The Thieves Of The Light

Every solstice the ritual had to be performed.

History told the villagers that if they didn't they would be plunged into an endless night.

Once, hundreds of years ago, the Summer Solstice was missed due to the plague, and though the Winter Solstice Ritual took place, the days kept getting shorter and by June the days only had three hours of sunlight.

The Summer Solstice Ritual started the days lengthening and it was recorded that the ritual would never again be missed.

The short days affected the crops, and harvests were hardly enough to feed the village, and although no one starved they knew that if this worsened then there would be famine.

What the ritual did no one was sure. There were rumours and legends of The Thieves Of The Light who were mystical entities who were neither good nor evil but maintained a cosmic balance and ensured that rules and traditions were adhered to. If humanity strayed then The Thieves Of The Light effectively punished everyone.

The geography of this place was strange.

The village was surrounded by a forest and eventually the forest gave way to a desert which itself was surrounded by mists. Although a few in the village had seen the desert, the mists were from legends.

They saw their home on a flat surface. This was no Earth.

The sun lit their day and the moon and stars lit their night, but the skies never changed. The sun took the same path every day and that was followed by the moon.

It was believed that The Thieves of The Light had control of the sun and the moon, but who gave them that power was beyond the ken of those in the village, even the elders.

There were those who said they had seen The thieves of The Light in the forest, they wore dark garb and carried sticks and blades. The message that they carried was "Respect The Solstice. Perform The Ritual. Life Will Be Good".

They never offered a threat although they looked threatening, but the village was aware of what would happen if they did not perform the Solstice ritual.

Some questioned the ritual but they were pointed towards the old records and teachings. If the ritual was missed The Thieves of The Light would slowly remove it from the Village and harvests would fail, and that would mean famine.

The Ritual was only a few hours twice a year, so people gathered to take part and join the chants asking for the Sun to stay and grow their crops and light the world.

The Village knew what was good for them because they had been taught what would happen if they did not follow the ritual.

So the Summer Solstice was celebrated properly and when it was complete the villagers slept soundly knowing life would be good for the next six months.

The Thieves of the Light watched and listened and ensured the Village was cared for, but if every the Ritual was missed, for any reason, the days would begin to shorten once again.