Velion
Velion is a central antagonist and mythological figure in The Metalwood Saga. Known throughout history as the light Twin and the god of lightprime magic (caladmain), Velion is an ancient, shape-shifting alien refugee from the destroyed planet of Starmist Prime. Alongside their twin brother, Nelenor, Velion served as one of the two original Operators of the god-machine Xyclami (Guruthos).
Because Velion and Nelenor share a nearly identical overarching backstory—from their flight from Starmist Prime to their ultimate redemption—much of their history is intertwined. (For the complete, detailed history of the Twins' arrival, their betrayal, and their long captivity, please see the Nelenor page).
Appearance and Personality
Velion is a being of immense power who frequently shifts between genders and forms depending on their mood and tactical needs.
- The Anubis Form: Like Nelenor, Velion often uses a combination of mistweaving and strengthshaping to appear as a towering, fifty-foot-tall Anubis monster to intimidate enemies. Unlike Nelenor's jet-black form, Velion's Anubis form has pale skin. In this state, Velion wields a giant, materialized mace.
- The Elven Forms: When not trying to terrify mortals, Velion defaults to a beautiful elven appearance. Initially, Velion appears as a male elf who is "almost woman-like," with long, flowing blond hair, fine features, and blue eyes "full of light". Later in the series, Velion seamlessly shifts into a female elf wearing a white sun dress, adopting a high and feminine voice. By the saga's epilogue, she appears as a petite, very blonde woman who looks exactly like her older sister, Kira.
Personality-wise, Velion is traditionally seen as the "softer" or more patient of the two Twins. When they first arrived on Valaralda, Velion possessed a smile that "could warm the coldest heart" and actively pleaded with Orym (Aten) for peace. However, after enduring a hundred thousand years of torturous imprisonment in Ambarhal, Velion's patience eroded into madness and rage. Though she maintains a slightly calmer demeanor than her brother, she is equally capable of horrific violence, mercilessly slaughtering mages in the desert and destroying entire Prime Trees without a second thought.
Biography
Betrayal and the Underwater Prison
(See Nelenor#Arrival and Betrayal for full context)
When the Twins arrived on ancient Valaralda seeking their sister Kira, they were tricked by the ambitious elven scientist Aten. Seeking to control Xyclami, Aten drugged the Twins and separated them. While Nelenor was sent to the jungle planet of Eryn, Velion was taken to the planet Mar (Earth). Aten transported Velion's unconscious body to a dark, underwater cave deep beneath the ocean, where he performed a soulsundering ritual, trapping Velion's soul inside a cypress sapling and condemning her to the dimension of Ambarhal.
The Return and the Salt Spires
A hundred millennia later, Velion was accidentally freed when Trey unwittingly disrupted the magic binding them. Reunited with Nelenor, the Twins went on a rampage, utterly destroying the ancient city of Ilyrion.
While Nelenor tracked a sparkthread to Earth, Velion remained on Valaralda, searching for the Imprisoner. During this time, Velion encountered the amnesiac Lorelei and Trey, confronting them in her towering Anubis form and slicing down a massive Prime Oak Tree simply to prove that Prime magic was a myth the Twins had invented.
Velion eventually regrouped with Nelenor at the Salt Spires to face the combined forces of the Prime Mages, the Remnant, the rylak, and the Department of Magical Research. During the battle, Velion demonstrated her terrifying power, unleashing a laser beam of bright red Destroyer magic that sheared through the battlefield, instantly killing dozens of mages and rylak.
Depowering and Starmist Reborn
Despite their godlike strength, Velion and Nelenor were halted when the human superuser Rylan secretly conversed with Xyclami, convincing the machine to temporarily suspend their Operator privileges to stop the battle. Powerless, Velion and Nelenor were forced to listen to Rylan's plea for an armistice.
However, it was Orym who permanently stripped them of their godhood. Activating his ancient Pyramid Offensive System, Orym unleashed nearly a million captive souls to directly attack Xyclami. Unable to process that many simultaneous sparkthreads, the machine's thread integrity plummeted. To save itself from destruction, Xyclami initiated a hard reboot, officially severing Velion and Nelenor's connection to the device and reducing them to ordinary Prime Mages.
In the aftermath of Orym's eventual defeat, Velion and Nelenor were finally reunited with their older sister, Kira. Reinvigorated by the reunion, Velion traveled with her siblings to the wilds of Eryn, where they hatched a preserved dragon egg to begin the long process of reviving the lost ecosystem of their destroyed homeworld, Starmist Prime.
Powers and Abilities
- Xyclami Operator (Lightprime): As one of the original Operators of the Starmist device, Velion had absolute, god-like control over the lightprime Aspects of magic (caladmain). She could destroy Prime Trees with a single swipe, conjure massive storms, and obliterate entire armies.
- Sparkthread Tracking: Like Nelenor, Velion could "sift the sparkthreads" to locate specific souls across dimensions and planets.
- Shapeshifting: Through advanced mistweaving and strengthshaping, Velion can alter her physical form, size, and gender at will, shifting seamlessly from a towering Anubis to a delicate elven woman.
Key Relationships
- Nelenor: Her twin brother. They share an unbreakable, eternal bond, having survived the destruction of their planet and eons of imprisonment together. They balance each other perfectly as the two halves of Xyclami's interface.
- Kythaela (Kira): Her older sister, whom she affectionately calls "Kira the Prime." Velion deeply respects her sister's wisdom and intelligence.
- Orym (Aten): The Imprisoner. Velion pleaded with Aten for mercy during their initial encounter, but his betrayal fueled a hundred-thousand-year vendetta.