New home

Erinara

The shadows around us receded as the spell’s effect resolved.
The runes and reagents that had been meticulously drawn and used to make the massive scale of shadow’s eye possible had all either turned inert, degraded, or used up in their entirety.

Jin put his arm around me, a slight nervousness being betrayed by his muscles’ movements. Then he addressed the executives:
“Thank you for letting me return to your citadel with you. I fear I must selfishly make a request. I wish to be by Erinara’s side, whatever that may take. May I join your nation as more than a guest?”
“Already warlock”, Vorial replied, patting Jin on the back once.
“It is as Vorial says. You hardly need to request something like that. You may join me as a disciple of change, as well, if you so desire. You shall be of equal standing in this citadel as Erinara and Kayon”, Ebiron said calmly.
“Thank you so very much”, Jin bowed deeply. The worry that had been very clearly etched into his face slowly eased up a considerable amount. He then continued to ask: “What do you need me to do as your disciple then? I shall carry out any task diligently.”

A smile found itself on my face, for this situation had a striking similarity to how I came to join Ebiron two years ago.
“Your task is to pursue whatever it is you wish to. This is the citadel of change. A change created by restrictions and regulations is not what I am looking for. Continue to be malleable and adaptable, as you have already proven to be. Simply trust yourself and you will be fulfilling the ideal of change”, Ebiron said, mirroring the exact words he told me back then.
He reached out his hand.
Jin looked at the outstretched hand in slight confusion for a moment. Then he grasped it with determination.
“Welcome, disciple. I look forward to what you will discover”, Ebiron stated as he shook Jin’s hand cordially.
With this interaction completed, Lazzal excitedly pulled everyone into a hug. She spoke with an almost unnatural speed:
“Welcome! Congratulations! Wow a new disciple! That makes you the second Ebiron has ever named!”, she took a brief breath, “The kingdom is finally under new ruling, huh? Speaking off! You two have pulled quite the stunt there! I agree with your choice though! Honestly, the proposal of you having to lead the kingdom was silly! It would have been such wasted potential! Since I fought with Leptarus, I know he meant it with sincerity. He should have thought just a bit harder though!”

Before we managed to answer, Kayon entered the war room, swinging the door open wide.
“You have returned!”, he said, “I shall prepare a feast to commemorate your amazing victory.”
“Magnificent. It shall double as the initiation for Jin Eaglecrest as a disciple of change”, Ebiron said.
“Oho”, Kayon tilted his head slightly forward, looked at me and winked. Before anyone managed to catch on, he quickly finished the motion with an extremely over the top bow, “Is that so? The feast shall be particularly lavish then. Please give me a bit more than an hour. It will be ready then.”
He swiftly exited.

‘I am going to pay him back double some time’, I thought, lightly amused at his antics.

Our group took the time until dinner was ready off, each following their own menial tasks. Anything we would talk about now could just as well be discussed over a warm meal, after all.

Jin and I found ourselves bridging that short time in the study, where I was helping him by teaching the fundamentals of reagent casting. He was very swiftly figuring out how to do basic spells of that type.
“You learn amazingly quick, my love”, I said, “the progress you’ve made within a single hour is incredible.”
“I think that’s mostly thanks to you having taught me rune magic properly first. And even then, without your instructions I wouldn’t be able to figure out how to activate any of these components. Not to mention all the magic energy I am wasting in the process”, Jin replied.
“Now, now. There’s no need for that. Keep in mind that you’re still a beginner, you’re supposed to be learning these things. You will understand how to control mana better with practice. I’ll be with you, ready to help at any time”, I said, quickly sneaking a kiss on the side of his face, “let’s go to the dining hall for now. Kayon should be all but ready with the feast.”

We arrived just as Kayon finished setting up the table. The variety in meals was, as he had said earlier himself, particularly sizeable. Any normal person would have needed multiple hours to prepare all these different types of meals. Ebiron, Vorial and Lazzal arrived simultaneously.
I took my seat next to Jin as the feast was officially initiated by Ebiron.

Kayon spoke up first:
“I simply must ask, what happened after the royal crests were captured? Shadow’s eye had run out of magic by then, I couldn’t see it myself anymore.”
The executives had decided that it would be wise to be transparent with everything happening in the kingdom of crests to their people as well. Because of that, they had requested the permission of the heroes, Jin and me in regards to extending the broadcast to the land of warlocks. Of course, everyone readily accepted.
Ebiron quickly recapped everything that happened after the effect of shadow’s eye had ended.
In an act of over-the-top theatrics, Kayon jumped up from his chair and bowed deeply before Jin and me.
“What luck have I to cook for the king and queen of the kingdom? Well, almost at least”, Kayon said in a singsong tone as extreme as his bow.
“Oh please”, I grinned, “No thank you, I’d much rather research magic. The position of a leader is not for me.”
“The kingdom is in good hands with Fyor and Leptarus”, Jin said, “Honestly though, I’m thankful to Sera and to you, Vorial, you really took the spotlight off of us quickly. I was worried about what to say if the citizens kept focusing on us.”
“Amusing, inevitable”, Vorial said with humor in his voice, “Welcome.”
“The two of you might not be leaders. But! You most certainly have become famous!”, Lazzal began with her voice somewhat serious, or rather, following a normal conversation speed to be precise: “A no name hero and the disciple of change, two people completely unknown in the public eye have made their debut by rivaling, if not surpassing the power of kingdom heroes and warlock executives. You basically put yourselves out there with an absolute star performance that most anyone would have deemed utterly impossible. You might even come to rival the fame of our titles as executives at this rate! No matter how you see it, you have definitely started a big wave.”
“From what I gathered just from observing the people during the spectacular visual, the public perception of omens is slowly shifting. That is one effect you have brought, for example”, Kayon followed up on Lazzal’s words.
“Quite. I expected as much, in honesty”, Ebiron continued, “Jin and you are two halves of a great new movement, both within the kingdom of crests and the land of warlocks, showcasing the truest form of change. To that end, I thank you for the positive effect your influence will bring.”
“Harbingers of peace”, Vorial added, finalizing this conversation from their end.
“I hadn’t expected to have any discernable impact on the situation surrounding omens this quickly, but I am very happy to know that how omens are perceived might get better because of us”, I said.
Jin patted me on the head twice, saying: “You’ve done amazingly, Erinara. I will gladly help you with building a foundation for them.”

For the rest of the feast, we mostly just had friendly chatter. The executives agreed to work in closer collaboration than just the executive meetings in the near future. Lazzal and Vorial both offered to help me learn more of their respective magic types’ advanced spells. I gladly agreed to take them up on those offers at a later date. 

Jin and I went to my room after the feast had been finished.
“Hey, I wanted to thank you again, Jin. The first steps to combat the public fear of omens are happening because of you. If it weren’t for you, I never would have stopped using shadow concealment. And I most definitely never would have learned my second innate magic type”, I said as I embraced him, “I guess that makes you my light.”
I chuckled softly.
“In honesty, the credit for these changes in the public eye goes to you, my dear. However, I am happy you feel better in your own skin. It suits you very much”, Jin smiled at me, his hand tracing the omen markings down my face.

He leaned closer to me. I could feel his breath on my face. We drew each other into a long kiss.

Pulling my blushed face slightly away to look into Jin’s eyes I breathed:
“Welcome to your new home, my light.”