Embers of Light and Darkness

Lyla had reluctantly accepted the offer to take a walk around town while Aeneas was busy with his meeting. The walk had been silent, neither Rueben nor Markus had said anything, they were a silent presence following her around, but she felt it when they snuck stares at her, had caught Markus, the stone-faced protector, looking at her curiously. 

She also noticed the stares of the people they passed by, who looked at her with curiosity and questions, perhaps just like the men who had attacked them; they thought of her as a rich man's daughter or from an influential family. She had ignored those stares and the attempts of vendors trying to draw her to their stalls in the promise of one-of-a-kind goods, had ignored them until she had had enough and chose to retreat to the inn. 

She cuddled into the bed with Lynx curling beside her, offering his warmth and comfort. 

She'd known that the Journey as their protector wouldn't be easy, and that she'd eventually have to put her training to practice to either defend herself or Luminaraeth, and that blood would be shed and lives lost. But when reality hit, it was different. Yesterday's event had thoroughly rocked her.

She tried not to think about the probability that her arrows might have killed someone.

Rueben stopped by to hand her lunch, having stood at the door wanting to ask something, like he had throughout their journey. She encouraged him, if only to fill in the silence that was slowly compressing the walls around her. 

'Where was she from?' he had asked. She gave him the rehearsed story 

'The small village near the mountains, she had no siblings, and her parents were gone, her mother was a friend of the Keeper, and that was why she took her in.' 

'Why was she skilled in weaponry and combat?' 

'That was because she was aiming to become a Protector someday.'

The story was plain and uninteresting, and that was exactly what they wanted: to make her as basic and simple as possible.

'What was she gifted in?'

'Astral Projection' 

It was common for Projectors to join the Legion; they acted as spies for their forces, gathering information and acting as advisors, which made buying her story easier.

Reuben had left once she and Lynx were done. She had contemplated asking him to stay, but she decided otherwise. He might ask questions she might not know or want to answer.

Aeneas came back late in the afternoon and announced they would be leaving immediately. The Keeper and Paisios had heard of what had occurred, and they sent a messenger after them. 

The trip back had no hiccups, especially with the two extra guards sent to accompany them back. The two had Pegasus and would occasionally shoot to the skies to survey ahead of them. It was probably enough to keep any wanna be attackers well away.

They arrived the next day and found her mentors waiting at the doors for them. 

"What happened" was the Keeper's way of greeting.

"Keeper, let them at least settle before making your inquiries," the Paisios cut in.

"We need to know about…"

"Yes, yes, I know, but they are exhausted, you won't get anything tangible right now."

"Fine," the woman said, leaving. 

Lyla managed to get an hour of sleep before a Knock came, and she was summoned for questioning. 

"Well then, will one of you talk?" she said as soon as they were all seated.

Aeneas did the talking and went on to explain the events in great detail, perhaps because the Legate was also here. After he was done, the room fell silent before the Keeper turned to her.

"Did you use any of your gifts?" 

"Yes" 

"I thought I strictly said no using your power."

"Was I supposed to stand helplessly or hide?"

"Yes. Yes, you were. They would have handled it."

"So I should have let them fight even though I could have helped."

"Yes"

"Seriously, then what is all the training for? What is the use of teaching me how to use my gifts if, when the time of need comes, I can't use them? You keep reminding me I'm your chosen, yet when I try to act like it, you don't like it."

"The chosen? By name, perhaps, but you act like a reckless child. If you truly believe you deserve that title, then you should have known that not every battle requires your involvement. What lies ahead is far greater, but it seems you only want to prove something to yourself. What use are you to us, dead?" the keeper scoffed, "Perhaps the heavens chose wrong."

Silence fell in the room, and the Paisios rose, attempting to calm the situation, "I think …" But she interrupted 

Rolling her eyes while scoffing, Lyla smirked, "Well, at least you finally admitted it. From the very first day, it was obvious you didn't find me worthy, you wished it was someone else, didn't you? Maybe you already had someone in mind, perhaps that person was you?"

The Keeper attempted to retort, but she continued, "Oh, come on, you walk around all high and mighty as though you are some god. You take pleasure in making others miserable, all so that they can fear you, and you love that fear, you love that you can use your power to get anything, yet I'm sure you wonder why the heavens never chose you. 

You're powerful, fierce, and have narcissistic self-worth that you confuse for courage, yet they chose a weak human who knew nothing of this world, so perhaps you are right, I'm not worthy, but guess what, neither are you."

"How dare you?" The Keeper's eyes shone brighter, and a pale blue light surrounded her. Everyone stood in alarm, but Lyla just stared her unwavering, anger slithering through her equal to that in the Keeper's eyes.

Unknown to her, her eyes had returned to their original color and shone brighter than normal. A green light surrounded her body, coiling and moving around her. 

"What? Does the truth hurt?" she taunted

"You insolent child," the Keeper screamed, stretching out her hand, and a ball of blue light rushed towards her. 

Lyla quickly reacted and managed to dodge it. She held out her hand, forming a shield, a skill she was yet to learn, and just as quickly, she used her creation magic to fashion a sword which was currently at the Keeper's throat. 

The woman's eyes widened in surprise. Darius summoned his power while the Paisios attempted to calm her, but she went on.

"I am not the same girl who cried days on end when she discovered who she was, and yes, I might still not want this, and I wish sometimes things were different, but being here has taught me one thing. I cannot afford to be weak, whether I like it or not. I have no choice, the same way you don't when it comes to who I am and my significance to this world, so I guess you'll just have to deal with it."

Withdrawing the sword, she left them speechless as she retreated to her room. She was so tired. When she slept, nothing haunted her in her dreams