Chương 43: After The Rain

The rain stopped almost as abruptly as it had begun. Aurelia noticed the change first in the sound. For several minutes, Bellhaven had been nothing but water hammering against rooftops, guards shouting over one another, and the occasional groan of a building settling after too much heat. Then the downpour began to soften. The drumming against the street dwindled to scattered drops, and the roar of the fire gave way to something uglier but far less dangerous. Steam; smoke; people crying.

The fires were not gone, but everyone knew how bad it could have gotten. Aurelia lowered the wand slightly. The golden healing field surrounding her still flickered across the street, encompassing the civilians who had been dragged from the worst of the destruction. Most no longer pulled urgently at her Crisis Care. Burns had closed, and bleeding had slowed or stopped. Only a few people with more serious injuries remained pale and exhausted, but they were alive. A shadow passed over the street.

Aegis descended between two ruined buildings, already changing before his feet touched the soaked stones. For half a heartbeat, Aurelia watched the enormous Storm Dragon fold inward upon himself—wings collapsing into blue light, scales disappearing, the immense frame shrinking until the young man she knew stood in the rain instead. Aurelia smiled despite herself.

"Our villain turned hero." Aegis's eyes narrowed. She lifted the wand toward the steaming rooftops.

"Thank you. That would have gotten much worse without you." He did not answer immediately. HIs gaze remained firmly on Aurelia. More specifically, on the blood coating the front of her clothes.

"There is no guarantee things will stay that way beyond this moment." Aurelia blinked.

"What?" His attention never moved from the dark red stain across her abdomen.

"Someone hurt you." Understanding arrived immediately, as did irritation.

"Aegis… We do not know who attacked me. We cannot be certain the person who attacked me had any connection whatsoever to the people who live here."

"And we cannot be certain that they did not."

"Correct," she held his gaze.

"Which means we are uncertain. Uncertainty does not mean you get to punish an entire town." His expression darkened.

"I did not say—""You were thinking it loudly." Aegis stared at her. Orion stepped into the conversation before either could push further.

"I'm not going to give Bellhaven undue credit, but Aurelia is right. If anything, the attacker is more likely connected to the explosion that started this whole thing." Aegis looked toward him. Orion gestured across the ruined block.

"Look around. If Bellhaven wanted Aurelia dead, destroying its own town and injuring its own people on the chance she happened to be nearby would be an absurd way to attempt it." Aegis remained silent, but he looked at their surroundings. The damaged buildings, the injured people, and the guards still moving buckets despite the rain having done most of the work. Eventually, some of the tension left his shoulders.

"I suppose." Aurelia raised an eyebrow.

"That sounded painful."

"The structural damage is severe, and the civilian injuries are… significant." His eyes moved back to Aurelia, who simply smiled.

"On that note, I would appreciate one more favor." Aegis immediately looked suspicious.

"You do not even know what I am asking."

"I know you."

"Then you should know that saying no before I finish has never worked," Aurelia lifted the wand.

"My healing field is still active, but several of these people have injuries I can only stabilize at this scale." Aegis looked toward the civilians, then back toward her.

"You have already exhausted yourself, and you are covered in blood."

"That is old blood."

"That distinction is not as reassuring as you seem to think it is." Aurelia held out her free hand.

"Aegis." He stared at it, then at her. There was more disdain than anger in his expression now—the look of someone who already knew he was going to cooperate and resented the inevitability of it. With an exaggerated sigh, he placed his hand gently over hers. Weave hit Aurelia like a wave. The wand flared in her grip as storm-blue light surged through the pale crystal. Her healing field expanded so quickly that she nearly lost control of it.

Within seconds, nearly the entire damaged block disappeared beneath a dome of golden-blue Weave. Aurelia's breath caught; the amount of power behind it was ridiculous. She had seen Aegis do incredible things, but none of that had prepared her for what his reserve felt like when she was the one channeling it. There was always more - whenever she drew, the supply answered without the sensation of approaching a limit. Her own reserve suddenly felt like a cup held beneath a waterfall.

Almost immediately, Aurelia understood that Aegis was not the limiting factor - she was. The pathways she had spent weeks cultivating strained beneath the sheer volume moving through them. Her body could channel far more than it once had, but there was an uncomfortable point where more available Weave stopped being useful because her physical form could not safely direct it any faster. She shoved the thought aside and focused. Around them, civilians gasped.

A man whose ribs had been visibly misaligned cried out as bone shifted back into place beneath his skin. Burns that Aurelia had only managed to close superficially began fading further. A woman with a fractured forearm stared as the swelling receded and the limb straightened.

