Hated by her lineage, Iliya Dalaminai dwells in self isolation, awaiting the day her cousin marries so she might escape the Throne.
Feared by the Gods, Sorein Chakrine's crown is mainly a relic put on display at royal ceremonies to ward off evil.
Wh...
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He knew as soon as the door shut and the ground began to tremble.
With his palms pressed against the peak of the Aphyres's pyre, head tipped as he began to recite the Sealing prayer, Sorein felt the disturbance before the screaming began.
Attack. Ambush. Slaughter.
Sorein hissed to himself, releasing the platform and turning to see through the glassy magic. He could see their lips moving, several guests pointing toward him but there was no evidence of an assault.
A breath escaped him.
Just as he was about to turn back to the pedestal, the ground began to quake again.
"What in Heilos..." he muttered to himself.
Scanning the outer edges, he traced back the steps Iliya had taken to where she now stood with Qudja towards the right wall.
Relief almost poured through him until he noticed her eyes.
Iliya's eyes were imbued with bright silver, sparks searing beneath the surface. As he inspected them further, he watched a tight grimace pulling on Qudja's lips and red drops skittering down the edges of both their gowns.
His friend's nails dug so deeply into the Chieftain's daughter they both shed blood.
Slamming his hand on the barrier between them, Sorein realized quickly he wasn't going anywhere. Not until the Ceremony was over, not until he'd been fully Sealed.
He had to break free from this chamber.
"Alright, concentrate," he grumbled.
Breaking the Aphyre would destroy the protections on the estate, the barriers between realms, and the very peace his parents were desperate to protect. Not to mention how inconvenient it would be for more citizens to fear him.
Sorein wasn't even entirely sure he could shatter the wall.
He took a deep breath and turned back to the pyre, placing his hands carefully on either side and began to rehearse the prayer one more time.
"Aida guide me into the light," Sorein murmured, steadying himself within his thoughts. "May I give myself to her cause and walk through this land to protect that which shields us. Upon this land created, from the land we return, the Aphyre shall bless this journ-"
Just as his Mana began to stir within him, the screaming ricocheted through the crystal.
He gritted his teeth, focusing as much as he could on the lingering flicker in his soul. "-journey."
Sorein repeated himself two more times as the connection between his Mana and the Aphyre tethered, braiding together into a cord.
Infinity washed through him in powerful, gripping waves that had his knees buckling. Stars trickled into his veins, flowing through him with the vastness and the purity of space and time itself. Enveloping. All encompassing. The sensation flooded through him in sensations he had never experienced, even in dreams.
