Aurora

Chapter 3

Forced into a coma-like state, Atticus finds himself trapped in his memories. He's sent back to his life before he met Artemis, a life of darkness, a time of survival.

This was a time when the sun did not exist. When life was taking its very first steps and the gods just began dabbling in creation. It was a dangerous and savage time where only the strong survived. Indigenous peoples, the first people, the Fae, have a story for the origin of the sun and moon.

And it begins with a raven.

---

The raven, a cunning creature, thrived in this dark world.

Man, on the other hand, was ill-equipped. They stuck together to survive, all of them aside from a mysterious old man. This old man lived in a secluded cottage far away from his people. Far different from most men, he pushed others away when they invited him in. This intrigued Raven so he began to study the old man in-between his scavenged meals and his time in the forest.

Raven soon discovered that the old man was not alone. He, in fact, had a daughter. She radiated a substance that Raven had never seen before. Her pale face seemed to flutter remarkably between sharp and soft features. Her jawline was sharp and strong, almost defiant, and she had full lips that were nearly as pale as her skin. The girl had long silver hair that seemed to glow itself, reaching down to the small of her back. However, her most remarkable feature had to be her eyes. She had no pupils, just pools of molten silver that seemed to emit light themselves.

Now, you have to remember, light did not exist in his world yet. So, for Raven, this was something he couldn't even comprehend. But he knew one thing to be true beyond all others, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Raven got lost in those eyes more times than he could count on his visits. The unnatural substance hurt his eyes and left burning after images, but he was enthralled nonetheless.

For reasons unbeknownst to Raven, he came back to the cottage every day at the very same time. He had to see the girl and her radiant beauty and, before he knew it, Raven fell deeply in love with the girl. Through his visits, he discovered a pattern in the family’s routine. Twice a week, the father would go out hunting and the daughter would stay back next to the small home and wash clothes in the nearby river. Twice a week, the girl would discover a stark white feather waiting for her by the river. Once she noticed it was deliberate, the girl became cautious. You couldn’t be too careful in a world made for predators. But she quickly overcame her paranoia and began looking forward to the lone feather awaiting her arrival. She quickly had a collection of them that she took with her everywhere she went.

Raven, too curious for his own good, also noticed something else in his time of observing the old man. Whenever the cabin door was opened a blinding aura pierced his sensitive eyes. The same aura that emanated off of the girl but on a much greater scale. To eyes that were acclimated to the dark, this substance was so sublime he thought it may be divine. And then it dawned on him, Raven knew who the old man was.

Eagle, the former leader of the Aven race, disappeared without a trace many years ago. Some say he fell in love with a human woman and they ran away together. Others tell stories of Eagle stumbling upon a powerful artifact that, if it fell into the wrong hands, could bring about the destruction of all life. Raven concluded that both stories must be true and became painfully jealous of Eagle. He had a gorgeous daughter and the glorious presence that painted the dark, blank world with vivid detail. He was hiding them from the world, selfishly hoarding them all to himself.

Raven’s cunning plan was already in motion.

He waited for the girl to walk to the river bed and she found the feather waiting for her, but this time she found it in the hands of a handsome young man. His eyes were a deep crimson standing out marvelously from his head of short, snow-colored hair and matching cloak of stark white feathers. He had the innocence of a boy written all over his face and his ridiculous grin officially screamed that he was in way over his head. Raven was an observer, he had no practice with conversation or body language. He knew the importance of it, just not how to execute. He held the feather out to the girl nervously, not knowing what to expect from her.

“Pffft..hahaha!” She snorted in a rather unladylike fashion, that somehow made her even more endearing to Raven, which was followed up by a burst of uncontrollable laughter. “You….haha...you,” she clutched her stomach and nearly toppled over from the outburst. “Hooo...I’m sorry...I’m sorry.” The girl managed through deep breaths, trying to re-obtain her composure. “You’re the one who’s been leaving these lovely feathers.” Pausing to wipe a tear from her eye before continuing, “I was wondering when you would show your face. You probably should’ve waited a couple more weeks for that courage of yours to build up some more.” She picked the feather out of his hand and began twirling it between her fingers playfully.

Raven was at a loss for words and he could barely hear her over the sound of his heartbeat, not to mention the onslaught of nerves. Without anything to hold on to, his hand migrated to the inner seam on his cloak, playing with it anxiously. “I have no lack of courage, you know? Considering...you’re glowing,” he said. “What is it?” He asked after a few moments pause.

