The City of Light

"My Lady, there have been disturbances in the city of thieves." An acolyte bowed deeply to the Lady of Light. She stood in the open window, her golden hair waving gently in the wind as her perfect hands handled the shears. She trimmed the plants as she listened to the news, "Tell me."

"The bastard duke of Londaros is dead. His mother...has gone insane."

The shears paused in mid-air before continuing, "Killian?" There was a tender, motherly smile on her face as she said that name.

"No, Holy One. It was said that a young woman performed feats of magic that has rarely been achieved. Our spies say that Lord Killian is smitten."

The lady of light put down the delicate gold shears with a gentle clink, "How now? My most cherished warrior has fallen for a mage?" She glide through the room and sat on her marble throne, "Tell me of the girl. What feats did she perform?"

"They say that she defeated Lady Celia, who had stolen the Shadow Bow from the Londaros treasury."

The Lady of Light examined her nails, "I'm not surprised that it took her mind. Not many can handle Shadow Magic and live."

"They say that by saving the lives of the Augur and the Queen of Spies, she was awarded with all the Dwarves and pixies of the land." The attendant went on, "But a great fire wiped out the dwarves and pixies, they said it was a former lord who had gone insane who was the culprit."

"A pity for the girl. But I am glad that Killian has finally find someone he cares for." The Lady of Light only nodded at the news, "Tell me, how did Lord Killian show his affections."

"They say that he is protective of the mage, our spies can not tell much besides their interactions in the city." The acolyte admitted, "The Lord of War says he will talk to you personally when he arrives in a few days."

The Lady stood up with a smile, "How wonderful, tell them to prepare the antirrhinum villa immediately."

She turned to another matter, "Has the blight in the east been cured? And the illnesses?"

The attendant shook his head, "No Lady."

She sighed, "Every year, the crops grow weaker, the wars become longer, and the illnesses become deadlier." The lady of light stood up with a graceful sweep of her skirts. She waved the attendants away.

In her own chambers the Lady of Light took out the purple jeweled necklace, "Come out."

A haze of grey and purple clouds roared out of the necklace and a shadowy figure appeared. It stood, side by side of the queen. The shadow opened its eyes as the fog began to clear. It was as if the shadow was a mirror of the lady of light, down to the last freckle.

The shadow smiled, a cruel and cold smile, "Little Kyria, how are you enjoying the power I've given you?"

Kyria sat on the bed, annoyed, "Do not take my form."

The shadow suddenly reached out, its black claws rotting underneath the grey haze and gripped the Lady of Light's throat, "Do not be so nonchalant."

Kyria only gave a crooked smile, "You can't survive without me, what would you do if you killed me? We are bound by blood and magic."

The shadow figure growled and threw Kyria on the bed. Its form changed once more, "How about now?"

Jinon stared back at her, his face just like the one she used to dream about.

"I'll kill you." Kyria said quietly, the shadow laughed and changed back to the formless being it started as, "You'll die as well."

It slide next to her form like a poisonous snake, "Tell me, haven't I made you happy. You have everything you wanted. Power, revenge, the death of your enemies."

Kyria looked out at the city she had built, "Haven't I made you happy as well? You control my body as you wish. You have done terrible things to good people. You have killed and maimed as you please."

Kyria's face was a mask of pain, "There are times that I wish I died on the execution block. If I died, then none of this would have happened."

The shadow made a tsking sound, "I would have liked to killed all the fae in existence, and yet you would not let me. Every time I am close, you thwart me. If not for you, this world would have been rid of the fae much faster."

"You said that if their queen is dead then they would all die." Kyria observed, "Their queen has died, but it's our world that is slowly dying. Yet I can not stop it."

The shadow laughed, "That's because you won't kill the rest. If only you let me kill as much as I wished then this wouldn't have been an issue."

"No, you kill the fae who are a threat to humans and leave the rest alone." Kyria said firmly, "I have done everything you asked, even when I did not understand it. Now tell me, can my magic fix the blight?"

The shadow laughed, "What's the death of a couple hundred humans?"

"Be careful." Kyria warned the shadow, "I may not be allowed to end my life, but if you push me, I might chop off an arm or a leg. I might not die, but I'll make you suffer."

"You ungrateful girl." The Shadow hissed, "I give you life and everything, all you do is threaten me."

"I am tired." Kyria said her eyes showed an exhaustion that surpassed her age. "You take over my body for longer and longer periods of time. Sometimes I do not know if the awful thoughts I have are yours or mine."

The shadow laughed, "Silly girl, you hate the fae as well. You want them dead as well."

Kyria looked at her hands, "So much blood and so much death." Her head hung as if her neck could no longer support her, "I deserve death."

The shadow only smiled, "You can't die. You know that I will bring you back from the death, haven't all those times you tried taught you that? And all those mages I had to kill because they witnessed your attempts. If you try again, then I will only kill more."

There was a knock at the door, and the shadow vanished back into the gem. Kyria sighed, she had control of her body for most of the time, but as the years grow longer, the shadow had more hold on her mind. It was hard and harder to wrest back control every time.

"My lady, Queen Estelle of the Spies has sent you a gift."

"Bring it in."

