Solace and Nox: A New Light

Chapter 34

Ciamas.

The Ciamas was a legendary being. It was a creature of power, a beast of light magic. In the legends, the Ciamas served as the Rejected Legacies' eternal light. The ancient organization followed this creature, following its noble, right, and good path of light. It truly was the essence of all that is good in Aleudia.

The Ciamas was also a creature of peace. In times of war, people often turned to the Ciamas for guidance and resolve. When wars were won, the Ciamas always sided with the losing nation, and comforted them. It helped build the nation from the ashes, and that nation eventually gained its original strength, and then some. When Aleudia was created, some thought the Ciamas was the Creator. Others thought there was a God, a single, all powerful force, and some even thought there were multiple Gods.

The Rejected Legacies, or the Knights of the Revenant, had unknown beliefs. There are no records of them, other than the stories that people told of their adventures. No one knows about their structured system, or their beliefs, or even what kind of magic they used. No one even knew if they used magic at all. The stories could easily have been exaggerated.

But, over the course of history, everything changed.

Magic was separated from the rest of the world. It was almost as if it were taken away and made into its own world. The fairies, and other magical creatures, disappeared. Once the Knights of the Revenant fell, the Ciamas left Aleudia. Wars raged on without the blessings of the beautiful creature. It was as if all magic in Aleudia ceased to exist.

Or so people thought.

Cytra, Raiden, Turphia, and even Moldark are all proof that magic has returned to Aleudia. Cytra knew that there was someone who had similar powers to hers, so were there others like Raiden? And if there are multiple powers, what other kind of magic is out there? Cytra saw the magic that the Kresallis used just before she disappeared. What else were the capable of?

What other magic was out there?

So she asked Alayah. Alayah, the pink fairy, would know.

When Cytra transported, she appeared in a blanket of thick white snow. A snowstorm was raging, and Cytra was standing in a perfectly white environment. The pelting snow was covering Cytra's black cloak. Cytra had to move; the temperature drop was too intense for her loiter about.

Cytra burst into a run. The snow and brisk winds limited her running ability, but she pushed through anyway. The surrounding terrain grew tough, and it began to slope upwards. In a matter of minutes, Cytra was scaling the steep wall of a mountain. She slipped on the icy surface multiple times, but she was able to scale the wall with confidence.

She activated her magic, and propelled herself up the side of the mountain. But without much darkness around her to keep her going, she ran out of magic quickly. She had to get to the top. Her life, Raiden's life, and the life of everyone in Aleudia depended on this mission. She was going to do something right for once since she left home alone.

Finally, she found an icy tunnel. After carefully lifting herself to safety, she entered the darkness, which regenerated her magic. The tunnel shielded her from the fierce winds, but the cave was just as cold. Her breath puffed from her mouth in a shaky breath, making a large condensed ball of air.

On the icy walls were strange markings. It was some ancient text, using unique glyphs and sketches. Cytra had no idea what any of it meant, but it had it's own kind of beauty. The flow of the writing gave the cave a soothing feeling, despite the low temperature.

Cytra walked down the icy tunnel, admiring the markings, for what felt like an eternity. Although she acted tough, she was freaking out inside. She shivered slightly, as the got closer to her destination.

Finally, she saw it. Directly in front of her was a magnificent opening. The tunnel opened up into an icy throne room. Pillars of ice were carefully chipped into beautiful structures. The walls had incredible three dimensional carvings of soldiers, monsters, and nature. The sun and moon were neatly forged into each side of the room, with depictions of light and dark under each symbol.

Directly in front of her was a monstrous door. It, like everything else, appeared to be made of ice. But Cytra could tell that the doors were extremely thick, and was layered. The entire door depicted a familiar picture.

It was the picture of the Ciamas that was designed into every soldier's shield in Shodon.

In the middle of the door, was an indention with more of those strange markings. It was the shape of a head sized egg. Cytra approached, and felt the rough, cold carvings of the door. It truly was magnificent.

Out of her cloak, Cytra revealed an egg shaped "key" as Alayah put it. Alayah had sent her on this dangerous quest. That egg would open this monstrous door, and Cytra's final destination rested on the other end.

Cytra examined the egg in her hand. The same markings lined the entire structure. The markings were black and the egg was white. It was surprisingly heavy for being such a small object, but who knew what was inside?

Alayah probably did, but Cytra decided to keep it a mystery.

She took a deep breath, hefting the egg in her hand, and then shoved it into the door. It fit into place perfectly.

Suddenly, everything began to shake. The entire door lit up, each line on the Ciamas carving was illuminating the already bright room. Cytra stepped back as the door began breaking apart. The egg at the center began spinning, carving into the ice. The door ripped itself apart, and eventually, there was only a small puddle of water at Cytra's feet. Behind the door was blackness.

A low growl came from the darkness. Cytra fell over as the legend stepped out of its sanctuary.

"I've been waiting for you, Cytra Nox."