The sun went to sleep below the miles-wide curve of Terra. The birds ended their diurnal chorus, replaced in song by frogs and wolves as the moon took center stage in the sky. One by one, like waking children, the stars soon emerged around her. The light pollution of the former age had died and been cleansed with the rest of the world. Now the only things that disturbed the flawless darkness were the lanterns of providence and the fires of the people.
Yet, in one village, there were no fires and no watch, though the outpost held a collection of people whose eyes had grown attuned to the darkness. The light filled their eyes as everyone, from the oldest man to the youngest little girl gathered about the old sign... the fallen star. Kokabiel, they called the statue. A bright candle was placed inside the hollow leaderboard logo, and in return, it cast a pale, yellow light down on the ground.
The rite of the evening had been completed, and the children lay out on great blankets from wool, cotton, and skins, playing beneath the stars. The village elders gathered and told tales of the constellations. The mothers and fathers of the village chatted with each other. The unmarried young adults looked through the primitive telescopes at the great, fiery bodies of the sky, the angels of their myths. Seeing the flaming giants filled them with awe and wonder, and those not looking were constantly begging for their turns.
What none of them noticed was their aggressor from earlier sitting solemnly in the bushes, watching the scene of family unity.
Iskra had followers. She had at her beck and call a remorseless demon and a loyal barbarian king. It would be nothing to pull this village into slavery and break up this little place of contentment in the harsh world. It would be nothing to force these children of the night into a miserable life for her own gain. The men could build. The women could bear her children. It would be nothing at all.
But something in her told her no, and it wasn't the host of spirits that resided in her.
Maybe even beasts could have a conscious... could have values.
Her mind went back to a familiar scene of her clan, ten of ten strong, with the miles rolling beneath their feet. Laughter as they shared in the plentiful meat and happiness. The cubs leaping and snapping after fireflies and playing tug of war with a tail or an ear.
She could not ruin this. She would preserve it.
Out of the shadows she emerged, changing from a beast to a woman.
The people reacted out of fear, prostrating themselves and making offerings of food, begging her to preserve the children... begging her not to kill them, even as they implored their angel for aid.
Iskra held up a hand. "I do not wish to enslave you. What you have here is... beauty, but you are vulnerable, are you not?"
The people had to nod at that assertion. They had naught but their god and their obscurity defending them.
"I will preserve and protect you from everything. Demons, larger villages, bandits, it doesn't matter. I only ask that you help me build a little bit when I ask... only a third of the night is what I'll require from you. Is that much to ask?"
The people were surprisingly grateful that she only wanted that, but she couldn't tarry long and celebrate with them. She felt newly inspired to pursue her goal. "I will have that for myself again, one day..." she assured herself as she slunk back off into the night, the cheers of the grateful villagers at her back.
[ EXP: 714 ]
