The woman in white-clad armour moved with hurried steps, weaving between soldiers in stark white armour and cloaks, their spearheads glistening with red. None of their swords were dry, nor were they chipped from meeting steel. Their expressions were hidden behind full helmets. All had left their hearts at the door.
"Brightblade Ruina! You're here."
"Brightblade Ruina."
Two soldiers in ornate white armour and cloaks removed their helmets and knelt before the woman.
She looked at them, eyes sharp and unblinking, and nodded.
They rose and went back to barking orders down the corridor.
Ruina steadied her breath, then glanced out through one of the open balcony doors, down toward where the bulk of her battalion's artillery waited.
All she had to do was nod, and the tower would fall. Yet something compelled her to wait.
Down below, right at the edge of the chasm, lines upon lines of Lightspear Ballistae stood ready, and with them the Nhar Javelin units. And behind them, far beyond the lines, a small golden contingent waited at the rear.
The carriage was guarded by hundreds upon hundreds of Principalities. Among them, four of the forty-eight Hashmalim stood close, each with four white wings folded forward, waiting. Their fully covered heads were tilted upward.
The one inside the carriage remained unseen, yet she felt their gaze locked on her.
And she felt it burning her, not in flesh, but somewhere deep inside. A part of her was held hostage, and that thing needed only to will it so to snuff her out like a candle. And with her, all four thousand White Cloaks under her command as well.
Ruina looked down at the puddle of red slowly creeping toward her right foot.
Near her sabatons, dozens upon dozens of white-veiled corpses lay strewn haphazardly. The purity of their white and gold and green was marred by deep red.
"No! Please! We didn't do anything wrong! Please! Please!! No!—"
A whistle of metal.
Something heavy hit the marble floor with a dull impact.
"You cowards!! So you are willing to stoop this low for their blessings!? THEY DO NOT WANT PEACE!! DIDN'T YOU LEARN FROM THE PREVIOUS WAR?! THEY WANT ABSOLUTE CONTR—hhhhkkkkk"
The woman's voice stopped abruptly, followed by the wet grind of something sharp against bone. Her jugular had been cut so roughly, so deeply, her head nearly came free of her torso. Yet she still squirmed on the floor, trying to lift her face toward Ruina with whatever strength she could muster.
Their eyes met.
Ruina's heart lurched.
Horror spread across the dying woman's face. Her bloodshot eyes lost their light a heartbeat later.
Ruina nearly lost the strength in her legs. Only the weight of her armour kept her upright, forcing her to stand beneath its iron will.
The woman in front of her… she knew her.
Layif.
They had met once, by chance, at a market below the temple. Layif had been searching for fruit the Mother Archivist would love. Ruina had suggested the apples.
Layif had smiled then, bright and beautiful, as befitting her red hair and freckled complexion. She hailed from a small village at the corner of Ruban Province. She had wanted to become a priestess, so her family would be protected by the Light.
Yet the Light she had worshiped all this time had allowed her to die on the floor of her own temple, throat open, drowning in her own blood.
"Where's the battering ram!?" A strong voice broke through Ruina's thoughts.
"Sir!! It's right below us!" a soldier without a cloak answered from the far end of the hall. His voice shook with fear, yet he tried to steady it.
"Make haste!!"
The soldier with the strong voice approached Ruina and saluted, right hand to forehead and chest, then stood at attention before her.
"Brightblade Ruina, ma'am! All rooms have been cleared."
"How many—" Ruina asked. Her voice cracked. She wanted to scream, yet their orders were absolute. There was no other choice.
"Pardon?"
"How many are left?"
"Approximately twenty." The soldier tilted his head toward the closed gate leading to the highest part of Labyrinthos, the tower that reached heavensward. "The rest are inside there, preparing for departure."
Approximately twenty? Pain gnawed deep in Ruina's chest. There had been more than one thousand Daughters of the Eighth Light in the Great Library of Aeneia. That meant they had murdered nearly all of them.
"We're waiting for your confirmation, Brightblade." One of the helmless soldiers who had greeted her earlier stepped closer, to her left.
Ruina looked out again, toward the waters of the falls spilling from the lower reaches of the Great Library. It was hard to see from here, but she could tell the flow had slowed. The water no longer carried its own weight down into the Chasm of Gylein. Droplets began to defy the natural order, drifting upward toward the sky.
She forced herself to blink. Forced herself to breathe. Held the air in her lungs for a moment, then let it go.
There was nothing in her heart but boiling anger.
