Chereads / The Knight of Roses / Chapter 16 - The Lady of Light and the Ravager

Chapter 16 - The Lady of Light and the Ravager

The group settles down in the lower deck of the ship. Hector turns to Arryn. "So, the explanations..."

"Before that, formalities..." Arryn says as the Captain enters along with the brother and sister duo that were with Arryn the previous night.

"What?!!" The rest of the group protests as the captain leaves the room.

"Relax. They're not our enemies. Not now, at least." Arryn tries to calm them down. "So, Isidro siblings, these are my people." He waves to the group. "There's our scout, Ely." He points at Elyra. "She's the one you shot off the roof, Yelena." he says to the siblings, who are oddly quiet.

"Sorry about that. Pleasure to meet you formally." Yelena says to Elyra.

"Yeah, it's water under the bridge, don't worry about it." She replies, turning away from her.

"You certainly don't look like you mean that..." Micah, the elder brother, points out.

"...Next up is our mage, Lyse." Arryn points to Lyse. "...She's the one you almost hit with your laser darts, Yelena."

"You don't have to say that every time, Arryn!" She retorts.

"...There's Gav, our strongman..." Arryn points to Gavric.

"Nice to meet you, Gavric." Yelena says politely.

Arryn turns to Micah. "There's two of you here, you know?"

"Fine. Hello, Gavric." He concedes.

"...There's our...well, I don't know what he is to our group since he pretty much does everything anyone else does, Montie." Arryn points to Hector.

"Hey!" Hector says, offended.

"Relax, Hector. They understand, hopefully." Arryn retorts.

"Hello. So, you are the de-facto leader I met last night" Yelena remarks.

"Again, I wouldn't know about that..." Hector says.

"...and that's the new member, I also have no roles for her, Zara." Arryn says, pointing at Zara.

"Hello, again, Mother Yelena." She says to Yelena.

"Good to see you in high spirits." Yelena says.

"You know each other?" Hector asks.

"Mother was the reason I was never assaulted by the Viscount." Zara says.

"How's that? She's a Reverend, she's got places to be, is that incorrect?" Gavric asks.

"Not exactly. But it's her Magical Imprint that kept the Viscount from trying anything." Zara answers.

"Imprint? What's that?" Elyra asks.

"A specialized version of a magical subset." Arryn says. "Our wave energy allows us to be born with one magical affinity and learn other forms of magic at a slower pace. But an Imprint is a specialized facet of a magical affinity, and combines various magical abilities into one."

"Think..." Hector continues the explanation. "If someone were to be born with an affinity for darkness magic, and throughout his life had gotten affinities of flame, water and spatial magics, he would be able to develop an imprint, with a name of it's own, incorporating all the affinities he's learned and honed, with his natural affinity, to form a specialized technique, where he can use the darkness to burn things or people, fluidly manipulate its form and shapes like water, and create his own space of darkness."

"That's an Imprint." Arryn ends the explanation.

"It bothers me that you two know this much about magic..." Lyse says. "I'm the mage, and even I don't know this much."

"I'm curious..." Hector says. "Your Imprint, what is it?"

"Nice try, mercenary. My sister's not telling you her abilities..." Micah chimes in.

"Don't be a prick, big brother." Yelena rebukes him.

"But..." Micah defends.

"Her Imprint is called 'Endvision'..." Arryn says to the group, taking a seat.

The two siblings turn to him. "How do you know that?" Micah asks.

"Relax, brother. He knew a while ago." Yelena says.

"Her affinities..." Arryn continues "...at least the ones I know of, are Light, Water, Space and Sight Magic, her natural affinity, being Light. Endvision incorporates mostly her light and sight magic, and it allows her enhanced vision and her ability to put others to sleep with her eyes. What she is more well known for, however..."

"Is the Eagle Vision." Zara completes his statement.

"Right...By combining Light, Sight and Space magic, She can be aware of an entire city and can take notes of every nook and cranny in it. She can be fooled though, if you have the ability to evade sight magic" Arryn finishes.

"You've done your homework..." Yelena says to Arryn and Zara. "You know a lot more about it now, and yet I still don't know yours. All I have to go on are those Eyes of Destruction..."

"You have an Imprint, Arryn?" Gavric asks, interested in the topic.

"It's not important. You were asking about my relationship with these two?" Arryn tactfully deflects.

"Ah, yes. It's been bugging me all night." Elyra says.

"Well, we were both trained in the Yarranwood by the same masters..." Yelena says.

"Where's that? Sounds like a tropical region." Lyse asks.

"It's in the central forests of the Emerald region in Magnolia." Arryn says. "It's a secluded region, and it's covered in layer after layer of magical barrier. The people there aren't too open to outsiders, and you have to pass several tests to be allowed to even pass the night there."

"And yet Arryn is an honorary Yarranite." Yelena says.

"What does that mean?" Elyra asks.

"He wasn't born with them, but he lived and trained with them for so long that he was pretty much considered their own native. He was there for years before I arrived." Yelena answers.

"And what does your brother have to do with this?" Gavric asks.

"Well, he was already a member of the lower twelve of the 24 reverends by then. He didn't like the idea of me staying away from him, and he has no reign over any region in Magnolia as a Reverend, so he pretty much entrusted me to a local who'd been there before I was..." Yelena explains.

"...And on one of my visits, I caught that local with his lips locked with my dear little sister's puckers." Micah continues.

Yelena blushes and looks away.

"On one of your many visits, you sister-obsessed freak! And I already explained that it wasn't my fault!" Arryn verbally attacks.

"What was that? Of course I'd be obsessed when they're sister snatchers like you on the loose." Micah bites back.

"Cool it, you two!" Yelena says, calming the two arguing men.

"Great, now that's out of the way..." Hector says.

"...what were you up to, last night? and how did you get to our transport before us?" Lyse asks.

"Right. The latter is rather easy question to answer. The former, not so much." Arryn says.

"Well, these two..." Yelena says. "...spent a major portion of the night fighting. Their battle pretty much ended up with the two of them in the ocean between Grimeford and Valkenburg, which is where we met the transport ship. Arryn noticed the Captain, apparently he knows him from somewhere, and we all ended up spending the night on the ship."

"What's so hard to explain about that?" Zara asks.

"He means what he was up to after he ended up on the ship..." Hector says. "For the sake of the kids on board, I'd rather not enlighten anyone."

Zara and Elyra look confused. Lyse and Gavric grin widely at Arryn.