Summer was afoot. Aurelius sat on the balcony of the villa. When Solomon had exalted the view that felt so long ago in the deepest winter, Aurelius didn't believe him.

  Oh, how wrong he was.

  Though the northern mountain peaks were still white in late spring, the sunrise brought an orange mist and lit up the world. The fjords that ran at the feet of the mountains glistened, turning turquoise.

  'Why would someone name a place so beautiful Metal Water?' Aurelius mused, sipping tea barefoot.

  Then, in the distance, a beam shot into the sky. Aurelius enhanced his sight and watched the thin line of essence stream into the clouds and break up a flock of birds.

  He stood up, walking a few steps backward before rushing inside. Was it Kendrick? Had they been exposed? It was that damn village, wasn't it!

  Aurelius burst into Cade's room. She lay in bed.

  "You know where Solomon is?"

  "Why? You didn't fight again, did you?"

  "No, nothing like that." Aurelius and Solomon had made up straight after their fight, and the following months or so had gone well, as they focused more on refining manipulation technique than sparring. "So do you know where he is?"

  "In the basement, last I heard."

  "No reason he'd be shooting up beams of essence a few mountains away, right?"

  "What? You saw something like that?"

  "Yeah. May just be some hunters." Aurelius' eyes darkened. "May be a lot worse than that."

  "Kendrick?" Cade asked. Aurelius nodded. She spat a plethora of curses. "You're going to check it out?"

  "I'll be careful," Aurelius assured. Kendrick wouldn't have come if he didn't have a way to kill him.

  "I'm coming with," Cade said, jumping out of bed and getting dressed.

  Aurelius looked away and heard her scoff. He turned back with a frown. "No, you stay here and pack up our stuff."

  "What?" Cade glared at him like he'd insulted her entire bloodline, Balgair-esque.

  "I won't engage. I promise."

  Cade spat some more curses but agreed.

  Aurelius then rushed out of the villa and in the direction where he'd seen the beam. He ran along the sky on platforms of essence and leapt over fjords. After cutting the distance, Aurelius enhanced all his senses and began to prowl.

  He was relieved to realize it wasn't an ambush. It could've been a trap, explaining why the beam was shot into the sky, but trapping Aurelius seemed unlikely to say the least. A distraction wouldn't make any sense either. Cade was safe with Solomon.

  Then Aurelius heard echoes. He followed them and found that they led to the mountain Solomon had blown up. There, he heard a voice. Eliminating traces of his presence, he got closer. There were two men in white and gold uniforms.

  "I swear my father forced me into this job because I lost to that bastard Mephisto," one of them said. It was Zalfarian! "To think I'm part of a search party. Me, a tournament finalist!"

  'They're looking for me?' Aurelius thought. 'Why?'

  "I don't know, Tidas. Seems to me you're out of touch. Tournaments don't mean squat when war is at our doorstep," the other said. "Do what you will, but I service the empire with pride. Let's cover the entire area and ask around the nearby villages. I'm sure we'll find something."

  Aurelius rubbed his temples, watching from a distance as the pair began making their way in the villa's direction. If they discovered Solomon, things would get a lot more complicated.

  As much as it stung, it had to be done. Aurelius couldn't keep training forever.

  Interrupting the pair's bickering, Aurelius called out in Zalfarian, "Are the two of you lost!"

  They turned and froze. Aurelius walked closer until they were at a distance that Aurelius could close in a heartbeat. "Well, are you?" he asked.

  "Are you... Aurelius, son of Ares?" the more formal of the two asked. He was a short, dignified man who held his hands behind his back.

  "I am. The hair is a temporary thing." Aurelius touched his hair. It had been a few weeks since it was last dyed, so it was black and gold again.

  "I see. Now this may come as a surprise, but the Emperor of Zalfari, Alexander the 6th, is looking for you. We are here to take me to Alexandria."

  'This is my uncle's doing? But the promise...' Aurelius would've gotten involved in any case, but he had still expected the emperor's promise to be kept.

  "I don't know..." Aurelius said, thinking the matter over. Then it occurred to him. "Has something dire happened?"

