Month 1, Day 4, 18:45:26; Arvium, Wolves Ravine

Aella glanced up, feeling warmth start to flood the room. The orb floated a few feet above her, the inside slowly pulsing with light. She reached for it, then paused, pulling her hand back.

The orb came closer a few inches, it's light flickering.

She watched it, her gaze moving back and forth across its surface.

"Aella," a soft voice called to her.

She relaxed, recognizing the voice of Ciana. She slowly stood, and stepped forward, the water splashing around her boots. The orb was still as she reached up and touched its smooth surface. Warmth pulsed from it and into her arm, making her body feel warm. She gasped as the cave changed in an explosion of golden light.

She stood in the center of a golden field, the stalks moving back and forth like the waves of the sea in the soft breeze. The air moved her hair behind her and warmed her body through the thin white dress she wore. She smiled at the scent of wheat and honey, feeling calm. She glanced up, seeing the sky filled with stars she had never seen before.

She turned her attention back to the field as Ciana appeared before her, holding out her hand. She still glowed with the blue light, her voice crystalline and soft. "Come with me, Aella," she said.

Aella nodded, moving forward and taking the woman's hand.

Their surroundings changed to that of a room, shaped much like a dome. The walls were made of dark grey metal, and the walls held consoles with screens that changed with rapid information.

A man stood, his back to a wall. His eyes were wide, and he held a gun aimed at a woman.

She glanced toward Ciana, who held up a finger to her mouth.

"It is a memory," she said.

Aella stepped forward, until she was standing to the side of the woman. She had flowing white hair, and her face was marked with blue, glowing lines where her veins should be. Her eyes glowed with a blue light, and she held her arms outstretched to the man.

"It's me," she said, her voice sounding similar to Ciana's.

Aella turned to Ciana, who shook her head, and motioned back to the scene.

The man holding the gun swallowed and his arm shook. "What happened to you?"

"They are not to be feared, Alyk," the woman said. "They can save us. I am here, just as I was before. But I have been made more. Please, let me show you. I mean you no harm, nor do the Lights."

The man lowered the gun, and then hung his head. "I was afraid."

The woman stepped forward, lowering her hands. "It was the only way to prove to the others."

Alyk looked up at her, tears falling from his eyes. He sniffed, rubbing his arm across his eyes. He motioned to the room. "You did all this?"

The woman smiled, and gave a single nod. "The Lights are willing to share their power with us--but only if we accept them."

Alyk smiled, nodding. "If you had anything to do with it, I'm sure they are. You're amazing, you know that, right?"

The woman smiled, then hung her head. "But it doesn't come without a price."

Alyk moved forward, slowly, then faster as he came toward her. He put his hands on her shoulders, then used a hand to lift her face to face his. "I have a long way to go, but I want to do better." He leaned down and kissed her on her forehead. "Even as a hybrid--you're still my wife. Where you go, I will go. For better or worse, remember?"

Aella's eyes widened, and she stepped back, her muscles tensing. The scene disappeared, and changed to one that held nothing but Ciana and Aella.

Do you understand?" she asked.

Aella searched the blue apparition's face, her eyes moving back and forth. "I--I don't understand all of it--but I think I get the idea." She swallowed and lowered her head.

The woman stepped forward, her arms at her side. "You want to know what you are going to be facing before you choose?"

Aella nodded, stepping forward and taking the woman's hand.

Space filled her vision, endless and dark with twinkling lights and rainbow galaxies in infinite pathways in all directions. She gasped as she sped forward, heading into a galaxy. All around her was color, as if she was being sucked through a rainbow wormhole. The colors stopped, revealing a green, blue, and white planet just ahead of her, one of several in rotation around a sun.

"Water gives forth earth," Ciana said, from whence strength is derived."

She screamed as she plummeted through the atmosphere, heading for the verdant green forest below. She closed her eyes, her muscles tensing as she expected to hit the ground.

Her body was warm, sticky with humidity and a soft spray of water hit her skin. A roar sounded in her ears from a waterfall, and bird cries filled the air from above. She opened one eye, then relaxed, seeing a jungle all around her. She turned, seeing a waterfall cascading from a cliff side into a brilliant blue pool. At the end of the pool were bronze and stone ruins rising high above the green, leafy crowns of the trees.

"But death and darkness follows life, and brings with it fire and rebirth," Ciana's voice echoed, loud above the roar of the waterfall.

