The Balinor Chronicles: The Celestial Herd
Chapter Twenty One: The Curse of the Wayward Prince
This Chapter is dedicated to whomever reads this chapter first.
By the time they were found, they didn't care anymore. They had other lives now, lives on the other side of the Pool. They cared naught for the Valley and its battles anymore. The pair of Acheates and Adonis had many tales of their own. They had their own tragedies, they had their own comedies. They had their own dramas, they had their own loves. But each tale may only be told at its own time. And theirs is another tale.
However, this much can be said. The Mortal Realms were not what they expected. They had to elude predators, find food, and bargain with Death. They also found something that they did not think they'd find. They found Man. Acheates and Adonis found an emotion that none of those before them has found. They found pity.
Pity for the two-legger man, who is forced to hunt, move in herds of their own to find food. Pity for the furless man, who is forced to freeze in the winter. Pity for the friendless man, who has no beasts of burden, no one to share the load. Pity for the angry man, who wages constant war on their neighbors, fellow men.
Acheates and Adonis then befriended two men, scarcely of age themselves. Their names were immortalized beyond even those of Solaris. They were brothers, as strongly connected as Acheates and Adonis, but also bonded by blood. These boys, who became men, were Balisul and Jessaro. The Unicorns and the Men traveled together. They forged peace, fought wars of unity, sowed crops, and domesticated animals. Time passed even more quickly in this world, something happened to the Unicorns and the Men. They were, as the event was soon termed, Bonded. These ties were even stronger then ones that came before.
And the Pool remained open.
Strange things began to happen. A group of men, naming themselves Sorcerers emerged, their power outstripping all others. Witchcraft and wizardry became common. And, as the Bonded Ones passed by, the animals began to talk. At first, they were solitary instances, deemed the work of the devil. Soon it was common. And still the Pool stayed open.
The two pairs of Bonded Man and Unicorns went on to do great deeds. Terrible and Great. Great and Terrible. They though, are another tale for another night.
The Pairs did achieve great feats. All the lands east and west of the White Mountains were united into one land, one Empire of Terra. Trade flourished as all roads were safe to travel. The Sorcerers, though powerful were restrained, all lived in peace. All, that is, except for the house of Royalty. Unfortunately, The Brothers began to fight, as all brothers do. In an angry rage, the elder Jessaro stormed out, taking Adonis with him. The Bonded pair founded Jessenor, Jesse's Land, in the north. The former owners of the land despised them and their Southern ways, and the two groups battled constantly over the land. Balisul and Acheates, finding themselves alone, founded their own country. The empire of Terra collapsed, fell apart, and the White Mountains once again divided the land.
And still the Pool stayed open.
Although initially angry at the others for leaving, Balisul and Acheates found that Jessenor acted as a buffer from the raiding barbarians of the north. Discovering that they no longer needed to maintain an army, the Pair began using their money in other ways, lavishing in the life of the rich. As Balisul's army ran rampant upon his land, he surveyed his lands from inside thick stone walls. As Adonis fought for his adopted people, Acheates relaxed, confident that none could penetrate Castle Sulach.
And yet the Pool stayed open.
Finally, the people of Bali's land petitioned the Supreme Ruler for help, as in this time of Great Magic the doors between the worlds were constantly opening and shutting. The Supreme Ruler, dismayed at seeing one from his majestic Herd so arrogant in his ways, cursed Acheates.
One of the line of Balisul must always Bond with one from Acheates former Herd. This Unicorn, condemned to a Mortal Life, would be forced to remember Acheates 'treason' of his Herd. In time it was found that this Unicorn of the Rainbow Herd held a certain power over the animals and that his absence would cause the Magic to fail and the animals to lapse into silence yet again. Adonis and Jessaro were spared from this fate, but the magic of Bali's Land continued to 'wash' over the frozen forests of the north.
And the Pool was shut. It had stayed open just long enough though, that he no longer had to wait.
And the Pool stayed shut, until most forgot that it could be opened, bringing great misery upon the Valley and the Rainbow Herd.
This curse, the one bestowed upon those who followed after Acheates and Balisul became known as The Curse of the Wayward Prince, for had Acheates not so corrupted Adonis, these things would not have come to pass. However, the country this curse applied to rose to power and still today, The Curse of the Wayward Prince still rules Balinor.