Chapter 1: Chapter One – The Promise

The land of Serenity was lush with thick emerald-colored forests and cool-green meadows. The reason Serenity was so fertile was due to its many crystal-clear streams, rivers, lakes, and fountains which were dispersed throughout the great valley.

The weather in Serenity was so mild that it almost never stormed, and it very rarely rained. Because the land was so fair, the first man and woman did not live within a structure of stone or cut lumber. Instead, they dwelt within a circle of living trees which they called a bower.

Thus, it became a custom among the Ancients to plant a great circle of trees, and then, as they grew, the elder-folk would guide the trees’ branches weaving them into a dome that arched high over the family’s heads. Moreover, the trees were so closely grown together that they formed a wall that could not be looked through.

Also, because the Ancients had no enemies, they did not build fortifications or even make weapons. Moreover, in the beginning, there was no suffering nor death in all the world.

Then, after Vitalitous, the mother of all the Children of Dust, and Argillaceous, our great-father of old, had eaten from the Tree of Deepshadows, many things changed. The two were painfully poisoned, and the nothingness of death rushed in upon them. However, in their darkest hour, moments before they gave up their last breaths, they called upon the King of Heaven.

Even though our great-parents had brought this calamity upon themselves, the High-King looked down from His gleaming throne and had mercy upon them. Thus, He sang in His deep, thunderous voice – a voice that sounds like many – and so the Song of Creation rushed out from His lips.

If the Prince of Life had not come when He did, our great-parents would have both died before any children had been born to them, and thus we would not be. However, before the Prince could help them, His sword sensed the shadows that the fruit had put within them, and so Doom leapt from its scabbard. With quick hands, the Prince caught hold of the weapon and held it fast.

It was only after the sword was wetted by the blood of Irenicous, the father of all Unicorns, that Doom quieted itself, but the Prince of Life knew that it would not be long before it awoke anew. For this reason, He called up a black stone from deep within the earth, and there He stabbed the fiery blade.

As its flames died away leaving the sword dark and ominous, the Prince of Life declared, “Here will Doom sleep until that day when the Tree of Deepshadows shall be destroyed, and all the enemies of Truth are judged for the death they have brought into this world.”

As He spoke, the blood of Irenicous wet the roots of the burned Tree-Glimmering, and with the small amount of energy it gave, the charred tree was able to produce a single fruit. This was promptly eaten by our great-parents, and thus were they healed, and yet many things could not be undone so easily.

Among these, the light that had been within their flesh was greatly lessened so that their nakedness was unveiled. But worse still, their deaths were only delayed. And yet there was hope, for instead of the nothingness of oblivion, they were promised a dreamless sleep from which they would one day be awakened when the world should be renewed to its original undying glory.

It was also prophesied that in the fullness of time, a son would be born, and He would heal the Tree-Glimmering. Moreover, this sacred son would also destroy the Tree of Deepshadows, and though His flesh would be pierced by its evil thorns, His heart would never be defiled.

All these things would be accomplished with much sorrow so that the hope of these promises would be like the light from a distant star in the utter darkness of despair.

Now because of this promise, Argillaceous and Vitalitous watched for any sign as their children were being born, for they hoped that the prophecy would soon be accomplished. However, even though they had brought many sons into the world, they had seen nothing that would lead them to believe the deliverer had already been born.

Then one night, some three hundred years later, a storm came over the pleasant land blocking out the stars. It thundered terribly, and lightning flashed filling the night sky with brilliant blue light.

Amid this rare and fearful display, Vitalitous ran and crouched within the thick canopy of her bower. There, she groaned with the pains of childbirth. Her seven daughters came and gathered around her to aid her in whatever way they could, but they were terribly afraid because of the storm's wrath.

In the same moment that she brought forth her thirteenth son, a bolt of lightning struck a tree which was some distance away. Thus, the baby's first cries were drowned out by the thunder that accompanied the strike.

Now in appearance, the child was beautiful to look upon. His skin was golden-brown, and he had curling locks of dark-auburn hair. His eyes, like all the Ancients, changed color with his mood, and at his birth they were glowing like two burning embers, for this is the hue which comes with anger.

