August 14, 1887

"Airel!" Thalayna cried out from the yard in desperation. 

"What is it that troubles you? Has something gone amiss?"

"It is our lekken, they have ceased to give milk!" She let out a worried sigh as Airel joined her in front of the wooden post where the two animals were tied. "How are we to make our dough? What are we to sell?" 

"That is strange indeed," Airel nodded thoughtfully. "They are but three and four years old. Far too young to have gone barren already. Perhaps I should call in the Aurologist." 

*Airel Arystenn*

"That Mr. Myers is a loon!" Thalayna exclaimed disapprovingly. "He'd tell us to feed each lekke three cakes of bird excrement each day, or something of that nature."

"His science may be a novel one, but it is as trustworthy as any other," Airel confirmed. "I shall proceed to his home at once. It is not far from here." 

"Very well then, if you insist," Thalayna sighed, exhausted.

*Thalayna DeGlann Arystenn*

She remained slouched against the post, stroking the younger lekke's glossy, black coat as her husband exited the yard through its back gate.

"Do you hear Airel's fanciful ideas, my friend?" She asked, placing her hand gently on the animal's head. "The poor man has had quite a difficult life. It must be the stress getting to him. If only my father would be a little lenient with him, that would certainly alleviate his burden." 

The lekke only snorted in reply, swatting away a swarm of insects with its whiplike tail. 

"I worry for him," she looked down at the ground sadly. "And I worry more for myself, for as I've been reflecting upon my most intimate thoughts, I'm beginning to realize that I agree with him. I thoroughly despise the wall, and our cowardly ancestors who built it. There is a world beyond it- a world without walls and fear- and the brave have a birthright to that world, a right that cannot be taken away." 

"Mama!" Thalayna was interrupted by her son's sharp cry. She ran to the hammock in which he lay, scooping him up in her arms and carrying him to where she sat between the lekken. 

"Big lek. Small lek," the two year old gurgled, pointing to each of the animals with a chubby finger. 

"That's right, Sak," Thalayna beamed. "You are such a bright little boy."

As she entertained Sakarus, Airel reentered the yard, this time flanked by a tall, hefty man who dwarfed the young baker and a lithe young woman. 

"Thalayna, meet Mr. Myers, the Aurologist, and his assistant, Miss Soren." 

"Please, call me Crescel," the Aurologist boomed, extending his pudgy hand to Thalayna, who politely shook it. 

"It's wonderful to meet you, Mrs. Arystenn," Crescel's assistant smiled sweetly. "I'm Lianna. Soon to be the township's first female Aurologist." 

"How daring indeed for a woman to pursue the sciences," Thalayna nodded appreciatively.

"So, Airel tells me your lekken refuse to give milk," Crescel clapped his hands together. "Let me have a look at the little fellows." He crouched beside the larger lekke, inspecting it first with his left eye closed, then his right, and finally with both eyes open. Standing up, he did something very surprising. He opened his mouth wide, revealing a set of brown, crooked teeth, and began to laugh! 

"There is nothing wrong with these lekken!" He guffawed. "You were right to summon me here, they suffer from no physical ailment. Their malady is purely Aural." 

"But animals do not possess Auras..." Airel trailed off. 

"The Aura is not merely a blue light that shines about us," Crescel said deeply, knitting his eyebrows. "It is pure force, the life energy that flows through all living beings. Simply because the Auras of non-Lessaenite creatures are not visible to the naked eye does not mean that they are not present." 

"Life energy?" Airel smiled. "I've never quite thought of Auras that way before." 

"You of all people should know," Crescel winked mysteriously. 

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you mean." 

"I have been observing you for quite some time now," the Aurologist began. "There is something different about your Aura, something remarkable that I have never seen in another man. Are you telling me that you've never noticed the markedly silver hue that your Aura takes on around the edges?" 

"Yes, I have noticed it," Airel nodded. "I always assumed it was a trait of my father's. He passed away before I was even born." 

"No," Crescel shook his head. "Read this poem, Destiny. It was written by a well known mystic several hundred years ago," he handed Airel a worn leather book, opened to a yellowed page. 

Broken lies our land,
and tumultuous are our seas. 
Distant, so distant,
seems any hope of a reprieve.
Yet, I hear Destiny calling, 
and solace comes to me. 
For someday, we shall ride to unity
upon a silver steed with wings of the sea.

"You're the silver steed, Airel!" Crescel declared exultantly. "You bear the mark of Lumys, and I am sure that it is intrinsically connected to your desire to leave the township. Our world is dying, you're the only one with an Aura powerful enough to save it, and here you are selling loaves of bread," he shook his head. "No wonder your poor lekken are agitated so! So much unfulfilled destiny...it must be harrying their Auras terribly!" 

"I can't save the world," Airel shook his head. "I don't even know what the world is, or if it even is anything anymore! And what is all your talk about a powerful Aura? Auras don't contain power, they can't do anything, they just...are." 

"Let me tell you a little something," Crescel whispered. "Aura is the physical manifestation of life itself. He who controls the Aura controls everything. Bear us to unity, silver steed. Then, your lekken will give milk."