Chapter 35 #2
“Contrary to what you and everyone else might think, I don’t think Faustina was perfect.
Those comparisons aren’t fair to you. I’m sorry I ever made them.
Even if I wasn’t your biggest supporter at the time, I should have respected you enough not to compare you to her, or ever imply Faustina was superior to you.
It was wrong of me. You don’t know how much I deeply regret it. ”
Aimilia tilted her head. “Nikias, let’s be honest. Whether it’s fair or not doesn’t stop it from happening.
You can say now all you want about how you don’t think Faustina is perfect, but I know what I saw.
I had the privilege of watching you love her, and I do mean privilege.
It was a beautiful thing, and I think what’s most devastating is the fact that everything that followed after has marred that for you and everyone else.
I meant it when I told you I admired the way you loved her.
I don’t think I’ll ever see anything like it again. ”
Nikias shook his head. “You only say that because you were on the outside looking in.”
If Aimilia knew…
“I’m not saying it was perfect. But don’t think you can fool me now. I’m sorry things turned out the way they did. I wish that story had had a happy ending instead of the one you got.”
“I don’t think that was ever in the cards.”
Aimilia was looking at him too closely. He’d said too much. Even though he hadn’t said nearly as much as he wanted to. The words had been threatening to spill out of his mouth.
”Nikias—”
He turned to her and said, “Did I ever tell you about the time I used an illusion to distract Gavril’s nanny and the two of us managed to hide for half a day before they found us?”
Aimilia blinked, and then she leaned forward. “I don’t think Gavril ever told me that one.”
Nikias shook his head. “He might not remember it. He was only four.”
As Nikias told the story, Aimilia’s light laugh filled the air. Not as vibrant as he hoped, but it was something at least.
It meant she was no longer thinking about her grandfather, and she wasn’t looking too closely at Nikias or Faustina’s ghost. The less Faustina’s name filled the air, the better. He was halfway through the story when they came out of the forest edge, riding by a rocky craig.
A rumble hit the air. It was a noise that had haunted Nikias since the first time he’d heard it. From the way Aimilia’s expression fell, she recognized it too. Nikias immediately started veering his horse to the left, calling out, “It’s the stone mages! It’s an ambush!”
Aimilia followed his lead, her horse keeping pace next to his. Nikias looked over his shoulder to see the rocks falling down. There were a few figures up by the cliff’s edge, but Nikias’ highest priority was to get them out alive.
But before they could escape the path of the landslide, a rock wall shot up out of the ground, right in their path. Nikias had barely turned his horse in time to keep from crashing into it, grabbing Aimilia’s reins as he did so.
He called out to the guards behind them, “Get a shield up!”
But Aimilia had already been casting before Nikias even spoke.
The gold ring on her finger glowed as her fingers flew while she scrambled off her horse.
She planted her feet firmly and threw up a shield halfway up the cliff face, catching the brunt of the earth that was crashing towards them.
The only problem was the landslide had nowhere else to go.
If that shield came down, they were dead.
The guards quickly encircled Aimilia and Nikias.
A rock flew through the air, and as Nikias ducked, it went through the space where his head had been.
He stumbled to the ground, weaving around Aimilia to see the Stonai surrounding them on all sides.
They were trapped between the landslide and the Stonai.
Aimilia huffed for air. “I can keep the shield up, but it won’t be forever.”
Nikias said, “I’ll make this as fast as possible.”
One of the Stonai called out in their language, but Nikias didn’t know any of it.
They all had a light brown or deep olive complexion. They were dressed in dark browns, blending in with the Earth as much as possible.
Nikias had no idea what they were after, but he didn’t care. They were a threat to Aimilia’s life, and that was all Nikias needed to know. In Aerator, Nikias so rarely got to fight, especially not where he could show his full strength.
Nikias’ hands flew, throwing up a shield large enough to cover him and Aimilia as another boulder went through the air.
Unfortunately for the Stonai, their magic required an invocation of speech since they did not cast with runes.
They gave themselves away right before they were about to make a move.
It made it easy to defend against the rocks thrown.
What was harder to defend against was the manipulation of the ground beneath their feet. Nikias spotted one of the Runai put his ankle into a hole that hadn’t been there a moment before, sending him to the ground and breaking the rune he had been casting.
Nikias quickly counted.
There were ten stone mages and thankfully, twelve Runai, counting him and Aimilia. Unfortunately, Aimilia was occupied, so it was eleven to ten, which was still favorable. Not to mention, it was well known that the Elemens on average were not as strong as the average Runai.
