It is done. The world may judge me, I may fall from the Council and be cast aside, but I have done my part and I will accept the consequences of my actions.

I looked to Drake, uneasy at all this, and sighed. The Council would do their part to help him enter his role. I… was tired.

I walked through the streets of Raven’s Shade, barely noticing the people, and returned to my home. It was simple and austere, and all I cared about now was writing. I had to get my thoughts down, before anything else happened.

I pulled out a journal, which I’d used in the past to write memoirs that I doubt would ever leave my house. It was a way to formulate the words, nothing more, for I had no wish to achieve fame. I simply had a part to play.

I took a deep breath, and began writing.

As I write this, I have just made the most dangerous move of my career. I have declared Drake the Champion of Darkness, finally putting to rest any chance of Kiana achieving her goals via politics. My role is completed, in that respect. I could stop now, and none would blame me. But I must remain vigilant. Though I gained the backing of enough of the Council to end this tiresome battle with her, she still has allies, and she has always been… unstable.

I have written before of my thoughts on Kiana.

I hate her, and all she represents. And I am afraid. This I repeat now, in what may be my final memoir in this life.

I am afraid. But I am not afraid of dying.

Perhaps I should be. But I’m not afraid of death just as I am not afraid of making a mistake, or of angering her, or of losing my reputation and my career.

I am afraid of Kiana.

I fear what she is, what she means, what she will do to Darkness.

I am willing to die to stop her. I am willing to sacrifice my name, my reputation, my entire career, and my life, so long as she does not rise to power.

Those who do not understand Kiana Vessian have often criticized me for being so openly against the woman who is indeed the most powerful Darkness elemental ever to live. They do not know why I fear her. They do not know why I have such hatred for all she represents. But that is because they are incapable of examining any perspective not their own.

Centuries ago, before my time, Darkness was powerful. We were the most powerful element, and all others feared us. And the forces of Darkness were monsters. We were ruthless horrors that would destroy anything, murder children, and commit a thousand atrocities merely because those we were massacring belonged to the enemy And sometimes atrocities happened not even for so weak a justification, but merely because it entertained us. We were monsters, every one of us.

And I say ‘we’ because though I was not involved, I carry that guilt, that burden. All of Darkness carries that, for we must never forget, never forgive, what was done.

I’ve seen the reports from Kiana’s Academy. Manipulation, missing students, theft, strange meetings and odd behavior from the students… I am capable of putting the pieces together, and when I first connected the dots I was concerned, but merely saw her as a grim reminder of the old days.

Now I know better.

She isn’t a reminder.

She is the Second Coming.

I do not hate her though, not truly, not even with all I have said.

I pity her.

I hate what she represents, and I hate what she has done, but the girl herself… I pity her. I pity what she has gone through, I pity her for the actions she has taken, I pity her for the broken mind she has, I pity her because she is in a way just as much a victim as those she destroys. I pity her, because her life has become consumed by ambition and a love of conflict, by horrid desires that I do not believe will ever be satisfied. I pity her, because she can never know true happiness, and only temporary satisfaction from the results of her cruelty.

And yet, though I pity her, I oppose her, and I acknowledge her as the second coming of a vile path. She is powerful, and cunning, and she is purest, most vile evil. Under her, Dark would rise. And under her, we would become monsters.

If Kiana rises, Darkness will once more become the big bad monsters that other elements tell horror stories about. We will be hated and reviled for our evil ways. All elements will fear us, and they will work together to stop us.

And I worry they would not be able to, if Kiana was leading our forces.

I will not… I cannot let that happen.

I looked up from my journal and looked at a key hanging from a peg. Doubt caused me to hesitate for a long moment, but in the end I made my choice, and took the key.

I will not let Shadow sully our pride, our honor, our nobility. Darkness is noble and just, and I will not let us go back to the old days when we were the opposite. I will stop her.

Even if it costs me my life.