Aurora's Tears Chapter 5 The City of Vanira The
ivory glass towers of Vanira did not disappoint.
They glowed with the radiance of the sun reflecting
off their flawless surfaces. Sheerith stood overlooking
the great city from a slight distance. Hello,
Vanira, Sheerith whispered. Her eyes moved down
to the grand imperial gates of the city. Humans
of all kinds and colors were gathered at the
main gate. Flames from torches and fire dancers
were lighting up the packed event. Different
stands and tents were selling foods and spices
from all over Luminara. Sheerith could hear the
cheers and music even from her distance. Her
mission was right before her. Get into the city,
find evidence of the human bandits from Lior'vaen,
and leave. This, in theory, would be easy. All
the excitement from the event below would be
the perfect smoke screen to enter unnoticed.
The Festival of Firelight, she thought. All humans,
lots of fire, and no Felora like her to be seen.
Sheerith pulled the hood of her cloak up tighter
to better conceal her feline features, though
her glowing eyes would be tricky to hide. Sheerith
started walking steadily forward toward the grand
event. The closer she got, The more she noticed
different warm smells, different arrangements
of human tattoos, and venura guards pacing around.
The guards would be the tricky part. A Felora
woman will stand out like a bloodstain on white
silk. She looked strange enough with a full cloak
around every inch of her. Humans couldn't cover
their glowing tattoos, so lots of skin was normal.
But lots of fur? Well, hence the cloak. Sheerith
took a deep breath. and walked forward into the
crowd of the festival. Some fire dancers were
what she first noticed. Their tattoos on their
backs and arms glowed with the light of the aurora,
and flames roared and danced from their bodies
in the air to the crowd's delight. Felora were
born with the aurora's power, heightening their
senses and agility. Humans, however, bended the
aurora to their will through tattoos. What was
simple and beautiful to the Felora, humans seemed
to make forceful and loud. Sheerith weaved stealthily
through the packed festival, deliberately choosing
paths that would avoid guards and keep her lost
in the chaos. The crowd was getting dense, impossible
not to rub shoulders with someone. Some performer
was breathing fire straight ahead, and the crowd
was making an impassable wall. Sheerith's pace
had slowed to a stop. Under her cloak, She could
feel her stripes glowing on her left shoulder
and arm. A danger sense. She glanced to her left
quickly. Three guards were approaching straight
toward her. They didn't seem to notice her, but
soon would. Sheerith glanced around. A tent to
her right had a few crates and supplies stacked
inside. She swiftly ducked behind them inside
the tent and broke line of sight with the guards.
Sheerith held her breath. The guards approached
the supplies. took a single crate, and started
walking the other way while chatting. Sheerith
was about to take a sigh of relief when someone
directly to her left beat her to it. Sheerith
jumped back. She let out. A slim -cloaked figure
was directly in front of her, clearly just as
surprised to see her. They were both hiding in
the supply tent and both obviously had no reason
to be there. Sheerith froze. The figure froze.
Sheerith went casual. Oh, uh, sorry, uh, this
is where they keep the, uh, uh, flamed rum? She
grinned under her hood. The figure relaxed and
stepped into the light a bit. It was a young
human woman, maybe nineteen, with striking red
copper hair. The stranger laughed for a moment.
Um, no idea. Never liked this stuff. Tastes like
smoke. Sheerith blinked. Actually, same. The stuff
sucks. The woman paused and raised an eyebrow.
Looking for a place to hide too, huh? I feel
you. Crowds aren't my thing. Sheerith turned to
face the entrance, scanning for guards. Well,
that makes two of us. Too many people and way
too much fire for my taste. I know, right? Who
said to themselves, let's get as many people
together as possible and set fire to things?
Didn't know Vanira would be so loud, am I right?
The girl laughed. Sheerith sighed. Tell me about
it. Oh, so you're not from here either, huh?
Where are you coming from? Sheerith locked eyes
with the blue -eyed girl. Hey, you two! A guard
grabbed Sheerith by the wrist. Sheerith's heart
stopped as she jerked her arm away. She accidentally
smacked the woman in the face while doing so.
The girl screamed in surprise and jumped back.
A bolt of pure flame sparked off her hand to
the ground. Fire. Fire in the supply tent. Sheerith's
eyes grew wide. A supply crate had caught fire.
Sheerith, the girl, and the guard all stared at
the fire quickly spreading. Fire! The guard started
to shout. Sheerith wrenched her wrist away and
then a single swift strike to his face. The guard
was out cold. The hooded woman scrambled to her
feet. You just punched a guard! You just set
us on fire! You punched me in the face! It wasn't
my fault that the guard... Fire! Fire! Get in
there! Sharith and the woman froze, looked to
the guards coming their way, looked to each other,
and bolted out the back of the tent. Haste didn't
even begin to describe it. They were both running
full speed in, well, any direction that wasn't
the flaming tent. The crowd was in shock for
a moment before the screams started. Water! Someone
get this out! Hey, you two, stop! Sheerith and
the stranger both charged toward the inner city
gates. Sheerith dived over a stand selling trinkets,
but her foot caught the edge of it. The stand
and Sheerith crashed to the ground. The cloaked
figure grabbed Sheerith's arm and pulled her up,
and in a smooth dashing movement, they were both
back up to full speed. The woman's hood had flown
back while she was running, revealing long, flaming
red hair and a face full of brightly glowing
tattoos. Sheerith paused. Humans don't usually
have tattoos on their face. She snapped out of
her thought and ran. They entered the grand city,
and a huge courtyard was open before them. Sheerith
saw a small fountain and benches to the right.
She grabbed the stranger by the cloak and pulled
her to the fountain's edge. They both collapsed
to the ground in the corner and hid. Five to
eight guards charged past in the other direction.
Sharith sat up and breathed heavily. Her eyes
went wide. She felt her face. Her hood and mask
had folded back during the escape. The woman,
though, seemed unfazed by her feline face, while
she also caught her breath. While she was breathing
heavily, Sheerith looked up at the huge white
glass towers surrounding them. They were imperial
and powerful. The out -of -breath woman wheezed
out. Welcome to Vanira. Sheerith let out a soft
laugh. She looked over at her fellow partner
in crime. Her cloak had loosened when Sheerith
pulled her to the fountain. Under her cloak,
to Sheerith's surprise, the woman's entire body
was covered in glowing blue tattoos. Hundreds
of individual aurora light marks over every inch
of her. Sheerith was frozen, staring. Humans only
could ever have one, maybe two tattoos. The woman
put out her tattoo -covered hand. I'm Scarlet,
she breathed. You? She paused but hesitantly
took her hand. Sheerith. Scarlet chuckled. Knew
you were Felora, she smiled. Sheerith paused.
Yes, but... What... what are you? Scarlet looked
down at her glowing designs under her cloak.
I'm... apparently... the Lightbound. Sheerith
paused and raised an eyebrow. Oh, cool, but...
uh... uh... What's a Lightbound? This has been
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