It wasn’t too much longer before they saw the light of dusk seeping through the edge of the forest, landing atop a white rose at the end of the heavy brush.
“This must be it,” Luzanna said. “I don’t know if I’m ready.”
Lucia stopped and stood beside her. “Neither am I, but what other choice do we have?” She stepped ahead, exiting the forest with wide eyes, unsure of what she was expecting to see.
The sun was fading into the horizon beneath a gray-purplish sky. Though the light was dim, Lucia made out the details of a dormant city, which stood silently within the onslaught of vegetation that grew wildly from its border. Not a single person stood among its grounds. It was empty. Each of its buildings had been beautifully crafted, shaped into what looked like grand cathedrals and centuries-old pyramids. It was obvious that this place held many secrets. Its buildings were ancient, and the sacred energy fed into Lucia through the soles of her feet. But what was this place—if not dead?
“This is Remena?” Luzanna asked as she followed closely behind Lucia. She stepped ahead, squinting as she looked into the empty city. “This can’t be right. This is nothing like what my father described.” Immediately, her eyes were encapsulated. Worry filled them as she tried to recall her studies of the forgotten city. “Remena and the protectors, what has become of them?”
“There is life here,” Lucia said, her tone hollow. “ I can feel it nearby, but you’re right, Luzanna. Something is definitely wrong.”
“Do you think it was the darkness?” Leo asked. “Do you think the sins were responsible, I mean?”
“No. The darkness did not do this. The darkness is bound to the Light Wings. It could not destroy what it could not follow. The Light Wings are its only connection.”
“But the protectors can commune with the light. What’s to say they couldn’t create the same connection you could?”
“Look around,” Lucia said. “Does this place look destroyed to you? Every sin has brought destruction in its wake. Something else happened here. Nothing is ruined. It’s just . . . unoccupied.”
“So what are you saying? The protectors just vanished into thin air?”
“Maybe,” Lucia said. “But not all of them.” She placed a hand over the Light Wings, focusing on the whispers inside her head. A tingling came over her, moving through her body and into her fingertips. When she opened her eyes, her irises glistened as her vision shifted farther west. “This way.”
Leo glanced toward Luzanna. She was breathing heavily with her head bowed—she felt it too, the shadowy truth. Surely, answers lay within this place. But were they the answers they hoped for? Something told Leo otherwise. Whatever truth they found here, whatever it might be, was going to be more dubious than they ever could have imagined.
They made their way through the city, deeper into the moss-covered buildings. There was something so familiar about this place, Lucia thought. It was almost as if she had been here before, though she knew she never had. But the memories of the Light Wings were there, deep within her psyche.
As they made their way through the city, a gripping cold tightened with every step. The chill ran down their spines, and the terror of what likely awaited them weighed heavily on their thoughts. Their salvation did not exist here. This dread they were feeling, this was their doom—because in reality, there was nothing more terrifying than the truth.
In the distance, Lucia saw it: a dimly lit window at the base of a large black tower. It was easily the tallest building in the city, standing so high that the top disappeared into the clouds. If it weren’t for the window, Lucia might not have seen it at all, but she sensed it. She watched as the light flickered as if being made by the light of a candle or flame. “There.” Lucia pointed.
“What is this place?” Luzanna asked.
“Well, whatever it is, I don’t like it.” Leo pulled his dagger from his sheath, perceiving the presence of something evil. He looked up at the hidden top, almost as if he knew someone or something up there was watching them, waiting. “It’s here. The darkness, I mean.”
Lucia sighed. “I know. I felt it as soon as we started walking toward this place.”
“And it does nothing?” Luzanna asked. “Doesn’t it know we’re on the verge of learning of its own demise?”
“No,” Leo said. “It knows we’re on the verge of learning about our own.”
“Leo,” Lucia said softly as she made her way toward the tower, “shut up.”
Leo’s eyes softened as Luzanna followed Lucia toward the two large wooden doors in the distance. He shook off whatever he was feeling and followed.
Standing at the base of the large tower, examining the door, Lucia held out her hand, touching its bronze handle. With a deep breath, she gripped it and pulled, hearing the air as it rushed inside as if the door had not been opened for some time. This is it, she thought. It’s time to learn the truth. As the door opened, she made out the details of the tower’s entrance. With one cautious step, she moved through the threshold and into the candlelit citadel.
Luzanna and Leo followed. There was a loud echo as the door closed, seemingly signaling their arrival.
Lucia was quick in her thinking. “Hello?” she called out. “Is anyone here? We . . . we need your help.” She looked around. Her breath shook as she stepped into the center of the vast room. Ahead of them was an altar covered in large candles of four colors: magenta, violet, blue, and yellow—each alternating beneath an epitaph depicting what appeared to be the Light Wings. However, they were different than Lucia’s Light Wings. One side was a wing of light, feathered like a dove, and the other was a wing of dark, leathered like a bat. At the center they met as a diamond within a sphere.
“I don’t like this place,” Leo whispered, touching Lucia’s shoulder. “What if this is a trap?”
