The heavy oak door of Aina's bedchamber was closed and bolted. The soft glow of a lamps on the walls and ceiling cast a warm, golden light across the room, illuminating a space that was a stark contrast to the girl herself. Here, amidst plush tapestries and soft comfortably large pillows , the cold, expressionless mask she wore in public was gone. There was only a girl, a girl of seven, curled in the center of her large bed, hugging a pillow with a ferocity that could have bent steel.
"That idiot… that absolutely, utterly dense idiot," she muttered into the pillow, her voice muffled but thick with emotion. She rolled from one side to the other, a restless energy coursing through her. The image of Elias's small, bewildered face from earlier that day was burned into her mind. The Rite of Passage. A six-year-old child, sent into a Flow-dense Node to hunt an Imbued beast. The very thought of it made a cold knot of dread tighten in her chest.
" Uncle Alaric is an idiot. Elias is not ready," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"He is not ready at all."
Her mind conjured a vivid picture of Elias, his innocent, earnest face, his wide, curious eyes. She thought of his clumsy movements, the way he would trip over his own feet, the endless parade of minor scrapes and bruises he would get from running around the keep. She had always found these little flaws endearing, proof to show his vibrant, childlike nature. Well,that was to be expected. He was a child after all.
But in her mind's eye, the image shifted. A minor scrape could become a festering wound from a poisoned claw. A clumsy misstep could become a fatal fall into a chasm. That careless curiosity, which was so charming now, could cost him his life out there in the Iron Forest. The sheer scale of the danger was not something she could quantify with a simple word. It was a cold, terrifying emptiness in her heart. A Node was a place even high stage , experienced hunters had to be cautious of.
She had heard the rumors, the hushed whispers of the knights and older servants of the House. They spoke of the Iron Forest in tones of reverence and terror. It was not just a place where various beasts roamed; it was a place where reality itself was frayed. They spoke of sentient trees that moved with malicious intent, of vines that could drain a man's Flow in a matter of seconds, of creatures with too many eyes and too many limbs that defied all knowledge of anatomy. It was a chaotic, malevolent place, and Alaric, her father, was sending Her little brother there. In a couple of weeks she would turn eight and would have to start preparation to attend the Fazhan University of the Thoth order but she could focus on herself and prepare, not when her four-year-old brother… was being sent to a death trap.
Aina sat up abruptly, the pillow falling to her lap. She had given him an artifact,the Jade Fang. She knew better than to give a four year old a dagger as a gift but she has anticipated that he'd need some kind of weapon in future so what better time was it than now to give it to him. The blade had a measure to ensure that it's weilder didn't hurt themself by accident. When Elias has touched the blade it had cut him and activated the array written into it.
If this was a world of magic and sorcery,an array would be considered as a spell or an enchantment. It was a set of instructions that were written into Flow or Anti-Flow to perform specific functions.
The array written into the Jade Fang was a powerful one that bound the blade to a single master, a new soul. It had cut him to drink his blood, activating in order to lock its fate to his.
The cut that was meant to bond them could have been a fatal blow to a normal child or anyone else who now tried to use the blade without his permission.
The Jade Fang had other characteristics, of course. She knew them intimately, having spent countless hours with the Artisan who had created it, but she wanted Elias to discover them for himself. She wanted him to learn, to grow, to see the world not as she saw it, but in his own way. He was a curious little boy, and she hoped he'd be able to do that.
She paused, her gaze drifting to the window. The moon was a sliver of white in the black sky, and the stars were like scattered diamonds. In her mind's eye, she saw Elias's smiling face, his small, mischievous grin. The fear momentarily subsided, replaced by a flood of fantastical images. She envisioned herself, a powerful Flow-user, wielding her own legendary blade, rescuing Elias from some terrible foe. She imagined him, a master of the Jade Fang, standing by her side, a perfect pair, a pair that was closer,closer than just siblings...
A blush crept across her cheeks. The brother-complex was something she had always tried to suppress, but in the quiet safety of her room, it was a comforting, overwhelming presence.
But the reality of their situation snapped her out of her daydreams. She would be turning eight in two weeks. That meant she had exactly four years left before she was required to go to the Fazhan University, the prestigious academy for Flow-users. Four years. That wasn't nearly enough time. She wouldn't be there for him when he needed her most. She wouldn't be there to protect him.
A new resolve, cold and unyielding as the jade blade itself, hardened in her heart. If she could not be by his side to protect him for a while, she would make him strong enough to protect himself in her absence. The two years of training her uncle had promised would not be enough. It had to be more... Tougher.
Harsher.
She would become a harsh, demanding mentor, a constant presence, a living, breathing challenge that he would have to overcome every day.
Tears welled in her eyes, a sharp, bitter pain in her throat. She felt it had to be done.
She hugged her pillow tighter, burying her face in the soft fabric.
"Big sister is sorry," she whispered, her voice cracking with the weight of her decision. "But it's the only way."
She laid back down, closing her eyes. She imagined Elias and whispered his name, a soft prayer, a plea to the universe, before finally drifting into a restless, dreaming sleep.