At full tilt, I sprint toward the stars until I spot the Cathedral.
I don't change forms. Folding my wings to my sides, I shoot through the doorway like an arrow and only slow my momentum as I reach the altar. I sink my claws into the marble floor, flare my wings as wide as they'll go, bristle the red plating of my spine, and bare my fangs as I growl and snarl.
"Vitalius! You fucking fraud! Wake up and face me!"
The gigantic white quetzal stirs, lifting his head and opening his pink eyes. The lanterns tangled up within his pointed white horns knock together with the sound of soft metallic ringing. It's odd seeing him in the dark of night. Though the moonslight is cutting through the stained glass behind him, the lanterns are dark and cold without the Goddess's radiant glow from the Solaris so high above us all.
In this, he is far less impressive. A shadow of himself.
A giant feathered serpent, just as lowly as the rest of us.
No, lower than that. His claim to heroism is a lie.
What is a shadow in the darkness?
Nothing. Nothing at all.
"You," he hums, uncoiling his body a little more. "Radiant Fable. Crimson. You fly in the night. You retain draconic form in the Goddess's halls. These… These are grave offenses, wyvern."
"Spare me the lecture, charlatan. I know exactly what you are. A thief of stolen valor! A usurper of honor that is not your own! A liar stealing credit for a victory you had no part of! Lumos defeated the Bastard Terrelyx! Haunt! The Fifth Thorn! Not! You!" I thrash my tail and growl deeper, arcing my back and channeling red electricity down my spine. "But that, Vitalius, is not the reason I am here. No, I have other business, and you are nothing more than the conduit. I will commune with Aurora. And you will make that happen. Right this instant."
He remains motionless, gazing down at me.
My claws dig deeper as I clench them tighter. "Do it. Make it happen. Better yet, bring her here. I am not going anywhere until this is settled."
"Until what is settled, Crimson? Explain yourself."
"Well enough. I don't suppose she'll answer just because you call for her. Not without good reason. The Heavenly Mandate, right? She is to remain inside the Solaris for eternity, maintaining total isolation from us lesser beings, and that includes you, doesn't it? Tell her I demand answers."
"Be more specific."
"Raiden. Kayus. Lucien. Three high ranking members of the Valorant Order. They stole their way into my skyland like common fucking rogues, then incinerated everything I hold dear. My home, my lands, my family. Destroyed, charred, and dead. I demand to know why nothing was done to stop it. The Goddess knows all, does she not? So why? Why did she refuse to step in? Or was she unaware of it after all?"
"There is no reason to disturb Her endless meditations. This matter is well enough settled between you and I." He looms over me, attempting intimidation, but the Fell was far more fearsome. "You are correct. The Goddess knows all. Just as She knows the depths of the cosmos, She knew what was to come of your skyland. There is a reason She did not intervene."
I slam my tail onto the floor, smashing the marble so hard it cracks. "Tell me! Right now! She chose to do nothing! Tell me why, you foul fucking pretender!"
"The Goddess does not involve Herself with conflicts so insignificant, meaningless, and petty. When worlds collide, when wars between mortals erupt, when the Fallen reave the surface of Avi, that is when the Goddess intervenes. Not some meager squabble between infantile Fables. You're children fighting over your sandboxes. Settle this between yourselves."
"My… My home. My pets. My life. Those animals… They were everything to me. Everything. And you call their murder insignificant? Meaningless? Petty? A meager squabble? How dare you? How fucking dare you? And I'm to settle this myself? What of my skyland? My home?"
"You will rebuild. Like so many of us have. The Goddess does not solve your problems. You solve the Goddess's problems. That is what it means to be a Fable. To be a Legend. To be a Primarch. In time, you will understand this lesson."
Here, another truth reveals itself.
They tell us we will immediately become Wretched when we lose faith in the Goddess. The moment belief is broken, we are consumed by the rose vines and taken by the Fallen Queen's evil corruption. From firsthand experience, I now know for certain that is a lie.
Here I stand, covered not in roses, but in ashes.
There is no Goddess. Not to me. Not anymore.
A bloodchilling fury drowns me in hatred.
"You fiend," I hiss, colder than winter. "You knave. Both of you. All of you. You're no pinnacles of virtue, justice, and order. You're nothing but filthy liars. Every single one of you. How many people have you hurt to maintain this horror show? How many people are scared to death of standing against you? How cruel can you be? Aurora. You fucking monster. Have no fear of the Fallen Queen Umbra. She is none of your concern. I will rip you out of the sky well before she will. But now? Right now? Here, I stand. You refused to smite Vander the Black inside the Divine Archives. Just the same, I know that you will not smite me here in your Cathedral. This is a place of malice. And I am going to break it."
"You will do no such thing, apostate."
"Just try and stop me, you decrepit fucking relic!"
Red clashes with white. Lightning on both sides.
Vitalius darts at me with his fangs out, like a viper lashing at its kill. But he's old, and he's big, and he's slow. By the time he snaps his jaws shut, I'm already overhead. Rebounding off the painted ceiling, I strike down from above like I myself am a bolt of lightning. With timing I have mastered in the extreme training I have put myself through, I tuck my head and flip at the exact opportune moment, expanding my wings to their fullest to stop my forward momentum the instant my upper body becomes level with the floor again.
Perfection.
My tail follows the same arc I did.
My dorsalblade saber gouges halfway through him.
My lightning magic pierces the exposed vertebrae.
Not the dorsal plating. His spinal column is severed.
Vitalius is dead before he hits the floor.
After a fair follow through, I exhale and settle. "Done."
Hundreds of thousands of times, I have practiced, honed, and perfected that series of motions to a flawless degree. I've always known that I'm a target. Countless times, people have assaulted me in some way for being crossblooded. If and when that ends up getting violent, I will not be the one who loses the fight, and so I've trained, and trained, and trained, and trained. In combat, in magic, and in speed. Sometimes, I cannot win the fight. In that case, I will escape.
I am the fastest wyvern alive. That is not without effort.
The clock is now ticking and I do not know when it will stop. One of two things is going to happen. Either I have time to demolish this place like Vander did, or Aurora is about to call my bluff.
Regardless, I don't waste a heartbeat.
First, I shatter the altar with the back of my saber. With a burst of electricity and a blast of thunder, the stained glass explodes outward to join the stars. I cut gouges out of the floor, then sideswipe my tail to smash apart the wooden [pulpit. Lightning screams and Vitalius's feathers burn and the columns snap into pieces as I shoulder bash them all one by one and tear this place apart at the seams. The carpets are on fire. The tapestries are on fire. The banners are on fire. The Cathedral is on fire.
Mine. This is mine. This is my destruction.
Those Volarant ended my life.
I will end theirs in return.
Even if it means ripping the Heavens out of the sky.
As the painted ceiling fractures and fissures, I breathe in. As the roof splits and breaks, I breathe out. As the Cathedral crumbles to dust, I feel relieved. As the night sky opens up, I do rejoice. As I drink in the stars, I know what is to come. As I close my eyes, I see Umbra in mind. Just like she would say.
As I am shot by a ray of light, I accept my fable is over.
As I burn in flames of white, I know where I am going.
As I fall from the Heavens, I do anything but despair.
The weightlessness is divine. There is no up or down.
The surface of Avi draws closer. I hope she will forgive me.
I'm about to hit the ground. I know it's going to hurt.
Sudden softness surrounds me. I am caught in petals of red.
Her silhouette against the moons. Eyes glinting.
"Ahh… My little rose… They never deserved you."
I close my eyes and rest. "I'm sorry. Umbra."
"Shhh. Homeward, we go. You are coming with me."