Himiko

The Lightweaver had gifted Imperials with tremendous magic, and she discovered too late that it persisted even beyond death. Eleven Imperials, felled by a sorcerous accident...They rose, reanimated as magic bound their corpses into a single vile menace. An Emperor.

The dragons named it Jubileus, for it arose during Brightshine Jubilee. The Emperor brought only horror and destruction, however. It tore down cities and lairs of the Sunbeam Ruins. All living things in its path were trampled or devoured. Even dragons were no exception. Sorcerers who attempted to fight back watched in horror as their spells splashed harmlessly against the Emperor’s hide. Warriors endeavored to sink their blades into the beast, only to be repulsed by its sheer strength. They lay stunned, unable to move as the Emperor’s jaws inched closer...closer....

From the top of the Beacon of the Radiant Eye, the Lightweaver watched as her lands were devastated. This went beyond catastrophic—it was abominable. How could such a thing have happened? She’d never meant...

She spoke to the air, and her voice raced across the miles, to an enclave upon the eastern cliffs. Its inhabitants, too, had seen the Emperor. And when the Lightweaver’s voice came to them, they were ready.

~ ~ ~
News of the Emperor had reached Balder a few days before, and he did not doubt that soon, he and his clan would be contacted about it. For they were Light’s greatest defenders, chosen by the Lightweaver herself. The Lumen Sages.

The great Gaoler strode through the corridors. Other brilliantly-garbed drakes fell into position behind him. By the time they reached the Solarium, there were scores of them altogether, and Balder stood at their head.

The Solarium was reserved for the Lumen Sages’ most important ceremonies. It was also where they communed with the Lightweaver. As Balder and the Sages watched, a beam of light played across a rough panel of crystal. Its facets shimmered like rippling water. Suddenly it was as smooth as glass—and the Lightweaver’s visage shone within it.

The Sages bent low in supplication. “Lightweaver,” Balder greeted his goddess. He straightened up again, and his eyes flashed, sending waves of light flickering across the room.

“I greet you, Balder, and all my loyal children. You continue to be a credit to our Flight, our lands.” The warmth in the Lightweaver’s voice filled the hearts of the Sages. They took comfort in it, for they knew what was to come.

“Yet our lands and people are devastated. You know why this is so.”

“The Emperor.” Balder’s own face was troubled. “Goddess, can you not bring your power to bear? With divine aid, this menace can be eradicated completely.”

“My brethren and I are bound by the rules we made when we took mastery of Sornieth. Were I to unleash my full power, it would violate these strictures...and even without such rules, the nature of the gods’ magic is such that it would ruin the planet entirely. It grieves me to admit this, but it is so.”

The goddess briefly shut her eyes, and it was as if a cloud had passed over the sun. Balder steeled himself. “Understood; forgive me for questioning you. I shall assemble our forces and head out to engage the Emperor.”

“There is one other task you must complete before engaging the beast, Balder. The Emperor draws near our western border, where the Tangled Wood lies. My sister has taken notice. And she is eager to defend her land as well.” The Lightweaver’s gaze swept the luminous assemblage. “You will not fight alone. The dwellers of the shadows, the Umbra Witches, shall battle alongside you.”

~ ~ ~
Just as the Lightweaver had her paladins, the Shadowbinder, too, had her own sorcerers. They were the Umbra Witches, equal to the Lumen Sages in both knowledge and might. Like the Sages, they answered only to their goddess—and now she had summoned them to battle the Emperor.

“Why not let the Light drakes tidy up their own mess?” snarled Bellatrix, leader of the Witches. She, too, was a Gaoler, but as dark as Balder was bright. Around her, her fellow Witches murmured in disagreement.

The Shadowbinder rose from the center of the Forum. She chuckled lightly at her daughter’s remark, but Bellatrix, hearing the steel beneath that laugh, paused. She sat down contritely, though her head remained high.

“My dear Bellatrix, though the Emperor was created in the Sunbeam Ruins, it’s an abomination that knows no borders. Even now, it makes its way towards the Tangled Wood. There will be a battle eventually....” And the dragons skittered aside as the Shadowbinder lowered her huge head. “It’s just a matter of deciding whether to fight it alone or alongside my sister’s children.”

The rebuke was clear. Bellatrix growled, “Understood.”

This was acceptable. The Shadowbinder acknowledged, “It will be dangerous—trickster I may be, but let it not be said that I concealed crucial information from my own children. The reward, I promise you, will be great.”

