Aedhira sat in awe, the weight of Astiron's tale still settling into the corners of his mind. It was too difficult to come to terms with. He replayed the story over and over, trying to fit it into the framework of his own limited experience.
If he wasn't mistaken, the enormous reptilian head he'd glimpsed when he first entered the chamber really was Nornesh. And if that was just the dragon's *head*, he couldn't even begin to imagine the sheer size of the rest. The sheer *power* that must have coursed through such a being.
He shook his head, the thought too vast to comprehend. He was too fresh, too young—too lacking in memory and experience to even *try* and grasp something of that magnitude. Less than three weeks had passed since his awakening, and though he had already seen much—Fort Blanche, his own abilities, the towering army he hadn't even asked Astiron about, the Fyrraths, and that *monstrous* creature beyond their horde, not to mention the refugees—nothing he had encountered could help him come to terms with the enormity of Nornesh.
The silence in the chamber began to weigh heavily on him. Left alone with his thoughts, Aedhira found it unbearable. His mouth moved before he could stop it, his voice a whisper. "It's... a bit much."
Astiron smiled mildly at that, and before Aedhira could react, the older man's hand ruffled his hair again—something Astiron seemed to enjoy doing FAR TOO MUCH.
"You're not wrong," Astiron said, his tone easy, yet there was something behind his eyes—a deeper understanding. "But unlike how that story might have made him sound, Nornesh wasn't a fool. Far from it. Fools don't survive like Nornesh did. No, that dragon had a mind so brilliant he could've made a better conniving snake than he did a dragon."
Aedhira blinked, trying to reconcile that with the grand, reckless-seeming figure Astiron had described just moments ago.
"Nornesh always knew," Astiron continued, his voice gaining a kind of emboldened pride as he spoke. "He always prepared for an outcome like that. He wasn't going to let fate catch him by surprise." His eyes gleamed with something that was both admiration and melancholy.
"What was his contingency?" Aedhira asked before he could stop himself, curiosity pulling at him.
Astiron's gaze turned back to him, a knowing smile pulling at his lips. "His contingency?" he echoed, then paused dramatically, letting the weight of his next words settle in the space between them.
"It was YOU."
The air froze around them as Aedhira stared, stunned into silence. For a moment, the room seemed to shrink, as if the walls themselves held their breath. "Me?" Aedhira managed to breathe, disbelief thick in his voice.
Astiron nodded, continuing in his calm yet cryptic way. "You," he confirmed. "Or rather, the role you now occupy."
Aedhira struggled to find his words, but Astiron pushed forward before he could fully process the shock. "Tell me, Aedhira—how much have you been taught about runes?"
"Argos taught me... some," Aedhira replied cautiously, his voice uncertain. "Not a lot, just the basics." His mind raced as he wondered where this was heading.
Astiron gave a thoughtful nod. "Good. It's better that way. There are some things best learned with an organic touch."
Aedhira raised an eyebrow at the phrasing, but Astiron wasn't done. He fixed Aedhira with a pointed look, one that reminded him of a teacher quizzing their student. "So," Astiron began, almost like a math teacher asking for a simple equation, "what are runes?"
Aedhira repeated the definition Argos had drilled into him during their brief lessons, his voice calm, steady. "Runes are physical manifestations of the universe," he said, the words coming out like clockwork.
Astiron gave a slow, approving nod, his eyes glittering as if Aedhira had passed some invisible test. "That's right. And Nornesh—he knew he was going to die one day. He knew it in a way most creatures never do. He knew it beyond his body, beyond his creed—he FELT it in his soul."
A chill crept down Aedhira's spine. The concept of death was something he hadn't fully grasped yet—at least not in the way Astiron was describing.
The idea of a creature like Nornesh knowing his time would come, preparing for it, weaving his fate into something larger than just his physical form... it was overwhelming. Aedhira's mind swirled with the weight of it, struggling to grasp the sheer enormity of what Astiron was revealing.
But before he could fully process it, Astiron seemed to jump topics again, his characteristic inability to stay on one track too long showing through. "An Eminence of a Creed," he began, voice gaining a teacherly tone, "it means to possess the status to EMOBODY the creed. Not just wield it like a tool or a power, but to BECOME it."
Aedhira furrowed his brow, trying to make sense of the distinction. "Like an Illyenial?" he asked, the word slipping out instinctively from something Argos had once mentioned.
Astiron froze. His expression shifted from casual to sharp in an instant. The weight of his gaze pressed down on Aedhira like an anvil as he slowly asked, "Where did you hear that name?"
"Argos told me," Aedhira replied, unsure why the simple question seemed to have caused such a reaction.
