Aureolus Ashes

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. I was too late. I didn’t find the bomb in time. Ashes rained down from the sky. The glittering cinders caught the fading twilight sun. Standing on the steps of the Fleurs Séchées ball, I watched the once vibrant fields of lavender turn into a sea of flames. Releasing a breath, I could not help but stare at the burning trees. Gilded tongues of fire licked up the barks of the surrounding forest trees, igniting the once full canopy into a dazzling inferno. Lurid towers of ash and smoke burned bright against the sky. Standing alongside other horrified aristocrats, I pulled at my corset and skirts, I fiddled with the boning of my dress. Scarlet embers danced in the night breeze. From the top of the mountain crest I watched the world burn. The sight of the encroaching wall of fire sent shivers down my spine. To think that only a few hours ago the estate had been full of frivolity and laughter, now it was nothing more than a heap of ashes, and I was trapped in the centre of it.

Silence pulsed in the air in the aftermath of the explosion. Shrapnel and bodies littered the dust covered floor as Lady Mavis rose from her seat and began shouting orders, and in the blink of an eye the once serene Fleurs Séchées ball tuned into absolute pandemonium. The crackling of the encroaching wall of fire faded into the background, replacing the screams and shouts of the aristocrats. Standing in my uncomfortable gown I watched the house servants dash inside the main house, herding aristocrats away from the blaze. Some of them leapt into carriages, other remained in the safety of the house. One of the house staff was even sweeping up the glass into neat piles, unphased by the burning fields and destroyed courtyard party. This must have been routine for them because each member of staff ran in orderly lines. Even the prudish head of staff, Sir Aimeric, was red in the face from running. This could not be good. However, with the world now burning around me, I looked at William, tendrils of smoke still curled off his suit.

“What are we going to do now?” I asked shakily. How was I supposed to explain this to the headmistress was a better question? 

I had been sent to the ball to diffuse the bomb without suspicion, but I was too late. Instead of the explosives being implanted in the heart of the main house, they were embedded in the heart of the dance floor. Ugh, I was going to be in so much trouble with the Captain of the Guard for this. Luckily, each member of the Mavis family had been spared from the blast, so maybe my punishment wouldn’t be as severe.

Handing me a piece of cloth William coughed, “I say we put out the fires and―”

Reaching out my hand I heard a whirring in the air. “Get down,” I yelled yanking William to the ground with me.

An arrow whizzed, cutting through the air where we once stood. Slivers of glass dug into my palms, sending rivers of blood dripping down my fingers and onto the floor. Whipping my head towards the direction the arrow came from, I saw that the remnants of the opulent chandeliers lay shattered on the floor. Fragments of the precious stone glistened like freshly fallen show. In the middle of the ruined courtyard, a woman clad in fighting leathers stood. With her bow raised, she fired again. Dodging the arrow, my back crashed into the chipped rubble of the sculptures. Mother of pearl filigree cast glittering rainbows on the broken walls of the courtyard. Looking back at my assailant I saw her nock another arrow into her bow. Her raven black hair covered her face in the blowing breeze, but I saw it. A small jabberwocky was tattooed into her neck. Damn it, they had found me.

Crawling behind one of the marble statues I reached to my back and began pulling at the strings of my dress. Ripping at the boned bodice and taffeta skirts I freed myself from the cloth cage. Crouched in my stealth suit I was glad that I had chosen to wear my second skin. Balling my hands into fists I flinched as William scrambled next to me.

“Who’s your friend there? I believe we haven’t been introduced?” William wined, “you wore your suit?” he as raising an eyebrow.

“She’s not my friend, she an assassin of Asphodel. A few months ago, I may or may not have freed a warlord’s slaves and stolen a ship or two.” I breathed, fighting a smile as more arrows were shot at us.

William’s face deadpanned, “You didn’t! Please tell me you didn’t―” Pulling out two guns from beneath his jacket William handed me one before firing back.

Turing to fire back at the assassin, I continued, “did I mention that I also took Shomari’s dog?” my voice pitched higher than I had intended.

“Ros!” William shouted, shooting me a stern look.

“What?” I squealed, “he was going to kill the dog anyway!”

Seeming to know that this was a lost battle, he yelled, “we’ll talk about this later! Now follow my lead,” grabbing a nearby shield for cover as he jumped back into the fray. Balling my dress in my fists I checked the fabric to my left, swinging to the right, my gun in one hand, a dagger in the next. It was time to show that warlord who he was dealing with.

