Starfall, Karnor
70th of Ash, Year 122 of Steel
For five days, Starfall had been locked in what seemed like an interminable twilight. The moons shone brighter for being the only luminaries at night, and daylight was dimmed. Kala had spent this time in seclusion, meditating to keep her divine nimbus under control. Never before had it felt so wild and out of control, and while a primal part of her wanted to let go and let her chaos run rampant, all her self-control whispered, not yet!
Either Kaus or one of the Silver Wings would bring her refreshment and news of what went on outside. Thus, she knew about the strange damper put on runic magic, though all the intricate and complex magical creations seemed to hold fast. Kala had no problem channeling through her runes, nor did the boys in her presence. That was something, though they kept it to themselves as that was surely proof of the divinity she wasn’t yet ready to share.
Priests were nervous, feeling a dark block between them and their deities.
Respite came when it was discovered that illumite could banish the effects of the darkness, and when miners returned from the illumite fields, they brought a new discover: lunicite—moonstone. Kala would have dearly loved to have studied it, but she was focused inward now.
Today was different. After five days and nights, she felt them coming.
Kaus was out touring the more distant citizens under their care with Master Kilvin; even stretched thin, their bond allowed them to know things together. She trusted them to take care of each other, and she would take care of Starfall and its people. She felt the Silver Wings gather what they could through their bond to her, alerting Lady Akshara and Lord Aquilios, preparing the little city to defend itself.
She even felt Marda Ahtivan, tenuous as a dream, far away in Kalzasi. They were in similar straits, though Kala couldn’t know how Kalzasi fared.
Kala rose from where she knelt on the zabuton, setting aside her zafu. She worked slowly and methodically through a series of stretches, some traditional and others learned while dancing. Then she girded herself for battle. Daasah appeared, flushed and panting, obviously coming with news only to find her serenely preparing. Everyone in Starfall knew how to fight, and so he moved in quickly to tie the silken laces and buckle the leather straps that made the elegant armor of plates and scales conform to her body.
It was the armor of a boy; there hadn’t been time to fashion armor for her now that she had wings. Nobody had expected this. All the same, Kaus’ old armor was deceptively delicate. Finely crafted, there was magic running through it even now.
“I will fetch your weapons, my Lady,” he assured her.
“Meet me in the front courtyard.”
“Yes—” and anything else was lost as he quit the room.
Her daggers, at least, were close at hand. She slung their sheaths into her belt.
The young winged lady stepped up to her vanity, giving herself a dispassionate glance before her eyes dropped to the enameled wooden jewelry box before her. Opening it, she looked at the wealth of Atoria—three supreme dragonshards: sanguinyte; mnemosyte; most importantly now, illumite.
The dawnstone was so powerful, it almost seemed something else. The aggressive solar light made it seem more a noonstone, in fact. With a sigh, she slipped it into a velvet pouch and attached it to her belt. Another glance in the mirror allowed her to look herself in the eye as she made a decision that felt premature to her nerves, but necessary to other parts of her. It was inevitable.
She departed.
Daasah was armed himself when he met her in the courtyard. She took the long, bladed polearm from him, a naginata, they called it. He expertly lashed the quiver of arrows and the shortbow to her armor such that they would not interfere with her wings.
Their eyes met and she nodded. To his credit, he only hesitated a moment before retreating into the old fortress that was her family home. Starfall had procedures in place for all manner of disasters, attacks being one of them. He knew what to do.
Kala looked up and marked Ceran and Indric circling the tower where her mother and Aquilios would be conferring, the latter preparing to take flight and oversee the defenses.
She spread her wings then, and took to the air. Thankfully, she was no longer so clumsy at it. Regardless, nobody would have remarked upon that today, even if Kaus was one of the most agile fliers anyone could remember. Kala was glowing.
Her aura was visible, twisting like the aurora borealis that was sometimes visible from here. Light spread and cascaded from her as she winged her way skyward. Certainly, she was an impressive sight, divine light reflecting off of the blade of her naginata and the lacquer and polished metal of her armor. She hadn’t bothered with a helmet—let them see her. They would know her soon enough.
A hand slipped into her pouch, pulling forth the illumite she had brought all the way from the birthplace of the Avialae. She linked to the stone even as she called Fire. As her aura spread out to cover the village, it illumined the shadowy creatures that had come from somewhere, seeking her above anything else in Starfall. Somehow, she sensed that much, though she didn’t know what was happening, not exactly.
Runically enhanced senses spread out as well, and the runes of people lit by her visible aura began to come alive, giving her people more tools to defend themselves, their homes, their livelihoods, their friends, and their families. The enemy was seen now. The enemy was known. The people of Starfall fought, and Kala aided them.
Her sunfire reached out to catch hold of the largest, most dangerous of the creatures she could sense, caging them, crushing them, and burning them into less than ash, leaving only memories like nightmares that faded as her light continued.
*~*~*
Like clockwork, Kala rose to fight the shadows, granting her people the ability to fight them as well. When they were vanquished, she rested, only to rise again when they did. Her mother had questions; of course she did. The priests came, as well.
She offered the truth, that Mother Naori had gifted her with more than wings. The wings came from Garel, as had those of the other Firstborn. Naori had planted divinity within her. Now, even when she rested, she could hear their voices reaching out to her. Lady Kala. The Blue Star of Leukos. Daughter of Chaos. Mother of the Avialae—that one made her laugh as she hadn’t any children, and it was likely the first of her children would be the women she managed to give wings when she mastered Garel’s enchantments.
“Stars,” she had said to the Master. Kala burned like one every time she rose over Starfall.
Torin Kilvin returned with her brother. The shadows returned like the tide.
Those with wings took amulets of illumite or chunks of the new lunicite and shepherded people to Starfall from anywhere beyond the scope of Kala’s aura. She didn’t have to tamp it down now, though she would have to whenever this war against the shadows ended and she returned to Kalzasi. The people of Starfall could keep a secret; they would do so while she maintained normalcy in the capital.
“We have, ah—recruits, my Lady,” Ceran told her once while reporting. “To the Silver Wings. They know we went with you and Lord Kaus to Atoria.”
“The seed of a holy order,” Kaus mused.
She sighed.
“We— believe in you, my Lady.”
“I know, Ceran,” she said with a tired, fond smile. “I must learn to believe in myself.”
Her name was on the lips and minds of many people now, and while it was unnerving, she felt a part of herself being filled by it—by belief.
*~*~*
Eventually, wards were extended and networked. Mistress Feada riffed off of the theory behind Torin’s illumite lamps. Kala was their lodestar, helping them help themselves until her lingering presence was no longer entirely necessary.
There were more people in her entourage when she returned to Kalzasi than when she had left. Ceran’s mercenary band had increased its roster, and already he was walking with more authority, playing the role until he could inhabit it.
Kala left Starfall to attend to her duties in the capital, but left promises to return should the Eclipse’s effects continue so long or worsen such that she was needed once more. As for family, the revelation of wings had somewhat prepared them for the shock, though Akshara was as worried as the Iron Queen-Regent as to what her wings might mean in the scheme of things, and now this.
Now, though, the Lady of Starfall could not bring herself to do more than offer counsel to her daughter, who had risen to heights no one else in her family had. This, strangely, made Kala feel lonely, strange. She would have liked her mother, in her wisdom, to have been able to tell her what to do.
Mother cannot guide you
Now you’re on your own
Only me beside you
Still, you’re not alone.
Now you’re on your own
Only me beside you
Still, you’re not alone.
