Aiden appeared instantly in front of a modest stone house in one of Dragonhold’s quiet residential districts.
This was Ursula’s ho.
He had not needed directions since his sight had always been on this city, watching and learning every little detail.
As a result, he practically knew where everyone who mattered lived, from the old captains to the new ones, and even certain important nobles.
He reached for the door but stopped himself mid-motion as his enhanced hearing had picked up soone already approaching the door.
The door opened and Ursula stood in the doorway. She had already sensed Aiden’s presence the mont he materialized outside.
"Aiden," she said. "What brings you here at this hour?"
"Is Helena inside?" he asked.
Ursula nodded and stepped aside without question. "She is."
Aiden walked past her into the small sitting room.
Helena sat near the hearth with her hands folded in her lap, gazing distantly at the flas.
Lucas sat near a window, looking just as distraught as his mother.
The mont Lucas saw Aiden enter, his expression turned into more of a frown. He turned his head away sharply and said nothing more.
Helena lifted her eyes slowly toward Aiden. Her face looked drawn and pale and filled with grief.
Aiden began, "I apologize for wasting ti on this matter when there was always an easier way to find Lysandra."
His voice ca out almost without concern for Helena. Ca out like soone who was just here to do his job and leave.
Helena straightened up imdiately in her seat. Her sadness shifted into sudden focus, and it looked like this little flicker of hope had returned to her eyes.
"How?" she asked. "How can we find her?"
"I’m sending you to Elandria right now," Aiden said. "You’ll retrieve any personal item that belongs to Lysandra."
Helena rose to her feet without hesitation. "I can do that," she said firmly.
Aiden moved toward the center of the room and gestured for everyone to step back slightly.
He activated his Dragon’s Sight, and his vision expanded outward instantly.
His perception stretched across vast distances in seconds.
His sight swept through Dragonhold first, then beyond its walls, racing across fields and forests until it caught sight of Lady Arnarra.
She rode at the head of a small envoy, moving steadily along the road toward Dragonhold’s borders.
They were close now, less than a day’s travel away and clearly coming to retrieve the elves who had been rescued.
Aiden’s sight pushed past them without lingering and continued stretching farther east until it finally reached Elandria itself.
The elven capital ca into view with its towering trees and elegant structures.
He focused briefly on the layout of the city, then pulled his vision back and opened his hand toward the empty space before him.
A blue portal tore open in the air.
Lucas turned from the window at that mont and stared at the portal with wide eyes. It was still a thing of Amazent seeing his no-magic half brother cast such power spells.
"This takes you directly into Elandria," Aiden said, glancing toward Helena. "I’m always watching from here. Once you have the item, wave your hand. Another portal leading back will open for you."
Helena nodded and walked forward, stepping through the portal which sealed shut behind her.
The room fell silent, and went awkward sort of but after a minutes passed, another portal opened up in the sa spot as before.
Helena stepped through holding a small object in her hand. A delicate hairbrush with fine carvings along its handle.
She held it out toward Aiden imdiately.
"This is hers," Helena said. "She used it every morning."
Aiden took the brush and closed his eyes. Then used the celestial magic divination spell he had copied from Ursula not long ago.
Although like before, it was at a much better level than the original caster. This was Deity strength.
The magic reached outward, searching for the physical presence connected to the brush. Then with his supernatural awareness and dinsion sight, he was connect and pinpoint what particular dinsion Lysandra was in.
Aiden’s eyes snapped open.
"I’ve found her," he said.
Helena let out a shaky breath and pressed one hand against her chest as relief flooded through her.
Lucas turned from the window as his frown softened slightly for just a mont.
"Is she alive?" Helena asked urgently.
"Yes," Aiden replied. "And I’m going to bring her back."
He raised one hand and a variant materialized beside him.
The variant nodded without speaking and stood aside.
This variant was created as a precaution in case anything went wrong while he was gone.
He had given it instructions; if any threat appeared in Dragonhold or if complications arose, the variant was to act at once, creating an avatar to relay information or respond as needed.
