Chapter 1

#Writing #BloodofSilenceSeries #BloodofSilence #BoS

It was hard to tell how many years it had been. A few hundred? Perhaps a thousand?

But still, the nightmares of our forebears persisted in many. Whether they were passed down through blood, the soul, or were perhaps the consequence of the gift itself, none could say.

Time seemed a recent invention in comparison to that which had plagued us since our inception.

A vision of a past and future where darkness prevails, we had been told. Or--the blessed had been told, at any rate. Such knowledge was secondhand to me.

I was not blessed with Hydaelyn's gifts; nor did I hear her words, or see her prophecies. But she did. She always had, even when we were children.

She was stubborn, and reckless. She couldn't help sticking her nose where it shouldn't be, and seemed ever driven towards danger and the unknown. She was a traveler at heart, and none could dampen her spirit, no matter how hard they tried.

She was everything I loved in this world, and everything I would fight to protect.

After all, someone had to ensure she didn't end up killing herself, no matter how much it vexed me.

So when at last I received her missive, I read it with no shortage of amusement.

"Long time no see, catboy!" she called with a wave.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose in irritation. "I told you to stop calling me that, Firyna."

"Grumpy as ever, I see," she shrugged. "One would think you weren't head over heals for me."

"I am not--!"

"Is this really how you treat all of your friends? Perhaps you simply are a lost cause," her companion sighed. "Asteria," she bowed politely, "at your service. I've heard a lot about you."

"Have you now?" I glared at the person in question.

Firyna giggled, "I can't be all bad. You're both still here after all!"

"Keep telling yourself that," I muttered with a sigh.

"Now then, to business!" She casually chucked us both pieces of auracite, as if they weren't priceless minerals. "We're going eikon hunting!"

"Eikon what? Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Hey, I never said I wasn't," she shrugged. "But the bounties on these things are really good, so if you'll indulge me--"

I crossed my arms with a frown. "You're forgetting that I, unlike you--and I would assume your friend as well--am not possessed of Hydaelyn's blessings. A moment of exposure to one of those things and I'd be as good as gone."

She hummed. "Well, technically I don't really know what it is. Some giant fire bird apparently. Sounded enough like an eikon to me, and there's been a lot of them lately."

"Regardless," her blue-haired associate chimed in, "it is apparently guarded by no shortage of beasts. Someone will need to stand guard."

"And~ should we fell the beast, we are to be handsomely rewarded. The village is well known for its wine, after all!"

I sighed. "Guard duty it is then."

It had been sunset when we all arrived, and so we decided to settle in at a local inn before setting out the next morning.

"There you are," I sighed, climbing atop the balcony railing to join her on the roof.

She was lying casually with her arms propped behind her head as she looked up at the stars. As I came to sit beside her, she smiled. "This is just like when we were kids."

"Aye, I can practically hear your mother worrying you'd fall any second."

She giggled. "Not all of us are guaranteed to land on two feet."

I sighed with a shake of my head. "There you go again, pretending I'm a cat."

"But you're my cat. Catch you in a good mood, dangle some food, and you'll come running."

My nose wrinkled in irritation and my ears flattened as I noted that is exactly what she had done.

"I missed you, y'know. It's been a long couple years."

"I missed you too," I smiled. "I just wish you came to visit."

"Oh!" she lit up. "About that; I do have something to show for it."

"Do you now?"

"Mhm!" she sat up, pulling out the end of a chain tucked into her chest for safekeeping. "My magnum opus," she proclaimed, holding up what looked like half of a key.

I stared in confusion, but she continued her explanation. "I told you I wanted to prove the City of Dreams existed, and so after I left, I went to the City of the Ancients to work with a research group. That's where I met Asteria. She's a bit of an expert in the field, having family ties to it."

She released the chain from her neck, handing it over so I could take a good look at it. "We discovered crystals, you see. Deep in a cave system in the region we believe the city once was. A whole bounty of them, clearly man made. After a multitude of testing, we discovered they were responsive to high aetheric densities. Practically an entire person worth of aether was required, and so I offered up my crystal of light instead. And low and behold, this is what came out."

The key had half of what looked to be a flower symbol at its top, and one of the blades wasn't entirely formed. It was covered in sparkling jewels, and made out of a material that resembled silver, but felt impossibly more durable.

"Why is it so..." I paused with a frown, considering my words, "deformed?"

She shrugged, "Who could say. I can only assume I did it wrong, or there wasn't enough aether to finish it."

"Fascinating," I murmured. "To think physical objects could be formed of pure aether..."

"Not something we could ever feasibly accomplish though," she laughed. "Why I passed out from merely that!"

I shot her a glare. "Yes, well using your crystal of light probably wasn't the greatest idea, given that it is intrinsically linked to you."

She giggled sheepishly. "There was something else that happened too... Ah, but it doesn't matter."

I inclined my head in question, but she merely turned her attention back to the stars.

"I trust everything is proceeding apace?"

"Indeed. Soon, Hydaelyn's warrior will be the most potent force of light in the realm. But what of the other blessed?"

"Entrapping eikons by the dozen, just as we anticipated. They will soon find out the truth. Once it's too late, that is."

"Ah, but there is one other thing you should know."

"Oh?"

"While she was participating in research involving recovered concept crystals, a most interesting thing occurred. Using the aether in her crystal of light, she managed to conjure something."

"Did she now? Any why is this of any importance?"

"It was one of Emet-Selch's concepts. Cynthia's necklace. I trust you understand what that entails."

He hummed. "You imply that she not only survived the sundering, but has become Hydaelyn's favoured puppet?"

"Come now, does the latter truly surprise you, given who Hydaelyn is? To form that necklace would have been impossible otherwise; you know this. It only responds to her aetheric signature, or Emet-Selch's own."

"We cannot be sure without conformation from one possessing soul sight."

"You will tell Emet-Selch then?"

He paused a moment, brows furrowing in thought as a frown formed on his face. "No. If Emet-Selch were to know she survived, it would only inhibit the rejoining. It is better for all of us if he continues on believing she is no more."

"And who is to say there will not be another? We do not know how long this mission could go on for. He will find out eventually, and he will never forgive you."

"He will forgive me when she is returned to him whole."

The blue-haired woman seemed apprehensive at that. To deny her colleague the one he had been searching high and low for seemed cruel. He deserved to know what became of her. He deserved to know that her soul survived.

She could not deny that it would complicate things, however. The girl was on Hydaelyn's side, and even if she managed to sway her over, she no longer had a place with them. Perhaps it was better he didn't know, so that he was able to focus on the goal.

And besides, there'd surely be an abundance of other reincarnations of her to come. This one was not special.