2. Descent of the Winged Star
I. The Stargazers “Look, Daniel,” said Alice, pointing upwards. “There’s a satellite up in the sky.”
II. Solitary Flight High above the earth, its wings outstretched behind him against the surrounding air, the Light-Thing soared through the night sky. The chill winter wind whipped through the creatures hair as it glided forward, wings flapping occasionally to maintain its straight flight-course, much as it always had. Being so high into the air, the earth seemed hardly to move at all beneath it as it traveled, yet stretched out before it at all sides as if trying to reach out into forever before finally falling short and curving out of sight. Nevertheless, the Light-Thing continued its flight, gazing constantly down upon the vast world of men of which it did not belong.
If anyone had ever gotten the chance to look upon the Light-Thing, one might use the term “gargoyle” as a comparison to its appearance. It did indeed bear quite a resemblance to the classic portrayal of a gargoyle. Its flesh was leathery, grey, its webbed wings constantly propelling it through the sky. Its face was primate-like, the top of its head covered in a torrent of black hair which whipped wildly in the wind. Similar tufts of hair covered its forearms, which extended out into strong three-fingered hands. The creature’s most notable feature however, the one which set it apart from all other living things on the planet, was its tail.
The Light-Thing had no legs. Instead, its torso narrowed down gradually into a long tail, constantly hanging underneath it. At the end of this tail shone a brilliant blinding light which illuminated everything around it. So bright was this light which shined from the creature’s tail, it could have illuminated an entire human town for up to ten miles in every direction. All eyes would be on the Light-Thing, and it was for this reason that it constantly maintained its extensive distance from the surface as it flew. No one would give the creature even a second glance from that distance, and that is exactly what it wanted. If any human eyes were to ever catch a glimpse of this strange creature, all would be lost.
As mentioned, the world of men was a world in which the Light-Thing could not exist. The Light-Thing, you see, was a one of a kind. It was entirely unique. As far as it had existed, it had never once made contact with another Light-Thing. It knew this to be a danger.
The countless empires of the humans and all of their seemingly limitless knowledge were much more than the Light-Thing could possibly comprehend with its limited mind, but there was one fact about them that it knew for certain: The humans were an infinitely curious group, and constantly hungered for knowledge. To be a unique being in a world such as this meant the end for you. The Light-Thing knew that if the humans became aware of its existence, they would not be content until they had learned all there was to know about it. Its life would be theirs, its own no longer.
It was because of this that the Light-Thing continued its constant flight, much as it had for (how long had it been?) the duration of its life so far. It flew, constantly in search of a place to live, a place far from the dangerous curiosity of the humans. This was its existence, its constant solitary flight, ever since (how long, again?) the beginning. It flew, always, knowing there must be a place for it somewhere on the planet… In motion, always… Always flying high above the world… At night, always… Always at night…
III. They of the Night Forest Even these days, in the deep parts of the earth, where the many feeling hands of the world of men cannot reach, there still exist places where magic is real, monsters roam, and many things unnatural to the logic of humans still take place. These places go largely undiscovered and unnoticed by said humans, as they are worlds that they of the world of men were never meant to go. One of these impossible places was the Night Forest.
The Night Forest was a place of constant darkness. It was not unlike a normal forest, if not for the fact that it was at all times shrouded in complete and utter darkness. No light penetrated its boundaries and none existed within it. It was an illogical occurrence which no human science, if ever employed for such a task, could explain. Any human who was aware of this place (assuming such a thing was possible) would not believe that anything would be capable of living in it for any extended amount of time. Even in spite of this, it occurred.
Thousands of living creatures existed peacefully in this place, much as they had for (how long had it been?) an indeterminable amount of time. They went about their daily routines amongst one another, all living in one big unspoken symbiotic society, which existed in total darkness. All creatures within this forest had learned over (how long, again?) a long period of time how to exist without light. Despite many of them having eyes, the one trait which they all shared was the ability to live without the ability to see. Any who hadn’t adapted had either migrated away or died off long ago.
Some beasts used an acute sense of hearing to go about their lives, such as the simian-like vine swingers who dwelt high in the brush of the trees. Some used highly sensitive noses, such as the lizard hounds in their damp caves. Others still had developed an almost psychic ability, a sixth sense which they used to go about their lives, such as the mysterious Noh-Bats who screeched through the treetops. Even more creatures still had even more astounding methods of finding their way around, but none of this was as fascinating as the strange harmony which all these vastly different being seemed to constantly live in.
