A thousand years ago, the Luminar clan sacrificed their greatest mages to help the Sovereign imprison the Abyssals in the dark chasm at the world's edge. A thousand years later, because the Abyssal princess casually remarked, “I’ve heard that Luminar marrow can cure my migraines,” my people were slaughtered to the last. I stood amidst the smoldering ruins of my home, a single thought echoing in the silence. “Mother,” I whispered to the ashes, “you always told me the realms were at peace, that the Sovereign was a benevolent ruler. You said my untamed power was a cataclysm waiting to happen, a danger to this fragile world.” “You had my magic bound, my true strength suppressed. Well, what about now? Do you still believe that?” 1 The day before the massacre, my little brother—still a formless, chittering ball of light—had been begging me to go to the mortal realm to buy him candied star-apples. He was being annoying, and I was about to swat him away with my paw. But Mother stopped me, her voice a gentle chide. “Lyra, that’s your brother.” “He is your closest kin in all the heavens and all the earth. You can’t treat him like some mindless beast.” Closest kin? I was born with a muted soul, the full spectrum of emotions a language I could not comprehend. But I always listened to my mother. I retracted my claws and promised to bring him his treat the next day. He was so overjoyed he tumbled across the ground in a dizzying spiral of light. I watched him, disgusted. “So noisy,” I muttered. But when the first rays of dawn broke, I was already soaring through the clouds, heading down to the mortal markets to buy his candied apples. 2 Now, I stood at the threshold of my home, the sticky-sweet apples still in my hand, staring into a nightmare. The ground was littered with the corpses of Luminars. My little brother, whose bright face had been turned up to me in laughter just this morning, now lay in two pieces. His head was severed from his body, his skull shattered, his brains pooling on the scorched earth. With trembling fingers, I pried open his tightly clenched fist. Inside was the lumina shard I had casually tossed to him on his hundredth birthday. I stared at the shard for a long, silent moment before my voice came out, a dry rasp. “You fool. You’re dead. Why were you still holding this?” “Then again,” I murmured, tracing the cracks in its surface, “the shard is warped. It must have hurt a great deal, didn’t it?” I sat there, frozen in the field of death, from dawn until the deepest dark of night. 3 When Lord Caelus, the Celestial of Mercy, arrived, his eyes widened in shock to see me alive. Then, a slow shake of his head. “Thank the heavens, a survivor. The Luminar line is not truly extinct.” I looked up at him, my mind a hollow void. “What do I do now?” I asked. It took him a moment to understand my question. He sighed, a sound heavy with practiced pity. “Rest easy, child. I will protect you.” “Sovereign Kaelan was… reckless this time. To cause such a catastrophe over a whim of the Abyssal princess… I have already reprimanded him.” “He won’t trouble you again.” The words didn’t make sense. “But… Mother told me there’s a law,” I said, my voice flat. “A life for a life. Why did you only scold him?” At my question, the benevolent mask on Lord Caelus’s face began to crack. A spark of anger ignited in his eyes. “Absurd! Do you have any idea who you speak of?” “He is the Sovereign of all creation! The one who vanquished the demons and quelled the monsters, who bought a thousand years of peace for these realms. He is the God-King!” “How dare you entertain the thought of deicide?” A crushing divine pressure slammed down on me, squeezing the air from my lungs. I opened my mouth to speak, but only a mouthful of warm, metallic blood spilled out. I gritted my teeth, forcing the words out. “You’re wrong.” “Mother told me. This peace was never his alone to claim. The Luminars gave nine-tenths of our great mages. The dragons were nearly wiped out. That is the price of this peace. It wasn’t his work alone.” With every word I spoke, the weight on my soul doubled. I could feel my bones grinding to dust, my very essence on the verge of being snuffed out from existence. Just as I was about to break, the world itself began to tremble. I felt them—a countless, overwhelming tide of my kind, of all the ancient beasts, their spirits rushing towards me from every corner of creation. “Lord Caelus, show mercy!” “Lord Caelus, stay your hand!” “Lord Caelus, have mercy!” The cries grew louder, a chorus of roars and shrieks and bellows. I could hear the roar of a dragon, the cry of a phoenix, the snarl of a great cat… Their collective will formed a protective barrier around me. And then, I sank into darkness. 