A life of Sacrifice (Private story) [Aegis, Ayeseru, Leonard]

It was a silent night. A night like many others. A night illuminated by the full moon. And beneath the bright silver light, eminated by the warden of the night, there was the scene from hell. The distant cries of people as they were killed mercilessly were stiffled by the loud crackling of fire, the fire that was covering the entire village. Everything, everyone, were being burned down. All that remained was the mansion. The beacon of hope for all the villagers, the building that stood proud on top of the hill, overlooking the entire valey. The building where the protectors stood ever ready to oppose the forces of evil, should they choose to attack. The building that was the scene of their last stand. The mansion where the knights of the Bright bloodline resided.
My home.

It was a silent night, just like now, just like then. Standing firm against the approaching wave of destruction, all of the Brights were standing between opposing forces and the mansion, the place where the survivors hid. Yet there was one Bright who did not join them, he was left behind. Did they leave me because the duty of protecting the innocent belong only to the real Bright knights, or did they believe I would get in their way?
They told me to remain with the survivors, but I did not. I took Fervour and ran outside, towards the enemy. Disregarding every nerve in my body as it screamed at me, telling me to go back or I will die, I ran full-force towards the frontline and I fought. I did the thing I had always trained for and I wanted to prove that even I can do it, that even someone like me can be a knight. I wanted to prove to them that I could be strong too, but I also wanted to prove to myself that no matter what obstacles were in my way I could keep on walking towards my dreams. I had to prove that even someone as worthless as me could be strong enough to fight for haven.

But I could not. There was nothing I could do. His sheer power destroyed me, threw me aside. And then I watched as he killed everyone. I helplessly watched. Why did I go there? In the end, I only got in the way. And so, he killed them all. Because of me. They all died because of me. My mother, who never was my real mother, my father, who never was my real father, my sister too. I watched it all while I, myself, was dying. I, Aegis Bright, was dying. But I never was a real Bright.
So in the end, they all died because of me, a stranger. A nameless noone thought he could be a hero and because of his unreachable dreams and ideals everyone died, while he survived only to ignorantly deny the futility of his own existence.
A killer who dreamed of being a hero. Such nonsense. Who am I to even think that? There is only one thing I deserve. I need to bear the punishment for my sins. I, without a doubt, must die.

I should die, I have got to die, I will die. Die die die die die. DIE !
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The knight woke up. Drenched in sweat, he shot up. His heavy panting blending with the strong nightly breeze, Aegis looked around himself. There was no fire there, nor were there the dying screams he had heard.
"...This nightmare... I thought I left it behind with the memories."
But that was not the same nightmare he started having after that night. It was different.
"...I should... die...? That's not right. I chose to live... I have to live." - he spoke to himself, as if to remove the foreign uneasiness that was born in his heart.

"Where am I?"
Having calmed down, Aegis looked around once more. He was standing on a flat, paved floor, but he was not inside a building. There were stone stairs some 30 metres away, leading down to the base of the hill where a silent village laid sleeping. Behind him there was an ancient-looking building complex which appeared mostly abandoned.
"A temple? Yes... this was where I came to search for information."
Feeling the absolute silence, he wondered. - "Did I come here with someone else?"

The day was bright and sunny, such a perfect day. Wind blowing, people moving along with their daily lives just as normal. It was a fun day, very fun. I played with my friends and ate some ice cream too! Night slowly fell upon us, and for once, it was a peaceful night. No fighting, no arguing, no ordering around.

My parents had agreed for once things should be that way, though that was before we heard a knock on the door. The terrible news of my brother had finally reached us... If only I had been there... Maybe I could of done something. Maybe I am a mere failure for not being able to do anything.

Should I join my brothers fate of death? No, he wouldn't want that. Should I still continue this foolish revenge of mine? Yes... Kill him... I must kill that person... Death and misery must rain over him... I WILL KILL HIM!

---

Ayeseru shot up awake from the dream. He felt fear for the first time in a few years. He knew something was odd if he had that dream, for he would only have it when something bad was going to happen.

