"So where exactly are we going right now?" Rose asks while sprinting down the road.
"We're on our way to see a friend of mine. He's a fortune teller of sorts." Aamir says.
Following the manifestation of Rite of Royalty, Rose and Aamir donned a pair of cloaks and fled the town under the cover of night. They run towards the outskirts of the capital unobstructed until they arrive at the gate.
"So how are we getting past the guards?"
"I have no idea. Truth be told, I didn't think we'd make it this far without someone coming after us."
"Fine, I'll handle it, but they might see us." She steps close to him and wraps her arms around his neck.
"Keep your eyes open and stay close." She says before teleporting them to the top of the gate.
"The inn he's staying at should be somewhere over... There!" He says pointing at a rather large inn not too far down the road. Rose teleports the pair to a nearby alleyway before walking toward the door.
"Before we go in, is there anything I need to know about him?" Rose asks.
"Not really. He's a little bit younger than us, and a tad shy, otherwise, he's a regular kid."
They walk into the inn and walk to the reception desk.
"Hello ma'am, I'm looking for a young man by the name of Aaro."
"And what's your name and business with him?" She asks while scribbling something down on a piece of paper.
"My name is Aamir and-"
"Right this way." She says as she walks around her desk and up the stairs. She goes three floors up to a room in the farthest corner of the inn before knocking on the door.
"Young Master, you have visitors." She says, leaving immediately after speaking.
"I'm glad you could-" The young man shirks back behind the door.
"It's okay Aaro, she's a friend."
"If you say so. Come on in."
They walk in and take a seat. Rose on the desk and Aamir takes the chair.
"So who exactly is she?" Aaro asks.
"My name's Rose Azor and I'm a noble from Rahu."
"Truly? You certainly don't speak like one."
"Ah, well, that's because I wasn't born into it. Lord Hiro Azor offered me an opportunity and I accepted."
"Aamir, can you confirm this?"
"No I can't, but when she was granted an audience with Lord Cromwell, he spoke as if he knew her, so I assumed that she was some kind of nobility, even before she told me."
"I suppose that's fine." Aaro sighs.
"Aside from her, how do you feel? I saw the ceremony from here and I've been awake ever since."
"Hmm... Now that you mentioned it, I feel like there's something coursing through me."
Rose activates her Ether Sight and looks at Aamir. She sees a myriad of colors swirling throughout his body.
"Well, if it doesn't hurt, we'll call it a good thing." Aaro says.
"Agreed. My real reason for coming was to ask you for a reading. I'm just a little nervous about all this."
"Anything for a friend."
Aamir puts his palms on Aaro's and they close their eyes. A moment passes before Aaro breaks into a cold sweat.
"Hey... I don't really know what you're planning on doing, but I think it'd be best if you didn't."
"What do you mean? What did you see?"
"There was no clear image. Everything was... Fuzzy. The only thing this could mean is that you'll die in the next 24 hours. Maybe even sooner than that."
There is a knock at the door. "Young Master, may I enter? I have urgent information to tell you."
"Yes, of course. Come in."
The maid from earlier comes in and bows. "Young Master, Lord Cromwell has come to see your friend. He says he needs to speak with him urgently." She turns to Aamir. "He also said not to run, for he can see exactly where you are."
"How did he know where we were?" Rose asks.
"You're guess is as good as mine." Aamir says while shrugging his shoulders. "Do we go and see him? He at least doesn't seem angry."
"Then it sounds like we keep our guard up while we talk."
"Sure. Let's go." They get up and walk towards the door.
"Aamir, please be careful." Aaro pleads.
"You got it." He gives a smile before walking out the door.
Once they reach the end of the hallway, Rose puts a hand on Aamir's shoulder. "Just to let you know, I don't have very much Ether right now, so if things get intense, I won't be able to teleport us that far."
"I hope it doesn't come to blows, but even if it does, I should be able to keep us safe. I've trained my entire life in order to make it through today. I will liveto see tomorrow." He says while steeling himself for the confrontation that lies before him.
When he ran the scenario through his mind, he never expected Lord Cromwell to find him this quickly. It had only been a few hours since the Ceremony and he already felt cornered.
"Your body betrays your words." The maid interjects.
He was shaking.
"I know. I'm scared. Thanks to the Ceremony, I'm surging with power, but even with that, there's still a part of me that thinks it won't be–that I won't be enough."
"You said it yourself. You trained your whole life for this. If you put in that kind of time and effort, I'll put my faith in you." Rose says, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I hope you're right."
.
.
.
Lord Cromwell awaited their arrival at the empty first floor of the tavern.
"Greetings my Lord. My apologies for making you wait." Aamir speaks. "What did you need to speak with me about?"
"I need you to die for your country."
Aamir was stunned. "With all due respect My Lord, what do you mean by that?"
"The only way to stop the transfer of Rite of Royalty is if one party dies before it's finished. This is the only way to ensure that Rahvas has a worthy King."
"But I am a worthy vessel and I will be a worthy King!" Aamir shouts.
"And what makes you so worthy! What makes you so worthy to take my position from me?" Arthur retorts with fire in his eyes.
"I sacrificed my entire life for this chance! I trained, I studied, I made everything else secondary, just so that I'd be ready for if– when this time came. This power that swells inside me is here for a reason, and that reason is to become King of Rahvas!"
