Solace and Nox: A New Light

Chapter 30

A voice in Cytra's head was screaming at her.

Or was it her heart?

Her heart was pounding on her chest; her fists were clenched so tightly around the weapon that she feared she might snap the weapon in half. Her knuckles were whiter than the light from the moon, and a single tear ran down her face as she stared at Raiden's hanging, unconscious body.

Moldark started clapping slowly, making Cytra jump slightly. She was on edge. It took a lot of resistance not to beat him with the stick.

"Bravo," he congratulated. "You truly got him to trust you. I'm impressed. I saw the pain you caused him, and when you stared him in the eye, he couldn't believe what you were doing. It was truly impressive."

That's not what I saw, Cytra thought.

Cytra took a deep breath, turned to Moldark, and handed him the weapon.

"Do you trust me now?" she demanded.

Moldark looked at her for a second, then saw the streak of tear on her face and wiped it off with his thumb. She resisted the urge to smack his hand. He gave her a grave look.

"What?" Cytra asked innocently. "It's sweat. We are in a volcano after all, and I just exerted a lot of energy attacking this man."

Moldark eyed her for a moment, then shrugged.

"You are free to go," he said quietly.

Gladly, Cytra thought.

Moldark followed her out of Sunshine's cell and closed the door behind him.

"We will move forward with our plan tomorrow at dusk," Moldark said. "I expect you to be fully prepared and one hundred percent focused. You are free to stay here. If you follow the far left tunnel, you will find a lodging area. Otherwise, be ready tomorrow."

"I'm not staying," Cytra said flatly.

Cytra walked away from Moldark. "This is why people like us don't make attachments to the outside world," he called out to her.

Cytra stopped. She turned her head, keeping her back to him. "I'm not like you."

"But, Cytra, my dear," Moldark said, as if to a child. "You are. We share dark powers. We have incredible powers that society rejects. They think we are freaks, and treat us like outcasts. But we are so much more, Cytra."

"Is that what this is all about?" Cytra asked. "Is this why you are causing all this havoc? To prove that you are not an outcast?"

"Of course not," Moldark replied. "It's to prove that we are better than them. We were gifted with this incredible powers, and people reject it because it's not natural. We were given these powers for a reason, Cytra. We, of all the people, were chosen to use these gifts. No one accepts that."

"Who chose us?" Cytra asked, turning to face the monster. "You act if there's some greater power in play here. You act as though life on Aleudia is meaningless, and that we, those with magic, are the only important beings living."

"We are," Moldark explained. "There is a greater force in play, Cytra, and we were chosen to be better than others. We were chosen to show that there are greater things in this world."

"What does this have to do with anything, Moldark?" Cytra demanded to know. "How is killing, murdering, and destroying going to change anything. We can't change the world. I would've done that years ago if it were possible."

"You have not yet unlocked your true potential, young one. In order to change the world, in order to create a new and better world, we must tear it down. Then, from the rubble, we can create a new Aleudia. That's what all this is about. Killing Lotharius, tearing him down piece by piece, was just one step towards a bigger, more ultimate goal.

"I didn't offer you a position to take down Lotharius. I offered you a position because together, we can make a better world. That's what this has ultimately been about. Once Lotharius is gone, Shodon will surely fall. The most powerful, and innovative kingdom in all of Aleudia would have fallen. After that, the others would topple over from the weight of Shodon's fall."

Cytra couldn't believe what she was hearing. Moldark's evil plan all along wasn't about tearing down Lotharius. It was about tearing down all of Aleudia.

Cytra turned and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Moldark demanded.

"I'm going to take time to process. If you want me one hundred percent focused, I have to wrap my head around this," Cytra yelled as she walked down the tunnel.

"Don't think about backing out, Cytra!" Moldark shouted. "You are too deep in this to leave without consequences!"

After that, Cytra teleported out of Moldark's lair. She was back in her fortress of solitude. At least, that's what it used to be. Standing in her abandoned, pyramid-like building brought back too many memories. So much had happened over the past few days, she was surprised her brain hadn't exploded due to overload.

What was Cytra going to do? Was joining Moldark a mistake, or did she really have the potential he believed she had? Was what she did to Raiden right?

Was anything she'd done right?

Moldark was going to do everything he possibly could to destroy Aleudia, with or without Cytra.

But was she going to join him?

Before she made any more decisions, she needed some advice.

And she knew exactly where to find it.