Firstlight

A final burst of force pushed Sayth back; his feet morphed into dragon talons to grip the floor so as not to be knocked over. The light spun and began to mold itself, gradually taking the shape of a human woman. A silhouette of light with only two oversized blue eyes. She had long hair and was fairly average in height, levitating above the ground. The masks drifted back into three rings around her, each at a different level. Sayth stared cautiously, unsure what to make of this development.

“Did you do this?” she asked in a Neapolitan ice cream voice. “Oh, thank you; you’re marvelous! You’re wonderful! You’re magnificent! Thank you from the sun and moon and stars for ridding me of that horrid stone!”

The masks parted, and she leaped at Sayth with outstretched arms. He caught her by the waist, keeping her at arm’s length, and she stretched her legs in a figure skater pose.

“Call me Firstlight, the keeper of masks, and I’m terribly ashamed to say it caused my powers to gush out of control. How dreadful. But the sun rises. You absolutely must let me thank you properly. I can make your most enraptured dreams come true.” She winked.

Sayth set her down, but she continued to float above the ground. Despite being made of light and hot to the touch, she had the expected weight of a woman her size.

“Not in a million years. How do you know Drakean?” Sayth asked.

“I can speak any language they can.” Firstlight glanced at the dragons down the hall. “Come, you mustn’t be shy. You can’t possibly refuse my ever-so-exceptional gratitude.”

“No. But there is something you can help us with. We’ve been tracking a creature who deals in imbalances, like this stone. Altnexxis. Does that mean anything to you?” Sayth rotated the surreality in one hand.

“That disgusting, revolting creature covered in crystals? Yes! I wanted to have some fun with it, and it bore that stone deep down in my heart. The heresy! You plan to kill it? Blend it to bits and paint the palace in its blood?” Firstlight grabbed an angry-looking mask and held it in front of her face. She briefly glowed with a red aura.

“That’s my business. I’m Sayth, by the way. The dragons back there are Mayne and Alouve. Do you know where Altnexxis was heading?” he said, dusting off his coat. The Drakeans had composed themselves and were catching up. Mayne waved, still shaking slightly.

“The rainy city of spirits where none living dare tread, Ravenessence. I will take you to it. It’s easy to get lost in Une Sailance,” Firstlight said, tossing the mask back into orbit.

“That won’t be necessary,” Sayth replied.

“But I insist! I must! It’s all I can do to repay you for saving me,” she pleaded dramatically, clasping her hands together.

Sayth crossed his arms and eyed her for a moment. She was both powerful and unstable. He didn’t need her to track Altnexxis, although she might make it faster. But if not for Altnexxis, then for Firstlight herself. He wanted to keep an eye on her or would rather not turn his back to her.

“Alright, we have a deal. And no tricks,” he agreed.

Firstlight plucked a happy mask and waved it above her head. “Joyous, glorious! You’ve no idea the bliss that rings like bells throughout my heart! The path to Ravenessence lies up ahead. It’s not far. Not at all.”

Firstlight skipped ahead in midair. As she led them through the palace, Sayth had Azalyske continue to track the fruit. The paths seemed to coincide. Firstlight knew the area well and had no trouble navigating the darkness.

The dragons were quiet and still shaken by her erupting power. Zene rode on Mayne’s tail and kept his eyes fixed on her with feathers folded tightly.

A short time later, Alouve noticed a glowing orange liquid dripping from the ceiling. Red fell alongside it. They landed in a small mound of wet ash.

“What is that?” she asked, pointing to the leak.

“The rain,” Firstlight responded, “it is eternal in Ravenessense, ceaseless and the colors never bleed together. Not once in two thousand years.”

As they pressed on, more colors appeared. Trickles of blue, green, and yellow, a stream of orange and violet. Soon the full range of the rainbow. Like various flavors of syrup, they dripped from the ceiling, ran down walls, and muddied the dust. True to her word, the colors glowed but never mixed.

Firstlight stopped suddenly, twirled in place, and floated over to Sayth. “I wonder, why didn’t my power affect you?” she asked and began to wrap her arms around him. He casually pushed her away with one hand.

“I hypothesize it relates to him being a guardian dragon.” Mayne scratched the back of his neck. Sayth was secretly annoyed by this reveal of information.

“Oh, a guardian; would you, by chance, know the white dragon? Sometimes she meets with my little sister, often in the shape of a human.” Firstlight spun, and when she faced them again, she had taken the appearance of Spiral in human form. She winked and ran her fingers up Sayth’s sternum.

He pushed her away with the flat edge of his tail blade. “We’re getting sidetracked. And stop that.”

“Yes, I don’t need my powers to see you know each other. Have feelings? Perhaps a bloom of romance between guardians? I can almost taste it!” Firstlight said in Spiral’s voice.

Sayth ignored her and continued walking.

In another spin, she was back in her yellowish light body. She drifted over to Mayne. “You, however, create strong ripples off my influence. Succulent memories. A forest, deep and true, but none from TriCora.”

As she waved her hand, a ray of light extended, fell on the Drakeans, and grew into the multi-colored trees of First Drako like before. Tall and mighty, their tops were veiled in netherial somewhere high above. Zene squawked violently and flapped his wings from Mayne’s tail.

