Chapter 5 Diamonds
DIAMONDS
Auren watched as Vesperin struggled to breathe on the ground, all while he struggled to keep the Rogues away from her—but it wasn’t hard.
They were almost… ignoring her.
That couldn’t be right. Could it?
He was torn away from staring at her as a Rogue charged toward him. He reacted before he even realized what he was doing, so used to fighting. It was ingrained in his very blood.
His scythe cut through the Rogue’s neck, severing the head completely. It fell on the dead grass with a heavy thump. More Rogues spilled out of the trees, drawn to them.
Auren must leave this place. He was tiring. His stamina was much greater than the average human as a Soul Searcher, but even he had his limits. And he found himself reaching them far too quickly for his liking.
He had been tailing Vesperin for days, watching the life she lived. Stalking her. When he had seen her mount her motorcycle and head to this forest, he had grown angry—what was she doing back here? Did she have a death wish?
Nova Zone 21 was wicked. Shoved far on the fringes of Solar City for a reason. Yet, she kept coming back here.
A baying noise echoed off the thick canopy of leaves overhead. A large Rogue charged toward him with its pointed rock head lowered. It ran past Vesperin, forgoing her entirely.
Celestials, he was over this.
Auren used his swift speed to cut in the Rogue’s path, sliding before it, half on the ground.
His white cloak was already covered in dirt and mud—what was a bit more?
He held his scythe, the end jabbing into his ribs from the tight angle as he sliced the blade in an upward arc, right through the Rogue’s hind limbs, cutting them off completely.
It let loose a furious roar, hobbling on only two front legs, which Auren made quick work of butchering.
The Rogue fell to its side, unable to do more than twitch on the ground, black eyes cutting into him.
His heart panged as he watched the creature. Once a beautiful Soul, now turned to this.
Each kill made his heart heavy with anguish at what could have been. A Soul robbed of the Stars and a chance at living again.
"I’m sorry," he murmured, cutting through the Rogue’s chest. Blood sprayed him as the monster gave a dying screech.
It all happened in a few seconds, and he turned back to Vesperin, hating that he had to leave her for even a moment unwatched. He had to get her out of here. He held his scythe before him in an offensive position as he ran toward her.
Just as Auren started to slide on the ground, his scythe hooked over his shoulder, and one arm stretched out to grab her, the air grew charged with crackling electricity.
His hair stood on end, like lightning had struck nearby—as though hundreds of ants skittered down the back of his nape and his spine.
Pure white light radiated from Vesperin. In shifting tendrils, the light arced out from her chest. The very air sparkled around her, encasing her in its brilliance.
Auren fell to the ground, throwing an arm over his eyes to shield himself from the startling white. It burned.
As long as he had lived, he had rarely come across such Stella.
Aether?
It flowed from her in the purest, most raw of forms.
Pulsing from her.
Like—like the Pulses emitted from high levels of Nova.
Celestials, she was resplendent.
The forest was buzzing with dying croaks of the Rogues, strangled chitters, and roars. They could not hide from whatever it was flowing from within her. But it never touched him.
Auren knew this had to do with the Nova in her heart.
He had been busy since he had first found her in these woods.
He hadn’t lied to her; as a Soul Searcher, nothing was off-limits to him.
He could go anywhere, do anything. And no one would stop him.
Not even the corrupted Hunter’s Guild—they had certainly tried, however.
When Auren had ripped through a portal into the heart of headquarters, all it had taken was one look at the Star etched under his eye, and they fumbled and pleaded.
So, he knew of the Nova in her heart. Just as he knew the vile lengths the Hunter’s Guild would go to discover how they could use it for their own gain.
The air trembled with the force of her Aether, wavering in pulsating motions as the sparkles grew in intensity—and then, all at once, the light was sucked back inside her. It was as if it had never even happened.
But the dead Rogues around them spoke of another story.
Auren carefully removed his arm from his eyes, unfolding his body from the ground as he stared at her. Her white hair lay around her head in a simple halo, her eyes closed, her expression peaceful.
"What are you?" Auren asked the still air.
She remained a motionless enigma.
He fit his scythe behind him to keep his arms free as he walked to Vesperin. Carefully, he lifted her in his arms, trying to ignore the way he shook. She was too still. Her heart was too slow.
