"I think we can stay here," Aurien said, glancing around the elevated platform. "Do you think this is a good place?"
They stood above the stone ledge, a section of the Spirehold that had been under developnt years ago before being abandoned for reasons no one ever clarified.
The ledge widened at the top into a broad, flat platform. Large enough for a full unit to spar without crowding one another.
Below them, the incline narrowed sharply. Anyone charging would have to climb before reaching them.
Ezra studied the terrain again, eyes sweeping over the slope, the gravel, the drop behind them.
"Well, I do think it’s good," he replied. "The climb alone will slow them down. And from here, we can see them long before they reach us." He paused, glancing at Aurien. "But I assu you have another reason."
"Indeed." Aurien’s lips curved slightly. "I want to see them before they co to us. Not just to fight."
Ezra tilted his head. "What else would it be for?"
Aurien crossed his arms over his chest. "Captain Ezra, would you care to make a wager with ?"
’Huh? Why so sudden?’ Ezra thought, brows drawing together slightly. "A wager, Your Highness?"
"Yes. To make this more interesting."
Ezra stared at him for a mont, still trying to understand where this was going.
Aurien noticed.
"When all six teams arrive," he clarified calmly, "I want you to tell which two teams would co out on top if they all fought each other at once."
Ezra blinked. "All six? At the sa ti?"
"Yes."
There was barely a pause.
"Team A and Team F," Ezra answered imdiately.
Aurien lifted a brow. "You did not hesitate at all." A quiet chuckle escaped him. "Why those two?"
"Team A has Guy Man," Ezra said simply. "Team F has Perrin Highfla."
That was enough.
Aurien laughed softly. "You truly had that prepared in your mind already."
Ezra’s upper lip twitched, almost betraying a smile. He kept his expression composed and shrugged lightly.
"There are other mbers of the Sunward Sentinels in those teams," Aurien said, his voice calm. "And even knights from different orders mixed in. Why did you choose Team A and Team F solely because of their Sunward Sentinels mber?"
There was no mockery in his tone. No challenge. Just quiet curiosity.
Ezra noticed that.
’He isn’t trying to trip up,’ he thought. ’He genuinely wants to understand.’
The answer, to him, was simple.
"Guy Man and Perrin Highfla," Ezra replied without hesitation. His gaze remained on the slope below, already anticipating the first movent from the distant teams. "Aside from the older Sunward Sentinels, those two are the strongest among the current roster."
Aurien’s expression sharpened slightly, listening.
"Both of them have presence," Ezra continued. "The kind that makes others adjust without being told. They don’t just fight well. They influence the field."
He paused for a brief mont.
"Guy Man is steadier. He leads naturally. Perrin..." Ezra’s eyes narrowed faintly as he considered it. "Perrin does not lead as openly. But if a formation breaks, he can carry the entire weight of it alone."
’That boy has no sense of self-preservation,’ Ezra thought quietly. ’And yet, that is precisely what makes him dangerous.’
Perrin had potential. Not polished yet. But raw. Fierce.
Even as a single fighter, he could drag a losing team back from the edge.
Aurien let out a soft sound of interest. "If you are praising them this openly, they must truly be exceptional."
Ezra did not answer imdiately.
He was not soone who praised easily.
"They are," he said simply.
Aurien’s grin returned, lighter now. "I personally have not seen them in action. Considering, you know."
The unspoken five years lingered between them.
"But I have heard Guy Man has an impressive Dark Ones kill record," Aurien added. "So of the knights speak of him with... admiration."
Ezra’s gaze flickered briefly toward Aurien.
’Guy Man is impressive, but cocky. That cockiness could kill him soday... and I might be the murderer,’ Ezra thought.
He almost smirked.
’Relax. I am joking.’
Talking to himself, inside his own mind.
"He surely is interesting—" Ezra began, intending to respond about Guy Man’s kill record.
Then he heard it.
Footsteps.
Stone scraping beneath boots. Gravel shifting. asured breathing carried upward by the wind.
The sound of n climbing with intent.
Ezra’s head turned toward the incline.
"They’re here, Your Highness," he said quietly.
Aurien did not look surprised.
He adjusted his stance, shoulders settling, the flag pole resting loosely in his grip.
"So, it begins... almost."
’Almost?’ Ezra’s brows pulled together slightly. ’What does he an by almost?’
The first figures appeared at the narrow climb.
Armor caught the light. Hands gripped stone as they ascended the last stretch.
Ezra instinctively shifted his weight forward.
His fingers twitched.
Aurien’s hand lifted slightly.
"Do not move."
Ezra blinked. "What?"
"Do not move until I tell you to."
It was calm.
But it was not a suggestion.
It was a command.
Ezra froze.
’He just... ordered ?’
In all the years they had known each other, Aurien had never commanded him like that.
Not once.
Ezra frowned. "Why?"
Aurien glanced at him.
That faint smile returned.
It was not playful.
It was not gentle.
There was sothing sharp in it now. Sothing almost... wicked.
