Title: Dark Side of the Moon
Author: DT Maxwell
Rating: PG-13 (subject to change)
Warnings: Strong violence in later chapters.
Summary: Two hundred years before the coming of the Firebringer, Aljan Moonbrow, the children-of-the-moon were thrown into a chaotic civil war that threatened to destroy them... (Rating subject to change)
Additional Information: Dark Side of the Moon is a fan fic that takes place roughly two hundred years before the birth of Jan. It also loosely based on an RPG (known simply as the Battle RP) that takes place at the Unicorns of the Vale MSN Group, a fansite for the Firebringer Trilogy.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Firebringer Trilogy nor any of its corresponding information. The characters of Harm, Miel, and Daral are copyrighted to their respective players (Scylla, Finvas, and D_V). Everyone else belongs to me, though, and they cannot be used without my explicit permission. Failure to comply with this will result in a painful death.
And now that that's been taken care of, enjoy the story.
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"Hark now and heed, children-of-the-moon! I'll sing you a tale of one of the darkest time in the unicorns' long history, when anarchy and fear took hold of the Mother-of-all's favored creations.
"This was two hundred years after the hated wyverns wrested our Hills from us, just before the founding of the Council of Elders. And this was twenty generations before the birth of Alma's Firebringer, Aljan-with-the-Moon-upon-his-Brow. It was a time of religious and political upheaval, come long before its time. The herd was divided into two factions – the main herd, and a small but formidable group called the Watchers, led by the exiled Cadfael, eldest son of King Daral…"
***
A great iron gray stallion, dappled with pale silver, looked over the Vale of the Unicorns with cold amber eyes. He bore a long scar, from the bottom of his right ear and racing down his side to end at his right flank, giving him an even colder, callous look. He stood barely a few paces out of the Pan Woods, too far from the main herd to be discerned against the trees.
With an angry snort, he turned away, pacing back into the comfort of the Woods. He was Cadfael son-of-Daral, and rightful prince of the unicorns. But instead of being recognized as Daral's heir after his initiation into the Ring of Warriors, he had been banished from the herd for his beliefs in the Mother-of-all a scant year later. He did not believe, like the others, that Alma granted favor to those in battle. Wars were not her doing, but her children's. He did not believe the unicorns were truly Alma's best beloved, for if they were, why were they cast from their rightful Hills, to live in a gryphons-haunted Vale?
Everyone had been shocked. In his fury for such "heresy" from his own get, Daral cast his son from the herd. But instead of flying to the Great Grass Plain to run wild Renegade, Cadfael had instead lurked within the Pan Woods, coming to know the trails left by deer and pans. Though he held contempt for his sire – Cadfael had never forgiven the maroon stallion for taking a new mate so soon after his first had died – he still cared for the herd.
Other exiles, either banished by the then-King Llyr and Prince Daral or self-imposed exile, slowly began to rally around whom they dubbed the True-Prince. Many, like Cadfael, still loved the Vale and most of the herd. They christened themselves the Watchers, with Cadfael as their Warleader, scouting the verges of the Pan Woods surrounding the Vale of the Unicorns, and, unbeknownst to the ignorant herd, driving away any threats. Even in the worst of times, the Watchers remained steadfastly loyal to their leader, who was a father figure to more than one unicorn.
A unicorn mare, a warrior the deepest blood-crimson and banished by Prince Daral for consorting with Renegades, though there was no proof, had caught the dappled Warleader's eye. Lithe and long-limbed, with a mane of bronze-gold and eyes the color of pine, she had a fiery spirit and was gifted with a tongue like quicksilver, able to smooth over any problems in the ranks of the Watchers with a few well-placed words. Saule was her name, meaning 'sun's grace', and she and Cadfael pledged as mates in the red mare's second summer with the Watchers, their destinies now interwoven under Alma's thousand, thousand eyes.
The Watchers whole-heartedly approved of the match, and all rejoiced the following vernal equinox, landing that year on Moondance, when Saule gave birth to a tiny filly of brilliant blue. All agreed Cadfael had never looked more proud, as he announced after the dancing the name of his daughter: Aysun. Harm – a stallion no one knew by any other name – had become the sapphire-hued filly's self-proclaimed 'uncle', and the Watchers all doted on her through her first years of life, though they made sure they never actually spoiled her.
Ironically, the day after Aysun had been born, the filly's great-grandsire had passed away. Daral had become King in his sire's stead, but instead of declaring Cadfael Prince of the Unicorns – a few scouts from the Vale had found out about the Watchers and informed Daral and Llyr of their existence and purpose – Miel, Cadfael's younger half-sister and the daughter of the mare who had replaced the iron gray's dam, was made princess.
In order not to frighten his newborn heir and his beloved mate, Cadfael had waited to unleash his anger far from the white-birch grove he and Saule resided in. Harm and a few other Watchers, who had followed their Warleader, patiently waited as Cadfael raged about giving a half-grown only one year after being initiated the duty of a princess. And more than that, Miel, many thought, should be considered illegitimate.
When Daral and Cadfael's dam, Ila, had pledged by the Summer Sea, the pledge meant they would mates for life and more – Daral had defied that vow when the summer after Ila's death he took a second mate. But none dared defy the prince of the unicorns, who, by Law, in times of war ruled in place of the king.
And from her first day of her life, Miel daughter-of-Vanna had been doted on by Daral. Cadfael had been pushed to second-best, though the filly's elder brother by three years had never enjoyed his royal sire's bitter moods whenever the gray colt had been around.
Aysun's birth had been four years ago. Now she was just a year away from her own initiation – and the time for Cadfael to reclaim his birthright had come. On the morrow, when King Daral took his usual walk on the verge of the Pan Woods, far from the main herd, Harm would strike. And the Watchers would be waiting for his report.
By midmorning tomorrow, the Valedwellers would be in turmoil, their warriors disorderly stamping and crying out for vengeance. The Watchers, awaiting the True-Prince's orders, would be patiently waiting in the shadows of the Woods, ready for the coming battle.
And Daral, he of the ancient line of red princess Halla, sire of Cadfael and Miel and King of the Unicorns, would be dead.