//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8 
// Story: A Nocturian Tale 
// by Corvus Eclipse 
//------------------------------//

< Time is something so precious… yet only few value it in the time of their youth. > Thought Eridanus and slowly moved towards the expensive and richly carved wardrobe. Due to his weaken state the king added several carvings on its surface to prevent many falls, resulting in a shameful destruction of its former beauty. The hooks were still sharp despite the fragile body of his, and he was glad for that, because bruises or even worse broken bones would have made his already miserable excuse of life twice as bad. Eridanus reached the wardrobe and inspected the *wounds* he has inflicted on the expensive wood.

One time his hook went so deep into it that he required the help of Moonwing to free himself. This thought made the elder pony smile for he heard his daughter laugh. There was no need to hide the truth. The King under the Mountain felt lonely and useless. He was not able to perform his duties yet and even writing became a physically and mentally painful burden. Extracts of Night Shade kept his whole body intact during his coma, but once he has awakened the body started to work on its own. Both organism and extract were no longer working together which is why his Physicians forbid giving him more doses of it. 

Two days ago the first symptoms of this drastic measure showed up. The shiver, high temperature, cold sweat even hallucinations haunted the king for a couple of days. It was a very hard time for himself and his poor daughter who never left his side. Or perhaps it was only a trick of his mind? Reality became twisted and it was hard to recognize if things he has seen were real or not. Everywhere phantom like things followed or appeared before Eridanus. Some he could not identify because they were twisted or nearly fully covered with shadows. Others were clearer yet still bizarre and one could say not from this world. 

Kind Eridanus leaned his head against the furniture and closed his eyes, holding the knob of the wardrobe with his hook. The worst hallucinations were those which stabbed his heart with an invisible blade. While he was on his way to the privy he thought he saw movement somewhere in the corridor. First he ignored it, but it kept appearing here and there. He simply continued his way to the privy until the source of the movement appeared in front of him. It was his firstborn son Aurelius. He was simply sitting there like he would be waiting for something.

< Will you play with me daddy? > 

Before he could answer his son jumped towards him. Eridanus was happy and spread his wings to welcome his beloved son, but once the boy reached him he turned into nothing. Like vapor the hallucination disappeared and left the king alone in the slightly lit corridor. In panic he searched everywhere, yelling and crying out of fear for the safety of the child. The yells attracted the Guards who quickly brought him to the Physicians and Doctors. Little could he remember besides the shameful fact that he wetted his bed. 

On the same day his second son Corvus haunted the poor king while he was on a walk with Moonwing. Once he has spotted him between two great pillars he desperately pointed at him and asked to stay where he was. The boy followed his wish and smiled at him.

< Where have you been papa? > 

Eridanus tried to explain, but a strong wind came out of the caverns and blew the hallucination away. The last thing that was saved by his clouded mind was to hear Moonwing cry, while she escorted him back to his chambers. But the worst was yet to come. After eating his breakfast the King under the Mountain decided to let the winds clear his troubled mind. Often it has helped him in the past, and he hoped it would also work in the present time. The castle has changed since his coma, but certain parts of it remained the same. In the east wing of the castle was a small balcony, which he often used as a small refuge. It was facing away from the city and allowed him to give him a break from his duties at least for a moment. Gladly he welcomed his old friend and enjoyed the touch of the wind on his skin. Until a voice cut through the wind, a voice he knew very well. His heart stopped to beat and surely all the colors faded away from his fur. It was the sound of his wife Andromeda. 

< Here you are darling. > She chuckled happily and walked towards him. His eyes were open wide and his wings suddenly turned heavy and touched the ground. Unable to take control of his body Eridanus simply remained petrified like the so called Earthen of the Underground. His beloved Andromeda was standing in front of him like time has never passed by, and she was carefully carrying a small bundle of joy in her delicate hooks. < Your daddy decided to hide from us. > She nuzzled her child who yawned sleepily in respond. Finally the strength and control returned to his body and very slowly and carefully walked towards his wife and daughter. 

The stallion reached out after them with his hook. Afraid that they would disappear he said nothing until he touched the soft cheek of Andromeda. With love written in her eyes she leaned against his hook and enjoyed his gentle touch. In that moment the baby started to cry and the father wanted to hush his child and simply pull her to himself, but then the hallucination faded away before his very eyes. He could still feel that he was touching somepony, and it turned out that it was not a trick of mind but reality. In front of him stood Moonwing and did exactly the same thing the illusion of her mother did. She was holding a wrapped cloak in her hooks which she brought for him.