"Color me impressed," Aegis said beside her.

"You can handle significantly more Weave than your brothers." Aurelia did not answer; she could barely spare him a glance. Talking required breath, which was currently occupied with keeping her knees locked. The bizarre part was that her own condition improved almost immediately. The lingering weakness from the assassin's strike disappeared, and all remaining damage around the wound vanished entirely beneath her own amplified healing field. Yet the strain of channeling remained.

Her body was refreshed - and still struggling. That contradiction lodged somewhere in the back of her mind. Then light erupted nearby; a pillar struck the rain-darkened street. When the brilliance vanished, Edric stood in its place. It was the same arrival she remembered from their first encounter weeks earlier. His expression now, however, was nothing like the guarded veteran who had confronted them outside Bellhaven. His clothes were disordered, and one sleeve was stained with blood that did not appear to be his.

His eyes swept across the scene: Collapsed buildings, the siblings, and the enormous healing field.

"You're a bit late," Orion said.

"Most of the damage has already been done."

"I was not delayed by choice." Something in his tone silenced everyone. Aurelia's fingers tightened around the wand.

"I was at Mira's clinic." Her stomach dropped.

"Why?" Edric looked directly at her.

"Velara was ambushed." For a heartbeat, Aurelia lost concentration. The healing dome flickered, then Aegis tightened his hand over hers and the flow steadied. She lowered the output just enough to engage in conversation.

"What happened?"

"Moments after the explosions began, guards were pulled toward the central district. Someone used the opening to attack her."

"Is she alive?"

"Yes, but only barely. Mira had her stable when I left." Garrick stepped closer.

"Another assassin?" Edric's attention shifted.

"Another?" His gaze moved toward Aurelia again, then down to her blood-soaked clothes and the ruined fabric around her stomach. His face hardened.

"You were attacked too." Aurelia nodded.

"A stealthed attacker reached me while I was maintaining the healing field."

"How close?"

"Close enough that I did not know he was there until the dagger was already in me." Edric's expression grew colder.

"How serious?"

"It could have killed me." Garrick glanced at her. She continued.

"I'm Second Seal, but that does not make me immune to having a blade put through the correct place. If my healing were weaker, or if I had hesitated, I probably would not be standing here." Edric's eyes narrowed.

"Velara is also a Second Seal."

"Yes, but her class may not allow her to heal herself from near-death several times over." Silence followed. Garrick stared at her, and Orion slowly looked toward the blood covering her clothes.

"You just said several times," Orion said. Aurelia sighed.

"I know what I said. That was not the important part."

"You are going to explain that."

"Later." Orion did not look satisfied, which meant to her that he was still behaving as normally as ever. She returned her attention to Edric.

"My attacker was stronger than me."

"Seal?"

"Third." Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators! That sharpened his attention immediately.

"You saw it?"

"For a moment. His information was visible when he revealed himself. He concealed it once he realized I had survived." Edric's mouth tightened.

"Overconfidence."

"That was my assumption."

"What else?" Aurelia hesitated.

"His class." Edric waited.

"Silencer." The reaction was immediate. His eyes hardened and his posture changed. Whatever exhaustion or frustration he had carried into the street vanished beneath something far more focused. Garrick stepped forward.

"That meant something." Edric looked at him sharply.

"What makes you say that?"

"I've spent enough time being beaten around a training yard by you to recognize when you hear something important." Normally, that might have earned a response. Today, it did not. Edric looked back toward Aurelia.

"Did you see anything else?"

"Nothing useful." Garrick held up the dagger.

"He used this." Edric took it. He inspected the blade, turning it in the fading daylight and checking the handle for markings. After a moment, he exhaled.

"Basic construction."

"Meaning?" Garrick asked.

"It tells us very little," Edric tucked the dagger beneath his cloak.

"It could have been bought from any competent smith in town. That may be intentional. Someone entering Bellhaven to commit an assassination would have little reason to carry an identifiable weapon from wherever they came from."

"So you think it was bought here?" Aurelia asked.

"Possibly," his attention had already begun shifting elsewhere.

"The smiths can be questioned. The guardhouse needs to know exactly what happened. Velara needs protection at the clinic." Garrick frowned.

"That's it?" Edric looked at him.

"No, but the rest can wait until we're not standing in the middle of a disaster while half my guard is scattered across town." Garrick opened his mouth. Edric raised one hand.

"We will reconvene. I'm returning to Mira first. If Velara is conscious enough to speak, I need to know what she saw. After that, I'm going directly to the guardhouse and calling an emergency council meeting." Aurelia frowned.