"You will see."
’What are you planning?’ Ezra thought, tension coiling slowly through his body.
The harmless Aurien De Luxaelian Sunthyr.
Soft-spoken. Easily flustered. Too kind.
What could he possibly be planning with a smile like that?
Ezra did not get the chance to ask.
The first team reached the top.
Team D.
Ezra recognized the banner stitched onto their cloaks, though he did not know the individual mbers. No Sunward Sentinel insignias among them. Their formation was decent, though slightly uneven from the climb.
They were disciplined.
But not flawless.
Aurien tilted his head faintly.
He recognized two of them.
Dawnward Bloom.
The mont they saw Aurien standing there with the flag pole resting lightly at his side, they stiffened imdiately.
"Your Highness," one of them began.
Respect.
But also determination.
Aurien did not let them spread out.
"Do not attack, Karl. Tymothee."
The nas fell easily from his lips.
The command was sharp, but not loud.
Confusion flickered across their faces.
"Your Highness?" Karl asked carefully, still catching his breath from the climb.
Aurien stepped forward half a pace.
"I wished to speak first."
’What is he doing?’ Ezra wondered.
His pulse remained steady, but sothing beneath it tightened.
Karl exchanged a glance with the others.
Then he shook his head.
"No can do, Your Highness," he said, respectful but firm. "We respect you. But we need that flag. The other teams are coming."
Behind him, the rest of Team D adjusted their footing.
They were preparing to close in.
Ezra felt it instantly.
That shift in the air.
The mont before a fight breaks.
His fingers twitched again.
’Say the word,’ he thought. ’Just say it.’
But Aurien did not move.
He only watched them.
And smiled.
Team D began to spread out.
Not recklessly.
But coordinated.
They did not rush. They did not shout. They adjusted their spacing, boots scraping softly against stone as they widened their formation.
They were trying to surround them.
Ezra felt it imdiately.
The shift.
The tightening circle.
His fingers twitched near the hilt of his sword.
’Disciplined,’ he thought. ’They are not amateurs.’
Well, they should be if they were the ’best’ knight order now in the kingdom.
"Are you sure about this decision, Team D?" Aurien asked, almost conversationally.
The knights did not stop.
They whispered to one another, subtle nods exchanged, feet repositioning to close gaps.
They were calculating.
Ezra’s jaw tightened.
Aurien did not move.
Not even an inch.
"Prince Aurien," Ezra called quietly, his hand hovering just above his sword.
He was ready.
One signal. One word.
The mont the first knight stepped within striking distance—
Aurien moved.
Ezra did not see the first step.
There was no wind-up. No warning.
One second Aurien stood beside him.
The next, he was already inside Team D’s formation.
His sword remained sheathed.
The wooden scabbard struck first.
A sharp crack against a wrist.
The sound was clean.
The knight’s weapon flew from his grasp, clattering against stone.
Aurien pivoted.
The movent was smooth. No wasted motion. No hesitation.
The sheath drove into another man’s ribs. A quick twist of his wrist, then a sweep of his leg.
Two bodies hit the ground almost at the sa ti.
Ezra’s eyes widened.
’What...?’
"What the—" one of the knights choked out.
A third lunged from behind.
Aurien did not fully turn.
He dipped his shoulder, shifted his weight, and drove the poml backward without looking.
The impact echoed.
The knight dropped to one knee instantly, breath knocked out of him.
It was fast.
Too fast.
Ezra had seen Helios fight countless tis.
Helios was overwhelming. Radiant. When he moved, it felt like a wave crashing down.
This was different.
This was quiet violence.
Precise.
Every strike was calculated. Every movent is deliberate.
Aurien did not overpower them.
He dismantled them.
Before Team D could even regroup, Aurien was already standing in front of their acting leader.
The man barely managed to lift his blade.
Aurien’s sheath hooked beneath his elbow, forcing the arm upward. A twist of the wrist.
A shift of balance.
The leader dropped to both knees.
Silence fell.
Five n.
Down.
All kneeling or sprawled across the stone platform.
Breathing hard.
Stunned.
Ezra stared.
He had not drawn his weapon.
He had not stepped forward.
He had not even needed to.
’This...’ Ezra felt his pulse hamr against his ribs. ’This is not the Aurien I knew.’
Aurien exhaled softly, adjusting his grip on the sheathed sword as if he had rely brushed dust from his sleeve.
Then his gaze shifted to the two Dawnward Bloom knights among them.
"You."
Both of them stiffened imdiately.
"You should have known better than to challenge head on."
There was no anger in his voice.
No raised tone.
Just disappointnt.
It was heavier than shouting.
Ezra felt sothing unfamiliar crawl slowly up his spine.
’Not even Helios moves like that,’ he admitted inwardly.
And that realization unsettled him more than the fight itself.
Aurien looked over all five of them calmly.
"So," he asked lightly, as if this were a lesson rather than a defeat, "are we all ready to listen to what I have to say?"
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