Dissonance

Frachur looked away from the blue Nocturne that Enegi was gently healing, and to the new voice. The other young Nocturne was being ushered towards the group by Loa, his massive size dwarfing the small dragon in comparison. Beside Frachur sat a trembling purple Coatl named Carnation, his expression that of shock and fear. The attack on the lair has seemed so sudden and unexpected, and though Frachur wasn't sure exactly what had attacked the lair, he had a vague idea based on what was discussed in the Royal Court prior to this night.

"Will you be alright, Carnation? You look a little pale," Enegi asked in a soft, concerned voice, glancing up from her healing of the female. The Coatl wilted a little.

"I was... I was so sure they were Rosaline and Primrose... but they must still be..." he whimpered, trailing off. The Coatl's distress reminded Frachur that his own family hadn't made it out. Melacholia! She must still be trapped in there... what if she's in danger? What about Bliss and Mother? Oh, Lightweaver keep them safe! He didn't have time to fret over these thoughts for very long, as the male Nocturne cut in.

"We must hurry," he insisted.

"Patience, friend, I'm almost done," Enegi replied, before turning her focus back to the injured Nocturne.

"While we wait, why don't you give us a brief explanation as to who you are and what's going on," Loa added. The dark Nocturne hesitated for a moment, before he began to fill them in. He was Voidsong, and the blue Nocturne was his sister Nightsong. Both of them were known as singers, Nocturnes born with immunity to the effects of mimic magic, and were able to sense when such magic was nearby. The Lucidlight clan had been attacked by creatures known as mimics, and the dragon who had been taken was Shadowsong, the siblings' mentor.

"It's likely that they've hidden her somewhere in your lair," Voidsong explained. "We'll have to search inside. With any luck, we'll be able to find her in time and dispel the mimics-"

"Hold on, what about our own clanmates?" Loa cut in. "The king and queen could be in grave danger, not to mention our loved ones."

"Yeah, didn't you mention singers are immune to the effects of mimic magic? Wouldn't our clanmates be in more danger than Shadowsong?" Frachur demanded. Voidsong gave him a hard look in return.

"Without Shadowsong's assistance, your entire clan may be doomed. We must rescue her from Thana's clutches if your clan is to have a chance of surviving this night!" He snapped. Frachur opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Enegi.

"You're all good, Nightsong," she said, having finished her healing. "This might not be my main job, but I'm glad Orion taught me a thing or two. Let me check your wounds, Voidsong, and then we can head in." Enegi began to heal the minor wounds Voidsong had sustained and the group made their plans of action for when they'd reenter the lair. The group would split into two, each accompanied by one of the singers so they could detect nearby mimics. Frachur, Enegi, and Voidsong would cover the Royal Wing while Loa, Carnation and Nightsong would search the Residential Wings. Frachur was determined to find this Shadowsong if it was his only means of saving Melacholia. Hang in there, sister. Help is on the way.

"Do you see that? What is that?" Frachur turned to see Enegi pointing towards a faint golden glow coming from one of the doorways in the corridor. Voidsong began to approach the door cautiously.

"I'm not sensing any mimic magic, but stay on guard. Let's check it out." The trio carefully made their way over to the doorway and peeked through. The room happened to be the Royal Armory, although Frachur could hardly call it an Armory with how little armor and few weapons the clan's elite Warriors, Holly and Comet, kept.

There, standing in the middle of the room with one arm outstretched above her, was a golden Skydancer, who was none other than the clan's Royal Enlightener, Renzati. She clutched her Light Tome tightly in her talons, and a strange veil of magic seemed to be streaming out of her outstretched palm, creating a large, semi-transparent dome that stretched far enough to almost touch the walls of the room. Coiled around her waist and tightly clutching a wooden blue staff was a very frightened yellow and blue Spiral, Prince Rangt.

As soon as the skydancer spotted Frachur and Enegi, relief spread across her face, and she beckoned for them to come inside the veil. Frachur was equally relieved to see her and the Prince were unharmed. The two members of the Royal Court walked through the strange veil, with Voidsong in tow.

"Oh, thank Sornieth!" Renzati exclaimed. "I thought Rangt and I were the only ones left! I assume the Nocturne is here to help as well?" Voidsong confirmed by nodding to the Skydancer.

"How did you escape the mimics, Enlightener?" Enegi asked.

"Well, it turns out this old tome has a few useful spells for this kind of situation." She glanced down at the Light Tome in her talons. "This veil should keep us safe from enemies." Normally this information would have reassured Frachur, but oddly, something at the corner of his mind didn't sit right with this information. He dismissed the feeling and refocused.

"We can rendezvous here once we find Shadowsong then," Frachur suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea, we can escort any surviving clan members here too," Voidsong added. "For now, let's get back to the search. Where haven't we looked?"

"We can check the Ambassador Wing-" Frachur could make out Enegi cursing under her breath. "If only the Ambassadors were actually present right now. They're powerful individuals who'd be really useful right now." she scowled. It troubled Frachur too. Now was a time when they needed the Ambassadors and Elite Warriors more than ever, but all of them were away for various reasons Renzati had explained.

