Arian and the shadow

"O my Lord! Leave me not alone (without of spring), though Thou art the Best of i he i-
tors." (Quran 21:89)

"A an's sha ow fo lows him whe e er he goes. It r minds him of his past mi takes and mis-
deeds, but it also gives him hope for a be ter f ture. For he knows that every time he steps
out of the dar ness, his sha ow will be there to guide him t wards the light. And so, he walks
on, with his sha ow as his fait ful co pa ion, ready to face wha e er the f ture may hold."

B fore time was time, there e is ed a kin dom of light, songs, and laug ter. A an's f ther was
the king, and the elves lived in peac ful ha m ny. He did not give o ders, yet ever one ful-
lled his d sires. He did not have se vants, yet ever one served him. He was the one who il-
l m na ed the dawns with his r d ant light; his mere e i tence was a re son for joy and ce e-
br tion for the rs born, and they i dulged him.

T get er, they e joyed both the noo day sun and the faint light of the stars. I stead of col-
umns, to e ing re woods formed a vast ve tal cath dral, a seat of i mo ta ty and ha mo-
ny. The b ings of that time were and would r main the best at ever thing: in arts and games,
in know edge of magic and song, and also in the dance of the sword. In broad ce br tions,
m s cians, so ce ers, a r bats, and sword men gat ered in the ve tal halls of the king's
palace: those with sp cial grace and ta ent could earn a place at court. Also, at these ce bra-
tions, the king chose the mai ens with whom he would la er share his bed.

A though all the women in the kin dom were at his di po al, the mai ens ch sen on feast
days were his f vorite co sorts, and they gave him of spring. So far, the king had ch sen
twe ty-four mai ens. Each had gi en birth to a prince or princess, and with each birth, a new
sun had a peared in the m ment. The fate of each star was linked to the prince's fo tune. It
was known that the king would f ther one more star, the twe ty- fth sun. That last star would
be the day of cr ation and the end of the world: Prince twe ty- ve, in ti tor and d stro er.

But the king, d spite his pri leges, felt alone. Som how he did not b long to the co m n ty.
He was like the axis of the wheel, cr cial for cycl cal re l tions, st ic in the ce ter of the
well-roun ed truth. O der has its li its, the king did not have them. As the date of the last
ce br tion a proached, he wished for the u thin able. He was seen wal ing through the
vaul ed fo est tal ing about it wit out b ing heard, much less u de stood: "Every day is a day
of cr ation, I know, but I need som thing more. The world is not enough. R fres ing crea-
tures should come to the pa ty, please, for I need som thing fo bi den. Oh, cre tures of faint
cry, come at once! I hope one of you is da ge ous!"

The king's wis es, as a ways, were fu lled, for a te tive ears had heard him from afar. When
the bea t ful pr tenders came from all the forests, mou tains, mea ows, and streams, the an-
swer also came. It was a cu m na ing o c sion: the last one to bear a child with the king

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 would be the true queen, and the rest of the princes would co si er her the queen mot er,
even if she were pro bly the youngest. That was why the bea ties who a ten ed the ce mo-
ny of si ping the s lar ho ey wai ed e ge ly, each ho ing to be the one who heard the sweet
words of i v t tion to the jo ful hym neal: "Suns e ter you," the king would say, and the rest
would be hi t ry, the b gi ning of the new c cles of the heir star. A ter twe ty-four days of
u i te rup ed re e ry, only two ca d dates r mained. The rst, named Adara, was a Nordic
princess, gol en and b r al. The se ond, named Vel ria, was a bea ty with o si an skin,
co ing from the dark forests of the south of Ni r lath. That night the king would d cide and
wake up with one of them on the twe ty- fth day of cr ation,

One day, not much di fe ent from the ot ers, some pe ple saw the king wal ing through the
fo est, as he a ways did, tal ing wit out b ing heard: "Every day is of cr ation, I want some-
thing more. The world is small. I need som thing fo bi den. Oh, cre tures of faint cry! I hope
one of you is da ge ous! My next mai en will be the last, and na ly I will r veal the Moth-
er."

From ot er forests, mou tains, and mea ows, new bea ties came. Each one hoped to be the
one who heard the last words: "Suns e ter you." Two swift as gazelles ma aged to na gate
the labyrinth. From the Ma ble Cliffs came Adara the D vine; from the Black Poplars, Vel ria
the Pries ess. On the hill in the ce ter of the fo est, they found the king si ting on a throne,
which for the rst time had his do ble by his side for a queen. When the toast was o fered for
those who had come from so far away, the dark Vel ria smiled, and Adara knew it. While the
prep r tions were b ing ished, Vel ria had ma aged to i tr duce a love p tion into the
wine served for the king. Adara grabbed the cup i ten ed for the monarch and, kno in ly or
not of its co tents, drank it up.

- "To love your dark chee bones for a tho sand years..." - was the next thing she said,
sta ing into Vel ria's eyes. That she fell in love with her r vealed the witc craft.

As for A an's f ther, he was a wealthy man who lived in a ma sion near the fo est. He had a
bea t ful daug ter named A an, whom he che ished more than an thing in the world. One
day, while hun ing, he stu bled upon the same throne on which the king sat with his do ble.
Me me ized by its bea ty, he sat on it and d clared hi self king of the fo est. Li tle did he
know that this was the b gi ning of his mi fo tune.

From that day on, strange things b gan to ha pen in the ma sion. The sha ows grew longer
and more om nous, and strange noi es could be heard at night. A an's f ther b came in-
crea in ly par noid and b gan to see v sions of his f ture.

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