“Our lives?” Bellatrix asked wryly. The Shadowbinder responded, “And more besides.” She held up a claw, and vapors gathered around it, meshing together to form an image.

Only an image, but what a promise it was! Bellatrix stared for a moment. And then, for the first time since she’d received the news, she smiled.

~ ~ ~
The air near the border shimmered in shadows and light—and in an eye-blink, the Lumen Sages and the Umbra Witches had amassed. The two groups eyed each other distrustfully as their leaders convened.

“Bellatrix. Thank you for coming.”

“Balder.” Bellatrix smiled humorlessly. “We heard you needed help.”

The pale Gaoler nodded. He turned towards the west....A mountain range seemed to heave, and with a thrill of horror, the warriors realized that they were looking at the Emperor. The mists around it, which they’d mistaken for clouds, were the miasma of magic that defended it.

“Is this it, then?” This time, Bellatrix’s voice was quieter, meant for Balder’s ears alone. “The intersection of Light and Shadow shall bring calamity to Sornieth. Is this...?”

Balder suppressed a sigh. He knew the prophecy well.

It was a statement so ancient, even the gods could not be sure who had first put words to it. And if they knew more, they had never elaborated. It was yet another reason the Umbra Witches and Lumen Sages had only rarely associated with each other: Neither side wanted to tempt fate, not with that omen hanging over their heads.

But now— “We have been charged by our goddesses, Bellatrix. This may be our ruin,” and Balder gravely inclined his head, “but far nobler for us to die facing it than to die fleeing.”

“Indeed. We may learn to get along yet.” Bellatrix smiled faintly.

Across the miles, the Emperor spied them. The abomination did not merely roar—it quaked, its cry thundering up from deep within the earth and through everything around it, sending trees toppling and bringing fleeing dragons to their knees.

But the Sages and the Witches stood firm. They had to. And that day, they stood against Jubileus together.

The battle raged for days. Closer and closer to the border crept Jubileus, the Sages and Witches harrying it every step of the way. Their spells slammed against its scales, tore at the magical armor. They blasted it with light and confounded it with shadow, but still it came.

And when it got close enough, it struck. Many heads lashing out, devouring fighters by the score. Its tails flung up tons of earth, and magic exploded haphazardly from it, scorching everything within reach....

“Form a barrier! Push it back!”

“Now, while the Witches are attacking—strike!”

Lumen Sages and Umbra Witches working together, with the blessings of their gods. And slowly but surely, they were damaging the beast. Slowly but surely, they were winning.

At last, after many weary days of battle, Jubileus stood on the very border. It stared hungrily at the Tangled Wood beyond—a land it would never know. For here, at last, Jubileus was defeated.

The Emperor’s many legs folded beneath it. With a hideous crumbling noise, it sank to the ground. Its eyes glazed over as, for the second time, it felt the creeping touch of death.

The warriors didn’t hesitate. They tore the body apart, destroying its components so that it wouldn’t rise again. Jubileus, the strongest Emperor Sornieth had ever known, was defeated at last.

~ ~ ~
The lands of Light and Shadow were saved, but among its saviors, there was no rejoicing. The Emperor had decimated the ranks of both Witch and Sage. It was all the pitiful remnants of the Lumen Sages could do to limp home. They had lost so many brothers and sisters....

After the funerals had been completed, Balder sat alone in the Solarium for a while, heavy with grief. He felt the goddess’ presence, but did not acknowledge her immediately. Not until she said to him, “Your brothers and sisters have been welcomed home. All the gods, not just I, are grateful for their sacrifice.”

Balder raised his haggard face. “Thank you.”

For a brief moment, silence reigned in the Solarium. And then Balder lowered his head again. “Goddess...we have lost so much. Our brethren...We could not lay some of them to rest; they were completely obliterated in the battle. To say nothing of those who perished before we confronted the Emperor...We have lost so much. We have lost...so much!”

Had he been alone, Balder would have wept. But one did not weep in the presence of a deity. Still, the weight of his grief was crushing, and it touched even the Lightweaver. For a few moments, her mighty radiance dimmed.

“I have come to reward you,” she said then, very gently. “Those deaths cannot be undone—but it is in my power to create new life...and a new beginning.”

She held out her paws. Light swirled between them, compressing into a nucleus that was nearly too bright to look at. Soon she held an orb, small enough to fit between two of Balder’s claws.