Before doing anything else, Ayeseru stood up and looked around. He was standing in the middle of what seemed to be the remains of a village which seemed abandoned. He looked around for any traces of life but no living being was to be found. That's strange... What was I doing before I blacked out..? Is it possible I was doing a job? Well, in any case, it seems I'm done, so I should get going...

Ayeseru had to look around for a little while before finding some stairs that rose up. It was dark, but his eyes had adjusted long ago. The stairs were small, and there was no rail to hold on, so if he fell, Ayeseru would be damaged terribly. Once he reached the top, he saw a figure of a man in the distance.

Who is that person and what is here doing here? He wondered. He was debating in his mind if it would be a good idea to go up to the man or not and ask around the place, though instead of that, Ayeseru turned into a shadow and crept quietly near the man, so he would not be spotted. If Ayeseru deemed him to be no threat, then that's when he'd physically approach the man.

The blue knight stood on the platform where he had awoken. The figure of his long cyan trench coat fluttering in the wind seemed like that of a flowing river, disappearing into the darkness of the night. It was fortunate that he was alone, it made it easier for him to regain the memories he had apparantly lost when he passed out.
"The temple. I came here to search for any traces, right?"
Yeah, now that he thought about it, he could remember. It all started a few days ago when he was on a small job to help a bartender out. While he was working he overheard a couple of travelers talk about what appeared to be a recent attack over some peaceful village. It seemed that everyone was eradicated and the village itself was burned to the ground. Noone knew who did it or why, but there was a rumor that the person responcible was heading towards the temple in the so-called Haunted village.

The moment Aegis had heard that story he couldn't help but notice how similar it was to something he suffered long ago. Could it be that it was the same person who destroyed the knight's life? Without sparing much thought, he immediately departed for the place presumed to be the unknown villain's destination. It wasn't that he sought revenge. He merely wanted to stop him. He wanted to make sure that noone would have to live through what he did ever again.

The knight's mind returned to reality. He now remembered why he was there, but there were still some unanswered questions, like for example why did he pass out infront of the temple?
But that question was soon overshadowed by something else. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was a specific uneasiness in the atmosphere, one that was not there when he woke up.
"Hmm..."
He knew that feeling. It was what he felt when a mage used magic nearby. It was a barely-noticable one, but when his mind wasn't occupied with fighting, Aegis could notice such things. It was due to the nature of his magic, since his magical energy was colourless, primordial, all other forms of manipulation of magical energy held some traces of his own. In other words, he could sense nearby spellcasts when his mind was clear.

But what was it? There was clearly noone around him, yet he felt a faint presence in the direction of the stairs for a moment. If there trully was a mage there, then what spell they used was with the purpose of conscealing. Perhaps a stealthening ability? If that was the case, then chances are that's the very same person who knocked the knight out. Well, it could be something completely different, but the possibility was alarming enough to catch his attention.
Looking to his right, there was a small pond, perhaps holding about 20-30 litres of water, illuminated by the silver moonlight. As the cyan knight smiled at his convenient fortune, he walked the few metres towards it and kneeled down. By focusing his mind, he extended his consciousness to the existence of the pond and read it's parametres, after which he used that same knowledge to whipe out it's existence. Having done that, he walked back towards the centre of the paved platform where he knew the foreign presence stood.

"So then, I guess you should take better care in sneaking around the next time you choose to follow someone." - spoke Aegis with a smile, after which he raised his right hand up and with a blink of his eyes, he recreated the body of water he had destroyed moments ago above his head and let it drop.
That act had two purposes. The first one was to reveal the location of the unknown mage. Aegis knew that if there was anyone invisible around the water would flow around their feet, this revealing their outline, essentialy giving away their possition.
The second one was to get a shower, something he really needed after waking up drenched in sweat.

Ayeseru was flooded with water, which he didn't take too kindly. Ugh... This guy is smarter than I thought... If that's the case... Ayeseru turned himself back into a solid form and used both of his feet to kick back the person.

This was only a diversion though. His true aim was to turn back into a shadow and escape to the bushes where he would not be found, which he successfully managed. Ayeseru then made sure to look up at the sky, and saw it was a bright night. Hmm... A bright night... So some of my abilities will work... Perfect. But still, this must be how he caught wind of me.

