The First Days

Before the recording of events in the annals of history, there existed a sphere of light. Within its cocoon of the purest white dwelt a realm of peace and serenity, of friendship and unity, its inhabitants sustained by the satisfaction of adoration on the wonders around them. Day by day, these people delighted in wandering their world, together and apart, marveling at its beauty and complexity. The order of the world, its infinite layers of undiscovered curiosities and unknown surprises, occupied their minds day and night. Decay and death did not touch them, nor their world, which existed in perfect harmony within itself. They exalted the touch of grass, the wash of ocean waves, the warmth of the outer light and white medium which everyday subsided and gave way to the new spectacles of the night, though the Halo of Light remained forever visible.

    For time untold, these people, who named their kind sielu, awed at the simple joy of being, of sentience and the capacity to know, to pleasure in the art they lived. They had no concern for food or drink, as no hunger or thirst touched them; to the freeze of winter or drought of summer they were immune; and no living creature gave them harm. Living as children, they had no thought of death, evil or disharmony, experiencing each moment as new and rejoicing in simplicity, love and community. But if some disharmony had broken out in nature, they would have refrained participation, as their hearts were pure in their singular desire to live and experience the world.

    The sielu were not alone in their realm, nor did it belong to them. Rather it had been gifted to the Bright Ones, the Beacons as the sielu often called them, but they called themselves Aena, named Veu by the sielu. The Aena swam in the halo-light, ephemeral but distinct, becoming stars in the daylight as twinkles in a diamond. They often descended to and ascended from the world, visiting the sielu, walking and conversing with them, radiance and blossoming life following as they went. The sielu awaited their coming, but did not depend on it, rejoicing in the company of loved ones, embarking on trips with them. While many Aena often visited the sielu, some remained always in the Halo, championing the flow of its Light and its protection against taint. A sielu birth marked a celebration for all, sielu and Aena alike. Each sielu made a friend from the Aena as they aged, a natural meeting, unplanned but welcomed, accompanying them in their travels and events. At the rite of maturity, the adulthood from which no sielu aged, one's befriended Aena would impart the Stars of the Halo, points of light bejeweling their naturally blue skin and shining as a constant reminder of the friendship of Aena and sielu.

    At the first meeting of Aena and sielu, the Aena vowed a promise: while they stewarded their world, its sanctity would be forever guarded by their incorruptible Halo of Light. The sielu lived in faith to this promise, giving no thought to evil or death, even forgetting its possibility. As the sielu migrated to the ends of the world, they formed separate settlements and unified nations. Though they remained connected as one global community, their cultures were distinct and gradually took on their own identity. Over time, these peoples became races, the blue of their skin darkening or lightening, hardening or softening; some grew to great heights or shrank to nigh the hip of an Aena. The thick waves of azure hair that marked their ancestral race changed with their differentiation, straightening or curling, thickening or thinning, darkening or lightening in hue and pigment. Fashion and tradition overcame mere custom as each culture and race became more distinguished. But all retained their fellowship with one another, and their communion with the Aena. The deep love of beauty, experience and wisdom remained their universal guiding principle, expressed differently in each culture.

    The ages of the sielu continued uninterrupted and untainted for time unmeasured, as none gave any thought to its passage. None died, and only the maturation of a new sielu or the simple enjoyment of the cyclic revolutions in nature gave any concern for change. The eternal rotation of the Halo Light shone as an image of the faithfulness of the Aena and the justice of the life of the sielu.

    But as the sielu flourished and the Aena rejoiced, one Aena grew discontent. As one who never departed the Halo, he became obsessed with its Light. Forgetting the purpose of the Halo and the Aena stewardship of the sielu, he thought only of the Light. Seeing his own limitation and inferiority beside the magnificence of the Light, his love became jealousy and hate. As a day became night and the eyes of all sielu turned to the Halo, he broke from the stream, becoming a hollow shadow, a visage of emptiness darker than the abyss of his chosen exile. The Aena had trusted and loved him, counting him as one of their own, and his deception left them off-guard. At his departure, other Aena who had shared his jealous hatred of the Light followed him into the Abyss, ripping holes in the Halo too numerous for sielu eye to discern. Abandoning his Aena name, he took the name of Jorok from the sielu language. Though they were expelled into the outer reaches of space, the Wound of Jorok remained, casting a shadow of doubt into the heart of every sielu.

    Feeling betrayed and abandoned, the sielu rejected Aena consolation, requesting that they return to the Halo and remain there with greater vigilance than their failure had evidenced. Betrayed and forlorn, the Aena did as asked. Hope drained from the heart of the sielu, as did the joy of peace and the serenity of security. Though some remained loyal to the Aena, all lost hope and none desired the friendship they had once enjoyed with their Beacons. Thenceforth, the Aena were called Stars, distant remnants of a long-lost age.

    Distrust poisoned the minds of the sielu. The disease spread and became suspicion, giving way to contempt, racism and isolation. As distinct cultures and races of the sielu severed all communications between themselves, individuals became wanderers and hermits even within their own people, preferring the company of nature and themselves over one another, though the bonds of distinction by culture and race afforded sectarian unity. Refraining from violence, the tribes, as each race and culture called itself, avoided contact, and every accidental encounter devolved to bitter argument and competitive feuding, each believing similarity to themselves as the mark of superiority and security.

    Finally, the animosity enflamed as the first murder was committed. Two bitter rivals from separate tribes argued and fought, their blood and cries of hatred and pain reverberating even to the Halo. The first death of a sielu burned into the earth, but the sielu paid no heed. The tribe of the victim began retaliation as the tribe of the victor amassed an invading force. As their war broke out, the blood of the firstborn polluting the seas, burning the soil and giving soot to the air, the sielu turned their knowledge of nature, learned in love and adoration, into an instrument of war. They built swords and armor, bending beasts to their will and riding them into battle. The world groaned and the Aena wailed in torturous mourning as the sielu slaughter went on.

    After a year, the war waged on, hatred burning unquenchable in the hearts of even the most peaceful sielu. The elders of their race, the first to see the world, led the assaults and fell with the rest. As the year became anew, the cries of the Aena ceased. Forming a single wave of light, every Aena descended upon the world, encircling the sielu and bringing them to one location. The Lord of the Aena addressed the sielu: "You have abandoned the faith of the Light, turning instead to hatred and corruption. The heart of the sielu has blackened with the first despair and first murder of your kind. This world, the Realm of Light, can no longer bear your iniquity. It will spit you out, and we will cleanse it of your taint. But it is not meant that you should die. You will be exiled from this world unto the reunion of the sielu."