Looking around the abandoned courtyard, not a soul stood. It was empty. Where did they go? Scanning my surroundings, I saw droves of people milling about the estate house, each of them eyeing the destroyed courtyard wearily. Whipping my head around I spotted William running in the field of fire, shooting at the assassin. Plumes of smoke lined the fire breaks in the valley. Someone had cleared a trail to starve off the fire, but it wasn’t the insatiable wall of fire that ate at the field of lavender, but the embers. White hot embers rained down from the sky, scorching anything they touched. William was on the assassin’s heals but just as she got within range to take a shot, he swerved. Dodging, bobbing and weaving his way through the field William was guiding her towards the heard of sleeping wyverns.

Latching the gun to my belt I picked up one of the water goblets instead. Enchanted to be bottomless, the chalices had an endless supply of water, which made them perfect for putting out fires. Gripping the cool metal in my hand I stepped forward.

Cursing myself, I raced into the inferno without looking back.

In the middle of the field, I approached the herd. Sleeping in the heart the inferno, I spotted approximately two dozen wyverns, each of them a different colour and size. With heaving chests that weighed tonnes, the beasts slept peacefully. This was my chance. I pointed the chalice at the herd of wyverns. Roars ripped through the air at once, waves of wails accosted my ears, as leathery wings took flight. Wyvern’s hated water. Advancing, I maintained my stance, extinguishing the surrounding flames. One by one, the wyverns took off into the night sky.

After getting rid of the wyverns I listened for any sound of life. A clash of swords rang through the air, and I whirled. Leaping towards the sound I found William and the assassin duelling, however, the assassin had the upper hand. Skirting along with the shadows, I listened to their voices. Looking for a spot to land my blow.

“I know your secret,” she hissed through sharpened teeth. Digging her heels into the dirt she leveraged her sword and swiftly kicked William’s legs out from under him. She knocked him into the mud, a smile graced her split lips.

Springing in from behind a semi-burnt bush of lavender I reply angrily, “you’re going to have to be a bit more specific. Which one? I have a lot of skeletons in my closet,” bringing my sword down onto her shoulder. Being careful not to deliver a deathblow, I struck the butt of my dagger between her shoulder blades. Greeted by the sweet hiss of pain, I kneed her in the stomach. Gauging my work, she appeared to be unconscious. Taking advantage of her unconscious state William wrapped and bound her arms and legs together, stripping various weapons from her.

“So… he was really going to kill the dog?” William asked, pulling a strip of cloth from his pocket and wrapping it around my bleeding palm.

“Yes,” I answered, a small hiss of pain escaped my lips as he tied the makeshift bandage into place.

“I suppose the bastard didn’t know who he was dealing with,” William laughed.

“No, he did not,” I chuckled.

“Here,” I handed him the enchanted chalice, “want to help me put out the rest of the fires?”

“What about her?” he asked, motioning to the assassin’s still form.

“You’re right,” I paused hesitatingly looking at the still burning fires in the distance, “how about you take her back to the estate house and wait there for me, I’ll put out the fires,” I suggested.

Nodding in agreement William hauled the assassin over his shoulder, warning me to be careful of the wild wyverns that sometimes nested in the lavender fields.

After clearing the heart of the fire, I continued my crusade against the fire for what felt like hours, with the chalice never once failing or sputtering. Sweat dripped down my skin, making my suit stick uncomfortably to my back. The previously pristine fabric was now covered in sweat and ash, with holes burned into a few places for good measure. Once the last acre of burned lavender had been mostly salvaged, I paused to take in the stillness of the early morning. The ruined trees stood sentient and unmoving, not a breeze dared blow. It was too still. My skin turned into gooseflesh when I heard a rattle of spines.

The air still smelt of smoke, but faint whiffs of lavender and camomile had begun to seep through the air as dawn broke over the horizon. The soil now squelched beneath my feet as I whipped my head in the direction of the sound. A gleam of teeth shone in the faint light. Backing away, I reached to my side for my sword, but my hands came back empty. Damn it. Great. I was on the edge of a large field, by myself, with no weapon. Yep, this is how I die, of my own stupidity.