“Shhh.” Lucia shook off his hand as her eyes trailed up toward the ceiling to a dome covered in frescoes, paintings of eight mystical beings. She could not make out the complete details of each one, but they were familiar.
“What has brought you here?” A woman’s voice hovered in the air, shocking the trio as their eyes darted toward the staircase in the distance from where they heard it originate. The woman was dressed in a parted black gown with trimmings of purple-tinted silver lace. She stepped closer to them, walking into the candlelight to reveal herself. She was beautiful. Her skin was fair and her lips a bright red. Her eyes were dark but very familiar, shaped like autumn almonds beneath a layer of thick, dark lashes. Braids were tied back over her long dark hair with a silver bow, and her face held a distinct sense of purity, much like someone they all knew very well.
Lucia stared in shock and wonder. It was as if she were looking at an alternate, slightly older version of herself. The woman’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Lucia and down to the Light Wings against her neck. “You’re finally here.”
“Finally?” Leo scoffed. “As if you knew she was coming? Who are you? Where is everyone?”
The woman tilted her head. “I can imagine,” she said slowly, “you must have many questions. But as you can see, no one is here. It’s only me and one other. No one else.”
“My father said the protectors lived here. Are you one of them?” Luzanna asked.
“Why, yes. I am one of the last of our kind.” She looked down as she spoke. “Forgive me. My name is Emma, high priestess of the Remena citadel and the last survivor of the sacred line of Sarina.”
“Sarina is your surname?” Lucia asked.
Emma nodded. “Yes. Everyone else has perished. It has been like this for some time. I believe it has been twenty years since the fall.”
“The fall?”
“The fall of the protectors. Surely that is why you have come, isn’t it? Because of the forces that have been unleashed on your world—our world.” Emma blew out a breath. “I see that the Light Wings have chosen you as
their savior. I’m not surprised—how do we look so much alike?”
“I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed,” Lucia said with a slight smile. “Emma, it seems you understand a lot more about what’s happening than we do. So please tell us. What is the fall, and what is happening to Terestria?”
Emma nodded. She walked to the altar, took an incense, and lit it with one of the candles. She placed it into a holder before clasping her hands together. For a moment, she bowed her head, and the three stayed silent as she prayed. Soon, her head rose and she turned to them. She looked up toward the paintings overhead. “So it is true, then? The sins are waging war on the life that light created?”
“I wouldn’t call it war. Each battle has been one-sided. They appear and massacre our people, wipe out entire cities and destroy lives. That doesn’t sound like war to me. That sounds like genocide.”
“But it is war, because you exist—the light’s virtues, soldiers destined to take form and fight the sins of darkness.”
“The light’s virtues? So, the stories are true,” Luzanna uttered. “My father—Talon, he knew about all this.”
“Because he was destined to. The Renon line was designated by the light to be the keeper of secrets eons ago. They were to be the only connection Remena had to the outside world.”
“But why?” Leo asked. “Why only them? Why keep all these secrets from the rest of the world? Why keep everyone else in the dark to place their faith in something they had no way of truly understanding?”
“The answer to that is simple: People fear what they don’t understand. Your people underestimate knowledge and its power. The more one knows, the more cynical they become. If everyone knew the truth, if the stories weren’t just stories, the people would live in fear and be difficult to control.”
“So you keep them ignorant so that they can feel safe, without giving them the means to protect themselves. What about freedom of choice?” Leo asked.
“But they did have a means. The people had you—the royal families of Terestria and their runes. They were set in place for this distinct purpose—to destroy the sins and the darkness that created them.”
“Runes? I don’t understand.” Luzanna blinked hard while she tried to think.
“At the time of the fall, the heirs of Terestria would be summoned to defend it. Their power relies solely on that of the Light Wings and the royal runes left behind by the creator.”
“You speak as if we know what the hell you are talking about. Stop confusing us and get to the damn point already!” Leo was growing impatient.
“Leo!” Lucia yelled back at him. She turned again to Emma. “I apologize for his abrasiveness. Please go on.”
“I apologize,” Emma said. “I just anticipated that the Carist elder would have done a better job of explaining all this to you before you arrived.”
“He died before he ever had the chance to. And he actually tried to have us killed right before the darkness came and blew Aldric to oblivion,” Leo said with utmost sensitivity.
“I get bits and pieces,” Lucia said. “The connection grows the more I use its power. It speaks to me, and I can just tell . . . when it’s telling me the truth. We encountered a sin not long before coming here, and I could sense its fear of the virtues. I was able to hear the sins’ names as well.”
Emma approached Lucia. She leaned in closer, examining the Light Wings. “You know, I’ve never seen the Light Wings in person, even though they had remained here for thousands of years. I prayed for so long that they’d return. I thought that, when they did, so would everyone else return. But, of course they wouldn’t. There is no escaping death once it has already claimed you. That much I know.”
She put up a tough exterior, but visible within the young woman’s eyes was a feeling of isolation and loneliness. Lucia felt it emanating from her. “Tell me about the fall. What is it, and how did it happen?”
Emma brought a finger to her lips. A deep sadness covered her face. “It’s known that when the light created humans, it entrusted their lives to the protectors. In exchange for great power, the protectors made a promise. They were to use their powers to preserve the balance of nature by worshipping the light.
