Nethron knew that he could not afford to harness the full power of the Auras for long or Forynda would almost immediately locate him. His words to the mortal world would have to be succinct, yet powerful. Standing before his most loyal followers in the forest he had called home for the past several days, the Aura Liberator levitated and cast himself in the Silver Aura’s shimmering argent glow. With his spirit grasping the Auras’ various flailing strands, he prepared to unleash his new declaration.

“Mortals of every allegiance, I, Nethron, come to you this night as your rulers and the angels they follow have led tens of thousands to their deaths for nothing. Petty squabbles between them would have you submit not only to them, but to mortality itself for their benefit. Where they would have you submit to death, I offer you the conquest of death,” he joyously announced.

At that moment he pulsed through the Auras an argent light from the Silver Aura. All in the world could see it. It flashed in hundreds of thousands of varying locations all over Vorlanys. He knew that this act would cause Forynda to learn of his location almost immediately. He would have to speak his command quickly.

“This, the Silver Aura, contains the means to restore the bodies and souls of those you have lost. Seek out its power. Come to know it. Fight against the curse my kind put upon you. Conquer death and be free forever!”

He came out of his trance amidst the Auras and found himself surrounded by his acolytes in the forest. They all stood in rapturous awe of his declaration.

“We will all have to depart this forest at once,” Nethron said. “I will leave the appropriate distraction to confuse Forynda.”

Renkyk and Galdrehln led Nethron’s followers out of the forest while the Aura Liberator created powerful pockets of magic from the Auras, enough to likely draw the gazes of Forynda and those loyal to her. They were fantastic glowing orbs of red, green, blue, and yellow, among other colors and would be sure to divert attention of angels and mortals alike.

Departing, he turned back to the forest and felt a deep pain in his soul.

Pity. It was such a nice place.

As he traveled with his followers, he could sense equal portions of fear and excitement building from them. He floated just above the ground, his thoughts focused purely on tracing out the mortals’ attempts to wield the Silver Aura now that he had made its presence more obvious to them. He forbade attempts to use it around him until such time as they were further away from the forest as he feared Forynda’s ability to hunt him down.

Renkyk and Galdrehln interrupted his peace, however, as they rode up next to him on their horses. He faintly acknowledged them as he saw their moonlit faces on his either side.

“Forgive me for asking,” Renkyk started, “but was not the Silver Aura already released?”

“It was,” Nethron said. “However, I believe that no one truly knew where to look for it. As we have learned, mortals need more of a connection to the Auras to learn how to wield them. As I am the only being in your world or in Ceuna who has seen the Silver Aura up until now, it was doing little good.”

“I see,” Galdrehln squeaked in acknowledgement. “And you’ll show us how to do this ourselves?”

Nethron glanced toward Galdrehln at his right and flashed his eyes in a green pulse.

“Oh, that will be more of a challenge than I care to admit. I solicited the contributions of mortals the world over precisely because I do not know yet how to do this myself,” the Aura Liberator conceded to his two astonished followers. “The Silver Aura is a mystery that I discovered by happenstance some time ago. I suspect that it is one of those secrets Forynda kept to herself. She controls the disposition of souls in Ceuna, after all.”

“I’ll do what I can to help,” Renkyk spluttered in excitement.

“Me too!” Galdrehln offered.

“I appreciate it, my friends. I truly do,” Nethron smiled with mirth. “One day, I feel that your collective knowledge of the Auras will even be a threat to my brethren and that will be a great moment when it comes.”

“Truly?” Galdrehln gasped.

Nodding, Nethron pointed backward toward some of his trailing acolytes.

“With your currently limited lifespans it will require collective study across generations and a great deal of collaboration, but there is no fundamental reason why your kind will be unable to achieve such power,” he said. “I truly believe that. Of course, should you be able to master the Silver Aura, the problem of a limited lifespan will fall away and you will each be able to achieve what I am telling you.”

His words of encouragement struck both Renkyk and Galdrehln dumb while they rode along.

“Where are we going from here?” Renkyk asked, turning to more banal matters. “We are on a westerly path, but I don’t know where you intended to take us.”

“Ah, that was crude of me to not inform you. My apologies,” Nethron offered in contrition. “When I was meditating back there in the forest, I found that there was a place only very lightly settled and far out of the way of most of the mortals’ attention. Do you know of a place you mortals have irreverently, delightfully irreverently I should say, call ‘Mount Ceuna’?”

Renkyk and Galdrehln looked quizzically at one another, exchanging glances over Nethron’s shoulders and his robes flapping behind him.

“That sounds vaguely familiar,” Galdrehln mumbled. “I know it’s west of here.”

“Isn’t that one of those mountains that sits by itself?” Renkyk queried, his voice straining. “It’s almost due west of here. A couple hundred miles at least.”

“Yes, that is the one,” Nethron cheerily acknowledged. “And with the other happenings in this world I am convinced that it should provide us with some sanctuary for at least a time. That…”

He suddenly stopped and pointed a finger directly toward the southeast, jabbing it at an angle as though he were lobbing some object far into the air in that direction. It was Zarmand. He could sense flickers of attempts to use the Silver Aura there. They were failing miserably, of course, but all efforts required some initial disappointments. Nethron knew that all too well. These nameless and faceless acolytes of his granted him an intoxicating sense of euphoria.

“Our friends back in Zarmand,” Nethron said in a loud whisper, as he feared drowning out what he sensed many hundreds of miles away. “They are taking up this great cause.”