Nightful and Blackless walk trough the endless corridor steadily, quickly watching the doors on each side, one after the other. Wooden door, copper door, doors of all shapes, of all colours and made of all materials. And in all of that unimaginable set, they only seek a unique one.
- "Blackless, do you have an idea of where the Door would be?" Asks the black dragon with only a line of icy scales just under his wings.
- "Doors are everywhere, but that is not left to chance, and even if it was, each one has at least a little spark, a tiny bit that will lead us closer to the Top." Answers the black dragoness with white wings.
The brother nods and both continue their walk on the middle band of perfectly black stone. For a long moment, all that they hear are their own steps until they decide to take a break. Appearing defeated, Nightful asks his sister.
- "What do we do? It's futile to check for each door, there are more numerous than we can count them."
- "You're right, we need so much more, maybe we can cut the problem into pieces, a plan to guide us more effectively."
Nightful infuses his claws with a bit of essences, bringing silver and blue light around his claws.
- "If you have any interesting theory or idea, I can write it on the stone."
- "I… We need to take things back from the beginning. Draw a large circle."
The brother do as she says, marking the black surface with a glowing circular line.
"Imagine that is a Moon. Because it contains a very huge amount of essences that literally vibrates, we can feel a signal even far away."
- "But that isn't enough, the signal is distorted, and a Door diminishes its intensity."
- "Exactly, now for the doors, the majority have a lock and at least one key. But some have only a lock or nothing at all, however, none are open."
- "So we are back to square one, finding the Door to analyse it."
The dragoness lowers her wings, doubt regaining her mind.
- "Maybe we should just open the first one we can, what is behind might be related to our aim."
- "We can."
With these words, the pair of dragons walk again despite their lower motivation, this time checking each door if it opens. After some time, Nightful is now touching a cold door of raw granite, unknown symbols engraved all over it appear before him.
- "Blackless, this one isn't locked."
- "Good, you can open it."
Putting his talon over the center and pushing, the door creaks and splits itself in two, unblocking the entrance to a new world. As they enter, they find themselves in the center of a structure made of crude rocks like the door.
Stone arches and pics circle the two dragons, all presenting text written in the same unknown alphabet. Walking forward to see better, they discover that the land is dominated by somewhat smooth chunks of rock and a colder wind.
Over the horizon, they can see the same structures repeating farther and farther while the dark magenta sky is occupied by dark blue clouds.
Curious, the pair looks above them and sees one big brown and orange Moon, nothing else is present, not even a single star. For now, they can only count on the bronze orb in the sky to bring light to the world.
Taking the time to feel the Moon, they sort of hear a quiet and resonating noise. Looking at it, they only see its essences being almost static. They also feel that the air is very different, nothing harmful, but very unfamiliar.
- "For a Moon that big and close, its signal isn't that powerful."
- "You're right, but maybe it's because it is more sleepy and at peace than weakened or insufficient. Or not..."
Continuing their march, the brother and the sister finally spot a dragon in the sky, and he is flying toward them. A moment later, the unknown one circle around the pair before landing gracefully.
The individual now in front of them is a mudwing bearing many spiralling markings of black and red paint, that spread over all his scales and wings. Looking imposing with his old but vitalized body, he speaks in a more relaxed and kind tone.
- "Salutations young visitors, may I know your name?"
The two sibling look at each other before the brother replies with confidence and charm.
- "I am named Nightful and beside me is my sister Blackless."
The old mudwing smiles to them.
- "Nice to meet you Nightful and Blackless, I am Strongroot. But I wonder what you are doing here, you seem rather confused by my land."
- "We came to this world for anything that might help us in our quest." Answers the sister.
- "And what is it? Seeking the Door and opening it, reaching the glorious Light?"
- "Exactly." Answers the two dragon at the same time, making the mudwing chuckles with that word.
- "In that case, you can continue to seek it for several lifetimes, and that's not even speaking of acquiring the key."
The two dragons drop their head a bit when hearing such words, marking their declining moral. Seeing that, Strongroot tries to find the best words to reply.
- "Don't give up like that, you'll make me feel guilty. But more seriously, I can help you, after I inform of some things you should know."
- "I'm ready to hear them." Answers Nightful with confidence.
- "Alright. What is behind the Door is glorious but not without perils, learning about its history will make you understand. The Door is many things at once, including a seal, it tames and stops the incredible Power to pour outside of its realm."
- "So it might be we are not ready for what is behind, that we can't handle all the essences?" Asks Blackless with hints of fear.
- "Correct. All that was left of the old Sun is still something no dragon should underestimate, so now imagine what the presence of all the Sun's parts in the realm would be, nothing short of a complete god could stand that."
The siblings look at each other, confirming their own doubt while the mudwing appears confused at their reaction.
- "We're planning to find a way to reborn the Sun." Says Blackless bluntly.
- "You are kidding, right? Do you seriously, really want to engage in the mission of restoring the True Glory?" Asks Strongroot in disbelief.
The two dragons hesitate, but nod after a moment, showing no doubt in their will to accomplish what he said. The marked mudwing silently accepts the situation, and simply tells them to follow him.
Soaring in the exotic skies, the three dragons travel above the land until a tower of pure copper appears in sight. Circling around it, they land on its flat top without difficulty. Now on the metallic floor's center, Strongroot light on the marking with his magic and rest his body.
