2: The Royal Capital

A searing blast of raw mana ripped through the knight's defensive line, incinerating all in its path with merciless precision. The soldiers' hope shattered—they now faced a monstrous dragon, its presence a harbinger of doom.

"Take cover!" a voice screamed, barely audible over the chaos.

Another blinding beam of light tore from the pitch-black sky, pulverizing the city walls. The bone-rattling explosion reverberated through the port city of Aurelio, reaching Duke Partridge in his castle. With the dragon's arrival, despair gripped him; the city was destined to crumble under its wrath.

Fearsome wyverns, their scales glinting in the starlight, circled the city like vultures, diving to shred rooftops with razor-sharp talons and drag out screaming humans from their hiding places. The breached walls offered no resistance as hulking orcs, their eyes burning with bloodlust, stormed through, butchering everything in their path with savage glee.

Above the carnage, a young girl stepped to the edge of a canyon overlooking the city, a raven perched ominously on her shoulder. Her cloak, black as night, shimmered with gold threads tracing the hood and hem, that reflected the stars, lending it an eerie glow to her silhouette.

Her staff, carved from dark rosewood and crowned by a sapphire crystal, hovered beside her. As she poured mana into it, vibrant, semi-transparent tarot cards materialized, swirling like a deck dealt by a spectral hand.

Twenty-two Major Arcana loomed behind her, while fifty-six Minor Arcana spun in a frenzied whirlwind. Two cards slid forward, chosen by unseen force: The Chariot, showing a charioteer commanding opposing steeds, and the Ten of Swords, depicting a figure impaled by ten cruel blades. Both cards pulsed with the promise of annihilation.

The dragon slammed into the castle, its claws sinking into the stone like knives through flesh. It fixed a glowing amber eye through a throne room window, its gaze dripping with cunning malice, as if savoring the city's impending ruin.

The clouds split apart, revealing a massive blue mana circle that swallowed half the sky. The girl's staff blazed as the chosen cards melded into it. When they fully merged, the skyward circle birthed ten smaller ones, each emitting its own mana.

Raising her hand, the remaining cards whirled faster, and her staff dissolved into a swirling vortex of mana that formed into a glowing circle at her fingertip. With her spell complete, she stared down at the devestation below one last time, then lowered her hand.

Lightning-like bursts of energy erupted from the mana circles in quick succession, each one homing in on an enemy's head with terrifying accuracy.

Even the dragon, a creature that fostered terror, couldn't escape. Three searing bursts chased it through the sky, weaving with unnatural intelligence, and struck with devastating force, punching three smoldering holes through its armored hide.

Aurora shook her head; she should have never gone to Aurelio that day, that way sge would have never been in this predicament. The only reason she did was so that the Order didn't get on her butt for not appearing before the public in over five months. Each of the ten members of the Order are the guardians of Everglades, the strongest mages in the kingdom, and unfortunately that required Aurora to leave her cabin every once and awhile.

Shoving her last plain brown dress into her suitcase, she yawned while flicking her wrist, which made the tea kettle on the counter float into the air and pour her a cup of hot tea.

Holding her hand out, the cup floated itself on over to her. Taking a sip, she looked up into the rafters to find the raven pecking at a nut, trying to break it open.

"Want some help?" She had a small mallet for a reason. It was specifically bought to help her familiar break open nuts.

The raven stopped pecking and stared at her from above, switching between eyes. In her mind, as clear as the morning sky, he spoke to her, "I've got it. Now stop troubling me."

She rolled her eyes, just as grumpy as ever. But she couldn't help but smile, she found his grumpiness endearing, it was better to talk to him over a bunch of strangers in the Royal Court.

Taking another sip of her tea, she set it down on the table and looked at her research paper. Upon arriving in the capital, at her earliest convienence, she was going to turn it into Isaria Academy to get it published.

She giggled at the prospect of being rich, hopefully not famous though, that was too much work.

A shell fell on her head, "Ow..." She rubbed her fragile little skull and looked up with a tear in her eye, "Trying to assassinate me to take my soon to be rich piggybank, I will never let you!"

Arden stared down at her and shook his little head. She must be thinking something dumb again. He swallowed the last his food and flew off the rafters, and with a gentle thud, he landed on top of her head.

"Shouldn't you be leaving now, you're expected to be at the Royal Castle in a few hours." Aurora waved her hand dismissively, the ride to the capital by carriage was only about an hour.

Arden clawed a bit at her long black hair, much like tugging reins to move the horse faster, "Or we can wait for Julian to return and I can finally get to see you properly punished."

Aurora pouted, "Dumb bird." But she did start moving faster. Finished with her packing, she stretched and allowed herself one more sip of tea before cleaning up, or more, having her magic clean up for her.

In short order and with a flick of her wrist, the dishes were clean and put away and the floor was swept. The cabin looked brand new, a stark contrast to how she usually leaves it.

"Bye-bye Mr. Cabin! I'll see you in who knows how long." Grabbing her suitcase, she opened the door and took one last look back, "Hopefully soon."

Walking outside, she held her free hand out and her staff, which was used as a clothes line, flew towards her. Catching it, she turned it into mana particles and absorbed it, to which she can summon it later at any time.

"Off to town for the carriage!" She exclaimed, although it sounded excited to any other person, inside she was hating life. Having to travel far, she hated traveling by carriage, it gave her motion sickness, if only she could teleport. Alas, that's one thing that magic can't do.

So, off she went to town nearby, where she could hire a carriage to take her all the way to the capital, hopefully in one piece, and with her breakfast still inside of her.

