Letters to the Light

SPOILER WARNING – The Tales from Divinia are companion stories best enjoyed after reading the main novel. Letters to the Light takes place between chapters thirteen and fourteen of The Trials of Divinia and therefore contains spoilers.

Blurb:

When Zara Lightbringer arrives in Concordia as Solaris’ champion, she writes proudly to the woman who nominated her – the powerful figure she calls Aunt A. Through a secret chain of letters carried by rare firegleam terns, Zara recounts the early days of the Celestial Trials.

But as defeats mount and the responses she expects never come, Zara’s tone begins to change. Confidence turns to frustration, frustration to doubt, and doubt to a painful realisation about the person she has spent her life trying to please.

Hidden between the lines of these letters lies a deeper truth – about loyalty, ambition, and the quiet cost of growing up in the shadow of power.

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From: Zara Lightbringer

Dated: 26 April 2025

Dear Aunt A,

I am writing with great excitement and anticipation to thank you for nominating me as champion of Solaris for this year’s Celestial Trials. I was delighted to receive my letter of invitation from Heliora late last week.

Some of my happiest childhood memories are of the summers I spent with you in Auroralis, and I am certain those days helped prepare me for the responsibility you have entrusted to me. I promise that I will not let you down.

I must also thank you for assembling such a brilliant team to accompany me. I met each of them this week and can assure you that they present themselves as some of the finest Solarian warriors one could hope to meet. I am confident that, with my leadership, they will earn their own places in history as champions of the trials.

Whilst they are your selections, and I am sure you left no stone unturned in choosing them, I thought it might please you to hear a little of my first impressions.

The heir of House Solvane, Cassaris Solvane, was a great first choice. He carries himself with the elegance and discipline that perfectly represent Solarian nobility. Together, I believe we will ensure our team earns immediate respect from the rival champions and their companions. As you know, House Solvane is famed for its long tradition of ceremonial duellists, so I am eager to see what he can do in the environment of the trials.

Vaelor Duneveil possesses exceptional knowledge of hostile environments, which will no doubt prove invaluable for the unpredictable challenges ahead. Raised among the caravan routes that cut across the outer deserts, he has already been teaching me a little of his tracking and survival skills – they are quite a novelty.

I had already heard the name Elaris Sunmere. She was the year below me at the Sunblade academies and was spoken of as something of a rising star – one who might follow in my footsteps – though we had never met until now. We have already had a couple of sparring matches and she is certainly promising. More importantly, she possesses the same ambition and determination that drives me.

Rhaelion Brightguard was a shrewd addition. A decorated captain of the Auroralis Sun Guard – I suspect you know him well. He tells me he has earned a reputation for calm authority and tactical discipline. His experience will give the team a steady military backbone, something I know you have always valued.

He was not the only veteran you selected. Aurelion Veyrath is every bit as intimidating as his reputation suggests. It was an honour to meet such a famed combatant from the Auroralis arena circuits, particularly one celebrated for such a long streak of undefeated bouts. His physical prowess should be perfectly suited to whatever demands the trials may have in store.

Finally, Ceryn Halcrest. I suspect you included her partly to appease Heliora, but her healing magic will be invaluable, I am sure. She tells me she trained within the Great Temple of Heliora, where she served both as a guardian and a student of the goddess’ teachings. Her devotion to our lady should ensure that divine guidance remains close to the team – clever, very clever.

Speaking of Heliora, I look forward to having the opportunity to meet her. I know that you have not always seen eye to eye, but I shall certainly take the chance to impress upon her what a wonderful job you are doing within our region. Solaris would certainly not be the same without you, Auntie. She should not grow to take you for granted after so many years.

Finally, thank you for recommending that we communicate via the firegleam tern. I had not come across the birds before – I understand that they roam exclusively west of the Solarion Bastion, which is why they have never reached us here in the Mirrorglass Dunes – but if what you say is true, and they are known to fly over Concordia regularly, then our communications should remain undetected.

I know that us speaking in this way after my arrival in the city would be frowned upon, so I simply wanted to say that I recognise and appreciate the risk you are taking to show your support. It is greatly appreciated – although, naturally, I expected nothing less. You have always been very good to me.

I look forward to repaying that faith in the coming weeks.

Yours faithfully,

Zara

From: Zara Lightbringer

Dated: 02 June 2025

Dear Aunt A,

It has been a little over two weeks since I arrived in Concordia, and I wished to share with you an update on the progress I have made, as well as a few other interesting observations.

Firstly, Heliora was not what I expected. She greeted me with a kindness of sorts, but showed only limited interest in events at home and seemed far more intent on focusing on matters here. I attempted to reassure her that she need not worry – that I have trained for years, and that you had assembled the perfect team for every possible eventuality. Since then she has remained somewhat distant, preferring to leave me largely in the hands of her council representative.

