Falling From Stars By: Abby Ebon
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter….
AN: This is mainly for the fact that I got two reviews in one chapter! Thank you; Quacked Lurker and HarbringerLady!
Now my main person I pick on about this story is Grypheon- Kydra, he voiced some confusion on Adios's use of 'Elder'; Elder is his word for 'parent'. The Lady-Grandmother is his parent, Aswan is Mars's parent, and Lea is the She-Elder, Liam the He-Elder. Also although Adios knows Mars's name; he calls him Green-Eyes.
A Promise from the Darkness
They gathered in a clearing, wildflowers bloomed underfoot, and the Greater Trees shaded it, reaching higher at the urgings of their dryads –to keep this place hidden.
Bellow the promised allies of the dryads, veela clustered together at the edge, their unearthly beauty clashing with the clearings own; yet the fairies who walked among them fit in only too well.
Imps, disliking their surroundings, had pooled their magic to create a shallow swamp in the shadowed parts of the clearing. Pixies hummed in anger at the disregard of their natural environment, but did nothing, as this was not the time to engage in prank wars with their cousins.
The high elves, of which there are three kinds; those that live in the highest of mountains and northern tips of the world– where snow and ice are both their protection and a death-dealer.
They have hair the color of newly fallen snow, or of the golden sun, with glacier blue eyes, and pale skin, with leaf-ears. They preferred clothing made of the warmest fur- they specialized in star-gazing and the magic's of the high elves.
Those of their kind that preferred the desserts, and seas abandoned beaches, were clothed in cream-colored togas. Black haired, dark golden or black skinned, and with black or golden eyes- their ears had sharper points then their northern counterparts.
They were by far the most reclusive of the high elves, and carried flutes or reed-pipes, loving all forms of music.
The wilder looking by far carried bows and arrows or deadly spears, wearing loincloths and sashes across their chests and little else. They were the hunters, and warriors, of the high elves. With untamed hair that varied in shades of brown and red, and eerie green eyes.
They inhabited the ancient jungles and deeper forests of the world, and naturally hated humans the most, as humans destroyed their homes daily- and nature, which they loved and protected with their lives.
They disliked the clearing in general, and stood among the trees with the dryads. They were the high elves who lived among the dryads in the Black Forest, and had protested the right of a half-human to enter the forest, but in the end they had bent to dryads will.
All the races the dryads had named among the centaurs had arrived, yet there was a hush to the air; as if they waited still for another.
So it was…
There was a slivery peel of laughter, like a wind chime on a winter day, and out of the darkest part of the clearing an Immortal- a daemon now stood. Slanted ears, alike to the high elves, but orange-red hair, and blood-red red lips upon ivory skin, with blue-on-black eyes, by human standards she would be in her late teens.
Her apparent age was the lie; she was ancient, older then all daemons; of Near-Immortal or Immortal's power. She was the Mother of Blood and Shadow, called Lady-Shadow, or Lady-Blood, by her creatures; to all others she was simply Mother-Darkness. It was she, and only her, the Black Forest's live creatures dealt with when they wanted council of the night's creatures.
"You called, and I came, as our treaty demands. Where is my friend, the Lady, whom you ignorant creatures call Grandmother…?" Mother of Blood and Shadow asked with a sneer, but meaning all of what she said. Though she knew already that the Lady-Grandmother was not among them- that they, the Near-Immortals, thought the Lady-Grandmother was either not aware of this gathering (which was foolish to think), or she was- and simply did not act against it (far more likely).
"We ask two things." Maia began, though all the beings watched the Mother-Darkness with wary eyes. The High Elves fingered weapons, though they knew they wouldn't do any good against an Immortal.
"Oh? Only two…" The Mother of Blood and Shadow mocked, none the less motioning for Maia to continue, which she did, hesitating only a moment more.
"The first, a promise from the Darkness, that none of you or yours will harm a boy with a lightning bolt scar on his brow- for he is ours." Maia told Mother-Darkness, who tilting her head to the side looked inside the dryad of the Greater Trees of the Black Forest and saw the truth in her words, and wandered at it.
"A boy born of a Spirit of Nature and a Son of Adam, how very interesting…If you agree to let one of my Dark One's guard him; you have what you seek." Mother-Darkness murmured softly, already thinking of the Dark One she would send, the others glanced among each other uncomfortable with the deal, but Maia nodded her agreement- and that was all that was needed to seal the deal.
She reasoned that one Dark One to watch, or kill, was better then a dozen. Maia was too subdued to continue, dealing with Immortals whither they were 'daemon' or simply 'powers' took something from the dealer, even a Near-Immortal as dryads were.
"The second -that when, in the future, the boy goes up against a Dark Wizard, you won't interfere, and none of your sons or daughters will choose sides…" Tillie spoke, after a glance at Maia. Mother-Darkness chuckled, it wasn't a pleasant sound. Tillie, and the others seemed to shy away from her, and Mother-Darkness sneered.
"That is above your station to ask of me; for there is nothing you can offer to keep us at bay." The Mother of Blood and Shadow announced, and was about to turn around- when the Lady-Grandmother appeared. Mother-Darkness paused, startled, and nodded respectfully to her.
"Greetings Lady Mother-Darkness, your bargaining done this night?" The Lady-Grandmother asked, and the forest's magical beings shied away, ashamed to be caught.
The two were different; Mother-Darkness with fire-color hair; the Lady-Grandmother with silver-gray. Mother-Darkness with blue-on-black eyes, and she with human eyes, save that they were blacker in color then any mortals. Despite this there was sameness about them. This was that they were both Immortal, and ancient as the earth they walked.
"Not quite, I think…" The Mother of Blood and Shadow answered, knowing why the Lady-Grandmother had appeared; the Lady-Grandmother leaned heavily on her staff, a small smile on her lips.
"If not then, we have a bargain to discuss." The Mother of Blood and Shadow blinked at her slowly, and gave the Lady-Grandmother a mischievous smile.
"Truly…?" There was eagerness in her tone, and the Lady-Grandmother nodded. Both knew why Mother-Darkness was excited, a bargain between Immortals was power for the winning side, for an Immortal was bound by their word to another Immortal for however long the deal lasted. Sometimes years, sometimes ages, sometimes eternity.
"The deal is this; pick no side over the other, give no power to either, let the battle be fought the mortal way; in return, ten years from now I'll seal my power until the battle is passed. What say you?" The Lady-Grandmother said, paying no mind to the gasps of horror from the forest creatures. Mother-Darkness smiled, and nodded.
"Your bargain is done." The Mother of Blood and Shadow murmured, and then looked to the magical creatures surrounding the small clearing. "Ignorant, I named you, but fools ye truly be. To let the Immortal of Forest and Magic fall to save you from the Dark? Fools indeed…" Mother-Darkness laughed again, this time high enough to make them cower, and she left them. The Lady-Grandmother hadn't flinched, but only sighed, and left to her cottage, the magical creatures too ashamed to beg forgiveness or say a word among each other.
By morning they had left, save Maia and Tillie, who stood side by side in the Fleet-Foot woods; waiting for the Dark One the Lady Mother-Darkness had promised.