"Well let's not waste any time pondering what could have been. Show me the way to the Wing," Voidsong replied. Renzati and Rangt bid the trio good luck and they left for the Ambassador Wing, rushing down the corridors so as not to waste any precious time. Since the rooms were so close to each other and all their doorways were in the same hall, the trio split up to thoroughly check each room. The first three rooms seemed devoid of anything useful, but as soon as Voidsong went to check the next room, he froze.

"I can sense something..." he said slowly, walking forward slightly. "Mimic magic... and it gets stronger rapidly the further down the hallway I go." The three of them all gazed down to the room at the very end of the hallway, which was the Nature Ambassador's room.

"Could... Shadowsong be down there?" Enegi wondered out loud.

"We should find out," Voidsong replied. The group nodded and began to advance towards the room, but a sudden, chilling laughter echoed down the hallway, startling Frachur and Enegi. Voidsong narrowed his eyes.

"You two... stay back for a moment. Let me check things out first." The Mirror and Tundra stayed put as the dark Nocturne began to slowly creep down the hallway, drawing closer and closer to the door. That's a little strange, Frachur thought. If there's possible danger, shouldn't we stay close rather than get separated like this...? As if Voidsong heard his thoughts, the Nocturne stopped abruptly, then whirled around and came charging back towards the pair.

"Watch out!" he roared a moment too late. The Mirror suddenly felt his reality warp, and it suddenly felt like he was floating in the abyss. His vision went fuzzy, and colors began to blur before his eyes. He then found himself falling onto hard ground again, and he became vaguely aware of Enegi landing hard on his right wing. Dazed, Frachur attempted to get up, only to find he was held down by powerful talons. Sharp claws pressed gently into his back, enough to warn him against thrashing.

The Mirror attempted to see Enegi, and he caught a glimpse of her lying in a similar state he was in. As his vision came more into focus, Frachur could see more of his surroundings. It was clear that they were no longer in the Ambassador Wing, and Voidsong was nowhere in sight. The room was dark, but the area in front of him was lit up by his own shining eyes. Before him stood two gold and silver feet, which appeared to be those of a Skydancer's.

No... it couldn't be...

"Hello my dears." The sinister voice sounded familiar to Frachur's ears. Sure enough, before him stood Renzati, and next to her, a triumphant-looking Rangt. There was a gleam of malice in the Skydancer's eyes, and a wide smile was spread across her face. Suspended above the palm of her right hand was Enegi's Celestial Attendant, seemingly incapacitated by some kind of spell.

"So... did you find your precious singer?" she mocked. Frachur growled, twisting his neck around to view what was holding him and Enegi down. The talons pinning them belonged to two strange creatures. They appeared to resemble a Guardian and a Ridgeback, but the Guardian looked like some kind of smoldering fire elemental, and the Ridgeback appeared to be a Plague behemoth sort of creature. What was stranger, their faces were covered by onyx-black masks that obscured their eyes; masks that rang a bell in Frachur's memory.

"What's going on?!" The Mirror demanded.

"A passing of power, dear. The clan is being sorted into new customs," Renzati replied in a matter-of-fact tone. Frachur snarled.

"How could you side with those beasts?"

"Who, the mimics?" Renzati clutched her chest, as if offended. "They're quite a useful tool for overthrowing a monarchy, I must say, but you are incorrect in assuming. I have no desire to keep them around after tonight."

Pieces of the puzzle began to click in Frachur's mind. Renzati had planned this takeover. The sudden absence of the Warriors and Ambassadors had been no accident. Renzati must have done something to them, leaving the clan defenseless, and open to attack on this very night. Even their attempt at rescuing Shadowsong had been a trap, which must have been why they were met with no resistance when they searched the lair. Renzati hadn't wanted to discourage them, instead luring them in and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

"I can tell by your expression you must have figured something out by now. Unfortunately, I can't let anyone so connected to a deity do as they please with this information, so I'm going to make sure you stay out of my way." Renzati took the wooden blue staff from Rangt, and an inky black tome suddenly materialized out of the shadows and levitated before her.

That doesn't look good... where'd she even get that? Frachur felt more frightened than puzzled, but he couldn't help but feel like that tome contained the magic of something deadly.

"Why are you doing this?" Enegi cried out.

"Why matters little," the skydancer replied casually, flipping through the pages of the tome. She stopped on one page and skimmed it, before nodding to herself. Frachur's heartbeat quickened as she raised the staff. He had no idea where Loa or Carnation had gone to, or if Voidsong and Nightsong had rescued Shadowsong. He prayed that none of them met the same fate as whatever he was about to meet.

A black bolt of magic surged from the staff and struck Frachur. He felt the weight on his back suddenly release, and he instinctively scrambled towards the mad Enlightener. He reached out to strike her with his talons, only to find they suddenly looked transparent. The weight was completely gone, in fact, he felt himself grow a lot lighter than normal. So light that he was floating. The Mirror opened his mouth to scream, but nothing except silent, hot air came out. As his vision began to fade, he tried to flail about, but it merely sounded like a breeze being fanned.

The last thing Frachur remembered was trying to reach towards Enegi, before his vision plunged into pitch black darkness.