Aureum's hurried dash from the ruins lasted longer than it felt possible. But she couldn't run forever.
Her tired steps continued far into the night. She did not know what would happen, whether she should fearfully stay or fearfully go. But she had been told to go, so she did.
That first night was a terror. She had no sleep at all. Nor any fire or comfort. She held Gemmo, hidden in a high tree. She herself was tied to the trunk. Every night noise and animal's cry spooked her.
Before day even came, she had left, having given up on peace, so she just hurried herself to exhaustion. With the cloak, she made much faster time. Oblitus appeared on the horizon with the sun just beginning to sink.
She passed the village by without stopping.
Not stopping when potentially being followed seemed the polite, right, and safe thing to do for everyone. The river passed by below her. Gemmo was asleep.
Flying was a soothing experience for him, which was good, being as he was strapped to Aureum's back.
Still, Aureum stopped right after passing over the Flumengems River. She checked on him after she landed. The baby gurgled a little, but he was fine and surprisingly still mostly clean. A little drool and slubber was fine.
With the space of a river behind her, Aureum calmed down a little. There was a nervous jump every time she felt an odd rustle nearby, which was every five heartbeats, but less shaking. A place to hide and think seemed good.
An old tree offered a few thick branches for sitting on. Aureum obliged.
With Gemmo still sleeping but strapped in front of her, Aureum had more than enough time for thoughts and terrors.
Waiting for Spesavia wasn't the worst idea. The question was, where?
Oblitus had already been crossed out as an option, but there were no other villages anywhere she knew of. She could wander around to find one, but that would take longer.
The closest city-state is probably… Lapis.
Yet, it came with the problem of being the most obvious destination.
Mor's wasn't the winner.
But if he was, it might be better to prepare beforehand. Spesavia would rebuke her if she didn't.
Aureum could get lost in the city for a little while. Nobody alone could stop an ascended sorcerer, but in the city maybe the guard might slow him down. Even if it was just from paperwork. It was better than being run down in a random forest.
Mostly, she had nowhere else to go.
Her fingers found their way to her temples.
It was becoming a recurring theme.
So she set herself to another night of fitful sleeping and continued on in the wee hours of morning.
The journey wasn't uneventful. Gemmo made sure of that. When he complained, it was loud. When he was a mess, it smelled terrible. But their journey was short, and that limited his ability to cause too much chaos.
On the dawn of the fifth day split from Spesavia, Aureum saw the walls of Lapis.
It was not what she expected. Certainly, she didn't expect to see what rumors had told her, with walls inlaid with gems and the roads with pearls. Yet, it was somehow more than what the rumors had suggested.
It was the first time she'd seen city walls that looked like a piece of art rather than a defense. Fluentem obviously wasn't as brutal as Nix, but even her architects had kept the majority of carvings off the outside of it.
Not so in Lapis.
The walls were covered in carvings. No, it was closer to the walls existing to support the carvings. Not the beautiful women of Ardere or the myths of Fluentem, but hideous chimeras of legend and a dragon swallowing seemingly every gate. It wasn't enough for shape alone to be ornate. The stone came in different varieties as well, using the different colors to accentuate the designs.
It was a wall to inspire might in a very different fashion than Aureum was used to.
Entering it was the same as anywhere. There was a gate with some guards. One went through it.
Inside the city was also a bit of a shock. It felt like each building was competing for attention. There was a tastefulness to it, but the colors and designs were loud. And each building did its best to be different.
Red was next to green, and gold to purple. Aureum realized from the large windows that these were shops, but each one looked the size of a mansion.
Where can I sleep?
Just walking along the road, she at first found no sign nor any other indication for one. Finally, she entered a shop just to ask for directions.
"Where can I—
"Welcome! What would you have? I have an excellent selection for a girl like you!"
Aureum was greeted effusively by the plump woman behind the counter.
Aureum stiffened.
Being called a "girl" as a grown woman felt odd.
"I just need to find a place to sleep," Aureum said. "I don't need anything."
"Huh? You won't buy anything?"
The woman behind the counter took a cursory look at her. She frowned when she saw Gemmo.
"No?" Aureum said.
"Well, there are places to sleep in the Eastern Quarter."
As she spoke, she looked back to the counter and waved Aureum away.
"Where is the Eastern Quarter?" Aureum asked.
The woman gave a sharp glance.
"In the east."
Aureum got the message. She left. East was a bit difficult to follow, since she had to find a road that went east. Once she did, the grand buildings disappeared in almost one turn. Behind her, grand shops, and in front of her, squalor.
They started with stone but quickly went to wood. As she went farther and farther, it felt like shacks had been built atop of rubble.
Lapis hasn't needed to fight in the city in decades. Just what is this?
There were no signs of war. Only, it looked so terrible that Aureum thought it had to be a result of war.
The few people Aureum saw on this street looked like trees without rain. None of them looked her in the eyes.
"Excuse me," she said, directed to one of the few passersby.
Maybe she just couldn't learn. The man was surprised, but when she asked for directions for somewhere to sleep, he gave them to her.
Clear directions she could follow.
What she came to was an old building. It had been nice once and looked in decent repair. Though the spots for plants in front of it were just dirt.
She knocked before she opened the door. It didn't look exactly like a place of business, so she did it, half in case she'd gotten the directions wrong.
Once inside, she saw a woman talking softly to an old woman. There were a few vagrants that looked especially hungry or bereaved sitting down and waiting. Aureum looked around awkwardly for a moment.
There wasn't a spot for her to sit.
"Ah, you must be new. I haven't seen you around here before."