Seraphine Sunspear is another interesting character. She seems far too young and immature to hold such a position. I know you did not approve of her appointment earlier this year, and I have already begun to see why. I cannot understand why Heliora does not trust you to select her council representatives as she does her champions, given your far superior knowledge of the goings-on in Auroralis and beyond. Her most irritating trait is her constant interference with the training plans I have laid out – she simply refuses to accept that her role is near redundant.

The team have been training well so far, and we have already ventured beyond our Solarian training base to test ourselves in rival conditions. I particularly enjoyed Ferroxia. The heat is familiar and, whilst the terrain is different, the resilience required to endure it is something to which I am well accustomed. I predict a good result in that particular trial.

The younger team members – Cassaris and Elaris – have impressed me the most. They have been eager to learn from me and have done well under instruction. Vaelor has been a little more challenging, as he always seems to have an alternative strategy in mind, but I am sure that is not a bad thing, provided he remembers who is in charge and when to keep his mouth shut – ha!

Yesterday the final champion arrived, a boy named Talon Drakeforge from Ferroxia. You should have seen him – he looks about twelve. By a stroke of good fortune I had just returned from training when the High Emissary was giving him a tour, and he looked so dumbstruck by the sight of me that I thought he might faint right there in my quarters. I do not think I will have anything to worry about with that one.

As for the other champions – I am sorry to say that I suspect my greatest rival will be Cassian Stormrider of Tempestus. I know that basically no one likes the storm slingers, but they always seem to do well, and Cassian appears every bit as brash and cocksure as one might expect. His team is filled with powerful, well-trained young men, and I think they will win one or two trials on strength alone, although I doubt they will have the mental capacity to sustain that success.

Calista Dawnstar is quiet and bookish, like many of her people. I am not sure she will have the heart for the fight. She seemed rather distracted already. But she was nothing compared to Elara Moonshadow of Elysium. If Calista seemed distracted, Elara may as well have been on another planet, going on and on about dreams and prophecies. What a waste of time!

She is not the only one who is all talk. Kael Greenbark quite literally will not stop speaking. He cornered me one evening in the dining hall, asking endless questions about Solaris and acting as earnest as the day is long. But I have met his sort before. He will need to be more subtle with his little games if he thinks he can trick me so easily.

That leaves Orion Iceheart. I know how you feel about Nivalis, so I will not go so far as to pay him a compliment, but he has surprised me. He is not as… dreary as most of his kind. I think I may even have caught him making a joke. I wonder where Glacius found him. Perhaps Verdantia has slipped in a second champion by painting his hair white. You always used to tell me that Sylvanis’ people had a habit of hiding their more underhand tactics behind a smile or two.

To put it simply, you need not worry. I have not seen anyone who should trouble me over the course of the seven trials – or rather eight, once the final trial is included. I do wonder who I will be facing when I reach it.

I look forward to seeing you soon when the trials commence.

Yours faithfully,

Zara

From: Zara Lightbringer

Dated: 24 June 2025

Dear Aunt A,

Firstly, I wanted to thank you for attending today’s trial. It was so exciting to see you in the Arena of Trials when I arrived, and reassuring to know that you were there watching over me.

I am also glad to have you close by, as it will make our correspondence quicker and easier. Whilst I am most grateful for your previous replies, it will be a great comfort to speak with you more regularly, even if I know it would not be proper for us to meet in person under the watchful eyes of the gods.

Whilst I would have preferred to write only with well wishes and good tidings, I know that I must also reflect upon today’s result in the Evergreen Labyrinth, which was not remotely acceptable. Sixth place is not, and will never be, an adequate performance, and I wish to both apologise and willingly accept my fair share of the blame for the outcome.

I know that you will not wish to hear excuses, but given that – as I understand it – spectators do not necessarily see all of the action, it may be helpful for you to understand a little of what took place, so that you might counsel me on how best to adjust my approach for the forthcoming trials.

Heliora has remained almost cruelly absent. I have watched with envy as the other champions receive strategy, support, and, dare I say it, divine intervention. At this stage I do not know whether our lady wishes me to fail, or whether she is simply the only one playing by the rules. Kael has made several references to his regular meetings with Sylvanis, for example, which leaves me wondering what else he may be receiving that I am not.

In hindsight, I also believe that I selected the wrong teammates for the trial. Unfortunately, neither Cassaris nor Elaris were able to carry their excellent training performances into the trial itself, and neither managed to reach the end of the labyrinth, which placed me in a very difficult position. I think I shall favour experience over youthful exuberance for the next trial.

I admit that I was quite distressed when I reached the Hall of Gathering to review the scores, without knowledge of their fate, but I have been assured by Lykarian that both of them are recovering in the hospital bay. However, they are unlikely to feature again over the coming days given the nature of the injuries they sustained. You would have expected Seraphine to inform me of the labyrinth’s in-built escape mechanic – and had she done so I would not have delayed myself attempting to save them – but it seems to have slipped her mind. Again.

