Finding Light

The wagon ride to the capital city did not go the way Brayden expected it to. Before they left, the woman who had sensed his aura and her young maid had seemed quite pleasant and genuine, making small talk with him to calm his nerves as he made his way to the wagon. The whole trip there though, they engaged in no small talk and quickly answered his questions with as few words as possible. They quietly chatted with a few of the kids who were already in the wagon from a previous town, but kept their distance from him. All the well he supposed, it wasn’t like he was trying to get close to them either. This just reaffirmed his decision to break free at the first possible chance and start his life over fresh as best as he could.

The wagon train traveled throughout the night and by dawn the next morning they had made it to the capital city. Brayden had never been here before and was having a hard time believing that this many people could be living this close together. Even in the early morning light, there were people everywhere, either setting up booths or opening up shops. Plenty of other wagons surrounded them on the cobblestone streets with people, produce and just about anything else you could imagine onboard. Brayden could not see the church coming into view ahead of them, but he could hear the bells over all the commotion, signaling the beginning of the day. Progress forward was hindered more and more as they pushed further into the city, but they finally arrived at the church.

Their wagon was the last of the three the church had brought with them, and all the children were ordered to stay within the wagon until it was their time to depart. There weren't many children in the last wagon with him, but still they all stayed with the church members and avoided him. He already figured they had found out about his aura. It didn’t really bother him since he was more comfortable on his own and was slowly getting used to being judged anyways. It didn’t take long before they left the wagon and made their way into a dining hall within the church where they were feed after the long ride here. One of the elder sages interrupted their breakfast to inform them that after the meal they would be taken to another room within the church to see if they had any undiscovered auras.

Brayden was in the middle of his breakfast when out of nowhere a young girl about his age sat down next to him, which seemed odd since everyone else was avoiding him.

“So you're the dark aura user everyone has been talking about.”

“Can’t imagine what could have given it away,” Brayden responded. The young girl just chuckled as she picked at her eggs.

“Oh I could tell before you even entered the room,” she said.

“How could you know that? I’ve never met you before.”

“Let's just say I already know that I have two auras, and the church only knows of the one that can’t sense auras so far.” Brayden was confused, if she could sense his aura, then why did she bother to come over and talk to him?

“That's a very good question. I just wanted to come and give you some friendly advice, looks like you need it,” the young girl said.

“Wait, did you just read my mind? And what advice could you possibly give me?” Brayden asked.

“No, and quite a bit. No offense, but the look on your face speaks a thousand words, I didn’t have to read your mind. Also, I have obtained some information about others who have come to the church with your aura type.” Brayden was confused and awestruck at the same time.

“What is your name?” Brayden asked.

“No need for names, I’m hoping I don’t see you again in the near future. All I’m going to say is that bad news comes to those with dark aura types within the church. Once you discover if you hold another aura type, find a way to get out of here and make yourself disappear.” With that said, the young girl picked up her plate and made her way to another table where other kids were waving to her. He may have watched her leave, but even he wasn’t foolish enough to follow her. He had his suspicions about the church already and he knew she had heedlessly risked herself in warning him like that.

Brayden quickly finished his breakfast and headed for the line leading to another room where they would be tested. It didn’t take long for the line to make it to a room where a whole wall was lined with different stones on pedestals. Although he may not know much about auras, he knew that some could be activated by coming into contact with certain stones. He was shocked to discover that the church had a full set of these stones, including what looked like a Celestial stone and a Phantom stone. Soon it was his turn and he walked down the line of pedestals, touching every single stone as he went. None of the elemental stones seemed to do anything, which he kind of thought he would likely have one of those as a secondary aura over anything else. Neither the Nature or Venom stones reacted to his touch either. Next were the Balance stones, both Dark and Light. He obviously skipped over the Dark stone and quickly touched the light as he assumed nothing was likely to happen at this point.

He was wrong. The Light stone lit up and he felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He stood in awe as he processed what this meant. He wasn’t the only one either as he heard faint whispers among the elder sages. Brayden knew little about auras, but he did know that balanced users (those who had both auras of one type) were rare among anything above elementals, and the only thing he could think of was the young girl's advice; ‘find a way to get out of here and make yourself disappear.’