The Glade of Many Waters is one of the most beautiful and peaceful places in all of the
Liberated Lands and the central hub of Unicorn Landing. It is here that the many
streams of the Western White Ridge Mountains gather in a bubbling pool of cold, clear
water surrounded by moss-covered stone, gentle grasses and frothing water-falls that
tumble into the bowl of the glade from the roots of the mountains North and East. A
sacred place of prayer and worship and a place of baptism for the obedient, the Glade was
once the place of the first visitation by the Helper, when it is said that the waters of
cleansing were first poured out upon the Twice Born after the Overlord’s departure for
the Everlasting Kingdom. Though the town has grown up around it, the Glade remains
undisturbed and a place of solitude for the true seeker.
As you stand in this
place of quiet and rest, you watch the two moons rising. They are full and brilliant -
made more striking by the beauty of creation all around you. It has been an hour since the
sun has set and you are beginning to wonder if the Overlord is ever going to do
something. Around you, your companions are pacing and praying, “waiting on the Lord”
as Joref’s Sacred Scroll passage said to do.
Suddenly you begin to notice
a change. The moonshadows seem to be growing. Not stretching, but expanding,
swallowing the light of the glade as though the moons were being shrouded by clouds and
their light extinquished. Looking up again, you see the reason.
It is a full
lunar eclipse.
Suddenly you remember. This is the Night of the Scarlet
Moon, that awful night each year when both of the light moons, Cheruu and Serax are
eclipsed for five minutes by Moluno, the Scarlet Moon! Though of no consequence to
those in the Liberated Land; it is a different matter in the Dragon Lands. There, every
baby born to a dragon slave during the eclipse is declared by the dragons and their
followers to be a sorceror. The helpless infant is removed from its home and taken to the
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that lies deep in the Forest of Horrors. There they are
trained from their earliest hours in the dark arts and their lives are wholly given over to
the service of the dragons.
You shudder as you realize the significance of this
night and wish there was something you could do for the innocent lives that will be taken!
If only your mission would have started a day sooner, your team would be in enemy
territory now, ready for action. Again you are reminded of the precious time being
lost!
“This was a mistake.” you mutter as the sky goes completely dark with a
final flash of blood red light. “I can’t take this sitting around. We should be doing
something!”
You hear the sound of your friends gathering around you in the
dark and Joref’s voice in reply to your statement.
“We are doing something,
Tharkon. The most important thing. Trusting God.”
As if to illustrate the
truth of the statement, there is a dazzling flash of light in the sky above you. Thinking the
eclipse is already passing, you look up again. Sweeping down from the sky is a train of
glorious white beings - winged horses that radiate a light brighter than the noonday sun
and a presence warming to the soul. As they alight noiselessly around you, you can see
that there is one for each of you.
The leader addresses you as you shield your
eyes.
“Fear not, Lightraiders. We have been sent by the Celestial King in
answer to your obedience, to bear you on the first part of your journey into the lands of
shadow. But come; time is short.”
They bow on their knees, inviting
you to mount. Gathering up your things once again, you carefully and reverently climb
upon their backs, taking your place between their mighty wings. As soon as you are
seated, the celestial guardians take to the skies, and in a moment’s time, the familiar town
of Unicorn Landing has disappeared. Within moments your team is flying between the
peaks of new beginning and through the mist barrier into the lands beyond the safety of
the Overlord’s protection.
Before the eclipse has even fully ended, you find
yourselves sliding from the horses’ backs in a place that you have never seen before.
Although it is dark, you can tell that there are trees all around you. Through a clearing in
the forest, you see the jagged outline of mountains against the starry sky to the west. You
can tell by the faint light of the re-emerging silver moons that you are on a narrow road
running north and south through the forest. As you try to gain your bearings, the winged
horses disappear without warning leaving you feeling small and alone in this immense
forest where all manner of evil creatures might dwell. And with the Celestial Guardians
goes the light of their presence, leaving your team in the near total blackness of the
wilderness.
You stand quietly for several moments, trying to take in your
environment with all of your senses and giving your eyes a chance to adjust to the
darkness. The air is cool and pleasant as it blows from the Northwest across the
Mountain tops and smells of fresh foliage and damp wood . The forest is exceptionally
quiet, however, making you feel somewhat uneasy as you realize that the sounds of
crickets and other animal noises native to the woodlands are conspicuously absent. It is
almost as if the animal kingdom silently mourned the loss of innocence that would take
place this evil night as well.
