7. Nox

CHAPTER 7

Nox

N ox felt his mind wandering deep into the night. Aura had been certain she wanted to take on this mission now. It was simple for him, he would follow her to the depths if she asked. Even if she didn't ask, he would still traverse the shadowfell for her, the streets of Hel if that was what it took to keep her safe.

Aura was tucked into his side, despite sleeping at the farthest opposite side of the bed when she first went to sleep. In her dreamstate, she inched closer and closer to him, before curling into his side. His mind was much too awake to sleep however, so he stared at the ceiling in his chambers and cataloged who would be best to accompany them on their mission. But the more he thought about it, the riskier it sounded. Kellian had approved her to take 3 people with her, and while he knew that was based in safety, Nox felt uneasy. More people with them traveling would draw eyes. But if Nox and Aura traveled by themselves, they could simply be a traveling pair, nothing unusual about it. While Aura had never gone far outside of the Hollow, she had been to many edges of the borders, fought off raiders and other attacks on lands where the border had shrunk back from the shadow beast. She knew some of the evil men that wandered the Evanthian land. The Mad King had harbored and fostered a type of chaotic evil in his lands. After outlawing any magic wielders, those of witch or fae descent, the king had sent out rewards for anyone who caught one roaming the lands. A high reward since it was so rare now. That was what had brought Kyeria to their lands, why after a decade of traveling in hiding, she had no choice but to run into the Ash Mountains despite the terrible tales of certain death for any who passed. Her magic, and heritage had let her through. Nox knew, logically, that Aura understood the dangers to the best of her ability, but she hadn't experienced them.

Nox had.

He tried to shake the nightmares from behind his eyes. He was so young, when his parents had traveled to The Hollow. His family had been displaced after the Great War, after helping the fae and magic wielders. They found their way back in and Fendiah himself had escorted them back across the borders. But those years outside of The Hollow would haunt him for years to come.

Nox let out a sigh, pushed his hair aside from his face, noting he desperately needed a haircut but he knew Aura had liked it long so he had kept it so. She had these tells, they were so obvious to him now. She touched things she liked, whether it was a sword or a weapon, her fingers danced along, or his hair she always touched more when it was longer below his ears than cropped short as the other soldiers in the royal army. Nox reached out to her, her body so small curled into him, and he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her even closer to his chest. Her cheek nuzzled into him more, and she hummed in her sleep state. He let himself drift off then, content by her being in his arms.

The air was being sucked out of him, all around him actually. It thinned and thinned and only smoke was left. He felt the edges of his limbs warming but not quite burning before his eyes shot open. His childhood house was before his eyes, burning brightly in the night. Villagers outside screamed, as their small hut on the outskirts of a village in The Open Lands went into flames.

"Nox, wake up son!" His father shouted, he bolted upright and frantically looked across the small room to the other bed, where his little sister slept. Instead, he saw a large burning beam. He screamed and screamed, his lungs raw with the effort of trying to get to her. But his father had caught him, before he could fling himself into the flames engulfing the room.

"Nox, stop!" His father shouted, dragging him out an open door. The smoke was so thick now, Nox could barely see in front of him, only orange and red flame, and black smoke.

The outside air was like being shoved under a thawed winter lake. The roaring of the fire was dull to his ears as they picked up another sound, so much worse. His mother, on her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks, screaming so frantically, it burned into his skin worse than the fire itself.

"Nox!"

"Nox, wake up." The voice was sweet and familiar, like the sunrise over The Hollow or the sun after a rainstorm. His eyes cracked open, and he felt himself wake up fully. He was not in the small hut his family once called home, he was in his own bed, Aura's hands on either of his face, golden eyes shining down at him, etched with such deep worry that he shot upright. Something had to be wrong.

"Shhh." Aura shushed him and curled her body around his, wrapping her arms around him. "You're okay," she said so gently that the tone felt so foreign from her lips.

"Sorry," Nox muttered to her, leaning his head down into the crook of her neck and hair. He breathed her in, her scent calming him immediately. He was in the barracks, in his own home, Aura by his side.

"It's alright." Aura squeezed him tight and let the silence of the night envelop them. After a handful of minutes Aura spoke up again quietly, as if afraid to voice her concern, "do these happen often?"

Nox leaned back on the headboard, rubbing his hands over his face. "Not for some time." He shook his head.

"Like years or weeks?" she asked again. Her voice was soft and when he met her eyes again, they glowed in the moonlight. She herself glowed, as if her magic was ready to protect him, reacting for her.

"Um—" he groaned, " a week."

"What are they about?" she asked, moving closer to him and leaning into his side. It was rare she showed such blatant affection to him, but he knew this was how she knew how to show love, how she expressed it, by being present as she had with Kyeria and Esmeralda and he was sure many others.

