The dull glow of the Gathering rune enveloped the room in an instant.
Zaria and Amira flinched, desperate to get away from the light but they were already enveloped in its soft glow. Sybil breathed in the comfort, the heat and the thrum of life within it. But the reminder of her own stupidity stung deep within her heart and attempted to grab the light and shatter it in frustration.
But Rayner stopped her before she could even try. With a kind smile, he took her hand despite the risks and allowed her Sunspell to flow. Sybil could see the cracks of pain against his skin, the desperation in his eyes to stop but she knew they had to keep going. Together.
Bit by bit the light weaved into a tangible source, a thread of hope and Sybil took hold of the Gathering rune, allowing the stubborn Nightspell to finally rest. He collapsed only to be surrounded by a jackalope he had once shunned for eating his daffilillies. Now Dewdrop protected them all like he had done so many times for her, shielding them from the light they feared so much.
"It's alright now. Everything is going to be OK." Sybil said, quietly hovering the rune over the floor.
The Astral Three needles sprung to attention causing the Sunspell elf to smile as they threaded together with her power and began to knit the destroyed letter back together. Sybil couldn't help but think of her mother while she worked, her long hair tied up in a bun to keep it away from her face, the fact she hummed when she was happy and bit her lip when she lied. Even the smell of jackalopes reminded her of Siara and when her last words were finally restored did Sybil think of the perfect place to keep such precious artifacts.
"Guiding the way." She muttered, lost in her own thoughts as she gently unclipped the wooden necklace from behind her neck.
Her Sunspell hovered beside her, still clinging to the now discarded rune slowly crumbling under the sheer strength of the needles. With a swift slice with her Sunspell thread, Sybil artfully cut down the middle of the intertwined symbols and carefully modified the wood into something she could use. A pang of guilt at ruining something belonging to Amira almost made her lose concentration but she had to fix her mistake. She wouldn't let her Sunspell harm anyone ever again.
"Astaris."
Sybil commanded the Astral Three into the newly carved locket and sealed both sides shut. She hoped the beauty of Carver's design remained and helped protect both her and the responsibility she now carried. It wasn't perfect but she had hollowed out the wood enough to try and secure each needle into its respective sigils: Sun, Moon and Star.
Suddenly, the exhaustion of her power and her earlier feelings of sorrow hit her like a truck. She sobbed, desperately trying to stop the grief in her chest as the Gathering rune crumbled into dust. Sybil keeled fowards in hysteria with the locket still in hand and tied it around her neck.
"I forgot Siara left me that letter. How could I forget? I-I thought she hated me, I thought she left that to spite me into- into, I...didn't realise it was important! I should've used it to- I should've…"
The mourning Sunspell elf was cut off by a warm embrace which came in waves one after the other. Dewdrop supported her from below, growing three times bigger to help hold her weight while her found family clung to her tightly to help bring her back from the edge. Zaria had her arms wrapped around her like a child, gently smoothing her hair like Siara used to do when she was upset and Amira and Rayner pushed the table aside before flinging every cushion, blanket and comforter onto the ground until the space covered in feathers and soil.
No one said anything. No condolences or sympathies. No advice or demands. No responsibilities, worries or gripes to be had. They just sat and stayed in the gloom of comfort they had built for themselves. Eventually, they got a little tired and fell asleep or got bored and began to potter about or snack and swap stories about anything and everything. All the while, Sybil was still wrapped in their embrace and eventually she began to join in the nonsensical antics of the Nightspell elves.
Eventually, the sun began to lower and the inevitable question was asked by the very person who never let go. Zaria was kind and supportive while never saying any more than she needed to. She wore her heart on her sleeve and when she was angry or upset there was no disguising how she truly felt. So, after hours of hurting and drifting into nothingness Sybil took the plunge and listened to the last words of the former Sunstress.
My little Syb- bear,
I guess I don't really have the right to call you my daughter anymore after all that has happened. But I want you to know that I had nothing to do with that night in Bridge's Keep. I've only ever known the ending you taught me and the rest was simply a childhood grudge I didn't see coming.
Had I known that boy was such a jackanape I would have broken more than his nose for harming such a treasured part of my work. But I have no doubt he will find a way to weasel his way into your life again with the information he now knows. Despite her absence, Niasi will have made sure of it.
That mask was originally meant for the High Nightspinner herself but was banned by the High Lawmaker for a ridiculous notion I am still furious about even with this ice in my veins. Instead, I hoped to use that chance to mend the rift I forged between us but I know how much I hurt you to try and fix it so easily.
