The Light that was taken

Part of the Light of Death SAGA. Learn about the backstory of Maelia and Aeliana. Were they always at war? Were they always these revered or feared goddesses? Then there's there sister... forgotten.

An elegant city stood tall, its towers sculpted from raw stone and woven magic, suspended on floating platforms strung together by mystic tunnels. Trees blossomed freely, vines danced through the air, and light filtered through enchanted glass. The whole place breathed with an eerie sense of eternity.

High among the skyward platforms, three sisters sat in a circle. Their hands intertwined, their laughter bright, their joy unbroken. They were young in appearance, beautiful beyond mortal comprehension. One had flowing golden hair, another sleek black, and the third, curls of deep brown. Their skin was flawless, their voices musical, their spirits bound in love. It was all they had ever known.

The golden-haired sister broke the quiet first. Her eyes, the color of the cosmos, deep, infinite blue without iris or pupil, gleamed with sudden thought.

“I’ve been thinking…” she began, hesitating. The expression passed like a cloud, replaced by bright curiosity. “I want to try something new. Something… interesting.”

The dark-haired sister tilted her head, silver eyes narrowing slightly. “Interesting?” she echoed. “What do you mean?”

With a mischievous smile, the golden sister slipped free from their joined hands. She stood and stepped back, then focused on the marble floor. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled with care.

Her breath touched the stone, and the air shimmered. Wind coiled softly in a small tempest. When it faded, a small creature remained: a squirrel. It blinked and sniffed, twitching its nose, unafraid. Its instinct to explore delighted the golden-haired girl.

She smiled. “I want to create.”

The others watched the squirrel with silent curiosity. Then the dark-haired girl, Maelia, spoke.

“Aeliana…” Her brow furrowed. “Creation is forbidden. The Elders warned us, life brings chaos.”

With a flick of her hand, the squirrel vanished.

Aeliana sat again, frowning. “Yes, yes, the same tired lecture. We've heard it a thousand times.” She turned to the brown-haired sister. “What about you, Liora? Wouldn’t it be fun?”

Liora had remained quiet. She looked at Aeliana with gentle concern. “I agree with Maelia,” she said softly. “Besides, what would you make? Something meaningful would take thousands of years.”

Aeliana only smirked. “We have the time.” She shrugged. “I’ll just start with critters like the one Maelia erased.” Her smile faded into a scowl. “She’ll never stop me anyway.”

Maelia sighed. “We aren’t all-powerful, Aeliana. What if something goes wrong?”

Aeliana turned her gaze toward the horizon. Magical leylines shimmered across endless blue skies. The world was beautiful, perfect even. But to her, it felt... empty. A paradise without purpose.

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “Alright, alright. I’ll drop it, for now.” Her voice was too smooth. “It was just an idea.”

Maelia frowned. She knew that tone. Her sister’s lies were always gentle, always wrapped in charm. Doubt crept into her heart.

Liora rose and walked to Aeliana, then pulled her into Maelia’s arms. She joined their hands once more. “Whatever happens,” she said with a warm smile, “we’re still family. I love you both.”

The three sisters embraced, Aeliana’s resolve quietly hardening, Maelia’s doubt growing. And Liora… she felt it all. A slow shift in the wind. A crack beneath the peace. A shadow in their future that she couldn’t name.

---

Years later…

Time flowed gently, endlessly. Liora wandered through their world of eternal wonder. The grass beneath her feet glowed faintly, soft and alive. The wind hummed with magic. No sorrow, no fear, no pain. And yet, the land felt... barren.

A creature darted past her, small, gray, with long ears and a twitching nose. Her heart sank.

She knew who had made it.

She closed her eyes and reached outward. Her mind touched a distant ripple of thought: her sisters, arguing. Again.

With a sigh, she opened a portal and stepped through.

She emerged in the midst of the storm. Aeliana stood with a small, wagging beast in her hands. Maelia, arms crossed, glared at her with weary frustration.

“You can’t do that,” Maelia snapped.

Then she noticed Liora, and turned away, guilt blooming in her eyes. These arguments had stretched for decades now. And always, Liora stood between them.

Liora’s voice was gentle. “Again?” She looked at Aeliana. “You promised.”

Aeliana’s lips tightened. “I found something,” she said at last.

Liora felt a chill in her spine. “What?”

“Acridûn.”

The name dropped like a stone in water.

Liora’s blood ran cold. “The legend?”

She stepped back, breath quickening. “No. You can’t. Aeliana, you don’t understand what you’re dealing with.”

“That’s what I said,” Maelia added sharply. “The Elders said it’s boundless. The last elf who sought it vanished. What if you vanish too?”

Aeliana smiled. “That’s why I need you. Both of you. Together, we’ll be safe. Together, we can unlock Acridûn.”

Before either could stop her, she conjured a portal and stepped through.

Liora and Maelia followed, fear blooming in their chests.