The scenery changed again, this time changing to a rolling, burning sky and air filled with smoke. Below her stretched a fiery plain riddled with lava streams and geysers of fire. A roar split the earth and shook the ground beneath her feet, a chasm opening down the center of the plain and letting out blinding light.

She raised her arm to protect her eyes from the blinding light, and the scenery changed again.

"And from the ashes rises a new challenge, and the ones who rise to meet it find themselves fighting for the future of all."

She stood on a plateau surrounding by space. The rock was dark, barely lit by the light of a moon. Wind whipped around her in the frigid temperatures, and she gasped to take a deep breath in the thin air. In the sky above, an asteroid belt seemed to burst into flames as they fell, streaking across the sky with fiery trails behind them.

"But victory is not won by one's self; no," Ciana said, her voice growing softer. "It requires the sacrifice of many, and the belief of hope."

She fell, entering a dark tunnel that plummeting deeper and deeper into the earth. A chanting filled the air, and she stopped in a large cavern, deep underground. A ring of people, their hands clasped together, were in a circle around a stone pedestal. Golden streams of light were pouring from their bodies into a woman who stood in front of the pedestal, her arms raised to the sky and her back to the others. Her entire body was made up of the light, and she floated several feet above the floor.

The light gathered above the woman's head, then shot upward, blowing a hole in the cave's ceiling and shot toward the dark sky above. The chanting continued, growing louders. The woman stretched her arms out to the side, and Aella gasped as the sky turned golden, a barrier stretching across the night sky.

Then, everything faded to darkness, and Ciana appeared in front of her. The blue apparition held out her arms to Aella, and her face seemed to hold a smile. "Will you choose to fight for someone else's dream, using the strength of others to support you on your journey?"

Aella lowered her head, her thoughts bringing images to mind. Chloe, Garron, Ender, Marrilan, Rachel, Sigmund--they've given so much to me, to keep me alive and moving forward.

"I've already started, haven't I?" she said, looking up at Ciana.

She glanced down at the necklace that hung from her neck. She reached up and closed her fist around the crystal, and squared her shoulders as she looked up at Ciana. "I just hadn't realized it yet--it might not have been me that was supposed to wear this necklace--but I won't let my sister's dream fail. Not if I can do something to make it succeed."

Ciana smiled, and bowed her head to Aella. "Then go, Princess of Europa, and begin your journey. I will be waiting for you."

Month 1, Day 4, 23:38:06; Arvium, Arvium Forest, Wolves Ravine

Aella jolted awake, her eyes wide open as she saw the cave room. She glanced down, seeing a gold glow underneath her armor. Heat spread out from the spot, and she leaned her head back, feeling it move throughout her body.

She glanced up at her helmet, seeing her magic and health bars were refilled.

She smiled, then sniffed as she felt her ears fill with tears. She jerked at the sound of something burrowing through the rock. She glanced around the semi-darkness, her teeth chattering in the cold air. She pulled out her staff, moving her legs through several inches of water as she sat up. Her eyes widened as she noticed the soft glow that illuminated the cave's walls.

She turned to the wall behind her, seeing a dark outline where her back and head had been. Thousands of small worms, each glowing with a soft yellow light, hung from the walls and ceiling. She looked upward at the hole in the roof, seeing a dark sky lit up with the red glow of the planet.

Outside of the room, the sound of digging grew louder, followed by low growls of the wolves. She frowned, then looked up at the rocks blocking the way. Wolves can teleport--they come out of the ground and bring players with them to the underworld. Why haven't they just teleported in here?

She stood, touching the wall with her hand. The worms slowly moved out of the way, leaving a slightly glowing slime trail behind them. She squinted, leaning closer to them. The worms seemed to be moving on something just above the wall that was solid. A barrier--a barrier is keeping the wolves out. It must be connected to the one in the entrance.

She turned to the pile of rocks, and chuckled. Ender was right--I will be safe in here. She froze, her hand touching her sword as the realization came to her. She swallowed, her body shivering as it reacted to the cold. The wolves are already in the cave. They are already inside the barrier.

She leaned against the wall, holding back a yawn. Her hand reached up to her chest, her hand resting over where her necklace was situated under her uniform. "Please," she whispered. "Whatever you are, I need you to help me. Please."

She winced as the wolves howled again, and the rocks gave way, revealing the outer tunnel. She yelled as she held up her staff and ran forward, directing a defense spell at the hole.