Guardian(Part II): Soulborne

Chapter 41: Eris

Seeing Azzuran dead again gave me at least a small sense of relief. I had killed him before, during the Third Great War, but I never imagined he would have to be killed again, and I never imagined that Finn would be the one to do it. I only appeared to help him at the last moment of their fight, though. He and his new friend, another Guardian named "Nato", were the ones who fought their way through the fortress of the Archdemon of Envy, and eventually killed Azzuran together. The army of Turned he had assembled had fallen when he was killed, but the fact that he was killed in the first place wouldn't go unnoticed by the rest of the Seven. It hadn't gone unnoticed by Belroth. I couldn't sense how angry he was at the death of Azzuran, if he was angry at all, because I was overcome by my own anger at the sight of him after twelve years since the last time I fought him. That was when he killed Hilles, not long after Finn was conceived. I wasn't able to kill Belroth, but the Master of the Shadows of the Abyss left me alive. For the life of me, I couldn't understand why for twelve years, but after he threw me into that bottomless pit with nothing more than a glance my way, I knew. He left me alive to suffer the loss of Hilles. He wanted me to acknowledge that he killed my husband, and I could do nothing about it. I wasn't strong enough to avenge Hilles. Nothing else could have been crueler than such a thing. Then again, it was what servants of the Dark One lived for. To make sure everyone suffered, as he suffered, being killed for the fourth time, now. I had suffered ever since Hilles died, so much that I couldn't focus on anything else other than the grief. Finn had been concerned about me that entire time, but I never acknowledged that he was. It wasn't until we reached the summit of Soareus Peak that I learned to move past Hilles' death, and focus on what was ahead. I wouldn't allow what Belroth had done to keep me from doing what needed to be done, and that was to make sure the same wouldn't happen to Finn. Thankfully, the same thing didn't happen to Finn, but it almost did. Finn, Nato, and I only escaped Azzuran's fortress because Haemon carried us away from the Fire Serpent Canyon on his back while he was in the form of a roc. We couldn't have made it back to Quorias faster. Queen Marie was holding a celebration for a victory with no casualties on her side of the battle, and she allowed the four of us to sit across from her and her daughter at their table, along with Daisy of Red Harbor, Lyrandrar Valkian, and Anzulminar. Every one of Queen Marie's military Generals had also been invited to the celebration in the throne hall for their efforts. No mourning would be necessary, since no soldiers of Illondas died, so every single one of them was eating, drinking, and singing their hearts out. At the Queen's table, Finn further introduced me to Nato. What they both said about how they met was rather unusual, but intriguing.

"So, the two of you were having dreams about each other," I said. "And you don't know why?"

"I know exactly why," Finn corrected. "We both have Ilentia in us."

"I don't know if I do for sure," Nato reminded.

"No, you definitely do," I said. What I sensed from young Nato was very similar to what I sensed from Finn. It was almost exactly the same. They were just as powerful as each other, and much stronger than me, Haemon, and Anzulminar put together.

"Which Ilentia, then?" Nato sighed. "I know there aren't very many of them left."

"One that I know, judging by your age," I guessed. "But I'll have to find out which one."

"You would do that for me?" asked Nato.

"Yes," I answered. "But I don't know if I can. I'm not exactly well-liked by... anyone from Ember."

"I see," Nato understood. "But thank you."

"Of course," I sighed.

Suddenly, Anzulminar's arm was around my shoulders, while his other arm held an empty tankard. I could immediately tell he was drunk.

"The hero of Chardan, here, everyone!" he cried. I grabbed the back of his head and threw him away from the table instead of slamming his face into it.

"Charming man," Queen Marie observed, with sarcasm.

"Try having him for a father," said Haemon.

"I couldn't imagine it," Daisy sighed.

"Daisy," I whispered. I remembered the name that Voltarius gave me when I questioned him about any sort of Mages that could have fallen to darkness, and the one with that name was sitting right across from me. Daisy was a fifteen-year-old Mage born in Aetherian that trained at Soluweth's Tower of Magi. On our way back to Quorias, Nato told me that when Soluweth's King threatened the tower's destruction, the Archmage offered a solution to the conflict, and the King answered by demanding an alliance by marriage. It was for nothing more than his own pleasure, and Daisy was the one unfortunate enough to be chosen by him. Daisy refused to hand her own life over to a tyrant, despite being ordered to by the Archmage, and the Inquisition began hunting her down. I could imagine nothing else that could make a girl so angry. Nato told me she believed that the true reason for her friend to be targeted by the Inquisition, though, is her supposed selfishness rather than her disobedience. There was nothing selfish about a girl saying "no" when faced with a decision that could very well resign her to a fate where she had absolutely no control over her life. As far as I knew, the Soluwethi Tower of Magi was still standing, too, so Daisy's choice wouldn't have made a difference. As far as offering her name as a lead to a conspiracy of Mages that served the Dark One, there was nothing about Daisy that told me she was part of it, but I sensed no deceit or doubt from Voltarius when he told me about her. He likely truly believed she was a servant of the Dark One just because she refused to do as she was told. Her efforts fighting against the Camnorish soldiers, and therefore, the Dark One, proves that she's a tireless enemy of the Abyss, just like me. There was also the fact that Daisy had been traveling with Nato for three days, and if she had sensed any kind of darkness from her, she would be dead, especially if Nato was as powerful as she seemed to be. I knew of the Monks of Qonghai. They trained their disciples to harness their power to use it against the Abyss, and turn them into warriors that the Abyss. Once they are fully trained, they're either returned to their families and homes to defend them, kept to become masters and teach their own disciples what they've learned, or released to pursue what they believe they need to do. Since Nato didn't have a childhood home or family to speak of, it looked like the third choice was what she went with. It also explained how powerful she was. If she was a Guardian, but also an Ilentia's child, and raised by the Monks of Qonghai, she was as much of a threat to the Abyss as Finn was. Along with that, she would also be targeted by the Abyss as much as Finn already was, especially after they both fought together to kill an Archdemon. The threat to both of them wasn't very big, though. As long as they stayed together, they would keep each other safe.