//------------------------------// // Blueshift Dreams pt2 // Story: An Iron Sunset // by Dragon Angel Knight //------------------------------// Blueshift Dreams pt 2 After having been gifted the Awoken talisman, Mara and Shaxx had left Sunset to her own devices, but not before the Queen had shown Sunset to a massive library in the temple closest to where they had first appeared in the Dreaming City. “Every tome here is a recreation of something from before the Golden Age,” Mara said as she gestured around, “Fantasy, history, philosophy, science, if you can think of it, it is here somewhere.” “wow….” the mare said softly as she took in the structure, “Not even the Cryptarchs have a library this extensive.” “Indeed,” Mara smiled as she took in the awestruck look on the filly’s face, “And it is all available for your perusal.” “Are… you sure that’s wise?” Shaxx asked from Mara’s side, “Ikora took her to the Cryptarch’s library one time for a lesson and we found her there, three days later, STILL reading tomes…. I think she built a book fort….” “That was one time!!” Sunset pouted indignantly, “One time I make a book fort and I never live it down…” “Well, you do have to admit, it was cute,” Philomena chimed in, “All curled up under the blanket the Cryptarch had given you, books piled all around… and you cuddling me like I was some plush doll.” A short squee was heard by Sunset and Shaxx that echoed slightly around the room. They both turned and looked at Mara Sov who was blushing heavily at the sudden attention. “Yes, well,” Shaxx began after clearing his throat and looking away from the daggers being thrown his way from Mara’s glare, “The point is I think Sunset will be fine while we discuss why you brought me here. Correct, Your Highness?” “Correct,” Mara replied, giving Sunset a last look before heading out, Shaxx in tow. “Have fun, Uncle Shaxx!!” Sunset yelled after them. `~`~`~`~`~`~ A few hours later, or so it seemed to Sunset, she got up and stretched her limbs out, much like a cat would and looked around. There was nothing overtly going on, but… the mare could SWEAR she’d heard a slight chuckling just barely outside the range of her hearing. “Do you hear that?” Sunset asked her Ghost. “What do you mean? I’m not picking up anything, at least not right this second,” Philomena replied. Looking around again, Sunset started noticing small changes in the things around her, the only constants being herself and Philomena. “Things are different… I need my gear,” the mare said cautiously, “Something’s not right.” “Nothing’s showing up for me, but one equip job coming right up,” Philomena said as she decompiled. Sunset’s armor and weapons appeared on her body in that same instant, arming the young Iron Lady for anything that may come their way. “Slow and steady, like Uncle Cayde taught me,” Sunset whispered to herself as she began moving forward, Subtle Calamity out and ready to be drawn by her telekinetic field. As she moved forward, the mare noticed even more… twists in the reality around her, like someone had purposefully built the entire structure as a cage, but didn’t bother to check to see if it had any rat holes. Somehow, the library was far FAR behind her as well, and in front of her instead was a massive arch made of the same crystaline stone that made up the majority of the Dreaming City. “You are finally here! Iron Lady. Sun’s Child.” The voice Sunset heard echoed all around her, startling her into nocking and almost loosing an arrow into the crystals blocking the opening in front of her. “Who’s there?!” Sunset asked, barely able to keep the fear in her voice from being noticed. “After all this time, there has been one other with your Shape, little Light.” “What do you mean?” Sunset asked the open air again, lowering her bow just a bit, “What do you mean, ‘one other’?” “Come, I would quite like to meet you…. O Phoenix, mine….” After that last echoing voice faded into the air around her, Sunset heard a loud grinding coming from her left, an alcove leading into a crystal tunnel opening up to her. Looking around and getting a sudden feeling of anxiety about everything, the mare looked back at the tunnel and cautiously made her way through it. Unlike the perfectly cut hallways of the rest of the Dreaming City, this one looked like it had been haphazardly carved out of the surrounding Amethyst, and ending in a sudden drop. “Of course it’s a jump puzzle,” Sunset muttered under her breath. She’d heard of how the enemies of humanity had thoroughly enjoyed making thes but had yet to experience them herself, though the Botza district was close enough that it was honestly a lot of fun for her. “A winged creature like yourself could easily make this jump, with or without your armor. A test of your skill in your native form. And besides… as I said… your Shape is relatively new.” “What do you mean by ‘Shape’?” Sunset asked curiously as she got ready to make the jump and long glide it would take to cross the chasm she’d found on the other side of the tunnel, “That’s the second time you’ve referred to that as a proper noun.” “O-ho! Sharp as a sword are we! Fear not, O Phoenix Mine, I shall reveal what must be revealed.” “Well that’s not cryptic at all…” Sunset pouted as she pinged her radar while moving along. No flashing motes of red on the tracker just yet, but it never hurt to be too careful while dealing with the unknown. After crossing the chasm, the voice had gone silent again, apparently watching as Sunset had barely missed the ledge, but Blinked up onto it in a shower of Arc light. She looked