I awaken in a dark world, my mind fuzzy about what I was doing before I arrived here.

“Welcome back, Milly! I’m super duper glad you’re more open to visiting me now.” The girl says with a chime in her voice.

Great, back here with her again.

My mind screams to run and flee, but the same sweet voices whisper I must protect her, be her friend, and grow closer to her. Shaking my head, I stare at her.

“Colt, I’m curious how I keep coming back here?” I ask. Colt smirked and sat down in front of me.

“You come here because you want to help me get free.” She smiles, showing rows of bright white teeth in the darkness.

Constantly the voices whisper in the back of my mind as Colt speaks, and I feel myself nodding to her words.

“All I want is to be free. Is that so much to ask?”

Colt falls forward and cries into my shirt. Normally the sudden change in emotion would ring alarm bells, but my mind goes blank at the tears soiling my shirt. Holding her makes me feel like letting go, living for nothing but her, to let her become a part of me. My mind drifts away like it’s lost in the waves at sea. Then, when I’m just on the edge of slipping away onto the horizon, something rips me back to reality, like waking up from a really deep sleep abruptly. I push away from Colt, panting.

Colt stops sobbing and sighs. “So close again. I’m so close to breaking down your walls. ”Something much colder replaces Colt’s usual childish and happy demeanor.

“What...what just happened?” I ask, breathing raggedly.

“You almost let go Milly! It’s because we are meant to be! Why fight what we are to become?” Colt tilts her head.

“Because you’re evil and not natural. You just want to use me to defeat the Gods who wronged you.” I say.

She smirks."Milly use you? Don’t be silly, we are to become One being. Just the thought of what we are to be makes my primordial bones shiver with delight." Colt says, hugging herself and pretending to shake.

“I will never accept you.” Except a selfish part of me wants to accept her. And that scares me more than anything.

“Milly, I can help you kill the Embers. Even I know how much Janet and Lucy meant to you. I grew to like that Lucy girl myself.” Colt says this, her voice calm and her eyes leveled with mine.

“How? They’re backed by that thing they call Phoenix!” I scream.

Colt laughs madly. “Phoenix hahaha! You think Phoenix is a threat to me?” Her eyes seem to burn with ancient magic.

“I guess you’re the reason they’re after me?” I ask her.

Phoenix and I have been doing this dance for a couple of millennia. No need to fret about Milly. You and I will stop him and his little embers. But for Now I have to go. That Venus has sensed me. She is a strong one. It’ll be sad to see her go.

My mind awakens to a bright light shining in my eyes from a small window.

“Wakey, wakey, Emmy, we have much to do today! “Rene sings as she opens the curtain in my room.

“Uh, what time is it?” I ask, covering my eyes from the bright sunlight stinging my eyes.

“About six after the star rise, we need to get up and explore a little before we get put to work to help protect the town.” I turn over to sit up and face Rene, and I see is she has a different outfit.

She wears an imposing white armor set; it looks like something the old Valkyries would have worn. The breastplate is simple. It fits her chest perfectly and gives the impression of sturdiness. A simple long shirt covers her arms, but her shoulders are also metal, covering her whole shoulder and coming to a point. She has a long cloak that flows behind her and has the four cities’ diamonds etched onto it in golden thread. The armor looks good against her dark skin.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Phew, holy Fates Rene, you look amazing in that.” I turn my eyes away because of the light shining off it.

She smirks. “According to Venus, we will be going into battle, so I want to be ready.

I nod." Another battle, man. Why can’t we get a break?"

“Sadly, it appears battles are taking place across the entire kingdom; the Embers are slowly building up for a major attack on Madrin City.” Rene leans back against the wall.

“They’re going to attack one of the Fated cities?!“I can’t believe anyone would dare to attack the Fates.”

“They are. Most reports from the king’s spies say it. I don’t know how they will accomplish it, but they want to kill all Four of them,” Rene says.

“That’s crazy. How are they strong enough to accomplish that? The Four Fates have the power of gods. No one can match them in power?”

My mind wants to crack at the seams, and any coherent thought is the water spewing out. To even think of anyone challenging the Fates is unheard of.