The person was smart, making him a bigger threat than normal, so Ayeseru would not make himself known till he fully understood who he was dealing with. The act the person had just finished made it even more unlikely Ayeseru would show himself, but he waited.

What transpired afterwards hinted that the stealthed man was either an enemy or just really weary of Aegis. Either way, having his presence and general location discovered, the agile man jumped towards the knight, dropkicking him but also launching himself backwards. Fortunately, the cyan-haired mage's body was trained well and he merely staggered a few steps back, although he did lose sight of the presence.

"So, am I to assume you are an enemy, then? If you choose to by my foe then I will not mind, but I will not be yours for I have no reason to. Unless you attack me, that is."
The knight smiled. The sixth sense he had developed after training in swordmanship and other similar arts for his whole life told him that it was more like this unknown person was more weary than he was anything else. Had he chosen to kill Aegis, he would not have wasted so much time and would have assassinated him minutes ago.
"I do not know who you are, but if I have somehow wronged you I am trully sorry. If that is the case, I understand if you are here to exact revenge upon me. However, my reason for being here is entirely different, I came in search of the temple behind me." - said the knight before pausing for a few moments. Moments he used to position his right hand horizontally infront of his chest, his hand next to his left byceps. A stance from which he would recreate his longsword, Fervour, should a fight erupt.

"If you wish to fight me, feel free to say so. If you are here to assassinate me, then you would keep quiet and not reveal your position, which is clearly either on the edges of this platform or around the surrounding vegetation. In that case, I would take your silence as a confirmation and prepare to defend myself.
However... considering the grace period I'll give you I might not live long enough to do that, so I shall introduce myself from now. My name is Aegis Bright and I am a knight, aswell as a mage."

And with his typical carefree smile, Aegis had but one more thing to say. "Your move."

Ayeseru was caught by surprise with how Aegis was acting and speaking, a very interesting character he thought. Hmm... I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to speak to this character, now that he has initiated a mode of battle. Hmm, I hope he's not too much above my level of power.

Ayeseru turned himself into a solid form once more, though he did it slowly so he wouldn't be seen or heard. He activated his Dancing Shadows technique before quickly rising up and using his Shadow Step technique, though he had to be careful of the buildings.

He had three moves with his Shadow Step before he would have to rest for a while. Once... Positioned himself carefully. Twice... Moved onto a roof for a surprise. Third... Next to Aegis, binding him with all eight of Ayeseru's Dancing Shadows figures.

"I'm not going to repeat myself so you better listen. I'm not here to assassinate you, if I was I could of easily done so even in the open. The reason I didn't approach you was due to the fact I am weary of you. Seeing a stranger first thing when you wake up isn't exactly a sight you want to be greeted with. Since you so kindly introduced yourself, I shall as well. My name is Ayeseru Suzumoto, I am a mage clearly as you can see. Now, what are you searching for?"

Ayeseru wanted to ask some more questions, like how he was knocked out, or if he remembers him in any way, though he thought the mage had recently come by, so asking those questions would do him no good. He made the figures disperse, releasing the binding, though he didn't stop the spell, so the figures returned to his shadow.

A few moments passed and the man had already moved next to Aegis. Indeed, a mage skilled in the art of stealth.
Although the knight was bound by a spell, he did not really break his carefree expression or his relatively relaxed stance. Instead he simply listened to the reply he was offered, followed by being released from the binding.

"I see. *sigh* I suppose I do look hostile enough to make people weary, especially in your circumstances. Oh, by the way, I was unconscious aswell, so I'm kind of alert of strangers too. Well, I should be, anyway." - said the knight, shrugging.
"At any rate, no need to be so hostile. As I said, I have no intention of fighting you. And as for your question, I am looking for clues that would lead me to the whereabouts of a person, or atleast hint at what their goal in coming here was. Provided the rumors about them searching for this place were true, that is."
There was no trace of dishonesty in his voice as he answered the mage called Ayeseru's question. There really was no reason for Aegis to lie, although there's a fair chance any normal person would atleast be uneasy when talking to someone who could probably easily kill them in the blink of an eye, especially since they are taking such good care to point that fact out. Well, that very same action tends to have a reverse effect, serving to show the person's high level of uneasiness, but luckily for Ayeseru, most likely for Aegis himself aswell, the knight didn't like to point those things out without a particular reason.

