I’ve heard the siren song of the open road since I was young. I think I was five years old the first time I looked at the horizon and thought, “What’s over there?”
So it didn’t really surprise me when I realized that I would be leaving home on the day before my fifteenth birthday. After all, what was there to be had by staying? I could participate in the “Grand Game”?
Trying to avoid my cousins so I could survive, or killing them for power? Hard pass. Even if I wasn’t outnumbered severely, I just didn’t want to do it. The only acceptable reason to kill was to protect yourself or others. And if I stayed, it wouldn’t be self-defense. I could protect myself much more easily by just leaving. Remaining meant I had chosen to murder for power.
What kind of monster could revel in that?
And if I stayed, and somehow we won, then what? Father becomes the head of the house when Grandfather dies, and my kids battle Alessia’s and Lillian’s kids to the death as the cycle continues? I couldn’t do that to either of my darling sisters. Just the thought of tears in their eyes as they discovered that my kids had killed theirs? It was too much to bear.
All to “protect the world by killing Cheliax’s enemies.” If that’s what it takes to save the world, then better to let that world die.
Definitely best for me to leave. Go see the world and experience all the wonders it had. That was the council of the spirit I contacted when training to conjure my eidolon as well. We’d hide that I’d managed to make a pact, then we’d sneak out in the middle of the night and go see the world, the stars as our guide.
When I told Mother, I saw relief wash over her face. She’d never liked the Grand Game, and I could see that the thought of one of us dying to it terrified her. So she told me not to tell my father, and she gave me a sack of coins to help my journey.
On the eve of my birthday, I waited until everyone was asleep. Then I went to the rooms of each of my sisters, and kissed them on the forehead to say goodbye. Little Lillian stirred, and I feared she would wake, but she muttered something in her sleep, rolled over and slipped into a comfortable sleep once more.
Once I was safely over the horizon, I performed the ritual for the first time, summoning the being I had contacted, giving her a form with which to interact with our world without endangering her true body. And, at the end, I completed the ritual, granting her a new name.
A being with skin the color of driven snow, hair darker than an eclipse and butterfly wings that appeared like the shimmering cosmos stood before me. “It is good to finally meet you, Alena,” she said.
“And you as well, Moonpath,” I answered. I had picked out the name months prior, but in the moment, my mind blanked and I couldn’t remember the elven word, so I’d excitedly blurted out what it meant in Common.
She seemed to like it, so I don’t see any reason to complain.
We traveled first to the little town near the lands owned by the Promeio family. As we reached it, we spotted a trio of wagons out in front of the inn. One of the men loading them spotted us and laughed. “Hey, Raul, I think I figured out why we had to wait.”
A man with graying hair peaked out from behind the wagon. “I do believe you’re right. Excuse me, miss, but might you be starting out on a journey?”
I was startled. “I…am.”
He grinned. “Thought as much. Well, we’re heading north through Nidal to Varisia on a pilgrimage. You’re welcome to travel with us as far as our paths coincide, if you wish.”
I stared at the man for a moment, then spotted the holy symbol around his neck. Desnan pilgrims. This was no coincidence. Someone was watching out for me from above. “I had no direction in mind, so one way is as good as another.”
He laughed. “I see why the Thyrlien is tagging along at your heel, miss. Come. You can ride in the front wagon with me so you can best see the world ahead of us.”
I traveled with them for over a month. It was Raul, the old cleric, who taught me all about Desna, as well as gave me my first starknife. For some reason, when I grasped the weapon, it felt right. When I swung it, it wasn’t as though I was moving my limbs. It was as though I was swinging the weapon with my mind, and my limbs went along for the ride.
I traveled with them for a good while. Then, one day, I felt myself pulled on a different path. So I said my goodbyes and traveled a new road. Moonpath and I wandered near and far, to cities and remote settlements. Just going wherever our whims took us. We’d earn money by helping out people.
I could use my magic, combined with a drop of my own blood, to cause people’s wounds to mend. Other times, I’d sing for our supper. Or muck out a stable. The pair of us once fought some wolves that had been taking a farmer’s livestock, and in return, we had a place to stay for the night and in the morning, we left with a large hunk of cheese and a side of bacon from the grateful farmer.
But not all destinations were quite so hospitable. For instance, we once wound up in a village that was being attacked by a dragon.
Dragons are pretty easy to identify if you see one. But I’d never heard of a dragon that looked like this. Its scales were black, but they glowed with sickly green flecks. And its wings were even stranger. They looked like they had the starry skies within them.
“Butterfly preserve us,” Moonpath breathed.
“What is it?”
“That’s one of the terrors that dwells in the darkness between stars,” she answered. “A void dragon. If I had to guess, he’s at least a hundred years old.”
I watched for a moment more. “The villagers have no chance against something like that!”
She nodded. “I will distract it since I cannot permanently die in this form. You try to help as many escape as possible.”
“Don’t do anything risky. Buy us as much time as possible.” I cast a few spells on her to give her as much time as I could as well as bolster our speeds, then we sped into combat.
