The Longest Night

In ancient times, people feared the dark. The dark of Cave; the dark of Shadow; the dark of night most of all. The only Gods keeping them safe then were Moon and Stars, as Sun had not yet brought Flame into the world, and nights when Moon was weak and Clouds was afoot were the darkest of all.

Despite it all, Sun always returned. The people knew that, as long as they could survive the dark, light would return.

It thus brought people great fear when the rhythm of the Protector Gods changed. Sun began to stay for shorter and shorter durations, leaving Moon and Stars to hold down the fort as the nights grew longer and longer.

Despite it all, Sun always returned, and light was restored to the people. Until, one day, it wasn’t.

The night stretched on and on as Moon remained at their post, sharing their light with the people for as long as they could. Stars looked far and wide for Sun, scattering themself across Sky to see further and further, while Moon gave up more and more of themself to keep the people safe, growing thinner and thinner as the night dragged on without end.

The longest, darkest dark ever known came when Moon’s light finally ran out. With only Stars to shine for them, the people had never known a deeper fear.

And then, Stars fell. One at first, then another, then more and more, streaking across the sky like Rain in a storm. Terrified of losing their last light in the world, the people followed the trail of Stars’s path across Sky, not stopping until they found where Stars had landed. There, as they crested Mountain’s ridge, was everything they had been looking for - Sun reached out to greet them like a beloved friend, and where Stars landed was an opening into an Otherworld.

Sun told the people there were Fey in the Otherworld, creatures like them and yet different, and that they had stolen Stars beyond the veil and would not return them without a trade. Sun forbade the people from entering the Otherworld in search of Stars, but bade them continue into the valley and find the Fey’s sacred grove, and leave offerings there for Sun to bring in exchange for Stars’s return. And so they did, and they left offerings of food, and of coin, and of treasure, for those who had it.

And Sun spoke to the Court of Fey, and when the Court learned of the people’s suffering, they ordered Stars’s return, and that tenfold the light that was taken should be given back to the people. And as the people waited in the sacred grove and on the hilltop among the thyme and heather, Sun emerged from the Otherworld, carrying in their arms a being of pure light - a new God, Flame. Sun took Flame to Moon’s body, and rested them against their sibling’s chest, and Moon was filled with light once more - not as bright as they were, but shining once more.

Sun then gave Flame to the people, spreading their light among the masses so that, though another night so long would never come again, the people would be prepared if it did. Sun also promised the people that if they ever needed to find them, they could climb to this hilltop and Sun would greet them there with the dawn.