Aethelos: The Bastard of Light

(SCENARIO: Dark streets of Aethelos in the late afternoon. Modest houses. Eli Cari and Yana walk unsteadily.) · Eli Cari and Yana walked through the shadows toward the modest house. Exhaustion and pain made Eli Cari stagger, but he used his cloak to hide the serious wound on his arm. The little Light left in him was used only to keep the pain bearable. · Eli Cari is 17 years old. Eli Cari has short, slightly messy dark-brown hair, now dirty with dirt and blood. Eli Cari has golden/amber eyes dulled by pain. Eli Cari wears a grey training suit with light armor details, torn and burned on the right arm. · Yana has dark hair (dark-brown or black) of medium length, messy. Yana has green or light-brown eyes. Yana wears modest clothes that are dirty and torn. · The door opened, and Eli Cari’s mother, still awake, let out a small scream. She did not notice Yana at first — only the extreme paleness and exhaustion of her son. · Eli Cari’s mother is a middle-aged woman with brown hair tied in a simple bun, tired eyes full of worry. Eli Cari’s mother wears simple house clothes. · “Eli, what happened? You said you would be careful!” She ran to him, but stopped when she saw his arm. The cloak slipped, revealing the burned and reddened skin where the Vindicari projectile had hit him. · “I fell, Mom. It was a training mistake, nothing more,” Eli Cari lied, trying to calm her. · “Don’t lie,” Yana said, stepping out of the shadows. “He was attacked by two noble Vindicari in the forest. And if it weren’t for someone else… we would have died.” · Eli Cari’s mother turned pale. She looked at Yana, then at Eli Cari, and her voice became a cold whisper. “Vindicari? You fought? Do you know what happens to people who injure one of Aethelos’ nobles? If they had died, you wouldn’t be home.” · “They didn’t die. Well… only one. A boy named Lygar saved us. A Noxian, Mom,” Eli Cari said, the confession tearing at his throat. · His mother staggered and grabbed the doorframe. The mention of Noxian blood, of Shadow, activated every fear Aethelos had instilled in her. “A killer saved you? And you bring a girl into my house?” · Yana stepped forward, her voice firm despite the fear. “I am from Éteris, ma’am. They were hunting me because I use Groien. They hunt us because Aethelos doesn’t want the people of Éteris to remember their Earth power.” · When Yana speaks of Groien, green plants and roots are implied in her power. · Eli Cari’s mother looked at the mark on Yana’s face. The pain and truth in the girl’s voice reached her. She took Eli Cari to the kitchen. “Sit down. You, girl, go to Eli’s room. You can sleep there.” · While treating Eli Cari’s wound, his mother used an old ointment. “This ointment is from Terranova,” she said, her voice tight. “My mother was from Aquila. I wasn’t just an ordinary human, Eli. I only wanted you to have a normal life.” · “There is no normal life for us, Mom,” Eli Cari said as the pain lessened. His golden eyes were serious. “I need to become strong. My Light powers are nothing against their strength. Lygar… his speed and Shadow were the key. My discipline is useless without real power.” · “Don’t you dare look toward the Noxians, Eli. Their chaos killed your father!” His mother tried to reinforce the old story, but her voice was failing. · “Did chaos kill my father, Mom? Or was it the hatred and prejudice of those who control the chaos?” Eli Cari asked, looking into her eyes. “I’m going to win the Selection. But I’m going to win it to understand what really happened. Not just to fight for Order, but to find it.” · That night, in Eli Cari’s room, Yana looked at his training clothes and the books about Aethelos tactics. · “You’re going to lose if you go there with only what you’ve learned,” Yana said. “Pure-blood Vindicari see you as a broken toy. They won’t fight honorably.” · “I know,” Eli Cari answered. “But I don’t have time to train Shadow like Lygar. And my Light power is slow.” · Yana, who was Éteris (Earth), sat on the edge of the bed. “But you have our blood, Eli. Our human blood that can connect to the Ether. Light may be slow, but your speed is human. You saw Lygar. He didn’t use strength. He used the speed and focus of a Noxian. You have to become the Fast Shadow that Lygar was, but with the control of Light.” · The challenge was clear: Eli Cari had five days to relearn how to fight — not as a pure Vindicari, but as a Mixed-blood who combines the speed of his human side with the Light of his heritage, without falling into Lygar’s chaos.