The Holy Covenant of the Triumvirate

by rathgood

Book 11: Temptation V

Book 11: Temptation V

A canvas painted to bring forth smiles left unviewed causes the bitterest thoughts to turn inward on oneself.

Temptation of the Moon

The aftermath of the Sun’s descent, declaration, and show of power was felt far and wide. Carried by the winds and gifts of the weather-born to the far corners of the land all who resided within the borders soon knew. Many sought out the missionaries of the triumvirate who, for a generation, had spoken of the three sisters. Some went to learn of the nine pillars and the virtues the espoused, truly wanting to learn and embrace them. Others went to them out of fear. They feared the power of the missionaries’ mistresses and in that fear thought that embracing their teachings would spare them when the reckoning came. Each ones reason was their own. The order of the Triumvirate accepted them all with open hooves.

Carried along as well were words of the mysterious golden army and its connections to the Sun. The weather-born, always the more militaristic of the three tribes spoke of them with reverence. The martial prowess shown by all three tribes and their coordinated effort laid seeds for a more tightly integrated military force. The strengths of each amplifying the effectiveness of the whole by an order of magnitude instead of the cumulative effect the untied tribes had seen with their own forces. Others began to wonder if such an improvement in effectiveness could spread beyond the battlefield and into normal life. The march of the sun had sparked a wind of change to blow through the tribes.

These messages did not pass over the castle of the sisters. The Twilight and the Moon reviewed each rumor that floated their way upon the winds and backs of their guards. The night guards proved effective in locating falsehoods and subtly quelling those that tried to spread false teachings of the three. Their blessing of the night allowed them to blend in with the shadows and sail the winds soundlessly like the bat. The solar guard helped where they could, but most remained either guarding the castle’s perimeter to prevent zealots from breaching the wards or in honor guard formation around the cave where the Sun hid herself after the events in the capitol. So ashamed of her actions the Sun passed the All-seeing given duty of controlling her namesake to the Twilight and entered a self-imposed exile. Meditating on her mind, doing her best to purge any remaining taint. Reflecting on the will of the All-seeing. Reigning in her fiery emotions. Her companion of the eons felt abandoned. The Moon felt she had failed her sister and in time also despaired. Only the Twilight remained steadfast, bolstered by the few remaining friends she had before the ascension. Their lives unnaturally extended by their proximity to her.

The Twilight to her merit handled the sun as best she could, her connection to it easing the effects that the Moon or the non-ascended would feel. Thankfully, unlike the Sun, the Moon still did her duty, saving the Twilight additional strain. The night however sky suffered from the malady of its mistress. The stars were dull and the moon lost its luster. So very little light reflected from the lunar surface that the land was blanketed almost completely in gloom, only the most stalwart venturing forth into the shadows. Even then, all were fearful of the dangers that lurked outside of their view. Every cracking branch, animal call, or even the rustling of a leaf on the wind brought forth terror in the tribes. The ancient fear of the unknown, of the shadows had once again taken root. A primal emotion that the forest had used before the Moon illuminated his lies. An emotion he was wielding again in her absence. His minions went forth, using their dark gifts to scare, bewilder, and bewitch the populace, always at night. Thus the terror became manifest and the night left abandoned by all.

The Moon in her stupor did not notice the corruption or abandonment of the glorious night. Only the Twilight noticed it, but was to taxed by her solar duty to investigate why. This continued for almost a year, in which time the reclusiveness of the sisters removed them from the minds of the populace and the events of the proclamation. The night was abandoned fully to the baser elements of society. Only the dregs or the desperate ventured into the all-consuming shadows. The Moon sank deeper into herself. The Sun languished for her unintentional sins. The Twilight remained, but her friends and councilors did not. Old age had claimed one and a scant few days ago illness claimed another. The three remaining held fast, but the years were showing. In private, the Twilight mourned her immortality and the infinite pain she would receive. Only a letter, given to her by the physician who had tended to her friend woke her up. The message was simple. Through her immortality, they would be immortal. As long as the Twilight remembered her friends, they would never be truly dead. Their actions living through the eons inside the friends they touched. The letter also asked of the Twilight to mend the hearts of her sisters. To restore the precariously perched balance. To bring back harmony. She would do just that.

