The Celestial Way

Chapter 21.2 - Embracing the Way

Veralla was happy beyond belief. People were not killing each other anymore! Everyone was going to be saved! The Revenant would be defeated! To her young, idealistic mind, the war was already over, and now she could enjoy life in full, without worry or sadness.

Since Airo was still very busy during the day, that left her with much free time when she was not training. The Radiant Knights were given a vacation of sorts, while the refugees continued to be ever-present in great number, so the base became a bustle of all kinds of activity.

Zuckeroff, being an energetic and cheerful person full of ideas, was the front and center of much of the things that happened. He constantly organized tournaments, leagues, and contests of all sorts: sport events were hosted at the stadium every day, such as Æther Omega, überball, and parkour, while VR and retro-styled games were hosted all night around Ilsorin at specially-held LAN parties. Zuckeroff even started teaching the Radiant Knights how to play skycast. The dragons loved it, and as soon as they grasped the concept they practically mandated at least one match had to be arranged per day. Veralla watched them every time with joy, imagining how one day she would also play when she grew up.

And grow she did, to her great delight. After she Awakened and became truly a dragon like the rest, her size swiftly began to increase. As her limbs elongated and her wings widened, it became much more easy for her to train, and Glawlrhain started to instruct her in entirely new ways of fighting which were previously impossible for her to do, like aerial combat and techniques for using her firebreath. She studied diligently, because she wanted to become perfect at fighting, so in the future she would be able to prevent anyone from hurting or killing others.

Yet what made combat training now even more interesting was the fact Nightsong also started doing it, and she and Veralla practiced at the same time.

The two of them almost immediately became best friends. During the day, while Veralla was away from Airo, she and Nightsong went everywhere together, whether it was to hurry for training, to have a meal, or just hang around. Kiana accompanied them most of the time, but she would as often as not leave them to themselves with a knowing smile, and then Veralla and Nightsong could do anything they could come up with with gleeful abandon.

They flew around the mountain, chasing each other across the ramparts, and even soared through the high-ceilinged hallways of the stronghold, giggling and hrrr–ing as they scrambled through grav-shafts or took narrow turns along the covered souks. They made long dives in the lake and marveled together at the glowing grasses. Veralla showed Nightsong around the base and introduced her to the many people she had met since her arrival. They talked constantly between themselves, and Veralla was proud to show or explain Nightsong the things she had learned, becoming twice prouder when Nightsong grasped them as quickly as she did.

In a sense, the two of them became inseparable, and parted ways only when each of them went to their respective soulkin. Veralla was overjoyed to have found such a dear friend in Nightsong, and she made everything possible to ensure the other fledgling felt included. Still, it troubled her that Nightsong continued to eat natural meat.

"Have you tried pyrolith crystals?" she asked her one evening, as the two of them walked towards one of the learning halls, where Tehalix schooled them in the arts of science, magic, philosophy, and knowledge in general.

"Oooh, I have, I have," Nightsong nodded eagerly. "I wanna eat only crystals and fresh fruits, like you do, but Kiana said no. She says I'm still too delicate to risk eating so and for now I'll have to continue eating meat. But she allowed me to have one crystal per meal!" Nightsong added, beaming. "They're very sweet!"

"Yes, they are," Veralla agreed, though internally she was a bit upset. She recalled the image of the cute whemokos, and became sad at the thought they had to be killed in order for Nightsong to be well. Yet perhaps... perhaps sometimes this was how things had to be.

She remembered what Zuckeroff had told her about death: that it was never the end. Meaning, when the whemokos died, they did not cease to exist – they probably went somewhere else. Perhaps they were happier there.

Perhaps.

"Come on, we'll be late for lessons!" Nightsong told Veralla. The two of them hurried toward the learning hall.

As soon as Nightsong had become healthy, she had been sent to be tutored by Tehalix alongside Veralla, in order to gain all necessary education to function comfortably in modern society. Veralla always enjoyed these learning sessions, fascinated by the vast knowledge which was available for every imaginable aspect of life, but Nightsong, although a good student, was considerably less enthusiastic about them.

"Why do we have to learn about optics and their relations to spectrum wavelengths?" she hrrr–ed plaintively. "I wanna play Soukou Zmei Atro! It's more fun than studying how languages are spoken!"

"But knowing linguistics makes you able to understand what the people in the game say," Veralla replied. "This way it is much more fun!"

"Hmm, if you're bored with the conventional didactic methods, we can try some V-LARP games for a change of pace," Tehalix offered.

"Buuut do I have tooo learn stuff?" Nightsong complained. "I mean, why should I know more about magic when I can do it, like Veralla does?"

"You can?" Veralla asked in pleasant surprise.

"Sure," Nightsong replied and lifted her foreclaws, concentrating. A ball of light appeared between them. "Here, just like you showed me."

Tehalix' jaw slacked. "Well, illuminate me," she said, dumbfounded. "This is the first time in my life I see a fledgling bend the Æther right out of the shell."

Kiana, when she was told about the event, was similarly impressed.

"My little whippersnapper, a natural aethereal!" she squeed, hugging Nightsong. "I'm so proud of you, my dear! But if you want to progress and do the things I can do, then you must study hard! Power and skill don't come by themselves, you know!"

The other Radiant Knights were also ecstatic.

"You're an aethereal, too?" Lung rawr–ed with delight. "Oh, now we three can make a battlewing, or something! Oh, oh, perhaps we can form a team and participate in one of the tournaments! I heard the others talking about making an AEO specifically for dragons!"

"Perhaps after they have grown more," Glawlrhain objected. "For now, they can test their talents against one another if they so wish, but any serious invocations are to be done during training only. Don't look at me like that, young ones. Channeling the Æther can be dangerous if you overestimate your abilities. It's much like plunging from a great height without having one's wings properly developed. You, Veralla, should best understand what I'm talking about."

Since her Awakening, Veralla learned so many new things in a very short time it felt staggering. Great, vast expanses of new frontiers had opened before her, and between the celebrations about the war's coming end and her studies as an aethereal, she was in a constant state of rapture.

Yet, at her core, what made her most happy was Airo. She always showed him what she had learned after her lessons, and beamed every time he praised her. She gazed in his piercing grey eyes and watched with gladness the light in them shining brighter with each passing day. She could feel the bond between her and Airo deepening, growing stronger and more profound as they spent time together.

She liked to hug him at every opportunity. She had been unaware of how much she needed closeness, and sought near-constant physical contact because of that. She sensed it made Airo uncomfortable at times, but before she could ask what was wrong, he would relax and let the moment be. They talked at great length every time Veralla felt like doing so, and she was happy she could now say as much things as she wanted and Airo would listen and reply in turn. Yet, she rarely wanted to ask questions anymore, instead talking about the many things she knew and the things he and others knew, or just wanted to hear his opinion on a matter.

Yet even then, there were times when she simply wanted to be with Airo, without any conversation or any other activity. Indeed, she realized she did not feel a very great need to speak with him anymore. More and more often she was content just to be with him and he with her, and they kept quiet, enjoying each other's presence, sharing a connection that was much greater and more harmonious than everything else – and in such moments, words were unnecessary.