A long time ago, to create a possibility for those who were once lost, Victoria shared her endless wisdom.
Following her guidance, people built the world according to her will, moving mountains, draining seas, and exploring the unknown depths hiding beneath.
Within those teachings, they built cradles.
Special facilities that were meant to teach the young ones how to follow their faith and further explore the sacred flames. A house for those in need and a place of rest.
Built atop her remaining will, they were branded as sacred, forever left untouched as the only remaining gift from the goddess Victoria.
***
On a mountain's edge where snow barely reached, a towering dome of glass and stone faced the sunless sky above. On one side, it was filled with dark gold lights that still stayed lit despite it turning day, while the other was covered in shades of blue and gray, a dullish color that was accompanied by the noise of machines working at top speed.
A worker walked through the busy construction site, clearly looking for someone. He was old, dressed in stained clothes that had not tasted anything but dirt for the past few weeks; he looked rough, just like everyone around him who chose to help out of their own accord.
It wasn't easy work, but having lived on flat land for decades, the cool mountain weather made it somewhat more bearable.
Walking through the steaming metal beams and mountains of piled wood, he noticed his boss yelling at the newcomers after they messed up pouring fresh concrete, his face flushed red with frustration, which didn't seem like a rare sight these days.
"Gabe!" He shouted to him.
The man turned around with his bouncy belly and greeted him in a rusty voice, not forgetting to add one last insult for the failures that scattered away as soon as they found a chance.
"What is it?" He raised his cap with a hardened face. "I don't have all day, so you better make it quick."
The old worker, understanding that he had to make it short, pointed to the place he came from, approximately a hundred meters away from them, where a flat piece of land was left untouched, big enough to fit three football fields.
"Are we going to do anything with all that free space? We don't have anywhere to dump new construction materials, and the upcoming weather doesn't make it easier for us to find a place somewhere else."
His boss looked at it for a second, pulled up his pants that were always a string away from tearing, and shook his head as if the question was ridiculous to hear.
"Of course not!" His voice beamed with ridicule. "Don't you know? Today is the day when all of the Knights return!"
"That space is empty because that's where I was told they would be landing!"
"Really? I never heard about that."
The boss, smirking, threw his hand over the worker's thin shoulder, grabbing him firmly with his greasy hand.
"Well, that's because that information is confidential." The worker looked at him, surprised, while Gabe continued. "Only someone like me who oversees this construction site can know it until the very last moment. Sharing it with others could lead to someone potentially selling that information and sabotaging their visit!"
"Even so, they placed barriers all over that area for some reason; maybe it has something to do with the new generation coming soon..."
His voice trailed off, while the older worker looked at him from the side with a puzzled expression.
"Then why are you telling me that?"
Patting the worker on his shoulder, he let go and corrected his cap that was covered in warm sweat and hardened oil.
"Don't you see?"
He looked up at the sky, where swarms of shadows were slowly moving towards them, cutting through the white clouds. They were dozens of kilometers away from them, but the sheer number of them made it clear.
"Only a blind person wouldn't know it's them who are coming."
***
At the said landing site, after a few minutes, people in golden robes started swarming in like ants, entering it from the edges but not daring to cross the line any further.
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Some stood out from the crowd, wearing long white sleeves that fell below their wrists; others had no sleeves at all, with them ripped out entirely as if by hand. But what remained the same was the bright golden glow that grew as more people flooded in, easily passing a hundred.
Above them, a myriad of roars came crashing from above, high-pitched shrieks to the point it could make one's ears bleed and grinding wails spreading across the hooded figures.
Wyverns.
Creatures only spoken of in the books, frightening predators that were told they could never follow a human's will. Were slowly descending from the sky, accompanied by the ferocious wind of their far-reaching wings.
One by one, they lined up in rows with the perfected coordination of a tamed beast, something that made a couple of people from the crowd gasp in astonishment.
They looked intimidating enough by themselves, with dark scales that camouflaged them in the night and horns of the devil himself. But when lined up across the vibrant, spacious landing site, they seemed like more of an attraction rather than satan's spawn, quietly standing on their two wings.
One of the robed figures came up to them, clearly standing out from the rest with his gigantic build and gentle white eyes that were somewhat hollow but not quite.
Opposite to him, a person slid off his wyvern's neck with ease, striding to greet the giant with dignity in each of their steps.
Unlike every other regular knight, she wore light armour that didn't quite fit in with heavy steel and countless emblems scattered across her colleagues. Her build was small and doll-like, with white hair that cascaded down her back and a simple rapier at her waist.
Like someone taking a walk, she stopped in front of the giant, robed man, who looked down at her with an amused smile across his lips.
"It seems we meet again, Lady Aurora." His voice sounded gentle and caring, but was also tinged with a hint of mockery. "Has it been ten or twenty years since we last met? I can't remember it clearly due to how much fun I've had with you back then~."
Without a change in her expression, the woman named Aurora looked up at him as the corner of her lips curled up.
"You look as senile as ever, Marcus. I hope you didn't forget your cane like last time."
With an even wider smile, the man pulled out a rough, wooden cane from within his robe that was a head taller than Lady Aurora. "I did not." He tapped the grass with its tip. "Thank you for worrying about an old man like me."
"So..." He hid his giant branch-like cane back inside his robe, looking at the dozens of wyverns that landed all over the place. "It seems this year's harvest has been quite plentiful, hasn't it?"
Gesturing at the other knights getting off their Wyverns and helping others get down safely, he turned back to Aurora with another wide smile that seemed more genuine than anything he'd done so far.
"Are we going to start it now, or do you plan on having knights accompany those lost embers?"
"That is not something for me to decide."
"Yes, I know, the priests have to agree before we can do anything, but playing around can't hurt, now can it?"
She gave him a blank look before turning around with an indifferent attitude.
"I would have taken them all already if I were you, but as your peer, I should at least be a good example for them to follow."
"Tsk, Fine." Marcus clicked his tongue with disappointment and turned his back on her, taking slow and calm steps towards the hooded crowd that was waiting for him. "Even if I did take them, there would be no guarantee that they would be useful for me. Take good care of those children."
"Don't worry, once everyone is paired up, we will proceed with assigning the young ones to their compatible churches. If you wish to, you can go with us and oversee them being tested."
She spoke before turning her head and seeing that the tall man was gone, alongside his group of hooded followers.
Now only a few people in robes were waiting patiently with glints in their eyes, ready to devour the newcomers and bring them back as trophies.
However, on one part of the landing site, the one furthest from Lady Aurora's gaze, was a wyvern with scales as dark as obsidian that reflected pale daylight. Its wings were in a tattered state, but it did not seem to hinder its movements in the slightest.
On its back, two boys were yelling at each other, one's voice filled with hurried panic and anger.
While the other... was crying pale tears.