But Nikias’ overconfidence had cost him before. He wouldn’t let that happen again.
So he stayed where he was, guarding Aimilia’s back and throwing runes out where he could.
His hands never stopped moving. If it wasn’t to throw a bolt toward one of the Stonai, it was to lay a trap.
That had been Nikias’ saving grace in his graduation tournament, laying traps to take out the competition—that way he could also focus on protecting and assisting Faustina.
If not for Nikias, Faustina wouldn’t have become a commander.
If not for Nikias, she wouldn’t have died.
Unfortunately, Nikias also had to throw up shields to protect him and Aimilia from all sides since Aimilia’s strength was devoted completely to shielding from the landslide.
He threw up a shield to block from the barrage of small stones heading his way, but at that moment, the ground shifted beneath him, and he stumbled.
Cracks formed underneath his feet, and his shield failed.
He let out a sharp hiss as the rocks flew through the air and cut his shoulder.
But what cut him the most was Aimilia’s cry behind him.
He looked over his shoulder to see her arm bleeding as well, but she held it aloft.
However, her shield had shrunk. Some of the debris spilled over the sides, and Nikias saw one of his men, barely able to throw himself back under Aimilia’s shield.
That was when rock shot up from the ground and encased the Runai’s hand. He was pinned down, defenseless and unable to cast.
Nikias was starting to see why Gavril was so insistent upon training everyone in learning the clan mages’ one-handed casting. Unfortunately, that would be a problem for another day.
If they lived through this attack.
The other men were too heavily involved in their own fights. If the stone mages tried that little trick again and disrupted Aimilia’s shield, he would be dead.
One stone mage was approaching, lifting a boulder from the ground, his hand movements making it clear where he was about to aim it.
Nikias flung out a rune, the bolt of vitae catching the Stonai’s leg. However, it didn’t change the trapped Runai’s predicament.
The only way the Runai would be able to break free is if someone got close enough to cut his hand free without cutting it off. Aimilia had spotted it too. She locked eyes with him and said, “Go. I can manage.”
Nikias quickly took off despite every instinct screaming at him to stay by her side.
He quickly cast a whip, lashing it around the Stonai’s waist and ripping with all his strength.
The Stonai fell and rolled across the ground.
Nikias jumped over him to reach the Runai.
The ground rumbled again, more cracks forming and opening up chasms in the ground, trying to separate the Runai from each other.
Nikias focused on casting quickly and precisely.
He made cuts in the stone with vitae until the Runai could pull his hand free.
The second the Runai was free, a white-hot pain ripped through his side. Nikias clutched his side to see his hand stained red as the sharp rock thrown his way crashed to the ground.
Nikias quickly straightened back up, and that was when he saw a sharp, thin rock fly through the air, heading right toward Aimilia. Nikias was too far away to stop it, not even if he started casting that second. It didn’t stop him from trying though.
However, Aimilia had seen it. She threw herself out of the way, the sharp rock piercing the ridge behind them. Aimilia hit the ground, and her shield fell when she moved.
The ground shook again. The cracks turned into chasms. The landslide Aimilia had been holding back started to rush down the ridge again.
Nikias started running. So did the stone mages. A landslide was just as deadly to them if they were in its path. Aimilia was about to cast again right before the landslide hit them, but a small yet hefty rock flew through the air, crashing into her hand and scraping up her arm.
She cried out, and her shield collapsed. Nikias saw red.
All he saw was red.
But his shield went up where hers had fallen. Thankfully, most of the other Runai had prioritized casting shields to at least protect themselves before they were swept away.
Everyone but Nikias.
“Nikias!”
Nikias couldn’t move if he wanted to keep up his shield, protecting Aimilia from being swept away in the debris.
But soon enough, it would shatter when the rubble swept him away.
He could see the moment Aimilia realized it too.
But when her hands started moving, it wasn’t to cast a shield to protect herself.
Reckless girl.
She flung out a vitae whip, and Nikias caught it, the shield he had protecting her shattering.
Nikias hissed at the burn cutting through his hand right as the debris started to reach him.
He jerked on the vitae whip with everything he had, and as soon as Aimilia was within arm’s reach, he wrapped an arm around her waist and threw them both into the closest chasm.
Nikias covered Aimilia with his body, curling her into him and hoping that the others would be able to dig her out before it was too late. Nikias didn’t expect he would last as long.
The debris crashed over him, and they were buried under the earth.