Legacy of Darkness
Unpaid Debts

The battle outside Imperistia had already begun, with the two armies clashing. Araneia stood watch from high above the battlefield.

"Pathetic, isn't it?" Treleva asked, as he approached, Araneia summoned a blade of darkness as she spun around to face him. "Oh, I apologize" He laughed.

"This whole battle is being fought because of you" Araneia sighed.

"In the grand scheme of things, this battle doesn't matter, neither do the two sides. They're just fodder for the gears of war" Treleva smiled.

"How are you even here?" Araneia grunted.

"I made a deal, with some Benevolent Benefactors. In exchange for blood" Treleva explained.

"Whose blood?" Araneia asked.

"It was supposed to be of some wayward travellers who stumbled upon my old temple, at The Three Siblings. But alas, they escaped, and the price is being paid now, with interest" Trevela said, as he cast his hand toward the battlegrounds below.

"Life means that little to you?" Araneia asked, angrily.

"On the contrary, life matters a great deal. My life" Trevela sighed.

"What happened to you?" Araneia said as she pointed her sword to his neck.

"Millennia in the Underworld" Trevela shrugged. "Look, whatever you think, it's too late for this battle, if I were you, I'd run off back to your master" Trevela shrugged.

Footsteps approached behind Trevela as the brothers, Hiran and Arwyn arrived.

"Araneia!" Arwyn shouted. Trevela turned around and looked at Arwyn.

"Oh, you're Arwyn, are you not?" Trevela asked. Arwyn stayed silent. Trevela shrugged and lunged at Arwyn, impaling him upon his Celestial Blade. As he did, he absorbed the aether from Arwyn.

"BROTHER!" Hiran yelled. Trevela turned to Hiran, his eyes were a deep red. Trevela pulled his blade from Arwyn and turned to Hiran, as he went to strike, he was knocked backward by Araneia.

"Get out of here, Hiran!" Araneia said, as she continued her assault on Trevela.

"My brother..." Hiran cried as he looked down at Arwyn.

"Please, you have to leave, Hiran... get away from the city. It's a lost cause!" Araneia said, as she clashed blades with Trevela. Hiran sighed and nodded, he fled the scene leaving Araneia and Trevela battling high atop the Imperistia walls.

Below, on the battlefield, the fight had resulted in heavy casualties on both sides. The fighting had almost ceased. Fire and blood scarred the once green fields.

Araneia was knocked flying backwards by Trevela. She laid on the floor to catch her breath. Trevela walked slowly over and his blade faded into the air.

"Go back to Aranei, tell Abyssia what happened here. Tell her that her time is done." Trevela winked, before fading away into thin air.

Araneia laid motionless, staring up at the grey, smoke filled sky. All seemed lost. How had Trevela managed to gain the upper hand? Araneia sighed deeply before standing up. She looked over to Arwyn.

In the year or so that she had spent with Arwyn and Hiran, she had learned to like them. Especially Arwyn, he seemed to think beyond flags and nations, and see people as people.

Araneia sighed and walked over to his body, she knelt down and picked him up.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you..." She frowned, as she walked down the staircase, her footsteps echoed down the long empty hallways. She looked down at the city below, people were beginning to flee.

Dozens of cargo ships were taking off every second, and flying away from the ruined city, by the time Araneia reached the Airship Landing, one ship remained, bearing the sigil of Arywn's House.

From the door to the hold, Hiran stepped out, his eyes were tired, as if he'd been crying for hours. The skies above had gone dark, and it had begun to snow once more.

"You waited?" Araneia asked. Hiran smiled slightly, before nodding gently.

"Arwyn liked you..." Hiran sighed. "So you must be worth saving" He added.

"Thank you" Araneia bowed her head.

"It's no trouble, come, lets leave this city" Hiran said, as he walked into the hold. Araneia followed behind him and the door shut behind her. Once Hiran had left the room, she placed Arwyn's body in a body bag, which she placed in a refrigeration unit. Before she closed the door, she sighed deeply.

"Thank you, Arwyn" She smiled slightly, then closed the door.

When she arrived on the bridge, Hiran had begun the start up sequence. Araneia took a seat and sighed.

"Where are we headed?" She asked.

"Seems that bastard wanted you to go back to Aranei" Hiran said. "I say we don't" He shrugged.

"Where will we go instead?" Araneia asked.

"To the Northern Continent, of Farenai" Hiran said, as he plotted in a course on the ship's navigational system.

"Farenai? I've never head much from there..." Araneia pondered.

"Which makes it the perfect place to lay low" Hiran nodded, as the ship's engines powered up. Araneia nodded. The ship took off and left the city of Imperistia behind.