The Child of Light and Shadow

Festival of Death

Thankfully, Ryan turns out to be utter garbage at finding the precise locations of her targets. All we had to do was keep moving, and she was incapable of catching us.

"You grow tired," Raksha says as we move through the crowd, his breathing now a full-on pant.

"You're just saying that so I'll let you have a break."

"The djinn are not used to covert operations."

"I could always put you back in the urn. That'll be a good place the rest."

He doesn't reply, which I take as a declination. Whatever the urn is like, he hates it in there, though he refuses to admit it. Stupid pride. It killed more people than even the other great enemies of mankind, like fear, love or vegetables.

We've been on our feet a full day, and the Festival of Death is about to begin. At least, they're going to pick the participants right now. I hope the trials aren't gonna begin right away, because I am in no state to actually do anything. If I tried to run right now, my legs might give out permanently. My thighs and calves are on fire, and those are the least painful bits.

"Who do you think it's gonna be?" I hear a nobleman ask, and his lady friend replies, "That boy, certainly. Everyone is talking about him."

Please, no. Don't mean me.

I glance at the couple, and realize they're talking about another mage entirely. I follow their gaze, and my eyes land on a pale little boy. His skin is almost white, as is his hair, making him look more like a spectre than a human being. The eerie, almost-red eyes don't help the appearance, either. Though, the nervous look on his face is enough to reveal him to be just a regular kid. Who the hell allowed someone so young to come here?

"Marcus, of course, is going to be chosen," someone else whispers, and I follow their line of sight again, this time leading me to a tall, blond guy. He's about as handsome as a human being can get, with a firm jaw and deep blue eyes. However, the stupid clothes he's wearing tell me he's a tryhard with the ladies, so I'm just gonna write him off for now. Neither he nor the boy have mana that's anything special.

One of the servants standing in the clearing in the middle of the square blows his horn, silencing the crowd. "The Apostles shall now make their appearance," he announces, and Yukiji grabs my arm, clinging to it.

"Maybe you should have disguised yourself, after all," she whispers. "A glamour couldn't hurt."

"Psychological warfare," I tell her. "Relax. Trust me on this."

She nods, but doesn't let go, and the crowd on the other side of the square stats parting, letting twelve people through. As they walk, it's easy to see how proud of themselves they are, and why. Each one of them has a ridiculous amount of mana, making me look like a second-rate charlatan by comparison. Ryan is there, her eyes scanning the crowd. The woman in white is next to her, though her eyes seem to be focusing on something. The rest of them are pretty normal, save for another two. One surprises me by being so young – around my ages – and as tiny as I am. It's hard to tell whether they're a boy or girl from here, but their red hair and sharp features, coupled with the little grin they're sporting, gives them the appearance of a fox. The other surprising one is the djinn walking behind them, wearing the same outfit Raksha wore before I made him change. A djinn among the Apostles? Is that even allowed? How'd they get him to come out here? Is he trapped inside an urn, or did he find a way to escape that invisible wall back in the Wyrwood? His mana is more potent than that of the others, bar the little redhead, who is on the same level. Ozymandias and Xerxes? Those two are the ones known as the strongest Apostles, according to some of the gossip I've come across recently, but no one told me they weren't human.