Please, he prayed to the Celestials, do not let her die. I just met her. Let us have this life.
He shifted his hold to one arm, muscles barely straining from her weight. She was small, and he was strong—he could carry her to the end of this world if he so wished.
With his free hand, he grabbed his scythe, quickly thinking of Solar City General Hospital—a place he had only seen in passing—so he could craft a portal.
It was enough.
Vesperin in his arms, Auren stepped through the portal.
Immediately, the hustle and bustle of downtown Solar City greeted him. It was the weekend and early evening—humans walked the streets, giddy, laughing, and happily going about their lives.
The first person to see Auren gasped, holding a hand over their heart at the sight of him decked in all white, a gleaming scythe in one hand, and a passed-out girl in the other.
He ignored them all, steps sure and quick as he headed to the front doors and threw them open.
The waiting room was relatively quiet. He did not know if this was the emergency area or not. He did not care.
Auren only cared for his Soulbond in his arms.
The receptionist was a woman with a short, black bob. She stood from her chair so quickly that the wheels squealed as it rolled, bumping into the file cabinet behind her.
Auren breathed, "Save her. Help her. Please."
His eyes were wide, hood pushed back. The small Star under his eye was bare for all to see. He knew his unnatural looks spoke to his otherworldliness. The woman’s eyes darted to his scythe, then to the girl in his arms.
"Vesperin?" she questioned, rounding the corner of her desk and blindly grasping for a pager at her hip. "Oh my god, what happened to her?" The woman reached for her, and Auren stiffened, holding her closer to his chest. "I’m certified in the basics. Let me check her pulse."
"She needs… something. Medicine." Auren didn’t know. He was an immortal—any wound he had would heal within minutes or hours. Those with Stella did have elevated healing capabilities, but only slightly. He was out of his element.
The woman pressed a hand to Vesperin’s pulse, counting under her breath.
Her eyes widened, and she clicked the pager, stepping back toward her desk where she fumbled for a button.
The ends of her black bob brushed her chin as she leaned forward, speaking into a microphone.
"Code blue. I repeat, code blue." The words filled the halls from the speakers, and she let the button on the microphone go, sighing.
"He’ll hate me if I keep this from him…"
Whom was she speaking of?
From a set of white double doors, a team of staff emerged. A gurney was between them, being rolled in a flurry as a female doctor stepped up to Auren.
"Place her down there," she ordered.
Auren did, heart clenching as Vesperin’s head lolled to the side.
"What happened?" The doctor tugged down Vesperin’s shirt, pressing her ear to her chest.
"She collapsed on the field. She…" Auren’s words stalled. He would not tell them of the Aether, or the way the Rogues had all fallen to the ground, dead.
Thankfully, the doctor didn’t press him.
"Prepare an automated external defibrillator.
We need to get that heart rate normalized—stat.
" Two of the doctors broke off, heading back behind the still swinging double doors.
A large man started to wheel the gurney, and Auren struggled to keep up, knees weak.
One of the doctors tried to stop him from following, but one look at his scythe, and they grew quiet—not explicitly permitting him to follow, but not doing anything to keep him away, either. He’d like to see them try.
The double doors fell closed behind him, and the murmur of the receptionist, phone held to her ear as she spoke in severe, hushed tones, was drowned out the further he walked. The halls were white and sterile, a mere blur as they wheeled her into a room.
"I need you to stand by the wall, or leave," the female doctor ordered, pulling gloves onto her hands as she stood over Vesperin.
Auren nodded, quietly taking up watch by the wall.
They started to place sensors on her temples, hooked to an incessantly beeping machine.
Her shirt was ripped open, from collar to bottom hem, revealing the soft lace, cupping her small breasts; then, that too was torn, baring her upper half to the cold room.
The concerned voices of the hospital personnel were but a buzz in his ears. Like standing beneath water.
Two circular pieces of medical equipment hovered over her chest.
"One… two."
They were charged, then pressed to her chest.
Vesperin’s body jolted as currents of electricity ran through her.
The female doctor held them there for a moment, then pulled them away.
Currents of green sparked around the doctor from her Earth Stella as she used it to ground herself, before she pressed the charged electrodes back to Vesperin’s chest.
Again.
Again…
And again.
Each shock, Auren felt in his bones.