  Stolen novel; please report.

  "There is a war, my lord."

  Aurelius rubbed his temples. "Besides that?"

  "Well, not in particular." The man seemed puzzled. They didn't know about the promise. Of course they didn't.

  "They're the emperor's orders." The man named Tidas approached Aurelius as if he was threatening. He was a large man with a square jaw. "I don't care who you are. A quarter of royal blood doesn't free you of the law."

  "The law?" Aurelius questioned.

  "The emperor's word is law," Tidas said.

  Aurelius blinked. "It is?"

  "Stop it, Tidas," the dignified man said firmly from behind.

  "Shut it," Tidas snapped back. He glared at Aurelius. "You're coming with us, like it or not."

  Aurelius found it odd. "You know who I am... and you think you can order me around?"

  "I have the empire behind me," Tidas bragged.

  "You don't," the dignified man said.

  Aurelius chuckled a little. He needed to knock these two out to go back and get his stuff. This made that a little easier.

  "Screw this," Tidas said and swung. He kept his hand straight instead of making a fist. It made a slicing sound as it cut through the air towards Aurelius' neck.

  Aurelius dodged without moving his feet. Tidas turned the miss into a spinning kick, but Aurelius turned counter to him and swept his foot from under him.

  "A tournament finalist?" Aurelius asked, raising his brows and looking away from Tidas.

  The dignified man allowed himself a smile. Then he was about to yell a warning to Aurelius.

  Tidas swung at him from behind. Aurelius turned and caught his hand by the wrist, stopping him dead. Tidas was in shock, and Aurelius capitalized on the opportunity. He closed his eyes and prepared to send a huge pulse of essence into the man.

  Too slow. An elbow hit him on the nose. Aurelius stumbled back, a sting in his eyes. He wiped his nose, and his hand came away with a line of blood.

  "Hah, made you bleed now, did I?" Tidas laughed.

  He rushed at Aurelius again. Aurelius' sight was blurry. His reinforcement had slacked while he concentrated on his paralysis technique.

  He grumbled as Tidas came at him. They exchanged strikes, and Aurelius pushed him away. When Tidas rushed back in, he went for another swing. Aurelius leaned back and dodged before leaning right back in and smacking the man so hard the ground shook.

  Tidas' legs went from under him, and he crumpled to the ground like water into a glass. Aurelius turned to the other man. "You have an irritating partner."

  He sighed. "Don't I know it."

  Aurelius walked over to him. "I'm sorry, but I need to knock you out while I go gather my belongings."

  "May I ask why?"

  "No."

  "I see." The man then closed his eyes, his hands still behind his back.

  "What's your name?"

  "Heilos, sir."

  "You're a good man, Heilos." Aurelius said and took Heilos' wrist, sending a pulse of essence into the man.

  Heilos' eyes went wide before rolling back, and Aurelius set the man gently on the ground.

  ***

  "It was a pair of Zalfarians. The beam of essence came from a rash fellow," Aurelius told Cade when he returned.

  "You serious? Won't we need these?" Cade asked, both their bags in her hands.

  Aurelius looked down. "No, we'll need them. It's time for us to go."

  "So, the time has come," Solomon said. Aurelius raised his gaze to see the man waltzing out of the villa. He patted Cade on the shoulder as he walked past. "Finally. I was starting to think you'd never leave."

  Aurelius scoffed. "Is that your way of saying farewell?"

  Solomon stepped forward, cracking his neck with those violent twists of his head that were uncomfortable to watch. "You want to know what my way of saying farewell is?"

  Aurelius cracked a smile, readying himself. "Go on."

  "Do you remember when you asked me who would've won in a battle between me or your father?"

  "Yeah." It had been after Aurelius' rediscovery. "You said you didn't know. Did you change your mind all of a sudden?"

  "No, I still don't know who would've won between me and your father." Solomon gave a cunning grin, and Aurelius saw where this was headed. He shivered with excitement. "But between us two?"

  They rushed at each other, hitting their forearms against one another. Both their eyes went wide and vibrant with animal-like drive.

  "Let's find out!" Aurelius exclaimed.