A LEGACY OF LIGHT

TILLA

TILLA

She stood on the walls, her insignia upon her arms and her banner in hand--a soldier defending her emperor.

The forests rolled into the east, trees still bare, but spring began this day in Requiem, and spring had come to her life. She had arrived in Castra Luna in winter's cold, shivering and pale in a cart, no better than cattle. She had been frightened, weak, and lonely, yet now she stood in steel, armed with her sword.

I'm no longer that old Tilla, the one who was always so afraid, she thought. I am a periva now. I am a soldier. And I am strong.

Behind her in the courtyard the wedding began. Tilla could hear Emperor Cadigus speak of the union, joining two mighty houses. Tilla had been ordered to defend the walls and watch the eastern sky; she could not view the wedding, which pleased her. She had no wish to see Nairi's power grow. Watching the forest, defending these walls, was the task of a true soldier.

"Bloody Abyss," Erry muttered at her side. The girl clutched the hilt of her sword. "I was sure we were rid of that gutter stain Nairi. Is she really going to keep commanding us now in battle?"

Mae stood at Tilla's other side, her pale cheeks pinched pink in the cold. Her lips quivered, and she nervously tugged her golden braid.

"But I don't want to fight battles," she said. "Now that we're real soldiers, can't we just... guard walls? Standing here isn't so bad. I want to be a guard, not a fighter."

Erry snorted. "Wobble Lips, you want to spend your five years of service standing on a wall? Not me. I'm going to fight. I'm going straight to the front line to kill those bloody resistors." She snarled. "I'm going to burn them good."

"Hush!" Tilla whispered; the conversation was growing too loud, and she worried the sound would carry to the courtyard. If it did, they wouldn't have to worry about any battles; they'd be hanged after the wedding.

She returned her eyes to the east. The forests rolled into distant mist. Many called Castra Luna the most isolated fort in the empire, a single light shining in the wilderness. Tilla wondered where the next five years would take her, and whether she would see Cadport again before her service ended.

And will I see you again, Rune? And if I do see you, will you recognize the woman I've become?

Movement on the horizon caught her eyes.

Her thoughts died and Tilla squinted.

Thousands of shapes fluttered in the distant mist like a flock of birds.

"Nairi Blackrose!" the emperor's voice rose below. "Step forward and hail the red spiral."

Tilla squinted and leaned forward. Those were no birds. They were too large, too many. She could barely see them through the mist.

"Erry, you'd last maybe five minutes in battle!" Mae was saying, incurring curses from the shorter girl.

Tilla clutched her sword. Fear washed her belly. Whatever was flying ahead was moving fast. She thought she saw orange sparks rise among them. A few of the shapes glinted as if clad in armor.

"Leresy Cadigus!" The emperor's voice rose from the courtyard. "Step forward, hail the red spiral, and turn toward Nairi."

Tilla's fingers trembled around her hilt.

Stars no, stars, it can't be.

"Wobble Lips, maybe you'll die," Erry was saying, "but I'm a warrior. I'm going to kill."

We're all alone here, Tilla thought. Alone in the wilderness. The emperor. The prince and princess. And us upon the wall.

The horde flew from the east, and Tilla heard their distant cries.

"Dragons," she whispered, voice shaking. "Thousands of them. The Resistance."

"Exactly!" Erry said. "Tilla understands. I'm going to kill thousands of Resistance dragons, and--" The young woman gasped. "Stars, Tilla, what the Abyss is that in the east?"

"Your chance for battle," Tilla whispered.

The eastern dragons roared, and vaguely upon the wind, Tilla thought she could hear their words, just a hint of sound: For Aeternum! Death to Cadigus!

"Join hands!" Frey announced below. "Nairi Blackrose and Leresy Cadigus, I now--"

Tilla spun around toward the courtyard, raised her standard high, and shouted over the emperor's words.

"Dragons! Dragons fly from the east!" She waved her standard. "The Resistance attacks!"