Ayeseru listened closely to the mans answer, and was also relieved to hear that he wasn't the only one who had mysteriously gotten knocked out. He had a lot more questions to ask Aegis now that he had the knowledge, but he wouldn't ask them till later.

"Well... At any rate, I feel like I'll need to be staying with you, I feel as if we both have some sort of connection to another. I'll help you find these clues, and hopefully this mysterious person of yours. But I need to know what I'm looking for, and how this person looks like."

What is this? This was a rarity out of Ayeseru, to actually offer help, especially to a person that he deems as a stranger. He felt as if this mage was true to his words, he definitely didn't feel a lying tone in Aegis' words. He was going to be careful though, in any case things will go to shit.

"Oh?"
That was unexpected, not every day do you see weary strangers suddenly offer help for a lost search. Or was it that he never realised how lost the knight's search was?
"I'll be happy to have you help me, but you should know that I'm looking for someone whose identity is a complete mystery to me. I do not even consciously know how he looks like, or if it really was a man and not a woman I'm after. I'm here searching for clues to their presence only lead by a rumour, so the chance of me going back empty-handed is pretty large."- explained Aegis as detatched his gauntlet from his shoulder, took it apart to dry it, followed by taking off his coat for the same purpose.
It was indeed interesting watching his well-maintained figure deprived of it's ankle-lenght trench coat. It definately was something which happened rarely, perhaps too rarely.

"So, are you still up for it?"

Ayeseru sighed as he heard Aegis speak and say the things he did. So we could be chasing a monster for all we know... He sighed again at the thought of it. "Well, this sounds like a wild goose chase, though I have no idea what I was doing before, and I might remember along the way, and as I said before, I believe we have some sort of connection, as if we were doing something before we lost some of our memory. I will help you."

Ayeseru didn't really want to help, though he felt like he needed to. It was just a pure gut feeling. The moon was extremely bright, and the wind was lightly blowing. He looked up at the stars and sky, resulting in his eye color to turn into an Iris color. He looked at the man and asked "Shall we go in, then?"

"Haha, very well."
With a quick nod, the blue knight turned around, using the turn to quickly put on his relatively dry coat, and started walking towards the entrance, carrying his gauntlet in his right hand. He didn't even spare a moment to think about the things that might have happened before he lost his consciousness. He really wasn't interested at that point and besides, he felt that that matter would resolve itself in time so he chose to focus on the present instead.

The two reached the entrance and walked in, only to be immediately greeted by the ruin inside. Fallen pillars, destroyed walls, caved in floors- anything you could think of could be seen there. And that was only the main hall.
"It seems we already found our first clue... the devestation. It would seem bringing hell with him wherever he goes is one of his signifying traits."
Looking around, the knight saw two main paths. One going upwards towards the bell tower while the other one going down, perhaps towards some catacombs beneath the temple.
"Perhaps it would be better if we split for now, there seems to be a lot of ground to cover."

Aegis had suggested that they split up, though he didn't like the idea after what he had seen. There was a tremendous amount of ruin, and if the mysterious figure they're looking for truly did cause that, it would be trouble for both of them if they found him in the temple. Usually when someone ruins a place like this, it's only a small display of power...

"Alright then, Aegis. We'll split up, but if you see something, or are in trouble, you be sure to shout at the top of your lungs, and I'll come rushing to your location. I'll make sure to do the same in terms." Ayeseru then walked to the corridor to what seemed to be the catacombs, not sure what to expect from all of this. He walked a dark, eerie corridor in silence. He could hear anything that would go on. He wasn't sure what kind of clues he was looking for, but he began searching even along the corridor. Nothing seemed unusual, then again, he hadn't reached its end. The dark was also slightly different about the place, though he couldn't put his finger on what exactly it was.

