YOU USED TO SCRAWL ME ON YOUR FEL TOME FULL

No need to waste the oil while he wasn’t writing. The tent darkened as the flame diminished to the soft glow of a single candle. Kaeldyr turned down the lamp that rested on his camp table. Here, even the brazier of coals that burned in the corner of the tent couldn’t keep the winter chill, nor the ills of age, at bay. Back in his study, with a fire to warm the whole room, he might have gotten out several pages before the ache set in. Well, the cold made it worse, but even so, putting words to parchment took much longer than it had even a year ago. That shaking had little to do with the cold. His wrinkled hand had begun shaking in the middle of writing. Kaeldyr placed the quill on his desk and leaned away from the table, taking care not to tip over in the canvas chair. As always, once our part is done, the children of Shadow return to hiding, where we wait to strike again. We quietly assist the children of Sun and Night to destroy each other, sometimes with a few carefully placed whispers, sometimes with a sudden ambush on the battlefield.

Grandfather Shadow has the smallest army in the Eternal War, but we, his children, are the most feared. When the battle was over, both Sun and Night were too weak to attack Shadow. He arranged a battle and let their armies slaughter each other. Grandfather Shadow went to each and whispered of the great victories he would win in their name. When Father Sun and Uncle Night discovered Grandfather Shadow, they demanded he choose a side. These shadows swore allegiance to the first Shadow, calling him Grandfather. As Sun and Night circled the world in an unending cycle, other shadows were born. The King of Order, who ruled above the gods, healed the Earth Mother and decreed that Father Sun and Uncle Night would share the world, with their power moving as the Earth Mother spun through the stars. Shadow knew that if Father Sun and Uncle Night discovered him they would destroy him without hesitation. Light and dark energies spilled into Mother Earth’s ruined body thus the first shadow was born. In their frenzy to destroy each other, their power wormed its way into Mother Earth’s skin, and they split the world apart.

YOU USED TO SCRAWL ME ON YOUR FEL TOME FULL

They fought directly, for in their youth and pride, Sun and Night did not realize the full extent of their strength. In the first days, the gods All Father Sun and Old Uncle Night clashed for control of the Earth Mother. Having written that, allow me to tell you a story that contains a truth about how Grandfather Shadow was born. Then, they command their priests to claim these interpretations of those old stories to be the truth, the only truth, when truly, they are the shadows of Truth-and the best lie contains the essence of a Truth. Is it a surprise, when we serve gods that lie even more? The gods twist the stories about themselves and their war to serve their own ends.

You used to scrawl me on your fel tome