novelxo Chapter 25
“Where’s your head at, Auri?” Lorcan called to her after she was slammed into the mat for the fourth time in a row.
“Evidently not here,” She responded grimly, pushing up off of the floor and brushing herself off, raising her sword again in defiance. Her mind returned to the evening before, to Brina, to the attack. Every second she was still was a reminder of the life back home, of the thousands of lives at stake. She shuddered despite herself, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand, her knuckles white from clutching the sword so tightly.
He shook his head in bewilderment. The men had gotten used to her joining them in the morning and had begun taking turns at being her partner. Though she was far from excellent, she offered a different way of fighting and it took most of them off guard.
She continued sparring with her next partner, sweat beading on her forehead. Brina’s words echoed in her head.
Do not be afraid.
Yet… what if she didn’t find enough to know how to defeat them? What if she was too late?
Lorcan forced her out of her thoughts as he gathered the men for another part of their training that he had clearly reminded her did not include her. She walked over to the rack of weapons, brushing curly hair tendrils out of her face, assessing what she was going to do next.
“There you are,” A voice said gently behind her, and she spun around to see Ambrose leaning against the door frame.
Aurelia smiled. “What are you doing down here?”
“What do you think?” Ambrose glanced over to the group of men gathered at the far side of the room, the group listening intently to whatever Lorcan was saying before his gaze returned to her. “Looking for you, of course.”
Aurelia set her borrowed sword back in its place. “Ah. Yes,” She turned towards him. “We’ve got a bit of ground to cover today.” He had promised that today would be the day he began teaching her lunar magic, better than anything she could learn in a book. She could only pray that he would give her something, anything, that Calathis could use against them whenever Dorian decided to attack.
Ambrose nodded. “We do indeed.” He motioned his head towards the door. “Shall we?”
Aurelia waved towards the group of men as she left the room, a chorus of goodbyes following the two of them out of the doorway. A look of distaste crossed Ambrose’s features. “What have you been doing down here?”
Aurelia shrugged. “I’ve got to get my exercise somewhere.”
Ambrose gave her a dark look. “But with...them?”
“So what?”
“So what?” Ambrose stopped in the middle of the corridor, grabbing her arm. “Those are Dorian’s men. The men that do his every bidding.” He stepped closer and tilted his head down so his mouth was right next to her ear. “The same men that would torture or kill you if he wished it. Has last night been forgotten already? You truly believe that none of his soldiers feel the same way as that man?”
Aurelia flinched as she looked up into his intense gaze. “I know that.” She sighed. “I know that, I do...I just...I’m going to go crazy sitting still, I—“ She put her face in her hands as a rush of emotions surfaced. “What else am I supposed to be doing?” She whispered. “I feel so useless, just sitting and waiting until Dorian makes the call to destroy my grandmother, our kingdom—“ Her voice broke.
“Aurelia...” Ambrose said gently, his voice absent of the anger from moments before. “I’ll tell you as soon as I know something, okay?” He sighed. “He wouldn’t make a move without, well..” He winced. “Being married to you.”
Aurelia’s stomach twisted. “How long do we have?” She murmured, trying to keep her emotions at bay.
Ambrose shrugged. “I haven’t heard anything yet. If I know Dorian...it’ll be the most extravagant event of the century. We would know.”
“Okay,” Aurelia responded, attempting to reassure herself. She had time. “Okay.” She pulled away from Ambrose and they slowly began walking once more to their unknown destination.
“Where are we off to now?” Aurelia said lightly in attempt to change the subject. Today was the day she would finally be able to witness lunar magic – and perhaps put some sense into how Dorian had formed the creatures from the dead. Her heart panged at the thought.
“You’ll see,” Ambrose said, a hint of a smile on his face. She followed him as they weaved throughout the corridors, Aurelia once again unfamiliar with where he was taking her.
They arrived in another empty corridor and he opened a door into a large room with a fireplace in the center that looked like no one had set foot in it in years. No – decades, probably.
Sheets covered the scattered furniture with inches of dust covering every surface. Large, gaping windows framed the stone fireplace depicting the snow falling neatly outside, reflecting sunlight the only thing lighting up the room. She couldn’t help but shiver as the winter air permeated the space.
Aurelia motioned her hand and a roaring fire ignited in the fireplace, making Ambrose jump in surprise, though he didn’t comment on the sudden display of magic. He gestured for her to follow him in front of the fire and they sat in front of each other, cross-legged.
Ambrose took a deep breath. “As you just demonstrated, with powers regarding the planets revolving around us, we are also granted certain properties of that planet. So for you...” He gestured to the roaring fire. “Heat.” He motioned his hands, and a moment later purple light flashed around them and suddenly there was ice sticking up from the ground in a circle around them. “For me…ice.”
Aurelia leaned forward, her eyes wide as she inspected the ice. It was in a perfect circle around them, reflecting the flames from the fireplace.
“Lunar magic also grants the power of invisibility.” He said and with another flash of purple light, he disappeared from view.
Aurelia looked around the room, seeing if she could spot where the magic was hiding him. Just barely, to her right, the air shimmered. She focused her gaze on it, moving her hand to poke it, finding a solid object where they should have been nothing. It was disorienting and exciting at the same time – all of the possibilites of magic, endless with all of its forms. She was in awe, yet worried what lunar magic would grant Damaris in a time of war.
“Gotcha,” She whispered, and Ambrose reappeared. “How did you make my room invisible...that night?”
He shrugged. “Same idea. The magic, then, surrounded the room. To anyone else...no one would’ve been there.” A small smile eclipsed his lips.
