Chapter 5-5: The Moon Sigil

Among the rubble that once was the northern courtyard, a figure floated in the air. His long hair fluttered in the wind created by his own mana storming around him. His ceremonial robes were covered in blood.

Below, Aiden and Lord Condor were barely standing. The enforcer's mana had created a shield at the last moment, protecting both of them from the blast that destroyed most of the courtyard.

They stared at the young man floating in the air, seemingly unconscious. Finally, Lord Condor spoke. "It actually worked!" His voice was but a whisper. Still, Aiden heard him.

"What do you mean?" He glanced at his uncle. Did he sound excited just now?

"Oh, nothing. I meant the shield. It was barely strong enough." He let go of the protective spell, allowing the shield to dissolve. "I didn't think he'd be quite this strong." He mumbled, wiping some sweat off his forehead.

Aiden nodded. Ren's mana was much stronger than last time.

Ren slowly opened his eyes. He looked around, only to see a black-purple storm around him. The air was heavy and hard to breathe. His ears were ringing. It took him a moment to remember the last few minutes. His eyes suddenly widened. In a panic, he tried to call out to Aiden and Lord Condor, but his voice couldn't pierce the thick darkness.

He tried to move his muscles, but his body felt weakened. He could already feel his own warmth leaving him. His chest and arms hurt. He could feel the strain every bit of movement put on his wounds. He tried to reach his tachi, but it wasn't there. He gulped, partially in fear. The black-purple mana kept raging on. It wasn't a pleasant view, seeing his own mana – all of it. It only served as a reminder of his failure.

He blinked a few times. He had to stop this. Now. Without his blade, he couldn't use the sealing spell. He had to do something else to calm his mana. His body ached; his thoughts were blurry. He was cold.

Yu's words rang in his ears.

'Always be calm. More than ever when facing danger. Never lose sight of yourself'.

He took deep breaths and forced his muscles to relax. The storming winds pulled at his hair and clothes, quickly drying the blood on him.

He needed something he could use as a conduit – anything. He slowly reached for his ritual anchor but stopped as he remembered leaving it in his room. Besides, it probably wouldn't be able to channel this much mana. He could feel a lump in his throat. He had to stay calm. He took a few more deep breaths before slowly searching his pockets. Wasn't there anything he could use?

Outside the raging mana storm, Aiden asked his uncle. "What's he doing? Why can't he hear us?"

Lord Condor shook his head. "He's trying to calm his mana. I don't think he can even see us." He sighed. "He's trapped in there." He couldn't help but pity the young man. For someone who wielded so much power, he was truly pathetic. "Don't get too close to him Aiden. I don't want to see you hurt because of someone-" He stopped. "…Something like him." He said after a short pause.

Aiden flinched. His uncle didn't even consider Ren a person! He wanted to get angry, he wanted shout at him, to blame him. But he held his tongue. There were too many unknowns. He couldn't be rash.

Within the storm, Ren clenched his fists. Without his tachi, there wasn't anything he could do. If only he wasn't trapped, suspended in the air like this. He could use the stones and some blood to create a simple ritual circle to calm his mana. But now, he couldn't even reach the ground. His breathing quickened. He felt fear grasp at his throat. He placed his hand on his heart, it was beating so quickly.

He had to remain calm. A ritual circle, that was all he needed. A few simple inscriptions were all he needed. An idea occurred to him as he swiped up some of his own blood with his finger. His right arm was unharmed, there were no wounds. With quick, precise motions he wrote several glyphs, forming the inscription he needed. After taking a deep breath, he activated them. He screamed in pain as the mana storm surrounding him suddenly changed. The black-purple mana flowed into the inscription on his arm. It felt as if every glyph was being branded onto him with hot metal.

Moments later, he felt the force holding him suspended in the air disappear. He fell onto the ground with a thud. He had no energy left to even try and stand up. He heard someone calling his name from far away, right before his vision darkened.

Aiden jumped over the huge cracks and missing stones. When he reached the unconscious Ren, he quickly checked his pulse. "He's alive… Thank the moon."

"Of course he is." His uncle said with a bitter tone. "Move aside, I'll fix him." He extended his hand. A soft, yellow light shone upon Ren. Soon, his wounds started healing. Aiden gasped as the light didn't only heal his wounds, but also slowly mended his clothes and removed the blood. Soon, there was no trace of the previous events left on the young man's body.

"What spell is that?" He asked as his uncle directed the light upon the damaged area of the courtyard. Soon, there would be no traces of the previous events left at all.

"One the Council controls exclusively." His uncle answered. "Now what's this?" He bended down and rolled Ren's right sleeve up. A set of advanced glyphs were written on his arm with blood. "So that's what he did. Smart kid." His uncle sighed and wiped the blood off.

Aiden couldn't even recognise some of the glyphs. He wanted to ask more, but his uncle interrupted his thoughts. "Take his sword, Aiden. We should take him to his room before the sun sets." Aiden flinched and glanced at the sky. It was dusk, the sun wasn't even visible from behind the far away mountains anymore. They didn't have much time left. He grabbed the tachi laying on the ground and watched as his uncle effortlessly picked Ren up.

"Stay close to me." His uncle said as he cast yet another spell Aiden didn't recognise. "No one will notice us. And yes, this spell is also exclusively taught to those who belong to the Council." Aiden nodded, but his uncle's choice of words left a bad taste in his mouth.

They left the courtyard and approached the dorms. Outside the door, Lena and Serana were having a seemingly pleasant chat. Aiden felt his body tense up as they both looked towards him and his uncle. To his surprise, their gaze drifted away almost immediately. They didn't seem alarmed or surprised even a little bit.

"I told you." His uncle said softly. "They just… don't notice us." He pushed the door open and went inside with Aiden in tow. They passed Mirielle on the stairs and Alex on the way to Ren's room. They also didn't seem to notice anything.

His uncle pushed the door to Ren's room and dropped the young man on his bed. He wasn't being gentle at all. "He doesn't have much time left." He mumbled before finally facing Aiden. "I'll take my leave. Any questions you have, ask him."

"Wait!" Aiden grabbed his uncle's arm. "No way I'm letting you leave after all that's happened!"

"Even if you ask me, I can't answer your questions Aiden." He glanced at the unconscious young man. "I simply did what I was ordered to. I'm not allowed to do – or say – more than that." He pulled his arm away and opened the door. "Don't get too close to him. He's very much like fire – beautiful to watch, but you'll get burned if you come too close." With those words, his uncle faded from Aiden's view.

Aiden shook his head in defeat. He had used that spell again. Being on the receiving end of it was even weirder than being the one hidden from sight by it. It felt as if his vision simply tried to avoid his uncle.

After a moment, he glanced at Ren. He was going to get his answers. If not from his uncle, from Ren.