“You’re talking about this?” She held a crescent-shaped necklace that emitted a violet light up to him.

“No,” he tenderly brushed his hand against her cheek. “I mean you. You literally take my breath away. I can’t explain it.”

Her cheeks grew a slight red, as she took her turn to trip on her own words. Instead, she simply leaned into his hand, making no indication of moving.

---

And so, a beautiful relationship began. It quickly evolved into an insatiable desire to be together. They met at their spot at the river every night. Raven talked about his adventures in the wilderness and Eagle’s daughter talked about all her father’s magical curiosities. She taught him what light was and how an ancient and powerful artifact that her father had stolen from the gods was the source.

She showed him color for the first time. When she got to purple, her eyes lit up as she said it was her favorite. Raven smiled back at her, he had never felt so alive before. Often, she spoke of her desire to see the rest of the world, how she wanted to adventure and explore. Raven told her about the darkness and confessed that the rest of the world lacked the vibrancy of hers. He told her that, even though her world was small, at least it was a world filled with color and light.

They continued their conversations and she continued to voice her desire to leave the confines of the cottage. Raven wanted to fulfill that desire, her every desire, but he feared she would only be disappointed by what she saw. And then it came to him. A way for her to see the world, actually see it! The two young lovers hatched a plan.

When she returned from chores the next evening, Raven hid himself in raven form amongst the feathers in her basket. Luckily for them, Eagle was late. So, with his lover watching for the old coot, Raven scoured the house looking for the object she described to him the first night they spoke. It was more difficult than he had anticipated, for the brightness was so intense he could barely see. Eagle's daughter pointed at the wall and there it was! He spotted the ancient orb hanging next to an old fishing net. Maintaining his raven form, he latched onto the orb with his powerful talons and swiftly made his exit.

He and the orb emerged through a small opening in the chimney. The magical item bestowed an incredible luminescence to everything in sight. Its power was so intense that Raven's entire body began burning up from the heat. While soaring through the sky, his pristine white feathers began to char and smoke. However, Raven was unaware that Eagle had returned home. Masked by the fierce glow produced by the globe, Eagle began a pursuit on the ignorant Raven.

Suddenly, an arrow of pure light streaked right in front of his face, blinding him for a brief moment. "Watch out, my love!" Raven heard Eagle's daughter scream from far below. Another arrow forced him to twist his head just in time to see Eagle racing towards him at a breakneck speed, but it was far too late for him to avoid the attack.

Eagle lunged, sinking his talons deep into the hackles on Raven’s back. “Return what you have stolen, thief!” Eagle’s voice boomed like thunder.

Raven escaped in a desperate dive, circling back on Eagle. “It is not yours to keep!” His red eyes shoot daggers at Eagle, standing out against his increasingly blackened feathers. Aware he would be no match against Eagle’s prowess, Raven used the smoke produced by his burning feathers as concealment and darted away at an intense speed.

Eagle was not impressed. He displayed his overwhelming dominance in flight and difference in their strength with two powerful beats of his massive wings. Catching up to Raven in mere seconds, Eagle Seized both of Raven’s wings in his talons and exerted as much force as he could. He mercilessly tore through muscle and bone alike. Raven screeched out in agony as Eagle’s talons cut completely through both of his wings and he began to plummet towards the ground, spiraling out of control.

“Nooo!” Eagle cried out in rage. He dived after his precious light but was too late. No longer possessing the strength to hold the sphere Raven released his grip as he slipped into unconsciousness. The orb began to freefall and rapidly increased its speed. It crashed into the ground with a thunderous noise and immediately ignited the land around its massive crater, thus fire came into being. The titanic impact split the orb in two, sending the two gleaming balls of light careening off in opposite directions. The smaller of the two orbs veered into the mighty Eagle incinerating him instantly. The impact caused thousands of smaller shards to fly in random directions and disappear over the horizon with the smaller orb. They became the moon and the stars that we know today. The larger, unobstructed sphere became the sun.

Raven’s broken body reverted to its human shape, no longer able to sustain his animal form. He hit the ground in a tremendous impact landing in the forest near Eagle’s cabin. His feathers forever burnt. Eagle’s daughter rushed towards Raven’s side and discovered him broken and bloodied, in a bed of charred feathers. Raven opened his eyes weakly and found himself blinded by pure incandescence. The consequence of serendipity bestowed him with his very first image in the newly created moonlight, the face of the most beautiful woman he's ever seen.

