Fennrin is a shadowforger, a type of az-ari who have mastery over shadows. But all it's ever brought him is misery. People are afraid of the power that he himself barely understands, seeing his shadows as omens of bad luck and death.
Forced to bare...
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For some reason, Fennrin hadn't expected Ainreth to have come here using a carriage, but when he thought about it more, it made sense. If Ainreth had come here for him specifically, then a carriage would work better than alternatives. However, that didn't mean Fennrin was too happy about this.
He hadn't ridden in a carriage since his parents had disowned him, and anything reminding him of his old life always put him in a foul mood. That said, this carriage was much more luxurious than any his parents could have afforded, red and shiny, with plush seats and golden patterns decorating the entire interior that was almost bigger than the room he was leaving behind.
The opulence of it all was making Fennrin's head spin, and he had come from a somewhat affluent family. What would a normal, regular person think of this?
"So, I'll need you to promise not to blab about this anyone, all right?" said Ainreth as he pulled the door of the carriage closed with a thump, sitting down opposite Fennrin and leaning in. "I got attacked by an az-ari from Orinovo a few months ago. A soundsmith, which I was not even aware existed." Ainreth rubbed the back of his neck, looking away with a grimace. "And well, she kind of...."
"Defeated you?" Fennrin guessed. Given how embarrassed Ainreth seemed to be, and how secretive he was being about it, that was the logical option. And yet Ainreth's eyes grew wide in shock anyway.
"Fine, yes, okay?" Ainreth admitted, huffing. "She could somehow use sound to stop my light from hitting her. It wasn't a fair fight. I would have won otherwise."
Fennrin nodded, too busy thinking this information over to even comment on Ainreth's self-pity. The carriage gave a lurch as the horse pulling it started moving, the carriage wheels clicking against the cobblestone of the street.
"So this is why you want my help? You think I can somehow defeat her for you."
Ainreth huffed again, sinking back into his seat as he drummed his fingers against it at his sides. "Well, that would be nice." He shook his head, sighing. "I wasn't looking specifically for a shadowforger. I mean, do you know how rare az-ari like us two are? But then my lieutenant heard a rumor about a suspiciously good shadow puppet show, and I had to get there immediately."
"But how can I help you? Shadows are hardly anyone's weakness."
Ainreth grabbed Fennrin by his shoulders, his face inches from his own. "Fenn, would you stop putting yourself down like that? Just think about it. Do you think sound can affect shadows?"
Fennrin shook Ainreth's hands off his shoulders, but he couldn't not ponder that question. He supposed the answer was no. But then he wouldn't have thought sound could affect light either. "I don't know what to think."
And that was true in general. He didn't know what to make of any of this, and he wasn't sure what to think of Ainreth himself either. He was...very different from what Fennrin had imagined. He hadn't spent much time thinking about Ainreth since he'd had different very different priorities, but Ainreth was a general, a soldier, and an incredibly powerful az-ari. And yet he was so much more...emotional than he'd been expecting.
