off somewhere... and so... I simply walked into the Radiant Forest, which was very close by."
The grief on Eveline's face slowly gave way to a smile.
"And that's where I met him. He'd climbed up a tree somehow, maybe he was running from something, and got stuck there. Small, not yet able to fly."
She laughed a little again and pulled her knees up to herself.
"I must have fallen to the ground five times trying to climb that damned tree, and then spent a few more minutes talking him into trusting me and climbing onto my hand," she went on, at which Aren laughed along with her.
"It was only afterwards that I noticed how he was holding one paw up, and saw the blood on the branch. He was hurt, and that made me pull every bit of strength together, climb higher still and bring him down carefully. He was shaking and curling up so much... and I carried him into the city right away. I gave him a potion straight away, and thankfully it worked... and then I wanted to put him back in the forest, but when I left him there he kept following me. He walked after me, never falling behind, and... for some reason I saw... or rather felt... that he and I are very much alike. Just as alone and... just as weak... he didn't want me to leave him, and so I decided I'd take him with me. And we've been together ever since. You should have seen my face the morning I woke up and saw him flying."
They both turned round, to where Rexy lay curled up on an armchair, fast asleep and twitching a paw now and then.
Eveline sighed and turned back, setting her eyes on the cloudy sky.
"It must be amazing... flying... drifting among the clouds and feeling... free..." she said.
Aren looked at her out of the corner of his eye, seeing how she was gazing into the sky with dreaming eyes, while the wind went on playing with her hair just as before.
"A lot of the students have big winged companions, and I often see them flying up in the sky, laughing and just enjoying the flight. It's hard not to be envious at moments like that, but still, who knows, maybe Rexy will grow after all," said Eveline, laughing at the end of it, while Aren backed her up with a restrained laugh of his own.
After her words a silence settled between them, broken faintly by the noise of the city and by the wind that moved the net curtain at the balcony's sliding door.
"Maybe... it's time to put that right?" said Aren.
"Hm? What do you mean?" she asked, turning to him.
Aren smirked and got to his feet, then held a hand out to her. Eveline took it carefully and rose along with him, still looking at him with lost eyes.
"This is my first time using them for what they're for... so... hold on tight," he said.
"A-Aren I don't understand... what are you going—" she began, but cut herself off when he suddenly scooped her up by the legs and lifted her into his arms.
A flush spread across Eveline's face, while Aren only looked at her with a smile.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"R-ready for what?..."
A glow came up behind Aren, and following it, giant wings materialized at his back, made of translucent blue energy.
Eveline's eyes went wide and her mouth opened as understanding began to arrive.
"A-Aren wait, I don't think I—" she did not manage to finish before Aren rose into the air along with her, which pulled a short cry out of her.
Rexy woke instantly, looked at the balcony and found it empty, then flew out and started casting around in panic. Another of Eveline's cries reached him, and he lifted his face to it and saw them up in the sky.
Eveline clamped her arms around Aren and pressed her face into his neck, while he himself climbed higher and higher until they came up through the clouds.
"Hey... look," he said, and Eveline answered with a refusal, shaking her head and keeping her face pressed into his neck.
"It's all right, I've got a firm hold on you," Aren added, and then saw Rexy coming up to them.
"Hey, hello there, little guy," he said.
Rexy circled them with a happy smile and stopped behind Aren, coming closer to Eveline's face where it was pressed to his neck.
She slowly raised her eyes and saw a delighted Rexy, and beyond him the sky and the clouds below them.
Slowly turning her head to the side, she saw the brightly shining sun, and lowering her eyes further, the thick clouds that partly covered Midar.
Their bodies rocked in place with the rhythm of his wingbeats, after which Aren lowered his eyes to her.
"Eveline, I need you to let go of me now"
"Huh?! N-No!"
"You won't be able to enjoy the view like that. Trust me."
"Oh right, of course, on the way down I'll enjoy the view no end!"
"You won't fall, I'll be holding you up"
Besides the wings, Ursus's enormous magical paws appeared on both sides and came down beneath her, ready to catch her.
Eveline pressed herself to Aren harder, at which he sighed and exchanged a look with Rexy.
"Trust me."
She kept herself pressed hard against him, looking into his eyes, and then slowly began to loosen her grip. Aren caught her in his magical paws, turning her face down, after which he moved smoothly forward, flying along the layer of clouds and weaving between their jutting pillars.
Eveline's lips parted a little, while the wind blew her hair back and the clouds passed by beneath her.
She drew a deep breath and then let it out, slowly raising her eyes ahead and spreading her arms out to the sides, while Aren flew on.
Passing another pillar, Aren decided to take it in a circle, so that Eveline's outstretched hand sank partway into the cloud and drew a loose white haze after it, settling as cold damp on her fingers.
They gained height in a spiral, then dived and broke down through the clouds, and once they had leveled out, went on over the rocky desert that surrounded Midar.
Then Aren climbed again and lifted them above the clouds, where the sun struck their eyes, but Eveline only closed hers and took in the warmth of the sunlight, still holding her arms open to the sides.
Rexy flew alongside, spinning and pulling off all sorts of tricks in the air, which set Aren and Eveline laughing a little.
Finally, after one more climb, they dived with a roll, punched through the clouds and headed into Midar.
They flew over the walls of the capital, where soldiers raised their heads in surprise.
Passing between the rising towers of Midar, over the city streets and markets, Eveline went on savoring the moment, and the smile did not leave her face, whereas Aren kept turning his eyes to her, seeing the crown of her head below him.
Riders passing by on their fliers darted aside in fright when Aren and Eveline went past close to them, at which the two of them burst out laughing and flew on further, while the soldiers down in the streets raised their index fingers up at them.
After some more time in the air they reached her house, where Aren carefully extended his magical paws to the balcony, setting Eveline down, and stepped down after her.
"That... that was incredible..." she said.
"Glad you liked it," Aren answered, while Rexy shot into the sitting room, full of joy.
Aren and Eveline laughed at Rexy bouncing about in every direction, but their laughter was cut short by a hard knock at the door, sounding more like a blow.
"THIS IS THE CITY PATROL. OPEN UP!" came a voice from the other side.