Dragonwitch by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Legend of Two Brothers
LET ME TELL YOU A STORY.
In the days when the Near World was new and mortal men were young and frightened, Death-in-Life crept among the shadows and whispered darkness into their fears. So they hid themselves in caves and never dared to look above to the lights shining in the vaults of the sky; they could not hear the Songs of the Spheres.
The Lumil Eliasul, Giver of Songs, took pity on their helpless state. He sent his knights, the Brothers Ashiun. No one recalls their names before the Lumil Eliasul called them into his service. The elder he called Akilun, which is Wisdom; the younger, Etanun, which is Strength.
With these names, each brother was given a great gift. Into Akilun’s hand, the Lumil Eliasul placed Asha, a lantern filled with the light of Hymlumé, the lady moon.
“Take this lantern, and with it disperse the shadows so that my children may see the Greater Lights. And when they see, they will hear the Songs I have sung for them and which the sun and the moon sing still. Thus they will have hope of life beyond the dust of mortality.”
So spoke the Giver of Songs. Then he turned to Etanun, and into his fist he pressed the hilt of Halisa, a sword forged in the fires of Lumé, the lordly sun.
“With this sword,” said the Lumil Eliasul, “cut down the monsters that plague their fears. Drive out the fires of Death-in-Life and his brood with a fire more pure, more dreadful, more sure. Thus my children will know the truth of the life to which they have been called, and they will sing with Lumé and Hymlumé.”
At the behest of their Master, the Brothers Ashiun carried their gifts across the Final Water into the Near World. Etanun drove out the Faerie beasts that crawled along the mortal ground, devouring as they went, and even Death-in-Life drew back into his own dark kingdom, fearing the fire of Halisa. Akilun shone his lantern into the darkest reaches of the mortal realm, and people far and wide gathered to its light, marveling at the things they saw and heard of that they had never before dreamed. Together, the two brothers built the Houses of old, great halls with doors on either end that opened to the east and west. Akilun filled these Houses with the light of Asha so that even when the brothers passed on to distant realms, the mortals of every nation could still hear the Songs of the sun and the moon.
So Etanun and Akilun journeyed throughout the Near World, bringing truth and hope to the farthest countries, even to the distant isles across the wild sea. But Death-in-Life looked upon their work and gnashed his teeth. He hated the Songs of the Spheres almost as much as he hated their creator. When he had first seen the pitiable state of the mortals, he had thought to take them, to create a people after his own design who would serve and worship only him. But now, as the Houses stood tall and the mortals gathered to hear the Songs, Death-in-Life saw his nightmarish dreams begin to fade.
So he turned to another, an immortal queen of the Faerie folk, and he spoke his lies to her. Brokenhearted and filled with jealous anger, she heeded his words. And so he created his firstborn.
Hri Sora. The Flame at Night.
She set upon the Great Houses and burned them, scattering the poor mortals back into darkness. Heroes of old rose up to face this dragon, but none could match her flame. One by one, kings, queens, and chieftains of the Near World watched their holy places burn, sacrifices offered by Hri Sora to her Dark Father.
But Akilun and Etanun were not through with their work. Akilun shone Asha lantern, and mortals flocked to its light. And Etanun set out to slay Hri Sora. Armed with Halisa, he plunged into the darkest regions of the Near World. He found her at last on a cold mountain, and there he fought her. The fire of their battle melted the snow on the mountaintop, which ran like rivers down into the valleys below. Yet Hri Sora could not match the might of Halisa as wielded by the knight, and she fell beneath his blade.
But alas, Death-in-Life’s firstborn could not be so easily destroyed.
Akilun the Elder, bearing his lantern, found his brother exhausted upon the barren slopes of the mountain. Etanun was near death, but under Akilun’s gentle hand, he gradually stepped from the shadow back into the living world.
“I have killed her!” said Etanun then.
Akilun shook his head. “It is not so, brother. Hri Sora will return, I fear. You have only destroyed the first of her lives.”