So the Twilight gathered her three remaining advisors and the captains of both the Solar guard and the Lunar guard. Together they formulated a plan to both return the Moon to herself and bring the Sun back to them. The plan hinged on the Twilight touching upon the Moon’s love of creation, wonderment, and fun that dreams bring. To have her return levity to darkened nights and twisted dreams. Too convince the Moon to help bring so much awe and mirth that the Sun will hear it. Such a reverberating sound that the Solar sister will know that the tribes still find joy in the world and her transgressions are all but forgotten. Thusly the Twilight did just that and after repeated nights of conversation did convince her sister of the plan. The two younger sisters conspired for a magnificent meteor shower on the next night where the left eye is closed. The shower would be heralded by the auroras and nestled within a river of stars, their light all the brighter due to the new moon. The display would then be concluded with a brilliant sunrise, with a breathtaking transition through the twilight hours. All three aspects would be present in the celebration.

With one lunar cycle till the night they had one month to prepare the tribes for the show. The three advisors, one from each tribe and a solar guard, also from the same tribe, went forth to spread the word. Each contacted the members of the order of the triumvirate with the information. Each group then spread it among their flock. From those in the flocks the word spread to their friends and families. Soon the entire united tribes knew of the show. Each settlement organizing a mass gathering to view the events, taking safety in numbers for they were all still afraid of night’s deep shadows. Pleased that the message was spread, the six from the harmony tribe returned to the castle, to finish their own preparations. Unknown to all, the chosen night preceded the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. The forest alone took notice and began its own plans.

Days turned to weeks and as the final pieces were laid into position by all parties involved, the appointed date was reached. Throughout the land, in each settlement, big or small, the excited citizens gathered. For to long had the stars been dulled. For to long the auroras had not graced the sky. The pending return of these mainstays, coupled with the promise of a dawn not seen for over a year had driven the tribes into a celebratory frenzy. Hope had returned that these events would herald the end of the darkened nights and shadowy beings that terrorized them. The harmony tribe assembled their entire group in front of the cave where the Sun meditated. Even the solar guards normally on patrol were there, ready to turn their eyes towards the celestial display prepared for them that night. All was going according to the Twilight’s plan. All was also going according to the forest’s counter strategy. And so, the night fell upon the land and the aurora bloomed into existence.

Before the eager eyes of the gathered harmony tribe the aurora’s light bathed them in calming waves of lunar energy and the stars shown like millions of fireflies, dancing through the sky. Their precise locations forming a glorious twinkling river with the symbol of the triumvirate at its source. The Moon adjusted the stars so that the symbol slowing flowed down the river. The arrayed masses around the cave of the Sun cheered in awe as it progressed. As the night wore on the symbol got closer and closer to the head of the river and the aurora got dimmer and dimmer. As if a crescendo, the aurora’s suddenly burst into full life, bathing the land in prenatural light, heralding the meteor shower. Millions of flaming rocks lite across the sky following the path of the stellar river, spreading out to replace the symbol of the triumvirate with their fiery trails. The voices of the Harmony tribe erupted fourth in celebration. A noise so potent that even the Sun in her cave heard and took notice.

Throughout the lands the same heavenly sight was repeated, but went unseen. For the Moon and the Twilight had so tied up their powers in the display that they failed to notice the forest’s magic about. The dark tender had blanked out the sky in all places but where the harmony tribe gathered. All of the celebratory events now turned to panicked whispers. The anticipation had grown steadily as the night wore on. Many hoping the display to start with suddenness, but the sky remained dark. All of them gathered close around the great bonfires built for light. The minions of the forest did not rest idly by during the night. Their chaos-lord had ordered them to go forth and spread fear; to further cement the night as his realm. So it was that the chaos-earth born chilled the warm summer air into a frigid wind. The chaos-weather born propelled the winds into the camps of the united tribes, chilling them to the bone and smothering their fires. The chaos-magic born transformed into a vast array of beasts and stalked the periphery. Their shadows and roars piercing the night, forcing the tribes to gather closer to the sputtering fires.

The shower ebbed across the sky, whether seen or unseen and the rays of the dawning sun pierced the void of the night. The Twilight poured all of her solar magics into the dawn, splashing all the colors possible across the sky. The forest withdrew his minions and influence to allow the dawning lights to spread. The results were immediate. While the harmony tribe celebrated the end of a magnificent night, the united tribes rejoiced at the sun banishing the darkness and beasts that plagued their horrid night. The sum of the cacophonous sound echoed through the realm and caused ripples through the plane that joined all touched by the All-Seeing. The noise and echoes brought great joy to the Sun, which emerged from the cave to see what could cause such elation and joy after her transgression. When she saw that it was the rising of her namesake she wept. Not tears of anger or sadness, but of joy. She felt she had been forgiven. For the first time in over a year the three sisters were joined together again.

