Verita - The Guardian of Darkness

44

A deep night-blue, barely distinguishable from the long shadows around them, was rising from the wood floor beneath their feet like smoke and wavered around their bodies as it climbed.

Part of it seemed to split and slither up the walls and staircase instead.

Don't be silly, she told herself perplex, how can smoke slither?

"Don't move and don't let go of me."

She snapped out of her contemplation of Aetrian's magic. "What are you doing?"

"Shh." Aetrian seemed to concentrate on something but Elanthin couldn't make out on what. His gaze was clouded as if he wasn't looking at anything in this room. The arm which was still on her shoulders felt heavier all of a sudden and when Elanthin turned her head to check, she noticed that the blue smoke had risen far enough to reach up to her chest. Shortly before it could reach her collarbone, it seemed to diffuse into the murky tavern air.

"I've made the two of us inconspicuous to most eyes. We're like ivy on a brick wall or pebbles on a road – unless you do something that attracts their attention, they won't look at us."

He continued after letting his words sink in, "And as I'm sure that some of the people upstairs will get away if we bridge the building, I've used the opportunity to mark them; just as a precaution."

"Bridge the ..."

Aetrian smiled and if she hadn't known it better, Elanthin could've believed there was a silent apology in it.

"Are we not alone on this secret undercover mission, Aetrian?"

A low chuckle escaped him – and that was answer enough for Elanthin. But before she could scold him for withholding vital information, Aetrian had pulled a small piece of parchment out of his sleeve. Ripping it apart without much care, the runes on it lit up briefly before burning the parchment to ashes. They crumbled onto the uneven floorboards and dissolved without a trace.

"What did you do? He saw that", she hissed, as her eyes met those of the stranger following them.

Despite hurling the words at Aetrian with force, they were drowned out by a multitude of shouts and screams around them. All the lights had gone out without warning, leaving the tavern guests confused and a little scared of what was happening. Elanthin didn't have to ask to know that Aetrian was at fault.

Shadow silhouettes moved through the darkness, aiming for the stairs. Elanthin couldn't make out where they'd come from but there hadn't been any doors creaking or windows opening to let moon light into the tavern, which meant that they must have been in hiding amongst the crowd, waiting for their time to act.

Aetrian's hand landed on her back, trying to delegate her to the door but as soon as they stepped out into the fresh night air, Elanthin turned around and slapped his hand off her cloak.

"If you don't tell me who those people rushing in were right now, I won't take another step in the direction of the palace", she promised disgruntled. Being in the dark about what was happening made her uncomfortable – especially since Aetrian  must've planned this all along and without her knowledge.

"They're soldiers of mine", he admitted. "I stationed them in the tavern as back-up and to clean up after us."

"Why in the abyss didn't you call on them when we were about to be found out upstairs?" She recollected what he'd just told her. "Or use your shrouding spell?"

"Should I have? I believe I would've missed out on something if I had." His reply bared any regretful undertone and Elanthin glared at him.

"And it was safer for us to get out of there, before everything turned into chaos", he added hurriedly. "How could I endanger a foreign royal on a diplomatic visit?"