She had no intention of harming any of the priestesses, any of the Daughters of the Eighth Light, but the Gleaming Court had ordained it so.
Her eyes locked on the carriage. Its door was open, and before it stood a figure with heaven's glory reflected in three pairs of wings, eyes blazing like flame. He looked up at her, smiling wide.
The One Who Observes ordained it so.
And so shall it be.
"Brightblade, I understand your pain…" the helmless soldier whispered by her ear. "However, as you understand it…"
"The sanctified words were clear." Ruina cut him off, taking a few steps toward the sealed gate. "We are to eliminate each and every Priestess of Aeneia, each Daughter of the Eighth Light, each Librarian, Custodian, and Witness before contact with Netherward is established."
She opened her mouth to give the final order, yet the words died in her throat.
"Brightblade…" The other helmless soldier approached with swift steps. "We have grave news."
Ruina looked at him, then out again.
The waterfall was no longer falling downward.
It was rising.
"Lightfall is imminent."
Ruina's gaze snapped back to the Gleaming One below, The One Who Observes. What she saw sent ice through her spine.
He was smiling.
Not the kind of smile one would expect from a being such as he.
It was the smile of pure, unadulterated evil.
Her heart burned with the hottest anger she had ever known in her twenty-eight years of living.
"Break down the doors."
"Brightblade." The two helmless soldiers saluted and nodded, and the battering ram's impacts began to echo through the halls.
The strong metallic gate fell with ease, crashing down in massive thuds that cracked the marble beneath.
"Find them."
—
—
"Remember, the effects will stay upon you for quite some time." The older priestess looked at the platinum-haired girl, worry in her eyes.
"Uh-huh." The girl nodded. She knew they were worried. For her, and for their lives.
"Do not force yourself to remember. Let it happen naturally." Another priestess escorted her toward the massive crystal floating in the middle of the room.
"I… I understand…" The girl removed her cloak and sandals before stepping into the center of the circle. The crystal hummed above her. Her veil shifted slightly. She caught it with her left hand. "Sister Alecta—"
"I'm not finished." Alecta wiped at her tears and focused on the girl's emerald eyes. "There has only ever been one person sent before you, and your task is to find her trace."
The girl frowned. Had her mission changed? She remembered she had been meant to find someone else. She remembered what the late Mother Archivist had told her.
"Through her trace, you will find the clues needed in order to find the Crowns." Alecta glanced toward the doors. They were still intact. "Tisiphe, I need your assistance."
The sister called Tisiphe poured every last bit of mana she had into the architecture of the room. The ceiling opened like an aperture, unfolding in a perfect circle. Cold air rushed in from the heights. The clouds that should have obscured their vision were no longer there.
"I'm… spent…" Tisiphe fell to her knees and looked toward another priestess at the far end of the room, near Alecta. "Megea."
Megea nodded and poured every last drop of her mana into the crystal. She went terribly pale, then collapsed onto the marble, lifeless.
Alecta held the girl's head firmly, so she would not have to witness the sacrifice.
"Listen to me." Alecta fought back tears. She knew her life was forfeit. Sixteen others would lay down their lives to buy this girl her departure. They were already at the stairs, opening the door, going out first. After them, it would be her life. "Listen—"
"Can't you go with me? Can't all of you go with me? Please!"
"LISTEN TO ME!"
The girl's voice died at once. She could see Alecta's desperation, and the others', clearly now. They were afraid. Every one of them.
"Whatever you do, once you get there…" The crystal's hum deepened. The girl felt its vibration through every fiber of her being. Light began to pour through the room. "Do not, ever, use the book."
—
—
The last door was opened, and before them stretched a long, spiraling hallway. Ruina could feel the vibrations now, emanating from somewhere above.
"Brightblade—"
"Men! With haste!" She looked outside, and her heart sank. She could no longer see the Gleaming One below.
That could only mean one thing.
He's coming.
He's going to take care of everything himself.
And that would mean pain everlasting for whoever was sent to the Netherward, to the land of the demons of Gehenna. Eternal torment for the one ordained to carry the Eighth Light with them.
Ruina must not let that happen.
She had only seen the girl once, but her platinum hair and emerald eyes had stayed with her. The girl had been shopping with Layif down below. Apples. She could not have been older than fifteen or sixteen summers. For someone so young to be tormented eternally, to be a plaything in the hands of a member of the Gleaming Court…
Ruina would rather kill her with her own sword. Let that be her final act of mercy.
The soldiers tore through the priestesses left and right. The spiral staircase was slick with the blood of maidens.
