The Two Authorities [[ HIATUS ]]

II.

Aegis stirred in her sleep, the winter breeze nipping at her bare feet. A gust of cool air traveled up her leather leggings and through her hooded top. It bore no embroidery but was a gift from Rorik. One of the most expensive leathers in Vita. He claimed it was from Morvaan, the High Priest of the Light Heathens Guild, but it made no difference to her. 

It was merely handy when it came to Stillusion's merciless weather.

Attached to the vest was a mahogany hood woven out of cloth. It was atop Aegis' midnight, pixie hair, but the gust blew it clear off. Uneven side bangs tickled Aegis' eyelids and woke her. She moved them from her line of sight with a gloved hand to check on Somnus.

The cold never bothered him. He was sound asleep.

"You know falling asleep in your gear wears it, Aegis," warned a deep, raspy voice forged from the frontlines of war. His words collided like the scraping of metal - raw with the intensity of flying sparks.

Aegis slid her chair back and propped her bare feet on the table. Rorik trudged into the cabin and closed the door behind him, ceasing the flow of snowflakes into their home. The morning sky had yet to pale. Once Rorik was inside, he disrobed himself and placed his heavy robe upon a deer horn by the door. His attire reflected Aegis', but was worn beyond years.

Rorik had always shown more concern with keeping her and Somnus warm rather than himself. Aegis noticed the familiar scruffy man with his long, unkempt hair. For once his brunette hair was pulled into a ponytail without having to be pointed out by Aegis. Rorik ruffled Somnus' hair in greeting before sitting across from Aegis and hitting the side of her foot.

She removed her feet from the table and groaned. He shot her a stale look while pulling a new, beige book from his rucksack and placing it on the table. Once situated, he opened it to a bookmarked page. It was only when Aegis tapped her fingers on the tabletop did Rorik stare at her with his dark eyes.

Then his irises rested on his book.

"Why do you read? You have the whole world at your fingertips. It's me and Somnus who are at a disadvantage," Aegis glowered, taking a hunting knife from her belt and twirling it.

"Reading sharpens the mind, just like a stone does that knife in your hand. You wouldn't be at such a disadvantage if you actually picked up a book every once in a while," he answered without looking up from his page.

Aegis rolled her sepia eyes and leaned across the table, sticking her head in the way of Rorik's text. He gripped the bridge of his wide nose and leaned back in his seat.

"You're an obnoxious girl, do you know that?"

Because that came from Rorik, Aegis wasn't bothered. He was rough around the edges and in his defense, had been raising children that weren't his for nineteen years.

"And you're a man who looks like he's in his sixties, is actually in his forties, and hunts like he's twenty."

Rorik was mentored by his older brother, Beacon Torr, and had the battle scars to prove it. Beacon was Commander of the Light Heathen Army before he died, but that's all Aegis could pry out of Rorik before he conveniently changed the subject, much like anything he didn't wish to discuss.

"The sixties part you could really do away with if you chose to shave," she taunted.

"Can't. It'll dull my knife." Rorik's tone was densely serious.

Aegis sensed it was a lost cause.

"How are you feeling?" he went on to ask.

She scratched the back of her head and shrugged.

"Why can't you ever ask me if I blew up a small village at the bottom of the mountain?"

"Did you?" he retorted.

Taking the hint, Aegis relaxed and looked to Somnus before staring at her gloved hands on the table.

"I've been calm, but when I think about those guilds and Stacia I can feel it stirring inside me... like something bad is going to happen."

"You mean when you think about your father," he corrected.

"You're my father. He's the High Priest of the Light Heathens Guild," she muttered, kicking the leg of the table.

Talking about Morvaan left a bad taste in her mouth.

"As honored as I am, you and I both know that's not the case. You said when you think about the guilds you can feel it. Then you're beginning to understand?" he asked, standing in front of the bookcase.

Rorik placed the book sideways on a row of tomes. He shuffled texts into cramped spaces and librarians were turning in their graves with each jammed cover.

"All I know is when I'm pissed off my quintessence goes out of control," she snorted.

"Your quintessence was activated at birth. That's a feat unheard of. Most children go through intense training to activate their quintessent utilization. It most likely correlates with strong emotions in general," he lectured, shifting books around to make room for new ones.

Somnus incoherently mumbled in his sleep as books dropped with thuds to the floor.

Not convinced, Aegis continued rambling.

"Right. So then how come I haven't seen anything when happy or sad? I tell Somnus I love him every day, but nothing spirals out of control then. Love is a pretty strong emotion, Rorik," Aegis' voice raised.

Somnus pushed himself up, wiping the sleep from his eyes. Rorik grabbed a single book and briefly stared at it before tossing it onto the table in front of Aegis. Somnus jumped out of his skin and his eyes darted between the two in confusion. Aegis leaned forward and flipped the book over.

"The Two Authorities," she snorted and shoved it to the other side of the table, almost knocking it off had Rorik not stopped it.

"I've read that book so many times searching for the truth, that I ended up ten years backward," Aegis muttered as she defiantly put her feet back on the table.

"Which one?" Somnus walked over with a sway to the left and then a stumble forward before picking up the ancient text. Ancient had all to do with its context and not its appearance. The pages hadn't a single fray and the binding was bone-straight. Its leather was crafted from the freshest hide.

A smoky, wisp-like vapor flashed across the book while its abstract tail gently swayed, encircling Aegis' being. It pulled Somnus from the book. Aegis rolled her eyes at the sight of it, lowering her eyelids and taking deep breaths. After a few seconds of doing that, it diminished into thin air, fizzling from sight.

When she opened her eyes, Rorik was pointing at her, but still focused on the bookcase.

"That's why. It's not that love isn't a strong emotion, Aegis. The truth of the matter is; it isn't your most powerful. You've been consumed by anger ever since you were a child."

Rorik grabbed yet another book and brought it back to his seat. Somnus sat between them.

"Can you blame me, Rorik?"

He shrugged a shoulder.

"How you feel is entirely up to you. Just know that until you choose to accept what you have no control over you'll continue to stunt your quintessent growth. You of all people can't afford that."

All eyes were on Aegis as if they awaited her volatile response. Oh, how she struggled not to allow her tongue to whip as it may. It slithered across the ivory bars of its warden in temptation.

"Thanks," Aegis said as she marched to the place Somnus previously slept.

She roughly grabbed her robe, laid next to the fiery pit, and pulled it over her head before rebelliously mumbling, "Dad."