The Endless Solvent

They tried to keep life constant.

After Vartu left, Nilda couldn’t help but feel unsettled. Lord Leton almost acted as if his duel master never existed, even when the man was his most trusted adviser and bodyguard for as long as Nilda had known them. Something unpleasant had fallen on their relationship and nobody was telling what it was.

Nilda thought she should keep up her training but she always felt a pang when she walked the beach alone. People come and go, it’s the way life is, but at the very least she thought Vartu would be hesitant to just abandon everything. She thought he had loyalty to Lord Leton just as she had loyalty to Taurin. It made her stomach turn thinking of how he could just get up and… leave.

Taurin wasn’t doing any better - on top of Vartu leaving, Taurin was still trying to come to terms with her relationship with the Solaris. She obviously liked the man and went all starry-eyed whenever anyone so much as breathed the world ‘marriage’ around her. But the more her mistress liked the Solaris, the more concerned she was in marrying into a higher status.

It was another one of those things where (in Nilda’s opinion), Taurin was being rather dense about the situation, but as her mistress never trivialized her concerns, Nilda had the courtesy to do the same.

In the midst of their troubles, they would try to carry on with life as if nothing has changed, as if desperate to try to claw back normality.

They spent most of the day in the women’s college library as they usually spend their days. Nilda convinced her mistress to read something other than Caelisian history or politics, so Taurin reluctantly settled down with runeology books. They were about to settle in for another day of study as a form of escapism.

Out of nowhere, Nilda fought with the feeling of restlessness. Although she was doing nothing more than sitting at a desk with books in front of her, she felt the same gnawing tension she does seconds before parrying an attack. Like an animalistic side of her was calling her to action, to do something.

It took her minutes to realize the feeling wasn’t from within her. She looked up, the sensation quickly deepening to dread, then cold, dark fear. It was strange, alien, an ugly feeling that didn’t belong there even if she recognized it as fear. One moment she was simply reading; the next moment she felt like she stood at the edge of a precipice, poised to jump to her death.

See? Her instincts screamed at her. There is trouble! But where?

She looked up to see a sheen of sweat at Taurin’s temples and widened her eyes as she realized her mistress felt the same. The women traded glances, Nilda opening her mouth to ask when a scream ripped through the calm of the library.

People started running. Handmaidens collected their mistresses, scholars hurrying down the halls and towards the exits. Nilda and Taurin hurried to the door and saw the chaos unfolding in the great hall.

“Monsters!” someone screamed. “Demons!”

People rushed towards the back doors of the college, pushing past each other to escape. There was another wave of screaming and Nilda suddenly heard it - a strange trilling sound.

“What in Part’s name is that?” someone cried.

There was a scuffle at the front doors of the college and suddenly a body of a guard was flung to a wall. It left a bloody splatter and smeared down the stone wall as he fell limp on the ground. The horrible trilling sound echoed in the hall and Nilda finally saw it through the front entrance.

It was unnaturally white in color, paler than sun bleached white stone, paler than stretched and whitened parchment. It had two arms, two legs, a torso and a head like people, but everything was oddly shaped. The limbs were bent in a strange way, the joints knobby and swollen, the fingers on each hand asymmetrical and not the normal five on each hand. Its head was too large and looked heavy and completely smooth, devoid of hair, ears or nose. It only had one very large, very red mouth. The whole thing glistened and looked slimy.

“It’s an Unseeing,” Taurin hissed. “A Gate demon! How - ”

The disgusting white creature snapped its eyeless head towards them and Taurin gasped. Blood pounded in Nilda’s ears, fingers curled and ready to send spikes to -

“Taurin!” the Solaris’ voice boomed out and the Caelisian burst through the doors and leaped through the air, a large sword swinging. It plunged straight through the creature’s head. The creature twitched, then stilled - only then did he withdraw his sword. Rask then appeared and helped the Solaris drag the monster’s body out before pushing the large doors shut.

Taurin gave a sob of relief and ran to the Solaris, who gave her a tight hug.

“I feared the worst,” the Solaris said. “I thank the sun that you are studious and not at home…”

“What do you mean?” Taurin stared at him with wide eyes.

“Taurin, I’m sorry but… It seems like a Gate has opened near your house. The Leton residence is now overrun with monsters. A large part of the city is also fighting back the monsters - ”

“Is Dad still at the house?” Taurin said, voice wavering. Nilda squeezed her hand. “Nilda, Dad’s still there! He was supposed to have a meeting there today!”

Taurin gave a sob and sagged against Nilda who wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She shot the Solaris a sharp look. “How is this possible? The Heart has never had a Gate open within its borders before.”

The Solaris nodded. “I don’t know. For now, we need to leave - ”

“How many men do you still have?” Nilda interrupted.

The Solaris’ mouth set a grim line. “A few were taken, since they were at the residence when the monsters appeared. But most of my men were with me after our audience with the Emperor.”

Nilda shoved Taurin into the Solaris’ arms. “You and your men can keep Taurin safe. I will go back and find Lord Leton.”

“Are you crazy?” Rask grabbed her wrist. “The Unseeing will eat you alive.”

Nilda wrenched her arm back from him. “My lord doesn’t have Vartu with him. I need to see that he is safe.”

Despite Taurin crying out her name, she turned, confident that the Solaris would keep her back. Rask gripped her arm again. “What in the moon’s name can you do as a handmaid?” he snarled. “Stay with Lady Leton - ”

He staggered back when a huge spike of stone shot up from the college granite flooring and nearly speared the hand gripping her arm. Nilda turned and glared at him.

“I’m not a handmaid,” Nilda spat. “And I can fucking do more than you, Caelisian. Grab me again and I’ll ram this entire college’s worth of rock up your ass.”

The three of them stared at her. Taurin was so shocked she momentarily looked less frightened. Satisfied, Nilda reached out to her spike of rock and manipulated several handfuls of rock to slime up her arm and cover her arms and back. Rask’s face recovered from his shock and settled back to a stony scowl of disapproval, but when she turned to leave the college, she heard him curse and follow after her.

This time he didn’t hold her back.