Chapter 57: A colorful sky.

“Shall we get going, my Lord?”

“Yes. Lead the way,” I answered, adjusting the sword at my hip.

Indolyn gave a small bow before turning toward the door. Splendith was already waiting beside it, practically bouncing on her feet. while Flicker wandered around our legs, sniffing at anything that caught his interest.

I looked down at my hands one last time. The paint had darkened my skin to a muddy shade of red, hiding most of the black lines that identified me as Tenebros's chosen, marked by another’s god.

I shooked my head to snap out of it.

As Olive I started naming every flower we walked past, I needed part of me to be focused on me, the me that had the her sun beaming down, Lumisiel’s light was shining down on me, even if part of me is stuck in stone.

***

Until now, most of the Eclipserans I had met were important people. I wanted to see what everyone else was like. Did Eclipserans have ordinary lives? What did they do all day? Did they have shops? Did they visit one another? What did they do for fun?

Surely, an entire civilization couldn't spend all its time planning wars and summoning demons. I mean we have our armies but that isn’t everyone.

Splendith opened a door, and we stepped into the corridor.

At first, there was nothing particularly different about our surroundings. The stone had been recently cleaned, polished to a shine. Tall columns supported the ceiling, and the walls were decorated with tapestries depicting scenes from Eclipseran history, I even recognized a few of the stories now.

“Now, we won't be going directly into the busiest areas,” Splendith began. “I thought it would be better to start somewhere quieter, although there are a few places I really want to show you, and some of them are rather busy, but we can always visit those afterward, unless you'd prefer to go there first, which would be perfectly fine, of course, except I thought you might enjoy seeing how everything changes as we get farther from the  Council sections, because it really is quite different, and I don't think you've been this far before, have you?”

“No,” I answered.

“Wonderful! Well, not wonderful that you haven't been, obviously, but wonderful that we get to show you, because there's so much to see, and I think you'll really enjoy it!”

“She means we're taking the long way,” Indolyn whispered.

“Oh, yes. That too.”

Through Olive, I finished checking the last of the markers along the forest trail. My gloves were damp, and mud covered the bottoms of my trousers, but I was satisfied with the work.

The path wasn't finished. Not even close. But I wasn’t supposed to go any further and I wasn’t going to fail my mission. I turned around, pulling Emma with me.

“Done?” she asked.

“for today, hopefully  soon they’ll let me go further, there’s a really good spot up ahead we could have a picnic there.”

She looked toward the next stretch of forest. “picnic.” With a nod.

I pulled off my gloves, tucked them into my utility belt, and reached for her hand. Her fingers slipped between mine, and we started walking back towards Tillshade.

I knew this part of the forest well enough that I barely needed to look where I was going.

A root crossed the trail ahead. I stepped over it without thinking. Farther along, a patch of mud covered the lower part of the path, so I moved toward the higher ground and guided Emma around it.

Somewhere above us, a bird called. Another answered from deeper in the forest.

I recognized the first call and glanced toward the branches, hoping to catch a glimpse of its owner.

As if it knew it landed on a branch near us and just watched.

I lowered myself to a crouch to watch it.

As Lucarion, I passed through a checkpoint.

There were guards here. Demons of varying shapes and sizes, a slender one, one of those cyntheris types, it slithered over.  

My hand shot to my hilt as I prepared to pull it out, but just at that moment Emma rested her head on my shoulder.

I stayed my hand.

Splendith went over to it and exchanged a few words, and we continued. I could see eclipserans at a table in a side door playing cards. Those must be the summoners.

We turned into a broad corridor where several Eclipserans were walking in the opposite direction. They barely glanced at us as they passed.

I watched them anyway.

One had long horns curving backward over his head. Another possessed a thick tail that moved from side to side as she spoke to her companion. Their skin varied in color, some a deep crimson, others closer to violet or brown.

They looked perfectly ordinary. But I knew those assesories meant they were my supporters, even if they didn’t know I was already born.

***

Ezkyrath had spent a great deal of time teaching me how to stand, walk, and speak like someone who belonged above everyone else.

Apparently, looking around too much was beneath a lord's dignity.

Raven, on the other hand, had spent a great deal of time teaching me to look around.

I was extra grateful for Raven at the moment, as I kept an eye out making sure I noticed every demon around me.

Olive had no such problem.

A small creature rustled through the undergrowth to our left. I glanced toward the sound, saw the movement of leaves, and continued walking.

Nothing to worry about.

Farther along, I noticed tracks pressed into the wet soil beside the path. I slowed to examine them.

I hadn't needed to think about whether the animal was dangerous. I knew what had made the tracks. I knew which creatures lived nearby, which ones were likely to approach us, and which sounds deserved my attention.

I knew where we were.

Even when the trees blocked my view of the surrounding forest, I knew which direction led home.

As Lucarion, I couldn't have said the same about the corridor we had just entered.

