Dragon Aster Trilogy

20: STORMLESS



Sybl didn’t know what to expect as she stood before the door to the Room of Light in Toria. There were no guards posted yet as the attack from the griffins had killed many of the High Guard left behind. But something was drawing her inside, and she wanted to know what. She pushed open the door and went in. From the center of the room, the Ain Soph Aur’s glow brightly lit the walls that were decorated in gold paint and Torian lettering.

“You have her weak eyes.”

Sybl turned around and looked to where a tall woman with long, blond hair that reached her feet stood watching her. From her grey eyes, she guessed she was the High Priestess, Yri.

“Weak eyes that deceive,” Yri said, walking closer to her. “So you would be the all-saving Caelestis, reincarnated to save the world from itself. Where was all your great power when my brother died? Where was it while our kind withered to the point the griffins could conquer us? Where is it now on this dying world that is covered in the harsh sting of ice and snow?”

“I only do what I can,” Sybl replied.

“I see that. I see how you do nothing,” she finished in a hiss, stopping a foot away from Sybl’s face. “You are as useless as your own mother. I was there, you know, when they found Serena dead in her room. I never remember being so happy.”

“My mother was a good person. You would have to be a witch to wish for death for her.”

“Witch? Oh yes, those magic-casters you once had on Earth. No, Sybl. We are not of magic and tricks. We are very real and very full of emotions. To think that I was once so close to what I am now, stalled only by Serena. After Alexia had died, all that was left was to find the right Novaist for Simera’s bed. It feels so long ago that I was the one he looked at. The one his eyes watched when we sung. The one who everyone believed would soon be his Bond and Queen. A Bond who would give Toria an heir and a future. But no, your mother had to take his heart and leave not one demon behind, but you as well.”

“I know what you’re trying to do and it won’t work,” Sybl replied, forcing the anger within her away.

“As the High Priestess, I merely wish to see the great Asil for myself. I want to see that glow in your eyes and murderous intent that nearly conquered the whole world three hundred years ago. I could be executed with my soul in peace then, knowing that there remained behind some hope of saving this world. But I don’t see any hope. You’re just a pathetic human like your mother who has no right to be here.”

“I feel sorry for you, Yri. Just when did you heart turn into black ice? Do you so much as feel anything?” Sybl asked.

“When all the world turns its back and faith on you, you too will understand. Your heart will become the same ice that mine has, and it is then that my spirit will rest knowing that there is some justice in this life. For now, there is no hope of survival for anyone. The griffins have betrayed us, and they alone have the last door to escape oblivion.”

The last door? Sybl pondered. So that’s what she was given in turn for betraying Toria to the Falls; a chance to escape to Earth. “What were you hoping for? To escape to Earth and live out the rest of your days hiding from the sunlight?” Sybl almost laughed. “Do you know what Earth’s scientists would do with something like you? They would cut you apart piece by piece like a lab rat, until the only magic left of your kind was the way your blood burned on the floor when the rays of light reached it through the window. Or they would lock you in a cage fit for a dinosaur, you know, those giant, ugly lizard-like things? And all day kids would walk by and admire the magical creature that isn’t supposed to exist. They could make a fortune like that.”

Yri’s eyes narrowed with her hate.

“Whatever the griffins promised you is nothing but lies. They don’t die from sunlight, and if I were them, I sure as hell wouldn’t keep you around for your company.”

“Do you really think that I would die so easily? Or give into your threats? You are not Queen, yet. Have you so much as told Cirrus that you cannot have his heir?”

“You can’t see if I can or not.”

Yri laughed, and Sybl felt like strangling her with her bare hands. “You would have to have the senses of a daoran to be able to see for yourself. Such a waste. But you were born as nothing and once your usefulness passes with Cirrus, you will become nothing once again.”

“Goodbye, Yri.” Sybl turned and left the Room of Light, shutting the door behind her as she did. While she held onto its handles, she willed the tears, hate, and the sheer emotion that made her eyes glow to calm back down. She had to be strong for hope to stay alive. There was so little of it left now.