While the Strings Shriek

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(The Day of Light)

"I see you have your own guard." Firalk eyed the men who'd voluntarily—and forcefully—attached themselves to him, Faedihn throwing him a casual wave as he bit on a stuffed pastry, Gedahr, Dais, and another who'd been introduced as Kallor watching the crowd around them, alert.

Seih rested his chin on Brei's carefully-brushed hair, richly dark waves shining under the lights strung across the Firial Palace's grounds. "They insisted."

"And they have good reason to," Brei put in primly, only neglecting to react because of the higher Domini's presence. She gestured towards a small crowd held back by the palace guards at the gate, shouting at the top of their lungs. "We were nearly assaulted on our way in."

"...Yes." The man's expression soured, and he ushered them across the courtyard towards the gardens. "I'm sorry about them. Some people can't enjoy themselves."

Seih swept his gaze around as they walked, his eyes passing over a chattering crowd filling the Firial Palace’s recently done-over gardens. They barely needed the strings of lights glittering merrily over their heads to illuminate tables full of food and drink imbued with glow-dye, the light of the moons already bright. Every bush seemed to sparkle with tiny Light-flowers, too, vines lit up like the strings. "So long as they only plan to shout, we'll be fine."

"You still plan to give the speech, then?"

"It's the biggest day of the festival. The Day of Light. Our new day." He resolutely kept his expression neutral even as the words left his lips. "In your new Day...." It could be nothing—they could have avoided it—but with Darkness' forces right on the border and the Unity practically slipping into the Scar.... "Half the population is here on the palace grounds, and with Voice we can boost it across Soulspace, as well."

The Divination gave no reaction as Firalk eyed him. "It's illegal."

"It's a special case."

"There's a high chance I won't be able to absolve you," Firalk warned.

"I know." He breathed out, catching Brei's resolute gaze, Dais's almost fiery, sending him a nod. A small smile quirked at his lips, and he brushed Brei's cheek as Firalk turned towards a questioner. |Any disruptors don't stand a chance.|

Brei poked him back, smirking. |Oh no they don't.|

|Well—| He took in another deep breath, attempting to ignore the buzzing sense of dread rising in the back of his throat. If anything changed in the battle raging at the border, Winds would let him know. |I suppose we can take a few moments. The apex won't be for another hour or so.|

She smiled, hand twining with his, a playful lilt to her perfect lips. |Just as long as you don't have so much fun you forget.|

❨◎҉҈❩

|Seih.|

He twitched in the middle of Brei sneakily feeding him half her glowing muklet, waving off her concerned glance with a quick smile. |Winds?|

|You might be interested in reports of a new type of Dark-kind joining the battle. A large one.|

The dread that had been steadily growing in his gut all evening abruptly twisted tight around his stomach. |Are they still holding?|

|Yes, but I don't know for how long.|

He took in another breath, and let it out slowly, turning to an intent Brei and distantly noting his guard had drifted in tighter around him. "I think I might move up the schedule."

She nodded, clenching his hand as they began to move, striding briskly into a lush corridor of twist-bushes lit by heavy glowing flowers, their sweet scent cloying the air. "Bad news?"

"We might not have much time before they break through," he said grimly. "At least Firalk is probably already up there—"

A sudden snapping rustle cut him off, a glint catching the corner of his eye—

Thokk!

He froze, a white head of hair abruptly filling his vision, silver eyes flickering. His hands caught the Divination instinctively as he slumped, his focus darting to a cloaked figure reeling back, and locking on the hilt of a dagger protruding from Voice's back.

"Move! Move!"

The shout came as if from a distance, the shove against his shoulder pushing him away from Voice, strong arms scooping the limp Divination up before he could protest.

His heart thudded in his ears as it all rushed in, his hand grabbing at Brei's arm, pulling her out of the way of another cloaked blur, sprinting as fast as his feet could carry him. How had they gotten in—?

"Inside!"

