The Last Knight (An Awakening the Lightforged Novel)

Chapter 4: Auroraday

Other than hurting the Imaia.

C. 5 days, 17 hours since the assassination of rebel leadership

Estingai set the chest of biogems and spent georaurals down on the dusty ground with a grunt. The healing georaurals had done a good job of mending her cuts and bruises over the last week, but after six days of taking it easy, then lugging a heavy chest half-a-mile across rocky, uneven terrain without her greynodes to aid her, she was tired and sore.

It was Auroraday—the one day a week most of their faction ventured outside the darkness and relative safety of their cavernous base to see the auroras and bask in their light, replenishing their gemcrests and as many biogems and georaurals as they could bring with them.

That, at least, hadn't changed with the end of the world. Not entirely, at least.

The auroras—those that powered Auroramancy and gave life to pretty much everything on Efruumani—no longer came to Darkside since the destruction of Yrmuunthal.

On Lightside, however, they were still a day of celebration. Once everyone had their fill of Auroralight, they would go back into the base, where people would put on performances, dance, and have little competitions.

It made Estingai sick.

How in darkness can anyone celebrate today?

They had no hope. Raima, their leader, was dead, as were those of the other factions. Svemakuu, their greatest warrior, dead. Matsanga and the other Knights that had stood against the Imaia. Dead. Svemakuu's dream of a unified Remnant, of the Darkside Union reborn. Dead. All dead.

Except me.

Boots sliding over rock pulled Estingai from her thoughts, and she glared as Koruuksi and Uuchantuu came down into the shallow divot behind her and Kozasana.

"Quiet," she hissed.

Koruuksi looked her way, but didn't acknowledge her otherwise. His mask, shielding his Samjati skin from Lightside's harmful sun, blocked any expression.

As he and Uuchantuu set down the chest and started unloading it, Estingai realized she should probably be doing the same. Looking across the chest to Kozasana, Estingai found the Natari woman studying her.

"What?"

Her friend grinned, shrugging, then reached down to the latch on her end. "Just waiting on you."

Estingai frowned beneath her own helmet-like mask, then opened the chest and began setting the georaurals and clusters of biogems out in the sun.

Though Estingai had Natari blood, it only showed in her stripes and her lack of antlers. She had her mother's dark blue skin, which meant she had to wear a lightcover when out in the sun. Kozasana had a helmet at her hip, just in case, but she didn't have to wear it. She, like most Natari, loved basking in the sun, and had already undone her coat, exposing her broad, red shoulders.

Once they finished setting everything out, Estingai retreated to the shade of a stone formation, noticing that Aaden and Marjatla, the last two of their party, had arrived. They were Raima's former aides. Now, her replacements. Marjatla handled most of the administrative work, where Aaden handled relations with the other factions and any new recruits that came to them, fleeing the Imaia.

As Estingai waited, watching the two pairs unload their chests, she glanced up to the sky a few times. She had her blacknodes brightened to sense any nearby Auroramancy—a very low brightness, since she was low on Auroralight—while Koruuksi had his blacknodes brightened to keep anyone beyond a certain radius from sensing them. That was one of the twelve Auroramantic abilities that differed between Natari and Samjati. While most of Estingai's Natari abilities manifested as light and fire, Koruuksi's Samjati abilities did so as ice and darkness.