The Balinor Chronicles: The Celestial Herd
Chapter Fifty-One: Alas, Alas for Shade of Night
"Morals," Said Lionel, "are a form of insanity. Give me a man who insists on doing the right thing all the time, and I'll give you a tangle an angel couldn't get out of…."
"Has Bors been going in for morals?"(asked King Arthur.)
"Bors always did," said Lionel, "curse him. Morals seem to run in my family. Lancelot is bad enough being with, but Bors beats him to a frazzle."
- Sir Lionel, The Ill-Made Knight
Alas, alas for the shade of night;
The shadows hide the light from sight
Alas, alas for the shifting moon,
Whose silver glory fades so soon.
Alas, alas for the shade of night,
Who lends his strength to shadow's might.
-Child's play rhyme in Balinor
Time passed, as Time is wont to do.
Gaheris, true to his father's prediction grew the reddest coat in the herd, stunningly complemented by a red diamond and jasper horn and hooves. Raiden, true to his father's prediction, grew a coat as black as the depths of the pool, complemented by true iron hooves and horn and a black diamond. Both of them, true to everyone's predictions, entered Sentinel training. Although, now as I recall further, not everyone appreciated Raiden's appointment as one. Alas, alas for the shade of night.
As the unfortunate Raiden grew older, he found himself becoming more and more alone. It is lonely being a loner, especially for one born and raised in a Herd. In his solitary state, Raiden did something that was probably rather foolish, given his predicament: Rather than trying to find solace among other in the Herd, he took to wandering. Wandering is a tricky business when one is such a dangerous pawn. The Shadows hide the light from sight.
It was on one such wandering that Raiden came upon a band of Twilights. (Alas, alas!) By this point, everyone knew about the now-dubious parentage of the young prince…including Moloth and his band of true Twilights. And while Raiden was still a Celestial, so were once the Twilights. For the shifting moon…
"Brother!" One of the dark-colored unicorns called out from his perch on the edge of the mountains. "Why worry about those who hate you? Come with us, and you will be hailed as a Prince of Kings!" Raiden paused. "Brother!" another Twilight called out, his long legs pacing back and forth across his ridge of rock. "Brother, we do not condemn upon your coat. Come with us, and you will be the greatest of generals!" A third joined in. "Brother! Fear not the sun and the fire; the shadows will grant you peace. And you shall be seen as the greatest of all, you who could have stayed, but did not!" Whose silver glory fades so soon?
Raiden felt his heart stir. Such marvelous things they spoke of. Such glories! (Alas, alas…) To be free… To be judged upon his worth and not his coat. To receive the credit and respect that he had rightfully earned. Such…. Wonderfulness… Raiden wondered what it would be like. He made move to join them upon the mountain. For the shade of night.
And then something very peculiar happened. For the shade of night was born of light….
He remembered the wind. He remembered the sea. He remembered those who had come before him, and strangely enough, he remembered those who would follow after. For there is deep magic in the mountains. Deep magic.
Neither he nor the Twilights were quite sure what happened next. Raiden remembered a rush of wind and a low rumbling as the mountain yearned to move. He remembered iron hooves sparking on rocks as he skittered to escape. The Twilight, for only one survived, remembered a high pitched shriek of a whinny that brought the mountain down around him. He remembered desperate cries as his fellows succumbed to the attack brought by rocks. He remembered something that seemed impossible – rocks flowing around, over and under, but not into, the Celestial whose whinny started the avalanche. And he swore he saw Death – not He-Who-Owns-All who collected the souls of the fallen, but he saw Death in the fair blue eyes of a unicorn whose coat was darker than his own.
Alas, Alas for all will fall;
Castle burn, and crumble wall.
Alas, Alas for all will fail;
The Sun will set, the shadows wail.
Alas, Alas the dice are rolled;
Every soul has thus been sold.