For now, I admit in good conscience that both Deerstalker and Rayner never meant to hurt you and only acted on their own judgement to comply with my suspicions. They only intended to thwart Niasi's eventual failed assassinations and sudden escape attempt. Neither one knows why she did what she did but for now her plans to use you as a pawn have come to an end, I hope for good.
As for being the royal Sunstress? It has been more of a joy than I ever thought possible but there is still a burden on my soul. It is that I now leave this impossible task to my only light left in this world. You. I need you to take my place as the royal Sunstress of Neridia. Not for my sake, but for our bloodline to survive.
Decades ago, I vowed to stay by your father's side but instead I repeated the same mistakes as my predecessors. He lied to me and like him I denied a higher purpose than my daughter and for that I cannot atone for. The only thing I can be is grateful for the people who stand beside you now as you light your own path with Dewdrop beside you.
Lastly, I look to what is to come. I know I must pass on my Sunspell to you and once the sun rises the Combat Mages will move ahead with your relocation to Waterdown and I will no longer be with you. In that time, I leave you with one last gift to help whoever chooses to pass on this final message.
Your father is from a place far beyond the Ironwood forest in a country called Nocturus. It is why the Nightspun refuses to speak of our history outside the walls of the Three Borders. Be careful, as the people there do not wield Casting as we do. They believe in a higher power and it is this power that has been passed down through my family for generations. Somehow it comes with the unfortunate circumstances of the Chilling. It is this mystery that I need you to uncover on your own.
When the Second Moon has passed with you as Sunstress, you must venture past the sea to the realm of the lightning country of Tarragon. Go in search of your father and why our ancestors hid this power so long ago. Do not ask for his title but look to your own instincts and whatever you do, keep the Astral Three beside you no matter the cost. I know, this is asking a lot of you but I hope in time you will understand.
Be safe, my child and know I'll be with you when you need it most.
Your mother,
Siara
The silence lasted a little shorter than before. Everyone had their minds clouded with thoughts and theories and questions but with no one to answer them Sybil didn't have the heart left to cry. She would mourn, yes and had no doubt that Amira would be fixated on the facts hidden in her words for moons to come. But right now the simple fact was that something bigger was out there and Siara wanted her to find it.
"She knew. She knew about everything."
Sybil shuffled forwards, ready to be free of the comforting burrow they had created and reached for the sun dappled pages of her mother's writing. The paragraphs were irregular, the style rushed and choppy but the thing that had her attention was the map crudely drawn on the back.
"Oh Sybil, I'm sure she wanted to tell you…" Zaria began, comforting her just like before but the Sunspell elf wasn't listening.
Right now, she needed the High Lawmaker not a mother.
"No, don't you see? Siara knew I was different, she knew there was more out there, more people like me that she couldn't tell me about and that's why...."
Sybil scanned through the letter for the two places Siara mentioned near the end and matched them with the markers on the map. Nocturus was shrouded in forestry and shadow while Tarragon was protected by an enormous sea. Along both sections was a ridge of earth surrounding the Ironwood forest and scrawled in black ink and coloured with light was her old home.
Daybreak hill.
"As long as a the next generation of Sunspell elves chose to call this place home, here the cabin would stay on Daybreak hill." Sybil remembered, reiterating her Grandmamma's fateful words off the top of her head.
The two adult Nightspell elves were absolutely mystified by the ordeal but Amira knew exactly what she was talking about. It was some kind of Heritage spell that bound the earth and the cabin to the people who lived there. Not as a curse but a promise of ancestry for whenever they had need of it.
"What do you mean? The hill collapsing was surely an accident. It was unstable." Rayner said, unaware of such a type of Casting that could cause such a catastrophe.
Amira shook her head, knowing full well what the truth was.
"No, Rayner. It wasn't. Siara disowned Sybil the night the hill collapsed. I was there, I heard her say it. But if she wanted to protect Sybil then why would she…"
Sybil caught the glance of Zaria fiddling with her hair, eying the map as she fiddled with her wooden jewellery like she was processing each bit of information as if it were right in front of her to touch. She had seen Amira show a glimmer of the same gift, the same intellect to put the pieces together but to get them all on the same page would take trust and a concrete idea. That was what the High Lawmaker was chosen to do.
"Siara didn't want her to call Daybreak her home anymore. She wanted it to fall." Zaria said, barely able to believe the words she had just spoken.
The Sunspell elf breathed a sigh of relief, slightly grateful that her actions that night had been as she had first assumed. She wasn't to blame. There was a bigger reason for her banishment that wasn't part of her failure or flaws. It was most certainly to do with her bloodline and what that meant for her father too. Whether it was for protection or to serve as a warning to outside forces it didn't matter. The message Siara had left her was clear.
She had to leave Neridia.