“The Right Eye of the World. A divine relic forged by the gods. And to wield it...”

More light gathered, coalescing into yet another form. A golden mane, stormy scales...and then the light cleared, and Balder realized he was looking at a child. A small, perfect Pearlcatcher hatchling. As he watched, the Eye grew brighter till it sank into her scales, melding itself to her very being.

“You would entrust me...with this child?” Balder gasped in awe.

“Her name is Himiko, and she will be the Lumen Sages’ greatest warrior.” The Lightweaver’s radiance filled the room again. As the hatchling drifted into Balder’s arms, the goddess’ image began to recede. “Raise her well, my son. Raise her well....”

The Gaoler looked down at the sleeping child, and he pushed his grief away. A new life, a new beginning—his duty was to this child now.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Deep within the halls of the Lumen Sages, a battle raged. The scrapmetal trackers clicked to each other, communicating the whereabouts of their prey....

There! They sprang forward, claws outstretched, preparing to rip and tear. Their target: a slim Pearlcatcher with a blindfold across her eyes. She turned to face them. Just as she leaped aside—

Time froze. The trackers were caught in mid-air, their claws a hair’s breadth away from the Pearlcatcher’s dusky skin. A smirk flashed across her face as, with balletic grace, she lunged forward. Her claws carved through the trackers. One tracker, two trackers, three, four...

The spell ended, and the fourth tracker hit the floor and skidded away. It pounced immediately, striking with deadly speed. The Pearlcatcher sidestepped it, and once again, time briefly froze....This time, the machine did not escape her claws.

As metal parts clattered onto the floor, Balder’s voice boomed, “Sloppy. You took too long to retaliate and granted the enemy a second chance to strike.”

“What does it matter, Father? I caught them all in the end, didn’t I?” The Pearlcatcher pulled off her blindfold. She turned to smile at the old Gaoler, her right eye glittering in the dimness.

Balder wasn’t the least bit charmed. Having raised Himiko, he was immune to all her tricks. He simply gave her a disapproving glower.

Himiko’s smile morphed into a scowl. She tossed up her paws. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Father, I’ve been training since sunrise! I’m allowed a few slips every now and then, aren’t I?”

“Stefan destroyed four of them in one strike,” Balder said. His face was perfectly straight, but Himiko knew when he was being sly. It was her turn to give him a long, unfriendly look. He was even more stubborn than she was however, and so he didn’t budge.

Finally, she muttered, “Fine, we’ll try again later.” A click of her claws, and a team of spellbound golems zoomed in through panels in the wall. They picked up the scrapmetal trackers and took them away for reassembly.

Outside the training room, Balder and Himiko went their separate ways. Himiko didn’t really notice; she was too busy fuming about Stefan. He was a Lumen Sage a little older than she was and, aside from her and Balder, was probably the clan’s best and brightest—as such, she considered him her rival.

Her mood further soured when she caught sight of him standing just outside, in one of the gardens. That wasn’t unusual; like Himiko, he trained regularly—yet another factor that stoked their rivalry. Currently, however, he was speaking to a young Nocturne garbed in dark silk robes.

“Good to see you taking time off, Stefan.” Himiko couldn’t hold back an arch comment. The Imperial smiled mildly when he saw her. “Good morning, Himiko. Demolishing training automatons again, were you?”

“‘Demolishing’? Please, you’re so crude.” Himiko inclined her head to his companion. “Charlotte.”

“Himiko.” The Nocturne flashed a sweet smile. Unlike Stephen, Himiko had no quarrel with her. Ever since the battle with Jubileus, the Lumen Sages and Umbra Witches had enjoyed a firm alliance, and members of both orders frequently visited each other. Charlotte, an Umbra Witch, was a familiar face in the enclave, training and studying alongside the Lumen Sages.

Himiko gestured towards Stefan. “Were you fencing with our little boy? A garden’s probably not a good place for it. He’ll rip up all the rosebushes.”

“Ha ha,” Stefan retorted, rolling his eyes. Charlotte had to smother a giggle, though, and the Imperial briefly looked devastated.

As Himiko left them, her thoughts turned towards her training again. Balder pushed her harder than the others because (and rightly so, though she hated to admit it) she possessed the Right Eye of the World. It was what enabled her to slow time. It was best used right before enemies struck, for it was when they were at their closest and weakest. In the right claws, it was a weapon all on its own.