Arthur swings an empty hand, generating Excalibur as he approaches Aamir's neck. He ducks under it, but the sheer force of it cleaves through the wall on the opposite side of the room. He swings back the same direction, but is parried by a sword made of shadow.
"I figured this was as good a time as any to butt in." Rose says. "Time to get out of here."
She puts her off hand on Aamir and teleports them into a nearby alleyway. As the Weapon of Darkness fades away, they both collapse on the ground and share an exhausted sigh.
"You can use magic?"
"Yeah, but I'm not that great at it."
"You're good enough to save our lives with it."
"Yeah but there are some people out there who make me look like the newbie that I am."
"Can you teach me? I feel like I might need it in the near future."
The pair spend the next few hours ducking alleyways while having a crash course in Magic. Outside of the occasional guard here and there, they had managed to successfully slip away from Arthur.
"Hey, do you think we can stop for a minute? I think I need a break." Aamir asks. "How about here?" He says while pointing at a nearby abandoned church.
"Sure, I could use one too."
The building was in mostly good condition. It was a little dusty, but otherwise intact. Rose and Aamir enter and sit on the pew closest to the door.
"How're you holding up?" Rose asks.
Instead of replying, Aamir frantically looks around. He stands back up and begins scanning the room.
"Hey, what's happening?" Rose stands and looks around as well.
"It has to be Lord Cromwell! I can feel him." He pivots repeatedly. His senses tunnel towards a nearby window. He sees a shadow and hears a light footstep. With bated breath he waits for what feels like an eternity before something comes crashing through.
The window shatters as Arthur breaks through it with a horizontal slash with Excalibur. Aamir counters with a strike of his own, but when he swings, there's a flash of light from his hand. In its place appears a short dagger with a pitch black blade and gold hilt. Their blades connect and push each other backwards.
"Is that..."
"Carnwennan?" The two say in tandem.
Arthur lunges at him despite his astonishment. Rose pulls Aamir to the floor, parrying a sword strike with a hurriedly casted Weapon of Darkness. The excess force leaves a gash in the wall behind them. Rose transitions into a combat stance and goes on the offensive.
"Figure out the knife and help me!"
"On it!" He says as he scrambles away.
Arthur was just as relentless as he was strong. As she fought, Rose could feel her injuries catching up to her. The fatigue of the last 24 hours hung on her like wet clothes. On top of her physical condition, her opponent left no openings in his defense, and no mercy in his offense.
Slowly, but surely, Rose was losing her ground. She could feel his attacks getting closer to landing. She narrowly dodges an attack and teleports away, dropping to the ground immediately after.
"Stop fighting it and bring me-"
Arthur jumps backwards. "How?! How did you do it?!"
The air in front of her distorted, revealing Aamir's form. "The Voti speak, and they speak to each one of us differently."
We started at 11:00, so they should be pretty evenly matched. I just hope that last little bit doesn't come back to bite him later.
Aamir dashes towards Arthur, Carnwennan in hand. They both swing, their blades connect and send shockwaves throughout the building. Aamir takes the offensive with rapid slashes, constantly turning on and off his invisibility.
He slashes upwards, causing Arthur to step backwards to dodge. But before he could counter attack, Carnwennan glows in Aamir's hand before disappearing and a spear appears in its place. Aamir slams it down, nicking Arthur cheek in the process.
First Carnwennan, and now Rhongonymiat. Only one more left before the Voti is complete. Aamir thinks to himself.
"You insolent cur! How dare you strike a King?!"
Arthur lunges at him with a heavy two-handed overhead strike, while Aamir plants his feet and dismisses Rhongonymiat. Arthur swings but is met with a slash across his chest.
Aamir, now holding Excalibur, falls to his knees.
Summoning Excalibur takes this much Ether? I don't know how Lord Cromwell fights with it so effortlessly. Aamir thinks to himself.
Before falling over himself Arthur resummons Excalibur, and impales Aamir before crumpling to the ground himself.
"Aamir!" Rose shouts while stumbling over to him. She rolls him over to see a slight grin on his face.
"What are you smiling for?! Aren't you hurt?" She says while rolling him over in her arms.
"I am, but I just found out something pretty interesting. I just had to take a hit from Excalibur to figure it out."
Aamir summons Excalibur and uses it to prop himself up. "Rose, could you gather as much light and dark mana for me?
She closes her eyes and begins to pool mana from the surroundings. Streams of light and dark mana pour in through the windows and cracks in the doors. It swirls into an unsteady ball in the palm of Rose's hands.
Aamir reaches forward shakily, tapping his fingertips around the misshapen orb, pulling alternating strings of light and dark. He wraps them around Excalibur, lacing it in mana.
"What spell is this?" Rose asks while staring intently at Excalibur.
"A resting place, both temporary and eternal. Temporary for us, but eternal for the past Kings of Rahvas." He says as Excalibur begins to glow, sending the mana that was once draped around it pulsating through the ground. The mana coats the ground and stretches as far as the eye could see. Once it stops flowing outwards, the area around them shifts into the rolling plains, with a large tree nearby.
"The spell that was lost to time until today. Avalon."70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc2xtbkP4yQ
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