388th of the Damascan Calendar
24th Year in the Reign of Queen Leah I
14 days until Midsummer
Cameron sighed and slipped his legs over the bed. His feet brushed against the cold wood of his bedroom. He took a deep breath and immediately felt an ice cold chain wrap around his neck and yank it backwards. He groaned. He had just woken up and the House was already trying to kill him. In one quick liquid motion he grabbed the hidden dagger he kept on his leg. He drove the dagger into his assailant's chest. Or at least where it would have been. Instead a large lump of black cloth fell to the ground and a shadow slunk off into the recesses of the House. Despite having lived his entire life in the House the Nye still sought fit to make several attempts on his life. A day with less than 2 or 3 attempts was rather dull by the Nye standards. The Eldest seemed to have high expectations for him, and Cameron didn't blame him. His father was The Founder's heir and the wielder of Mithra. His own fang looked almost identical. The sizes were identical. Mithra may have actually been an inch shorter. However where Mirtha held a line of flawless gold his own held a smooth undeterred line of deep violet. In the hilt was a single diamond. The rest was a simple black wrapping. He enjoyed the simpleness of his fang, part of why it called him. He always prefered simplicity in a fight. Cameron swept Draak from her resting place on his wall and he walked out into the entry room. Today was a big day. It was his graduation ritual.
A little flit of activity caught his attention and he brought Draak up in a simple arc to defend all but a perfectly coordinated attack. Instead his blade came to rest on the shoulders of another Valinhall traveler. Her blonde hair reached past her shoulders and her dark skin and brown eyes revealed her as a Damascan city dweller. Andra Agnos. She was several years older than him, 13 or so he thought maybe more. Time in Valinhall was hard to tell when the pool could keep age at bay. She was objectively beautiful, something that almost bothered him. He shrugged it off and let Draak lower from her shoulder. "Sorry" about that, his voice sounded strange to him. "Guess I'm just a little nervous."
"Don't worry. You'll do fine hun" She said her voice sweet yet very abrupt and straightforward at the same time. "Do you know where your father is? I haven't seen Simon in ages. I need to catch up with him. I have a new lead on another missing Fang." In the years after the massive Incarnation accident his father had found 3 of the 8 missing Dragon Fangs, an impressive feet in of itself, yet still the Eldest craved them all found. Cameron held one of those previously lost blades in his hands. The 7th blade, Draak, the blade previously constructed for the one person who warranted any emotion from the Founder. He hated that. From his few encounters with the Founder it didn't seem characteristic of him. Yet despite that the moment Cameron had entered the room he had felt the heartache in Valin, his sorrow, his grief, his love. He had nearly killed him on spot with that massive bow of his. Valin accused him of stealing it. He must of forgotten that he had killed the previous owner. Or maybe he didn't and wanted to move the blame away from himself. Cameron didn't care. He had entered that graveyard for the ghost armor and that was what he received. He had received most of the most effective Valinhall treasures: the ghost armor, stone, steel, a Nye cloak, the iron scrolls, this being the most recent and most difficult, and of course, the Nye essence, a gift from his father when he was very young. "Someone is up bright and early" Came a chatty and bright voice in his head: his advisor.
"Well today is the day. I finally get my chains. Father has kept me from this for so long. He doesn't want me to Incarnate. But I won't. There's no war, no impending battle of life or death, no immediate threat." He responded.
"Keywords being immediate. Who knows what the future may hold. Now come and get me from the confines of this accursed bed of yours!" Cameron chuckled softly. He had forgotten entirely about grabbing his advisor. So with that in mind he walked back to his room and hefted the covers of his bed in search of the advisor. He flicked the sheets and heard a small thud just to the left of bed. He went over and found what he was looking for. A small wooden dragon with amethyst set eyes and wings that practically shimmered. "Do you have to do that every time!? Just because I was crafted to look like a dragon does not mean I can fly like one!"
"Sorry. It's just the fastest way to find you.. I'll try and take more care next time." The wooden figure gave a huff and before Cameron could protest a knock came at his door. There was only one person who knocked on his door in Valinhall: his father. Cameron beamed and opened up the door ready to impress his father. He was met with a warm smile and dark eyes. He immediately knew something was wrong. In the back of his head he felt smugness radiate off his advisor, but at the moment that was not his priority. "Dad what happened?"
Simon patted his head, to him it felt condescending but he was sure his father didn't mean it that way. "It seems that one of Leah's sisters, I'm not even really sure which, has built up and army to overtake the throne. Something about escaping Lirial or sanity. I'm not sure. But it seems she has bound a few Incarnations to her service. I'm going to need everyone I can get. Andra already promised to help, as did Denner. I can't get in touch with Katherine, nothing unusual there. But I need you too bud" Cameron began panicking. He wasn't even a full fledged member of the House yet. How was he supposed to even match a regular Traveler let alone an Incarnation. However a steady hand rested on his shoulder. It was comforting, reassuring. He felt his father's trust in him and it filled him with confidence, if his father trusted him he could do it. "So what first?"
"Well first we need to get you one of the most important Valinhall treasures...Wind"
Cameron stood perplexed and looked at his father, he had never heard of such a treasure. He opened his mouth to ask why but was interrupted by the Eldest and Simon rolled his eyes. Cameron remembered something his father said about how the Eldest had love entrances. Here was just such a case. "Wind is a rather new treasure, I…" He paused as if searching for the right words. Like he was trying to give him a gift without him ever knowing where it came from "found a need for it after the formation of 3 incarnations in rapid succession." The Eldest cast a rather accusatory look towards Simon. Despite the fact that the Nye appeared as nothing more than a floating set of raggs made into the shape of a hood and cape there seemed to be something in the way he looked over at his father that made Cameron question why his father had never said anything. Before he got the chance the Eldest resumed his speech "Wind is the most valued treasure in this house because for a while it can either slow the growth of the chains or even speed up their recession. Like all things, however, there is a cost. In the period of time after its use Valinhall's powers will be filtered, weakened I should say"
While his father seemed to pay no attention to the Nye as he wound through the corridors of the House Cameron wondered why his father was bothering getting him this treasure now. Wouldn't something like the ghost elixer be more useful to him? His chains hadn't even formed. Why did he need something like this? He was thinking so much he didn't notice that his father had stopped until his face slammed into his father's back. Simon stood at the door motionless and silent. He simply stared at the door. Then in a single fluid motion he opened the door. He turned to his son and spoke a word of warning. "In this room your Valinhall powers will be almost non existent. You will barely be able to call enough steel to lift your sword", he indicated a Mithra's twin blade. "So make sure you handle it with care" And without another word he stepped aside and pushed his son in