Quickly the king took a clumsy step back, and roughly pulled his hook away from the confused Moonwing. She asked if everything was fine with noticeable concern, but it only made everything worse. Tears started to run down his cheeks and with surprising speed he ran back into the castle.

And so he was here in his chambers free of the influence of the foul Night Shade. He was still standing next to wardrobe, but while traveling through his memory, without realizing it, Eridanus took out an object of the past which Moonwing gave him some days ago. It was a small portray of the Royal Family. Held by his magic the small object was levitating next to his chest. Its pale color slightly lit the environment around him with its barely noticeable shine. His eyes were inspecting this precious gift of the past. What he saw was a scene a few days after the birth of Moonwing. It was a portray not drawn by an artist, but created by the use of magic and the memory of one of Andromeda’s sisters who witnessed this particular scene. His boys, already teens, were curiously looking at the front legs of their mother. Leaned against the ample chest of her mare lied Moonwing and slept peacefully, ignoring the attention of her siblings. Andromeda looked down at her three greatest gifts while she cuddled against the head of her husband. But the stallion on this portray also belonged to a time long past.

It was a stallion whose chest was swelled with pride. Strong, wise and healthy… his very presence was emitting an inspiring aura, which his subjects loved and respected. What Eridanus looked at was the true King under the Mountain not the shadow of his former self which he has become. 

< What have I ever done to deserve such fate… > Thought Eridanus and started to cry in the silence of his chambers. He was broken, he was weak, he was nothing. It was uncertain how long he cried, but he made sure that nopony would hear his misery especially Moonwing. After a while his throat started to hurt, and the world seemed to have vanished behind a wall of tears. With his hooks he wiped away his tears and tried to find his kerchief. Once more Eridanus dared to look at the portray with a noticeable hesitation. As painful as it was to look at it right now the stallion noticed something he has not seen before. It was the sigil of his Royal Family on the chest armor he was wearing. It was a shield with the map of Nocturia on its surface, which was embraced by Batwings on both sides.

< Ab aeterno, ab origine, ad infinitum. > A whisper went through the room. First it was very, very quiet and it only seemed to be a very weak blow of a wind. But every being born below the Earth, no matter if it possesses intelligence or not, knows that even the weakest wind might quickly turn into a gale. So the whispers became louder and clearer to the king. It seemed like an eternity since the last time he has heard them. Ironically Eridanus on the portray was in an age one could consider average. Despite feeling like a millennium ago he knew that this was no longer the case. He could consider himself an elder Alicorn, and with his current condition he might also be a bag of slowly rotting meat. 

< Ab aeterno, ab origine, ad infinitum! >

Eridanus grasped his head with his hooks and let out a dampen squirm of pain. He knew the words his mind started to spit out after looking at the sigil, but he could not remember their meaning. His head felt like it could explode at any second while the relentless whispers turned into loud voices. Suddenly the stallion could see blurry images, and surprisingly also smell and feel something familiar. What could it mean? Why was it happening? And why did his stubborn mind keep throwing the same words at him. Again. Again. And AGAIN!

< AB AETERNO, AB ORIGINE, AD INFINITUM! >

The King under the Mountain opened his eyes and noticed that his hair was floating. It could only mean that while he was trying to endure the pain his body entered a magical stance on its own. With clenched teeth he took control over his body, but his eyes remained upon the portray. He simply kept looking at the sigil like there would be nothing else in this world worth looking at. In that very moment a long and deep sigh went through the king’s chambers. The floating hair fell down and an invisible and everything around the old stallion became surprisingly silent. A sound caught his attention and to his great surprise it was the buzzing sound of a Greenling's tiny wings. And there it was the tiny ball of light, flying around and minding its own business.  Or was it trying to find its way back to its swarm? No matter what it was up to the Greenling flew towards the mourning king and landed right on his hook.

"You have returned little one." Said Eridanus with a dampen voice and lifted his wing to inspect the bug. It seemed like it was not impressed by facing a giant like him because it simply was taking care of its antennas. "Don't you want to return to your swarm? To your family?" 
In that moment the bug looked directly into the eyes of the Batwing King without any signs of fear. Several times it flapped its wings and spread small spores and caught light over his hook, but it kept *staring* at him with his many eyes. 

"You seem to know how it feels like to be alone." The stallion smiled and the small insect. "So do I sadly. I wonder what you think of me Greenling... because each time I look in the mirror I do not see my reflection, but a being which is not me. Or at least this is what I try to believe. You seem to be an odd fellah. If you want you can stay with me for a while. Even the smallest living presence can make a difference in the life of one single being."

To his great surprise the bug's life began to glow brighter, and it also seemed that it start to jump happily on his hook. The king took this message as a yes. With one flap of its wings the Greenling started to fly around Eridanus, spreading more and more of its fine spores. After a short while it got tired probably because of the excitement. It landed on the floating portray and intended to rest on it.  