"All of them?"

"All available members," he looked toward her.

"I want you there. All of you, if possible." Aegis folded his arms.

"I assume that includes me." Edric considered him.

"If you can attend without threatening anyone." Aegis looked offended.

"I have demonstrated exceptional restraint today." Aurelia stared at him.

"You suggested collective punishment less than ten minutes ago."

"I did not actually perform it."

"That is apparently our standard now." Edric looked between them.

"For the sake of my remaining patience, save that discussion until later." Aurelia almost smiled.

"Fair." Edric turned, then stopped. His eyes shifted toward Garrick.

"Before I leave." Garrick visibly regretted being noticed. Edric pointed toward him.

"Your Weave Reserve." Garrick froze.

"What about it?"

"It is depleted. That should be difficult for someone who has repeatedly told me he has no Class Abilities." Garrick opened his mouth, then closed it. Aurelia slowly looked toward him.

"Oh?" Garrick stepped backward.

"Aurelia…"

"You jumped into a burning building with steam coming off your body."

"That was necessary."

"Then you turned into lightning."

"I did not turn into—""I felt Kindle." Garrick stopped. Aurelia stepped closer.

"When you went into the fire, whatever you activated felt like Kindle. And when you attacked the assassin, it felt like Aegis." Garrick glanced around. With all of them there glaring at him, there was no means of escaping the conversation. He sighed.

"It unlocked during training a couple weeks ago." Edric's eyes narrowed.

"And you chose not to mention this."

"I wanted to understand it first."

"You hid a class ability from the person training you. You could have experimented under supervision."

"That was exactly what I was trying to avoid. I knew what would happen. The second I told everyone, it stopped being mine to understand first." Edric's expression remained stern, but he listened as Garrick continued.

"If I told you, it became training."

"Yes."

"If I told Orion, it became something dangerous he needed to manage." Orion did not even bother denying it.

"If I told Roy, he would probably start drawing diagrams."

"He would," Aurelia admitted.

"And if I told Aurelia, she would worry."

"I am currently worrying."

"I know," Garrick exhaled.

"I wanted a little time to figure out what it actually did before everyone started deciding what I should do with it." Edric's mouth tightened.

"That does not make hiding it wise." Garrick grimaced.

"Today was different. People were trapped and I could help. So I did." Edric looked like he wanted to continue, then he glanced toward the clinic. Whatever lecture Garrick deserved lost to urgency.

"Show us." Garrick blinked.

"What?"

"Your skill." Garrick opened his status. The message appeared visible to those around. [Knight Skill: Concordance] [Description: The Knight, as a representative of the drakes, can channel powers through the bonds held with each drake. Each drake's Concordance provides a different utility.] [Current Maximum Active Concordances at Once: 1] Aurelia read it twice. Her first response was not sentimental, but practical. There were many drakes, and more would come. Aurelia looked at Garrick.

"That could become absurd." He frowned.

"That sounded insulting."

"It was not," she gestured toward the screen.

"You potentially have an entirely different tool for every bonded dragon."

"That seems to be the idea." Aurelia pondered the implication. She was not Roy, but even she could piece together some basics. If Garrick's class was truly built around representing the drakes, then versatility might be the entire point. Edric interrupted before she could interrogate him further.

"We are going to discuss this in detail." Garrick groaned.

"Later."

"Much later," Edric turned toward Aurelia.

"Can you maintain this?" She looked around. The healing field still covered most of the block, but almost no one pulled against it anymore.

"Yes."

"Do you need to?" Aurelia considered. The critically injured had been moved. Everyone remaining inside the field had either recovered enough to walk or needed treatment at the clinic beyond what a broad healing aura could efficiently provide. She lowered the wand, and the golden-blue dome collapsed inward and vanished. Aegis removed his hand; the strain disappeared so suddenly Aurelia nearly stumbled before Garrick caught her elbow.

"I'm fine."

"You say that too much."

"That is because I usually am." Edric gave her a look that suggested he strongly disagreed with her definition of usually. Aurelia straightened.

"I'm okay." This time she meant it. Her body felt strangely refreshed beneath the ordinary fatigue. Aegis's Overcharge had provided enough power that her own healing had repaired everything left from the dagger strike. Edric nodded.

"Then I need to go." Aurelia glanced toward the clinic.

"I'll be there shortly." His expression sharpened.

"You should rest."

"I said shortly." Edric seemed to recognize the futility of arguing.

"Fine," he looked toward Garrick.

"You too. Do not disappear before the council meeting."

"I wasn't planning to."

