The x Festival x Of x Suns
⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣
NARDOX, THE CAPITAL CITY OF SOL - Festival Week Day 1
The first drum struck like a heartbeat through the terraces.
A second answered it.
Then a third.
By the time the rhythm settled, the entire stairway of Drum Steps had
joined in. Dozens upon dozens of drummers lined the stone tiers, palms
and sticks moving in tight patterns that rolled downhill through the
city.
Sol answered the sound immediately.
People leaned over balcony rails. Lanterns flared to life along the
streets. Vendors who had been closing stalls paused mid-pack just to
watch the ignition begin.
At the base of the stairs, Banner Avenue had transformed into a corridor
of color.
Festival standards stretched overhead from terrace wall to terrace wall.
Cloth suns, bronze ribbons, and long flame-colored streamers swayed in
the warm air while parade crews rushed the final adjustments along the
route.
And waiting in the center of it all stood the Sun Dragon.
The float towered above the street like a creature paused mid-breath.
Its head rose high over the crowd, carved from layered plates of
gold-lit metal that caught the lowering light of the twin suns. Long
horned ridges swept back from its crown and ribbons of flame-colored
silk trailed from its jaw like flowing whiskers.
A steady glow pulsed through the dragon’s chest.
Inside its coiled body sat a massive sphere of contained fire, swirling
slowly like a miniature sun trapped in glass.
Along the dragon’s spine ran a series of narrow platforms where fire
artists and dancers stood ready, torches in hand.
At the rear platform, leaning against the carved railing, Team
Fire-Heart watched the city gather.
Ren whistled low.
“Okay,” he said. “This is insane.”
Below them the crowd packed shoulder to shoulder along Banner Avenue.
Kids climbed onto crates just to see over adults. Someone had hoisted a
Crownfall banner above the crowd and people kept slapping the cloth like
it was good luck.
Zakiah tried to look unimpressed.
He failed.
“Lot of people,” he muttered.
Taro leaned over the railing and waved like he had been doing this his
entire life.
A group of kids near the front spotted him and started waving back
immediately.
“Hey!” one of them yelled. “Is that the dragon team?!”
Ren pointed at Taro.
“You started that.”
Taro grinned wider.
Mina stood near the center of the platform, hands on the rail, eyes
moving along the street instead of the crowd.
“You see the spacing?” she said.
Ren groaned.
“Mina.”
“Look at the banners. They staggered the floats wrong.”
Ren looked at Kit.
“Please tell her to stop analyzing the parade.”
Kit laughed under his breath.
“Let her cook.”
The drums rolled again from above.
This time the rhythm spread outward, carried by the terrace walls like
thunder moving through stone.
The dragon’s chest flared brighter.
Fire artists along the spine lifted their torches.
Below the float, the parade marshal raised a staff.
“Banner Avenue ready!”
Signal flags snapped from the balconies above.
A runner sprinted up from the lower terraces shouting confirmation.
“Route clear!”
The marshal slammed the staff against the stone.
The dragon moved.
The float rolled forward slowly, its massive base gliding across the
avenue while the crowd erupted into cheers.
Flame burst along the dragon’s spine as the fire artists ignited their
torches in sequence.
The creature looked alive.
Ren leaned over the railing again.
“Oh yeah,” he said with a grin. “We’re winning the parade.”
Zakiah snorted.
“That’s not a thing.”
“It is tonight.”
The float crept forward into the avenue, the dragon’s glowing body
lighting the faces of the people below as the procession began its
descent through the terraces of Sol.
Above them the drums kept pounding.
Below them the crowd surged with excitement.
And somewhere farther up the terraces, the Halo Clock began to glow
brighter, its molten ring slowly waking as the Festival of Suns finally
came to life.
⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