4 When I awoke, I was in the Celestial Palace. Sovereign Kaelan looked down at me from his throne, his gaze that of a man studying an insect. “Elara’s migraines are much improved,” he stated, his voice devoid of emotion. “Your clan has proven its use. Your existence was not entirely in vain.” “I will issue a decree. You will be granted the title of a Divine Maiden. Do not cause any more trouble.” Ignoring the deep, throbbing pain in my bones, I met his gaze stubbornly. “But my mother said a life for a life is the highest law.” “I don’t want to be a Divine Maiden.” “I only ask that the Sovereign respects the highest law.” Kaelan studied me for a long moment, then a slow, cruel smile spread across his face. “Do you know who Elara is?” “If we are to speak of the highest law, then healing Elara is the most important duty in all the realms. A thousand years ago, Elara was a Celestial Goddess. She willingly sacrificed herself, her own flesh and blood, to mend this broken world.” “If we are to speak of laws and debts, then every living thing in this universe owes her their existence.” When he spoke of Elara, his eyes shone with a brilliant, fervent light. It was the same light I used to see in my father’s eyes when he looked at my mother. I lowered my head and said nothing more. I tried to think, to understand if what he said was true. But my mind is simple, and after a long time, I still couldn’t grasp it. If only Mother were here. She would have told me if he was right. Kaelan seemed to have lost interest in the conversation. He waved a hand, a gesture of dismissal. But I didn’t move. I stubbornly believed that the deaths of my mother, my father, my little brother, my uncles and aunts… they couldn’t just be forgotten. He was beginning to get annoyed. “What more do you want?” I thought for a moment, then held fast to the one truth I understood. “A life for a life.” The instant the words left my mouth, a bolt of pure energy slammed into me, throwing me across the polished floor. I coughed up a pool of blood. Kaelan’s voice dripped with scorn. “You are an ant. Only the strong have the right to speak their desires. Only the strong hold the power of life and death.” “And truth? Truth has always been a luxury of the victor.” I clutched my chest and staggered to my feet, nodding numbly. So, I have to be stronger than him to kill him. So, as long as I’m stronger than him, I can kill him. He should have just said so from the start. It would have saved me so much time. What a pity. My mother never taught me that might makes right. She only ever told me to win others over with reason. 5 As I stumbled out of the throne room, clutching my chest, I bumped into a woman in a green dress, her face alight with a joyful smile. The moment she saw me, her eyes lit up. She threw herself at Kaelan. “Oh, Kaelan! There’s still one more Luminar!” “Quick, carve her brain out for me!” “Do it while she’s alive! The last one, the little one with the fiery crest, I ate him while he was still alive, you know. The effect was so much better!” Her words hung in the air. I couldn’t stop myself. I turned my head and looked at him. In the entire Luminar clan, only my little brother had a fiery crest on his head. Kaelan stroked her hair, his voice dripping with affection. “This is the last Luminar in the world, my love.” “We cannot kill her. Otherwise, the other beasts will be difficult to control.” Elara pouted. “It’s just one animal. What’s the big deal?” I didn’t listen to another word. I limped out of the celestial realm, my body a vessel of cold, hollow pain. Mother, you used to tell me that the gods loved all their children. But why… why does it feel so different from what you said? 6 When I returned to the mortal realm, Lord Dragon and Lady Phoenix were waiting for me at my ruined home. When they saw me return, battered and broken, they both trembled with a silent, helpless rage. Then, they sighed, their anger collapsing into grief. Lady Phoenix stroked my hair. “Lyra, child. Don’t provoke them again.” “Just live. Please, just live.” I looked at her, uncomprehending. “Why?” “Shouldn’t a life be paid for with a life?” “No,” she said, shaking her head, tears welling in her eyes. “Living is what matters most.” “Lyra, you are the last of the Luminars. You are the last drop of their blood. Nothing is more important than your survival.” “Your mother… she would not have wanted you to seek revenge.” “She would only have wanted you to live.” I said nothing more. I turned, found a shovel, and began to dig. My father, my mother, my foolish little brother… they deserved a proper burial. As I held my brother’s severed head, I remembered Elara’s words—that she’d had his brain carved out while he was still alive. It must have hurt so much. It must have hurt terribly. No wonder the lumina shard in his hand was cracked and bent out of shape. This morning he was a vibrant, chittering life. Now he was as cold as a block of ice. No one would ever chirp “sister, sister” at me again. It was so quiet. Yes, it was quiet, but… it was too quiet. A gust of wind blew past, and my eyes stung. Why were there tears? Mother said I was born with a muted soul. It must have been the wind. Yes, that’s all it was… 7 After burying my parents, I leaned against the stone marker I’d erected. I began to talk, my words a low murmur. “Mother, you told me the realms were at peace, that the Sovereign was benevolent.” “What about now? Do you still believe that?” “Mother, I still believe a life should be paid for with a life.” “Mother, I’m going to the Whispering Glade. I’m going to take back the other half of my power.” “Mother, I don’t want to listen to you anymore.” “Mother, you can’t blame me for this…” “Mother… I just… I miss you a little. And I miss my brother, too.” “Mother…”