"I no longer trust your definition of planning." Garrick winced, then Edric walked away. The street suddenly felt emptier. Orion looked toward the road leading back to the embassy.

"I'm going to Talia," he noted.

"I can feel that she's safe, but until we know whether the fire was just a distraction or whether other targets were involved, I don't want her alone with Spark and Clover."

"Agreed." Orion glanced toward Aegis. Aegis sighed before being asked.

"Yes, yes." He offered his shoulder. Orion placed a hand against it, and storm-blue Weave surged through him. Before departing, Orion looked at her - the concern was still very present. He did not say anything, but he did not have to. Aurelia smiled and nodded once. I'm fine. After another moment of hesitation, Orion vanished. Aegis stared at the empty space.

"My family truly does consider me an ambulatory Weave reservoir." Garrick smiled.

"You do have a lot."

"That is not the point." Aegis looked toward the sky.

"I'm going to patrol." Aurelia frowned.

"Patrol where?"

"The outskirts," he scanned the rooftops.

"If someone used the fire as cover for an attack, there is a reasonable chance they are already attempting to leave." That was difficult to argue with. Aurelia pointed at him.

"No killing anyone merely for running." Aegis looked offended.

"I understand nuance."

"You are improving at nuance."

"That was unnecessarily qualified."

"Take the compliment." His wings erupted from his back. Garrick stepped away from the sudden gust as Aegis launched into the air. Within moments, he had cleared the rooftops and turned toward the fields beyond Bellhaven. That left Aurelia and Garrick standing amid the damp remains of the street. Garrick exhaled.

"Well." Aurelia looked toward him.

"What?"

"I think that went about as well as it could have." She stared.

"We were attacked by an assassin, Velara was nearly killed, and part of Bellhaven exploded." Garrick considered.

"I meant the part after all of that." Aurelia shook her head, then looked uphill toward Mira's clinic.

"I should go." Garrick's eyebrows rose.

"Aurelia."

"What?"

"You were stabbed today, while maintaining a healing field over half the street."

"Yes."

"Then you had Aegis pour enough Weave through you to heal almost everyone at once… And now you want to heal more people." Aurelia started walking.

"Correct." Garrick followed.

"Do you hear how that sounds?"

"Aegis's Overcharge restored my physical condition."

"That is not the same thing as resting."

"I know."

"Do you?" Aurelia stopped, causing Garrick to nearly walk into her. She turned.

"There are injured people at Mira's clinic." His expression softened.

"I know."

"Mira is capable; very capable. But if the explosion injured as many people as it looked like, then she would be overwhelmed. My body is fine. My reserve is in good shape. I have a tool that lets me heal at range more effectively than I could this morning." She lifted the wand.

"And I am not going to sit at the embassy while people are hurting just because today has already been unpleasant." Garrick stared at her, then scoffed.

"Fine." Aurelia blinked.

"Fine?" He started toward the clinic.

"Let's get over there, then." She stood still for a moment.

"You're coming?" Garrick looked back.

"Obviously."

"You don't heal, and you're also exhausted."

"I'm less exhausted than the people who had buildings fall on them."

"That is not—""And you will inevitably need someone to carry things, find people, keep track of patients, or tell you when you are pretending you're not tired." Aurelia stared. Garrick smiled.

"Besides, I brought you on a date so you could spend the day doing what you wanted." Aurelia's eyebrows rose.

"So you are confirming it was a date." Garrick stopped, his expression became deeply thoughtful.

"No, you said it." Aurelia blinked.

"You literally just—""Confirmed what you said to the assassin. That you were already on a date." Aurelia thought back to the brief exchange amid the chaos. She wanted to argue, but simply sighed.

"You are impossible." Garrick resumed walking; Aurelia hurried after him. For perhaps ten steps, neither said anything. She looked down at the wand: Dark wood, metal channels, the pale crystal still carrying the faintest residual hint of blue. Her irritation returned.

"Oh, and Garrick?" He glanced over.

"You are not off the hook for this." His face fell.

"I thought saving lives might improve my position."

"It improved the wand's position."

"That sounds promising."

"It means I am not throwing it into the lake."

"I appreciate your restraint."

"We are still discussing how much you spent."

"Can we at least wait until after the emergency?" Aurelia considered.

"Yes." His shoulders relaxed.

"Thank you."

"Then I'm going to lecture you… Possibly for a very long time." Garrick looked toward the clinic in the distance.

"Suddenly the assassins seem less threatening." Aurelia elbowed him, earning a laugh. The two of them continued uphill toward Mira's clinic, leaving the steaming ruins behind them.