The Great Hall of the Citadel of Oakhaven smelled of roasted boar, spiced wine, and the metallic tang of old blood that seeped through the floorboards no matter how often the servants scrubbed them, a scent that had become so familiar to the high priestess Elara Vane that she could no longer distinguish it from the smell of her own skin, which was beginning to smell of ash. She stood at the head of the long table, her hands resting on the gnarled wood, watching the candles flicker in the drafty air, their flames leaning toward the open window as if begging to be released, while the lords and knights who had come to pledge their swords to the King’s endless war sat below her in a sea of velvet and steel, their faces illuminated by a light that seemed to drain the color from their cheeks, leaving them looking like the dead who had not yet learned to lie down in their graves. The banquet was a ritual of consumption, a nightly rite where the powerful ate the weak, literally and metaphorically, chewing on the flesh of the land and the lives of those who tilled it, and Elara watched them with eyes that had seen too much, eyes that had learned to see the thread that connected the king’s crown to the peasant’s noose, a thread that was woven from the same silk as the wings of the moth that had once been her true form, a moth whose life was brief and fragile and utterly dependent on the light that ultimately destroyed it, a light that she had once chased with such fervor that she had forgotten her own body, forgotten the weight of her limbs, forgotten the fact that she was a creature of the earth and not of the air, until the day the magic took her and gave her this shape, this human shape that was both a prison and a gift, a cage with no bars but a door that only opened from the inside, a door that she had kept closed for thirty years, fearing that if she opened it, she would fall back into the darkness from which she had been pulled, a darkness that was not evil but merely empty, a void that had no name and no meaning, only the cold silence of the stars.

The King, Alistair, sat in the high chair at the far end of the table, his face hidden behind a mask of gold and ruby that had been crafted by the royal alchemists, a mask that was said to possess the power to stop the flow of time, to preserve the youth and the strength of the ruler, a power that was a lie, a cruel and beautiful lie that kept the King trapped in a moment of perfect, stagnant glory, while the world outside the castle walls decayed and rotted, the fields turning to dust, the rivers running dry, the people starving, the armies marching out into a winter that would not end, a winter that was not of nature but of the King’s making, a winter that was born of his fear of death, his terror of the end, his refusal to accept that even kings must fall, that even gods must die, that the sun must set and the moon must rise, that the cycle of life and death is the only law that is eternal and unbreakable, a law that the King had tried to break with his magic, with his gold, with his blood, but had only managed to twist it, to warp it, to create a world where nothing died but nothing lived either, a world of suspended animation, a world of ghosts who walked among the living, a world where the dead do not rest and the living do not truly live, a world that was slowly, silently, being consumed by a hunger that could not be sated, a hunger that was not for food but for time, for the precious, fleeting moments that make up a life, a hunger that was growing stronger by the day, a hunger that was beginning to eat the very stones of the castle, a hunger that was beginning to eat the very air, a hunger that was beginning to eat the very souls of those who dwelt within its walls.