"Argos?" Astiron's disbelief was almost palpable, his voice low and firm. "That's not possible. Argos has strict—beyond strict—protocols for sensitive information. You wouldn't have had access to that word until you fulfilled a certain requirement. Or..." He narrowed his eyes. "Until you had met me."
Aedhira blinked, baffled. "But Argos—"
"No," Astiron cut him off, his voice final. "There are protocols in place, and those protocols are not easily broken." He shook his head, his face a mixture of concern and something deeper. "This doesn't add up. What Illyenial do you personally know of?"
Aedhira hesitated, then a name surfaced in his mind. "Hoh," he started to say, but before he could even form the sound, Astiron blurred, moving faster than Aedhira's eyes could track. In an instant, Astiron's hand was over his mouth, pressing Aedhira's lips shut.
"Don't speak that name," Astiron said, his voice tense. His eyes held an intensity that made Aedhira's skin prickle. "Mouth the word, don't say it."
Aedhira, still stunned, mouthed the name—Hoh.
Astiron's face grew even tenser, his jaw clenched. He muttered to himself, something about more eyes being on Aedhira than he'd anticipated. "The Jubilis," he murmured under his breath, his gaze distant for a moment, "so they've taken notice of you this early."
"What—" Aedhira tried to ask, but Astiron snapped back to the present, cutting him off.
"Promise me," Astiron said, his tone uncharacteristically serious, "that you won't carelessly utter the name of an Illyenial. Directly or indirectly. Not until I've arranged for the proper... countermeasures." His gaze softened slightly, though the tension remained. "It's dangerous, Aedhira. Even the slightest mention could draw unwanted attention."
Aedhira nodded, still trying to make sense of it all. He wasn't entirely sure what an Illyenial was, much less why their names held such power. But the gravity in Astiron's voice was enough to make him heed the warning.
Astiron sighed, his previous tension fading. "Now, to answer your original question," he continued, his tone returning to something more relaxed, "yes, Eminences are quite similar to Illyenials. In the sense that they embody an aspect of the universe. But there's a key difference."
Aedhira tilted his head, curious despite the lingering tension. "What's the difference?"
"I can't explain all of it right now," Astiron said, "but Illyenials don't just embody an aspect—they ARE the aspect. They ARE the universe in that form. They aren't beings in the sense we understand, not in a way I can fully explain to you yet. They're... something more."
Aedhira frowned, trying to wrap his head around the concept. "And Eminences?"
"Most Eminences," Astiron continued, "are living, breathing beings. They walk, talk, think, and feel just like you or me. They exist independently, though they've achieved a kind of connection to their Creed that makes them seem... more. But an Illyenial?" He shook his head. "They're beyond that. You don't meet an Illyenial the way you meet an Eminence. You experience them. They are the universe moving through you."
Astiron rubbed the bridge of his nose, a hint of frustration creasing his brow. "Donovan was always better at explaining this sort of thing," he muttered, half to himself. The name piqued Aedhira's curiosity instantly, and he couldn't help but ask, "Who's Donovan?"
Astiron, though, waved it off dismissively. "Not now," he said, his tone firm but not unkind. "We'll get to that when the time comes."
With a shift in his stance, Astiron brought the conversation back on track. "As I was saying, Eminences—like I mentioned before—are only bestowed their status by the 'universe' itself."
Aedhira, still trying to process the enormity of everything Astiron had been explaining, questioned the phrasing. "The *universe* bestows them?"
Astiron gave a half-hearted shrug. "It's not exactly a well-researched topic. For rankers like me, it's more of an... urban legend, a way to make sense of things that otherwise wouldn't make any sense. Convenient explanations for inconvenient mysteries."
He paused, letting the silence build before continuing, his eyes narrowing in thought. "When Nornesh managed to best his last opponent, his body was too far gone. So, he did something no one could have expected—he took his spirit and soul, and housed them within a body of *storm*."
Aedhira blinked. "Storm?"
"Storm," Astiron confirmed, as though the word alone held a kind of power. "It wasn't meant to hold a soul like that, though. Storm isn't a creed you use for... containment. It's far too volatile. How Nornesh managed it... Well, no one knows. Not even other dragons have managed to replicate what he did. Nornesh was... a different breed entirely. The kind of prodigy that comes once in a thousand generations, even among dragons."
Aedhira's mind raced, trying to imagine what kind of power it would take to bind oneself to a body made of storm. It seemed impossible—yet somehow, Nornesh had done it.
"It was only when Nornesh was bestowed *Eminence* status," Astiron continued, "that he managed to hold himself together in such a volatile form. Without that, he would never have survived."
Aedhira wanted to ask more—how exactly Nornesh had managed this, what made an Eminence capable of surviving in such extreme circumstances—but Astiron didn't seem inclined to linger on the topic. Instead, he directed Aedhira back to something else.
