The Forgotten Light

41. Darksen

48 years ago, the World of Invicta Nix...

The last day was frosty. The snow fell to the ground in large flakes, as if someone high in the sky ripped all the clouds to shreds, sending them to the will of the gale, which swept the snowflakes into a crazy dance.

That day the paths of the snow leopard and the Invicta Prince met.

The tiny snow leopard, whose fur was still as soft as fluff and whose large eyes were cloudy and blue, trudged alone through the snow drifts as it left the mountainous terrain, losing strength with every step. It had been a long time since it had seen its mother, father or siblings. It was left all alone in this endless white world. Hunger wouldn't let the cat sit in a mountain hideout and wait, so it set out on its first hunt. The little snow leopard would have almost lost its life that day.

At the same time, Prince Darksen went to the mountains to get at least a brief respite from the war that had been going on for thirty years, which had largely melted the ice covering the local land and left black spots on the remnants of white.

For almost half a century, they had lived in peace with the white-haired Invicta, who had given them refuge in their country. They were already accustomed to everyday life, already living in the belief that no one or nothing was a threat to them.

Yet they found them.

The Invicta Argenti, that is the third type of Beings, had been chasing them and fighting a war with them since Darksen could only remember.

What were they fighting for? No one knew exactly.

There was a time when the silver-haired Invicta weren't hunting them all over the universe for revenge. They had even lived with each other, creating families - Darksen's father was Noctis, his mother Argenti. The Prince never met her, because she had died before he learned to speak, and soon after, the war had broken out and they had to run away. Thandor thought that the Argenti were chasing him for the death of his wife, who was one of them, but he never heard this charge, for they immediately disappeared from the silver country and found a new home in this permafrost.

The Prince pulled his shawl higher over his nose. In all the twenty-five years he had lived in the land of Nix, he wondered how its inhabitants didn't feel the piercing cold that prevailed there.

Somewhere far ahead of him in a mountain pass, amidst the snowstorm, a loud scream rang out. Darksen stopped in place, looking around. Had the battle already moved all the way there?

There was no one nearby, so he decided to move to the mountain pass as soon as possible. He closed his eyes and thought about the pass between the mountains. The image of snow-covered peaks flicked under his eyelids, just as if he were a bird and viewed everything from above. When he was over the pass, he opened his eyes and saw a portal in front of him - a vertical sheet of rough water, and beyond it was his destination. He took a step forward, let himself be engulfed by the portal and after just a moment he was standing on the white pass. The magical passage behind his back disappeared silently, and Darksen reached for his sword.

He wore thick white pants and a coat, and a hat of the same color, under which he hid his black hair. Thanks to his white clothing, he was almost invisible.

A dozen feet in front of him, right next to a small cave, a robust Argenti individual was struggling with a young Beast. The cat must have smelled the roasting meat that Invicta was preparing for dinner. The leopard, though still small and evidently weak, mauled the Being quite badly.

"Get out! Or you're next on the skewer! Damn cat! Out!" yelled the man.

The Beast didn't let go. Argenti managed to push it away and jumped to the bonfire. He grabbed the spit, dropping the roast from it onto the snow.