The lady who had been speaking with the old woman spoke to Aureum now.
Everything about this felt off.
"Are you looking to surrender your baby?"
"What?!" Aureum said.
She clutched Gemmo to her. He had been strapped to her front this entire time.
"Blagwaguuuh!" He gurgled.
The young lady was a bit taken aback. Aureum felt herself fly through her thoughts. Having woken Gemmo up, she bounced him without much thought.
She didn't know what this was. She knew it wasn't an inn. It didn't seem harmful, at least not on the surface. It felt like a sad place to be.
They're probably not trying to murder or kill me.
It still took a moment for her to breathe. When she spoke, the panic still rang throughout her voice.
"There must be some kind of misunderstanding," Aureum said. "I just came to Lapis today. I kept asking for a place to stay, an inn! Or I should have said I was looking for an inn… anyways, this isn't an inn, is it?"
The lady in front of Aureum shook her head slowly.
"So you've just arrived," she said. "Why did you come to the Eastern Quarter?"
Aureum felt the frustration within her rise.
"I was told to come here. I don't know why either."
"Well, you can stay here for the night… but we need the beds for those who need them."
"That's fine! I can go somewhere else. Just please give me directions!"
"Alright."
Aureum suffered another cursory glance from a stranger.
"Try the Little Bell District. It's to the west of the main gate. Gray Street should get you there. There are a few inns for sleeping and food, but you should be able to find one that suits your needs."
"Thank you!" Aureum said. "But what is this place?"
"It's a place for those who have been displaced."
"What does that—
"I'm sorry," the woman said, "but I'm a bit busy. If you don't need anything else, I need to get back to work."
"Oh, that's fine," Aureum said. "…My mistake."
The woman turned back to the waiting vagrants without hesitation. Aureum looked at them. They looked at her.
She left.
Following the directions, she noticed the streets all had different colors or materials. This color is how she found Gray Street. Sometimes there would be a stone with a design at the beginning of it. This must be the Lapizian version of a signpost.
At the end of all this discovery, she found a real inn with a real bath. As the layers of dirt came off of her, she began to understand some of the confusion.
"What a misadventure," Aureum said.
It had been odd. The oddness just put her on edge more. Her first concern was that she wasn't noticed enough to be followed. She didn't know if this qualified as anything to be worried about.
Exhaustion came through the fear. The bed was tempting, and the water was warm.
Her stomach occasionally twisted in on itself, but that was probably just hunger. For sure.
"Buh waaa," Gemmo said.
"I guess the only good thing was that you behaved yourself," Aureum said. "But not quite calm, huh?"
Gemmo was still quivering. He'd been doing that on and off since Mors had shown up. Aureum held him closer to her.
"It's okay. It's all right now."
He still didn't make much noise. Aureum poked his cheeks.
Maybe he's smarter than most, but I hope this won't affect him too much. It'd be better if he forgot.
For now, they both needed sleep in a comfy place with a roof over their heads. Every major concern would have to wait on that.
Aureum stared up at the ceiling long after Gemmo sank into sleep.
———————————————————
"Why… won't you just die?!" Mors said.
"You first," Spesavia spat.
The two looked at each other. When this began, they had looked normal, decent. Now they had grime, blood, sweat, and dirt covering them. Their postures were bent, and their breathing was ragged. In the sunlight, it was plain to see.
What had started underground moved up to the surface. It wasn't like Spesavia's unchecked waves could rush through the corridors indefinitely. Though that might have been half of Mors' plan, and he wrecked just as much as she had. If not more.
When the corridors of those ancient ruins had collapsed, they had simply moved the fight.
Night and day passed by, but neither of the two paused for a break. Neither could these two sorcerers fight forever, despite appearances to the contrary.
How long could this go on?
It would be more accurate to ask how long it needed to go on. When was enough for them to stop?
"If I won't die, why don't you just call it quits?" Spesavia said. "The pool of mana is gone… The sigils seem to have gotten broken, and it's all buried besides."
"And…?! How does that relate to me giving you peace?"
This conversation would have been impossible a few days ago. As long as Mors was convinced killing Spesavia was easier than dealing with her alive, he would aim for that.
Spesavia scoffed.
"Pft! The egg cannot hatch without mana! We've destroyed our reason for conflict."
Mors placed a weary hand on his face.
"And I'm supposed to believe you have no tricks hidden away?"
Spesavia shrugged. She paid for it with a wince right after.
"Believe whatever you want," she said. "If you die, your side has more to lose. And if you live, you can verify what I say with Maledic."
It wasn't like ascended sorcerers grew on trees. Each one was an asset unto themselves.
"…And your side?"
Spesavia chuckled.
"Hehe. My side has nothing to lose because I don't have a side."
Mors shook his head.
"You were always a waste of time, witch. We'll see what you have up your sleeves."
Currently, Spesavia had nothing up her sleeves. On her right arm, she barely had any sleeve left at all. The fight had ripped it.
With that, he turned to go. A slow, tired walk. Spesavia watched him warily.
He wouldn't just leave, not so simply.
Yet, his figure disappeared as a dot on the horizon. Spesavia sank to her knees.
It hadn't been her plan to have things at such an impasse. Desperation led to false bravado, which may have saved her life. For this day.
"…That was close," she said.
It felt like she had used every trick she'd learned over the years and come up with at least two new ones on the spot. Every moment had felt like decades of life siphoned away.
Still, Spesavia had made it. As she always did.
Now I just have to find little Aureum and the Gemmo boy.
The crone sighed.
When will what is small be able to stand on its own?
Some things were just hatched a few weeks ago, but Spesavia was already tired.