Her adoptive father’s words came back to her; he’d actually tried baiting her with Stephen’s progress. In spite of herself, Himiko couldn’t hold back a chuckle. It was such a silly thing, but even rivalry had its uses sometimes. She would become better than that overconfident upstart, Stefan. So much better...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A few more years crept by. Himiko continued her training and studies until eventually, she was recognized as Balder’s right hand. It wasn’t just because she was his adopted daughter or because she possessed the Right Eye: She had become a fierce warrior all on her own. She wielded magic, weaponry, and her own claws with incredible skill; the Right Eye only enhanced her deadliness.

“You’ve come a long way,” Balder commented as time unfroze again. Himiko turned to smile brightly at him. All around her lay the wreckage of scores of training automatons, a far cry from the pitiful quartet she’d nearly failed to demolish before.

“Now, now, I couldn’t have made it this far without you, dear Father.” Himiko pressed a paw to Balder’s shoulder. They’d had their tiffs over the years, Himiko’s sass clashing with Balder’s severity, but they’d weathered their disagreements, and now the bond between father and daughter was stronger than before. Balder looked down at the child he’d patiently raised over the years, and he felt a surge of pride.

“And to think that you didn’t even need to bait me with Stephen’s progress! Remember how you used to do that? My, but that was childish of you.” Himiko started to chuckle, stopped when she saw Balder’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“I am...concerned about Stefan.”

“What’s he done now?” Himiko’s mind flitted backwards: She couldn’t recall the last time she’d seen Stefan. Their rivalry had faded over the years, and while they still weren’t exactly friends, he was a brother Sage, and Himiko had to admit that she was concerned about him—largely because her father also was. The Gaoler did not get rattled easily; when he did, it was because something was terribly wrong.

“He has been shirking some of his duties. He seems...distracted by something.” Balder looked at his daughter as if daring her to quip about it. But for once, she didn’t.

And so he turned away. “Perhaps he’s merely tired—or ill. I have not spoken with him for some time; I shall have to send some of his friends to look in on him.”

“Of course, Father. Have a lovely day.” Himiko kissed him on the nose and then left the room. As she headed past a garden, a memory prodded her thoughts....She felt like she ought to see someone standing there, some other Sages laughing together, maybe.... “But then, hardly anyone comes here at this hour; they know I’m using the training rooms.” She shrugged and went on her way.

It all came back to her some nights later, when she woke up to Balder standing by her bed. He was flanked by a pair of Sages; beneath their ceremonial hoods, their faces were grim.

“Get dressed. There has been a grave transgression within our halls,” Balder growled. Himiko was already moving, pulling on her cape. “Father, what is happening?”

“It’s Stefan. Now we know what he’s been up to all this time....” Balder cursed under his breath. “I should have been more vigilant, but I trusted him, I trusted them....”

“What is it? Who are you talking about?” Himiko hurried alongside her father. She was about to ask more questions, but then they came to a junction, where they met another party of Sages.

Himiko stared, dumbfounded. A quartet of Sages had restrained Stefan; the great Imperial sagged limply in their grasp. She almost didn’t see his companion, but when she did, realization hit her like a thunderbolt: Charlotte the Nocturne, from the enclave of the Umbra Witches. An ancient prophecy whispered deep within Himiko’s mind...and at last, though she wished she didn’t, she understood.

~ ~ ~
The rest of the night passed in a blur. The lovers were dragged to the Solarium, where they would face the judgment of their clans and deities. Himiko stood at her father’s side. Only her training kept her upright and grim, but inside, her mind was whirling, trying to process all that was going on.

The events of that night registered in snatches of memory: Stefan pleading that his lover be spared from punishment, and Balder bellowing angrily, saying that she was just as guilty as he was. Bellatrix’s fierce visage appearing in one of the crystal panels, screaming in rage, and Charlotte cowering before her leader’s wrath.

And more terribly, the silence that descended when the deities appeared.

It was only their images, projected upon the crystal panels, but their disappointment smashed into everyone like a tsunami. The goddesses did not rage. It might have been better if they had. They were merely silent, the calm before the storm.

And then they spoke in a single voice: “Our commandments have been broken. Let the alliance be dissolved.”

“It shall be done,” Balder and Bellatrix said, also in unison. Upon realizing this, they turned and glared at each other, absolute venom in their eyes.

