5: Creation Myth: Guardians of the Night

A myth which speaks of who their goddess is, and of how the vampires and fair people were made.

Our Great Mother, the Goddess Gaia, came into being from the stardust that fell from the Heavens.

Each sparkle of stardust fell and formed Her, and over many million years She breathed Her first.

When She breathed, She felt alone. She saw and She cried.

From Her tears did the seas begin, and from Her lashes forests grew.

Still, She was alone " but now, She saw She could form things as the stardust had formed Her.

Joyfully, She gazed. She wished to speak, but they would not speak back.

Tenderly, She kept Her faith. She believed they would learn. And they did.

The trees and the seas came together. They tried to make sounds, and found themselves alive.

Together, they joined and the first fauna came into existence.

Oh, but they were awkward. They knew not the meaning of Beauty.

But Our Great Mother " Praise Her! " was warm. She was patient, for had She not Herself waited so many million years to finally open Her eyes?

Ah, our time is no measure to Hers " but wait She did, and wait no longer She could.

She grew sad again, for though they were more beautiful than before " they still would not speak.

 

Our Great Mother thought. And as She thought, She rubbed Her eyes and sighed.

Her own dust and Her own breath flew into the air in spirals and fell over Her breasts.

She looked at Her skin and found little pale ones with white hair and skin as fair as Hers gazing Her. “You are of my own! My fair, sweet ones…!” She said.

“Oh Mother, we are!” They replied!

Oh Joy! Oh Wonder! Oh Love! They spoke! They heard! They listened and understood Her!

As She watched over them, She felt She must give them a gift " and so She did.

As She loved them, so they learned to love one another.

She saw them love, and from this love, they had young of their own.

Oh, She was sad once more.

These Fair ones, how their children brought them happiness… how She longed for those of Her own.

Slowly, slowly, She watched. And slowly, slowly, She felt Her body changing.

Her belly grew from this longing, and everyone watched as She grew rounder.

Oh, it was painful " this growth. It stretched Her and it broke Her.

She felt rivulets of seas form, of Her body which cracked turn to islands, of Her shudders sprang mountains, and of Her screams, came quakes and fire.

Finally, She felt that perhaps this hurt should be no more " and so Her belly split and out hurtled two sons. She laughed, and touched them, and they flew to the Heavens.

One, she named Lunem and the other, Solariel.

They, three, were harmonious. However, Our Mother watched over too many and though She watched, She could not foresee.

 

Amongst the Fair Ones, there was a Fair maiden whom had taught them both to love.

Oh Gaia, she was lovely. Her hair fell white and pure to her knees, and her eyes were the clear blue of a bubbling spring, her mouth when she smiled sent them into the highest delight. Her laughter, and the way she would toss her hair back was so charming it made their hearts race.

But the Brothers were not of the same make as the Fair maiden, and their love was too strong and too intense. It warped them, and all around them. They learned of Jealousy.

Lunem and Solariel were now at odds with each other.

They fought with their words sharp, they insulted each other with loathing, and they soon began using their fists. They learned that they could bruise and bleed.

A war was wrought, where the once innocent Fair people were claimed as soldiers.

But unlike the Brothers, they would not heal so quickly.

Too late, Mother Gaia found Her beloved creatures dead.

She wept for She could not know they bled, but even in death, they remained beautiful. Their blood was iridescent, the colour of crushed pearls or the insides of seashells.

Ah, what use is the prettiness of their blood! She cried. They, I made with my wishes, they are gone!

She called for Her Sons to come hence, and said to them that only Love shall keep peace.

They would not listen. They claimed " It is Love that has made us so!

Our Mother did not want to see them separated, but She knew Her words would not reach them.

And so, She took Her heart from Her breast and cut it in two. This Land She gave to them.

She said, My Sons, it is painful to part " but I cannot be weak. I give you each to live on, with people of your choosing but the Fair maiden I shall keep.

They left, and soon found themselves seeking the maiden " so driven by the thought of her.

 

The Fair maiden was flattered that they could not forget her, and that they would disobey Our Mother, to ask her to belong. Solariel promised her endless life, warmth and happiness, while Lunem begged her to be his, for anything she would desire, he would grant her.

Ah, she was worried, for who was the better one? For, should she not choose the better?

It was Greed, she learned.

She was warped, just as all the other Fair Ones who left Our Mother’s bosom.

She demanded that they should Love her more; that they should show her what they thought of her.

They duelled with swords, they recited poems, and they found the most unique flowers that grew in their lands to give to her to weave into her hair. Still, it was not enough.

The younger, Solariel knew that he and his Brother would be forever equal. But, he was cunning, and knew that only Our Mother was able to take away Lunem’s power.

He had to crush his Brother underfoot, unable to rise again " the Fair maiden would be his!