The attendant nodded to two acolytes who carried a large box, "Queen Estelle sends her regards and says that this is better in your hands than returned to Londaros." The attendants placed the elongated box on the table, the Queen of Spies also has sent you the slave collars the dwarves wore. We have examined it and found no signs of foul play."

It had been traditional to return the collars of dead slaves so that the magic could be renewed. However in front of the Lady of Light was only a pile of twisted metal, burned beyond recognition.

The acolyte bowed, "We will discard these immediately."

"Wait." Kyria held out a hand. She came to the table and touched the twisted collar. With a frown she said, "The slave of this collar is dead?" The magic came alive in her hands, dots of bright white at her fingertips. The residuals of this magic was very interesting, and very wrong.

The attendants nodded. Kyria's eyes narrowed, "Bring me the man who set the fire. Immediately."

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The Road To the City of Light

Killian walked into the empty paradise and frowned, it was beautiful behind the waterfall, but devoid of life.

"Come out." Cybelline called, "We mean no harm."

Suddenly there was a soft crackle and the trees seemed to come to life.

Dyrads released themselves from the barks and leaves of the trees, figures that grew out of the branches or walked out of the trunks themselves. Cybelline knew that these were the mages of the small village, she wondered how many more were hidden in the trees. A that moment, she spied a little head peeking out from the tree trunk, then two, then three. She bit her lip from smiling, the children, it seemed were not very good at hiding just yet.

The seven mages walked towards the two strangers. Melas threw off his hood. His brown eyes studied Cybelline and Killian with suspicion, "Why did you bring him?"

"Because he is a friend, and you owe him an apology." Cybelline said with a smile, "Honestly I would've charged you money for the scare you gave him, but we can talk fees later."

Killian tried to hide the smile on his face as Cybelline continued, "Now, what seems to be the problem?"

Melas was about to open his mouth when a younger mage of his group jumped out, "Melas! How could you trust them? You hardly know her and he is the god of war. He'll kill us all, all for a bunch of worthless half-bloods?"

"Ganymede, stand down." Melas ordered, "Those children are our hope."

"They are abominations." Ganymede continued.

"Idiot, if we wanted you dead, then you'd be nothing but a pile of ash right now." Cybelline raised her eyebrows, "The adults are talking, you should leave."

Melas gripped his arm, "If you can not behave yourself, leave immediately."

Ganymede's eyes narrowed and he yanked himself out of Melas's grip, he turned and two other mages followed.

Melas sighed, "He is young."

"Age is never a good excuse." Cybelline said, "I have brothers much younger and they would have never behaved this way."

Melas paused and nodded, "I will punish him accordingly."

He looked at Killian, "Lord of War, we have a request. We know that you do not usually help the fae, but this woman has said that you will make an exception for us."

Killian looked at Cybelline, "She has asked that I try to understand your race a little better. I am not fond of your kind, but for her, I will try."

Melas looked at Cybelline with gratitude, Cybelline only smiled, "Your children are hurt. Show them to us."

Melas hesitated and Killian said, "On my honor as a general, I will not harm your children." With those words, he drew his sword. The mages stepped back in alarm only to see him throw his weapon on the ground.

Cybelline mouthed quietly, "Thank you."

Killian responded by squeezing her hand.

Melas turned around, "Come out."

The leaves and grass rushed as twenty or so little children came running to the group, behind them, other dryad adults came out of the woods and greenery. Cybelline even saw a few human men and women coming out of hiding, holding their partners' hands.

The little children, the ones who could walk came towards Cybelline, one of them tugged at her hand. Cybelline looked down and saw Illias with the broken wings.

Other children had tattered wings, some had stumps for hands, or legs. They looked at Cybelline and Killian with hope.

"Dyrads are natural healers, but our magic for healing has run out a long time ago. Many of our children were unable to grow properly, many have died. These are the lucky ones." Melas said as he held one of the children, a human woman came to stand by him. He gripped her hand, "We know that the green crystals that the dwarves mine could be of some help, but we have not been able to find any. So we resort to kidnapping wealthy people to ransom for the precious gems."

His face seemed to turn a little red, "That is why we have tried kidnapping you."

Cybelline sighed and turned to Killian, "At least now we know they weren't assassins."

"Why is it that the people who you kidnap seemed to forget the entire thing?" Killian wanted to know, "Some of my majors who were taken would come back with no knowledge of what happened."

Cybelline took out the green vial that Melas had given her, "I think it's this." Killian held it up to the light, "Poison?"

"It doesn't harm!" Melas protested, "It only makes you forget what we want you to forget." He looked at the bottle, "This is made from the leaves of a special branch, but the branch is dying as well. This is all that we have left. Keep it. As a sign of good faith."

Cybelline tried to take it from Killian, he held it up from her, "I thought you were giving it to me as a gift, a present for your lover."

Cybelline coughed and reddened, "You have strange notions for what counts as gifts between couples."

"So you admit it?" Killian said a little too eagerly.

"No. It's a gift between friends. And a sign of good faith." Cybelline said after regaining her composure. Killian smiled, "I'll take what I can get." He turned to Melas, "In exchange for this gift, I have one for you as well."

Killian came forward and handed Melas a bag, "A sign of good faith."

Melas stared wordlessly at the bag and opened its contents with shaking hands. Inside were the priceless healing crystals, enough to heal all of their young.