“Let the Lumen Sage Stefan be excommunicated,” the Lightweaver declared. “He shall be stripped of all his power and banished into the wilds.”

“Let the Umbra Witch Charlotte be eternally imprisoned,” hissed the Shadowbinder. “She has been found wanting, and our trust in her is no more.”

Stefan’s voice rose. He screamed for mercy...but there would be none. He was dragged from the room, still reaching in vain for Charlotte. The Umbra Witch had not protested her capture, but her grief was palpable. She wept all throughout the trial, and her sobs lingered in the air long after she’d been taken away.

The goddesses had vanished. Bellatrix remained projected upon the crystal panel, however. Balder spat at her, “Get your traitorous Witches out of my sight. Your ilk are no longer welcome here.”

“We do not need your welcome, Balder—and we have no wish to consort further with your easily-besotted Sages.” Bellatrix’s sweet tone made her words even more poisonous. She vanished at last, and Balder roared his rage, shaking the very tower.

Himiko couldn’t recall the exact moment she returned to her room. She didn’t even recall changing into her bedclothes. She did remember her final thought before falling asleep, however.

“Please, Light, let this all be a bad dream....”

Then she slept—and woke abruptly, hours later, in the stillness of a foggy dawn. Immediately last night’s memories tumbled into her mind. Angry words, the sour sting of betrayal, an alliance dissolved...

The silence confirmed what she’d been dreading. The Umbra Witches had left the enclave, and the alliance had reached its end.

~ ~ ~
“It’s not over yet.” For the first few weeks after that night, that was the thought uppermost in Himiko’s mind. The other Sages were similarly gloomy, and without the visiting Witches, the halls were as silent as mausoleums.

“It’s not over yet.” That sense of doom, of danger. Himiko remembered the silence crackling between the angry goddesses again. The calm before the storm.

Once the Sages had gotten over the shock of losing Stephen, resentment bubbled to the surface: “It was the Witch’s fault. She seduced Stefan, we’re certain of it! Who knows how deeply that plot went—they could’ve been targeting more of us! Trying to bewitch us, to steal away our powers and secrets....Everybody knows those Shadowlings can’t be trusted. They were trying to undermine our clan!”

Whispers came in from the west as well: “The Umbra Witches say that one of their dragonesses was enspelled. She was corrupted by an unscrupulous Lumen Sage....Don’t let their noble airs fool you! Under those sanctimonious sneers of theirs, they’ll stop at nothing to wipe out any perceived threats to their so-called superiority. ‘Defenders of the Light’...That’s nothing but a facade!”

Stefan’s and Charlotte’s love had been true—but the mutual hatred of their clans distorted it into something monstrous. The Sages and Witches whispered among themselves at first; and then traveling members of each order, when they came across their counterparts, began trading insults and challenges. Words came to blows. Duels erupted into brawls.

Balder and Bellatrix tried to maintain order, but their own anger was too strong, their distrust too deep. Their remonstrations grew feebler and feebler until they, too, were urging their subordinates to defend the clans’ honor. To fight against each other.

The rest of Sornieth watched in trepidation. The intersection of Light and Shadow shall bring calamity to Sornieth—and bring calamity it had. The War of Lumen and Umbra had begun.

~ ~ ~
The War spilled over the borders of the Sunbeam Ruins and the Tangled Wood till everywhere upon Sornieth, Umbra Witches and Lumen Sages fought to exterminate each other. A bloody century passed, during which dragons on both sides were slain and the enclave of the Lumen Sages was destroyed. That last one was a bitter blow to the Sages, and soon it became clear that the Witches had the upper hand.

Himiko and a few other Sages took refuge in Dragonhome. The Pearlcatcher peered out of the carved pillar, scanning the desert below; it was difficult to see in the rain, but it seemed they were safe for now....

There was a hoarse cough. “Come away from there, Himiko. They might...see you....”

The War had aged Balder tremendously, not just in body but also in mind. He rasped, “Can’t let them get you. The Eye...They’ll want it. And we’ve lost so much already. Lost...so much...”

“They’ll not get us, Father. We’ve covered our tracks well; they won’t find us.”

“You should be careful. The Eye of the World...was Mother’s gift to us. Like you. Never forget that. Don’t forget...your purpose—”

He stopped suddenly. He stared into the distance, his eyes shining in the darkness. Himiko’s ears rose. “Father?”

“Your purpose. Ours. We’ve forgotten. This is all...”

