An elf enters a street-race tournament to escape a corrupt city trapped in endless night.
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|| Voltyss is one of the last-standing cities caught in the Evernight, an endless night that spread across the land when the moon and stars fell from the...
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The little elf ran.
Her soft, swift footsteps went unheard as she sped down stone pathways, tufts of clouds curling in her wake, diamond walls reflecting her white hair like water in the light of the moon. The stars were so close in the Skyscape it seemed as if they watched her, asking where she was running off to in such a hurry, wondering why her heart galloped like a racing herd of Night Mares.
The truth was she was afraid.
So very afraid of those twinkling lights in the surrounding sky and what they were soon to bring.
So very afraid of what awaited her in the Terrascape below, if she made it to the land-between before he found her. The Moon King.
The little elf ran.
She hurried through the quiet, ancient town and past the cozy homes of sleeping elves, stopping only when she thought she heard someone calling her name. It was a pained cry in the distance, carrying across the glittering, star-dusted wind.
Finally, she reached the Gate to Elsewhere. It towered over her small frame with flowered vines that twisted along its white stone like snakes. The silver and gold crest in the middle of the arched gate—symbolizing the balance of Moon and Sun, light and dark, life and death—glowed when she placed her small hand against the smooth stone in front of her. The gate responded to her elfblood. The crest split down the middle as the doors slid open, revealing the open sky beyond.
The little elf was afraid.
So very afraid of the future she was running from and the unknown she was running toward.
So very afraid to leave behind everything she'd ever loved for a place she'd been told had forgotten how to live with their hearts.
She took a deep breath and continued forward past the stables and the docked skyships, down to the very last planks of the boardwalk. Wisps of cloud rose through the cracks between the silver boards, night painting the loading bay in an eerie layer of creeping mist. She turned toward the last skyship docked, heart in her throat, fingers trembling at her sides.
Her name was called again, closer this time, and she stilled. The only thing that moved was her white hair in the wind like a flag waving defeat. She glanced at the skyship again and hope sank in her stomach, heavy enough to pin her feet to the planks below her.
She could leave, but he'd only find her.
The Moon King would always find her.
The little elf took one step backward, knowing what she had to do.
In the distance, the cloudy mist crept higher, crawling over everything in its path. He was close enough now that the light of the moon shone brighter.
She took another step backward as the Moon King emerged from the mist. The mist swirled around him, clinging to his every movement. His voice was in her head, her name a song on his tongue.
She couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't live in the darkness while hiding from his light. She couldn't bear the consequences of what his plans for her would reap on the world.
Taking a deep breath, she took one last step backward, falling into the open sky below and ripping through the wind like a bird without its wings.
The little elf would never learn to fly,but maybe she could save the world.
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