“I dont know much else. That’s all Alva said to me. She said we’ll talk more about what comes next after the battle. So get your armor on, and let’s explore!” Rene raises a hand to the sky, and I smile and cheer with her.

“Yeah! Yeah! I’m thrilled about witnessing the everyday life of the actual Slyphans.”

“Then let’s go!” Rene says.

After a few moments, I’m in my leather armor and following Rene through the village streets. Honestly, it’s like being in another world. The buildings themselves are simple two-story buildings covered by many beautiful flowers in many colors. The thick vegetation grown by Venus’s power has worn the roads into the environment. We’re on top of a mountain, but you’d think we’re in a forest city because of all the trees, grass, and flowers.

Everyone in town is bustling; some Slyphans carry baskets full of flowers and other building supplies. Most Sylphans fly through the skies, skillfully dodging others flying past them.

“Such an awesome sight,” I tell Rene, watching the Sylphans move about their daily lives.

“Yeah, few of them left, but they keep living on trying to survive.” Rene smiles.

“So what will we do to help with the war effort?” I look at Rene, who sighs.

“There’s not much we can do. Venus told me earlier that she and maybe ten others are the only soldiers left in the village, so everyone is just a regular citizen. Venus wants us to hold the line and protect her people from anyone who shows up. She will deal with Zara.” Rene looks at me, and I can see the sadness in her eyes.

“Well, we won’t allow them to be hurt by the embers.” I feel a tiny fire spark in my chest, roaring to life. Thinking back to watching the citizens of Bladesfall die in droves.

“Absolutely. Venus says there is a vault at the end of town we can put the townsfolk in to keep them safe.” Rene points to a large metal door far at the north end of town with enormous rivets that seem to open.

“Good, that’s a tremendous benefit if the town is overrun,” I remark, smiling at the thought of the people being safe behind the colossal door surrounded by a vast mountain range.

“Let’s see if we can go find Venus and see what we can do to help until later tonight.”

I nod to her, and we walk through the rest of the town until we reach Venus’s home. We go inside and someone waves us in. We see Venus talking to a guard with green wings who goes off when she waves him away.

“Ahh, glad you’re here, Emelia, and good to see you, Rene, honey. I do love your armor,” Rene smirks.

“Aww, Venus, you big ole softy, are you not a thousand-year-old primordial beast?” Venus sighs, then, with one swift movement I couldn’t see, trips Rene and makes her fall flat on her butt.

“Whoops, sorry hard to control these limbs, you know, in my old age also, I am not a Primordial; I just have a long life span,” Venus says with a bummed look.

“Anyway, Emelia, Rene, I have an essential job for you two.” Venus smiles sweetly.

“Okay, sure. How can I help?” I ask and look at Rene, who isn’t smiling, just shaking her head.

“I need you two to go to the school and help the children. They are all very depressed about Zara coming. To them, the actual boogeyman is coming, and I need them to be calm and not scared. It will help the parents out tremendously.” She smiles again.

“Wait, how does that help with the battle?” I ask, confused.

“It doesn’t. Honestly, between all of us, there’s not much we can do to hold off an army. We have the gate into town fortified if they come that way. But they could drop from the sky or the mountain tops. So I’m just unsure, and I have a barrier erected around the town, but I believe Zara can break through it in a few minutes or so.” Venus looks down at the ground, looking defeated.

“We gotcha, Venny. Just point us to the brats… I mean, the wonderful children .” Rene smiles, and Venus chuckles.

“They’re good kids. They’re the future of the Sylphans. So many of them are just scared. Just go cheer them up. Usually, I would go there, but I have much to do before tonight, so I can’t.” Venus says.

“Okay, fine. What about everyone else?” I ask.

“Alva and Victoria here are going to train the few soldiers I have how to protect themselves against stronger foes as quickly as they can. Levi is watching the town’s gate for anyone. This is the best we can do to prepare when the battle starts. I will handle Zara. You protect the citizens from whoever he brings with him.” Venus says, a stern look on her face.

“Okay, where is the school?” I ask, and Venus tells us it’s at the far edge of town west of the gate.

“Oh, before you take off, Emelia.” I stop and turn to Alva.

“I can’t train you while we’re here, but there is someone at the school who will teach you more about magic as well as I can.”

I nod then Rene and I say goodbye and head off to the school.