Member
The Muse
RPM
Altered Tundra
Qia
Dezuel
Not a Sayan
PrinceAlexus
Moon Child
Cupping the warm mug in both hands, Eris held it close to her lips as she listened, letting Charlotte speak without interruption. Silently, she stared into the fire ahead of them, gently blowing across the surface of her tea, waiting for it to cool.
When she finally spoke, her voice was soft but certain. “I think we all need a little reminding sometimes,” she murmured, lowering her gaze to watch the way the tea leaves swirled at the bottom of her mug. Regretfully, even a Sage such as herself needed to be reminded that failure wasn’t final—so long as you chose to rise again.
When Charlotte offered her thanks, Eris smiled faintly and turned to meet the guard’s eyes, the firelight casting warm gold hues across her freckled face. Somewhere in a distant part of the house, a faint thud interrupted the stillness, but Eris dismissed it without even a glance in the sound's direction. She had heard the tower groan against the wind before, the pines outside brushing against stone walls, or occasional thuds from the Sages shifting things around downstairs.
Whatever the sound was, she thought little of it.
“You’ve helped me too,” Eris said, her gaze lingering on her new companion a little longer than intended. The amber light caught and reflected off the steel-blue of Charlotte’s eyes, and something about it—steady and unpretentious—was hard to look away from.
Forcing her attention back to the hearth, Eris sipped her tea, content to let the silence settle between them. No longer heavy, but comfortable. Different.
Slowly, her mind drifted to Nathaniel, and the time she had shared the same tea with him a week prior. And how, with him—and other nobles like him—silence was something to navigate and fill correctly. The pressures of societal expectations hung like a sword over her head, invisible, but tangible between every word and glance.
Around them, Eris had always felt the need to perform, to act precisely and fit the role expected of her. And now, so far from the Aurelian capital, even Nathaniel’s kind and helpful gestures felt intrusive, pressing too closely against the solitude she had fought to claim for herself. To her, the silence between them had felt strained as she searched for the right words to say.
But with Charlotte, there was none of that weight. No expectation lingered in her eyes. No unspoken test to pass. Charlotte wasn’t a noble from the Aurelian capital—she didn’t carry the same invisible sword.
Around her, the air felt lighter, like Eris could smile without worrying that she might be judged for smiling too widely or laughing too loudly. She could joke without fear of her words being picked apart.
Despite not knowing Charlotte for more than a day, something about her already felt safer.
In a way, it reminded her of the comfort she had oddly found in Sya.
Sya.
Her heart clenched as the name resurfaced a sharp memory—Sya’s… double transformation?
Eris’ thoughts flickered back to the letter the innkeeper had sent, and she took another slow sip of tea, quietly steeling herself for what she knew she had to do today.
“I should get dressed,” she whispered, softer than she’d meant to. She glanced at Charlotte with a small, sheepish smile. “Might I make one last request of you, Miss Hawthorne?”
Charlotte sent the sage a warm smile after lowering the cup of tea from her lips, nodding her head in reply.
Gathering herself, Eris rose to her feet and smoothed down the folds of her nightgown with one hand, the other still cradling her mug. “Would you mind escorting me to the tavern?” she asked, her smile growing a little. “I’ll be just a moment. I can be quick. Promise!”
Taking a step back, Eris turned toward the hallway. She had barely moved when a flicker of motion caught her eye. She hesitated, staring down the long, dark corridor that led to her bedroom. The door was wide open, and through the gap, she could just make out the window beyond—
A soft gasp escaped her lips as a large shadow moved in front of the window, barely outlined by the pale glow of firelight that came from the living room. Her fingers tightened around the mug as she stood frozen and wide-eyed.
For a heartbeat, she tried to rationalize it away. Pine branches brushing against the glass. No—she had drawn her curtains shut, hadn’t she? Then perhaps it was a trick of her tired mind. A side effect of her depleted well of magic that distorted her vision. Or, perhaps, isolating herself in this building had finally made her start imagining ghosts in the darkest corners of the room.
But—
The figure suddenly bolted into her study.