---

The portal closed behind them.

The air changed.

It was stale. Heavy. The sky was a roiling purple, lit by streaks of silver lightning. The ground cracked underfoot, ancient black stone, untouched for ages.

“I don’t like this,” Liora whispered.

Maelia walked beside her, clenched fists at her sides.

Ahead, Aeliana twirled with joy, her golden hair glowing against the bleak sky. “Don’t you feel it?” she called out. “It’s powerful. Alive!”

Maelia said nothing. Her jaw was tight.

“I feel something,” Liora murmured. “Something wrong.”

Ahead stood a wide platform�"at its center, a single cube of black stone engraved with glowing blue runes.

Liora’s heart ached the moment she saw it.

She stepped forward and took Aeliana’s hand. “Please. Don’t.”

Aeliana only smiled. She kissed Liora’s forehead, brushed past Maelia, and placed her hand on the cube.

It awakened.

The cube spun, runes flaring with light. Lightning cracked from its core. Magic surged outward in a pulse.

And then... a voice.

They will both die.

Liora gasped. She looked to Aeliana, entranced, and Maelia, struggling to resist.

You must choose. Them, or you.

Tears welled in Liora’s eyes.

Come to me.

The cube broke apart, revealing a storm of light and energy. Liora stepped forward, her breath shallow.

“I love you both,” she whispered.

She walked into the storm.

And the world went black.

-----

Hate.

Fear.

Pain.

Maelia felt her world unravel, her essence stretching far beyond form. She was no longer only herself, no longer just a sister. She was something more. Something vast.

In the distance, yet somehow close, she saw Aeliana. Peaceful. Serene. Radiant.

And something inside Maelia twisted.

She resented her.

The feeling struck deep and hollow, like a chord she didn’t remember learning. A note of bitterness without memory. A puzzle with a missing center.

She watched as Aeliana created, a world tethered to their own, a new plane of existence only accessible through those who could walk between dimensions. Aeliana shaped it in beauty: lush forests, endless waters, skies vibrant and wild. It was alive.

Then came life.

Maelia watched as her sister breathed beings into the world, fragile, imperfect, fleeting. And still, Aeliana smiled.

It made Maelia sick.

Centuries passed in the blink of an eye. Life emerged, died, and returned again. Over and over. A dance without end.

And Maelia… hated it.

She reached into the silence beyond life. Into death.

There, she found form, not like her sister’s, but her own. She gave shape to the fallen, called them back from the edge, remade them in her image. Not reborn, not blessed, reclaimed.

But Aeliana’s creations turned on them. They rejected Maelia’s children. Feared them. Hunted them. Killed them.

Like they were a scourge.

And Maelia’s resentment deepened.

She hated her sister. She hated life. And she did not know why.

She could not remember the moment the seed was planted, only that it bloomed endlessly inside her, twisting into anger, sorrow, and the hollow echo of something lost.

Something taken.

And though she could not name it...

She knew, with perfect certainty...

That Aeliana was to blame.

-----

Peace.

Love.

Beauty.

Aeliana smiled.

She stood above a new land, watching her latest creation stir to life, short, sturdy beings with wide-set eyes and resolute spirits. She wanted them to be brave, practical, and loyal. To claim the mountains as their strongholds, to tame beasts as companions, to make the wilds their home.

She loved watching them build. She loved watching them grow.

More than that, she loved watching them choose.

Each one moved by their own will, driven by instinct and hope. They mated, multiplied, made their own mistakes, and she smiled through it all.

So she created more.

She shaped others in her own image, but gentler. Elves, she called them. Unlike her own kind, they did not dwell on eternity or forgotten power. They danced among the trees, spoke to rivers, honored the land. Their peace was a joy to behold.

But curiosity stirred in her once more.

What if she created something less graceful? More impulsive. Prone to chaos, but capable of remarkable order?

So she made them, two at first, a male and a female. She called them humans. She scattered them across the world, shaped their blood to adapt, to endure.

And she watched.

They grew. Migrated. Intertwined with her other creations. For a time, there was peace.

A harmony she had never dreamed possible.

Then… she saw them.

Creatures with twisted forms, faces stolen from her children’s memories. Eyes that once held love, now vacant. Limbs swollen with decay. They walked like her creations, but they were wrong. Abominations.

Her gaze shifted across the veil, and there she felt it.

Maelia.

Her sister had defiled the gift of life. Warped it. Repurposed it.

Aeliana’s heart ached.

And yet, her sorrow gave way to quiet satisfaction as she saw her creations fight back. They rose in defense of their own. They rejected the impure.

They destroyed the unworthy.

She watched them raise blades and prayers in her name. Brave, defiant, righteous.

She blessed them.

Not all, only those who stood against the defiled. She wove light into their bones, whispered strength into their souls. A taste of herself. A gift of flame.

They did not need her to fight.

But they chose to.

And so, Aeliana smiled.