Ky sat alone by a single tree that stood atop a hill looking down at a small town. They were still a two days' ride from Cruuxford. It's been three days since they left Astria. Solara and Ava had caught up to them a little bit after the encounter with Vesryn.
Solara had informed Ky that Syndra sent them to aid in the mission. At the moment Solara, Ava and Amara went into town to get food while he chose to stay behind.
He wanted to be alone because his mind was still drifting to what Thana said the last time, he saw her. A god intervened in his death, and he still wanted to know why. In his hand he held a rock that he came tossing in the air.
The past few days Solara used fairy dust to aid in his recovery so he could now use magic, but he couldn't overexert himself. What people didn't know about Ky was that unlike most Astren, he couldn't do a form of spatial magic or even spirit magic. Ice magic was his affinity, but he had another form of magic he could do.
After losing his siblings years ago he discovered the second form of magic. Gravity magic was another form of magic he was capable of doing. A faint magic circle formed above Ky's hand as the rock came back down. Instead of landing in his hand once more it began to float.
Gravity magic was one of the forms of magic that was hardly used so it was classified as Arcane. Arcane magic was the name used to describe types of magic that few practiced or had been forgotten in history.
As Ky looked at the rock floating in the air he began to wonder; if it was a god that saved him from dying then could they have gifted him with the affinity to manipulate gravity?
This was something he had never thought about until now. Though, why save him and not his brother and sister? Unlike most Astren, Ky hardly prayed to Thana or any deity for that matter. He knew of some of them, but he didn't really look toward them for help when it came to anything. With that in mind he became frustrated because he felt that he didn't deserve the god or being saved by them.
He continued to stare at the rock that floated above his hand until he felt something. Ky lowered his hand causing the rock to fall as he looked around. There was nothing but he felt strange as if he was being watched. After a moment he looked at the shadow of the tree. A second went by before Amara emerged from the shadow.
"Either you're quite perceptive or I'm getting rusty with my magic." Amara said as she pointed at the ground beside Ky.
He shrugged as she slowly approached him and then sat down beside him. "I am actually somewhat familiar with shadow magic." Ky said in a soft tone.
"Hm…thought I was your first Vesper comrade." Amara smacked her teeth as she elbowed Ky in the arm.
"We're comrades now? He slightly grinned before it faded, and he had a grim look on his face. "Actually, you're the first Vesper I met. The person I knew that was a user of shadow magic was an Edahs." Ky sadly spoke as he looked off into the distance.
Amara appeared confused as she looked at Ky. "An Edahs? Here in Vanaheim? That's something I never expected." Amara said as she started to consider something.
"There was a small group of them years ago that tried to sneak onto our land. She was the only one that managed to escape the Astrian army." Ky sighed as he placed his hand on his face. He sat silently for a moment before he lowered his hand. "I met her one day when I was trying to steal some food from one of the stores in the middle region of Astria. Back then I wasn't good at stealing anything. When the knights sent me away after a beating, she revealed herself to me." Ky said as he began to grin slightly. "She gave me food that she managed to steal. After that we kind of stuck together for a while." Ky said as he went silent again while looking off in the distance.
"You fell in love with her?" Amara questioned.
Ky glanced at her and shrugged."Saria told me not to trust her, but I never listened. A few years ago, she and I decided to venture outside of Astria. We ran into some people that her people attacked when she first arrived on our land…. She disappeared, and those people took their anger out on me." Ky said.
He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. Remembering that day stirred unresolved feelings. "I dragged myself back to Astria and went straight for our hideout in the forest outside of Eshelon. Everything we had stolen like artifacts, silver and jewelry was gone." Ky grumbled.
Amara placed her hand on his shoulder and looked at him with a serious look on her face."You should've listened to Saria, mate."
She gently squeezed his shoulder causing Ky to frown. "Anyway, where are the others?" He trying to change the subject.
"Oh yeah… we ran into some girl who was with the arc knights. She's a squire and she look pretty beat up but somehow, she managed to make it to that town. Apparently, she had passed out and was in the medical center for the past few days." Amara said nonchalantly.
Ky nudged her in the side with an angry look on his face. "Why the hell didn't you say that earlier?"
"I ended up bloody learning something about ya so I figured it could wait a bit!" Amara panicked.
Ky. Stared at her wide eyed before letting out a deep sigh. "Well getting to know me isn't important. The mission we have at hand is."
