The Chronicles Of Aurelius: The Golden Sovereign

Chapter 12: A Test in the Night

Midnight enveloped the Davian estate, its towers a silhouette against the star-choked sky. The walls bristled with heightened vigilance—every corridor patrolled, every gate warded twice over. Yet inside his secluded study, Aurelius felt the pressure settle like a challenge. The obsidian assassin's token, ominous as a curse, rested on the desk before him.

Through the window came a chill wind, rattling the panes. An unease hung over the entire manor: whispers among servants, tension in the strides of even the bravest knights. Aurelius sat in thoughtful silence, Sunshatter propped within easy reach and his system humming with anticipation.

A faint shiver ran through the air. [Beast Concord] awakened at his command, sending silent signals to the magical hounds patrolling the grounds. In the distant city, bells tolled for another hour lost.

Suddenly, a piercing cry shattered the night—one of the hounds in the northern courtyard. Aurelius leapt to his feet, cloak sweeping behind him as he strode to the conjured secret passage leading outside. Ahead, a blur of masked figures danced through the gloom—assassins, moving with silent, practiced menace.

He didn't falter. [Absolute Combat Mastery] poured new instinct into his limbs. Aurelius slid between shadow and moonlight, sword flickering in and out of sight. The first assassin lunged from behind a pillar, twin daggers flashing. Aurelius parried, riposted—his blade a golden arc that sent the attacker sprawling.

All around, clashes ignited as loyal knights engaged the remaining intruders. Calista joined the fray, runes burning on her palms as she cast anti-invisibility wards and locked down the exits. Sir Lucien fought back-to-back with the duchess, the pair making a formidable wall near the manor doors.

Aurelius dispatched another attacker, then caught sight of the leader—masked in onyx, wielding a scimitar laced with a snake's venom. Their duel was silent, brutal, a storm of parries and magical feints. The system revealed weak points: the assassin's left knee, the moment their cloak fluttered before a strike.

In a final exchange, Aurelius feigned an opening, then spun—disarming the assassin and pinning them to the stone with Sunshatter's tip against their throat. "Yield, and your secrets may keep you alive."

The mask fell away. Beneath it, to his shock, he saw a familiar face—a former ally from a minor house, eyes glazed with a mixture of fear and regret. "They threatened my family… House Wesker promised gold, but demanded blood."

Aurelius's gaze hardened. He summoned Calista to witness the confession, reaching a swift decision. "You will testify before the city magistrates. My word safeguards your kin. Betrayal ends now."

As dawn painted the estate in pale gold, the assassins were bound and delivered to the authorities, their plot exposed by testimony and irrefutable magic. The attack failed utterly, its designers humiliated as word spread through city and court alike.

House Davian awoke not cowed, but triumphant—its loyalty proven in open battle, its resolve undimmed. Aurelius stood atop the outer wall as sunlight rose, the weight of power and legend pressed against his shoulders. Another day, another victory—each one binding allies closer, and warning rivals that not even shadow could mask their designs.

He turned to his council, voice low but resolute. "Tonight they came as ghosts—let our answer be as bright as day. We will build a peace none dare threaten, and a legend not even darkness can dim."

To be continued...