Diana had opened her eyes to see she was on a stage with a patch of white light shining down her, but nobody was watching her. She was surprised to see a pile of keys underneath her and poking her skin. She watched as the keys float off of the stage and into space, apparently gravity plays be very different rules in this strange place. She looked around and couldn't find anyone who will give her a straight answer. The longer she looked for anyone off of the stage, she had started hearing an irritating buzz somewhere around her. She looked through the pile of keys underneath her. It wasn't long till she had found a floating rune cube, one of the sides were glowing bright red that matches the color of blood and it made Diana sick to the stomach at the sudden sight of it.
She looked at each of the cube's sides, without touching it, to see which primal was glowing. But there was none of the primal runes on the cube. Sky, Sun, Moon, Stars, Ocean, and Earth seemed to have been replaced with a single rune symbol that Diana had never seen before. The fierce red glow terrified Diana.
This cube wasn't naturally or had any of the primal magic. She has a terrible feeling about this. A terrible vision had appeared in front of her. Dozens of dead animals in a field. A dead deer. A dead wolf. A dead unicorn.
"NO!" Diana cried out, full of anger at the heartbreaking sight before her.
She thrown one of the keys at the cube and the cube was sent flying away from her, making the vision of dead animals disappear from her sight. She soon saw a cloaked person standing on top of the staircase, across from the stage. Diana wasn't sure how she missed the cloaked person, but she was gaining a bad feeling about the mysterious cloaked person.
Diana thinks she has a faint idea of who the person might be. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the cloaked person. Slowly, the person pulled off the hood and Diana felt a little surprised seeing a dark version of herself.
"Connect with it," said the Shade with a sick, twisted grin. "Steal from those who have wronged us."
Diana scowled at the Shade and shook her head, "No." She glared at the Shade viciously. "I never want to steal the life of an innocent just to receive magic." She didn't back down from the Shade. "I am never the vengeful type." Diana stomped her foot, becoming agitated and angry. "No more. No more killing innocents for magic. No more violence. No more war." Her blue eyes started glowing with hidden strength. "Everyone had enough of this danger. With this violence, there will be no peace. Now... leave... everyone... BE!!!"
To Diana's shock and amazement, her raised voice had sent the Shade and the red cube flying out the staircase like a massive shockwave has came out of Diana.
She smiled proudly, but a wave of weariness had washed over her. Diana had fell down to her knees, catching her breath and placed a hand over her chest to calm down her nerves. Apparently, scaring off a Shade of herself takes a lot of strength more than Diana had realized.
Everything shifted and changed around her. It wasn't long for her to realize that she's standing in a new place.
Everything around her has changed into a gorge. Diana found herself in a wide, deep rocky ravine with steep orangish cliffs. At the bottom of the ravine is a river that cuts through and pools of water can be seen. There seems to be steep and narrow paths lead up the cliff-sides that lead into caverns and looming in front of them is a peak surrounded and based by rocks.
It wasn't long till she started seeing a baby Storm dragon, Callum, Ezran, a female Moonshadow elf about her age, a male Moonshadow elf around her age, a male Skywing elf around her age, six adult Moonshadow elves (one female and five males), Soren, an young adult Sun dragon, and lastly, an adult man Skywing elf holding a staff with metal plates resembling wings surrounding a glowing stone. They were all watching her from the ledges of the ravine.
As Diana was standing in front of the peak, she suddenly heard over a dozen wings flying overhead. She looked up to a massive flock of dragons of all kinds coming down towards them. To her, all of the dragons shone with the colors of the rainbow and somehow reminded her of a flock of colorful birds or butterflies. She watched as the dragons has started to land on the ground or onto the cliffs. A few Ocean Dragons poked their heads from the pools, startling Diana.
Once the dragons had settled in their respective places, they seemed to be waiting for someone important to arrive to the ravine.
A figure seemed to emerge as if from the sun, getting larger as it approached the ravine. Diana could make out wings so broad they appeared as wide as the sun itself. Diana looked up to see a beautiful Star Dragon on top of the cliff with such regal elegance and royal authority.
The Star Dragon is, no doubt, very beautiful to perfection. The Star Dragon resembles the Storm Dragon, but the differences is pretty amazing to see. The Star Dragon's stunning white body shimmering like a million crystals. Spikes ridged along her back and two ornate horns stuck out of each side of her head. Her eyes is the brightest of pure blue, with long teeth protruding from her lean and rounded snout. The dragon's long neck lowered as her magnificent wings folded against her body, but she could see that underneath the dragon's wings has hints of sapphire blue and a glittering spray of sparkling silver scales that catch the morning light like trapped stars. Digging her large white claws into the cliff, she bowed her head slightly in greeting and locked her clear blue eyes into Diana's blue eyes.
"You too can be a great guardian one day." Diana wasn't sure where the voice came from, but it startled her.
She closed her eyes as she tried to clear her weariness and tried to calm down her nerves with her breaths. She remembers the Moon. The moon is always known for mystery and knowledge. But the moon is also known for bringing light as well as shadows and illusions for many reasons.
Diana thought of her connection to the moon. She closed her eyes and thought about the full circle of moon decorating the sky; and the constant changes of the moon. Diana's mind went blank as she held onto the same feeling she always had when she was looking at the moon. She opened her eyes and she looking around. What had happened to the memory? Why was she suddenly at an ice-covered sea?
Diana saw massive waves coming towards her and she started running across the ice she was on. But after a while, she accidentally tripped as the ice had started cracking underneath and was sent flying into the water.
