The night was falling on Aurora.
I had just closed the door of my room, ready to collapse, when someone knocked.
Three strikes. Calm. Firm.
I remained motionless, my hand clenched on the handle. Here, visits were never innocent.
— Come in, I finally said.
The door opened.
They were four. Those I had met earlier, after my duel: the boy with a straight gaze, the girl with gentle eyes, the insolent great laughing, and the rebellious, fierce warrior.
They did not wait for an invitation to enter. The first, the one with strong shoulders, stood in front of me and bowed slightly.
— Hi, Vongold. I wanted to introduce myself in the rules. My name is Elias, from the Korvain family.
He held out his hand to me again, this time without hesitation. I squeezed him. His grip was firm, honest.
Behind him, the girl took a step forward. Her dark hair framed her soft face, and her timid smile softened the room's icy atmosphere a bit.
— Me, I am Lyra, from the Soren family.
Her voice had something soothing, almost dissonant in a place like Aurora. It was almost ironic.
Then the great one burst out laughing. His laughter echoed against the walls like a provocation.
— Try to remember my name, Vongold. I am Dorian, from the Veyras family. But no need for manners. I'm sure you're not the type to like kisses.
He was right.
Finally, the warrior stepped forward, her dark gaze fixed on me.
— Asha. Heiress of the Volgrane family.
Not a word more. Not a smile. She measured me like a freshly forged blade, and it reminded me of Helena.
The silence settled. I stared at them in turn.
— What do you want?
It was Elias who replied. His voice was calm, but every word fell with the weight of a truth.
— Make you a proposal, Vongold. Here, you will not survive alone.
I raised an eyebrow.
— Listen... I have already defeated and survived a Dragon. I underwent training by one of the most powerful Aseides of this era. I can fly. And I fully intend to become the most powerful Aseides of our generation. That's who I am.
I keep silent.
Their gaze changed. Some had heard the rumor, others seemed incredulous. But Elias shook his head.
— Your ambitions are commendable. But here, it's not the South. It's not the atmosphere of a training session. Here, it's not nature's monsters. It's worse. In Aurora, they are monsters raised from birth to kill and dominate.
He took a step towards me.
— Do you think you can stand up to them? Facing Cassian, for example?
This name echoed in the room like a sentence.
Cassian.
I relived his cold gaze, his perfect posture, his overwhelming discipline. Even without having faced him yet, I already felt that he was not an heir like the others. He was a mountain. A barrier.
Elias continued:
— Alone, he will crush you. As he crushes all those who get in his way. You are still very far from his level, Vongold. But together... we can at least survive. Make an alliance. An alliance that will last even after graduation. I swear on my name.
Dorian burst out laughing and placed his arm heavily on my shoulder.
— And then admit, man... you're tired of dining alone. We've watched you, you know. Every night, with their vulture-like looks behind your back.
Lyra spoke lower, almost like a confession.
— We are not the most powerful. We know it. But we can hold on, if we unite. And you... you can be the thread that connects us. Don't underestimate us.
Asha crossed her arms.
— Or you continue alone, spectre. But here, solitude... it's a tomb waiting to be closed.
I observed them, one by one.
Their sincerity. Their irony. Their harshness.
I had spent seventeen years alone: rejected, despised, used. People my age had only had contempt or pity towards me. And now, I was being offered an alliance. Not out of friendship. Not yet. But out of necessity.
I remembered Simon's words.
«Everything you show here will be observed.»
So maybe having eyes around me... was better than only having blades pointed at my back.
I end up saying, in a low voice:
— Very well. But I promise you nothing.
Elias sketched a rare smile.
— It's a start.
They left the room one by one. But when I entered the door, I already knew that something had changed.
In Aurora... I had made allies.
I had just closed the door after the departure of my new 'allies' that another blow rang out. Heavier. More familiar.
That of my first brothers in arms.
I didn't even have time to respond. The door opened, and Pedro entered as if he were at home. His chain dragged lazily between his fingers, an insolent smile clung to his lips.
— So, little brother... I was told that you had turned the arena like a tavern after a riot. Do you ever exaggerate a bit?
Behind him, Bruno entered more calmly, faithful to himself. His lance rested against his shoulder, his face impassive, but his eyes betrayed a rare glow. Almost... proud.
Pedro slammed the door behind him, sank into a chair, and chuckled:
— Dude, if you were there... HAHAHA! You have no idea. It seemed like they had seen a ghost come out of his grave! I thought some were going to piss on the marble.
I raised my eyes to the sky, but a smile was born despite myself. Pedro had this gift: breaking the weight that crushed me.
Bruno, he remained standing, staring at me.
— Nice fight, Iron.
His voice was neutral. But not his words. They fell into the room like a breath of pride.
Then I clenched my fists.
— But... I have to ask you. I heard whispers that puzzled me. This name they uttered: "Izac". Who was it?
Silence.
Pedro even stopped smiling. His eyes slid towards Bruno, as if to say: tell him.
Bruno sighed, placed his spear against the wall, then sat down in turn.
— The name you heard is Izac Drakthorne. The most promising Thorn Bearer that Guidence has ever seen since the Big Three... and also his greatest failure.
He pronounced this name as one pronounces a wound still alive.
— He was a student of Aurora. Like you. Like us. A generation ago. And the same promotion as Helena, by the way. But him... he possessed something that no one had seen since the first Patriarchs: theft.
I frowned.
— So what? What does it matter, to have this ability?
Bruno stared at me, his dark eyes planted in mine.
— You really don't understand. The flight... has never been anything but a dream for man. Even though we had powers beyond imagination, the sky was forbidden to us. Since the dawn of time, it was the domain of the gods, the stars, the dragons. The Patriarchs had torn it from creation, yes. But after them... no one anymore. Until him.
He marked a pause.
— And Izac did not make a symbol of it. He made it a threat. He flew like others breathe. He fought in the air, free, uncontrollable. Each clash was a spectacle of speed and chaos. It was said that he danced with the laws of God... and that his power, linked to his Thorn, had something of the Devil.
My heart was beating wildly.
— And what ended up happening?
Pedro replied, this time more serious.
— He never accepted chains, Iron. Izac respected nothing, nor anyone. Not mentors. Not families. Not Kalion. He was laughing at them, humiliating them in the middle of a fight. One day, he broke a teacher in front of the entire academy. And that was the end.
Bruno nodded.
— Guidence expelled him. He was dismissed from Aurora. Scratched from the archives. But his shadow never disappeared. Some say that he founded a circle of the banned, forgotten, rejected: the most powerful he found, those who exist in no database. Others that he ended up dying at the hand of a Patriarch from one of the houses in the Top 10... but I doubt it.
I remained silent.
Bruno concludes, in a low voice:
— That's why they whispered his name when you left the ground. Because your ability reminded them of his spectrum. And because the sky, Iron... the sky is forbidden to us. But every time someone snatches it, he engraves his century forever.
I stood up, walked to the window. The hanging gardens of Aurora stretched before my eyes, bathed in the light of crystal torches. And above... the stars.
The sky.
I felt my fracture vibrate in my chest, my blades make a faint noise.
A forbidden dream.
A nightmare for those who had seen it in the hands of this famous Izac.
But for me... maybe the only freedom I had ever known.
I whispered, almost for myself:
— If the sky is forbidden to them... I have stolen it from the gods.
Pedro burst out laughing, placing his hand on my shoulder.
— You see that, Bruno? He's almost as crazy as me! HAHA. Make us proud, Iron. Never flinch.
Bruno, he, sketched a slight smile. But his eyes shone for a moment, as if he already saw where this path was going to lead me.