Page 1

The young Neven female before me shifted restlessly as I watched from the window ledge, my current tiny, feathered form unassuming and unnoticed. Along with the matronly chaperone slumbering by the door, a dozen acolytes slept within the chamber, yet only one drew my attention.

She stirred, her hand briefly seeking something only to be found in her dreams, before her breathing deepened again, and she stilled. Even in sleep, her radiant beauty was utterly captivating. Her pale limbs were tucked into herself, her golden-blonde hair splayed out on the pillow, and one pale wing tipped in gold curved around her protectively. The light that gathered within this citadel, tainted as it had become, gathered around her too. Whispering to her as she slept. Trying to warn her away, even as it called to her.

There was much beauty amongst her kind, but she was a shining light in the midst of them all. Not only because she looked like me in another form I sometimes took, but because she shone from within. Her life had not been easy, and with all that was to come, it would not be for some time.

For eons I had drifted before I became aware of this world, drawn by the rare energy within it that allowed me to take other forms—to become something substantial. For the first time, I had felt . Others, who had become scattered amongst the vastness of eternity, had followed.

At first, it had been a joy to walk amongst the peoples of this world, both the Neven and the humans who co-existed peacefully here. Their vibrancy and simple pleasures became a boundless curiosity for me. Their laughter was infectious, their hugs a revelation. Other, shyer beings preferred to remain hidden, even as they, too, explored.

As ageless as I was, in my naivety, I had thought to offer the Neven a gift. They were particularly attuned to the energy within this world and its unique rhythms. Though the humans were a natural part of its very essence, they hadn’t seemed able to recognize it flowing within and between them.

Showing the Neven how to wield this energy through the light I shared with them—light transformed into something tangible they could hold and shape to their will—had opened their world up to new possibilities and revelations.

They named it lumis, and for a time, they flourished. But I hadn’t understood how the fleeting nature of their existence affected their spirit—how their desires drove them to grasp at all they could before their lives flickered out again.

I’d wanted for the Neven to grow, transcend. To become more attuned to the wonder of their own existence. However, my gift changed them and the very balance of the world they lived within, and not in the way I’d hoped. Instead, the world I had cherished ruptured, with my gift as the catalyst.

That there must be balance in all living things was a hard lesson to learn. For the first time, I felt the full force of sorrow and withdrew. Fleeing back into the empty nothingness of the cosmos would have been the easy option, but I couldn’t abandon the Neven.

Help had come from unexpected places. Darkness, who had chased me across the eons, and the Fates themselves, bent their own rules to help save what I had broken. Having been warned not to intervene for fear of widening the unbalance, I watched from afar, waiting through centuries as fates stumbled and fell, consumed by the ravenous hunger of those who could not wield my light.

These memories haunted me now, as a shift in the current of this world had me drawing close again.

To her. The pure-hearted Neven who had reached out a hand of friendship—to me, of all beings. Not that she remembered the moment, but I would for an eternity.

Such a fleeting thing, life, for the Neven and the humans who lived it. Hers would be no less so, but the ripples she would leave behind would be felt by many.

Shadows billowed as Darkness joined me on the window ledge. He brought comfort while, together, we awaited the first rays of dawn. This new day drew both our gazes, as the strings of fate we had each nudged became intertwined.

“Is he here?” I asked.

The reply came on a breath of night, unheard by any but me. “Yes. He made it through the halo unseen. I watched over him.”

Darkness took a feathered form similar to mine—a rarity, for he found the forms of this world difficult to maintain. Understandable, given he was vast and ruled the cosmos.

He settled in close, his black-as-night feathers stark against my pretty blue ones as his much larger body pressed to mine and his wing settled over me, his touch in any form comforting. I had been many things throughout the eons of my existence, yet only while existing in this world had I learned this pleasure, which was both simple and extraordinarily rare.

The Neven had named me the Goddess of Light, and I had once reveled in the devotion within their words. Now, I preferred to be known by the name I had chosen for myself—Nur.

The few who knew of the existence of my love and companion called him the God of Darkness. Though he protected many within his shadows, he preferred to remain aloof. To me, he was simply Rath.

Now, the only name that mattered was hers—the Neven we watched over as the day approached—for it was she who brought hope once again.

Her name was Alula.

She was my friend.