< In this part of the world many ponies claim and believe with all their hearts that the gathered light and spores of the Greenlings brought luck upon the individual who was lucky enough to embrace it's *blessing* > 

The Greenling once more flapped with his tiny wings spreading the remaining light and spores from the weave surface. Surprisingly only the upper left part of the portray was covered. The part where the King under the Mountain was watching his family with pride and happiness. 
" Ab aeterno, ab origine, ad infinitum..." Eridanus repeated the three words that kept haunting him, but through the appearance of his small companion he forgot about them at least for a moment. He inspected the sigil of his family and closed his eyes in shame.

"From the beginning of time, from the origin, without an end. How could I have forgotten..." With his free hook he covered his trembling lips while an inner fight erupted in him. " Ab aeterno, ab origine, ad infinitum. Consilio et animis." The cat like eyes of the old king laid upon the wardrobe. He knew what was within it not only because Moonwing told him about its content. It was a very old habit of his to place an object that represented his authority but also his burden. Without any hesitation Eridanus opened the wardrobe and look upon the very objected that often lead to wars. Laid upon an old looking red pillow rested the crown of the Nocturian Kings. Simple in its design its shear age made Eridnaus take an uncontrolled step back. So many before him were wearing it and for over a millennium it remained untouched. At least that's what he believed. 

The king took a deep breath and hid the small portray in one of his many pockets of his attire. Then he bowed down, a sight many would never see, and with both his hooks he lifted the crown made of solid gold. Light of the candles made it shine while he inspected both his pride and burden. His Greenling companion did not dare to get closer to the shiny object which was something quite strange, thinking about the fact that it approached a king without fear.

"It seems you also can feel what kind of power seems to emit out of it. The true power resides there where everybody thinks it resides. Trust me my tiny friend it is only a delusion created by the subjects. Yet now I will require this delusion more than ever." Without any doubt and hesitation the stallion placed what was rightfully belonging to him on his head. Right away the weight became a burden to his weak muscles, but he was too proud to take it off now.

" Consilio et animis.. By Wisdom and Courage. I shall no longer remain in this prison of mine!" Quickly he walked towards the other wardrobes and searched for his better attire. Some of them were covered with dust, showing how long it has been since he last wore them. The bug was watching the scene from above wondering what the huge stallion was up to. In mere moments the King looked at himself in the mirror and for the first time after his sudden awakening he did not see a broken being, but a being full of determination.

< Honored ancestors... give me strength and wisdom so I may protect your legacy. > Eridanus started to take a very long breath until it felt like his lungs were about rip apart. With teary ears, which were not caused by the pain in the chest, the King under the Mountain let out a sound only Batwings could hear. Professors called that it Ultrasonic Sounds, but Eridanus had other plans in his mind. While he was taking this very deep breath he also started to cast a spell, which would allow him to strengthen the sound allowing any living being to hear it. Some may think that the sound would sound terrible, deafening... the truth was different though. 

It was a beautiful sound that was taught to him while he was a child. He was singing. And the song was about his return. Once he ran out of air the Underworld became quiet until the sound of hooves announced that ponies were running towards him. Moonwing ran in first and the door she stooped. The guards ran into her, but for some reason they did not manage to push her forward. All of them were looking at him like he would be a ghost. Again the King let out the sound, but this time it was only directed at them. It was message even a small child could understand.

< I have returned. >

Moonwing embraced the sound of her father like she would embrace the wind and although she was smiling happily she was also crying. She did not hear the song of her fatherfor a millennium. Without any words she simply ran towards her father and pushed her head against his chest. Eridanus welcomed her with a very long hug while his Greenling friend was circling happily around them. 

"Yes I have returned." He wiped away her tears like he has done it countless times while she was still a filly. "And I will need your help to protect our legacy." Once more he started to sing and soon the beautiful sound of his daughter followed. The caverns transported their song deep within their Underground Kingdom. 

In the mines of the Diamond Dogs, which are filled with the most beautiful crystals and rarest stones hidden beneath the earth, the stones were suddenly filled with warm light like in the old times. In the large territories and labyrinths of the mighty Minotaurs the song of their Monarchs mixed up with the sound of the smiths working on the finest metals. And in the caverns of the hardworking Satyr’s the grey forest of stone turned into sapphire, and the mushrooms long forgotten started to grow and pulse with life again. But most importantly the message also reached ponies of the Underground. Their song became a message for their subjects and brought new hope to them through the mighty caves and tunnels.

The King under the Mountain has returned at last.