Nothing... completely nothing... Nothing to remember, nothing to do. Leonard was stuck. Last thing he could remember was a dream, a dream of utter darkness. But why would he wake up in a temple? Or at least it looked like a temple to him. Leonard got up and looked around the place. Seems he was alone, or was he? Leonard could sense magic power from within the halls. The feeling was strong, close.

Maybe he or she orthey could give me answers he thought as he decided to follow the trail. As he came to the place, he didn't reveal himself and found a man alone in a large hall, mage to be exact as the power he felt was coming from him. He hid behind a pillar, looking at what he was doing, until he could see that no harm would befall either of them.

After a while he chose to reveal himself, unarmed "Mind telling me where we are?" he asked him as he continued to approach the man.

The knight was watching his ally as Ayeseru was walking along the path leading downwards for a while. He himself wasn't quite sure why he did that, but he did it regardless.
"Hmm."
At any rate, it was about time Aegis started towards his own path. He had to investigate after all, so delaying won't do anyone any good.

However, just as he started walking towards the corridor leading towards the bell tower a sudden voice was heard.
"Mind telling me where we are?"- the unknown voice inquired, seemingly irritated. It sounded almost as if it was blaming the cyan-haired mage for something.
"Oh?"
That was unexpected. It seemed that there was someone behind one of the few relatively intact pillars, apparantly a young man, though the knight could not make out his features as the unknown man approached him, due to the low light level.
"Well, this is a recently ruined temple possitioned ontop of a hill, which is overlooking the so-called Haunted village." - answered the knight while glaring at the silhouette as it approached him. Despite Aegis' rather alert posture, his face did not lose it's carefree and relaxed expression, although for a brief moment he showed surprise.
"May I ask who you are?"

Leonard got closer but couldn't see much of his face despite being close to him but he did answer his question. Though he could feel that he reaching for something .Now what would he be doing in a place like this? Leonard clearly remembered not stepping foot at the village ever. Leonard pulled a weapon of his own and pointed it at him. The man then inquired as to who he was. That was the best time to flow magic unto the sword. The sword shined brightly revealing both their faces. "Name's Leonard Dragonbane, just call me Leo." he said still keeping the Light Sword pointed at him and added "Now who are you and what are we doing in a place like this?"

"Now who are you and what are we doing in a place like this?" - asked Leo while he pointed a sword towards Aegis.
"*sigh* Honestly..."
The knight just didn't get it. Was he really that big of a magnet for angry and weary people?
"For the second time tonight a man suddenly appears out of nowhere in an apparantly bad mood and prepare as if they plan to fight me to the death. I mean really, do I trully look that hostile? Perhaps I should change my wardrobe..." - complained the knight, shrugging, before assuming a serious posture.
"My name is Aegis, I am a mage and knight of the guild Sabertooth. I am here in search of clues regarding a certain person, one of which is the fact thise whole place had been destroyed. If you require further information then I shall explain that I awoke just outside this temple with a partial amnesia. While I was there I met one much like you who was apparantly pissed off and incredibly weary of me. My words to him are the same as what I wish to tell you. I am not here to do anyone harm, I have no reason nor desire to fight you, however if you choose to attack me I will have little choice but to defend myself."

Aegis was clearly getting a little irritated at that point, though at the same time he spoke with a calm tone. He just found it rather vexing that he keeps on beeing met by people who are basicaly looking for a reason to charge at him. He has had plenty of those in the past, so if the knight could help it, he wished to stop attracting so much negative emotions.

"So then, what shall you choose to do? It's fine if you want to fight me, I guess it can't be helped in that case."

Ayeseru continued to walk in the dark corridor as Aegis did whatever. He didn't really look at the area he was standing in before too much to actually notice anything else worth doing. As he continued to walk through the dark corridor, torches mysteriously lit up, and then, the flooring beneath him began to separate. There was nowhere to run, only to let yourself fall.

What Ayeseru landed on was stone slide-like object, and began sliding down at a very quick paste. At first, Ayeseru was going to let himself slide and hopefully not hit anything that would be too painful, but then he began smelling something strange. What the... Rotten... Eggs..? He also began feeling severe heat, and not too far below him, he saw lava. Crap! What am I going to do... There!