As she walked down the beaten path and through the forest, she wondered how easily she'd be able to avoid attention in court. Maybe she could just watch the princess from a distance, but knowing Julian, he'd concoct some evil plan to make her suffer, making sure to hit every single one of her sensitive points.

Arriving in town, she thinks on how she will approach the man at the front desk of the carriage service. This is a hassle, what if she acts too shy, or maybe too brazen, she doesn't want to offend him at all, even if he is a total stranger.

She tried to consult Arden, but he already flew off of her shoulder, probably trying to flirt it up with ravens of the opposite gender. Despite his old age, he's still very active in the raven dating community.

"Ya'ere to buy yerself a carriage, lass?"

She looked up at the burly bearded man in front of her, how long had she been standing in front of him for? She bit her cheek, she had to stop doing that before she caused herself to bleed.

"I... um... I'd like a carriage please."

The burly man smiled through his beard, "Name and where yer headin', lass. If yah would please."

Shoot. She forgot to say those things in her initial greeting, despite knowing that they were needed. How stupid of her, she bit her cheek a bit harder.

"A-Aurora Ashcroft, and the Royal Capital."

He adjusted his glasses and wrote her name and location in his log book. "Not many folk round ere go that direction, pleasure or business?" He asked curiously, much to her dismay.

Her Resonant Hearbeat's frequency spiked a bit and mana began to leak from her fingertips, to which she shoved her hands hand's into her dress' pockets. Extemely heightened emotions tended to cause mana leakages, much like a mana bleed, but far less intense. And she was definitely leaking mana right now.

"I... um..." She gulped and took a breath, stopping herself from biting her cheek again. What would be the best response to limit the conversation, perhaps telling him a lie, yeah, she'll do that.

"Visiting. I'm visiting my mother, she works as a servant at the Royal Castle."

He nodded, seeming to have bought her lie. Truth be told, she never met her mother, but saying her fake one worked as a maid seemed far more logical than her father working as a butler, which was a much harder job to obtain.

"Enjoy yer trip then, lass. That'll be ten silver coins please." He set the ticket down on the counter.

Her nerves calmed down a bit, enough for her to stop leaking mana. Hopefully she wasn't too awkward that he thought she was weird. Quickly tossing the coins onto the counter, she grabbed her ticket and hurriedly thanked him before leaving.

She made her way to the nearest carriage and handed the ticket to the driver, hoping he didn't initiate any conversation, her social reserves were already drained for the day. Luckily, the older gentleman manning the carriage just smiled and told her to get in, which is exactly what she did.

As she settled herself inside, she heard the reins snap and felt the carriage begin to move. Sighing, she closed her eyes and prepared for the journey ahead of her.

Luckily, sleep came fast, but her nightmares came just as fast. Around her sat other children, each one just as dirty as her, and just as hungry too.

"Yeah! I'll get the next one, just give me a second." A man, his face covered by the darkness, came into the light, and yet, his face still appeared distorted.

He unlocked the cage and pulled Aurora out forcefully, showing no kindness to her frail body whatsoever. Showing no resistance, she let herself be dragged down the hallway, just as every little girl before her had been.

Waking up, Aurora rubbed her eyes and yawned. Just in time too, because a knock came from the front of the carriage, it was the driver.

"Where in the capital ya headin' too?" He yelled through the wall of the carriage, to which she jumped. She bit her cheek and thought about what to say, the easiest thing to say would just be the Royal Castle, but that would be too easy for her brain now wouldn't it.

"The castle! I mean, the royal one, the uh... the Royal Castle!" She spoke, louder than she necessarily had to. Her dumb brain just had to mess it up for her as usual, it was as simple as saying the Royal Castle, but her brain decided to make it harder for her.

A boisterous laugh came from beyond the carriage's wall, "Comin' right up, lass!"

She felt humiliated, that laugh was probably him making fun of her, it had to be, there was no other explanation for it. There was, her mind just couldn't think of any others.

Arriving at the capital's west gate, the driver handed his papers and her ticket to the nearest inspecting guard. She hoped none of them would peak in, but alas, one did, and she jumped in fright as his face peaked through the window.

He smiled at this before turning away. Just another embarressment of hers to add to her ever growing list of embarressments.

Suprisingly, the driver actually made good time as they quickly made it to the front gates of the Royal Castle. Shoot, she had to tip him didn't she. Just hand him the money and say thank you, you've got this Aurora.

The driver opened the door to the carriage and offered his hand. She bit her cheek and slowly took his hand before stepping off the carriage gently. "T-Thank you for the ride, sir..."

Pulling out her coin bag, she tipped him five silver, hopefully that was enough and he wouldn't be angry at her. His eyes widened at the sight, five whole silver coins, usually he only got a few bronze.

"Ya sure, lass? Five whole silver?"

Oops. Despite being a mage in the Order, this was actually her first time paying for a carriage herself, so of course she didn't know five silver wasn't enough.

"S-Sorry, sir!" She handed him ten silver and quickly thanked him again before practically running her way over to the Castle Gate.

The driver smiled and rubbed the back of his head, "What a strange lass." He chuckled and mounted his carriage before taking off down the bricks and dissapearing in the distance.

"Stop!"

Aurora jumped. She was going to be killed by these knights, she was sure of it.

"State your name and business here."

"Um... Aurora Ashcroft and I uh..." She stopped to think, Julian never actually gave her a practical reason to be here that wasn't top secret. She reasoned to herself that just saying his name would suffice, hopefully he was in the castle or saying his name would mean nothing.

"I'm here to... see Lord Julian Albright."