Steel Soul (working title, WIP)

Excerpt 2- Aeon

Aeon collapsed on his bed for the second time that day, with even more exasperation than when he had the first time. He imagined for Cayse and Elden, it must have appeared strange for him to behave this way, but he didn't much care about their expectations and they didn't much care to disturb him. He was thankful he would be left alone. His racing thoughts had consumed so much of his attention that it took a few moments for him to realize how quiet the room was.

He found himself staring at the star he had nailed on the ceiling so many years ago. The star had been a luminous bronze when he had first put it up, but since then the color had faded, and had become layered with dust. It was there to offer him protection, to give him hope when he needed it most ,but though his need was great, he did not feel himself surrounded by its warmth. Instead he felt like he too was faded, victim to the decay of time, covered in dust himself.

Aeon had never felt quite as alone as he did the day his mother gave him that star. He'd packed nearly all that he had ever owned for this trip he did not want to take. It wasn't much—it fit into a single small bag. His father's fondness for excessive drinking didn't leave him and his mother much to get by. He remembered stepping over his father's leg to get to the door and feeling an aggravation he hadn't felt in a long while. He had, after all, long since gotten used to the sight of his father passed out somewhere in their small house, empty bottles on either side of him. On this day, the day he would have to leave his home and his family, the old anger returned. All of this was his useless father's fault. And his mother—his poor mother—had done everything she could.

In front of the battered door to their house, his mother hugged him for the last
time. Aeon had pulled her closer, trying hard not to cry—trying hard not to let his mother
see him cry. She pulled away first, turning to a nearby chair, and then turning back, bronze star in hand.

He could tell it was expensive— far more expensive than anything they'd been able to afford. His mother could never have made this herself, and even if—by some stroke of luck— she managed to pull a favor from the smith next door, it still would have cost a small fortune. He started to protest, but she knew him well enough to not let him get a word in. She pressed it to him, absolutely insistent. "For safety and serenity, Aeon," she had said, "and for luck."

"Mother—"

She had shushed him, her eyes glistening with the beginning of tears. "Take this,
and I will always be with you."

Sanos' Star was a common symbol that was passed around where Aeon was from. Many hung it in their homes and wore it around their necks. It was the brightest star in
the night sky and it was their symbol of hope and resilience, because it represented a true light in the darkness. People prayed to Sanos for deliverance from suffering. They prayed for companionship and for a brighter future. They prayed for release from death, but even Aeon thought that to be beyond the work of saints and mortals alike.

Aeon's mother prayed for him.

But as faithful as Aeon was, the Star could not replace his mother's warm presence.
The castle had been cold, uninviting, and utterly strange. Aeon had never felt so out-of-place anywhere, and he was quite used to feeling out-of-place. In fact, nothing had eased his loneliness on those first days in the castle until the companionship of the first friend he had made. Mera had been—and still was— a light in the darkness for him, but she wasn't the first friend he had made inside the castle walls. Mera had been second after Kai, but unlike him, Mera's friendship was free of deceit. Aeon felt his fingertips burn as he clutched his blankets. The thoughts danced ceaselessly in his head. Kai had once held all of Aeon's trust, but it proved to be too much for him to carry. In the days after their friendship had ended, Aeon had not felt angry. He'd felt lost, as if Kai had climbed inside him and hollowed him out. The anger came later. Living in the same castle as Kai had become unbearable, but there were often enough towers and people separating them so Aeon neither had to see nor talk to the bastard. But to be sent on a mission with him would be a new and unwelcome test to Aeon's strength. He would have to spend days in Kai's presence; he would have to walk with him and talk to him and make camp with him. The very idea was so repellent, that given the option, Aeon would have rather faced their sought-out dragon alone and unarmed than spend the next few weeks with Kai within spitting distance.

The concept was repugnant and unnerving, but Aeon had no choice. He had been tasked with this mission and he would have to see it through. As much as he'd like to pretend that Kai's presence had no effect on him, it just wasn't true. The very thought of Kai threatened to completely unravel his resolve, send him plunging into a hollow in the ground. But Aeon vowed he would see this job done, even if it took all his strength from him. After their weeks together were nothing but cold memories in Aeon's mind, that was what Kai would be to him too.

Suddenly very reluctant to remain alone with thoughts of Kai and dust settling about theroom, Aeon left to find Mera. The sooner they could sort out the trip, the sooner they begin the mission, and the sooner it would end. Aeon needed this entire nightmare over as soon as possible.