Riven frowned.
“I don’t know anything about a crest.”
The room fell quiet.
Aisling blinked.
“You’ve never seen one?”
Riven slowly shook his head.
“No.”
He glanced down at his hands, turning them over as if a mark might suddenly appear.
“There was never anything like that.”
His thoughts drifted backward.
“When I was little…” he said quietly, “Raku practically raised me.”
A faint smile crossed his face.
“He was there after every hunt. Every injury. Every time I came home covered in mud.”
Javon smirked.
“And every bath?”
Riven gave him an unamused look.
“…Yes.”
Javon pointed dramatically.
“I didn’t need that mental image.”
Syanna rolled her eyes.
“You rarely need the images you create.”
Javon clutched his chest.
“You people are remarkably ungrateful.”
No one answered him.
Aisling wasn’t listening anymore.
Her mind had already begun racing.
Aisling thought of every Soulmancer she had known, every lesson she had been taught and every awakening she had witnessed.
All of them had followed the same path.
Except Riven.
Her brow slowly furrowed.
“…Wait.”
The single word drew everyone’s attention.
She looked directly at Riven.
“How did you awaken?”
Riven hesitated.
“I…”
Aisling continued.
“Did you go to the Church?”
Riven stared blankly.
“The Church?”
“…Yes.”
“I’ve never been.”
Silence.
Aisling blinked once.
Then twice.
“You’ve… never…”
She stopped herself.
“…You awakened without the Church?”
Riven looked around the room.
“…Was I supposed to?”
No one answered.
Even Javon looked confused now.
Aisling slowly shook her head.
“That shouldn’t be possible.”
“It happened.”
“No…” she whispered.
“I mean… it shouldn’t.”
Javon finally broke the silence.
“This guy just keeps getting more impressive.”
He pointed to Riven.
“Rare Soulmancer.”
“Awakened without the Church.”
He folded his arms with exaggerated confidence.
“I’ve decided something.”
Nobody acknowledged him.
“I think Riven is the main character in my life.”
“Shut up, Javon,” Syanna said flatly.
“I was complimenting him.”
“You were being annoying.”
“I can be both.”
Syanna ignored him.
Instead, she looked to Riven.
Unlike Aisling’s curiosity…
Syanna’s expression had become cautious.
“If what you’re saying is true…”
She folded her arms.
“…then the Church won’t see this as a miracle.”
Riven frowned.
“They’ll see it as a problem.”
Aisling nodded slowly.
“The Church records every sanctioned awakening. Every name and class. Someone appearing outside their record would have them on edge.”
She looked Riven directly in the eyes.
The words settled heavily over the room.
Riven let out a tired sigh.
“Great.”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Another reason for people to look at me differently.”
There was no bitterness in his voice anymore.
Only exhaustion.
“I haven’t done anything.”
Nobody argued with him.
Because nobody could.
Aisling stepped forward.
Her voice became much gentler.
“Riven…”
“How did you awaken?”
The question hung in the air.
Riven didn’t answer immediately.
Instead…
His eyes drifted to the floor.
A small cabin.
His mother’s voice.
His father’s laughter.
Then—
Screaming.
Steel.
Blood.
The smell of smoke.
His chest tightened.
His breathing caught for the briefest moment.
Vistara noticed immediately.
She had seen that distant look before.
It only appeared whenever something reminded him of his past.
“Riven?”
He blinked.
The memories vanished. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
He forced a small smile that never reached his eyes.
“…Let’s make camp.”
Everyone looked at him.
He pointed to the entrance.
The golden light outside had faded while they talked.
Darkness had begun creeping between the trees.
“I’ll grab the firewood.”
He turned to the back of the cabin.
“We should still have some left.”
“Riven—”
Aisling started.
But he was already walking away.
The back door opened.
Cool evening air drifted inside.
Without another word…
He disappeared into the growing darkness.
Silence settled over the room.
Aisling continued staring at the darkness as he disappeared.
“…He avoided the question.”
No one disagreed.
