Solace and Nox: A New Light

Chapter 41

Moldark watched as the Ciamas landed. Raiden and Cytra hopped off, and Ci took off back into the air. Moldark already had his weapon drawn. A light breeze pushed his cloak to one side, revealing a small amount of his armor. Cytra drew the same blade, and Raiden drew his bronze sword, which Markis had given him just before they left. Raiden also readied his shield. He didn't need that blade draining the life out of his body.

Moldark's face was emotionless. It almost looked like he was expecting Raiden and Cytra to return. He didn't budge when they approached.

Raiden was still glowing, but it was dim. When it came time to fight, Raiden would absorb more light from the Ciamas. Cytra and Moldark were already absorbing darkness, and were glowing.

"I was beginning to wonder if you would come back to fight me," he said. "Once you got on the Ciamas, I thought you would ditch the battle."

Raiden and Cytra both remained silent. They just had their swords at the ready. He could attack at any moment.

He sighed. "I never wanted to kill you, Cytra. You could have stood by my side and become a God. Together we could have built a new Aleudia, but you decided to join him. What does that say about you?"

"I'm trying to do what's right, Moldark," Cytra replied. "All my life, I have let this darkness overwhelm me, and it ruled my life. I've decided I'm going to take control of it, and I am doing something to change my life."

Cytra looked at Raiden. He smiled. He did find that light inside of her.

And she was taking advantage of it.

Moldark shook his head.

"You may think that this is the right path, but bringing the Ciamas back was a mistake. By awakening the beast, he awoke the other species of magical creatures. Elves, gnomes, goblins, trolls, they are all going to start fighting each other once this battle is over. By preventing my single victory, you gave me many. This world is not ready for magic to return, which is why bringing the Ciamas was a mistake."

"But the Kresallis use magic," Raiden said. "I saw it with my own eyes. How is that any different?"

"The Kresallis discovered it on their own. They discovered their newfound abilities and developed them, like us. But by bringing the Ciamas, all magic is returning, instead of gradually like it already was destined to do. Awakening Aleudia's magic accelerated the inevitable," Moldark explained.

"And what is the inevitable?" Cytra asked.

"My victory."

He took his cloak off, revealing his spiked armor. Most of the armor was padded leather, but in places like his chest were metal plates. His plated shoulders looked the most threatening. His midnight black hair was almost long enough to cover the spikes on his shoulders. His demonic yellow eyes ignited a fire inside of Raiden.

He began to shine.

As Raiden prepared for the fight, he finally realized something. It was dark, evil surrounded him and Cytra, yet he was still shining. The Ciamas was nowhere to be seen, yet he was still absorbing light. How was it possible?

Then he thought of Cytra's kiss. There was no light in that room, yet when she kissed him, he shined brilliantly. How...

It was just like Cytra's inner darkness. Raiden was receiving his light from inside of himself. When Cytra kissed him, all his fears went away. He knew everything would be okay. When Markis's life was in danger, the light came from inside him, not the surrounding light.

Raiden is light.

Moldark attacked.

He went straight for Cytra. Thankfully, due to her magic, her reflexes were fast enough to block the attack, but Moldark's attacks were even faster. Every second counted. He attacked Cytra, and when she parried, he would use that as a boost to turn and attack Raiden. Moldark was in between the two of them, making attacks toward both of them before they even had a chance to think about it.