"Did Kel ever tell you about why my family came back to The Hollow?" he asked. She shook her head in reply.

"I remember you showing up when we were young, you and Kel were always getting into trouble." She smiled up at him. It was so blinding he had to swallow and recollect himself before beginning.

"My parents had fought in The Great War, with the fae. After the war they were far from here so they started their life, they had me and not long after my sister." He heard Aura's small gasp, he knew she didn't know, didn't know he had another family than his mother.

"We were in The Open Lands, our house went up in flames in the middle of the night, and—" he paused, trying to swallow down the emotions. Aura reached out, taking his hand as he had done early for her. She intertwined their fingers though, giving him a small burst of strength to continue, "my sister did not make it out. We came back to The Hollow, my mother was never the same, but my father, he left in the night after we were back. Left a note that he was setting out to find the bastard that lit our house a flame." Nox shook his head. "He never came back."

Aura squeezed his hand and looked up to him with watery eyes.

He pulled her close. "The nightmares, I am there again, sometimes I wake before a beam falls and I can't get to her, or after, but no matter the dream, I can't save her and I am dragged out of the house."

"That's horrible," Aura whispered.

"The lands out there, the realm…it is not a good place to be."

Aura nodded. "I know the dangers," she said quietly.

"You don't." He shook his head. "I barely do, I was so young, and the people out there are brutal and remorseless, they'll kill someone for the bag on their back."

"We will be careful," she insisted. "Go back to sleep," she whispered as he slid back down under the covers, letting his head rest on the pillow. She stayed with him that night, curled into his side, not from a movement in her sleep but because she decided to be there.

The next morning, Aura and Nox began with training before the sun rose, back to their usual schedule. Lucas reported no movement on anyone near Aura's rooms, and she agreed to stay the night again with him to be safe. Her being this agreeable was a little unsettling, but her eyes were lined with a fraction of worry every time she looked at him, but he knew it wasn't pity. She herself would hate to be looked upon with pity. No, she was seeing him differently. Nox had yet to decide if that was something he liked or not.

Aura went on her way to her training classes with the younglings and Nox went to find Lucas and Issac who were in the small armory building.

"Hey boss," Issac greeted as Nox walked into the room.

"I need to talk to you both," Nox informed them, sitting at one of the tables. They followed suit, the wooden bench creaking under them as they sat.

"I am being assigned a mission, out of The Hollow," he began. Issac and Lucas shared a look,

"Sir?" Lucas questioned.

"Lucas, you are my second. You will oversee the everyday. Issac, you will take over Aura's training classes with the younglings."

"The Princess is leaving The Hollow?" Issac's wide eyed response received a nudge from Lucas.

"Yes Sir." Lucas nodded.

"I am going to inform you on what is happening, but it does not leave this room. Understood?" he asked them. They both nodded sternly and Nox explained the group of magic wielders who were from The Hollow, trapped by the Mad King and how he and the princess were going to trek to the castle with the help of light sprites sending information ahead and sneak out the prisoners. Lucas, Issac, and Nox spent the next hour helping come up with a plan on what path to take and Nox called for Ember at the end of their meeting.

"Mr. Nox!" She beamed. "How can I help you?" Her voice was honey sweet as it always was, she glowed extra golden today, as if a small bundle of the sunset itself.

"Get as much information about the layout of the Evanthian castle and the movements of the magic wielders from the sprites stationed there, send your fastest, we only have a few days before we travel."

"I will do just that." She nodded, then paused, slowing her flutter and sitting on the lantern outside the armory where Nox was standing. "The prince has asked me to accompany you on the journey," she explained. Nox nodded, knowing it was smart to have a sprite with them, someone who could go back and forth with messages and turn invisible to the human eyes when needed. Ember continued to explain that she had sprites stationed inside the Evanthian castle that rotated out and traveled back here with information and messages from the magic wielders that were trapped. Kellian had seemed to have been plotting to get them free over the last few years. But a rescue mission could compromise the very existence of The Hollow. The Hollow were Dragon lands, sacred and protected by the Galanis Line, and in leaving and rescuing some of his fellow Hollow people, it could put at risk the knowledge of the purposefully forgotten kingdom.

"Alright, get yourself prepared, and let Aura know as well." He nodded to the sprite who smiled and waved before flying away, a small path of light following her as she went.

Nox was quite fond of the sprites. There were many small families of them throughout The Dragioner Forest. A trusted group had become the royal messengers decades ago, that specific family trusted with getting information quickly throughout The Hollow. Ember's own sisters worked in a duo to travel into Evanthia and come back with information to The Hollow. They had sent directions, drawing out a rough map of the castle and the dungeons itself, and promised to meet Nox and Aura outside the last village before the castle walls.