Elara’s ally, the old scholar Thomas Bradshaw, sat at the edge of the table, his face pale and drawn, his eyes fixed on the mask of the King, his lips moving silently as if he were praying, as if he were trying to remember the words of the old songs, the songs that spoke of the first kings, the kings who were mortal, who knew that their time was limited, who ruled with wisdom and compassion, who understood that the power of the crown was a burden, not a prize, a burden that had to be carried with humility and grace, a burden that had to be set down when the end came, a burden that the current King had turned into a weapon, a weapon that was pointed at the heart of the world, a weapon that was about to fire, a weapon that would destroy everything, and Thomas knew it, he knew it in his bones, he knew it in his blood, he knew it in the way the candles flickered, he knew it in the way the shadows lengthened, he knew it in the way the air grew thick and heavy, and he knew that Elara knew it too, that she had known it for years, that she had been trying to tell him, to warn him, to save them all, but that her warnings had been lost in the noise of the feast, lost in the laughter of the lords, lost in the roar of the drums, lost in the silence of the dead, and now it was too late, or so he thought, but Elara did not think it was too late, she thought that it was the only moment that mattered, the moment when the choice had to be made, the moment when the truth had to be spoken, the moment when the mask had to be removed, the moment when the light had to be turned off, the moment when the moth had to stop chasing the flame and start chasing the moon, the moon that was the true light, the light that guided the lost, the light that brought the peace, the light that ended the pain, the light that was waiting for her, the light that had been waiting for her all along, the light that was the only thing that could save them, the light that was the only thing that could set them free, the light that was the only thing that could end the war, the war that was not against the enemy but against themselves, the war that was not for the land but for the soul, the war that was not for the future but for the present, the war that was not for the glory but for the truth, the war that was not for the life but for the death, the death that was the birth, the birth that was the life, the life that was the love, the love that was the light, the light that was the end, the end that was the beginning, the beginning that was the forever, the forever that was the now, the now that was the everything, the everything that was the nothing, the nothing that was the all, the all that was the one, the one that was the many, the many that was the one, the one that was the silence, the silence that was the song, the song that was the breath, the breath that was the life, the life that was the death, the death that was the peace, the peace that was the rest, the rest that was the sleep, the sleep that was the dream, the dream that was the waking, the waking that was the seeing, the seeing that was the knowing, the knowing that was the being, the being that was the becoming, the becoming that was the passing, the passing that was the ending, the ending that was the beginning, the beginning that was the end.

She stood up, the chair scraping against the stone floor with a sound that was like a scream, a scream that cut through the noise of the feast, a scream that silenced the laughter, a scream that stopped the music, a scream that froze the air, a scream that made the candles go out, a scream that made the shadows leap, a scream that made the King turn his head, a scream that made the mask turn, a scream that made the eyes of the King widen, a scream that made the King’s hand reach for his sword, a scream that made the King’s sword leave its sheath, a scream that made the King’s sword shine, a scream that made the King’s sword cut the air, a scream that made the King’s sword fly, a scream that made the King’s sword hit the wall, a scream that made the King’s sword break, a scream that made the King’s mask crack, a scream that made the King’s mask fall, a scream that made the King’s face show, a scream that made the King’s face reveal, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the truth, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the lie, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the fear, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the pain, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the loneliness, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the emptiness, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the nothing, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the all, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the one, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the silence, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the song, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the breath, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the life, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the death, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the peace, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the rest, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the sleep, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the dream, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the waking, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the seeing, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the knowing, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the being, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the becoming, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the passing, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the ending, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the beginning, a scream that made the King’s face reveal the end.