With the reunion, the Sun resumed her duty and the Moon returned to painting the canvas of the night sky with a practiced hand. However the effects of the forest’s meddling had further entrenched itself and the sky painted in all its glory remained unseen. Abandoned by the tribes, cowering in their homes. Only the Twilight and others of the harmony tribe embraced its glory. The Moon tried harder every night to make it more glorious than the next, but to no avail. The ancestral fears of the dark and unknown had been awoken and had taken back control. The Moon became desperate and opened herself to the night and all it entailed; looking for some sign of why it had been forsaken. As she stared into the night, the night stared back into her. The forest pushed a small shard of itself into the deep recesses of her mind to feed on her anxieties, insecurities, and jealousy; to tip the fulcrum of balance; to break the harmony.

The seed found fertile soil in the deep reassesses of the Moon’s mind. For as the lunar body has a dark side, so does its steward. All of the negative emotions the moon had buried over the centuries had coagulated into shadowy mass, lurking in the deeps of her mind. Waiting for a chance to strike out again as it had during the conflict with the Wryms. Instead of the seed being nurtured by the darkness as the forest had intended, the seed nurtured the darkness and gave it form. Thusly a shadowy mimic of the Moon was born and together with the forest, plotted for escape. The two bided their time, the shadow-moon nudging the Moon’s actions ever so slightly to further their goals.

A full lunar cycle passed and still the efforts of the Moon were in vane. None outside the harmony tribe braved the night to view her masterpieces. A voice inside suggested that if they would not come to the night, then can’t the Moon bring the night to them? She was mistress of dreams and as such held purvey over the dreamlands. She would descend into the realm and spread dreams of the glorious night to all. With the next full moon, when at full power the Moon shut her eyes and set forth on her task. Thus the moon came into all who slept, infusing their dreams with lunar magic. The time the Shadow-moon and Forest had awaited was nigh.

The sleeping masses all smiled from the dreams, but to the Moons horror their dreams slowly turned from dreams of her magnificent night to dreams of her sister’s golden sun. Bitter jealousy arose from within but is was shunted away as she had done many a time before. This time though, the emotions we absorbed and combined with the power of the full moon. Thus, with a push from the forest, the Shadow-moon usurped control of the dream fields from the true Moon. While only holding sway in the dreamscape, the Shadow-moon still was able to act. If the tribes would not enjoy her works, love her, then they would fear her. Nightmares descended upon the tribes.

The Earth-born dreamt of a brisk autumn night, the harvest moon bathing their fields in its silver rays. Illuminating the fruits of their labors, allowing them to work later to finish the harvest. A chill wind blew through the dreamscape and the earth-born shivered. Thus the moon was replaced with the golden sun, warming their bodies and letting them continue their harvest. The golden day went on for eternity, as time has no bounds within dreams. Dark clouds filling the sky shattered the tranquility of the harvest. The ground they tended erupted and tendrils like roots reached for them, dragging them beneath the earth. There the roots pierced the hides of the earth-born, feeding off of their life force and innate magic. Time holds no sway here. The pain of the roots spreading never faded. The agony of their life being drained never ebbed. Their screams pierced the night.

The Weather-born dreamt of the clear, open night sky. The stars giving them directions towards their unknown destination. The feeling of the wind blowing across their face as they approached speeds no mortal could reach in the waking world. The exhilaration of it made them laugh. As with the earth-born, a cold wind blew across the sky and chilled them to the core. To compensate the dreamscape switched to the warming sun. Their bid for breaking barriers continued until dark clouds spilled forth from nowhere. They were weather-born though. They controlled the weather. With practiced ease they went to clear the skies, to continue their flight to nowhere. The clouds would not budge. Being fighters their emotions erupted and with a great kick they struck an offending clouds. IN the waking world such a strike would have broken the cloud. IN the dreamscape, the clouds broke them. The feedback from the kick shattered their legs and pelvis. Peels of thunder leapt from the storm clouds and bolts of lightning licked towards them. Bolts struck true and seared away the gift from their back. In agony they fell from the grace of the sky, lightning striking them throughout the fall. Time has no hold here, they never hit, the lightning never stopped striking. Another chorus of screams joined the night.