I wish I could describe what happened next, but I’ve never been that scared in my life. I did manage to begin helping the villagers fleeing for shelter. That much I remember. Then suddenly, through our connection, I felt Moonpath fall.
And the dragon was upon me. He knocked me to the ground and slashed me with one of his claws. He reared up to bite my head clean off. I raised my starknife to try to deflect the blow…and then he stopped.
I couldn’t understand why at first, but then I heard a horn. I’d never heard a horn sounding like that before. But somehow despite her constructed body having been destroyed and her spirit returned to Elysium, Moonpath heard it as well. I know this because I heard her voice through our connection.
She was singing.
“Glorious and true rises the song of hope
As it is carried upon the wistful wind!
And gladdened are the hearts of travelers,
As the stars sing of victory!
For we know of the love of our Goddess,
As the warmth is carried upon delicate wing!”
And then I heard the hoofbeats, and a voice. “RIDERS OF THE WING!” roared the voice of a hafling. “FORWARD!”
I saw several mounted knights slam into the dragon with their lances, and then the shock of everything finally hit me, and I passed out.
I awoke the next morning on a hard bed in the village’s inn, one of the few buildings that had survived. A green-haired halfling was seated next to the bed, dozing, but stirred as I began to sit up. “Glad to see you made it,” he said. Twin scars ran across the side of his head and curved down across his left cheek, but they didn’t obstruct the smile he gave me too badly. “We were afraid you wouldn’t.”
“Who are you?” I asked.
“I’m Captain Duralim Drake, of the Riders of the Wing. We’re followers of Desna who protect travelers and those in need, guided by prophecies.”
“So, you were sent by Desna?”
“More or less, though I suspect that we weren’t the only ones.” As he said this, he indicated my starknife, which was lying on the table next to me. “The villagers tell me that you fought with the help of a celestial that gave her life to protect them?”
“That’s Moonpath. She’s my eidolon.” I could see confusion on his face. “They’re beings from other planes summoned by our magic. We give them form with our thoughts, though I did my best to give her a form that looks like how she described her normal form.”
“I see. Then she truly is an azata. That makes me even more certain that the prophecy was about you and the dragon.”
“Prophecy?”
“The women of our order are granted visions by Desna, giving us hints of where we are needed. My son’s mother, who is off…somewhere only she and Desna know, sent me a letter stating that she’d had a vision in her dreams, along with a map leading to this village.”
“So these visions come in dreams?”
“Not normally, no. Usually they come while looking up at the stars.”
“I see. Did this prophecy say anything in particular?”
He slapped his forehead. “Right, of course you’d be curious about that. One second. I made a copy of it. It’s in my pack on my horse. I’ll be right back.”
While he was gone, I summoned Moonpath. She hugged me. “I’m so glad you’re not hurt.”
“Back at you.”
“I was never in danger.”
“I can worry anyway, right?”
“You are free to do as you wish.”
Drake took her presence in stride when he arrived, but took a moment to give her a reverent greeting. He then produced a parchment. “Sorry, most of the prophecy was smudged when it reached us. But the map with the date and location was clear enough. We left the smudged parts blank.”
There was a large blank part at the top, then it began:
“In a land far off will
Darkness and Light meet.
And is oft the case, vie for the land.
The small shall weep
And hide in their homes
Pray that
is not as it seems.
Fear
By the gods, fear it.
Run from ”
“I don’t understand it,” I said, handing it back.
“Darn. We were hoping you would. Oh well. It’s clear enough that you and the dragon were the light and the darkness. So we saved you and fulfilled the prophecy. Anyway, I need to go tend to my horse.”
I ate a breakfast brought in by the innkeeper’s daughter, then Drake returned once more. “We’re about to head out. Look, we can’t wait for you to heal up fully, but if you’re ever interested in joining our order, follow this map here. I have a feeling our goddess has plans for you.”
There was a feeling deep in my stomach that he was right. My feet itched to get up and follow the road immediately, but I could tell I needed to heal first. So I rested for three days before setting out for the house on the map.
***
As I approached the house, I spotted a halfling boy playing in the yard. He was covered in mud and had a stick he was wielding like it was a spear. I cocked my head as I watched him charge, pretending he was on a horse. He roared in triumph as he scored a hit on his imaginary foe. I clapped for him, encouraging his playfulness.
It was then that he seemed to notice me. He ran over. “You’re pretty,” he said, the little flirt. He was, what, three or four years old and that was the first thing he said upon meeting a woman for the first time? I doubt it was calculated. He probably just hadn’t learned to filter his thoughts yet. “Your hair looks nice.”
“Well, thank you, good sir knight,” I said. “I’d return the compliment, but your hair appears to be caked in mud. The parts I can see are a very nice shade of green, though.”
He beamed. “Got it from Dad.”
I knelt down and leaned in conspiratorially. “You might be an aasimar like me. That means we’re angel touched.”
His eyes went wide. “Angel?! Like the lady following you?”
