There once was a mother, dejected and without recourse other than faith, cry she did, to no avail, tears were meaningless, only serving to moisten the freshly upturned grave.@@novelbin@@


    O, how small of a grave it was, soon had this nascent soul departed-


    ''Too soon, toote… Who knows?''


    "O, brightdy, why refute this child?" asked the woman "O, paledy, why take this child?''


    Naught but silence was present to respond, but ask she kept, begging for her child to be returned.


    Find your next read at My Virtual Library Empire


    ''One child, two children, your vige, the whole region… They all must pass eventually, your child is but ahead of them…''


    Indeed, no one wished to answer her prayers, but silence was not taken as a refusal, nothing but the absence of approval, yet.


    "O, brightdy, can you hear me?"


    No one appeared.


    Silence once more, the grave lull was not the domain of the bright.


    "O, paledy, can you hear me?"


    And silence, spoke back.


    "Yes, my child" no one was there, yet, here she was, thedy of pale, cascade of dark upon her back.


    Here and not, physical nothing, the lightless dark, the pure silence- Oblivion.


    "O, paledy, please spare my child" asked the mother, demanding the misborn back.


    "Spare?" the paleness leaned forward, arched backward, depth of the eyes giving directly into oblivion.


    "Spare you say? Do you think death is a punishment? That the end of one''s life is a tragedy? Is there sin in eternal repose? In eternity itself? You vibrant lot are all of a piece… Seeking life eternal, yet scourge truest of infinity?"


    The mother closed her eyes, lowering her head.


    Silence befell stronger than ever before, no more was sound.


    Laying eyes upon the paledy again, she was no longer paying attention to the mother, looking upon the paleness of her own hands.


    "Aah… this one could have barely realised it, There is an I, to me there is a thing, an existence, but I am… Here I am, I exist, I think, I act, that is a first..." thedy''s gaze turned to the mother once more.


    "In ce of the bright, allow me"


    One step forward, many more traversed.


    "Allow me to help, all shall experience the bliss of eternal death, all shall meet my embrace eventually, so just this once, I will allow it, have your spawnling back, watch him grow weary, have him watch grow weary, and smile, when you are liberated from my sister''s domain…"


    The paledy enacted death''s utmost trait, and reanimated the baby, fetching his soul, his mind, all that made him the individual, the one destined to be.


    She extended her tenderpassion, horror gripping the mother, handed a child drained of all colours, molten with putrescence, one devoid of life, filled with death.


    Thus, the paledy discovered joy, as the first undead, the first of her people, was given back to his mother, the parent was trembling.


    Trembling with fearful joy.


    She too, was touched by death''s kindness.


    _____________


    "Ouch!" a man scraped his toenails against a protruding pebbles, the devilish thing not budging the entire ordeal, bringing most sweet agony upon him as he fell forward, face stering into the soft sand.


    "Ah ah! Still not used to watching where you are going? At your age?" another man mocked him, not a hint of sympathy for his friend''s situation.


    "How am I supposed to get used to it?! It''s always the evening now, when I wake, when I eat, when I shit, when I sleep! Evening! Always! What happening to our sun for gods sakes? Why is it so dim?" he threw a fistful of sand straight at the other man, demonstrating most dreadful uracy, striking the eyes, nostrils and mouth in one go.


    It had been a long while, hard to say how long when day and night no longer existed, but some time ago, darkness had fallen upon the horizon, opposite to the sun they were used to following, when it rose, they waked, when it fell, they slept.


    Simple as that, when the dark appeared however, as if caught in a fright, their sun had frozen in ce, its light dimmed, or rather, the light that reached them was so weak, that it might as well be moonlight.


    "Don''t-" he coughed up some sand "Don''t worry so much, it will get back to normal eventually" the sanded one was optimistic, awfully so one might say, but he was only repeating the words of their elder.


    The decrepit old man was, or at least pretended, to be a seer, and as such, his words were always considered an absolute truth.


    "He has never been wrong, right?"


    "Urgh, I don''t think him predicting that we would all die unless he took three new, young concubines was very serious" responded the other, flexing his assaulted toes, grimacing intensely.


    "Now that you mention it- What is that?" pointed beyond the shore, the first man was suspicious that he would befell the attack of sand were he to turn around, but he eventually did so anyways.


    "Is that a sea monster?!" the second man added when both had their eyes upon the looming figure.


    "Hold on" stepping closer, carefully avoiding putting pressure on his aching foot.


    Narrowing his eyes, shaking his head with a smug.


    "I forget that you are just a grown-up child sometimes, that''s a ship! A big boat if you will, this one is awfullyrge…" he turned back, disying his greater knowledge of the world beyond this ind.


    His eyes leaving their sockets, arrows neatly aimed.


    Mouth agape, sand prepared as revenge seeping in between his fingers, legs did not move, locked in ce, the young inder watched in shock as the massive ship rammed into the sand, its body reflective, as though made from iron, ropes dropping from the deck, vile figures sliding down, one after the other.


    Aligning neatly,pletely ignoring both the youth, or the one they had yed, body crushed by their violentnding.


    Hundreds of them, their ranks tidy, carrying various weapons.


    Making way for a tall figure garbed with a dark mantle, apanied by two stalwart ck knights, holding longswords with both of their hands, ready to split skulls at a moment''s notice.


    The one they seemed to be escorting walked right over to the paralysed youth, too close forfort, hands firmly held behind the back, weaponless, somehow the most intimidating still.


    "Bring us to your lord" he ordered, the inder feeling like refuting him, but it was not like the ind was big enough for anyone to hide from such a great force, instead, he caved and fearfully nodded his head.


    ''Maybe they are willing to speak peacefully?'' he hoped.