“Hush, Father. We’ve had a long journey, but we’re all right now.” Himiko pulled a blanket around him. “You should rest.”

He relaxed, and soon his snores filled the room. Himiko remained by the window, keeping watch.

Balder’s words seemed to be idle worrying—but days later, they rang in Himiko’s mind with true urgency. That was the day the Witches found them. The day she was taken prisoner.

The Sages didn’t stand much of a chance. They were already fatigued from running, and the Witches met them with an overwhelming force. Himiko seemed to scythe through her adversaries effortlessly, but every scream from her comrades hurt her more than the Witches ever could. And despite her skill, there were simply too many foes for her to defeat. Soon the Witches had surrounded Himiko and Balder—the last of the Lumen Sages.

Father and daughter fought alongside each other. Himiko was nearly silent, focusing with pinpoint precision on defeating her enemies, but Balder continued roaring in rage. “I abjure you! Forces of Darkness, you’ve aligned with the Shade! You were nothing but traitors from the very beginning! You—”

And then there was the sickening sound of a blade cleaving through flesh, and Balder went silent. He fell, his vast form shaking the earth.

Himiko turned—not at the sound of his voice, as she always did, but at the sound of his silence. “Father...”

And there he was—but no longer upright and strong. He was sprawled gracelessly in the mud instead, blood dyeing his matted fur. His eyes, beneath his tangled mane, were already darkening.

Himiko nearly lost herself then. The exhaustion, the grief, the rage—it drove her towards the Witches; and a voice whispered deep inside of her, urging her, “Kill, kill, KILL...”

But blind fury never wins the day, and when Himiko next awoke, it was in a dark cell, with ensorcelled chains binding her and magical barriers keeping her encaged. Beyond was the chanting of hundreds of sibilant voices, weaving a spell to keep her bound indefinitely.

There would be no more struggles or escapes. The war was over, and the Witches had won.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Darkness...All was darkness. That was only right; Himiko was the prisoner of the Umbra Witches. The dwellers of darkness, wielders of shadow....

One day, a spell shattered her bindings.

“Child of Light.” Himiko looked up at the Umbra Witch. She wore the robes of a high-ranking sorceress and was doubtless in charge—for now. “We are releasing our hold upon you. We...have need of your services.”

Himiko could see how much it hurt the old Nocturne to admit that; she looked as though she’d eaten something noxious. The Pearlcatcher dug up the shreds of her sass. “What’s that? The great Umbra Witches turn to a captive for assistance?” She smirked. “You’ll have to look elsewhere, Granny. I have no reason or desire to aid you.”

The Nocturne bared her fangs. Shadowy spikes erupted along her body, the manifestations of her wrath, but Himiko remained fearless. She stared the older dragon down, glaring defiantly into her eyes....

“You can’t let them get you, Himiko.”

Balder’s words rang in the vaults of her memory. Himiko paused, remembering the old Gaoler—

“You carry the Right Eye of the World. It was Mother’s gift to us—like you. Never forget that...or your purpose...”

“My purpose?” Himiko hadn’t thought about that in a long time. Why the Lightweaver had brought her here...and given her the Right Eye....

Across from her, the Nocturne gathered herself. The spikes receded beneath her robes. “Listen carefully: All the other Flights have turned against us. They claim that we have grown too powerful.”

“Because you were able to exterminate the Lumen Sages?” Himiko couldn’t help retorting.

Her words hit the Nocturne like a slap. Himiko saw a shiver ripple through her body—and then the Witch’s face hardened again. “You are the last Lumen Sage, and you will fight alongside us. If you do not, either we dispatch you...or those zealots will.”

It would have been sweeter to continue taunting the Witch, to tell her that her order had brought this disaster upon themselves. But the look on her face told Himiko that she was utterly serious.

And besides, Himiko still had so much to live for.

She stepped outside to see how the world had changed.

~ ~ ~
The Lumen-Umbra War had caused much collateral damage. Dragons from other Flights had been caught in the crossfire, but they’d been able to do little but watch in terror. Watch the destruction and nurse their fear...their resentment...

The Umbra Witches had won the War, but it had decimated them, too. And the other dragons, having grown fearful of them, decided that now was the time to rid Sornieth of them.

