𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 

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aylin 

All that was left of Aylin's home was rubble, ice, and snow.

Just that morning, the small village had been populated by dozens of Skylights. Just one sunset ago, she'd gone to sleep surrounded by familiar faces and awoken to their cheery greetings. She'd walked among them, her neighbors, her friends, her family.

Now, they were all gone. Every single one of them. From the kind librarian to the dancing ice skaters to the friendly fisherman. All of the Skylights she'd come to love, gone just like that.

Aylin sniffed, blinking hard to stop the tears before they could fall. Beside her, Eden was pacing back and forth across the floor, as unable to sit still as ever. Her eyes blazed, her fury born of the same thing causing Aylin's grief.

Footsteps from outside made Aylin jump, and she looked up just as Valor and Valiance stepped into her view, with Valiance's leg tightly woven into a makeshift cast. One look told her that they hadn't miraculously found a hiding Skylight, and that they were just as drained and exhausted as she was.

"Here." Valor walked over to the empty fireplace, dropping an armful of frosted-over wood. They were taking shelter in the least-destroyed building they could find, one with three walls mostly intact and a partial roof. They'd cleared out the debris and stacked some of it up where the missing wall should have been, and the twins had somehow found a bit of canvas to stretch over the gaps in the ceiling.

Valiance limped over to where Aylin was seated on a cold stone bench, tucking a scrap of blanket over the Skykid's shoulders. Wordlessly, the two girls embraced, and only then did Aylin realize how much she was trembling.

"What are we going to do?" Aylin sniffed, leaning into her friend's warmth.

"Well, we can't stay here." Eden said, now crouched beside Valor at the fireplace. The two were sharing their light, trying to summon enough heat to start a fire.

"We should head west." Aylin said without thinking. "There are only storms in the north, and the nearest land to the south is too far to fly to. And the east..."

"Nothing but a wasteland." Valor finished for her.

"So what, run and hide?" Eden exclaimed, their temper momentarily fueling them. Their hands glowed with a sudden light, and a small flame sprung to life on the wood.

"We should make you angry more often." Valor deadpanned, glancing at the light fading from Eden's hands. "More productive than being supportive."

Eden scowled, but Aylin spoke up before they could start to bicker. "We have to run, Eden. We can't fight those... things."

She stood, walking over to the newly made fire and sinking down beside it. Its warmth enveloped her, and she sighed as it chased away the icy cold numbing her from the inside.

Valiance and Valor were looking at each other, eyes flashing as though they were having an unspoken debate. Eden didn't miss it, her eyes darting between the twins until she finally snapped, "Just say it already!"

Valor glared and Valiance grinned, saying slowly. "What if we could? Fight those things, I mean."

Aylin blinked, glancing at the girl nervously. "What are you saying?"

"I mean, they're not Skylights... but they're still creatures." Valiance said, as though she were working it out as she spoke. "And all creatures have weaknesses. Don't they, Aylin?"

"Yeah..." Aylin frowned, mind flashing to the countless passages she'd read about the various creatures across the realms. It was true that none of them were immortal, that all of them had blind spots and fears.

"So if that's true, it's only a matter of tracking them down, figuring out what those weaknesses are, and exploiting them." Valor slammed a fist against their palm. "We'll show those things they can't pick on us."

Aylin looked to Eden, not surprised to find that their gaze was ablaze with light. Their eyes shone with that daring, restless energy that controlled Eden the way Aylin's curiosity and concern controlled her.

"You can't be serious." Aylin stood, moving instinctively to put herself between Eden and the twins. "Didn't you see those things? If all of the grown Skylights from here couldn't fight them, then four Skykids don't stand a chance."

"We have to try." Eden said, grasping Aylin's hands. "Aylin, we can't just abandon them all. We can't just do nothing."

Aylin hesitated, unshed tears stinging her eyes, but Valiance spoke up before she could protest.

"We wouldn't just be flying out there blindly." She said, toying with the edge of her cape. "We would head west first, regroup and recover, make a plan. And then, as soon as we're ready, we'll follow those creatures and take them down."

"We'll never be ready." Aylin said softly. "And even if we were, those things flew off north-east. We'd never be able to catch them."

"Ah, but we will be." Valor said, smiling. They exchanged a glance with Valiance, eyes twinkling. "We know a certain someone that can... help."