"Solara was trying to get information from her but she's too out of it. Apparently, she's a squire so it was her first time on a battlefield I reckon." Amara explained.
The both of them got up off the ground. Ky looked at her curiously wanting to know more. "Where are they now?"
It only took a few seconds of walking to spot them talking to the young Astren woman. Ky quickly recognized her. It was Thalia and she now had a scar over her eye. She looked surprised when she noticed Ky approaching. Ky was uneasy when he realized she was Vesryn's squire.
"Ky…" Thalia said nervously as Ky stood silently and didn't utter a word.
After a moment of silence and everyone staring at each other awkwardly as he bowed his head. "Why were you with the Arc knights and not in Astria?"
That was the first thing Ky decided to ask which caught Thalia off guard.
"I heard Vesryn was there so I asked them to take me so I could be of use to him." Thalia said as she hugged herself nervously.
Ky took it as if she was trying to shrink her presence. Like many people, Thalia admired Vesryn and possibly even had a crush on him. Ky grunted as he stepped past everyone and began walking.
"The hell are you going?" Someone called after him.
"Cruuxford, obviously." He replied without looking back to see who asked the question.
*
It had been an hour since they had left the town, they found Thalia. She was now venturing with them so she could show them the hideout of the demons. From Thalia's recollection the knights had been killed and Lura had been the last one. She sent Thalia away in order to get back to the kingdom, but she never made it. By the time she had arrived at the town they had left she collapsed and passed out. The look of guilt on her face was noticeable.
"Let go of that guilt, it's meaningless." Ky said as he walked alongside the Kirin Ava and Thalia were riding on.
"Why are you and a foreigner a part of this mission?" Thalia asked, ignoring Ky's remark.
"Maybe the princess thinks I'm more competent than a group of knights." Ky teased as he noticed Thalia look at him with a displeased look on her face.
"Vesryn says you're quite troublesome and put princess Saria in too much danger." Thalia retorted as Ky let out an empty laugh.
"Vesryn gets everything he wants and is revered by the entire kingdom as a valiant knight. He even almost wedded Saria at one point. Yet for some reason he had to hire a guild to kill me." Ky said as he glared at Solara with a serious look on his face.
He saw the guilt on her face which caused him to look away. After a moment of silence Ky began to distance himself from the group. Everything that happened in the last few days hurt him mentally. He didn't know who to trust and what to believe at this point.
All he knew was the Reaper sword couldn't remain in the hands of demons. After maintaining a good distance from everyone Amara emerged from a shadow beside him.
"You've been like this since they showed up…" Amara calmly said, trying to initiate a conversation.
"Solara and Ava are a part of the silver cloaks. A guild that Vesryn worked with a lot, and he hired them to kill me. Taegan was their leader and he betrayed them so he could get the sword." Ky harbored a slight disdain for them all. He didn't understand why any of what happened, happened.
"A valiant warrior hiring a guild to kill a peasant like you? That is quite strange." Amara noted.
"Now everything is a mess…" Ky sighed. " Once we finish this and Syndra lets me go, I'm leaving Vanaheim." Ky grumbled.
"Why would you leave your homeland?" Amara wondered as Ky pointed at his eyes.
"I'm not a true Astren and most outer races aren't welcomed here. Terrans are the only group of beings that share this land with us so they're an exception." Ky proclaimed as Amara looked at him confused.
"Your skin and hair texture resembles any other Astren that I've seen. You're a bloody citizen of Astria so how can you not be a true Astren?" Amara prodded with a strange desire to know more.
"You're asking me so many questions, yet I haven't once asked you anything." Ky changed the subject which took Amara by surprise. "Tell me about your brother."
Amara sighed and seemed to shrink at the thought of revealing anything about it herself. Ky stared at her silent as she kept her head down for a long time. She groaned in frustration as she glared at him vexingly. "His name is Arlen, and he was a valiant warrior in the Rithen kingdom. I'd even bet he'd be able to defeat Vesryn in a duel." Amara chirped with admiration.
For a moment she seemed to get lost in thought. They walked in silence for a bit. "He had a son with a woman he deeply loved." Amara finally.
Ky started to speak but he decided not to say anything and merely walk alongside her. Instead he simply walked with her in silence. The two unknowingly moved closer to each other as they walked. The two were slowly forming an inseparable bond that neither of them realized.