Aurelia nodded, her cheeks turning pink as she recalled the night that Dorian had forced her into marriage, and how he had held her while she had shrunken in fear.
Her mind returned to her task at hand – the only thing that mattered anymore. Where she had fire, descendants of the moon had ice. Yet..what about her ability to summon the earth? To teleport? “What else?”
Ambrose fumbled in his pockets as he moved back to sit in front of her, pulling out a few crystals and placing them in a line in the middle of them. “Crystal magic,” He said, grinning. “The equivalent to whatever it is you can do with the earth. Except...better.” He picked up the first one, a pale, pink stone that shimmered in the light. “There are stones for all sorts of purposes – to manipulate someone’s mind, to make you grow stronger....” He broke their gaze. “To make someone fall in love with you.”
Aurelia’s eyebrows furrowed, confusion overtaking her features. Crystal magic seemed to allow a lunar magic sorcerer to have any ability they could dream of. Her body tensed as she considered the consequences for Calathis without the ability of using crystals. “I don’t understand. That seems too easy. Where’s the balance?”
Ambrose shrugged. “You would think that...except that it takes great power to release the magic stored in crystals. Very few people are able to do it. I mean, everyone studying here could probably summon the magic out of one like this—“ He moved to pick up a small blue pebble. “Where the magic within grants you a moment of temporary strength. But something like this --” He picked up the largest stone, one so dark it didn’t even reflect the flames, “Something like this could kill a person if they weren’t strong enough to withstand the magic they pull from it.”
Aurelia’s mind reeled. “So...what exactly could you do with something like that?” She asked, looking at the stone he held in his hand with curiosity.
Could crystal magic be what Dorian was using to destroy the kingdom?
“You could do... A lot,” He said grimly. “If you were able to withstand the outpour of magic this stone gave you, you could have the power to cover the entire Continent in ice. You could control the minds of an entire kingdom...open up portals to other dimensions...summon creatures from the depths of Hell...”
He paused at the look on her face. “No. Dorian wouldn’t have done that. Creatures that you summon from something like this, they don’t have loyalty to anyone. They would destroy everything – cause utter destruction – to the entire Continent.” He gave her a cold stare. “That’s how I know that Dorian has nothing to do with your attacks on Calathis. It would only harm the things he is trying to accomplish.” He shrugged. “And besides that...the cost of the much magic wreaking havoc on one’s body...you would know. Trust me.”
Aurelia tilted her head. “But how do you know he’s not controlling those that he needs something from?”
Ambrose paused. “He very much could be,” He said after a moment. “He is certainly strong enough to practice such strong crystal magic.” He pursed his lips. “That’s the thing that’s different with lunar magic – it plays with the minds. Solar magic grants you the ability to heal, to focus on the physical. Lunar magic grants one the ability – with crystals – to delve into the curiosities of the mind.”
Aurelia leaned backward suddenly as his words sunk in. “Have you—“
Ambrose’s eyes widened. “No, no, of course not. I haven’t—“ His cheeks turned pink. “I’ve never been strong enough to do that.”
It seemed he was not the master he pretended to be, either – yet Aurelia couldn’t shake the thought of how dangerous Dorian was if he were able to do such a thing. There had to be a way to stop the mind control – and that was what she had to find for her grandmother.
Her eyes returned to looking at the crystals in fascination. “So what exactly do you use them for?” She asked, leaning forward to touch one. Aurelia felt the same pull towards them that she had all those days ago, in another universe, in the midst of a fortune teller’s rundown shop.
Ambrose hesitantly picked up the one in the center, a flat, green stone, and held it in his palm. “I use this one to keep the village eating,” He said quietly. “I do not have the gift of earth, but with this, I can at least revive their crops enough so they do not starve.”
Aurelia’s smile faded and she nodded. “I’m sorry,” She murmured softly.
“Would you like to see my favorite magic trick?” Ambrose offered, setting the small green crystal back down. Aurelia smiled and nodded.
“There’s one other thing of the moon that lunar sorcerers can practice, and eventually excel at.” He grinned. “One I’ve gotten particularly good at. Night manipulation.” With another flash of purple light, the sunlight poring in from the large windows disappeared, a darkness overtaking the room so much so that Aurelia thought for a moment she was blinded.
But then, above them, instead of the ceiling, was the beautiful, never ending, night sky. Hundreds of thousands of stars shining down upon them, the moon shining brightly. It was as if he had transported them to a field miles away from any light source, the stars were so bright. Looking around, Aurelia could see nothing else of their surroundings, not even the roaring fire she had started. She was simply surrounded by thousands and thousands of stars, their twinkling light in every dark space she looked. As her eyes began to focus in the dark, she saw hundreds more. It was as if she was in the sky, among the stars.
“Where are we?” She whispered in awe.
“Right where we were,” Ambrose responded softly and she looked back at him to see he wasn’t observing the stars, like she was, but instead at her with the same wonder.
“It’s...” She began, still looking at him.
“Beautiful,” He finished, his grey eyes staring intently into hers. Aurelia looked up again just in time for her eyes to catch a shooting star. “I’ve never seen anything like this before,” She gasped, looking around, absolutely wonder struck. It was as magical as Midtwilight, but more intense, and…peaceful, without the chaos, the music, the thousands of dancers.
Her auburn hair was sparkling in the starlight and it felt as if they were floating through the night sky, completely alone, utterly free.
He leaned forward, gently cupping her cheek in his rugged palm. “Aurelia...” He murmured softly.
“Ambrose,” She whispered, the same tingling feeling in her abdomen back and stronger than before. Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned forward, gently pressing her lips against his. In that moment, it felt as if the stars were raining down upon them, the pair invincible in the night sky.