The Red Glaive

Aeria stood quickly, glad that the cloak still hid the dress beneath. On one hand; she was afraid that revealing herself in such a dress would give too much information away, on the other much smaller much more irrational hand, she wanted him to see if just to see his reaction. He was coming, and she could feel her heart beat wildly in anticipation. Valor had been sick last full moon so it had been two months since she had last seen him. She paced towards the entrance but stopped short. She remembered Madame Salver and something about not being too eager. She felt silly for feeling this way, and yet she couldn’t help it.

Then there he was, walking down the path with casual confidence. The blue of his eyes shone with the light of the pool. He looked just she remembered him and when he saw her he smiled and she couldn’t help but smile back. It felt like she hadn’t seen him in a very long time; years, though it had only been a couple months. It dawned on her just how much missed him, and how stupid she felt for missing someone she barely knew that much. She didn't care; she wanted to run and hold him but held back. Would that be inappropriate for a lady? What did she care anyway, despite the dress she wore beneath the cloak, she’d never act like a lady.

It didn’t matter, he did it for her as he rushed over and hugged her tightly completely catching her off guard. He was taller than her, but not by much so she was able to burry her head in his shoulder and wrap her arms around him easily.

“I’m so glad I get to see you again.” he said in her ear.

“Were you that sick?” Aeria asked relishing in the warmth he brought her.

Valor laughed and pulled back, “Turns out it was just something I ate.” he said brushing his hand against her cheek. Showing her the dirt now on his hand, Aeria gasped embarrassed and quickly brushed away the dirt that still clinged to the side of her face and hair. “And you told me to stay clean.”

Aeria’s face couldn’t get any hotter but Valor only smiled. “How have you been.”

“Fantastic!” Aeria answered quickly and still red in the face. “I, I mean, I’ve been good. Not much has happened.”

“Not much to do at the shrine is there.”

“No, not really, I-“ Aeria stopped. What had she just done?

Valor laughed. “These cloaks,” he said touching the rough wool cloth of her brown cloak, “are only worn by sisters when they sneak off at night. Everyone from these parts knows that. So, you must not be from these parts?”

“I,” but she didn’t know what to say. He’d finally caught her in one of her lies. “I fooled you long enough.” Aeria said hoping her voice didn’t reveal her nerves.

“I never believed you to begin with!” Valor said light heartedly then laughed at the horrified expression on Aeria’s face.

“Not even a little?” Aeria asked. She had to be more careful around him now.

“You’re a terrible liar!” he said. If only he knew. . . “I went to the shrine looking for you but you weren’t in their sick bay, so you can’t be a healer. You must be under the shrine’s sanctuary.”

Aeria didn’t say anything, she’d just let him build the lies for her.

“Elyon, if you’re seeking sanctuary from someone please tell me.” he said holding her face softly. “I can keep you safe.”

“I’m not.” Aeria said. Wasn’t she seeking sanctuary? Only women were allowed beyond the sick bay of the shrine, so battered women often sought sanctuary there. Aeria wasn’t like those women, at least, not in the same sense. “Valor.” she took both his hands. “I swear to you I am perfectly safe where I am.” she said with a small smile.

The blue of his eyes searched hers, unsure of what to look for. He already believed her for a terrible liar, but she wasn’t lying this time. No one was gunna hurt her in the Red Glaive now that she’d shown off Brecht and his goonies. There were only devils now and those weren’t someones.

Valor sighed and walked off to the edge of the pool. Did he believe her? There was something on his mind, what she just told him only seemed to add to that. What could he even have to worry about? What had happened in those two months he was absent. She wanted to ask, but doing so would open him up to ask her questions as well. She didn’t want that, and yet she wanted to make him feel better.

”How did he make you feel better?”

Aeria nearly jumped when she heard Arsene’s voice in head. Her eyes scanned the tree tops but couldn’t spot the black raven hidden behind any of the crystalline leaves. He must’ve hidden beyond sight but she couldn’t call out to him now. She felt uneasy knowing he was out there observing.

”I’m leaving, but how does he make you feel better?” There was a rustle of leaves somewhere far off then only the soft twinkling chime of the pool.

Valor stood quietly, not saying much, staring solemnly at the pool. His silence was deafening; it wasn’t like him. How did he make her feel better? When Brecht and his little barons hurt her she had found comfort in his arms, and again when Brevia’s darkness threatened to overwhelm her. A touch, that’s all it took.