Crystalline arrays that could only exist in dreams lined the walls of the open roofed tower. The magic-born inside was busy harnessing the light and ambient magic from the full moon, channeling it into gemstones. The dreams of the magic-born were full of advancement. This array, these gems would allow for lunar energy to be used to purify water, cure diseases, and heal the injured. A tweak of the array and suddenly stellar energy to was harnessed and stored. Once more a chill wind blew through the dream and the magic-born wished for warmth. The dream shifted to the height of the day, the arrays now channeling and storing solar magic. One gem could warm a house for months. A matrix of them could light the capitol for weeks. The uses of the solar magic overwhelmed the magic-born and they were lost in the timelessness of dreams until the dark clouds blotted out the sun. Levitating the charged crystals the magic-born went to take shelter from the coming storm, but the levitation went wrong. The gems embedded themselves into the chest and limbs of the magic-born. The sunstones emitted their trapped heat, immolating the flesh of the magic-born, while the moonstones released their healing magic and returned flesh to bone as soon as it was melted from it. The cycle repeated itself as it had for the Twilight before her ascension, but the stones never lost their charge, time would not drain them. The magic-born suffered over and over again. The final screams echoed in the night.

The pain echoed throughout the land and awoke both the Sun and Twilight from dreamless slumber. Rushing to the sides of their people they found themselves unable to break the hold of the dreams upon them. Not even the Twilight’s link to the dreamscape worked. Thus the two sisters went to the Moon for aid. They found her in deep slumber, the Twilight touching Moon and finding her influence in the dreamscape. Here she found purchase and wreathing herself in the power of the sun and full moon delved into the dreamscape. What she found was a darkened plane, the light from her solar armor the only source of light. Reaching out to her sister over their All-Seeing given connection, the Twilight located the imprisoned Moon. Channeling more solar energy, shunted to her from the Sun, the Twilight scoured a path to her middle sister and burnt the chains that bound her. Now freed the Moon joined her power with her sisters and the two retook the dreamscape. The solar might scouring the infection and the soothing lunar waves calming the sleepers and ending the nightmares. The forest saw that his fun was over and withdrew his influence, tearing all the power from the Shadow-moon, leaving her but a ghost in the mind of the Moon. The Moon and Twilight awoke from the dive. The moon wept for what an aspect of her had done.

Across the land the dreamers awoke in sweat stained sheets; the shear terror of the dreams preventing them from returning to sleep that night. All went forth to see how their families faired; to see if they too were taken by the nightmares. Those that awoke were the lucky ones. The young, the old, the sick, and the infirm suffered the worst. Many did not have the body or experience to survive such crippling fear and they died of fright, their faces etched with agony. The harmony tribe, while better off than the others, still suffered major blows. The Twilight rushed to her advisors and found each had perished from the night terrors. Their last scream splayed across their faces. The only thing the Twilight could do was ease their expressions. As the day dawned from the Nightmare Night, the twilight lost its luster and was subdued. The Twilight as well, normally radiating the red and blue hues of the transition, was almost gray. The last of her ties to her life were gone. She was now alone. That day the Twilight cried until tears refused to flow.

The forest supped that morning on the stolen power and prepared for the final stage of his ancient game. One piece remained to capture and then the queen would be his.

Comments

[andmos]

It is up! And here I though you were dead. Nice story. Now you had to write how it went.

[Pilate]

Dude, this is epic! Just caught up with everything, great job and great story! I just hope that the next update doesn't take another 9 weeks, I don't think I could stand it!

Anything I (we?) can do to help?

[rathgood]

1179631 How to help? Other than find a way for me to not travel so much for work, not much. To put it into perspective, from June 27th through August 11th, I spent all of 9 days home. That said, I'll try to keep the 9 week gap from happening again.

[Pilate]

1180265
Ah, I've been there. Once had a year where I spent less than 100 days at home, racked up quite a few segments on my frequent flier account. There was even a point where I would forget what city I was in when I woke up since I stayed in the same room at each Courtyard Marriott. Didn't mean to sound pushy, I just hit that wall after reading each chapter consecutively.

If you find yourself in the Los Angeles area let me know, have a drink on me, from one (former) road warrior to another.

[Reader Wolf]

The Nightmare has played an opening act, and now the main event shall come.
THE RISE OF DISCORD!