I stared into the darkness. Two gigantic eyes stared back at me. The beast cocked its head to the side and lowered its snout to the ground. Extending my open palm in a gesture of goodwill, the beast nuzzled its enormous scaly head into my touch. Clearly not a gargouillade, the jabberwocky peered at me through slitted amber eyes. Assessing me? Eyeing behind its head I saw the remnants of a saddle on its back. Wait. That was not right. Jabberwockies didn’t have riders, they were too unstable; but this one was, strange. Assuming that it must have belonged to the assassin, I eyed the trek back to the manor house and then to the creature, it should be fine to ride it back to the manor house, right? Curiosity got the better of me, as I cautiously climbed on top of the wyvern and shot into the sky.

After handing the Assassin over to the Mavis family’s captain of the guard, William and I decided to stop by Atlantica before we went back to Quadrivium. This left us standing in the middle of Boris’s townhouse. Washed and changed into clean clothes we chucked our bags into my room. Looking out of the windows we saw that the world was on fire, in the best way possible. It was autumn in Atlantica.

Stepping out of the redbrick townhouse I looked towards the bleak sky and smiled. Gods, I missed this place. Scarlet adorned the trees, lining the cracked stone streets with crimson and cherry red leaves. They hung delicately off the withering trees, their umber barks and branches shook in the gentle breeze. The cold caress of autumn made my cheeks sting, kissing the icy air onto my skin. I flexed my bare hands against my coat, the hint of golden ashes lingered on my skin. Peering down the street I saw that a bed of various vermillion leaves blanketed the dreary grey ground. Gazing upwards, I saw that the charcoal coloured clouds loomed over me, each of them carried the promise of rain.

Swinging open the bright red door of the confectionery we waved the shop keeper a cheerful good morning before taking our usual seats by the window. The shop keeper’s son, Isaac, walked up to my table with a steaming mug in his hand, “Hay Roslyn, what will it be, the usual I hope?” He smiled so fervently at me that I vaguely wonder if I had a knot or loose strand sticking out of my ponytail. Brushing a hand to my hair, checking quickly, nope that was not it.

“Yep,” I responded, popping my lips on the word, returning his smile. Taking our seats at a table by the window Isaac reappears with my coffee. I gestured for him to put the coffee down. "Thank you, Isaac.”

Pulling the mug towards me I noticed that his cheeks turned pink, “I’ll just go get your order from the kitchen, be back soon,” he shrugged, hurrying through the kitchen doors.

Looking out of the weather-beaten window I watched the city wake up. Bright ochre lights lit the surrounding shops, the buttercup yellow glow reflected softly against the glass. The scene looked like it came straight out of a story book. How was this city so beautiful? The burning heat of the ceramic thawed my frozen fingertips. I should probably have worn gloves. Shrugging off my coat I draped it on the back of William’s chair, and resumed sipping my sweet black coffee, watching people go by.

Settling into an easy conversation, William and I discussed our plans to visit the Library of Atlantis, and the new Fae kingdoms. Although the latter might be difficult given that he was still exiled. Oh, how I had missed the quiet of a bakery. There was no place more peaceful than a bakery, perhaps a library or an art store, but this I thought, this a still a pretty good option. Revelling in the normalcy of it all I sank deeper into my seat. The distant tinkle of a bell and clearing of a voice sounded in the distance, causing my head to snap up.

Dark eyes met mine and in a moment of panic I whipped my head to the side, purposefully looking out of the window.

“Ros what’s wrong?” William asked, unsure if he should look back.

Li stood in the doorway of the bakery with an auburn-haired woman at his side. While calculating my various escape routes I risked a glance back at Li and his companion. The woman had stepped outside with a steaming cup of something in her hand, but Li remained inside the shop. Dread began to twist in my gut as I saw him walking towards me. A faint rage hammered in my chest, what was he doing here?

Leaning his forearms on the back of the chair he breathed out an unsteady, “hey.” Dressed in an ivory sweater and thick black coat, he almost looked casual. His once tan skin looked paler than I remembered, but in the months since I had seen him, I noticed that the scratch marks that I had given him still ran down his jaw.

Heat lanced across my burning cheeks, the leaves outside matched what I was sure was their ruby hue, red tinted my vision. A deep-seated rage bubbled inside of me. Struggling against my bones to get out. Fire, that was it. Gods, why was it always fire? Fire in the leaves fire in the sky, fire in my blood, and fire in my bones; it was everywhere. Was the world on fire, or was I? I cannot tell anymore.

Shifting uncomfortably in my seat, my mug of coffee sat bitter and unsweetened on the table. Obsidian eyes cut into mine, but I dared to stare back, replying with a hollow, “hey.”