"Now," Astiron said, his voice taking on the tone of a teacher again, "compare the definitions I gave you. Of a Rune, and of an Eminence."
Aedhira nodded, remembering Argos's lessons on Runes. He recited the definitions aloud. "Runes are physical manifestations of the universe," he began, "and an Eminence embodies a universal creed."
Astiron's eyes lit up with approval. "Exactly," he said. "You've hit the hippogriff's eye on the mark."
Aedhira blinked, feeling the connection snap into place. He suddenly understood where Astiron was leading him. If both Runes and Eminences were manifestations of the universe... then Nornesh had taken the next, unthinkable step.
"Nornesh... created a Rune based on himself and his creed," Aedhira whispered, his voice barely above a breath as the realization hit him.
Astiron offered Aedhira a wry grin. "That's right."
Aedhira's eyes widened. It was starting to sound suspiciously like a Rune he himself possessed. He could feel it, the connection vibrating deep within him—the Rune of *The Dragon Flies, The Storm Follows*. It all made sense now. The powerful, dangerous nature of that Rune... the way it called to something ancient and primal, something far older than he could comprehend.
"Nornesh... created a Rune based on himself and his creed," Astiron echoed, watching the realization settle over Aedhira. "But even that wasn't enough."
Aedhira frowned, tilting his head, the complexity of the revelation sending his thoughts spiraling. He was still trying to grasp the significance of Nornesh creating such a powerful Rune when Astiron continued.
"You see," Astiron said, his voice slow and deliberate, "there wasn't a single being in this universe—save for Nornesh himself—who had a conceivable physicality capable of holding the Rune within themselves. Let alone using it."
Aedhira's breath hitched as the weight of the statement sank in. The magnitude of what Nornesh had done began to paint a vast picture in his mind, a picture that was far beyond what he had imagined.
"That," Astiron said, with a meaningful pause, "is when you came into the picture."
Aedhira's eyes widened as Astiron shifted his tone, the revelation landing with all the gravity of the universe itself. "Me?" he managed, his voice barely above a whisper.
Astiron nodded, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Nearly a hundred years ago, the plans to create you were still in their infancy. And no, I'm not going to spoil all of it for you," he added, anticipating Aedhira's questions before they could form. "You'll find out the details when you're ready."
Aedhira's mind churned, but Astiron continued, leaving little room for interruption. "During that time, we were securing what I'll call 'materials'—although, trust me, that word doesn't do any justice to what was actually being gathered." He hesitated, searching for the right words. "I apologize if that feels... cold. It wasn't just 'things' we were collecting."
Aedhira nodded slightly, sensing the complexity behind Astiron's awkward phrasing.
"That's why I'd rather leave Donovan to explain it," Astiron muttered, waving the name off again. "Anyway, when you were being forged, nearly twenty years ago, alongside the other three Runes, Nornesh provided an imprint of his personal Rune."
Aedhira stiffened, the connection deepening in his mind. His 'heart; pulsed in recognition. Astiron's words struck him with the weight of a thunderclap.
"He wanted it carved into your heart," Astiron said, his voice softer now, the gravity of the past echoing in his tone. "We didn't have much time to inspect the Rune back then, so even now, I don't know exactly what it does. All I know is Nornesh's instruction: to bring you to where the rest of him lay... once the 'job' was done."
"The job?" Aedhira asked, confused, though he could sense the answer lingering on the edge of Astiron's words.
"The completion of your forging," Astiron said. "And the remains? Well, those are Lokir."
"Lokir?" Aedhira echoed, his confusion deepening. "I thought... I thought I saw Nornesh's head when I entered the chamber..."
Astiron's sudden laughter filled the cavernous space, ringing off the walls. The suddenness of it startled Aedhira.
"That?" Astiron chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "That wasn't even close to the whole thing, Aedhira." He grinned, his expression light but tinged with awe. "What you saw was only a part of his draconic head, sealed within the tomb. The REAL tomb... is Lokir itself."
Aedhira's heart skipped. "Lokir... the entire planet?"
"The entire moon," Astiron corrected. "Nornesh's body coils through the entirety of Lokir, deep within its core. His presence is what makes the conditions of this place so volatile and unpredictable."
Aedhira stood frozen, the revelation crashing over him like a storm. He stared at Astiron, his mind grappling with the sheer *size* of Nornesh, with the knowledge that they were standing, living, and breathing atop the remains of a dragon that coiled through an entire moon. It was unfathomable.
"That," Astiron said, his voice soft with reverence, "is the true scale of Nornesh. His body is the moon of Lokir itself."
Aedhira's mind was reeling. The magnitude of Nornesh, the connection he had to the Rune, and the reality that he was somehow tied to all of it—it felt like standing on the edge of something far too vast for him to comprehend. Yet, here he was, a living part of it.