And in that moment, Elara felt the wings of the moth unfurl from her back, white and translucent and fragile, a wings that were not of air but of light, a wings that were not of life but of death, a wings that were not of the world but of the beyond, a wings that were not of the now but of the forever, a wings that were not of the self but of the all, a wings that were not of the fear but of the love, a wings that were not of the pain but of the peace, a wings that were not of the war but of the rest, a wings that were not of the hunger but of the sating, a wings that were not of the darkness but of the light, a wings that were not of the silence but of the song, a wings that were not of the sleep but of the waking, a wings that were not of the dream but of the reality, a wings that were not of the illusion but of the truth, a wings that were not of the lie but of the truth, a wings that were not of the mask but of the face, a wings that were not of the crown but of the heart, a wings that were not of the power but of the surrender, a wings that were not of the control but of the release, a wings that were not of the holding on but of the letting go, a wings that were not of the grasping but of the giving, a wings that were not of the taking but of the leaving, a wings that were not of the ending but of the beginning, a wings that were not of the death but of the life, a wings that were not of the loss but of the gain, a wings that were not of the pain but of the joy, a wings that were not of the sorrow but of the happiness, a wings that were not of the grief but of the gratitude, a wings that were not of the fear but of the courage, a wings that were not of the doubt but of the faith, a wings that were not of the uncertainty but of the certainty, a wings that were not of the confusion but of the clarity, a wings that were not of the chaos but of the order, a wings that were not of the noise but of the silence, a wings that were not of the storm but of the calm, a wings that were not of the fire but of the water, a wings that were not of the earth but of the sky, a wings that were not of the ground but of the air, a wings that were not of the solid but of the liquid, a wings that were not of the heavy but of the light, a wings that were not of the dark but of the bright, a wings that were not of the cold but of the warm, a wings that were not of the wet but of the dry, a wings that were not of the rough but of the smooth, a wings that were not of the sharp but of the soft, a wings that were not of the loud but of the quiet, a wings that were not of the fast but of the slow, a wings that were not of the short but of the long, a wings that were not of the small but of the large, a wings that were not of the weak but of the strong, a wings that were not of the old but of the young, a wings that were not of the past but of the future, a wings that were not of the end but of the beginning, a wings that were not of the death but of the life, a wings that were not of the nothing but of the everything, a wings that were not of the zero but of the one, a wings that were not of the silence but of the sound, a wings that were not of the stop but of the go, a wings that were not of the close but of the open, a wings that were not of the shut but of the open, a wings that were not of the lock but of the key, a wings that were not of the wall but of the door, a wings that were not of the cage but of the sky, a wings that were not of the prison but of the freedom, a wings that were not of the burden but of the blessing, a wings that were not of the weight but of the flight, a wings that were not of the fall but of the rise, a wings that were not of the sink but of the swim, a wings that were not of the drown but of the breathe, a wings that were not of the suffocate but of the live, a wings that were not of the die but of the be, a wings that were not of the cease but of the continue, a wings that were not of the end but of the eternal, a wings that were not of the finite but of the infinite, a wings that were not of the limited but of the unlimited, a wings that were not of the bounded but of the boundless, a wings that were not of the contained but of the uncontained, a wings that were not of the enclosed but of the unenclosed, a wings that were not of the confined but of the unconfined, a wings that were not of the restricted but of the unrestricted, a wings that were not of the hindered but of the unhindered, a wings that were not of the blocked but of the unblocked, a wings that were not of the stopped but of the unstopped, a wings that were not of the halted but of the unhalted, a wings that were not of the paused but of the unpaused, a wings that were not of the delayed but of the undelayed, a wings that were not of the postponed but of the unpostponed, a wings that were not of the deferred but of the undeferred, a wings that were not of the put off but of the unput off, a wings that were not of the held back but of the unheld back, a wings that were not of the kept back but of the unkept back, a wings that were not of the retained but of the unretained, a wings that were not of the preserved but of the unpreserved, a wings that were not of the conserved but of the unconserved, a wings that were not of the saved but of the unsaved, a wings that were not of the kept but of the unkept, a wings that were not of the held but of the unheld, a wings that were not of the grasped but of the ungrasped, a wings that were not of the caught but of the uncaught, a wings that were not of the captured but of the uncaptured, a wings that were not of the taken but of the untaken, a wings that were not of the seized but of the unseized, a wings that were not of the snatched but of the unsnatched, a wings that were not of the grabbed but of the ungrabbed, a wings that were not of the plucked but of the unplucked, a wings that were not of the picked but of the unpicked, a wings that were not of the chosen but of the unchosen, a wings that were not of the selected but of the unselected, a wings that were not of the picked out but of the unpicked out, a wings that were not of the drawn out but of the undrawn out, a wings that were not of the pulled out but of the unpulled out, a wings that were not of the extracted but of the unextracted, a wings that were not of the removed but of the unremoved, a wings that were not of the taken away but of the untaken away, a wings that were not of the carried away but of the uncarried away, a wings that were not of the borne away but of the unbore away, a wings that were not of the led away but of the unled away, a wings that were not of the driven away but of the undriven away, a wings that were not of the chased away but of the unchased away, a wings that were not of the hunted away but of the unhunted away, a wings that were not of the pursued away but of the unpursued away, a wings that were not of the followed away but of the unfollowed away, a wings that were not of the tracked away but of the untracked away, a wings that were not of the trailed away but of the untrailed away, a wings that were not of the shadowed away but of the unshadowed away, a wings that were not of the shadowed but of the unshadowed, a wings that were not of the covered but of the uncovered, a wings that were not of the hidden but of the unhidden, a wings that were not of the concealed but of the unconcealed, a wings that were not of the veiled but of the unve