It was into this new conflict that Himiko was released—as an agent of her former foes. To ensure her loyalty, they set other enchantments upon her, and then she was sent out to exterminate the order’s most dangerous enemies. Bounty hunters, mercenaries...and the exalted forces themselves. The other gods, apparently, had not taken kindly to their children and lands being devastated during the War.

Himiko didn’t know what the Shadowbinder was doing during all this, and she did not care. After all, hadn’t the Shadowbinder allowed her children to persecute the Sages? And now she was being hunted by the exalted of other deities. No, the gods did not care. This world was too far beneath their notice.

Dawn. Himiko greeted the day without joy, for all the sunlight did was illuminate the hunters closing in on her. They had been trailing her for days and she was exhausted now; she had killed some of them, but they just kept coming. They approached, silhouetted against the light....It was so blinding....

In a flash so brilliant, Himiko could almost hear it, the hunters were incinerated. Their bodies turned to ash, and their weapons and armor clattered to the ground. It was over in less than a second, and Himiko blinked several times, dumbfounded.

The light did not ebb, and within that radiance, Himiko made out a familiar form. Her golden eyes widened. “Lightweaver...”

The goddess drew nearer, whispering, whispering....Her voice was warm, and her paws, held out, looked inviting. Himiko was suddenly aware of how fatigued she was. She closed her eyes and allowed the deity’s radiance to enfold her.

~ ~ ~
There was no darkness, not now. The sleep that the Lightweaver wove around Himiko was crafted from dim light. In the vaults of the dream, the Pearlcatcher was at peace. The battles seemed oceans away.

“What is happening?” she asked the goddess.

The Lightweaver was no longer visible, but her voice came: “The balance of power has been broken. In time it will be rectified, but until then, the world is an unsafe place for the last Lumen Sage. The forces arrayed against you are mighty, and far better to take refuge than to perish against them.”

Indignation coursed through Himiko. “Stay hidden?! But the order, our glory—!”

“Hush, child. All will be revealed in time. Until then, you must rest.” There was a heavy sigh. “You have suffered much....Your respite is well-earned.”

“Indeed it is,” Himiko couldn’t help thinking. Despite her protests, she was grateful for the Lightweaver’s aid. And so for now, she would rest, abide until the time was right and she could rise again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Five hundred years passed. Beneath the Lightweaver’s watchful eye, a lone Mirror made her way through the Sunbeam Ruins. Broken walls and columns surrounded her in a dizzying conundrum, but she moved without hesitation, eventually finding her way to a mausoleum half-buried in the ground. She relaxed when she saw the crypt, for she had reached her destination at last.

The same force that had guided her now laid its touch upon the crypt. Light streamed from between the stones.

And then with a tremendous crash, the crypt burst apart. The Mirror looked up warily as the sleeping dragon arose. A gray-scaled Pearlcatcher—but she spread wide, feathered wings that touched the walls on either side, and her long, silken mane trailed upon the floor. She looked down at the Mirror, and her right eye blazed in the darkness.

“So this is the end of my long sleep. And I have a visitor already.” The Pearlcatcher leaned forward. “Have you been hunting me?”

“In a way.” The Mirror shrugged, entirely unafraid. “I am Empress Mirage of the Sectonian Empire. I was sent by the Lightweaver to retrieve you.”

Himiko looked skeptically at her visitor. “By the Lightweaver? But you have the Arcanist’s eyes.”

“I was born in the Starfall Isles, yes. But the Arcanist forged an alliance with the Lightweaver, and thus I was sent here. I have established my empire in the Sunbeam Ruins. You are to join us.” And Mirage’s own eyes blazed with the light of the distant stars. “The time of the Lumen Sages...and the Umbra Witches...is nigh.”

The feathery wings folded with a loud rustle. As Mirage watched, Himiko’s mane seemed to shrink, drawing itself back between her wings. She settled down, and finally, she smiled.

“It’s about time,” she whispered.

~ ~ ~
The two dragons made their way to Mirage’s empire. The Mirror had declared that Himiko would join her Council of Crowns. There would be tests, of course, but nothing that a child of the Lightweaver would find troublesome.

“Why do I even need tests to begin with?!”

“Your slumber has been long. The world has changed greatly over the past centuries.” Mirage’s face was grim. “There are new clans and duties you must know of. And the Shade is still very much a menace.”

“The Shade...” Himiko had wondered about the Shade at times. She thought back to the Lumen-Umbra War, former allies viciously slaughtering each other and other dragons turning against them.

~ written by Disillusionist (254672)
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