She didn’t say anything as she approached him but her chest filled with a heaviness and her arms were shaky as she gently wrapped them around him. His body stiffened, but only for a brief second, before he relaxed into her arms and she rested her chin on his shoulder.

She felt like she needed to say something, but couldn’t quite come up with the words so she didn’t say anything at all and took comfort in the silence and the warmth she felt as she held him.

“One more full moon.” she heard him mumble.

“Hmm?”

Aeria’s grip loosened as he turned to face her. “If I left this place, would you come with me?”

“What?” the thought of her leaving without her instantly filled her with dread, but he was a full knight now, he’d have leave and find a lord to serve somewhere.

“If I left, you could come with me.” he continued. “Whatever it is you’re running away from, we could run from it together. Should your troubles ever catch up to us, I could keep you from them. Elyon. . .” he paused and held her close seeming to finally hear how ridiculous he sounded.

“But where would we go?” Aeria said and his eyes lit up.

“Anywhere!” he said excited. “Have you seen the Mollian Sky Castle? Most people pass through the Scar they barely get to see it. But you should see it! It’s spires touch the clouds. Or, or we could see the glass lake in Flumina, I’ve heard that at night it like looking at two skies. I know you’d like it.”

“I’ve always wanted to see Ignitia.” A city that didn't hide away when the night came but instead thrived in spite of it. She had only read stories of it in books.

“We could go there too!” he said. “There, and anywhere else you want. Just you and me.”

Aeria looked up at him. His eyes, a perfect blue, bore down onto her red full of dreams. “I can’t go.” she said. His face said it all.

Aeria would could not leave without becoming a glaive. It meant more to her than anything up till then. She wouldn’t leave Videl after she had made him stay. She promised not to vanish on Adelaide and swore to Reimar to train as a sister. Most of all, she would not abandon her brothers; Caius, Niko and even Telfer. There was too promises she had made that she fully intended to keep.

Valor was a knight now, he was expected to travel. She would not go with him nor ask him to stay for her sake. The fact that this was probably goodbye for good made her feel sick.

“Does this mean I won’t see you anymore?” her voice wavered when she spoke. Why did she feel so sad, she barely knew this man.

“We still have time.” he said but his face was still downcast.

“I might not be able to with you, but what if, we just explore the city instead?” she said hoping to cheer him and to not think of what was to come. Other than the seedy taverns Caius like the frequent and the shrine she had yet to see much else of Lux Aeterna.

His face lit up, but only for a second. “My friend out there, comes with me to make sure I stay here.” he said. “If I was leaving for good there’d be no way he could stop me, but for a stroll around the city, he wouldn’t allow it.”

“We could use the tunnel,” Aeria blurted out before she could stop herself.

He raised an eyebrow. “Tunnel?”

“When I first started coming here, I thought it was the only entrance.” Aeria said surprised at how easy the lie came. “I used it a few times before realizing there was a gate.”

“Where is this tunnel.”

“Wait here, let me go find it.” Aeria said and dashed into the forest. She knew she could build it, but she didn’t want him to see. Only glaives, Sages, and knights with eques flasks could use the gift of the Colossus.

When she was against the outer wall of the oasis Aeria fell to her knees and dug her hands into the dirt. The magic was there, flowing beneath her hands and all she had to was give it a tiny push. Aeria’s hands sank into the hard earth as if it were fine sand. Then she spread her hands apart and the earth spread and hardened creating the tunnel Aeria had lied about just as Valor’s steps could be heard approaching from behind.

“It’s still here.” Aeria said feeling slightly lightheaded. She still wasn’t completely used to using this new magic but at least she didn’t pass out.

Valor paused when he saw the hole in the ground Aeria was crouched over. “So it is.” he said lowly.

Already, she was feeling an excitement unfamiliar to her. She wanted to leave the oasis with him, even if just for a night. Somehow, it would make their encounters less fleeting, more real in sense and that both terrified and excited her. “Are we going?” Aeria said her legs dangling in the hole already, but Valor for the first time she had known him, he was hesitant.

His searched hers, for what she wasn’t sure but after a few moments he smiled. “Of course.” he said leaping into the tunnel after Aeria.