Wings of Destruction and Duty

23.1 || Aurnia

Aurnia perched uncomfortably atop a rocky outcropping and gazed at the Molten Seas below. Even when miles above its churning surface, she could comfortably make out the deep amber glow of fire and dust. Every now and again, the deep rumble of churning rock would reach her ears and she would watch the golden light flare, then dim to a dull orange. She sighed, then retreated further up into the barren wasteland that ringed the edges of the seas. Far above, the stars still shone brightly, undisturbed and untouched by the chaos below.

In her frustration, she let her tail trail freely behind her, not caring if it uprooted the tender green stalks that had managed to push their way through the ageing dust. After fleeing the cave, she had chosen to settle in the nearby crags to gather her energies and work through the headache that was currently forcing its way through her skull. The sheer force of the heaving waves of magma had carved rivulets in their wake, slowly etching out a pattern filled with pockmarks and hiding places.

With a small wince, she shifted back into a human and crawled beneath a stone that jutted out from the shattered land around her. The space beneath it was cosy but just large enough to fit her and Koa without either of them having to duck. She shuffled to the side, summoned another light filled orb and then leaned against the strangely warm stone with a sigh.

"You did well back there." Aurnia coaxed the Sinyo onto her lap before gently holding him up to check for injuries. He chittered, legs dangling awkwardly and let out a toothy grin.

It was hard to be brave, then all of a sudden, protecting you felt like the right thing to do.

Aurnia smiled and cast her gaze towards the narrow opening above them. In the final days before the accident, her mother had taught her to summon soul bound creatures to protect herself. She paused, protection was a strange concept when the women who taught it had died. And slowly her smile faltered until she was left listening to the sounds of her own breath.

Koa had been brave, but he could have also been killed. Her heart pinched when she realised what she had done. Summoning an attack dog was the last thing she had wanted to do. She had given him a fraction of her power and with some training, he could become more than her mother's spell had intended.

She turned to look at her Koa who had now busied himself by taking lazy swipes at his own tail. With every swipe he let out a tiny growl, and Aurnia gathered her resolve and fought to stifle the churning of her stomach. Her mother had her reasons for abandoning her training but that would not stop Aurnia from teaching Koa what she knew.

Aurnia placed Koa onto her lap and held his claw up to the light, carefully inspecting the threads of blue magic that now raced through his slender form. The glimmer pulsed evenly beneath his skin and she was relieved to find that her spell had taken root without any complications. Nonetheless, she flicked her tongue and uttered its final lines once again. Anything to ensure that the soul sickness would not dip its fangs into her friend.

They sat in comfortable silence, listening to the deep echoes of trembling stone and new life. Aurnia's fingers traced the edges of Koa's scales as she quietly leafed through her memories. When her mother had gifted Aurnia her powers, she had insisted on brewing a bitter tea made of knapweed and tangled roots. In her own words, it forced rejection to take a seat and opened the body to temporarily channel energy that wasn't its own.

Aurnia thought it was nonsense and yet the small nagging voice in her head told her that there would be no harm in venturing down that path. All it had given her was a mild stomach ache.

Using one hand, she pulled a coarse bundle of herbs from her bag and quickly snapped a few fading flowers from a particularly twisted branch. Then came time to melt a sphere of ice, something easily done in the stifling heat. She nudged the process along with a short spell, lowering her arm to allow Koa to peer wide eyed at the bubbling ball of water.