A frightened squeak escaped her as scrambled a few steps backward, nearly spilling her tea. Heavy footsteps thudded on the other end of the chambers, then fell into complete silence. Eris’ wide, fearful gaze snapped to Charlotte, the mug trembling slightly in her hands.
It took only a second for the recruit to read the expression on Eris’ face before she found herself standing, her blade ringing out as she pulled it from its scabbard. Charlotte recognized that look anywhere, having seen it countless times during her service in the capitol. Something was wrong. She hadn’t picked up any sense of danger, but something from within told her to trust Eris’ judgement.
Her own expression had shifted completely, now devoid of its previous emotions. Pure focus and instinct were left in place as she drew her blade back in a defensive stance, putting herself between Eris and the darkened corridor. What had moments ago seemed like a quiet, empty hallway now felt foreign—its peace cracked, replaced with a tension that clung to the walls.
Charlotte spared a single glance back to Eris that wordlessly commanded ‘stay’ before she began a careful, hasty offensive towards the sage’s chambers. Her heart slammed against her chest as her blade crossed the threshold of the room before her. The noise of her armored steps betrayed any attempt of subtlety, but it didn’t matter. The intruder, if there was one, had already been alerted to their presence. Silence was no longer a weapon she could wield.
Her cold, blue eyes darted around the darker room searching for something—anything—out of place. The open doors of the balcony gently swayed as their curtains danced in the breeze, and a frantic trail of mud and melting snow was strewn about the floor. Someone left in a hurry. The room appeared otherwise untouched from where she stood. Not a drawer left open, not a single belonging tossed to the floor, and jewelry in plain sight that remained undisturbed. Not a robbery… they weren’t looking for anything.
For a moment, she paused, listening… waiting. The silence betrayed nothing. Not a groan of a creaking floorboard, nor the whisper of a hidden breath.
Her shoulders relaxed a bit, lowering her sword as she paced towards the balcony. Peering over its edge, she found nothing but the remnants of the intruder’s escape; Broken branches surrounded a larger dent in the snow, leading to a trail of widely spaced footsteps away into the town.
Unmoving, the recruit called back over her shoulder to Eris, her voice calm and just loud enough to close the distance, “It’s safe, they’re gone.”
Whoever they were.
Still frozen in place at the end of the hall, Eris let out a slow, shaky breath. Though she’d managed to hear Charlotte over the sound of own heartbeat thundering in her ears, her body refused to move. Nervously, she bit her lower lip and scanned the length of the darkened hallway, searching every corner as if someone—or something—might lunge from the shadows.
Instinct urged her to summon light, to burn away the dark. But the dull ache of spent magic still pulsed through her veins in a silent, visceral warning. Drawing on it now would come at a higher cost. Her gaze dropped to the mug in her hands, and she cursed herself for having taken the easy way to warm the tea.
If things in Dawnhaven were going to stay this dire, maybe it was time she started to do some things the hard way.
Slowly, Eris drew in a deep breath to steady herself. After a quiet moment, she forced herself to step forward. Charlotte had said it was safe—so it had to be.
And yet, somewhere in the back of her mind, a little voice wondered if this new acquaintance was leading her straight into a beautifully laid out trap.
Eris hesitated for a heartbeat, swallowing hard as she stared down the hall, remembering those steel-blue eyes that had looked at her so earnestly. The tears that had spilled from them. The rosey pink of Charlotte’s cheeks as she’d smiled. The way Charlotte had carried her home and stayed.
No. Charlotte had said it was safe—so it had to be.
One careful step at a time, she moved down the hallway she’d walked a hundred times before without fear of what might’ve lurked in the dark. But now, every creak of the floorboards clawed at her nerves.
Pausing in the doorway of her bedchamber, she carefully surveyed the state of the room. In the dark, it was difficult to see much of anything, but nothing major seemed out of place—still just as unorganized as she’d left it.
Turning right, she stepped through the open archway that led into her private study. The balcony door was wide open, a small snowdrift built up just beyond the threshold, broken by Charlotte and whomever had run through it moments ago.
Quietly, she continued forward, careful not to step in the snow and mud slushed across the floor. Her brows pinched tighter as she scanned the room, unease setting in deeper with each step forward.