As the day began to dawn, the storm quieted, and there was only a calm cool rain falling. In that same moment, Vitalitous felt a sharp pain, and out came another baby.

In every way, this fourteenth son looked exactly like his brother except that he did not cry but was calm and peaceful. At his birth, his eyes were a cool purple hue which matched the colors of the sunrise in the far east. This is the color of compassion.

When the twins were bundled up and set upon their mother's breasts, the daughters of Vitalitous began to talk among themselves.

“Is it not odd that the first baby was born during the worst part of the storm?” one daughter commented.

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“Is it not strange that a tree was shattered by lightning at the very same moment of his birth?” another added.

“Is it not peculiar that he was as angry as the storm that raged around us?” a third suggested.

“Is it not just as curious that his twin is as calm as the gentle rain that fell when he was born, and yet falls even now?” a fourth daughter observed.

All the daughters of Vitalitous agreed that the events of that evening were wholly extraordinary, and so their mother pondered these things in her heart.

Later that night, Vitalitous whispered speculations to her husband. “Is it not possible that the first twin will bring his wrath down upon the shadow-tree while the second will heal the Tree-Glimmering with his compassion?”

Argillaceous considered this with a furrowed brow. “But the Prince of Life said that one son would come into the world to do both tasks.”

“Are they not one child divided into two?” Vitalitous replied with a shrug.

Thus, after some time, both Argillaceous and Vitalitous began to see these things as a sign that their twin sons were together the promised deliverer.

When the day came to name the twins, Vitalitous named the first Calamitous, for she hoped that he would bring calamity upon that evil tree that was slowly poisoning all of Riven. Next, she named the second Salubrious because she hoped, beyond hope, that he would heal the burned Tree-Glimmering.

After their naming, Vitalitous set herself to the task of making their garments. Yet in this, she came to a dilemma, for these two were her thirteenth and fourteenth sons.

Her trouble was this: All the Ancients wore a single long piece of weaved cloth which they called a swathe. There were only two things that set the swathes of men apart from those of women.

The first difference that was made between them was in how the two genders wore their cloth. Men would drape the swathe over one shoulder, or they would let it hang down so that their chest was bare. On the other hand, the women wrapped their swathes in a multitude of styles, but always, they draped them over both shoulders and thus covered their breasts.

The second difference is where her trouble came in, for many years before, Vitalitous had made a swathe for her firstborn son and dyed it red. For her second son, she had woven a swathe of blue, and for her third son, she had made a swathe of green. She did this so that when she saw one of her sons at a great distance, she could easily tell by the color of his garment which boy she beheld.

Her fourth child was a girl, and so she wove her a swathe of undyed thread, for she said, “Let her cloth be pure until the day she is wed.”

Now, as is the nature of most girls, she (and all her sisters after her) stayed near the bower, and so Vitalitous rarely beheld them from a great distance, and so she gave her other daughters the same undyed swathes. In this way, it became a custom among the Ancients that girls and unwed women wore swathes of undyed cloth until they were joined to their husbands.

So it was that Vitalitous had given a different colored swathe to each of her first twelve sons until finally all the twelve colors of the rainbow had been given. For this reason, she found herself puzzling over what color she should give to her thirteenth and fourteenth sons seeing that there were no remaining colors to be given other than varying shades of the twelve.

Her eyes glowed like two blue sapphires as she considered the dilemma, but after this time of contemplation, Vitalitous decided to give her twins all the twelve colors.

“I shall give six to one and six to the other. For are they not one divided into two?” She reasoned.

Thus, Vitalitous wove a swathe for Calamitous that had six stripes dyed in the warm colors – red, vermilion, orange, amber, yellow, and lime – because his eyes had burned like coals when he was born. Each of the stripes were separated by a band of whitened flax.

For his brother, she made a swathe like his twin’s except with six stripes dyed in the cool colors – green, teal, blue, indigo, purple, and magenta – because at his birth, the eyes of Salubrious had been like pools of cool purple.

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