“I am no angel,” Moonpath replied. Then she smiled. “But you are a child, not yet versed on the ways of your own people, much less mine, so that is forgivable. Still, I am an azata, one of the denizens of Elysium, not an angel, who dwell in all of the heavenly realms.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Azata.”
“I’m sure no offense was taken,” I answered for her. “And it’s easier to just use our names. This is Moonpath, and I’m Alena.”
He nodded, then looked at each of us intently, repeating our names several times while poking his forehead with his finger in a ritual meant to help him remember them for later. It was quite frankly adorable. When he was done, he smiled. “I’m Nakoda. Nakoda Drake.”
Actually, Lillian does something similar. No forehead poking. She just repeats things when she wants to remember them. Assuming she knows the word. She’s only two, after all. Well, was only two. Her birthday has passed since then. She’s three already.
“You okay?” the child asked. “You look sad.”
“Sorry. I was just thinking of my baby sister. I haven’t seen her in about a year.”
He frowned. “I’m sorry. You must love her lots.”
I nodded. “I do.”
“I always wanted a brother or sister. But Momma had to go somewhere for Lady Desna. That’s what Dad says.” His shoulders slumped. “But if she never comes back I’ll never have a brother or sister.”
That poor kid. Was that how Lillian was feeling, not knowing if she’d ever see me again? How about Alessia? She was only a few years younger than me, but she was still a kid too. “I could be your sister, if you like.”
His eyes grew wide again. “Really?”
I nodded. “I don’t see why not. After all, sometimes you’re born to family, and sometimes you choose your family.”
He looked at the ground bashfully. It was adorable. “W-Will you be my friend?”
“What kind of a sister would I be if I couldn’t be your friend? Of course I will.”
He squealed in delight and hugged me, then realization hit him and he stepped back. “Oh no! I got mud on your pretty clothes! Auntie Oli’s gonna get mad!”
I laughed. “It’ll wash off. In fact, there looks to be a creek right over there. I’ll just take a quick swim and it’ll come right off. Do you want to wash your clothes off too?”
He shook his head. “No creek by myself, Auntie Oli said.”
“You won’t be by yourself,” Moonpath said. “I will be watching you, and Alena will be in the water as well.”
His eyes went wide with realization. “Okay, let’s swim!” His grin was infectious as he ran straight into the water. I dropped off my pack and weapon belt and did the same, mentally asking Moonpath to prepare a small fire in the firepit so we would have a way to dry after.
The evening stars were beginning to twinkle in the sky once we’d finished drying in front of the fire. The child was sitting in my lap, singing happily as we looked at the Desna’s Tapestry. It was clear he was beginning to doze, but he looked up at me and began talking. “One day, I’ma be a knight like Dad. A Rider of the Wing. Go around, beat up the bad guys, save people who aren’t strong. And I’ll ride a horse! He’ll be awesome and super-fast! And my friend. No. my brother! So, uh, one day, you’ll have a horse for a brother. Hope that’s okay.”
“That sounds wonderful,” I said. “And maybe one day, I’ll introduce you to my sisters. The littlest one is just a couple years younger than you, so I’m sure the two of you will be friends.”
“Do you think so?”
“I do. After all. You’ll have a horse, and she likes horses.”
He nodded, his face serious. Yay! Everybody likes horses!”
I nodded, and began humming my favorite traveling song. Nakoda fell asleep before the sun had even finished setting.
I carried him to the door once the sun was down and knocked politely. A halfling woman answered. Usually halflings were all cute to some degree, but not this one. Her face was weathered and lined, and her scowl seemed fixed in place. It only deepened as her dark, piercing eyes spotted Nakoda in my arms. “Fallen asleep outside again? That boy will be the death of me. Well, you might as well come in.”
“Right. I’m Alena and I –”
“I know who you are. Our infinitely forgetful Knight Captain ACTUALLY remembered to send a note ahead for once. So you’re the one from Nima’s prophecy. I guess you’ll be wanting to see it? Of course you will. Fine then. Follow me. Just drop the boy on the floor. He’ll realize he needs to get to bed already and hobble himself over to it in short order.”
I set Nakoda gently on a sofa and followed her into another room. She pulled out a carefully folded parchment and handed it to me. Sure as they’d said, it was smudged and unreadable.
“Dammit!” the woman cursed, dropping her candle. It went out, plunging the room into darkness.
I gasped as the parchment in my hand suddenly became readable. It must have been written in an ink that could only be seen by someone with darkvision, and only in the dark.
In a land far off will
Darkness and Light meet.
And is oft the case, vie for the land.
The small shall weep
And hide in their homes
Terrified of what shall come, when Dark and Light meet.
But whether that is the hour of twilight
Or of a new dawn
Is yet to be seen.
Pray that restful dark envelops the land
And the night comes.
For the light is not as it seems.
Fear the sun that rises in Hell.
By the gods, fear it.
Run from the Light.
But it was the last line that most terrified me. And not just because it had a mark of Asmodeus drawn on either side of the last word.
“Run from the light,” I read aloud. And a terror beyond anything I’ve ever known filled me, though I still, to this day, have no idea why it so terrified me, or what it could possibly mean.