around again and spotted a small ramp leading to a doorway. The room beyond looked like a more traditional cave carved out of rock, but there was a circular rescission in the middle of it. All around this spot there were what looked to be small openings, each ringing the lowest point in the room, but each also on separate levels that looked like a bipedal being could easily jump up onto. Around this structure were several plates of metal, each spaced fairly far away from the middle area. “Don’t worry, little Phoenix… The battles to be fought here are considerably far into the future. The Kingslayer has yet to awaken and believe me… You will KNOW when they awaken…” “I wish you would be clearer in what you say!” Sunset yelled in frustration to the empty ceiling, “I haven’t had this much of an issue with things since Ikora tried teaching me how to use Void Light!!” Looking around once more, the mare huffed in annoyance as she spied the door she walked in from, deciding to head back out the way she came. Making it back to the area she had entered from, Sunset kept her head on a swivel, looking around in both curiosity and annoyance, wary of most of the shadows that had started gathering in every nook and cranny… except for the body of water next to the rocky outcropping she’d Blinked up to earlier. After making her way to the edge of the water, she spied a series of ledges that would let her climb higher into the cavern, all marked by plant life. “I cannot make that wish a reality with words alone. Bargains MUST be struck in a very specific way, little Phoenix… And that way lies at the Wall of Wishes. Someone has come before you, to bargain with me as all are wont to do, but they left before the bargain was struck. Their Wish is still there… if you dare.” “Wish? Bargain?” Sunset asked, “...This is sounding more and more like a bad idea…” Turning to leave, the young Lightbearer found her path blocked by a series of crystaline structures that seemed to have grown in the space of a few seconds. Moving closer, Sunset found that they were exuding a… Dark aura. “...not leaving me much of a choice, are you?” Sunset muttered to herself. “Sunset… I have a horrible feeling about this…” Philomena chimed in from within her Guardian’s helmet, “I don’t think we should follow what this thing wants.” “There are no other paths out,” Sunset replied, apprehension in her voice, “The only other doorway out of here was up that ramp and I can see crystals blocking that too. It’s up and into the unknown or we sit here and I die of starvation while you constantly rez me. To be honest, that REALLY doesn’t sound appealing to me…” “...I can’t get a signal out either,” the Ghost said in response, “I’ve been trying since we walked in here. We’re on our own and I’m worried about you.” “I’m scared too,” Sunset admitted as she Blinked over to the first ledge, “But… we have to go on. As afraid as I am of what’s waiting for us, I don’t think I could sit around and wait to be rescued either. I have this Light for a reason… Be Brave, ‘Mena. I trust you to have my back.” Philomena hesitated for a moment, a certain wariness about everything washing over her for a moment before she shook it off and responded, “You lead, I’ll follow, Guardian. I’ve got your back. I promise.” `~`~`~`~`~`~`~ After a brief set of jump puzzles, Sunset and Philomena found themselves at a wall with circular plates attached to them. The plates were suspended above a pool of water with another plate directly center of them on the floor facing the wall itself. Like the voice said, some of the plates were lit up and symbols were showing on them. “The center plate will complete the wish… It will act as a way to move you from where you are, to where you need to be. I have been told that the experience is… less than pleasant, but it is not dangerous in the least.” Warily, Sunset looked back behind her, seeing that crystals had once again grown to cover the entrance of the cave. Looking back to the wall, the mare steeled herself and stepped forward onto the plate. “What now?” Sunset asked. “And now… we meet.” And for a moment, Sunset knew nothing. In that moment, it seemed as if eternity stretched before her, a black yawning abyss with no end in sight. Frankly, it terrified the poor mare and she wanted nothing more than to go back to the City, back to her father and curl up in the Iron Lord’s embrace. Then, she knew once more. Her surroundings had most definitely changed. Sunset was now standing in a large, almost cathedral looking area with a tree overlooking three separate alcoves. If the Iron Lady looked closely enough, she could almost make out something moving in the shadows. While she was occupied with looking around, Philomena had recompiled and started looking about herself, the Ghost keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. As Sunset approached one of the alcoves, a shadow moved out towards her, a long bladed weapon held in its hooves. Yelling in surprise, Sunset dropped her bow and drew Zephyr, blocking the downward strike of the weapon that was aimed at her with incredible difficulty. “Sunset!” Philomena exclaimed as she decompiled back into the mare’s armor, “Sunset! Hold on!” “W-who are you?!” Sunset grunted out, her Light flaring in response to the sudden assault. Teal eyes opened and looked Sunset in her own, a fanged grin met the mare as she struggled with the weight of the polearm she was locked with. “I am Riven,” the shade responded in the same voice Sunset had been hearing on her way here, “And you shall be tested… O Phoenix Mine...”