She saw herself sinking into the water. Diana could see the stormy surface fade into the distance. The moon above turned into a small spot of light. There were flashes of lightning high above, but beneath the stormy seas, it was quiet and peaceful.
Diana struggled to reach the surface, but it was no use. She seemed to have forgotten how to swim. She wanted to use a Moon arcanum to perform incredible magic. She wanted to be connected to this mystical, ancient idea. But everything she tried moved her further from her goal. But she's not going to give up that easily. She'll somehow find a way to perform her own type magic that isn't the dark magic.
A soft voice spoke from the depths of the water.
"Remember..." the voice said.
Diana found herself back inside of the cottage, in her bedroom. Her mother was there with her, alive and beautiful. She was speaking to Diana gently with a warm, loving smile.
"Remember. Diana, you need to remember," Mariana said.
"But I feel so overwhelmed," replied Diana. "I have so many fears for the future and I'm afraid I'll forget who I am."
"Sometimes being brave doesn't mean you shouldn't be afraid," Mariana said softly. "Being brave means that you are afraid, but you charge into the unknown to save the innocents." Mariana gently brushed away some stray hair from Diana's eyes. "But when you slow down and let yourself become calm, your spirit and body can catch up with your mind, and your mind will help you remember who you are."
"I just have to remember who I am?" Diana asked hopefully.
"To know something truly and deeply, you must know it with your head, hand, and heart... mind, body, and spirit." Mariana leaned over and hugged Diana. "I love you with all of myself."
Suddenly, Diana let a gasp as she opened her eyes, and then she lifted herself up and looked around as she took a few shallow breaths. She looked at the window to see the rising sun and immediately gotten up from bed.
⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡
Through the sparse canopy of leaves, the light of the sun shone through in sharp rays of fiery gold. The air was so still, that even the clouds that hung in the sky were stiff with gentle warmth. All the animals were huddled in their nests and dens, trying to keep themselves hidden from the two humans training in the forest. The only creatures that dared be out were a few rabbits that munched on the leaves, and a few skittering squirrels, searching desperately for spare acorns on the forest floor.
The rustling leaves crunched underfoot as a female cloaked figure walked carefully through the almost soundless woods. Puffs of fog appeared in the air at her every breath. With a hand on her sword, her eyes, which were almost hidden by the hood of her dark black cloak, searched through the trees, looking for just that one sign. But she heard a faint rustle of leaves and grass, the faint sound of it made her smirked in dry amusement.
With a thrill of excitement, she crouched down and sprung up to the lowest branch of a great buckeye tree. Like a cat, she worked her way upwards, one branch after another, the girl had stopped at the height of three men above the ground. She realized her heart was still racing from excitement and anticipation. She could feel the forest around her and felt the presence of another heading her way.
She watched as a man covered in a dark green cloak walked quietly into the forest, looking for her. Once the man's back was turned, the apprentice silently dropped to a lower branch, crouching behind the trunk as the older man's eyes passed over her hiding spot yet again.
Once more, the girl in the tree hopped to a lower branch, this one close to where the older man's head reached. Pressing her body against the tree trunk, she held her breath as the man's head cocked slightly, and he began walking towards the girl's tree.
This is going to be fun. The girl smirked playfully, her hidden eyes twinkled with mischief.
"I know you're here." He held out his sword in front of him, not dropping his guard for even one second. The girl in the trees tensed her muscles as the older man's back turned towards her, giving her a wide open shot.
Now! With a thrill of excitement, the girl kicked off from the tree branch, brought her feet forward, and rammed into the man with the full power of her momentum.
The man let out a shout of surprise as she quickly stumbled forward, their swords clattering to the ground as they used their hands to break their fall. The man, after catching his breath, whirled around to face the girl, only to gasp when her skin nearly kissed the cold metal of the girl's blade, which were held at his throat.
After staring at each other, they both bursted out laughing. The girl gotten off of the man and withdrew the swords from the man. The two of them gotten up and retrieved their swords.
"Good job Diana," praised the man proudly to the girl. "I wasn't expecting an attack from above."
Diana pulled her hood off of her head and let her sandy-blonde hair tumbled down gracefully onto her shoulders as she said, "Thanks Uncle Roy. Weren't you the one who had taught me how to do sneak attacks?"
Roy pulled the hood of his cloak from his head and laughed at his niece's quip before said, "Point taken." He gently ruffled her hair and received an amused glare from Diana. "That's enough training little storm. Lets head back to the village."
The two of them headed back into the courtyard of the castle. But the two of them separated from each other to do their respective jobs after they have returned from their training.
She remembered all of those trips in the countryside of Katolis with her father. She had seen the mountains, the forests, and the lakes. In a way, those trips has been helpful for her sharpening her survival skills her father had taught her — how to navigate, how to camp, how to make a fire. She enjoyed stargazing with him and learning the hidden meanings behind those stars.
She remembered the lullaby that her mother had used to sing to her in the cottage and the books that her mother had used to read to Diana about Xadia's legends and myths, though Diana's favorite story was about the Xadian Guardians. Her mother has told Diana about the four kingdoms and the elves of Xadia, as well as the truth that has happened about nine years ago.
Diana snapped out of her thoughts as she entered the castle and saw a certain pair of princes. She smiled fondly at the princes as they both continued playing "Guardians of Xadia" again. She has sworn to protect the princes due to her sisterly love for them. Even at the cost of her life.