In all his experience, his reaction time and his skills Damon had never felt so defeated as he was by the Rays of Aurora as they replaced the breach in space and time. He knew searching would be useless for he was the Knight of Darkness. Light was never his friend. Although time passed and Damon moved as if controlled by some entity his mind kept trailing back to the events of the previous night. He knew that something was adrift but knowing and having to strategize and act on it were entirely different things. He needed to strategize. To understand if something else went amiss. He needed to make sure he was prepared for worse scenario. He knew that protecting the Princess was more important that any other matter. Even if it cost his life. He understood one thing for sure – The rift opening was related to a time and space paradox. The rift was only created if ancient magic was at play. And this felt like the right time. The Princess had begun gathering her knights which was weakening the Nether Realms' power. Damon realised that the rift could only be created if someone had deliberately interfered in his movement between world. This he was as sure off as he was of the glaive he held to protect his Princess. But what confused him was that rifts were never meant to connect worlds. It was meant to travel through time. This led him to wonder was he actually travelling between worlds or through time itself. He then recollected the words of the Eques Tempus,
"It was a test for the young Knight to understand your determination to protect the Princess but also must have made you realise that you failed to notice your surroundings."
Damon shook his head in disbelief. Was he being tested again. After every trial he faced with the Princess was, he yet that dissociated from his surroundings that missed things so inevitably. He thought about the times he failed to notice his surroundings. It was always when he had the Princess in his mind.
"If this keeps going on, what if I fail his to protect the Princess.", he whispered
Damon closed his eyes and let out a sigh of breath. He came to the conclusion that he needed to work on his awareness. At the same moment he felt a sad smile grace his face. He needed to stop where he was with the Princess. He could not look at her as 'His' anymore. She was never his and neither was he Her's. With the same thought in his head, he took a deep breath and decided to focus on his senses other than his eyes. He sat in the middle of his room with his eyes closed. The darkness shroud over his eyes made him feel peaceful as he focused on every sound no matter how miniscule it was. Soon his senses started to peak through. He could feel the movement of air against his skin. He heard the chime of the clock, the rustling of leaves outside his window. The creak of the floorboard and someone calling his name. He frowned at the last one. Just as peacefully he had entered his reverie, he was pulled out of it quite hastily. Soon the light flooded his vision causing him to squint.
"Damon, we are heading out. Do whatever you want but if I find out that you are trying to go back to Arella…", she left her statement midway and walked away leaving Damon with more questions than answers.
"I really should start paying attention to my surroundings.", he murmured to himself, though at the back of his mind he kept replaying the incidents where his aunt had mentioned the Princess.
Thinking of the Princess. Damon felt a small smile spread across his face. He knew she would have given him a snarky remark in return for his thoughts. Just as he thought of the Princess, he felt himself distracted. His eyes wandered to the greenery outside his window. The way the breeze grazed his leaves of the trees reminded him off the clearing he had left his Princess. He may have been safe in his room, but his mind and heart were a million miles away thinking of the Princess' security. His room had always been a safe haven for himself. A place of peace and calm but today the same peace and calm felt suffocating to him. He knew his heart would only stop racing when he was by his Princess' side.
Meanwhile, Eques Lux had waited for the entirety of the dies wondering of Eques Noctis. He knew he still had to wait for the next 3 and a half dies for the fourth Solis dip but as time passed, an uneasy feeling settled into his heart. Although he knew that Eques Noctis would return but it was almost impossible for him too to keep his calm about the Princess. Eques Lux thought his uneasiness might be related to the fact that only Eques Tempus was protecting the Princess while he waited for a Frater whose reputation preceded himself. Eques Lux moved around the clearing taking a once over at every detail wondering if a Sigil had prevented Eques Noctis' return or was it fate playing a trick with them.
Time kept passing for Eques Lux. Soon he realised that the Princess may have reached the 'Valley of Death'. This should have given him some peace but he knew of the trails which lay ahead were anything but easy tasks. The trials she would undertake were known to none. For each trial was known to test the person in ways that could break them completely. He remembered a saying in passing,
'Do not try to understand the unknown. Knowing yourself is the only way to understand what trials you may face. For if it were unchallenging, it was never made as a trial for you.'
He knew what the saying meant. But he pondered on the Princess' skills and understanding of herself. Every person knew that the Princess was brought up not as a damsel but as a knight. Eques Noctis had made sure of it. However, he ensured that the Princess never had to raise her own weapon against the enemy. And that made her unpredictable. A weapon on its own. A weapon forged by something darker than the night.
Finally, as the fourth Solis dipped, Eques Lux sighed heavily. The temperatures had begun to drop with time and he knew it was not worth the effort to wait when he could be protecting the Princess from harm. The faith and trust he had on the Eques Noctis had begun to waver. He could not understand where his Frater vanished during the day. Even so, he could not stand against the knight who had protected the Princess for 14 years of her life.
Eques Lux took one final look at the clearing, picked up his belongings and set foot into the woods towards the Valley, when a sudden flash of light brightened up the night sky. The light' source was just a couple of miles ahead of his current location leading him to immediately wield his sword and walk cautiously towards the light. Eques Lux kept his sword aimed towards the light as he threaded lightly through the woods. He had managed to cover a mile and a half without being noticed when he found himself nearing a figure. He could feel the power radiating from the figure but at the same time he felt the uneasiness from before surge. The constant focus and being at the most alert state of mind for the past few days led him to decide to attack. Somewhere at the back of his mind Eques Lux knew that he shouldn't attack someone who did not seem hostile, but knowing how the Nether Realm worked he could not be sure at the moment. With cautious steps he inched closer towards the light but no sooner had he taken a step forward when he felt the tip of a weapon pointed at his throat. The shock of the situation was evident in Eques Lux' eyes. He had never experienced a person of such speed. While trying to register the person standing in front of him, he realised that the light had dimmed and vanished leaving them at the mercy of Luna.
No sooner had they adjusted their vision when Eques Lux countered the sword at his throat and took up a defensive stance against the unknown person. An unknown person in an armour with an emblem representing the 'Ordo Angelorum', similar to his own. Although the armour and emblem should have been enough proof, Eques Lux did not hesitate to disarm the knight in front of him and point his sword at his throat just as he had experienced a few moments ago. Trust was something that was to be earned amongst the Fraterhood and he would not give it away easily.
"Who are you?", Eques Lux commanded, "And how did you come about here?"
"Peace Frater. I am Eques ...