Luxanna I

"A shadow fades before the light."

I let my guard down. The lector's voice droned in such a way that even her drawn images of common Demacian field tactics couldn't make the lecture interesting for my classmates and I. The marble streets just outside the window, gleaming brilliantly in the sunlight caught my eye and before long, I was distracted by the lush greenery and the beautiful nectarflies that fluttered around them.

"A shadow fades before the light."

I daydreamed so often, basked in the warmth and good cheer that they provided so frequently, that they covered up the unwelcome heat that threatened to explode from within. While normally tamable, my distraction has allowed it to reach the point where it was too big to push down. I could feel it burning from within, threatening to explode in iridescent hues for all the world to see, when I only reached release in private before.

By the time I got my focus back, I was already nearing release. A tiny spark flickered at the tip of my finger. A split second of distraction that could have cost me my life. I fled.

"Luxanna!"

I ignored the instructor's call, focusing on the mantra that kept the heat within, my affliction, at bay.

"A shadow fades before the light. A shadow fades before the light."

Shame and guilt bubbled within me as I dashed down the streets, my tearstained face a foreign sight to the people who only knew me as the cheerful young girl who wasn't suffering from a terrible disease. What would mother think? What would Garen think? What would their faces look like when they see me dragged out of our home by the Mageseekers, to be thrown into the slums outside the city, or worse, to be given their strange cures?

If only I lived in a different part of the world, where my affliction was celebrated instead of scorned. Where archmages were heroes instead of outcasts.

"A shadow fades before the light."

The self loathing twisted in my core and I felt the heat rise up again, threatening to explode into the daylight, to reveal all of my shamefulness for the world to see. I clamped down on my emotions and started uttering my mantra, my feet carrying me past the city gates.

"A shadow fades before the light. A shadow fades before the light."

A student fleeing from the citadel, from the city itself was insubordinate. The sheer amount of punishments that awaited me when I return is terrifying, but it was nothing compared to my secret being revealed. To being known as ugly and twisted and un-Demacian. Nothing.

Time seemed like a blur as I marched down the Memorial Road, devoid of traffic now that the pilgrimage season has ended. The sun would have beat down on me where I was standing, if I wasn't standing under the shadow of the massive statue that straddled the Road.

A hulking monument that has long served as the battle standard of Demacia. A mass of sculpted petricite that has protected Demacian armies from the wrath of evil archmages. A legendary figure that was said to come to life in Demacia's times of greatest need.

The Galio Monument.

I wiped my tears on my sleeve and stared up at it. The shame roiled within me once more as I gazed at the very symbol of Demacia, those stone eyes peering into my soul, as though it was gazing at the hidden rot lying inside me and judging me for it.

"A shadow fades before the light."

I could imagine it coming to life. I could imagine the marble white form standing before me imperiously. I could imagine it booming out 'You have no place here, mage!'.

"A shadow fades before the light."

My fear and guilt turned to humiliated frustration as the statue remained still and silent. A shadow fades before the light.

"Go on! Say it!" I screamed at it, all the fear and indignity and shame coming out of my mouth in one ugly screech.

I was answered by silence. My throat erupted in tortured sobs as I fell to my knees, the emotions I kept locked up finally starting to break through my walls, and I felt it, the familiar heat that bristled beneath my skin.

No. No no no no...

"A shadow fades before the light. A shadow fades before the light. A shadow fades before the light." I chanted desperately, trying and failing to keep a grip on my emotions. Then I heard it. A low voice growling from the shadows cast by the statue.

"A shadow thrives beside the light."

It was a reptilian creature, its features partially hidden by a massive cloak. In the shadows of its hood, I could see a protruding snout and the glistening of sharp teeth. A mountain of muscle and scales that was decidedly unlike any Demacian I've seen before.

"I-" Sparks fell from my fingertips, the familiar buzz of energy escaping the bonds I put on them.

"No-" I managed to choke out, my fear and guilt and anger and surprise and confusion all blending together into one ugly ball of confused emotions. And as that ball grew, my control shrank.

"No, no, please no. A shadow fades before the light, a shadow fades before the light..." I clutched at my chest, as though physically gripping my core would help in keeping the light restrained.

Thud, thud, thud

My heart raced as massive footsteps approached me, but I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything. I was useless and ugly and a stain on my family. On Demacia.

"Let it go." The growly voice was surprisingly gentle, but I ignored it in favor of curling up onto myself. Tears flowed freely from my eyes and I could even feel my saliva dripping from my mouth as I sobbed. It was shameful and humiliating but still better than if I lost control. Still better than admitting to the world that I was born wrong.

"Let it go." A shadow fades before the light, a shadow fades before the light, a shadow fades before the light.

"Don't hold it back anymore." A shadow fades before the light, a shadow fades before the light, a shadow fades before the light. I can't hold it back anymore.

"Rise like the break of dawn." A shadow fades before the light. I winced as iridescent light flickered into existence within my clenched fists. A shadow fades before the light.

"Let it go, let it go." No, no, no, no. I can't let go. A shadow fades before the light, a shadow fades before the light. A shadow...

A half sob, half scream tore itself out of my throat. I could see the massive reptile through my tears, crouching in front of me, whispering those accursed words.

"A Sh-shadow fades before the light..." I choked out.

"Their perfect girl is gone." A shadow fades before the light. I've never been perfect. A shadow fades before the light. I was always diseased. Cursed. Not Demacian.

"Here you'll stand, in the light of day." A shadow fades before the light, a shadow fades before the light...

"Let the storm rage on." A shadow fades...

With a scream, I felt release. The last thing I heard as I slumped into the creature's scaly arms were its words.

"Are you awake now, Galio?"