Upon a Star: Karyana's Journey: Prologue, part 2

This chapter introduces another Planar - the representation of time - as well as the former Magelord - Medai - and his apprentice, Rauz. Each of them will have some importance in the near future.

Medai paced nervously, looking skyward every off-moment. The tall, dark-haired man would have looked overly impatient, had his face been visible under the white and gold mask he wore. The only part of his face that showed through the artisan-crafted veil was his eyes, who shone like polished copper. Even so, the king had to stop every moment to stifle a yawn. Even though he wore ebony-rimmed robes that wrapped around the cuirass he constantly wore, all of this had become heavy as his traits showed age.

The man that the people of the city only known as Citadel revered as their lord and ruler was at the twilight of his years. In fact, for scores and scores of seasons he pleaded with the Pale Lady of the Moon to grant his wish, but to no avail.

From behind the aging ruler came a knock. "Valara... what is it now?", he asked in a voice that betrayed a lingering illness.

"My lord." the copper-haired, emerald-eyed construct, which mimicked so well the ways and physique of a young woman in her early adult years, spoke in a monotonous chord. "The yearly celebration of the Moonlit Masquerade is underway. Should I call the chancellors?"

The Moonlit Masquerade. The one day of celebration that Medai never missed, for it was the one night where he could speak to Lady Asuna. "Let them wait. I wish to speak to Rauz beforehand."

"As you command." she spoke before making a polite bow, as a maid would to her lord and master, and left the room.

Walking over to the large, almost man-sized, elegantly-sculpted mirror, he was stopped by another knock at the door. However, this was left a chill through his aging bones. "Come in." he spoke, as if expecting the Harvester of Souls. The form who entered was not the one whom legends told that it would summon the great kings of the world to the realms beyond life, but something perhaps even greater... in the form of a blind woman, cloaked in grey and showing greater age than even her withered form would show.

"Panyus... Weaver of fates." Medai spoke matter-of-factually. "Have the Childlord sent you to cull my wishes?"

The elderly woman sat down. "I have come of my own volition, with a message from the Pale Lady herself..." she spoke in a raspy tone, as if her voice resonated through the echos of Skyhold, the chain of mountains believed to hold the heavens from plummeting down to the land.

Medai turned briskly, making his obsidian cape revolve around him. "She would not speak to me? or is Progeny keeping him away? For her to intrust you a message, it must be of dire importance." he spoke, a feeling of dread resonating through his aged husk.

The aged Planar grabbed an empty scroll on the table on which she sat, and unfurled it. As it did, words burned onto the cloth as if written in ink on skin. "Every year, on that very same day, you wished for Lady Asuna, Daughter of the Sky, to come down from her throne beyond the twilight and grant you an offspring. Yet, every year, your plea was called to the Divine Council, and every year, your wish was denied. What makes you think this year would be any different?"

The aging lord drew a sigh. "This body is old... and will soon fade away." he spoke, as if he knew his own death would soon come. "I would die again, only to never reach the judgment of afterlife or damnation... for your kin have damned me."

Panyus looked in the Magelord's direction, as if she could see him even with her eyes covered by a thick cloth. "Do not speak to me of things I already know. I represent fate of all, and all's fate is death, sooner or later. It is only the matter of living that changes when and where the thread of life will be cut." she spoke in the same tone Medai took moments before. "Simply read this."

Medai walked over to the scroll and examined it. As the last letters of the oracle's message bore into it, he closed his eyes after reading:

"When the Phoenix to ashes shall fall,
a star will hear the Childlord's call.
Yet, as night will end, a king shall weep,
for darkness has come, his soul to reap.
The chosen youth and the star-in-thrall,
shall meet in score, at born Shardfall,
but darkness will shape the heavenly rain,
to be asunder many times, and reforged again.
Wielding twilight and eclipse, the reborn star,
will meet her dawn beyond afar,
as time will unravel and death brings life,
the chains will shatter, and end all strife."

Medai looked back at Panyus, irritated. "This isn't a message from her... she would never speak to me in such riddles!" he said, almost ready to knock the table off its legs with the rod he used as a walking stick.

Panyus seemed insensitive to his burst of anger. "This is both your fate... and hers." she responded, before her very image started to ripple, as if it was but a shadow of the Planar that spoke to the once-Planar king.

Medai let out a heavy sigh. "My fate and hers... it couldn't be Lady Asuna's... wait." he thought aloud before walking over to the mirror. "Rauz... I beseech you!"

The elegantly-crafted mirror's surface rippled like quicksilver before a young man, a few seasons past his prime, stepped through the portal. Dressed in a leather-padded robe, ebony hair left long and in disrepair, the man looked at the aging king with oaken eyes, before kneeling. "You summoned me, my lord..." he spoke, not so much a question as it was a confirmation.

"Rise, counselor Rauz." Medai spoke before sitting down where Panyus sat only moments ago. "This is of the utmost importance." The black-haired mage, still holding an alchemist's distilling glass in his right hand, rose from his kneeling position and walked over to the table quietly. "The Weaver of fates came to me tonight, speaking the answer of Progeny."

Rauz looked surprised for a moment before noticing the burnt inscriptions on the one unfurled scroll. "This message?" he asked, as if unsure of what he was hearing or seeing.

Medai simply nodded. "'As night will end, a king shall weep, for darkness has come, his soul to reap.' The message is clear: the cycle will end tonight."

Rauz let out a sorrowful sigh. "My lord... what will Citadel become without you?", he asked, trying in vain to accept his mentor and lord's fate. "My grandfather told me of the last Kingfall of Citadel... what will come now?"

Kingfall. The time where Reveen's mortal coil would cease to exist. Such a time always brought a temporary cease of all mortal magic until Reveen's essence would find a new host, and thus bring forth a new Magelord. As Citadel was so linked to magic, Kingfall always was an ill omen, which led to times of unease, as those who still knew of the city's existence would try to infiltrate it, plunder it or worse.

"I do not know, but I will accept my fate." Medai spoke solemnly. "For in the coming cycle will come the end of my suffering. I may not live to see the Childlord's call, but I entrust you to find her."

The humbled alchemist almost dropped his distilled potion from the shock of such a revelation. "M-My... my lord! Surely you jest! I am but a tinker... surely you can find-"


"Rauz... do not take me for a fool!" Medai spoke loudly, enough to make Rauz kneel. "This is the fate of Citadel I entrust you. You would do well to hear my words!"

The alchemist's head drooped. "I am sorry, lord Medai..." he spoke, as if the Magelord's words cut through his will like a knife.

Medai let out a deep sigh. "'A star will hear the Childlord's call'..." he spoke after a moment of deep silence. "Find her... and make sure she is safe. 'The chosen youth and the star-in-thrall shall meet in score, at born Shardfall...'"

Rauz looked up. "I have never heard of Shardfall, my Lord." he commented, wondering what those words meant.

"The Planars work in mysterious ways, my friend." Medai said before grasping his war-staff, placing his walking staff away. "Look to the stars... perhaps I will be somewhere, waiting..."

As Rauz gave his mentor a salute, a feeling of dread came to him before stepping back through the mirror. "'Time will unravel and death brings life...' he thought - the few lines he truly read before Medai spoke. "I can only fear the worse..."

Author's Note

As a repeat, any and all constructive criticism is welcome, as I truly wish to publish this story.