After Ember went on her way, Nox decided to patrol the castle, near Aura's chambers. He walked through the gardens, something Aura did often before taking the garden entrance into the stone castle, vines twisted up around the doors and up the stone facing of the castle, the lanterns on either side of the door were lit, creating a dim light. He nodded to the guard posted at the doors and walked inside. The stone kept the castle rather cold even as they got closer to the summer. He went down the familiar halls, glancing over all the dark corners, before he got to Aura's chambers, the door was ajar, and he walked through assuming Aura was inside.

"Your Highness—" he stopped, seeing the empty room, a window open and the curtain flowing in the wind. It was dawn now, the sun setting casting a pinkish hue across the room. He scanned the room, and took a few steps back, making it sound like he was leaving, he creaked the door shut behind him, falling to the shadows. A russell of noise was heard, then from the washroom, a hooded figure emerged. They were taller than Aura, immediately putting him on high alert. He leaped forward, knocking the person down.

"Thief," he growled pinning them under him, he ripped off the hooded cloak to reveal a servant. The same brown haired, and freckle-faced woman who had brought Aura clothes at Nox's house after the shadow beast had been banished and Aura was hurt.

"What did you take?" he seethed, pulling her up with him to his feet. He kept a hand on her cloak, holding her from escaping.

"I-I" she stuttered, her eyes watery with tears. She was young, he noticed, that of Esmeralda's age maybe. "I'm so sorry sir—I mean no harm!" She held up her hands.

"What did you take?" He asked again, a lethal tone. She shook with fear.

"I was only delivering Aura her elixirs! And leaving a note!" She revealed a piece of parchment that had been rolled with a red seal on it. He went to speak but Aura walked into the room at that moment.

"Nox! What are you doing, let Mae go!" She ran forward towards them. Nox unhanded the girl, and she shrunk back,

"I'm so sorry," Mae cried.

"Show me the note," he said, holding out his free hand. She dropped it there and Aura plucked it out from Nox before he could blink. She ripped it open.

"What is this?" Aura seethed, looking up with a deathly glare to match Nox's own. He tried to conceal his pride. She was terrifying, he loved it.

"Someone came to me, I don't know who, they were wearing a mask. They said I had to deliver this, or they would hurt my family!" Mae was sobbing now, her body racked with hiccups.

"Who?" Nox pressed.

"I don't know, I swear!"

"What did you leave other than the note?" Aura asked, crossing her arms. She pulled out a sprite whistle from her pocket, and held the thin piece of wood to her mouth. Ember appeared rather quickly.

"I was just on my way and I—" Ember stopped mid sentence, taking in the room. "What is happening?" she asked, her golden glow getting darker.

"Ember, get my brother here, quickly," Aura commanded. Ember nodded fiercely and flew out of the room.

Aura paced the room, brows creased and eyes dark while they waited for Kellian. Mae was sitting now in a chair, her crying was quieter now, but she hunched over in despair nonetheless.

Kellian stormed into the room, his presence filling the space with a palpable tension. His white hair was neatly tied back, accentuating the severity of his expression. He was dressed in formal attire, richly embroidered with golden leaves that traced down the sleeves, glinting ominously in the light. His golden eyes, usually warm, were now dark and stormy, reflecting the intensity of his anger. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Mae was the one sneaking in," Aura pointed out. Nox glared.

"Why?" Kellian seethed. Nox forgot how terrifying the heirs could be together. While Kellian was quieter than his sister, more reserved, he would tear down anything that affected his family and their safety. That was one thing he and Nox had always agreed on and put first, above all else.

Mae explained herself again, and Kellian pressed her more. She said she remembered it was a woman, and she had never looked into the potion but it looked like bath oils and she had set it down next to Aura's tub. They sent for Miss Bells to take Mae to her rooms and keep her there, sending a guard to her family to watch over them and calling for Esmeralda and Kyeria.

The group of them all sat in Aura's chambers, sitting in chairs and windows in front of her bookshelves.

"And what did the letter say?" Kyeria asked softly. Aura let out a sigh and held out the opened parchment. Nox had not seen it yet; Aura had been keeping it from crumbling in her hand, holding it so tightly that he could see the strain in her hands.

"Read it outloud," Kellian said. Kyeria looked to Aura in question as if asking permission. Aura nodded and Nox moved to herside.

"You were never meant to be. You are the princess who was cursed," Kyeria read aloud. Everyone looked at each other in worry.

"This smells like a magic suppressant." Esmeralda spoke up, walking out of the washrooms with the bottles in her hand. "Have you used it?" she asked. Aura shook her head, no .

