Solace and Nox: A New Light

Chapter 16

The next morning, Raiden left early to see if he could find Cytra before he needed to be back at the castle. He retraced the steps that they took the night before. It was difficult to navigate, especially since he was chasing Cytra at night. He didn't take time to memorize the route, so it took him a while to find the building.

As he searched, he came across a small village. They were just outside Shodon's walls, but Raiden hadn't ever seen it before.

Maybe he saw it the night before, but again, he didn't pay attention to his surroundings.

The village was fairly small. Once you entered the village, you saw everything in it. There were a couple houses off to each side of the dirt road that Raiden followed. The only thing out of the ordinary was a pair of burnt down houses. They were across the street from one another. One building had most of the frame still standing, while the other looked completely demolished. All the other houses on the street seemed new and well taken care of, but these two, for some reason, were destroyed.

They appeared to have been in that state for a very long time. Although the frame of one was still standing, Raiden could clearly see that it was rotting. He wondered why no one did anything to fix the houses, or just dispose of what was left. Raiden assumed that the buildings had been in this condition for at least five years. Ten at the most.

As he examined the buildings, he couldn't help but wonder what happened to the people living in them. Did they get out safely, and are now living some normal life, or did they die in the fire?

Two women, probably from the village, were walking down the street. They were chatting with each other, probably gossiping, so Raiden ignored them. He was ready to leave when something they said caught his attention.

"Do you ever wonder what happened to the Nox family?" one asked.

"No, because I heard they practiced some sort of dark magic," the other replied. This caught Raiden's interest.

"That shouldn't stop you from wondering what happened," the first woman said. "They were still people. And the daughter was only around eight when it happened."

Raiden stood facing the burnt building. He listened to their conversation, trying not to look conspicuous.

"Yes, but the daughter is the one who went on a rampage when the incident happened," the second woman said.

The two women walked around Raiden, continuing their conversation.

"Do you think there are more like them?" the first woman asked. "Do you think magic is returning to our world?"

"Well there have been rumors about a soldier who shines like the sun. First dark powers, then Moldark and his odd powers, and now soldiers that glow. I don't know what to think anymore," the second woman said. After that, both women were too far out for Raiden to hear them.

Was Cytra the daughter that they referred to? They mentioned the last name, Nox, but they never mentioned any of the family member's names.

Raiden shrugged it off and continued on his journey. He needed to talk to Cytra again.

After another several minutes, Raiden finally found the pyramid-like building. It looked much more threatening at night. During the day, it looked... normal. The structure of the building was strange, and it had a hole through the roof, but other than that, it seemed fairly normal.

Raiden entered the building, and immediately shouted, "Cytra!"

His voice echoed through the hollow building. The eerie silence after his shout made Raiden shiver. He looked around, hoping he'd see her in the shadows, or at least see something in the shadows. The place was so empty, it bothered him. Raiden felt like there should have been more to the building. Where did it even come from? What was it before?

"Cytra!" he called again. "It's Raiden. I came to see you again."

Silence.

"Well, listen, if you're here," Raiden said, probably to himself. "I kept my end of the bargain. When I returned to the castle, I told the king that you got away and I wasn't able to get a good look at your face. They don't even know your gender. The guards you fought off said in the heat of the moment that they were not able to get a clear look either. It all seemed to work out pretty well."

There was still an eerie silence. He stood at the center of the room, waiting for a response.

"Look, I want to get to know you," he continued. "I noticed that you don't seem to have anyone to turn to, and I want to be that person. I want to be your friend. I know that probably sounds weird, considering you just tried to kill me last night, but felt so open with you. And I could see you enjoyed to listen. I just thought it would be good to, you know, get to know each other better."

What an idiot. What was he saying? He clearly hadn't thought this moment through. She probably wasn't even in the building, making him feel even more dumb.

He shrugged and said, "Well I have to get back to the castle. King Lotharius is probably wondering where I ran off to, so I'll come back tomorrow. Bye."

Raiden shook his head and walked out the door. What was he thinking? Of course she wasn't going to be there. Why would an assassin want anything to do with him? She just tried to kill him, for goodness sake!

But the worst part was that Raiden lied to her, if she was even in there. All the garbage that spewed out of his mouth was just an excuse to talk to her. He wanted to get to know her for a reason.

Cytra's hand was trembling when she held the blade. She didn't want to kill him. She willingly killed Jitlan, and was set on killing the Queen, but why hadn't she killed him? She had the power to do it, yet she spared him.

Amidst Cytra's inner darkness, Raiden saw a small light.

Raiden wanted to help it grow.