Page 135 of Stars in Aura

Some froze, staring.

Some dropped to their knees, muttering prayers.

Others’ faces twisted with fury.

A man in flowing indigo robes stepped forward, his eyes blazing with fanatical light.

‘She is now among us, the thief, the traitor!’

Another utterance rose.

Twas a woman cloaked in black, with a symbol of the Solanite cult carved into her brow.

‘She holds the sacrosanct essence hostage!’

‘Release the Sullied against her.’

‘You stole from the Divine Immortal!’

‘You must return what is sacred!’

‘Sulfiqar’s mercy is gone because of you! He turned to violence and derangement because of you,’ they screamed. ‘We will send the Sullied to tear you him and apart!’

A Solanite priest, draped in ceremonial gold, raised his shout above the rest, his face alight with religious fervor.

‘The balance should be restored! Sol will rise again!’

Ki’Remi’s brows shot up.Fokk.

Issa’s warnings about factions, cults, and warring celestial ideologies came to mind.

‘Freakin’ fascinating,’ he muttered under his breath, his logical cognition struggling to process the absurdity of it all.

However, they had zero time to gawk.

Without warning, the mob surged.

Ki’Remi reacted in an instant, moving before he could even think.

He pulled Issa behind him as one of the fanatics lunged forward, hands reaching for his woman.

Their guards unsheathed their weapons but did not intervene; they only observed with amused smirks, waiting to see how Issa and Ki’Remi would defend themselves.

In moments, the skimmer’s exterior was swarmed with fanatics, zealots, and believers from all sides.

Their palms reached and banged on the gleaming silver hull, their voices rising in a fever pitch of devotion and accusation.

One Sacran pounced too close.

Ki’Remi leaped out of the transport and into the fray on the hovering walkway.

He caught the attacker by the wrist and twisted hard, sending him sprawling onto the ethereal pavement.

Another tried to grab Issa, urged on by the cackling priest.

Ki’Remi drove an elbow into his gut, propelling him gasping to his knees.

The luminary was now chasing them down, shouting at the top of his lungs, urging the crowd to keep up the attack.

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