Aura hadn't even been here in her chambers, she had only bathed in Nox's rooms. It was lucky in fact, that whoever sent this assumed she was here and using it, but nonetheless Nox felt rage boiling over.

"Who did this?" he asked, barely containing his anger. Kellian shot him a glance.

"When you were little, and so sick, there were rumors that you had been cursed, and the punishment was not being able to take dragon form," Kellian said quietly. Kyeria was at his side, standing with him and let out a gasp.

"Maybe it was one of the servants from that time that had the old faith?" Esmeralda said. "I'll run a tracing spell on the oils, it has to be someone with basic magic knowledge."

"What does a tracing spell tell you?" Nox asked.

"The general area the spell was originally cast in, could help narrow down a village," Esmeralda explained, her eyes worried and glancing at Aura. They were all waiting for her anger, for her determination to fix the problem or find the person, but instead she sat silently in her chair, looking out the window.

Kyeria was the one to finally clear the room, ushering everyone out and giving Aura the space she desperately needed. Nox, having reassured Kellian and the other women, remained behind, his presence a steadfast anchor in the chaos. As the last of the visitors left and silence settled over the room, Nox approached Aura. He knelt before her, his eyes filled with concern as he met her gaze. Aura looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

"It is my greatest fault," she whispered, "not being able to take up my namesake, to not be blessed with dragon form like my ancestors before me."

"It is not a fault, we have no control over the gods and their hand in fate." He shook his head. He remembered the rumors circulating when he and his family came back to The Hollow, how Aura had been sick, the blessing of the Galanis line and the ability to take dragon form passing to Kellian instead. He hadn't thought much in his young age about how that had affected Aura. Instead, Kellian was so excited to show him his powers, shifting into a rather small white dragon that grew as he did. The rumors were based around the old faith that one who was born into the blessing would take form, there was no other option. So when Aura fell sick, few of the older folks had whispered about a cursed princess, and what it meant that the gods skipped her, leaving her without her birthright. It had been so many years since anyone had whispered of such things now. Nox tried to push away the thoughts and focus on the white haired princess in front of him, setting a palm on her shoulder.

"Fate is a fickle beast," Nox began, "but you, you are strong and brave, you possess the wisdom of the kings and queens before you. You take such great care and time into your people. You, Aura, are the princess fated to The Hollow. You are meant to be as you are." Aura simply nodded to him in reply, slowly squaring her shoulders, standing up and reaching her full height. The queenly air about her returning quickly. She brushed off her dress and turned on her heel.

"We have work to do," She stated, unrolling a few maps that Esmeralda had brought from the libraries. The maps were crusted on the edges, darker spots smudged some ink, but the layout of the Evanthian royal court lay before them. Large stone walls surrounded the castle and royal court. The gates opened twice a day, in the mid morning and before dusk. Marketers came in and out, stocking stalls with produce and other items to buy. Similar to their own markets in The Hollow but absent of any items of the magical variety. Those were found in the shadows of the night, markets that happened on the outer village streets, not within the walls of the Evanthian castle. This was where they would enter, securing a cart and setting up a stand in the royal markets on mid morning opening of the gates. They would have till sunset to be back, with their people, and sneak out under the guise of merchants leaving the royal walls. That gave them mere hours. Aura unfolded another map, let her hand glow with light, holding it up to the map, this one was a blueprint of the castle, the light sprites had painstakingly sent information back and forth and made a rather precise map of the castle by sneaking in unseen with their ability to disappear to the human eyes.

"Here is where we enter, I have a connection in the outer village here where we can procure a cart and clothes." Aura nodded along taking in the information.

"We can collect clothes and hide them in the cart to help disguise our people," Aura noted.

"Ember will join us, her sister is in the palace as we speak and she has other sprites ready to help us along the way." Nox pulled a candle to his side of the map.

"You'll need to cover your hair," Nox said, glancing up at the princess. "White hair is rare beyond The Hollow and can draw unwanted attention."

Aura's face tightened at the suggestion. Her long, white hair was not just a part of her identity but a symbol of strength and power among the Galanis women—a legacy she revered, much like the way her mother had worn it, as immortalized in the paintings. Without a word, she shifted her focus back to the details of their plan.

It was simple: traverse the land beyond The Hollow, infiltrate Evanthia, break into the castle, rescue the prisoners from the Mad King's dungeon, and return home.

Nox felt a thrill surge through him at the prospect. This was the kind of real mission he had longed for—a chance to make a tangible difference for his kingdom. He saw the same spark in Aura's eyes as they strategized, a fiery determination that mirrored his own. This was where she truly belonged, and he could sense the excitement coursing through her as they mapped out their path to freedom and justice.