She slowly turned to the others.
“Do any of you know what happened to him?”
Her eyes moved from face to face.
Javon.
Syanna.
Vistara.
One by one…
They shook their heads.
“No,” Vistara said quietly.
“We’ve never asked.”
“And he never talks about it,” Javon added, his usual humor gone.
Syanna looked to the closed door.
“Whatever happened…”
“…it left wounds deeper than the ones we can see.”
Aisling remained silent.
She had arrived believing she understood Soulmancers.
Now she had met one who had no crest…
Awakened without the Church…
And carried a past even his closest friends knew nothing about.
Riven disappeared deeper into the cave in search of firewood.
Vistara hesitated only a moment before following him.
Aisling glanced between Javon and Syanna as the three stepped outside, leaving Vistara alone with Riven.
For several moments, no one spoke.
Aisling finally broke the silence.
“Can I ask the two of you something?”
Javon shrugged.
“Sure.”
Aisling folded her arms.
“You’ve been traveling with Riven for a while now, haven’t you?”
“We have,” Syanna answered.
“And in all that time…” Aisling paused, choosing her words carefully.
“Not once did either of you question him? How he became so powerful? How he learned to fight the way he does? How someone living alone in the wilderness was capable of defeating monsters and surviving battles that would kill most people?”
Her eyes moved between them.
“You never wondered?”
Neither of them answered.
Javon scratched the side of his head while Syanna quietly looked to the trees.
Aisling blinked.
“…You really didn’t.”
Javon let out a small laugh.
“When you say it like that…”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“…It does sound kind of strange.”
Aisling couldn’t hide the confusion on her face.
“Most people would’ve demanded answers.”
“We probably should have,” Javon admitted with a grin.
“Instead we just…accepted that Riven was ridiculously strong.”
Syanna smiled faintly.
“That’s one way of putting it.”
Aisling looked at both of them in disbelief.
“You trusted him that much?”
Javon leaned against the cave wall and crossed his arms.
“I know I give Riven a hard time.”
A grin spread across his face.
“I call him lucky. I tell him life isn’t fair because everything somehow works out for him. And if he gets any stronger, I might actually challenge him just to humble him.”
Syanna raised an eyebrow.
“You would lose.”
“I know,” Javon sighed dramatically.
“That’s not the point.”
The three of them laughed quietly.
After a moment, Javon’s smile faded.
“But jokes aside…”
His voice became much more serious.
“I trust that guy with my life.”
Aisling watched him carefully.
“When we fought Varnis, I honestly thought Riven was making the dumbest decision I’d ever seen.”
He looked to the cave entrance.
“He ran straight at the army.”
Javon shook his head.
“I remember thinking there was no way he could win.”
“So I went after him.”
“You wanted to help?”
“I wasn’t about to let him die alone.”
He chuckled softly.
“Turns out…”
His smile became bittersweet.
“I was the one who needed saving.”
He looked down at his hands.
“They almost killed me.”
“There wasn’t even a question.”
“But Riven saved me.”
“He saved my life.”
Silence settled over the three of them.
Aisling could tell by the look in his eyes that there wasn’t an ounce of exaggeration.
He meant every word.
She slowly turned to Syanna.
“And you?”
Syanna’s eyes drifted back to the cave.
“When I first met Riven, he owed us nothing.”
Her voice was calm.
“He could’ve stayed hidden.”
“He could’ve let the city deal with its own problems.”
“He had survived alone for years. We were strangers.”
She folded her arms.
“But every time someone needed help… He showed up. He never asked what he would gain. He never asked if it was worth the risk. He just helped.”
A small smile crossed her face.
“He could’ve turned a blind eye and continued living in seclusion. But he didn’t. He saved an entire city. He saved countless people. And whether he likes the title or not…”
She looked to the cave once more.
Aisling stood quietly.
Her eyes drifted to the darkness beyond the cave entrance where Riven remained with Aelwyn.
She had spent days trying to understand why these people followed him so willingly.
Now…
She finally understood.