If Indolyn and Splendith suddenly disappeared, I wasn't sure I could find my way back to the manor.

The thought made the familiar comfort of the forest feel almost unfair.

Olive had sunlight warming her skin.

Lucarion had cold stone beneath his boots.

Olive had Emma holding her hand.

Lucarion had a sword. Olive had a sword too.

Through Olive, I breathed in the damp forest air.

Through Lucarion, I listened to footsteps echoing between stone walls.

One of me was walking home.

The other was walking deeper into demon territory.

The corridor was changing, widening and the decorations were becoming more frequent. Some walls were covered with tapestries, while others had been painted directly. The designs were different from those I had seen closer to the manor.

There were still historical scenes and religious images, but they were no longer arranged with the same precision. Some paintings were smaller. Others seemed to have been placed wherever someone thought they looked nice.

“Do people make these themselves?” I asked.

Splendith turned toward the wall.

“Some do! Others commission them, and there are people who specialize in decorating these areas, although it depends on who's responsible for the space, because some people prefer paintings while others like tapestries, and there are those who think the stone looks better without anything on it, which I don't really understand, because why would you want everything to be so plain when you could have colors?”

We passed into another corridor, and the ceiling rose considerably higher.

The walls were no longer uniformly dark. Sections had been painted in rich reds, blues, greens, and purples. The colors extended around doorways and up the supporting columns, sometimes forming elaborate patterns that connected one section to the next.

It was almost cheerful.

I hadn't expected cheerful.

A group of Eclipserans approached from ahead. One of them glanced at me, then looked down at my sword.

I stiffened.

The young woman smiled.

“Practicing for something?”

I blinked.

“What?”

She nodded toward my weapons.

“Your sword.”

“Oh.”

I looked down.

“Yes. I practice.”

“Good for you,” she answered pleasantly before continuing with her companions.

One of them said something too quietly for me to hear.

They laughed.

I stared after them.

What was funny?

Had they recognized me?

Was there something wrong with my disguise?

Splendith gave me a small smile.

“Some younger Eclipserans enjoy carrying such things. It's fashionable in certain circles.”

“Fashionable?”

“Mm-hmm.”

I looked at my sword.

I had spent hours practicing with these.

I had the bruises to prove it.

To them I was a kid playing dress up.

Splendith seemed delighted by the idea.

“Oh, yes! It's quite popular, although I think most people prefer something a little less practical, because carrying actual weapons everywhere must be rather inconvenient, but I suppose if you really wanted to look convincing, using real equipment would certainly accomplish that.”

I glanced toward Emma.

She caught me looking and smiled.

My chest warmed.

Nothing about the Void had changed. The corridors were still unfamiliar. There were still Wroughtborn everywhere, and I still didn't trust most of the Eclipserans around me.

But I wasn't quite as uncomfortable as before.

I could feel Emma's hand in mine.

I could feel sunlight against Olive's skin.

I could hear the birds calling overhead and the leaves rustling in the wind.

Lucarion was surrounded by strangers.

But I wasn't.

Not entirely.

I knew exactly where I was.

Through Olive, I could have found my way home with my eyes closed.

I knew which paths led toward Tillshade, which ones branched toward Highbough, and which parts of the forest I had yet to properly explore.

All of that belonged to me.

It was easy to forget when I was frightened, but Lucarion wasn't someone else.

I was Lucarion.

And Olive.

I didn't have to choose which feelings belonged to which body.

The warmth in Olive's chest was mine.

So was the confidence.

I was still walking behind Indolyn, listening to Splendith explain something about the decorations. A demon passed nearby, and I glanced toward it.

I didn’t reach for my sword this time, instead I used Olive’s mind to focus on summoning, I felt the concentric circles pressed against my mind, waiting to be called upon.\

I could have half a dozen of my own demon at a moments notice, that’s not even counting Raven. My sword is important but its not everything I have, not anymore.

Lucarion's shoulders relaxed.

It happened so naturally that I didn't notice at first.

The next passage opened into a much larger space.

I stopped just long enough to take it in.

The ceiling was high enough that I had to tilt my head back to see it properly. Broad walkways followed the walls above us, connected by stairways and overlooking the level below. Several passages led away in different directions, disappearing into spaces I couldn't see.

There were people everywhere.

Not the enormous crowds I had imagined when Splendith mentioned the civilian areas, but considerably more than I had ever seen gathered together in the Void.

And the walls!

Nearly every visible section had been painted.

Blue stretched across one wall, fading into purple near the ceiling. Another section was covered in warm reds and oranges, interrupted by decorative shapes that looked vaguely like flowers.

The ceiling itself was painted.

I stared upward.

Someone had tried to make it look like the sky.

At least, I thought that was what they were going for.

There were broad patches of blue, uneven streaks of white, and shapes that might have been clouds. Some areas were purple. Others faded into something resembling a sunset, although the colors didn't quite fit together.

It wasn't particularly convincing.

But it was colorful.

Very colorful.