“We were to be servants devoted to protecting the delicate balance between our world and yours. If we were ever to break our promise, if we were to go against our promise and defy the light’s wishes, the covenant that bound the forces of darkness from entering our world would be broken, and they would be free to take back what they created.”
“And what was that promise?” Lucia asked.
“Every protector is born with a power, one distinctive to their own personality. Besides being able to commune with the light, these gifts were blessings of the light to be used altruistically for the good of humanity. If they were ever to be used for a purpose beyond that of virtue, the covenant would be broken. If the incorruptible were to become corruptible, the fall would be imminent.”
“And this happened? One of your own turned against the light and used their power for something evil?” Lucia asked.
“I wouldn’t say evil, necessarily, but something impure, something selfish.” Emma took a deep breath before continuing. “It started with a bitter cold seeping through our land. Once sacred, this land became toxic and uninhabitable. Our crops would not grow, and our livestock died. There was famine and plague. One by one our people perished, leaving only Ralphoro, the highest of the light’s clergy, and me. One would think it a blessing to be alive, but truly it’s been a curse. I’ve been alone all my life. I was but an infant when it happened.”
“Emma, I’m so sorry,” Lucia said taking Emma’s hand. “Who was it? Do you know?”
Emma looked away, trying to hide her tears. She nodded. “My brother.”
“Emma, my dear . . . that’s enough.” The voice came from a figure descending from the staircase.
Emma stepped back, opening the way for him as he approached. He was an elderly man dressed in a robe of orange and green. His body was frail, and his hair was coarse and white, balding at the top. Lucia noticed his limp as he got closer.
Emma said, “Master, the virtues have arrived.”
“Hmm,” he said, studying the three visitors. He hunched over his cane as he got a closer view of the Light Wings then briefly scanned the trio. “I only see three of them. There’s supposed to be four.”
“I know, but I assume they simply haven’t found the fourth yet.”
“They will be useless without the fourth, whoever it is. Moz, Pinea, Aldric, and Argania—each is supposed to have an heir.”
“Master Ralphoro, sir,” Leo said awkwardly, “no one here has ever been to Argania. Argania has lived in isolation for centuries beyond the sea.”
“Well I don’t know what else to tell you, young sir. There are four virtues of light—and right now I only see three.” He walked toward Luzanna, who cowered backward as he squinted and examined the stone on her forehead. “And what of the runes? Do you have them?”
“What runes? We don’t understand,” she said.
“My goodness. How unprepared are you? Your world is dying, and you have done so poorly assembling the tools for its salvation. I’m quite disappointed, to say the least.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Leo said sarcastically. “I was unaware that, for my entire life, our world has been on the tipping point of destruction because of some promise we were never told about. It’s not our fault we didn’t know what was going on. No one told us anything!”
“This is temperance, I assume? The mouth on that one surely needs work.”
“Don’t talk like I’m not standing in the room with you.” Leo said with a wrinkle of his nose.
Lucia smiled, “Yes, Leo is quite impulsive at times. But temperance, you say?”
“Tell me your names. Hurry. All of you,” the elder said.
“I’m Luzanna Renon, the new chieftess of the Carist tribe,” Luzanna said gleefully.
“Leocadio Feral, sir of Pinea,” Leo said before scoffing and looking away from the old man.
“I’m Lucia Sanoon, high maiden of Moz and—”
“Savior of the Light Wings.” Ralphoro bowed his head. “Welcome to the Tower of Origin, High Maiden—the grand citadel of Remena. I’m sure your journey has been a long one, and rough to say the least. Emma, why don’t you show these fine young people to a chamber where they can get some rest?”
“Rest?” Leo started up again. “There is too much to discuss. We don’t have time for rest.”
“Surely you do,” Ralphoro replied. “Like I said, you are useless without the fourth heir. So, considering you are leagues away from the northern continent, you have plenty of time.”
“And the sins? What of them? They follow us wherever we go,” Leo said.
“Humph.” Ralphoro turned from them, looking up to the dome above. “They wouldn’t dare enter this place. Though our land has been corrupted since the time of the fall, it is still the promised land. It will always be the seat of light in Terestria. Your power is only stronger here, so you need not worry. You can rest easy tonight.”
“So we’ll wait to hear the rest of the story tomorrow, then?” Leo asked.
“Absolutely. You’ve heard enough for tonight. My poor Emma needs her rest also. Recounting the past weighs heavily on her conscience, and I would rather ease her mind from reliving the tragedy of the fall, since it has affected her so deeply. So, please, respect that.”
Lucia nodded. “Of course. We understand.” She looked over to Emma and smiled. “Thank you for your kindness and hospitality. A night’s rest would be wonderful.” She turned to her friends. “What do you think, everyone?”
Luzanna nodded. “Not to mention a bath.”
“And a good meal,” Leo said, rubbing his stomach.
Emma smiled, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “Well good, I can prepare something while you all get settled. We’ve never had company before, so it’d honestly be a pleasure. Right, Master?”
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