Chapter 7 - Aura

Kai came awake to the most redoubtable presence he’d yet to experience other than the Sea Spirit. Of course, the Sea Spirit was a deity or somesuch, so it was to be expected. The infiltrator, however, was not. Yet his presence was formidable all the same. 

His eyes flew open and he exhaled a shaky breath. He straightened, his brows coming together in a dark scowl. He pushed the covers away. A shiver snaked up his legs when his bare feet touched the cold stone ground. His clothes were not far; draped on a nearby chair. He dressed swiftly, then picked up his sword resting against the chair.

The sword was given to him by Erasmus. It once belonged to his father, or so he’d claimed. 

With unshaking hands, he drew it halfway. The blade caught the light of -actually, Kai wasn’t sure where the delicate sleeping light was coming from. Magic, it seemed. A finer blade Kai had never seen. It was weighted perfectly, the hilt made of iron. The blade itself was made of a material humanity hadn’t yet discovered. Diamondium. Strange runic symbols were etched on either side the entire length of the blade, and sometimes the runes would glow a purplish color. Along with the Spirit, he’d inherited a magic sword. How lucky of him. He sheathed the sword.  

Kai caught his reflection in the mirror as he swept past it, sword in hand. He was ready. He’d been ready for some time now. And he had been waiting. 

He’d come to him on his own two legs. Or rather tail. 

The fact that it had taken the great King of Nostraza months to find him was surprising to Kai. In the first few days after their escape, he’d lived in a relative state of anger-fueled paranoia, expecting to find Marius at every turn. It was hell. Today, he was glad for the time; it gave him the needed time to finish his training. 

The stone fortress was cold and silent as he made his way to the front door. 

He became aware of his elevated heartbeat. Was it excitement? Or fear? Both. It was both. 

Eagerness rippled through him like the evening tide, washing over him, shoving and pulling at him. It was unwise, he very well knew, but still the feeling persisted; he was practically giddy with the thrill of the fight. 

The only thing holding him back from running to find his opponent was the fear seeping through the cracks of his bravery like bleeding ink. 

He would be a damn fool not to fear going head to head with this particular infiltrator. 

He was far, far older and far, far more experienced in combat, if Erasmus’s education was to be believed. 

No matter how much he detested him and cursed his very existence, Kai had to admit that the King of Nostraza’s presence was a formidable one. One that could not be ignored -nor entirely concealed, at least from him. Ever since his growth in power and his acceptance of the Spirit residing within him, he’d become much more adept at detecting even the faintest of magic.

Once, when all this was new to him, he’d barely felt it, except when it was so powerful that it could not be ignored. Now… 

Now, he could ‘see’ a presence as if it were a tangible thing. He could see a person’s aura surrounding them like a shroud. Every person, human or merman, had a color to their aura. And he’d quickly surmised that auras revealed their owner’s power and intentions, be it good or evil or something in between. The world had changed for him since then. 

Finally, he reached the fortress’s eight-foot wooden door. 

He hesitated for only a moment. But in that moment, a million thoughts flitted through his mind, loud, thunderous even. The voice of self-doubt attempted to rise above the others. He squashed it into silence. There was no room for doubt or hesitancy now. 

He would do this for Hakan.  

He opened the door and stepped outside. Beneath his black leather boots, the hut’s floorboards creaked. According to Erasmus, the illusion affected the outside of the fortress, changing sight, smell and touch. To the ignorant, Kai had just stepped out of a decaying shack. 

He spotted him immediately, standing about fifty feet from the hut. He’d teleported here, of course; Erasmus’s cave had no entrance. 

Ah, there it was. Marius’s aura was something else indeed. It was his first time seeing it since opening his ‘third eye’ as Erasmus called it. 

Kai’s scowl deepened. He’d expected to see his first black aura, had in fact been waiting for it, but Marius’s aura was not the putrid black he’d imagined it to be. It was a light gray color, and it hung around him like a cape framing his form. He’d never seen a more… controlled aura. Erasmus’s green aura rippled like a calm sea, while General Ryodan’s blue aura changed shape according to its owner’s temperament. The Black King’s aura was… unusually still. 

Unsettled, Kai squinted, trying to see if it really was as unmoving as it seemed.     

Under the glow of the iridescent jellyfish and blue-green algae clinging to the wet walls, King Marius’s hair appeared a shiny raven black. He was dressed in his familiar black armor suit, with the notable additions of a bejeweled golden crown on his head and a single gold earring dangling from his left elongated ear. He looked positively regal. Kai suspected Marius would look regal even in a potato sack. It was his aura that gave away his kingly origin. 

From across the cave, their eyes clashed and sparks flew. 

“There you are, half-breed.” Said Marius and drew his sword. 

“Took you long enough, asshole.” Said Kai and drew his sword.