Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 45: Success

"Is he alright?" I asked Aban as I quickly hurried over, pushing past my reservations.

Aban ran his hands over Toren's body, poking and prodding at certain places. "He's facing extreme backlash right now. There's... something restraining it, though I can't figure out what. His core is practically empty."

Aban turned the body over gently, inspecting Toren's back for injuries. I felt myself grow curious at what runes Toren must possess. He'd displayed so many abilities, and most mages our age only had a couple of spellforms to their name.

Toren had been intentionally secretive about what runes he held, so I felt a stab of guilt as I sneaked a peak at his spine.

But what I saw there was surprising. A curving red rune was stamped right above the lip of his pants. It was intricate and detailed in a way I'd never seen before. I realized with astonishment that this was certainly beyond a crest. Probably an emblem.

But my surprise quickly turned to confusion. There was only one rune on his back. Where were the others?

Aban hastily turned the body over. "Does anybody have a spare towel? Something to wrap the boy in? He's already facing backlash. In this chill, he'll catch a cold as well."

One of the shields retrieved a blanket from his dimension rune, handing it over to Aban. He gingerly wrapped the young mage in the cloth.

Looking at Toren like that, swaddled in a blanket, clashed deeply with my earlier vision of him, looming over the room like a Sovereign. It reminded me that he was just a boy, really, several years younger than I.

But my confusion returned as I looked at him. How had he displayed such abilities with only one rune? Were those chains on his arm actually spellforms? After all, it was basic knowledge that mages could only use magic with the runes on their backs.

"Aban?" I questioned. "On Toren's back, I only saw a single rune–"

"Hush, girl," he whispered harshly, holding the boy and darting his eyes across the devastated room. "Don't tell anybody about what you saw. Trust me when I say it will bring nothing but harm."

I furrowed my brows, taken aback by the insistence in the man's tone. "What do you mean?"

The aged caster looked down at the boy in his hands. I could barely sense a mana signature from Toren's body. "There are rumors, from the war," he whispered, so low I almost didn't hear him. He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Dusk here has something very, very special. Something that will endanger him if anybody hears about it. Do you understand me?"

The way Aban looked at me almost reminded me of how Karsien stared me down a few days ago, a hint of condescension and dismissal there. But this wasn't the same. This old man wasn't reprimanding me like a parent does a child. He truly believed what he was saying.

What is your secret, Toren? I wondered, staring at his closed eyes. What are you hiding?

But I'd come here to save Toren. If speaking about how he only had one rune would bring danger to him, I'd keep my mouth shut. "I'll stay quiet," I promised.

The man's shoulders slumped. "That's good." Then he looked up, scanning around the room. "We need to get out of here fast," he said, rising to his feet. He held Toren's body in a princess carry, making sure not to rock it too hard.

I nodded. We'd accomplished all we came here for, but I had no doubt that reinforcements would soon arrive.

"Lawrent Joan is dead," Vaelum said from nearby, something strange in his voice. "I never thought it would happen."