The Fae and the Elves tell this story to their children as the origin of the sun and moon. To Atticus however, its the story of how he met the love of his life.

Chapter 4

“You know, sweet pea, your mother guessed my favorite color first try...but shh. Between you and me, I didn’t have a favorite color until she yelled out yellow. She was excited and had this stupid look on her face. So I told her she was right and I haven’t seen yellow the same since. It’s in everything...I could probably live in it now.”

- Atticus to Aurora

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Atticus opens his eyes and sees his moonlight shining just as brightly as the day they met. “I always knew you would be even more breathtaking in the light…” Atticus manages weakly as he stares up into the comforting eyes of Eagle’s daughter. With her forehead still pressed against his, Artemis smiles with overwhelming relief.

“Yellow” Atticus thinks to himself.

As she brushes the remainder of tears from her eyes Artemis reciprocates his compliment with one of her own. “And you, my clandestine hero, are the perfect accompaniment. A bouquet of black roses with one foot always in the darkness. The noble shadow who brought light to everyone while condemning himself to the dark.” Atticus raises his head to hers and greets it with a deep kiss. “Oh, but you look so good in it.” She adds with a wink. She offers him a hand and they both stand up as the Forest spirit lets out an unearthly roar, snapping them both back to reality. The couple can see a timorous aura pulsating around the spirit. The mysterious corruption is so powerful it's visible to the naked eye.

“Only the Gods know what could cause this. How do we fight something we know absolutely nothing about?” Atticus asks incredulously.

“Together.” Artemis smiles and places a hand on her husband's. It was comforting but it was just that. Not a solution, not what they desperately needed. “Hold on,” Artemis says lost in thought. “The cleric from Kindu Temple in the mountains! There's no telling what exactly is causing this, but there is no doubt that whatever is responsible has a very sinister intent. And if so, that old cleric should be able to exercise whatever magics plague the spirit.”

Atticus whispers something unintelligible to the thick night air and two Ravens emerge from the shadows to perch lightly on his slender shoulders. “Idhren…” (wise/monk in Quenya/Elven) he whispers in an ancient tongue. “Find the wise one, my friends.” No sooner do the ravens launch off his shoulders than they disappear, engulfed by the shadows.

“Now there’s just the simple task of corralling it up the mountain, I don’t suppose…” Artemis’s sentence is suddenly interrupted by the couple’s shared realization.

Atticus looks passed his wife with a smile on his face, quietly counting the number of enemies surrounding them. “They are quite skilled, I only just noticed them,” Atticus mentions nonchalantly and crouches down into a low, almost feral stance. Careful to avoid the dead eldritch leaves beneath his feet. “They must be elves. No one has gotten this close to ambushing us for decades.”

“Oh come now love, we discovered them far too early to give them that much credit,” Artemis mimics his movement. Her long hair doesn’t make a sound as it brushes against the forest floor. “This does give me an idea, however. Follow my lead and try not to get distracted this time Atti.” She says with a slightly mocking tone. Atticus, for his part, manages to suppress the urge to attempt a witty one-liner. Partly because he honestly believes himself to be the more mature individual in their relationship. But mostly because Artemis darts off into the center of the ambush at such a blinding speed he simply has almost no time to react, almost.

Atticus launches out of his crouch at a speed not quite matching his wife’s but what he lacks for pure speed he makes up for with finesse. As he approaches the ambush line, the elves barely have time to react. Still, they are skilled and manage to loose a few arrows in his general direction. There’s only one problem, they can’t tell which shadow is the real target. The arrows pass right through the three shadows and stick the soft forest floor with a thud. As the shadows reach the line of warriors, one of the elves manages to react in time to grab at the center mass of darkness. To the elf’s surprise, the shadow is completely insubstantial and his hand passes right through it. The profile of the shapeless outline changes around his fingers and suddenly becomes solid. Before the elf knows it he is surrounded by a mass of ravens that viciously attack his face and limbs. The other two silhouettes hit the line of elves and simultaneously burst into a massive conspiracy of ravens that rake against the fine armor of the elven warriors. The distraction allows Atticus to saunter quietly past the group of elves with no resistance whatsoever. The terrified screams are music to his ears as he races to catch up to his wife.