- "That tower is my home, its top is not the most comfortable one but it can do more things than you think." Says the painted mudwing relaxing a bit.
- "Really? Because that floor isn't giving me a stellar first impression, no offence." Replies Nightful while Blackless analyses the place with her gaze.
- "It's because you can modify it too a great extent with all the internal mechanisms, look."
Strongroot transmit magic from his talons to the floor. Suddenly, guardrails rise from the smooth floor all around them, and parts of it fold to reveal two circular stairs aligned with the center.
"Go down the stair, that's the room where I like to live in, and I think you'll appreciate it."
The group descends into the building to arrive at a large room full of furnitures and paintings. A huge mostly red carpet covers the floor, and chairs with a big cushion on them are numerous. The brother and sister are very impressed by the place.
- "Rest on the chairs, I won't forbid you since they are here for that after all."
The two dragons sat on their chair and relax for a moment while Strongroot seeks some scrolls in his shelves. Now holding his chosen texts, the mudwing sat down and speaks again in a more familiar tone.
"How about we start by the crude basics? Do you know the world you are in at all?"
- "Not really." Answers Nightful a bit embarrassed.
- "You are in the world of Théruz and the Moon above us is called Kobrufyr. If you can't pronounce these names, it's normal, even if one know the culture they originate from, it's never easy."
- "So do these dragons and their light still live in your world?" Replies Blackless with hope.
- "No, they've come here many centuries ago and created a single Moon. The crafts and works they left are mostly shaped stone, great markings and engraved texts. There aren't many buildings nor great drawings or anything else."
- "So that tower is all your work?" Says Nightful while Blackless stares at an exotic plant near her.
- "Yes and no. The tower was created by them, but it was only the strict minimum. With time, I installed on it more and more things, with reasons varying from practical to personal. At the start, the room we are in had nothing but crude walls and stairs."
Seeing Blackless focusing on a plant, Strongroot comments on it.
"Odd but beautiful isn't it?"
- "Yes, and quietly hatching." Answers the dragoness with a grin while gently rubbing the very numerous but small, smooth and round, yellow leaves.
- "Indeed, that specimen isn't from Théruz, it was a simple vine I brought here with others species. Plant have nowhere to grow in that world and don't develop much, so you need to bring their soil and aid them with essences."
- "So you grow them and then eat your harvest?" Replies Nightful a bit suspicious.
- "Not all plants, well, I can eat them all, but some are not here for food, like the one your sister likes, it is for experiment and decoration. Now, you may wonder why a vine merged with a lily pad seed turned out like this. Well it's because of the world's air, it has a strong influence on living things."
- "We had our feelings about that air. But I would like that you told us more for quest." Says Nightful.
- "Of course! You seek to open the Door and reform the Sun, for that you will need godlike powers and more than a fair share of knowledge. So let me ask you this, Do you know of the ones who were ambitious and powerful before you?"
The two siblings thinks about it for a long moment, Nightful expressing determination while Blackless lowers her head. Seeing their reaction, Strongroot takes a more serious stance. Then, the silence is broken by the words of Blackless.
- "Yes, failure fell on them. At the top of everything, the chosen ones keep making mistakes, pulling them away from rising above the nightmarish Splitting."
- "We know of some recent godlike dragons across the realms, but they are unreachable for us and we don't know if they'll agree with us. My sister and I are the most powerful of our realm's history, so I doubt there is something important we missed." Answers Nightful seriously.
- "For how long did you live out of your original realm? Have you returned to it since?" Asks Strongroot.
- "Fifty three years, and we've returned to it five times." Answers Nightful.
- "Do you like your realm?"
- "Yes, we like it, but it just isn't great enough for us. I fear it is too small for our heart." Says Blackless.
- "Do you have parents or loved ones or friends here?"
- "…"
- "I understand… Would you like to have another dragon around you? Does your heart feels it lacks something?"
- "My heart would gladly receives from beyond, but it isn't sick as I have my brother forever with me." Replies Blackless.
- "I'm on the same page, as long as she is with me, I feel like I can live forever and more." Answers Nightful with determination.
The marked mudwing looks at them for a moment before grinning and speaking again in a happier tone.
- "Good for you… But I want to know, is it a problem if we slow things down and take our time?"
- "No, we appreciate being with you, and doing a break is almost necessary after what we've been trough." Says the black dragon.
- "In that case…" Strongroot puts down the scrolls he holds and rises from his chair.
"How about you see more of myself today? Follow me to the top, I won't disappoint you."
- "Maybe not today, please. I would like to know you more but here, can you read some scrolls to us?" Says Blackless calmly.
- "Alright." The mudwing goes to a shelve and take scrolls one after the other then stops, thinking of something else and pulling out a larger one from a decorated compartment.
"This is an old scene of my history, me and ten others being together when we first came to Théruz."
Strongroot shows the drawing, it depicts eleven dragons of many tribes standing on a hill with the Moon in the background.
"It's a scene I love, but one that is romanticized from my past. We were never close, it is just that fate decided our different goals would cross on that world."
- "So you were always somewhat isolated in your life, at least when you came here?" Asks Nightful with sympathy.
- "Correct, I'm the guardian of Théruz and Kobrufyr, I watch them day after day as I refine my magic and use the essences of the world." Answers Strongroot in a bit of a sad voice.
"When I feel alone, I always look at the Moon, it's presence is one I can count on, and…"
It is just like me.