Ruka's wife followed the children to greet her shortly. She was carrying a baby, the newest member of the Bright family. Ruka's written to her about his new son, and that was part of the reason she had come a day ahead of the rest of her own family.

For some reason, Jillia couldn't remember the name of Ruka's wife. Even after the woman had driven the bloodthirsty warlord out of him, she couldn't remember her name. She remembered the wedding perfectly, Ruka retiring his armor, father officially proclaiming Ruka as heir, everything. Jillia shrugged it off; if the name didn't come to mind, she could always quietly ask Ruka or one of the servants.

Come to think of it, she couldn't remember the name of her own husband and six-year-old daughter. How strange...

"Would you like to hold your new nephew?" Ruka's wife said, smiling. "I should probably check on the servants before they ruin dinner."

Jillia took the child, holding him rather uncertainly despite having a daughter of her own. She sat down on the couch and her nieces sat next to her.

"Tell us a story," the first one said.

"One about daddy!" the second one added.

Jillia searched her memory for a moment and then a story came to mind. She smiled and began. "Before either of you two were born, your daddy was very different..."

"Are you telling my little girls all about big bad Ruka?" her brother's voice came from the doorway.

"Daddy's home!" both girls exclaimed at once and ran to hug him.

Jillia stood again and hugged him as well. "It's been a while, big brother."

"Too long," he replied. "It was never something I thought of when I arranged your marriage to the ruler of Jouston's brother."

"You make it sound as though it's a punishment," Jillia said. "I'm very happy with my family, just like you are with yours. Besides, it brought us peace at last."

"Very true, my wise little sister," Ruka teased.

"Dinner's ready," Ruka's wife announced, coming out of the dining room again. She took the baby from Jillia's arms and went to put it to sleep. The twins ran into the dining room.

"I wish father could be here," Ruka said sadly.

Jillia nodded. "He's with mother now. I'm sure he's happy, looking down on us being a family after all those years of not being one." Her eyes watered, and blurred.


A drop of rain fell into the waters of the still lake. A swan with all black feathers looked up at the edge of the lake.

There was fire and fighting. Humans in different colors, attacking one another with shining claws and flying needles. The swan wondered how such creatures could live in a state of constant battle. They didn't even notice the rain beginning to fall in their fury of death. So different than swans, their lake only disturbed by the fall of rain and the change of season. So sad, the nature of these creatures.

A stray needle flew towards the lake and hit the swan. She cried out in pain a spread her wings to fly away. She leapt into the air.


A small black dove soared into the air. Soon it could see everything on the ground as small specks. Rivers were blue threads and lakes saphire gems. Glowing red rubies littered the earth with dark clouds coming up from it.

It was nothing to the dove. The actions of the land bound creatures could not hurt her, high in the sky. She could escape them when their destruction came close. She could fly on her little wings to a place where war would never touch, where the hand of the land bound would not strike.

Was there such a place? She had never been to such a place or seen such a place, but others had spoke of a land of peace. A sanctuary. An Avalon. But maybe it was a myth. It did not matter; there would always be some place safe from the land bound ones, where she could fly to.

Below the red rubies grew, spreading across the green. Where the red had been, the ground was the color of coal. The dove watched as the red and coal swept across the land, leaving nothing of what had been behind. It was blackened for as far as she could see in every direction. Where could she fly that was not burned? Was there any place not yet taken by the land bound creatures' rage?

She looked to the sky, the darkness that covered the world, with shining lights scattered about. The dove flew up, towards that darkness. As she neared, she saw the stars drifting closer together. She flew into the sky.


A black haired maiden stood shrouded in a cloak of night. Stars glimmered across her cloak, shooting stars ran across it. It truely was of the night. The maiden looked down at the ground so far beneith her, her face sad. She smiled sadly with a new understanding and the maiden cloaked in night floated closer to the ground.

Her bare feet touched the ground and she looked around at the battle field surrounding her. No one seemed to notice her standing among them. The maiden held her left hand out and it began to glow a blinding brightness, like the sun. The men stopped fighting, unable to see their opponents. The maiden kept the light for as long as she could, but in the end it faded. Again able to see, the men began to fight anew.

The maiden looked sadly at the wounded, the dying, the dead. Why would they not stop? She could not understand.

She sensed someone watching her, someone on the battle field who had seen her. A robed figure, face covered by a hood, watched her. The maiden tried to call out to the stranger, to find out who it was, why it did not try to stop the fighting. But smoke clouded her vision, and she could not see anything anymore.

Jillia woke from the vision with strange images in her head. She knew she was awake, though. She sat in one of the corners of her room near her bed, but she had no memory of getting there. She looked at the clock on the wall oposite her. It was morning, early morning. Morning of the day after she'd had that cup of tea, she hoped. Her stomach indicated that it was hungry but not starving, so she guessed that was so.