Secrets

Darius sat up in his bed, staring about at his dark room. 'That dream..' he thought. The image of the assassin mage, mad and wrathful, swept through his mind. 'That was..'

Then he heard faint voices outside his room. He went quiet, the thought fading from his mind as he tried to listen. One of the voices was unfamiliar to him, but the other most certainly belonged to Alabaun. Darius slowly got up from his bed and crept across his room to the door, placing his ear against the smooth wood. Still, he couldn't hear well enough to make out the words.

He backed away, looking down at the doorknob. His hand slowly reached for it, then stopped. 'What am I doing?' He thought. 'Why is it my business to know what Alabaun does in the middle of the night?' He lingered on that thought for a moment, then ultimately decided he was too curious to simply ignore it.

He grabbed the doorknob and winced as it he opened the door, the hinges creaking softly. He poked his head out, looking down both ends of the hall. The voices came from the right of him, and, taking one last look, he slowly snuck out, creeping down the hall on his toes as he made his way to the corner before the hall shot to the right. He could hear them clearly now as they spoke.

"…didn't you send a messenger? You could've told me beforehand that the Catalyst was here. Would've been appreciated." Said one voice. From the line of "send a messenger" Darius took a guess and assumed it was Nillan, Alabaun's son.

"What would it of mattered if I told you beforehand? What does it matter now? I don't see why you are so irritated." Alabaun spoke.

"Because this is important! You didn't think to tell me? This isn't some little thing that happens on a daily."

"Well, the Catalyst is here. It's safe now, well out of the Nameless's reach, and that's all that matters."

"Except that it makes Warshden a target. I would like to remind you that the lives of these people are on our hands. And you'd risk that?"

"Risk? Obviously there is risk. Would you rather this, or the Nameless get a hold of the Catalyst and take over the world? Well, would that be better?"

"That's.. not what I'm saying. I'm just saying you need to be more careful. We can't just make moves like this. At this rate, Ingaurn's armies will be upon us in mere weeks."

Alabaun sighed. "Can we discuss this in the morning?"

Darius backed away from the corner, puzzled. He began to make his way back to his room. The conversation may not of been over, but he didn't want to risk being caught. He doubted it would look very good for him. He retreated to his room, shutting the door softly behind him as he went to his bed. He laid back and pondered all things that had occurred in such a short time.

'Catalyst?' He thought. 'What did they mean by that? Whatever it is, it sounded important.' He had a sneaking thought as to what they meant, but he didn't want to believe that. They made it sound like some kind of important item, so surely not. 'What are they referring to then..? And why would the Nameless want it so badly?'

