Chapter 1

Winter, Day Six Hundred and Twenty Seven
Year Two Thousand, Six Hundred and Thirteen AF

Two islands in the sea, separated endlessly.

It was a mantra that had been repeated since the beginning, filling her first memories and dreams. Once more she heard it repeated, whispering upon the wind while she dreamt of the paradise in the sky that had been hers since her fifteenth hundredth birthday.

They had all heard the stories as children. No matter what culture or race, every child dreamt of the land in the clouds. The floating continent only the snow wings could find. With its’ seas of grass, floating islands and waterfalls surrounding the city of Baelsheire, it was the snow wing home.

The beautiful blue-white sun of Cinaku would dance on her pale skin in the cold winter air, leaving her glowing with warmth. In the dreams, she could see her breath; feel the chill and mana thrumming through the air. She was free. Here she wasn’t pressed deep into the earth, hiding from another assassin. She was able to sing and dance among a people she felt she knew, somewhere deep inside of her.

But reality was cruel. The sun she dreamt of burned her by day, leaving only the blue moon of Miaku as her comfort among the stars. But each night she searched, finding nothing but empty clouds. No floating world filled with snow wings; no paradise in the sky. Only clouds that brought rain and lightning, forcing her back beneath the ground she hated.

Tonight was no different, as the day passed above them, she dreamt of her room of the day. Of a people who felt familiar yet foreign to her.

Kianna took a deep breath of the cold air, laughing at the crisp taste on her tongue. Cinaku was just beginning to set on the horizon, painting rainbows among the clouds and fields. The islands that floated above them had frozen falls glittering in the last light, keeping her looking up in wonder from the balcony. Below sprawled the city, coming to life again as lanterns were lit to welcome the night.

A palace was where she lived in her dreams. The white palace of the king of the snow wings, King Kyrian Dragris of the Summer Shield. In the upper world, he was well known she knew. But none of the books she had read mentioned him below the surface. Their worlds were too different she knew. But in dreams, differences didn’t matter.

Kianna turned to look out over the balcony again, leaning farther this time. With a single tower, the beacon tower, the palace looked small. But she didn’t mind one bit, gathering up her cream skirts to peer further over the edge. It was rare she got to see the sun set in her dreams, leaving her only to wonder when she was awake.

Behind her, she heard a noise. Someone was coming to light the beacon for the night above her. Panicked, she dove over the balcony, fearing another reprimand from Lady Traene, her teacher. Proper ladies of her station didn’t climb towers, she would say. Nor did they fly.

The dress gave a horrible groan of resistance before her wings tore free, slowing her fall into a glide over the market and towards the main gates of the city. White as snow, they carried her through the cold night air, but she refused to let the chill bother her. The thrill of being free in the twilight spurred her on. With the clips from her hair gone, she felt free for the first time in years. Why hadn’t she done this earlier? The sun kissed hair she always had in the dreams flowed behind her, a river of gold kissed by Cinaku in the last light.

Kianna landed gently on the stone gate post, a perch just wide enough for her to sit and look out over the world below. On the other side of the gate a lone platform stood, guarded by her beloved Ashiko Narutashi. He had pulled the short stick again she guessed, giggling to herself as she hopped down to the platform to go to him.

“Ashi—” She started to say as the platform gave an abrupt jerk, the white stone cracking beneath their feet.

He lunged for the warning bell on the post next to hers as she collapsed to her knees. Again she tried to call his name, panic creeping into her voice, only to be drowned out by the platform cracking again. They locked eyes as he noticed her in the twilight, green eyes meeting her gold ones.

“Ashi—!” She tried again, reaching for him this time as she managed to stand. The platform shook violently as it finally gave way, throwing her towards the darkness below. Ashiko dove for her too late as his fingers brushed her own.

Above, the bell tolled rapidly, cut off by the platform breaking apart. Something was pulling her with the platform, dragging her towards the abyss of the world below. Her mind raced as she watched Ash sitting on the undamaged portion of the platform, crying out her name. The wind whistled in her ears, cutting off the words while the ground loomed before her.

“No. No! NO!” She screamed in fear, trying to spread her wings. But with the fragments of the platform raining around her, she couldn’t keep her wings open.

The light faded on the horizon as the ground became a black creature below, swallowing her and the debris from above. If she survived, it would be a miracle.

“ASHIKO—”Her scream was cut off by a piece of debris clipping her head, enveloping her in the darkness she feared.

Kianna woke up screaming, holding her head as pain seared through her skull. This was new. With the images still raging behind her tightly shut eyes, she clenched her teeth, her canines digging into her lower lip. That small bit of pain pulled her from the racing images, random bits of scattered scenes she guessed were still part of her dream.

Beside her a small shape moved, alerted to her pain through their psychic link. She could feel it, pushing against the pain to try and reach her consciousness. But Kianna writhed in her bed, tangled in blankets and her own clothes, curling her body up. Wings exploded from her back as she released her mana, a minor shockwave thrumming through the air, touching every living being within twenty five feet.

“Make it stop Tokiu.” Kianna gritted out, panting through her teeth as her body tried to control the pain.