It is curious indeed, the bonds that form within a large group of varying entities which are forced to live in a world without sight. Atop a small hill there dwelled a small genderless creature with arms like tendrils which had taken as its mate a similarly genderless thing which resembled an insect. They were unaware of their inability to have children with one another, and yet there they lived, atop the hill together. In a large thicket, there lived a large carnivorous dragon-like creature which had come across an abandoned brood of small herbivorous beings which it now raised as its own. A pack of small red eyed rodents lived and foraged alongside a clan of amphibious lizard-fish that, under any other circumstances would have been their natural predators.
Any of this would have been impossible in any place but here in this dark realm. Dozens of creatures lived in a strange synergy with other living things which they had no business having contact which. These unnatural relationships were the way of living, and it showed no sign of changing. In their natural dark habitat, existing as they (always?) had for ages, the strange denizens of the Night Forest lived out their final day.
IV. “…and there was light.” Endlessly, the Light-Thing continued its flight as it always had, and as it likely always would until it finally fell dead from the sky. It was one night as it flew, however, that it came across a sight it had never seen before. Far below it, deep within the heart of a great forest which seemed to stretch forth forever in every direction, it saw a great expanse of darkness. Not simply a dark forest, as it had seen many times before. No, this was a great circle of the deepest black, as if some great titan had punched an enormous hole in existence itself.
As the Light-Thing gazed down into this gigantic abyss of nothingness, it felt it glimpsed its future. Certainly this great dark place could not be one of men, could it? Perhaps this was the place it had been searching for this (it still could not remember how long it had been) entire time. Perhaps even, whatever poor creatures living in that dark place also awaited its arrival. What a better place for a creature of light, after-all, than a place of constant impenetrable darkness?
It was in that moment, toward an unexplainable mass of darkness, the Light-Thing finally began to descend.
As the Light-Thing made its quick descent into the strange black hole which it hoped to make its new home, a society of creatures which had never before experienced the sensation of sight, glimpsed the last moments of their world.
The first to go were those to which light was lethal. The Noh-Bats were vaporized instantaneously, their entire kind wiped out of existence before they were able to gain an understanding of what was happening. The white nocturnal spiders of the tree-trunks scrambled to hide from the light, finally curling up to die as it engulfed everything. Even the Great Ancient Moon Octopus closed its eyes for the last time as the light of the newcomer's tail beamed through the translucent surface of its lake. Those who died quick were delivered.
Any who weren’t taken by the light itself, fell to the ensuing chaos which followed. All throughout the Night Forest, thousands of creatures who had never had need for sight suddenly looked upon one another for the first time. Minds innumerable were suddenly confronted with a concept with which they had no ability to cope. Most were driven mad within moments. The rest didn’t last too much longer.
Beings which had lived their entire lives in balance with one another suddenly flew into a panic, the likes of which had never been witnessed before. Neighbor looked upon neighbor and felt revulsion. Brother looked upon brother, and found they hated what they saw. Living things began to kill other living things, a majority of them having no comprehension of their actions. All across the Night Forest, the lives of a thousand creatures were destroyed by a simple misunderstanding.
Two-dozen tiny plant-eating things looked upon the great hulking dragon-beast which had raised them as her own and fell deathly afraid. Their panic surprised the surrogate mother who, not recognizing them as her adopted children, incinerated them.
A clan of amphibious lizard-fish arose from their river home and feasted upon a pack of frightened red-eyed rodents whom, up until recently, had treated the shores of the river as their home.
The two genderless beings which had made their home atop a hill murdered one another.
It did not take long for the Light-Thing to realize that it had made a grave error. This dark place was no place for him to live. This place was a dangerous place of savage beasts, who fed off of one another, and fought to survive. It knew that to stay in this place would be to surely die. It quickly began to fly away, hoping to flee before it was spotted.
As the Light-Thing ascended, they of the Night Forest were left once more in darkness, living out the duration of the unexplained confusion which marked the end of their civilization.
V. Lament of the Light In a thousand places across the world of men, the lives of a thousand people were destroyed by a thousand misunderstandings.