“I’m going to have to draw up barrier runes…” she murmured, mostly to herself, setting the mug down on a nearby desk. For a moment, she inspected the dirtied floors, then straightened to scan the rest of the room. Strangely, nothing was amiss here either.
Crossing the study, she stopped at the balcony doors, just behind Charlotte. Her eyes flicked to the edge of the balcony, to the crushed snow along the railing. The drop down was steep, but not impossible. Beyond Charlotte, she studied the surrounding woods, though it was difficult to see much further than the treeline.
“Do you think it was a… blight-born?” She asked softly, her worried eyes lifting to Charlotte’s face, then back to the balcony. “Maybe they….” she hesitated, the theory still forming. “Flew in? And out?”
Charlotte shook her head, though not fully dismissing Eris’s theory, “I’m not sure. I haven’t yet crossed paths with any with wings, but anything seems possible these darker days.”
“I almost want to say that they fell during their escape, judging by the mark in the snow. Had to hurt from this height.” The recruit returned her blade to its place on her hip before turning back to the study, and Eris, “Could just as easily have been from trying to climb up here though.”
Something still hung in the recruit’s mind, however. Nothing was missing. Nothing had been disturbed, taken or otherwise damaged. What kind of thief would break in and steal nothing? Especially in this house of all places, lived in mostly by nobles who would most certainly have jewelry and other valuables around.
Her eyes glanced around the room as she silently pondered the thought, looking for any detail she might have missed.
“Any idea as to what they may have been after?” She asked, looking at Eris with a soft but inquisitive gaze, “Anyone out to get you? Anyone who would want to hurt you?”
Eris shook her head without thinking. No, of course no one was after her. Why would they be?
But the denial faltered before it reached her tongue. Her lips parted, then closed again as she took a moment to think it through.
“... Do you think it could’ve been the same blight-born that attacked the Princess yesterday?” she asked quietly, her gaze searching the darkness beyond the balcony. A chill slid down her spine at the thought. “Or—” she hesitated, reluctant to voice the next thought. “What if it was one of the ones I—we—The Sages and I… have tested on?”
Her mind drifted to the Alchemy Chambers below. She remembered Kira, sharp-fanged and glaring at one of the Sage’s like she might bite off the next finger that dared to get close enough. There were others, too. Some were more cooperative. Some less. Were any of them waiting for a chance like this?
Maybe they hadn’t been looking for valuables—they had been looking for her.
Eris swallowed hard, a pit forming in her gut. How many powerful enemies had she made here, without even realizing it?
A cold draft swept through the open door, raising a trail of goosebumps along her arms—her thin nightgown doing little to protect her from the chill. She shivered and turned back into the study, seeking warmth and comfort from her tea. Picking up the mug, she wrapped her hands around it and let the warmth seep into her palms. “Would you mind closing the door… and locking it?”
She hesitated, frowning faintly. “I… I thought I locked it before.” The thought sank heavy in her chest. She didn’t misremember things like that. Not often.
Then again, she knew she had been spreading herself thin lately. She must have forgotten… right?
She turned towards her bedroom again, pausing at the void of darkness that awaited beyond the threshold. Instinctively, she glanced back, as if to make sure Charlotte was still there.
“We should alert the other guards,” Eris said softly, then stepped through the archway. Nervously, she moved toward the closet on the other side of the room and slowly began rifling through her vast amount of clothing options. Picking out a coat, she carefully laid it out on the bed. “Maybe they can increase the—”
She stopped, her breath catching mid-sentence as her eyes landed on the nightstand.
There, sitting atop her journal, was a purple gemstone—cut, translucent and beautiful. Pressed over a folded scrap of parchment as if it were no more than a paperweight.
She didn’t recognize it.
Setting her mug down slowly, Eris stepped closer. She didn’t touch it. Not yet. She’d made that mistake with enchanted objects before—and this looked like it could be one. Once, during her training, an enchanted artifact had left her vomiting up saltwater for an entire day. She knew better now.
“This is new,” she said aloud, glancing over at Charlotte, then back to the stone.
