Aether Beasts

Once we returned to camp, we immediately headed to get some food before we did anything else. Zirani, of course, had returned to her core. While the steel heart was a kind and understanding sect, neither of us thought it would be a good idea for her to show herself. Even if they were alright with it, the chances of word spreading would be high and that would attract people from all over the plains, and no doubt a lot of them would have bad intentions.

It was unfortunate, and I could tell it was grating on Zirani in a way. Beyond the great scar, she would be able to walk around freely in most places and in a few would be treated like royalty, but here she was forced to hide.

As we made our way to the eating area and filled up plates for ourselves I couldn't help but notice the change in the atmosphere around camp. For someone who wasn't familiar with the sect, they might have thought everything was ok, but the air of jovialness had faded quite a bit, replaced by a somberness and sadness. Everyone seemed distracted, and like they were waiting for the shoe to drop. We still received the occasional smile and nod, but there was far less enthusiasm to them.

I could only come to one conclusion as to why things had changed. Everybody had heard the news of the twin horn gathering and most likely what our chances would be if help didn't arrive. Their sect, and the fate of their family, friends, and themselves rested on whether or not help arrived, and unlike my town, many of them had people who lived in Orton and towns closer to the city. West Vale was far enough that it would be less important and it didn't have anything special to it and if worse came to worst, I could get my aunt out of there if I managed to escape. Before I could think anymore on that I pushed it away.

We ate in silence, and afterwards we headed back to our tents, none of us really in the mood to do anything else.

After bidding Sandra and Misty a goodnight I headed into my tent to get some rest, or so I thought. Zirani appeared only a moment after I'd closed the tent flap, a serious look on her face.

"What?"

"We need to talk," she replied in a serious tone. "About Misty and about our circumstances regarding the sect."

"Oh, yes I forgot about that."

I took a seat next to her. "I understand wanting to speak about Misty since we said we were going to do that anyway, but what do mean by our circumstances?"

Zirani stared at me for a long moment before she let out a sigh. "What happens if reinforcements don't come and the twin horn wins?"

I was momentarily taken aback by her words but then I slowly began to realize what she meant. We hadn't really talked about this, and I had tried even harder not to think about it, which if I had, then we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.

"If that happens, do you know what needs to be done?" She asked.

"I do," I said slowly. "I'm not an idiot, Zirani. I won't give up my life for this since I'm smart enough to know if we don't win today then there's always tomorrow."

A look of relief crossed her face and her shoulders slumped slightly. "That's good to hear. Mind you, I'm only saying this if such a thing does happen. I am hoping the steel here wins this, but should they not then fleeing is our best option."

She reached over and pressed a hand against my cheek tenderly. "In just a short amount of time you've learned quite a bit. The level at which you learn is, as I've said before, astonishing, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do when we are finally able to spend a few weeks just training and finishing your foundation."

I moved in closer and leaned my head against her shoulder, taking in her warmth and the feeling of her smooth skin. "I know, Zirani. I'm not pleased that we might have to flee, but I understand. You should know by now, that I don't let my emotions get the better of me as much as you might think. My aunt taught me that letting emotion guide you isn't always a bad thing, but never forget to use logic as well."

"Your aunt taught you well then," Zirani said.

We remained in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company before I finally spoke up.

"So, about Misty?'

"It's actually not that complicated," Zirani said. "She has nowhere to go, and I can just let an aether vampire with her potential roam around. Without guidance, she'll turn into a monster and if she gets strong enough there won't be anyone in the plains that could stop her. Most of my talks with her have just been talks about her current situation and helping her to deal with it. I've also been reassuring her a lot that she's not a monster, though I haven't gotten that fully out of her yet."

"You plan on taking her with us?"

It was more of a statement than a question since I'd already suspected Zirani wanted to bring the blonde with us.

"Well we can't leave her," Zirani explained. "And are you so against it?'

I shook my head. "No, I don't mind. Having someone with her strength watching my back would be a comfort if she can learn to control it that is."

"That might take a while, but I think I can do it," Zirani said. "I'll need your help though."

"Me?" I asked. "What the hell can I do?"

Zirani rolled her eyes. "Still so damn dense. The girl has a crush on you."

I blinked. "What?"

I'd suspect that Sandra might have a crush on me, but Misty? She hasn't shown any signs of that sort of affection towards me, or had she? Is that what Zirani meant when she said I was dense? I mean, it was true that I hadn't spent much time around women or dating, but I'd like to think I wasn't that oblivious to a beautiful woman who had a crush on me.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Before this entire thing with her being an aether vampire, we hadn't talked since we were kids."

"Aiden, I'm over four hundred years old, and I've had both men and women try to court, in all manner of ways," Zirani said. "Trust me, I can tell when someone has feelings for another person."

"But why?"

"Could be many reasons." Zirani shrugged. "I haven't really gone over with her. I've tried to speak with her about it, but she either gets too embarrassed and refuses to speak, or she says something along the lines of 'why would he ever want to be with a monster.' So it's not easy talking to her about it. I can try and reassure her, but I suspect she needs to hear it from you."

"From me," I muttered softly.

Did I like Misty in that way? She was beautiful, even more so now, so it's not like that was a problem, although the idea of getting bitten did still creep me out a bit. When we'd been younger, I'd actually considered asking her out and trying to rekindle our connection, but I'd chickened out, and turned back to the arcane. I looked deep into myself and tried to see if I did think of her like that.

"Well?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not sure. Perhaps I could come to like her in that way, but I like the old Misty, this one is far too timid in my opinion."

"Then tell her that," Ziraini said. "She's acting timid because she doesn't know what to do. She has no family, has been turned into what she thinks is a monster, and is unsure of her place. I'm not asking you to confess your love for her, but tell her what you've just told me and I can guarantee you it will help."

"I'll think about it," I said. "But that's it, I'm not making any promises."

She smiled. "Of course, I'm not asking you to, but remember, until she gets over this she won't be able to grow and that old Misty will remain hidden and buried underneath all of the negative emotions she's probably currently feeling."

We talked for a bit longer, about other topics, like old stories, training and at one point I was tempted to have some fun with Zirani, but my aching body quickly protested that idea and drowsiness began to settle in.. I felt Ziranis' hand helping me into my bedding and whispering goodnight to me before she entered back into her core just before my eyes drooped shut, and I fell asleep.