It wasn’t because he was powerful.
It wasn’t because he was a Soulmancer.
It wasn’t because he carried a Vanguard.
They trusted him because, whenever someone needed him, he never walked away.
A warm smile spread across Aisling’s face.
“I understand now.”
Javon tilted his head.
“Understand what?”
Aisling looked back at the two of them.
“I thought the two of you were blindly following someone you barely knew.”
She shook her head.
“I was wrong.”
Her voice softened.
“I’m sorry for questioning your judgment.”
Javon smiled.
“No harm done.”
Syanna nodded.
“You were only trying to figure out Riven.”
Aisling let out a quiet laugh.
“I suppose I was.”
She clapped her hands together before turning to the forest.
“Now then…”
Blue Vyr flickered around her fingertips as she placed both hands proudly on her hips.
“Do you guys have any questions for the great Azure Huntress?”
Javon raised an eyebrow.
“Azure Huntress?”
Aisling lifted her chin with unmistakable confidence.
“That’s me—Aisling, better known across the skies as the Azure Huntress.”
She flashed them a proud grin.
“And, without question, the greatest Sky Shot to have ever lived.”
Javon looked at Syanna.
“…She’s humble.”
Syanna smiled.
“Very.”
Aisling gasped dramatically.
“I’ll have you know it’s only bragging if it isn’t true.”
Javon folded his arms, studying her with exaggerated suspicion.
“So you’re really the greatest Sky Shot who ever lived?”
Aisling lifted her chin.
“That is correct.”
He scratched his chin.
“I don’t know. You seem awfully short to carry a title that large.”
Syanna pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Oh no.”
Aisling’s eye twitched.
“My height has nothing to do with my accuracy.”
“Then prove it.”
A confident smile returned to her face.
“You doubt me?”
“I’ve been wrong before,” Javon said.
“Not often, but it happens.”
Blue Vyr curled around Aisling’s fingertips.
“Then allow me to correct you.”
A few minutes later, the three stood in a clearing outside the cave.
Several pinecones had been placed atop branches at varying distances.
Javon looked over the makeshift targets.
“You’re actually serious.”
“Of course I am.”
Aisling extended one hand.
Blue Vyr flowed from her fingers like liquid moonlight, twisting together until an elegant bow of crystal-blue light formed in her grasp.
Javon whistled.
“I’ll admit—that looks impressive.”
“I know.”
Without looking toward the farthest target, Aisling drew an arrow of condensed Vyr and released it.
The arrow vanished.
A heartbeat later—
Crack.
The distant pinecone exploded into dust.
Javon’s smile faded.
“Lucky shot.”
Aisling formed another arrow.
Crack.
A second target shattered.
Then another.
And another.
The clearing filled with sharp snaps as every pinecone burst apart in rapid succession.
The final arrow curved between the trees before striking its target and dissolving into blue sparks.
Silence followed.
Javon blinked.
“All right. That was impressive.”
Aisling dismissed the bow with a flick of her wrist.
“I know.”
Syanna folded her arms.
“You practiced this introduction, didn’t you?”
“For several hundred years.”
“I could tell.”
Javon examined one of the shattered targets.
“There isn’t even an arrow.”
“They return to Vyr after impact.”
He looked toward the distant mountains.
“How far can you shoot?”
“Several miles on a clear day.”
Javon stared at her.
“You’re lying.”
“I once struck a wyvern before it realized I had seen it.”
“You hunted wyverns?” Syanna asked.
“I hunted many things,” Aisling replied.
“Wyverns, griffins, sea serpents, manticores—and one particularly irritating phoenix.”
Javon frowned.
“Can you even kill a phoenix?”
“It depends.”
“On what?”
“Whether you’re better than the phoenix.”
He stared at her for several seconds.
“I can’t tell when you’re joking.”
Aisling smiled.
“That uncertainty is part of my charm.”
Javon shook his head.
“You really don’t have to agree with everything you say.”
“I absolutely do.”
Syanna laughed softly.