“Take a deep breath.” A masculine voice gently chimed in her head, bringing a small amount of comfort as she took a steadying breath.

The pain began to dissipate with effort on his part, the strain evident as he began to shift beside her. From the small creature no larger than a cat to a fully quilled Korra’ she could sense his struggle. He refused to shift any further, his tail swishing from side to side in frustration. With dark grey fur under the black quills, he looked at her through amber glowing eyes full of concern. Each fine quill was filled with a neurotoxin, causing complete paralysis while leaving the victim conscious and aware. Tokiu moved to sit beside her now, stretching his black leather wings as he tried to lower the quills and stop puffing his fur.

Kianna turned to face him, smiling at her companion and closest friend for seven hundred years. The dim light caught the bell on his grey collar, making a small tinkling sound as he moved, making her relax. With the pain lessening, she was able to draw the mana back into herself, withdrawing her wings into her back once more.

“I’m okay, I promise. It’s passing.” She tried to reassure him vocally, knowing those she had touched earlier with her mana were also listening.

Kianna ran a hand through her black hair, toying with one of the crimson streaks in her bangs. She assumed it had been genetics that gave her the color, one that didn’t match any of the traits among the ruling houses of her race. Just one minor flaw that threw her to the streets for a century and a half, an unwanted child of some lesser house she guessed. But it was the only clue to her past that she had, one crimson streak that framed the right side of her face. The rest of her was normal according to Ciasti standards. Black wings, dark skin, crimson runes on the inside of her wings and glowing crimson eyes. All normal traits any child of Ahsha had, but it wasn’t enough to be claimed. She was flawed they said.

“Enough of that.” Tokiu scolded into her mind again, butting his head against the arm she threw over her eyes.

“That dream just seems to haunt me. Like it’s trying to tell me something; but it’s just a dream. I know it is.” She smiled at Tokiu, lifting her arm to wink at him as he was about to protest. Kianna picked him up in that moment, setting him on her belly while he turned to look at the door.

They had grown these past few hundred years. She was beginning to understand the world, itching to venture out and find her birth family. Now that they were old enough, and she was able to best her eldest sister Janna in combat, they were ready.

“Did you pack the medical supplies? What about my pillow?” Though grown, the seven hundred year old Korra was still a child in some respects. He was excited about their journey, though no one would know until they were long gone.

They had chosen when the fall moon Shaka would be full, painting the world red before full winter arrived. It marked the last days of fall and a perfect time to leave, when her adopted siblings and mother would be resting and preparing for winter. With Janna gone on a hunting trip, no one else was as experienced in tracking on the surface.

Tokiu hopped down and went to the bag by the door, packed to near stuffed with things they thought they would need. He was doing one last routine check as she sat up, stretching her cramped muscles. It was early for them, near the middle of the day rather than early night when most of them would be up. The darkness was a comfort for most beneath the surface, having adapted to a night schedule.

“Relax Tokiu. We’re just going for a few days to survey, nothing dangerous or crazy. I just want to see beyond the mountains, that’s all. Then you can come back and lounge on the bed eating jerky like you always do.” She giggled, whispering so the others wouldn’t hear. Tokiu rolled his eyes at her and hopped back on the bed while she got up, grabbing her weapon.

It was time for her routine exercises, keeping her fresh for any danger that came their way. Slowly she worked through the motions with Rairakku, her weapon of choice. A seven foot long naginata with a three foot blade, inlaid with red runes along the blade that read Cortaviere. It was the only thing she knew to call the demon within, a dangerous priestess of days past. According to the demon, the weapon was a legacy from her family, the last link to her past. Spinning the staff in her hands, she felt over the smooth wood, engraved with the runes of sealing and protection that glowed when Cortaviere moved.

“You’re up early girl.” Cortaviere grumbled, scrubbing sleep from her eyes as she sat meditating within Rairakku.

“Today is the day we leave for the world beyond.” Kianna thought, answering the demon while she took a step to strike an imaginary target in the chest.

“Good to see you aren’t going to get rusty. Dedicate yourself and you’ll find answers. Stray and Ahsha will destroy you.” Cortaviere smiled sweetly, showing her fangs and glowing crimson eyes. She reminded Kianna of herself, nearly identical they were. But Cortaviere was older and kept her hair short, cropped close in the back and to her chin in the front.

“I won’t let anyone distract me. I have family depending on me.” Cortaviere snorted, standing and working through her own exercises, pushing power into Kianna.

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Cortaviere muttered while they played the power game, tugging back and forth between that which held control of the weapon. Kianna let Cortaviere pull for control, relaxing herself as she knew the moment would come. A slight shift, just enough to create a gap for her to push back. It was a constant mental battle as well as a physical one, but the benefits outweighed the cost. For the final push, Kianna slammed the end of Rairakku into the ground, causing a much larger shockwave of mana. With Cortaviere dazed, Kianna sheathed her weapon, tying it to her pack for the journey.

“You won’t win that way Cortaviere.” She smiled, shaking her head at the older Ciasti in her mind’s eye. Cortaviere brushed her bangs out of her face, brushing herself off.