Hovering her hand above the gem, she tried to feel for any threads of magic—any hum, pressure or ripple. Anything at all.
But she felt nothing. The stone was utterly silent.
Still, she didn’t trust it. Her mana was spent. The sixth sense she’d spent years attuning herself to was completely numb. Blown out like a candle.
Charlotte’s head turned promptly as Eris spoke, tilting her head as she approached. The stone before her was gorgeous, unlike anything she’d ever laid eyes on. A delivery then, from their mystery intruder. But who? Why? Why go through all of the fuss of breaking into the Alchemy tower and not only not take anything, but to leave something?
Her eyes glanced to Eris momentarily, then back to the stone. “What is it?” she inquired quietly.
“I’m not sure…” Eris shook her head, lips pressed into a thin line. “We should find another Sage too.” she murmured, half to herself again. It couldn’t be any Sage—it had to be a powerful one. One so versed in the nuanced veils of magic that they could sense several different types without touching anything at all.
Her mind raced through the names and faces of her colleagues, searching for one with enough skill and discipline that it might rival her own.
As she thought, she straightened and began moving again. Faster this time, she laid out the rest of her outfit across the mattress. When she finished, she paused, glancing up at Charlotte.
“Would you… mind turning around for a moment? While I dress?”
Not a request to leave the room.
Eris’ fear wasn’t gone—she wasn’t sure if it ever would be. But she wasn’t ready to be alone again. Not in the dark. Not with this strange new object. Not when whatever had invaded her space might still be lurking nearby. Not when she had little magic left to defend herself with.
Charlotte’s eyes widened slightly at the request, before nodding to the sage and turning to once again face the forest beyond, though this time from behind closed—and locked—balcony doors. It was an odd request, but Kain had instructed her to heed the sage’s every desire. Though it annoyed her to follow his orders despite how he had acted, Charlotte also knew the consequences of disobedience.
She was not going to be reprimanded by him a second time. Not for this anyway.
Through a window, she looked across the icy landscape before her as the sound of rustling fabric came from behind. She focused on the barren treetops that just barely swayed in the wind, the moonlight that normally illuminated them now clouded. Charlotte kept her gaze steady ahead, not letting her mind wander. Despite the discipline that had been drilled into her, it was a strange situation she found herself in, remaining professional as she stood guard not outside a room, but within it. Not keeping her eyes on someone, but away from them.
Her thoughts flickered back to the brief chase, to open balcony doors and to the invisible assailant. Whoever had slipped into the tower had vanished without a trace. That alone made her uneasy.
And if they came back? If they wanted to do harm to the tower’s occupants? What then?
Charlotte’s hand rested wearily on the pommel of her now-stowed blade, her entire body still tense and ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. Her armor gently clinked against itself as she shifted her weight to one side, still shining almost as bright and new as the day she’d first donned it. The true giveaway of a recruit, armor unblemished by battle.
“Anyone specific we’re looking for at the tavern?” She inquired, resisting the instinct to look back, “Surely there can’t yet be many sages in Dawnhaven.”
She paused for a moment, pondering the thought. “Or perhaps I’m wrong. I guess it would only make sense for the kingdoms to send their brightest here. It's the only way we’ll learn more about the blight.”
Fully dressed, Eris sat on the edge of her bed and laced up her boots, grateful for Charlotte’s steady presence.
“You’re not wrong.” she confirmed, glancing briefly toward the gemstone as her hands worked. “There are… ” Her voice faded as she mentally tallied all the faces that had become familiar over the past two months. “Only six of us. All Aurelian.”
Once finished, she stood and crossed to her dresser, fingers deftly twisting her hair half up before securing it with a golden pin—still every bit the noblewoman, careful with her image, despite how far removed she was from the prying eyes of the capital. “Lunaris has not sent any of their Sages, unfortunately.” she added quietly, her voice tinged with disappointment. It had been a point of frustration for her—no one would know Lunarian biospheres better than the Sages born to them. “I think King Jericho feels that he’s provided us with enough already. Being on his land…”
Rounding the bed, Eris stopped behind Charlotte and gently placed a hand on her arm. “Thank you,” A soft smile followed, fleeting but sincere. When Charlotte met her eyes, Eris let her hand fall away as she stepped toward the door.
