A Note on the Text:
Princess Marilynth's journal was found in the ruins of the Star Palace in Old
Celest. Most of it was unreadable, ravaged as it was by time and water, though
there were signs that it had once been protected by an ancient spell of
preservation. This entry was one of the few that were still intact.

---

Last night I dreamed that I was once more in Celest.

I dreamed that I was standing in sight of its shining walls, the air silent but
for the murmur of the sea. Dawn was barely breaking, draping my city in a cloak
of rosy silk. The great golden gates glimmered softly, gilded with sunbeams.
For a moment I stood breathless, my heart swelling at the beauty and majesty
before me.

I shivered as the wind rose coldly around me. I fancied that there were voices
in that wind, voices that hissed dark premonitions in my ears and snatched the
words away before I could understand.

Converging above Celest were clouds, unlike any that had ever been seen before.
They were not the gentle grey of rain clouds, but a deep, roiling black that
writhed as if living beings were trapped within. The unholy mass grew and grew
until it filled the whole sky, drenching the land in darkness.

Suddenly I heard chaos on the wind, roaring and shrieking. The ground trembled
beneath my feet. In the shadows before the city, a throng was gathered. An army
was besieging Celest!

In my dream I saw my father appear, walking slowly towards me. He was swathed
in a voluminous robe that covered every inch of his skin. My heart spasmed with
inexplicable terror as he lifted his hands to remove the hood shadowing his
face.

I breathed a tremulous sigh when the face was revealed. My father's face, just
as it had always been. He beamed at me, his blue skin bright with health and
vigor. I moved forward to meet him, my hand outstretched, an answering smile
curving my mouth.

The wind, which had stilled for a moment, abruptly rose to a howl, whipping
around my father in a frenzy.

A scream ripped itself from my lips.

My father's eyes glowed with a crimson, pulsing light like the spurting of
blood. His paternal smile became a skull's grin, hideous and maniacal. His face
had paled to a sickly color, no longer the warm blue of life. He reached out his
hands for me, and they were claws.

I backed away, stifling the whimpers that pulled at my throat. My eyes locked
on the twisted form approaching me, I stumbled over the uneven ground and fell.

When I looked up, my father was gone.

In the distance, Celest was being overrun with attackers, who spread like a
malignant tumor on the fair walls. The wind carried shouts and the clashing of
metal to my ears, filling my nostrils with the scent of burning.

In that instant, a shining column of pure power lanced up from the center of
the city, throwing golden rays out in defiance of the gathering blackness. The
dark army seemed to halt, repulsed. My heart rose. The City of Light would not
be quenched so easily!

The light grew brighter and brighter, unbearable in its intensity--and then in
one brilliant flash, I was blinded.

---

I woke with my eyes still dazzled by radiance. For a heartbeat, I could not
recall where I was -- then I looked out the window above my bed and saw the
pyramids of Gaudiguch outlined against the stars.

I shuddered as I remembered how my father had looked in the dream. I would be
meeting him in a matter of hours, seeing him for the first time since the
beginning of his ill-fated project. Surely my dream was only the result of
worrying for my father. I told myself it must be so. As for the rest of the
nightmare--it was not a nightmare, for the light of Celest had overcome the
darkness at the last, had it not? I had no reason to fear such a vision.

Yet I could not suppress the eerie feeling that what I had seen was not
triumph, but devastation.