“Somehow, the memory is filled with sorrow and rage. Delicious rage, ever so sweet and spicy. As if the whole thing burned in a great inferno. What happened in that otherworldly forest?” Firstlight asked, running her fingers over a hovering angry mask.

Zene flapped up a blizzard and blew the image away in swirls of colored smoke. Several centimeters of snow dusted the party and palace.

“He doesn’t like that,” Mayne observed.

“It’s irrelevant.” Sayth continued walking and motioned for the others with one hand.

Firstlight sensually caressed the angry mask for a moment. She turned to follow Sayth with Mayne and Alouve trailing behind. Zene flapped and settled back down on Mayne’s tail.

Under five minutes of silence and Firstlight spoke again. “Such strong emotions tied to that memory. The loss from all of you. Thick as ice. A relentless blizzard of doubt and despair! Really, what happened there?”

“The aforementioned event is hardly any of your concern. It’s rather unseemly to pry into other’s private matters as such,” Alouve said, dusting the snow off her shoulder.

“It’s hardly your business,” Firstlight said, mimicking Alouve’s voice. “I’m a princess without a ball to attend. Stuffing emotions into a box so tight it could burst at any minute, toppling the palace.”

“For your subject matter, I happen to be a highly educated, self-made woman. Having extensive studies in a variety of fields. And furthermore, what would you know of losing one’s home?” Alouve raised her voice.

“Oh, the injustice of no longer being handed the world on a jeweled plate. The crime, the indignity! All locked away in that forest, now ashes on the breeze.” Firstlight fanned herself with the angry mask.

“You would dare to question, nay mock, my attainments?! Your boldness knows no bounds, your … your—never have I seen such insolence!” Alouve slapped her tail on the ground.

“And all that forest, that decadent world, burned away,” Firstlight said in her own voice and created images of the trees from Alouve’s past. One by one, she set them ablaze. “This one, and this one, and this one over here, all up in flames.”

Zene screeched. Alouve sprung at Firstlight, but she released a wave of force blasting Alouve back off her feet. Sayth threw the surreality and telekinetically halted it right before impaling Firstlight’s face. The illusions abruptly vanished. All the masks turned as if to stare at the stone.

“She’s an emotion helik, Alouve; she feeds on emotions. And you,” Sayth turned to Firstlight, “you’ll find no serpent more binding than a deal with me. Don’t toy with me. Altnexxis is rapidly slipping through our fingers. Stop wasting time.”

He summoned the stone back into his hand, and the masks returned to their orbits. Firstlight tossed her hair back. Alouve pushed to her feet and stepped forward, but Mayne put his hand on her wing.

“Well, I see. As long as that stone’s around, we won’t be having any fun. Such a pity. Ravenessense is not far. This way.” Firstlight placed a pouting mask on her face. She continued through the palace.

The colorful trickles grew in abundance and ambiance. A small creek was forming to one side where the floor and wall met. The glowing colors weren’t visible until within a few meters due to the netherial but stood out like fireworks in a cemetery.

They came upon a section of the palace where, for the first time, the walls were physically damaged. Large chunks appeared to be missing, and slash and burn covered them. Piles of emerald hexagonal rubble littered the path. It was near a breakpoint. Only one pillar was left intact, but even the broken shards of the others displayed thick, colorful rain.

“The other parts of Une Sailanse were in pristine condition. It makes me wonder what happened here,” Mayne observed, tapping the rubble with his tail.

“It’s battle scarring,” Sayth deduced, “very old and large in scale. The scuff marks suggest legions fought here. Various species. They used both physical and energy-based weapons, primitive unfocused ones based on the burn marks. And imbalances too. There are layers of decay.”

“Why, you magnificent creature! The things I could do if you’d only let me.

“Yes, the TriCoran resistance defeated the first Heart of Crystal order here. That fool Bryz sought to conquer the three islands by infusing captives’ blood with imbalances and other magics, making them monsters. The terror was absolutely delectable.” Firstlight conjured a smoky image of a great battle. Leading one side was a dark violet dragon with a silver crown. Beside him stood a man in a white cloak with grey eyes Sayth knew all too well. And that crown ...

“The resistance was led by the sorceress Magilike. She lured Bryz’s army here and used the storm for strategic cover. Bryz was brash and thought himself invincible, at least while his head was atop his shoulders. Ha, that was funny. War brings out strong, glorious emotions, but they’re all the same. It grew tiresome,” Firstlight continued, “so I sided with Magilike, eventually.”

“Indeed. Well, Altnexxis exited this breakpoint, so our mutual path parts here,” Sayth said, spying a cylindrical room.

“Oh, so soon? Such sorrow. I was really beginning to enjoy myself. Do smear Altnexxis’s organs across the landscape. Make it bleed; make it scream! I didn’t wish to play in the rain anyway. It’s unhealthy, yes?” Firstlight turned to place her hand on Alouve’s cheek, which Alouve slapped off. “You have a lot of rage. Farewell!” And with that, the emotion helik disappeared down the dark hallway.

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-Rainbows Wane

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