The Shadow of Gloom

Chapter 17 - Memories and Old Faces

"I was wondering when you'd show your face again," he muttered, looking me in my eyes for the first time in months. "This wouldn't have anything to do with August, would it?"

"And if it did?" I asked with a raise of my brow.

He huffed as he moved into the room, past the table. "You've been too close to him since we left Aegar. Why is that?"

I didn't reply straightway, watching instead as he skimmed his fingertips over the table, collecting dust on his fingers that turned his fingertips black. He grimaced at it before wiping it off on his pants, leaving a dust stain on them. It hit me just how long it had been since we had been here, yet now we were back and with someone in tow that I believed could renew The Remnant... or destroy it.

"Daesa said he has two auras, one of light and one of dark. I didn't think it possible, but I would never disavow Daesa's readings," I stated plainly, not holding anything from him.

Leuthar stared hard back at me. "He's either a failed experiment of Miltos or a demon spawn sent here to cause chaos, either way, he should be sent away. We've no use for him."

"He came here by way of a portal. Daesa believes something dark latched itself onto him when he came here, if that is the case then it is our responsibility to not abandon him," I replied, making him scoff. I didn't like that response. I strode over to him and rested a firm hand on his shoulder. "We defeat the darkness; we don't run away from it."

He winced, like it pained him to accept my words before he finally forced a nod. "I trust you and only you. The second that he shows any signs of being a traitor, I am ridding us of him."

I shook my head to myself, but that was as close as to acceptance as I was going to get with him. He wasn't one to trust just anyone, so I understood his unwillingness to accept August. It would take time for him to realize that August wasn't a threat, no matter how Daesa had portrayed him. He seemed far too soft and innocent, probably would flinch at his own shadow given the chance.

"What do you mean I have two auras?"

At August's voice, I held a heavy sigh, knowing that I would have to explain this to him. Teaching wasn't something I did. Instead of glancing back at him, I pointed directly at a chair, wanting him to sit. His footsteps shuffled past me and up to the head of the table while I followed behind and took the chair at the head.

When I sat, the hearth lit behind me in a roar, startling August. He calmed after a moment, then leaned forward with his arms rested on the table. Leuthar sat across from him, on my left, and was bitterly silent as he glared across at August.

"Daesa thinks I brought something with me?" August asked, a tremble in his voice before he swallowed hard. "I didn't mean to. I didn't even mean to come here, I swear."

"It's not your fault. I told you that portals between worlds are instable, they have energies beyond our comprehension in them," I replied plainly, reminding him of my words. I didn't need him overly fretting or stressing that something was wrong with him. He was perfectly fine from my standpoint. "You've shown no signs of anything to give me concern."

"You don't know that," he mumbled as he lowered his gaze to the table. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to clarify his words before he peeked up at me. "Remember Lara?" I nodded, and then he continued, "When she read my mind, her eyes went black, and she began to cry black blood. Something... something she had seen about me had scared her."

"Lara would be a seer then," I stated when I understood what he had meant. Seers could be affected as such, though there were different levels to seers' abilities. "It's possible that she saw what you encountered when you crossed over into Laelmos. You might not have anything to do with it."