He rolled over in bed. 'And that dream.. was that real? And if so, why did I see it? And that place.. that.. void.. the mirror, did that mean something?' He sighed, grabbing a pillow and folding it over his head. He decided he was too tired for this. He needed sleep. He would sort out his thoughts in the morning.

~~~

The next day, Darius wandered the castle's halls. He'd already finished training; today they had worked on manifesting spears rather than swords. Alabaun had said how his spears were weak and not really a threat, so he decided to try and make them one. That was all and well, but as Darius stared out the window down at the denizens going about their days below, he couldn't shake away his troubling thoughts. Between his dream and what he overheard that night, he was well beyond confused.

'That woman… she called the boy-Etto, no, Satori's son Cryon..' he pondered this for a moment. He thought of how Satori had taken Cryon's shape when they had met. Only now did he think how strange a choice that was. Why not Alabaun? A mage Darius would immediately trust? Why mimic a mage he'd question? That move didn't make any sense. But after that dream, he couldn't help but wonder if it was for another reason entirely.

He'd labeled the assassin mage a grotesque, evil person. After all, he was cruel and cold, seeming to only care about bloodshed and violence. But what if there was more to the story? What if there was a reason he was like that? What if he wasn't even like that to begin with.. or at least, he didn't use to be.

It was a strange thought that perplexed Darius. And that strange abyss, that mirror, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was far more than a dream. But what else could it be? Then again, how could he dream about the past of another mage?

And the mages that were there with the assassin, the one in white.. there was something frightening about him. He seemed so.. dead. He moved and acted as though he wasn't even human. He was more like some kind of twisted demon that he was human or even a mage. The woman in black as well, Darius could guess as to who she may have been. He assumed it was Lyra, the Nameless's wife and queen of Ingaurn. It would make sense.

He thought about how easily the mage in white had subdued Satori. Was Satori weaker in that dream? Or was that mage just that strong? He thought about how he'd seen Alabaun put Satori's shadow down with ease. But that wasn't a shadow in his dream, that was the real mage. A mage of that much skill and frightening power.. was it possibly Tahar? The third mage.. the Death Mage?

Darius sighed, placing a sore and tender hand to his head. He looked down at it, pulling it away. Blisters covered his hands. The rigorous training always left him sore and in pain. How many days had it been now? Three? Four? It felt longer.

"Admiring the city?" Came a voice, causing Darius to jump as he was startled. He turned his head, seeing the red haired boy from before.

"Ah, yeah. I'm not quite used to it yet, I guess." Darius said awkwardly.

"Not used to it? Strange, coming from someone who grew up in the city of Ingaurn." Nillan spoke, his hard eyes pressed on Darius, his arms folded across his chest. His chin was lifted and his eyes were filled with contempt.

'What is this guy's issue?' Darius thought. "Well, I never really left the house. So, in reality, I never really had much experience in big cities. Mainly just the woods."

"Ah, a homeless rat, I almost forgot." Nillan mocked.

Darius ignored it, standing up straight as he turned towards Nillan. "Yeah. I guess. I prefer the woods, really. They are more… comforting."

"Comforting?" Nillan scoffed. "Tell that to the Black Rose, I bet they'd agree."

"Is there… a problem? Did I do something to insult you?" Darius asked.

"Look," Nillan said, unfolding his arms as he stepped towards Darius, "let me be straight forward. I don't like you. You're weak, and you are a burden. You'll do nothing but slow us down, and war is coming. And I'm willing to be you'll die, if not get us killed. So why don't you do everyone a favor, go down to the warden, right, tell him you want a cell. Pick any one of them. Tell him to lock the door, and you can stay there, safe and sound, and just wait till this crap all blows over. Give up on your training, because as far as I've seen, it's pointless. You aren't getting anywhere, and you won't. So just disappear, alright?"

Darius studied the boy for a moment, confused. Why was this kid so angry? What did Darius even do?

Nillan shook his head. "Whatever. Just get out of my sight." He said, walking past Darius, making sure to slam him in the shoulder as he went. Then it struck Darius.

"I get it." Darius said, not bothering to turn around. "You're jealous because I'm taking daddy's attention away from you. That's cute, didn't think someone so hot headed would be such a daddy's boy."

Nillan spun then, his fist cracking over the back of Darius's head as he lurched forward.

"Watch what you say to me, you worthless brat!" Nillan yelled as Darius grabbed his head, leaning over.

"Stupid bastard." Nillan mumbled as he turned away, and as he did, Darius flipped around, grabbing the boy's shoulder and pulling him, his fist slamming into Nillan's jaw, sending him stumbling back into the wall.

"Well, I'd say we are even then." Darius said, shaking off his hand.

"Like hell we are!" Nillan shouted, running at Darius and tackling him into the window, which shattered in a cascade of glass as the two tumbled out of the building and down into the bushes of the garden below.

Darius rolled across the grass, groaning as he got to his feet. Nillan was already up, walking over to Darius and cracking a fist across his head, knocking him back down.

"You don't know shit!" Nillan cursed, "You'll drag us all to hell! You are weak and pathetic, worthless in every way. I don't know why my father even bothers with you. You're a waste of time!"

"Ah, so I was right, you're jealous then." Darius mocked.

"Bastard!" Nillan threw another punch, and Darius grabbed the boy's wrist, twisting it as he pulled Nillan to the ground, pinning him as he slammed his knee down on the boy's throat, holding him in place.

"Alright." Darius said, wiping his hair from his eyes, blood leaking from his nose. "Let me make it clear this time. I was originally just gonna ignore you, but honestly, you're annoying as shit, and I can see why daddy doesn't give you all his time. I can only imagine how much of pain in the ass you are, so now, we gotta do things the stupid way, because you are thick headed. Just like your dad warned me. So, I'm gonna tell you here and now. I don't mind some attitude, but I really hate it when people look down on me. So from here on out, let's not screw around? Alright? Just screw off. Because I don't have the patience your dad's got, I really don't, and it's honestly shocking to me that you are older than I am, yet you still act like a spoiled brat."

Nillan choked, coughing as he tried to speak beneath Darius's knee.

"Sorry, what was that? More attitude? Alright, I can sit here all day. I've got time."

Nillan's eyes flashed gold then. Darius quickly leapt away as the earth rose up, spears of rock flying out of the earth. Darius landed a few feet away from Nillan as the boy stood. His hand rested on his throat as he stared at Darius with wrathful eyes.

"You really wanna do this?" Darius asked. "Here?" He raised his hands, looking around. A large crowd had gathered now on the city streets, the people staring and talking amongst themselves in hushed tones.

Nillan seemed to not hear him though, his eyes locked on Darius as he stepped towards him.

"Really? You think it's a good idea to use magic with a crowd like this?" Darius asked again.

But there was no point. The boy was too far gone, as he raised his hand and a slab of earth rushed from the garden, flying towards Darius. Glass formed across his arm as he rested back his fist before sending it forwards, his knuckles crashing into the rock as it exploded into rubble. From behind it, Nillan came rushing at Darius, a massive stone axe formed in his hands as he swung it. Darius tried to move away, but when he did, a figure dropped from the air. The moment they landed, the stone axe shattered, as did the glass upon Darius's arm. With both boys confused, Alabaun grabbed both Nillan and Darius by their hair as he smiled out at the crowd.

"Sorry about the ruckus, everyone, please, resume your day." He announced, and then he yanked both boys, slamming their heads together.