Eclipsed Dreams

Aeliana's vision

Aeliana, the High Arcanist of Luminara, was at the heart of the Celestial Tower's chamber with her eyes staring upward towards the growing darkness. The solar and lunar eclipses were happening. The sun Solara and the moon Nocturne will be in perfect alignment tonight. The rare astronomical alignment had attracted even the council’s top officials, who were quietly encircled around her, waiting. It was Aeliana in their minds who could make sense of the prophecies that came with the celestial phenomena.

In the gathering gloom that began to stretch shadows across the stone floor, Aeliana raised her hand in a request for calm, then she spoke, her voice breaking the stillness. “The Nexus has a message for us tonight, And I fear what it may reveal”

One of the council members, a mage with lines of age and worry etched into his face, asked, “High Arcanist, are you convinced that the energy from the rift is in danger of making it…?”

“Shhh.” Aeliana’s hand stood raised. “The Nexus has answers we cannot afford to ignore.” Her voice entirely changed, now somber and full of urgency. “Just listen.”

She let her eyes shut, concentrating on the moment of totality, and allowed herself to float away into the soothing void of aether. That was when the visions started to come – a galloping rush of them, jarring and disturbing, inside her skull.

Deep within the Nexus, the formed c***k was gargantuan and jagged, and dark, smoky wisps emanating from it spread out in all directions. The crystal towers of Luminara that she once knew were just grey shells of themselves, pulsing with darkness. Figures ran through the streets, their faces twisted with fear and confusion. The ground trembled as energy cracked and faded.

Aeliana’s breath caught, and a voice, echoing only in her mind, murmured, “Look closer.”

In the chaos, three figures began to emerge—blurred and faint, but each distinct. One carried a raw, untamed energy; another stood armored and ready, while the third moved with mechanical precision. One of them was a savage force without a leash, the other one was heavy in armor, prepared to strike, the last one moved every bit like a machine with more metallic components than human features. A guiding mission exuding from the figures cleaved through the darkness like a lighthouse. And then came yet another figure.

This one was different. He was hidden within shadows with his visage hidden, but Aeliana could almost feel the burning ambition radiating off him. He was placed right in the middle of the rift as if trying to claw the Nexus that was not meant to be tamed. It was apparent. He would take everything, regardless of the consequences.

Aeliana's vision collapsed, and she blinked awake, breathing heavily. All eyes of the council members were on her and there was an obvious concern in their gazes.

“Aeliana?” moved forward another mage. “What did you manage to see?”

Aelia's hand shook a little bit before she managed to compose herself. “The Nexus... It’s coming apart. If we do nothing, we face ruin.”

The council was silent, their faces grim.

“But there is hope,” she continued, her tone commanding, as if willing herself and the others to believe it. “I saw three individuals. Each with a strength we need. They must be brought together, or the rift will tear everything apart.”

“Just who are these people?” one mage inquired anxiously.

Aeliana’s focus sharpened, the level of her voice unchanged. “Lyra, Zephyr, Kael."

The last name stirred more than a few, there were uneasy exchanges among the members of the council. A particularly elderly mage voiced his thoughts to Aeliana, not bothering to hide his frustration. “Kael the runaway aethermancer of Elphyr? High Arcanist, you can’t be serious. He’s insane. He even deserted the Enclave! Do you truly think he would help us?”

“Kael’s past is... complicated,” Aeliana said, her stare strong and unwavering as it connected with that of the mage. “But it was the Nexus itself which presented him to me. We have to believe it.”

A wave of resentment moved across the assembly, but Aeliana’s steady glare put a stop to it. “I do not think it is necessary to remind you that the Nexus picks for a purpose. “In the event that we disregard such a call, we lose all.”

She inhaled a breath in an attempt to compose herself. “Right away, our Celestial Wardens have to be dispatched. One to Elphyr for Kael and the other to Gearfall for Lyra and Zephyr.”

The council members bowed in consent with her, their faces showing an expression of concern but also resolution as they moved to execute her order. Aeliana’s eyes lingered on the darkening sky. The vision’s shadows still pressed heavily on her mind, but somewhere beneath the fear, she felt the first stirrings of hope.

In the depths of Luminara, the Nexus would be waiting.