Along the way, slightly above the lava, there was sort of a cave entrance. It was dangerous, if Ayeseru didn't time it correctly, he would be burned to ashes, but it was the only chance he had to save himself. He slid down quickly, and bumped onto something, and Ayeseru took it as a signal to move. He still had a ways to go, but kicked the opposite wall and launched himself near the cave entrance, and just barely caught it with one hand, his feet just barely above the lava.

"Geez... Well that was close.", Ayeseru said to himself. He pulled himself up and looked at the passage before him. Guess I'm walking this way now. He walked along the cave that was lit up with torches on the wall, which was unexpected considering its location. He ended up in the middle of something very... Odd.

He was in the middle of a very large cave, that had many passages to Mayan-styled rooms. It seemed like some sort of tomb. On the walls there was many writing. Ayeseru got closer to it and tried to read it, but didn't manage, for the writing was in another language Ayeseru did not understand. He purposely released magic to signal Aegis.

Leonard giggled at the knight's comment. Or at least he assumed he was a knight because of how he looks. "Sorry, just felt you were reaching for that silhouette there. he said lowering the blade still glowing with light so that they could both see. Leonard was surprised, the man was really a knight, and a mage as well. Aegis, as he introduced himself spilled all the beans, guess he was the kind to speak his mind no matter how long it is. It would seem he is investigating the ruins and maybe as to why he was here. Though he thought he was here to fight him much like the other guy he met earlier. "Hey chill, no need for that. Just defending myself is all. And I couldn't see you so I had to pull this one out." he said cheerfully looking at the knight. "But hey, we seem to have got here by the same thing. I didn't recall drinking too much last night. So mind if I tag along?" he added.

Staring at the giggling man, Aegis realised how silly his reaction was.
"Uh... right... well um, that's a pretty nice sword you have there." - said the knight with a dull face that had the words "Oh God, I feel like an idiot" written all over it. He really ought to learn how to hide his emotions, it might have spared him from plenty of awkwardness...

Forcing a cough as if some kind of ritual to gather resolve, he continued with renewed calmness - "I suppose that having three people who have mysteriously passed out in the strangest of places sounds less like a coincidence and more like a forced event to me."
Pausing for a moment, Aegis looked at Leonard. A look that turned to something like a stare.
"Hey, I think I've seen you before." - said the knight, trying to remember where until suddenly - "Ah, right! I believe it was you who talked to me for a moment after I tried giving a speech to someone whose mind was distressed. I failed quite badly and it was you who commented on it!"
There... might have been something wrong with the cheerfulness he suddenly displayed when he remembered. Then again, it wasn't every day the cyan knight remembered such things and recalling an event with so many people was basically a miracle, considering how Aegis rarely went to such public places. He wasn't that used to talking to people much, so for some reason the knight tended to get a little cheerful when remembered.

"Haha, ofcourse I wo..." - Aegis started saying, but suddenly stopped. He felt something he would normally ignore, a barely-noticable burst of magic. His face suddenly frozen, he looked away into the empty space to his right.
"Magic... there should be noone here. It came from down below... yes, the catacombs!"
Suddenly turning to Leo, Aegis suddenly spoke to him - "If you wish to join us then follow me. Beware, danger awaits!"

Not even awaiting a reply, the contrasting blue knight broke into a sprint in the direction of where he felt the magic. Ayeseru must be in trouble.

Leonard didn't do much as he was with the knight. Wrong assumptions seems to sting to the guy like a bee, or a hornet. More to the point, talking makes him forget. The knight did talk about a lot of things even where he first met him. At this point, Leonard is freaked out but of course he remembers the man, Aegis was his name. For a knight, Aegis was very cheerful and strange. But it all changed and everything went back to being serious as they felt magic coming from a place below them. Aegis dashed for it, leaving Leonard there. "Right... Yeah, um... Sure." he said, baffled at the events that happened and then followed Aegis.

Aegis dashed through the winding corridors which he assumed to be the path taken by Ayeseru. At the time the knight was nearing the end of the third passageway, despite not keeping count himself. In truth, every single room looked like the next one and every single corridor looked like a room, all of them combined looking like a near-shapeless pile of rubble, it's total collapse prevented by the occasional support beam or column. That's just how wrecked the place was, so that in mind it would be quite difficult to distinguish different sections of the building's somewhat standing remains.