Forgive us..., please. Find it in your heart to forgive us...
Only one door remained between them and their target.
Ruina pushed forward and used her Celestial Seal to shatter it into hundreds of pieces.
The crystal was already shining with the light of day, and beneath it stood a girl who could not have been older than fifteen, the one with platinum hair and emerald eyes.
The Light! Ruina saw her at once.
Beside the girl, only one priestess remained, kneeling, cupping the girl's head.
I must not allow it to Fall! Ruina unsheathed her blade. Her gauntleted hand felt numb.
—
—
"Look at me. Look at me!" Alecta begged, trying to keep the girl's eyes from the broken door. "You will be alright, okay? Promise me. Eat well. Sleep well. Do not let them know you're human. Do not let them realize you bear the light."
The girl's eyes darted to the door, then back to Alecta, then back again. The Holy Knight in pure white armour and cloak approached them, weapon drawn, walking slowly.
"If you see her, tell her we love her very much." Alecta cupped the girl's face, locking her vision. "If you cannot find what you seek, just remember that as long as you're alive…"
The Holy Knight's sword lifted high behind Alecta's back.
"Sister Alecta—"
"LOOK AT ME!! PLEASE!! LOOK AT ME!!"
The Holy Knight did not swing. The sword stayed.
The girl's eyes flicked toward the doorway.
Another presence had entered the room.
The air shifted.
No longer did the cold of the heights cling to their skin. No longer did numbness bite at their fingers.
Warmth fell over them instead, the first warmth of spring, sudden and wrong.
None of them felt joy.
Alecta's expression turned dire. She looked to the crystal and began to pour all of her mana into it, as fast as she could, desperate.
The man walked toward them.
The girl felt her being begin to thin, dissolving into tiny particles of light.
"Promise me…" Alecta's eyes, already losing their light, stayed locked on her, still smiling. Her skin had gone pale. Her breath was no longer steady. Her soul was spent. "…That you will live."
—
—
Ruina felt the Gleaming One's presence right behind her.
There was no choice.
She had to kill the girl before he reached her.
The crystal's hum grew heavier by the second. Light poured in wild waves.
The girl began to dissipate.
The Eightfold Light…
Ruina closed her eyes. She could feel her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest. Her hands clenched around her sword's hilt until her knuckles screamed.
The older sister slumped to the ground.
"Sister Alecta! Sister!" the girl cried, desperate. It was obvious the older priestess was no longer with them. She had spent her entire being to hasten the Falling of the Light. "Sister! Please! Open your eyes!"
"Tell me…" Ruina's voice was muffled by her helm, echoing back into her own ear. "Lumen Octavum. The Eightfold Light. Is it with you?"
The girl looked up, eyes full of defiance, not fear. "Yes."
"Are you… able to use it?"
The girl stared at the narrow slit of Ruina's visor with emerald eyes. "Yes."
The steps were getting closer. The Gleaming One's presence pressed nearer with every heartbeat.
The girl was almost gone. The Falling was almost complete. She needed only a few seconds more.
Seconds none of them could afford, not with the Gleaming One walking ever closer behind Ruina.
"Then I will buy you time." Ruina unsheathed her second sword and turned her back to the girl. The white cloak billowed, whipped by the crystal's power. "Please…"
The Gleaming One stood before her.
His smile and his burning eyes kindled an unquenchable flame inside Ruina's soul. Rage. She boils from the inside.
Her soldiers hesitated, confused, watching their commander raise both blades to protect the one they had been ordered to eliminate.
"…Please save us all." The words echoed from inside the helm.
And as if each and every one of Ruina's soldiers understood exactly what their commander was feeling.
One by one, they unsheathed their swords.
—
—
The girl could feel herself slipping away, her memories surfacing one by one. Warmth. Cold. Pain and joy. The small, sharp things that proved she had lived.
Before her, the Holy Knight who had been sent to kill her held two swords, defending her instead.
Flames. Light. Clashes of steel.
Golden plume floats where limbs fly and blood splattered.
This was never even a fight. It was a one-sided massacre.
The Holy Knight stood firm. Her white armor was slick with her own blood. Her red-soaked white cloak struggled to billow itself again under the crystal's surge.
The warmth of mana gathered around the girl. It's imminent; she will be gone soon.
She opened her mouth.
"Lady..." She can observe how the Holy Knight's shoulder stopped shuddering. She's about to die, but she's listening. "Thank you."
The Holy Knight nodded, without looking back.
All colors turned to white, and all white turned to night.
She could see the night sky.
She could see the stars.