Aiden stretched his hand forward again and opened another portal, this one leading directly into the dinsion where Lysandra’s presence had been detected.
He stepped through and the portal sealed shut behind him.
—————
Aiden erged onto a vast expanse of sand that stretched endlessly in every direction.
He imdiately activated his Dragon’s Sight and scanned the entire dinsion in seconds.
But there was Nothing.
His brow furrowed slightly as confusion hit him.
"Hm," he muttered.
Aiden still had the hairbrush in his hand. Without wasting ti, he cast the divination spell again using the sa thod as before.
The threads of energy reached out once more, but this ti they didn’t stop within this dinsion.
They stretched farther, crossing dinsional barriers until they locked onto Lysandra’s presence sowhere else.
Another dinsion altogether.
Aiden’s expression shifted again and he was beginning to have a understanding of what could possibly be going on.
Without giving it another thought, he opened a new portal imdiately and stepped through.
This ti he arrived in a dense forest filled with trees whose trunks were so wide that ten n standing side by side couldn’t have encircled them.
He activated Dragon’s Sight again instantly. And still, there was nothing.
His lips pressed into a thin line as suspicion solidified into certainty now.
This couldn’t be coincidence anymore, not twice in a row like this.
She was running from him actively, and sohow moving between dinsions faster than he could track her down.
Additionally, sothing had to be alerting her the mont he entered any dinsion she occupied, and whatever thod she used for travel had to be fast enough that she could escape before he pinpointed her exact location within that space.
A smile spread across Aiden’s face for he knew exactly how to deal with this now.
He cast the divination spell one more ti using Lysandra’s hairbrush, tracing her presence until he found which dinsion she currently occupied.
This one was world dominated by weird looking rock formations jutting up from cracked earth beneath
Aiden opened a portal leading directly there but didn’t step through yet.
Instead, he extended only his right hand through the gateway while keeping the rest of his body firmly rooted in place where he stood now.
The mont his hand crossed into that other dinsion, he whispered a single word
"Stop."
Ti froze instantly on the other side, and every thing down to even molecules locked perfectly still within
Only then did Aiden step through entirely into that frozen world himself.
He activated Dragon’s Sight imdiately and scanned carefully for any sign of movent or change within the dinsion.
He smiled appeared on his face once more and that was confirmation that it worked
It worked perfectly just as planned.
He vanished from where he stood and reappeared directly in front of two figures.
Cassian and Lysandra stood frozen in place. A red magic circle beneath their feet glowed in suspended motion.
Sand, lifted by their earlier movent, also hung up and stayed that way.
Aiden approached calmly.
Cassian was in demon form, and so Aiden had not recognized him as the Captain of the Fractured Stars Guild.
However the power emanating from him suggested that he was Archdemon level.
"Interesting," Aiden murmured.
He raised his hand and Lysandra’s frozen body drifted gently toward him. Using his dragon’s sight, he located the parasitic leech latched deep within her brains.
"Null," he said.
Cracks appeared on the body of the leech and instantly it disintegrated into nothing. The markings on Lysandra’s cheeks dissolved as well.
Aiden then turned his gaze back to Cassian.
"Lock." He whispered
Space shuddered and sealed around the demon and the magic circle, forming an invisible prison that wrapped around him completely.
This way, nothing would escape by any ans, even with teleportation.
Aiden then snapped his fingers and ti resud.
Lysandra collapsed to her knees, rather disoriented. She glanced around in panic as her vision blurred.
"Aiden...?" she whispered before her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
Aiden smiled slightly as he could see that she was free of the possession. Her unconsciousness was only minor after effect
Then he turned toward Cassian.
Cassian was screaming, though it was inaudible due to him being locked in that invisible box.
His limbs trembled violently, and every part of him thrashing against the prison.
Aiden lifted a single finger to his lips, and whispered "Shuuu..."
Dragon’s fear aura poured from him and collapsed upon the archdemon.
And Cassian froze mid-scream, and his eyes wide filled with terror. His legs buckled and he fell to his knees, unable to even breathe properly.
Aiden looked pleased with this outco.
"We are going to have quite the chat, mate."
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