DARKLIGHT

- 13 -

Anahid and I were on our fifth game when my father approached to see how I was doing. Instead of me, he saw my griffin form, and he was surprised at first. Then, I said softly, "Nothing to be afraid of," and he relaxed slightly, though it was clear that the sight of a Dark arkaetre put him on edge.

"So, this is Anahid," he said, clearing his throat.

I nodded. Hearing Anahid ask me to greet my father for him, I ventured, "He says hello."

"And what does Anahid think about being trapped in the same body as you?"

In my mind, Anahid crowed, I'm quite used to it, but do let him know that I'm right here. He doesn't need to ask you for me.

I transmitted the message and my dad raised his eyebrows inquisitively. "All right, Anahid. No regrets about not having your own form?"

I never knew a time like that. Siderion only released me for the first time after he was shifted. Seeing my role as translator, I began to vocalize all of what Anahid said word for word so that he and my father could have a normal conversation.

He next looked at the chess game that Anahid and I had been playing. "You two made all of that?"

Easily, yes. He draws from my power to have much.

"That's exactly how the Kireveans were said to have attacked the Order in the beginning. Their power mixed with their arkaetres' made a devastating combination. No Light mage could match it."

I've never heard the whole story, Anahid said curiously. I had the same thought, so I relayed the message with genuine interest. It struck me later that Anahid would only have as much knowledge as I did, and I knew nothing about the past political struggles of the Order at the time.

"Well," my father began, "it's more of a myth, set around the time when Light mages were becoming more common, due to the control they gained with two bodies. It wasn't all that long ago. The Order was slowly clearing out the Dark mages from positions of power, but the Dark mages were set on retaking the Order and reversing the damages that they thought were caused by our switch to Light.

"And so, they attacked. There are hundreds of stories about Dark and Light mages alike fighting in epic battles for the upper hand. Our most famous is of the Light mage Brymea and her flying lion arkaetre, Quiviu. They won many battles for the Light and killed so quickly and secretly that nobody ever figured out exactly what magic they used to defeat so many of the Kireveans. At the end of the battle, Brymea and Quiviu disappeared, and they are regarded as near gods these days.

"Anyway, the Light mages won. In the process, all Dark people were marked as dangerous, and the first laws were written against them. The Dark people were ruthless killers, as they are now. Nobody wants them to come back, and we need a world without them to stay safe."

I nodded in understanding, and my father sighed and sat back against the wall, closing his eyes with a pensive expression. I looked back down at the chessboard, cycling through the last few steps in my head. Eventually, I remembered the order. Your move.