Chapter 7: Vision of the White City

Celi was in an unknown city of whiteness that radiated magic. The road below her feet sang. In the distance she saw three towers and caught a glimpse of a violet building. She took just one step and the scene blurred out to whiteness before it returned in a different location.

A tall, lithe woman suddenly formed before her. Her tightly braided hair was silver with the front strands a light blue that had been singled out. Her eyes…they were the same blue of Celi’s, of her father’s. Something about this woman spoke of confidence, cunning, and arrogance, but Celi thought she could detect some fear, like the woman was scared of something. There was also sadness. Celi stared at the woman and found her lips moving;

“What happened long ago?”

The woman, the imposing lady who seemed like she could make the bravest of souls cower, lowered her gaze. As if she couldn’t bear to face a question to an answer that the woman didn’t want to think about. The scene changed once more. Celi was staring into twin pools of mercury. Two woman stood in the room with her, judging by the black mottled coloring on snowy wings, she knew they were both gyrfalcons and one glance told her that one woman was extremely powerful, the figure dressed in a gown of violet. The question passed through her lips though Celi did not hear her speak it this time, nor did her lips move. The violet-dressed woman looked at her with gray eyes that seemed to have no real focus, then she looked away. “That past…does not matter now.” The girl glanced at the other gyrfalcon and she knew who she was, Darien. The falcon looked at her with pitying eyes that were darker silver and sighed before she turned away. This time Darien would not be of any help. It hadn’t been her that Celi saw that day…but the falcon Empress...Cjarsa.

The scene shifted once more and Celi found herself in a large room that was nearly empty saved for a bed in one corner, a kitchen in the other, and several chairs around a single table. She wasn’t alone either. Yet another woman had appeared before her. “You seek answers,” the falcon said, apparently not finding it surprising that a strange wyvern had suddenly appeared in her…home? “What happened all those years ago?” Celi found herself asking, expecting the falcon to be unable to meet her gaze, but she was wrong. The lady’s steel-blue gaze locked onto Celi’s. “Something that should had been prevented,” she answered gravely. “If we had did things differently than maybe things would had been different.” Celi felt her heart pounding and stared at the woman, waiting to hear more but the woman gave a small smile. “Talking in dreams is nice, but it would be better if you granted me an audience on Ahnmik."

The dream changed once more, this time Celi was gazing at three triple arches and she blinked when she saw a familiar figure hovering above where the arches just barely met, her mottled-black wings were spread, her wrists locked and back arched, Keyi seemed to radiate with energy as she began to dance the daraci’Kain and Celi could feel the force of the storm. It was terrifying but yet beautiful. But suddenly the air began to crackle around her, like sparks flying off a blade being forged. Once moment Keyi was dancing, then the next she was falling. Her wings seemed to lock, become helpless. The bottom of the triple arches suddenly rippled into a pool of dark black water that swallowed the dancer. Ahnmik suddenly shattered and there was just darkness, nothingness, the void.