AERIN

The 48th day of the moon of Harvest's End. Year 1458 of the Age of Stagnation.

Immediately, Aerin’s gaze turned on Will. "What did you do?"

"There was something on top of this, so I tried to nudge it out of the way." The two of them waited in silence. Someone would have heard that. However, the silence was only broken by Will again.

"Lucky!" Will sighed aloud. "Looks like this is the one!"

"How do you figure that? Could be that someone's not home."

"The water's turned off! There wasn't a soul gem under this one. And at this time of the evening, during this season, in the upper city? The only house not occupied in the entire upper city is the one we're looking for. And even if the lords and ladies are not present." Will made a mocking voice. "There would be servants here. No one in the upper city wants a cold and dusty house."

This time Aerin had to concede to Will. No rushing footsteps or shouts came from the cellar above. "Lucky." She mumbled.

"What was that?" Some smugness had returned into Will's voice again.

"Luck."

"You know, it's never just luck with me." He grinned wildly. But the next moment his smile died a little. "What now?" He asked.

Aerin was considering the same. They could not follow the canals to their source as there would be heavily armed individuals present. Aerin wondered if the commons guards patrolled the waterways.

"You know." Will said slowly after a moment. "I don't think this house is warded. Whatever we broke, the guards should have reacted by now."

Aerin pursed her lips. Will was right. Enough time had passed and if there were wards present, then those should have alerted someone. "By the Makers, damn it." Aerin swore. She was reluctant to go into the house.

Yet she could think of no better way to leave without being noticed. The waterways ran deep below the streets, so they would have to dig their way out. No, that would be stupid. The only grates large enough to squeeze through led through houses. The house above them was empty.

Without waiting for her, Will peeked through the hole above them. "Just a cupboard. Come on." It was a struggle for Will, but moments later the two of them were in the basement. As they slowly made their way up through the hole and up the stairs it became obvious that no one had lived here for a little while. Blankets covered most of the furniture. The house was damp and cold and peeking out of one window, a familiar sight greeted Aerin.

"Safe!" Will whispered and grinned as he cast a look at Aerin.

But the next moment his face dropped, and he looked around, alarmed. Aerin heard it too. Angry voices sounded on the other side of the front door. Will bolted to the second floor without saying a word. While Aerin followed as quietly as she could Will was not as subtle.

"Damn it, Will! Too much noise!" She hissed.

While she heard someone break open the outside door downstairs Aerin had lost sight of Will. So she jumped into the first available hiding spot she could think of. A small locker she had to crouch into.

Only after she was in there did she realise how stupid acting so quickly had been. They would find the two of them. There was no way she would come out of this alive. A thousand thoughts ran through her head in the blink of an eye. And where had Will disappeared to? From her hiding place, Aerin could peek up and down the corridor, with the stairs to the left of her.

Muffled sounds came from downstairs. People were arguing. Then heavy footsteps trampled up the stairs.

"Ambassador, this is impossible. This house has been sealed for a moon now. No one could get in here; the doors were invested with power. Any access to a property under an inheritance dispute is prohibited, no matter the circumstance. I understand your problem, but this is Ironcourt, we have laws here, different from those you would be used to."

The steps did not stop. The one addressed as ambassador ignored whoever was talking. They reached the landing. A tall, cloaked person was the first to appear, followed by a man in red and silver. A royal guard!

Two commons guards followed. They all had their backs toward Aerin. The hooded person marched straight to the middle of the hallway while the three men stayed behind. The hooded stranger stopped and looked around before drawing a sword and stabbing it towards a wardrobe.

Before the blade made contact with the wood, the corridor erupted into debris, dust and fire roaring through the hallway. Aerin had closed her eyes. Desperately, she fumbled around to make sure the doors of her locker stayed shut. She felt warmth fill the air and a multitude of sounds assaulted her. Shouts of surprise and shock, then a cry of pain and a grunting noise. A dull thud on the floor finished this mess and the following silence rang in her ears.

Opening her eyes was difficult. They stung from the dust in her eyes. Someone had destroyed half of the corridor. The wood walls and furniture were all singed, and holes had been torn into the walls and floor at the point of impact. Against all odds, the destruction had spared Aerin's hiding spot.

Through watering eyes, she saw the hooded person bend over a body and search it. After a minor effort, the hooded person removed a light blue coin-pouch from it and turned around. It was an Alyar. The Alyar they had passed by a few bells ago. The Alyar who had lost her coin-pouch.

Its eyes were a uniform deep blue, nothing else in them, but a feeling of emptiness. She wore an expressionless and flat-featured face. She had no proper nose and even her lips seemed to be flush with the skin around them. Her skin looked like sandstone, coarse and with many hues and layers of rock. She towered close to the ceiling, above the heads of all the others in the hallway.

"Thief." She pointed with her sword towards Will's body. Blood was dripping down from the tip. "I told you. Thief. My coin." The Alyar said in stiff Eldertongue. Without waiting for a reply, she swept past the three humans in the room and headed downstairs.

She could see the commons guards looking helplessly at the royal guard who only shook his head. After a moment of silence, the man wearing red and silver had only a few words for the other two. "Get these remains to your morgue and await further orders. I will deal with this." He left in a hurry.

The two commons guards waited around until the sound of a door closing could be heard. "Poor sod." One of them said.

"A thief is a thief."

"Sure. But to end up like this. That Alyar. That's not right." The first one insisted.

"Less mouth work, more with your hands. Let's get this over with. We don't get paid for holding a funeral."

The guards turned Will over, grabbed his hands and legs and half dragged him downstairs. Aerin sat still, not making a sound, barely even breathing. Will's face flashed before her eyes. His long hair, in a bun against the back of his head and his eyes, the colour of the sea easily conveying his emotions. Slowly, but surely, the neat and happy face turned ghastly in her mind. She did not dare look at it when the guards passed her hiding spot.

She did not know how long she had sat there. She did not even recall when the guards had left the estate. She had not heard the door opening or closing a second time. She crawled out of the cabinet and continued to do so until she reached the spot where Will had lain. Like a drunkard, she was unable to stand up. Small pools of blood had stained the already singed carpet.

The wind blowing outside had grown into a storm. All sounds were unbearably loud, as if the entire world was screaming. Aerin looked to her right. With part of the wall destroyed, she could see the outside. She could see the light-speckled city outside and the bits where all the lights faded into darkness.

The world insisted reality was in its place. What she had witnessed must have been the truth. Yet, her mind could not comprehend all that had happened. It was all too sudden. Over in the blink of an eye. A numbness spread inside her, pushing her existence aside.

Uncaring of her anguish, the world outside erupted. For the briefest of moments, she could see the entire city appear from the darkness and drowned in blood red light. Then the entire city was laid bare before her. No lights, no shadows, all that was visible bathed in un-light. This had to be a nightmare.

Aerin's sense of herself dwindled even further, until she realised she was elsewhere and everywhere. She became aware of it as did everyone across Tavran. Just behind the city limits, to the south, it had blossomed. A flower so dark, night had turned into day, a flower so gigantic, it shrouded the sky. A flow so violent, it reached into the minds of all living beings near and far, awake and asleep.

All must witness the Mark of the Other One.