Moments after Herrod returned to his bench the sky overhead took an indigo gradient, stars just beginning to blink into view. The sounds of music and laughter fill the cooling air, the space around Anecus something profound shifted.
Naia watched Anecus cradle the wrapped sword like it was made of glass. The glow from the forge painted flickers across his face, shadows folding and unfolding around the soft lines of his expressions.
He wasn't smiling, not yet. He looked…still, the way a pond stills just before something rises from its depths.
Teasing Anecus Naia nudged him a little "you gonna stare at it all night or actually..."
She stopped, furrowing her brow she noticed a shimmer not of polished metal but from him. She blinked, thinking at first the heat. Festival sweat catching lantern light but then she saw it fall, a single droplet. Then another…"water?"
Dripping gently down his fingertips, beads on his temple like condensation forming on cool stone. "Anecus…?"
Anecus POV
Looking up, the air stilled around me, then pulsed. The breath in my throat caught, I had to force my it. To me the world grew silent, at least I think it did. "What's happening?"
Then I felt it.
A tide rolling from inside my bones, smooth, cool... Inevitable. Not sure exactly but somewhere to my left I felt a hanging icicle tremble. On my right, a stream of frost winding around a merchant's barrel began to shimmer.
Crystals of ice at my feet resonated faintly with my breath.
Some of the crowd nearby turned slowly. At first confused but then recognized. Mother, halfway down the lane, froze. Her silver hair caught the wind and a hand rose to her lips before she even knew it.
Red's stance shifted, more protective.
Anecus's eyes flashed a brief radiant blue. Not icy, not cold but tranquil, like the heart of a still lake. A quiet gasp moved through the crowd. Then cheering "Another one! We have another Accursed!"
Cassia's face lit up in disbelief, followed by pure joy. She grabbed Naia's arm and shook it. "He awakened! He finally awakened!" Naia couldn't even speak. She just stared, eyes glistening.
My breathing was slow, I hadn't meant to cause a commotion, I hadn't even known what was happening. But deep within my chest I felt it, like a door had been opened.
Dad approached slowly and knelt down beside me. I felt the security of his hand resting on my back "just like we had talked about."
He looked into my eyes that hadn't stopped glowing almost as if he was gazing past a hidden veil. "This is only the beginning."
The festival was still lively, the music and laughter had quieted but stayed consistent. People were getting ready for the end of night firework show. It hadn't been but an hour from Anecus's awakening. The small circle around him had changed.
Joy became tension, awe became worry. The light around the forge, once warm and golden, began to flicker unnaturally. Jane approaching could see Naia still stunned beside him. Cassia beaming and bouncing at his side.
But something was wrong.
As mom reached me I could see her proud smile falter. 'What's wrong?' I could feel her motherly instinct kick in. I felt her place a hand on my cheek. But it was cold?
"Anecus…? You're burning up." With the safety that my mother provided I finally felt my body sway. I was flushed with an intense heat, something akin to the hottest day of summer.
Jane looked up to Red "He just awakened, what's going on?"
Red knew what was happening but he couldn't believe it. 'Another Pillar!?'
Anecus body radiated heat like fresh coals. His silver hair usually a cool hue, shimmered faintly…like hot white metal.
The fire of the forge's and lanterns responded, leaned in towards him. Cassia felt the change in atmosphere "Why's it getting so hot?"
Shielding him with her body Jane for the first time in a long time didn't know what to do. But she didn't need to because Red was already moving, sweeping behind Jane he reached out in one smooth motion pulling the heavy tail of his winter coat around Anecus.
The fabric clung to the boy's damp tunic, concealing the glow beneath. Luckily the crowd hadn't noticed. Low and steady "Jane."
She looked up at him and for a moment, just one. She was no longer a Contractor or a mother. She was the girl who had run away with the most dangerous man she knew. Hearing his voice again "Meet us at the house."
Then he vanished. Vector shift, the space around him fractured like mirrored glass. The color bled from the world in a single ripple. The next heartbeat he was gone. Only a faint distortion in the air remained.
Jane stood frozen a moment longer, one hand raised where Red had vanished. "Aunt Jane..?"
She exhaled slowly. Then smiled for the girls. "It's ok, love he's with his father." crouching between them and giving each a reassuring touch on the shoulder.
"Let's go home."
'Uhg, where am I?' coming back to consciousness I could still feel an intense heat but now I was being carried?
Red arrived in a silent burst, vector displacement barely trailing behind him. He didn't bother knocking the door open, we walked through it. With a calm urgency.
Anecus stirred against him, sweat running down his brow. His hair still had an incandescent sheen. Casting thin glimmers on Red's shoulder…The temperature in the house began to rise. "Too hot…we need to cool you down."
I could feel something cold against my skin, but it soon turned hot again. "Come on drop." I could hear my father's voice…I hadn't heard his voice like this before. There was worry in it.
The ice water hissed, the blocks of ice melting rabidly. A cloud of steam began to rise from the basin. Red knew Anecus was awakening another Pillar but even for a Fire Pillar this heat was too intense for a 1 star.
The only thing that made sense of it was he got a deviant trait along with his second Pillar. Grabbing more ice "you stubborn boy."
Lowering him back into the water it boiled immediately, but Anecus didn't cry out. His head tilted back, lips parted slightly. His body wasn't rejecting the heat, it was absorbing it.
Red looked within to track his essence, and it was raging. He hadn't seen such an affinity for fire before. He had only heard of one other person with such a talent…but that person was said to have transcended the 5 star talent level.
The door opened, Jane's coat swept through the threshold before her steps ever touched the floor, Naia and Cassia left with Rennen and Amara. She absorbed the scene all at once "Red what is this? I thought he had awakened already."
Flatly Red responded "he did."
he stood up slowly, hands wet and expression tight with realization. "And now…he's awakened another."