The trial itself was otherwise quite enjoyable and certainly felt like something well within my abilities. I find that, despite myself, I have learned quite a bit about Verdantia’s wildlife from Kael’s endless oversharing – thornfiends, snareblossoms, thorned hedgerows, lure pits. I felt ready for it all. It is only a shame that those meant to be supporting me did not put the same care into their preparation.

Given that the Nivalis trial is tomorrow, I will spend the evening putting my team through their paces in the training area to ensure there will be no more mistakes. I may also speak with Orion – we have continued to get on surprisingly well over the past few weeks. He is not at all what I expected. That said, he is one of Glacius’ people, and I know he cannot maintain his act of faux support for much longer. I shall turn it to my advantage while I have the opportunity and gain whatever insights I can.

I look forward to hearing from you before tomorrow’s trial. It will be a great boost to the spirits of both myself and the team to read your encouragement before we take our rightful place at the top of the standings with a first-place finish.

Speak soon.

Yours faithfully,

Zara

From: Zara Lightbringer

Dated: 25 June 2025

Dear Aunt A,

I am so sorry. I am ashamed and desperately disappointed.

Thank you for once again attending today’s trial. I know how important your time is, so the fact that you have remained in Concordia to support me and my team, leaving your people in the hands of others, is something for which I will be eternally grateful.

Whilst I recognise that we have no one else to blame, I did feel let down by the lack of guidance I received for today’s trial, and I am certain that this significantly influenced the result – an opinion that I know Seraphine shares. Not that she did much to help!

If I had known more about the challenges we would face – the chasm, the frostwyrm, the icefall, the frostwolves – we would have prepared very differently. In truth, Nivalis showed their true colours by providing a trial letter that was hardly worth the paper it was written on. Even Orion admitted that it was unnecessarily vague in its descriptions.

Of course, whilst I suspect the other champions received support with their preparation from their gods and council representatives, Heliora still chooses not to intervene. Perhaps she trusts me to find my own way, but I had thought she might guide me more directly. Otherwise it is her people – our people – who will suffer.

I was deeply disappointed in the performance of my team members, despite the rigorous training I put them through yesterday afternoon and evening. Vaelor continuously questioned my decisions and proved extremely disruptive, delaying us during the transitions between each portion of the course. Rhaelion was unnecessarily cautious, favouring defensive strategies when bold action was required. That approach may serve him well in battle, but not in the trials. Aurelion was all over the place. He may excel in individual combat, but he struggled as part of a team, and his lack of coordination repeatedly threw us off balance.

Despite all the forces seemingly conspiring against me, I still firmly believe that I can recover and deliver a positive result by the conclusion of the trials. Whilst Cassian looks likely to secure one of the two places in the final trial, there is little to choose between the other five champions, and they seem likely to trade high-point finishes. The seven-point gap between myself and Orion in second place is far from insurmountable, particularly with trials that should favour me – Luminara, Ferroxia, and of course Solaris still to come.

Tomorrow I face the Tempestus trial. I am not too proud to admit that I feel a little nervous about this one. Based on their champion, I suspect the trial will test everyone to their limits. With Cassaris and Elaris still injured, I have little choice but to rely on a similar team, as I do not believe that Ceryn will be well suited to the more physical challenges. I will think on it overnight before making my final decision.

Nonetheless, I remain confident that I can deliver a result more fitting of Solaris and the faith you have shown in me. I want you to know that, in my darkest moments, I think of the memories I share with you – of my time in Auroralis, of so many wonderful long days spent together. I know there is nothing I cannot overcome with such strength behind me.

I regret that you did not have the opportunity to respond to my last letter. I hope to hear from you this time ahead of tomorrow’s trial. If you have any words of wisdom for my team, I am sure they too would be grateful.

Yours faithfully,

Zara

From: Zara Lightbringer

Dated: 26 June 2025

Aunt A,

I am sorry. I truly am.

And yet, in another sense, I am not. This experience – this constant feeling of failure – has forced me to realise something important. It has made me understand that I have been going about this all wrong.

Until now, everything has been about trying to please you. To make you proud. To make Solaris proud. But after dragging myself through the horrors of the Tempestus trial only to find that you were not in attendance in the Arena – that you do not reply to me, nor answer my requests for help – I now understand something I should have realised long ago.

To you, I am not your niece. I am your asset. Your chess piece. And you would discard me as readily as any pawn on your board.

Well, no more.

I need to start doing things for myself, and for those who truly care about me – those who offer me support when I need it, and who stand beside me regardless of whether I succeed. And if I fail, then they will be there to help me rise again.

There is one thing I will admit to you – I deserve to be in last place. I am a terrible leader, perhaps even a terrible champion, but that should not, and does not, define me.