The recruit silently nodded at Eris in reply, the corner of her mouth lifting.
“We’ll check the lab first. But I was hoping to find Sya at the tavern, actually.” With a gentle tilt of her head, she motioned for Charlotte to follow her out.
Walking down the dark hall again sent her heart stuttering again, but Charlotte’s presence at her back lent strength. “We can alert the other guards on the way too.” she added as they moved.
At the far end of the house, Eris opened a door that led down into a narrow spiral staircase. The one Charlotte had practically carried her up the night before. Holding the door open, she let Charlotte pass first. Keys in hand, she stepped out and began to shut the door behind her—
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The sudden knocks echoed up the stone stairwell. Eris jumped, her fingers fumbling as a gasp escaped her lips. She barely caught her keys before they slipped from grasp. Her pulse raced, eyes flicking up to Charlotte’s face for reassurance.
Swallowing, she locked the door. A faint breath trembled past her lips.
When she turned back to Charlotte, Eris tried to mask the fear still flickering behind her eyes as she began to descend the stairs. “I wonder who that could be…” she said softly, mostly to herself. The Sages all had keys to the ground level. Maybe one had forgotten or lost theirs. That had to be it.
Another series of knocks echoed through the stone. Impatient. Firm.
Not a Sage.
Near the bottom, Eris slowed, instinctively shifting closer to Charlotte. Her voice came barely above a whisper. “You don’t think… it could be the intruder again, do you?”
Charlotte looked to Eris with a concerned, but unknowing look. Her words were not needed, her thoughts matched the sage’s. The fleeting sensation of safety that had lingered for the last few moments had now gone. In its place, she could feel her heart beginning to race and her mind was quickly starting to follow suit.
Charlotte felt a shiver run down her spine as she looked down the stairs. She could see the innocence of the well-illuminated room below, glowing with candlelight. And yet it felt so unwelcoming. The shadows that normally danced, now haunted. The knocking, where once she would be intrigued, now caused fear to rise within her chest.
“Whatever happens… whoever that happens to be, stay behind me.” Her words came with all of the tone of a command, but lacked the force to make it one. Charlotte held too much respect for Eris to bark an order, despite the short period of time they’d known each other. There was also the small part of her that knew she was no match to Eris’ abilities, should the sage decide that Charlotte wasn’t a friend.
Eris nodded, barely breathing as she slipped the keys back into her coat pocket with a trembling hand. Her fingers brushed something familiar—Tia’s hairpins, right where she’d left them. She closed her hand around them, gripping them tighter than she meant to.
“Your mind, your research, they’re all more important than my life.” She left no room for argument, beginning to move down the stairs as quickly as she’d finished speaking. Eris’ eyes went wide, her lips parting in protest. She didn’t want Charlotte to sacrifice herself if it came to it. How could Eris’ life possibly mean more than another? But the thought stuck in her throat. She closed her mouth instead, nervously biting her lower lip.
Charlotte’s blade sang a low, steely note as it slid free of the scabbard. She felt bare without her shield, something she’d stupidly forgotten by the fire just minutes ago when she’d first jumped into the action. In its place, the recruit tightened her grip on the blade, raising it high once again.
Her advance drew a gasp—and likely a concerned look—from somewhere in the room, but it left her attention as quickly as it entered. Briefly, Eris dared to look away from Charlotte, finding one of the other Sage’s who’d frozen in a doorway that led into the lab.
Only a few paces now separated Charlotte from the door. Her heart thundered in her chest, every instinct bracing for the enemy she’d already convinced herself was waiting on the other side.
Eris slid behind Charlotte, heart pounding, breathing shallow. Instinctively, she reached for her magic—only to feel a faint spark in return. Painfully, the ache of absence sent a frozen fire burning through her veins.
Blade raised in one hand and leveled in front of her at chest-height, the recruit glanced back to Eris for a moment before ripping the door open.
Hazel eyes flicked over Charlotte, finally landing on the weapon.
”Glad to see Dawnhaven upped the security around here.”