The doors of the palace approached in a blur of blood rushing through his ears, shocked festival-goers reeling back, distant screams ringing in his ears. He glanced back to catch a glimpse of Voice in Faed's arms, Ged sweeping back another assassin, bared teeth glinting under the shadow of the cowl, tattoos carving down in black tears searing into his vision and disappearing as they burst in. Death-cult—?

"Death to the Death-bringer! Death to Darkness' servant!"

Reyahn— He jerked away from a knife that barely missed his ribs, slicing the edge of his robe. A meaty fist threw the figure back, guests shrinking back against the walls, gasping.

"Upstairs!" He snapped, Brei almost moving before he did and taking the stairs two at a time. If they could catch a private room—

He followed her into the first empty room they encountered, a heavy rug muffling their steps as they rushed in. A mostly empty, well-lit space—lounge couches off to the side and Light-stone lamps glowing softly in the corners gave no space for assassins to hide.

The others rushed in after them, Kallor slamming and locking the door, Dais rushing through to the secondary room through a spacious archway, a short sword glinting in his hand. "It's empty! Just a lover's couch and no lovers. Balcony's clear, too."

"Darkness' wastes."

Seih turned his attention away as the others finally relaxed, Faed gently laying Voice on the floor, the Divination's eyes flickering. He knelt beside Brei, hands clenching at the sight of the knife embedded in his back. There was no blood.

“Did it hit his soulcore?” He asked softly.

“With his eyes sputtering like that?” She countered, touching at the dagger's hilt and pausing, her eyes widening. "This... this knife is Earth-enhanced— no wonder it got through so easily—”

Her hands shook slightly. Seih gently grabbed one, wrapping her fingers around his and rubbing at her knuckles with his thumb. “It’s alright. Do you think we should remove it?”

The Divination himself's eyes flickered open, their glow stuttering. "Yes. I can begin... repairing."

“Well... if you're sure.” Gently, taking a deep breath, she grabbed hold of the hilt and began to pull.

"I don't see why we should bother," Dais grumbled. "It's just a Divination."

"Just a Divination—" Brei glared up at him as she pulled it free and tossed it aside. "He's a living being."

"Yeah, and while you're 'saving him', you could be making a damn speech that'll wake these sleepers up!"

Seih waved her back as she started to rise and set a steady gaze on Dais. “Until you learn to care about individual people, you can’t fight for a populace, Dais.”

The other threw his hands up, muttering under his breath to himself and turning away, Faed patting at his back consolingly.

As Voice sat up again, Seih patted at his shoulder, leaving him to Brei's fussing, a strange restlessness slowly crawling up his spine. “You rest here, I’m going to have a look outside.”

“Not without your guards you’re not.”

He waved a hand, his guard already following him as he pushed open the doors, a chill seeming to rush over him with it, prickling across his shoulders.

He rested his hands on the stone of the balcony, an odd sort of electricity zinging up his fingers, crawling at the back of his neck. There was no sign of cloaked figures as a luminescence rippled across the world, people looking up towards the sky. The eye of light was forming. 

The sight should have given him a warm sense of awe. Instead, a pit grew in his stomach, a clammy sweat sticking to the palms of his hands as he clenched the stone.

“Seih?” Brei’s voice came hesitantly as she joined him. “Is something wrong?”

He swallowed, dragging his suddenly dry tongue from the roof of his mouth—

|Seih.|

The pit in his stomach jolted, cinching tight. |Wi—?|

|Seih, the Unity just fell— Darkness has crossed the Scar—|

A chill that stole the breath from his lungs pricked at the back of his neck, the feeling of being watched shuddering up his spine, a shadow seeming to loom behind him.

|—an immeasurable presence. A massive Shadow.|

He couldn't answer. A physical shadow washed over the stone at his white-knuckled hands, and he turned. Turned to see a blackness rolling up over the jagged peak of Firemount, stretching claws towards the moons, strangling their brilliance.

He swallowed drily, moisture sucked away, an unbelievable cold crawling over his soul as the entire world fell dead silent, exclamations of joy dying in frozen lungs. Ink bled across the sky, swallowing every last pinprick of Light.

Casting everything in Darkness.