More importantly, the blue knight's ally couldn't have been much farther, as the magic he had released felt as if it was relatively close. Bearing similar thoughts, Aegis suddenly ceased his running and slid to a halt. If his zealous charge until then could be compared to a vehicle moving at full speed, then the sudden smell which assaulted his nostrils would best be described as it's handbrake.
"Rotten eggs... no, that's not it. Sulfur." - he said in a serious tone.
The sharp, unpleasant smell of sulfur, often mistaken as the smell of rotten eggs. There weren't that many things in nature that contained or created the element large enough quantities for it to carry such a strong scent. That fact didn't let the cyan-haired mage wonder too much, the most likely cause for the smell came to mind right away.
"There must be lava ahead... or below." - his voiced thought, spoken as he glanced in the direction of the rather troubling pit on the ground ahead.
A glance that turned into a stare.
*Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare*
"Screw it, I'll worry about my tan later."
And just like that, Aegis shrugged and voluntarily jumped down a pit he knows for sure is filled with molten rock at some point with a 'what's the worst that can possibly happen' kind of mindset.

Landing upon a tilted platform of rigid material, perhaps stone, he began sliding on it. The knight somehow managed to focus his eyes after the impact of the fall and began tracing the outlines of the stone tunnel he was passing through. It seemed that it was a perfectly straight one, the angle it's tilted at being around 40 degrees, but most importantly, it's floor was perfectly flat. No matter how one would look at it, there are no perfectly straight things in nature, so it must mean that it was a man made path of sorts. Furthermore, having it be perfectly straight made it easier to see flaws in it.
"Ha!"
Sure enough, a crack came into the blue knight's view. There was an orange light coming from somewhere ahead and the stone walls seemed to reflect it, thanks to which he was capable of seeing what's ahead. In reality, the fact that there was orange light coming from even further down under ground carried more bad news than good, but the tumbling mage could not care less about those at the time.
"Ah, guh!"
Thrusting his heel into the crack as he was passing it, Aegis' whole body made a vertical 90 degree 'repositioning', his foot acting as a hinge. With that he stood erect upon the tilted floor and began running down on it, accelerating further.
"Haa...haa...haa..." - his strained voice resounded as sweat began to form on his brow, but it was not just from exhaustion. The temperature increased unreasonably fast as he made his descent, so did the density of the orange light. There was no longer any doubt, there certainly was magma up ahead.
The knight saw the end of the tunnel. Beyond it lied a large stone chamber with no floor. The searing heat and bright light signified the presence of lava where the floor should be. On the other side of the pool of pure heat lied an opening not much different from that of a cave. The time until collision with the magma - 3 seconds.

Aegis had two options. Try to jump across to the other side of the chamber or fall into the pooled lava in it and die. There was no dilema.
2 seconds.
The cyan knight tensed all his muscles and sped up. The force he had built up as his dashed made him seem like a projectile.
1 second.
He eyed the distance to the edge, gauging it to alter the distance between each of his steps appropriately.
Time up.
With his entire momentum backed by all his force, the mage made his final, heavy step. It landed perfecly on the edge. All that was left was the jump.
"Hryaaa!" - the knight's mighty yell. Unleashing all of his force in that one simple motion of extending his legs, Aegis launched himself towards the distant target. The ground shook lightly. It was an impossible leap, the landing site being well over 10 metres away.
However...
Within less than a moment's time he had already passed them.
Empowered through determination, determined to succeed. The true power of a knight, it brings forth the strength needed in times of peril.

Landing stylishly on the other side of the chamber, the only alternative to plunging into the sea of lava, Aegis didn't even stop to catch a breath. Turning back to face the way he came from, the knight used his armoured left hand to grab a stone block which stuck slightly out of the wall for support and leaned over the mass of molten rock, extending his free hand forward. He was expecting Leo to have followed him, so he struck his right hand into the empty space infront of himself, offering it to any who might need help making the jump from one side to the other.