All those excuses I made about the gods, the council, my team, my opponents – they were born from my fear of disappointing you. I have seen what you do to those who earn your disapproval. I was always able to turn a blind eye to it whilst I believed myself safe. Now I see how precarious my position truly was.

My biases, my hatred, my entire understanding of the world was shaped by your teachings. Now I see how little they were worth – how wrong you were.

Heliora has not been absent. She has been honouring my wishes and giving me the opportunity to succeed on my own. When I needed comfort this evening, she came, and she did not offer judgement – she offered hope.

When we spoke, she explained that she is not distant from Solarian society because she does not care, but because she spends her time helping others. She believes in the work you are doing and does not wish to undermine it by interfering.

Seraphine is not young and immature. She is bold and fearless – willing to challenge those decades or even centuries older than herself. When Heliora called upon her tonight and asked her to help us with new training plans, with comforts to support the team, and with additional insights into the upcoming trials beyond what is written in the letters, she came not with platitudes but with real guidance.

It seems Heliora’s choices are not as poor as you believed.

I have watched the other champions build bridges – even friendships – over the past few days, and my stubbornness has denied me the chance to join them. But is that not what the Celestial Trials should be about?

Kael, Calista, even Elara – they are perfect representatives for their people. They bring honour to their regions and to their gods.

And what of Talon? The boy you would have had me ignore entirely. He is wiser than you will ever know. And how did he respond to his own setbacks? He returned stronger – his team more united, his approach more refined.

But there is one key difference between us. He does not pretend to be someone – something – he is not.

Me? I have spent my entire life doing exactly that.

Pretending to be only what you wanted me to be. A heartless warrior, focused only on victory. It is no wonder that I do not know how to work with others.

I asked for his advice today. You would have been furious.

Do you know what he said?

He said it is about being a team. Trusting the people around you and helping them succeed. That he has realised he does not need to carry everything on his own.

Meanwhile, I have done nothing but tear my team down and criticise them at every turn.

I abandoned Cassaris in the labyrinth without so much as a glance back. And when Elaris tried to help him, I left her to fend for herself as well. They still suffer because of my arrogance.

When I acted rashly in Nivalis, Vaelor tried to counsel me, and Rhaelion tried to show me a better way, but I refused to listen. When Aurelion attempted to hold us together, I blamed him for causing the problem in the first place, rather than recognising that all of them were only trying to help me.

And Ceryn? I ignored her entirely – simply because her skills were different from my own.

Yet despite five points from three trials, despite the seemingly insurmountable gap between us and qualification for the final trial, they continue to stand by my side. They continue to volunteer for the trials. They continue to fight on when, in truth, all they should do is hate me.

But there is one person who is beyond anything you would believe.

Orion.

I think I love him. In truth, I think I have loved him since the day we met. I have tried to deny it – tried to tell myself it could not possibly be true.

He is strong, proud, fearless, and utterly uncompromising in who he is. I do not know what he sees in me. But I will not deny myself this small happiness, especially when I know it can only last for the short time we share here in Concordia.

So I will hold on to every day. Every moment.

I will fight through every trial and face every challenge if it means I may spend just a little longer in his company…

…and a little longer away from you.

All of this is to say that I promise you two things.

First, I promise that I shall never again be governed by your cruel tyranny. Your days of controlling my every movement, my every thought, are over. I am my own person. I am Zara Lightbringer of the Mirrorglass Dunes. I am strong, independent, and powerful.

I am not defined by you.

Second, I promise that you shall never read this.

I know my place. I know who I truly am. I am a coward. I am a failure. And I shall forever live in your shadow.

I needed to write this – not for you, but for me. To imagine, for just a moment, what it would feel like to set these words down on paper. To imagine your rage, your fury, your vengeance.

For a moment I wondered what might happen if I were brave enough to send it. But that reality will never come to pass.

These words will burn in the fire of Concordia.

I am defined by you.

I always will be.

Yours with regret,

Zara

From: Zara Lightbringer

Dated: 26 June 2025

Dear Aunt A,

I am sorry. I truly am.

Only now do I recognise the lesson you have sought to teach me through your silence and your absence – that it is not others who are to blame for my failures, but me. I see that now.

I wish to thank you for the fact that, even in this difficult moment for our region, you continue to guide me – to strengthen me and shape me into the person Solaris requires.

You should know that, whilst these words may seem hollow in the present circumstances, I will do whatever is required to restore the trust you placed in me.

No one – whether from Solaris, another region of Divinia, or even Concordia itself – will stand in my way. No matter the cost, your name and your rule will receive the recognition they deserve.

Whilst my future rests upon your mercy, I pledge to you that my allegiance will never waver, and that my sword shall forever be yours to wield.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Victory will be ours.

I will not fail you again.

Forever yours,

Zara

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