 

Solariel waited for a good chance. He had his underlings follow Lunem, and trail him, and alert him when his Brother would be with the Fair maiden.

The time came, and it was most unfortunate for Lunem, for when his words of Love spilled of his mouth, the words became unlike what he meant to say.

All of Our World heard him, his voice sweet but his lyrics bitter.

I place you upon my crown, Fair one, for you are more beautiful than My Mother. I would kill her, so you can stand in her stead. You are the one to be my Goddess.

Enraged, Our Mother cursed him,

You, who I birthed from Love, who I pained for a hundred years, who burdened upon Me as fissures split My belly. You, I hold dear no more! Fall into this darkness you created yourself, with this hatred in your heart, taste bold this void you have ushered in Me.

I cast you. I curse you! An eternal thirst shall you have, that no stream shall quench!

Go far, with your cursed followers. Go forth!

 

Lunem found his Land covered in dark clouds, as he stood with his soldiers, eyes raised.

I did not…! He shouted, but every one saw him as a lie and a failure.

One though, finally came to him. He said to Lunem,

Lord, it is Solariel. It is Solariel who has betrayed you. It is Solariel who has made us so. It is Solariel who has made you utter such words. It is Solariel, I " Lord " have seen married to your maiden.

Oh, Lunem was mad. His mien changed as he learned of Rage, of Revenge and of other Evils.

To the animals that came to hearten him, he tore apart with his bare hands.

To the followers who were afraid, but wished him well, he did the same.

It was a dark time for his people, as he wandered about, aimless.

His thirst grew stronger, and he was suffering much " and it only pained him more.

I thirst…! He screamed. The nearest living, he grasped tight in his hands, tighter still as it struggled.

He heard a pounding, a pounding that was not just the fear. It was the pounding of the heart, the heart of these creatures, the organ sustained them and kept them alive.

It made juice, and was that not like water?

He was blinded, and so he sunk his teeth into it, starving for that juice.

The blood that rushed to his mouth, bursting into it, freed him.

The curse was lifted. He told his people, told them all, that this curse could be lifted.

Around, creatures died, but his people lived.

Yet " this curse would return, and each time, they would drink the life-blood.

 

Lunem and his people all grew larger, more ruthless, and more brutal.

It was this brutality that was keeping them alive.

Lunem thought to kill his younger brother. There was still this burning inside him that would not be fulfilled until it had been done. But killing would simply end it, there would be no haunting feelings.

And so, he thought well in the only way his now vicious mind could think.

Ah, but would not my own seed implanted into his new bride be more painful than the death itself?

Together, he and his legion, went to the edge of their land where across lay Solariels’.

Together, they ambushed the bride and brought her back to their land.

They caged her, and Lunem raped her. Though she scratched him, and bit him, and kicked at him " Lunem was only more excited. He thought,

Nothing comes easy.

He raped her day and night, awoke her when she felt herself drifting away to Our Mother. No, he could care for less. This bride… with his body, he made her his.

Her belly grew, just as her beauty faded " it was as if this unborn child fed on it.

Kept in her cage, locked under magick, no one could find her. Not even Lunem’s underlings knew.

 

Solariel despaired. It could be no other person who had taken her.

He searched for her, even on his Brother’s land. He took his men, his company, his guards " but no one could locate her.

Yet, one day, as if she had never been taken at all " she was returned to her home.

Solariel saw the size of her belly. He would kill this child, but doing so would kill his wife, too.

As he went to war once more, against his older Brother… the child was born.

It was in hatred that the first Forsaken was born, with the Wings of his mother’s people, but the Bloodlust of his father’s. It was in hatred that it lived, abandoned, and left to survive alone.

Our Mother heard the terrible screams, and the prayers sent to Her with great hope that She would save those that fell in this war.

Enough! She told Her Sons. No more!

With this, She cast Sons towards the Heavens. She said,

You, Solariel, will spend your waking hours there, and in your sleep shall your Brother rise. You, Lunem, will spend your waking hours in your Brother’s sleep, and sleep you shall when he rises.

The morning, and the night… The light, and the dark… To wake, and then, to sleep…

The Fair maiden passed, and her spirit rose to the Heavens and became sky.

                       The Sons met, spoke and loved her still " in their waking hours.                     

So thus, Our Mother separated them. So thus, She hoped for them to no longer battle.

 

*

We are borne of Lunem, and so, we dwell in darkness.

We are the Guardians to all those who are of the Night.

As our Lord has so done, so it shall be " We will protect and defend against those of the Light.

United, our hearts are, strong with our knowledge of our brothers who betrayed.

Keep well, our Lord’s wishes. Guard well, against Solariel and his kin.

Praise Our Mother, so She knows! Praise Her well, so She sees our innocence!

May Our Mother return us to Her!