Harden poked a little bit in the fire and put on a large kettle. He had sent out all the novices to gather as much wood as they could carry and told them they had to be back before daylight was lost. Chewing on his lips, he glanced around, and prayed silently to Ragon all would go well tonight.
Later that evening, when all food was done and everybody was prepared to go to sleep, he sat them all down.
“Do you… know why I sent you all out to gather all this firewood?” He asked, gesturing lazily to the pile behind him. “We have already eaten, and our world does not get as cold as that of the Naru who have ice running in their veins. Yet, there is enough wood here to set the entire forest ablaze.”
“Master, could it be that it is because you wish us to be exhausted enough to sleep through the night?” One of the novices said. The others nodded their heads in agreement.
It remained silent for a while as Harden stared into the fire. The novices, uncertain of what to do now, shifted a little in their seats and looked at each other. Some of them shrugged; others looked worried at the wood as if it would sprout claws and devour them.
When Harden spoke again, his voice low and hollow, the novices jumped. “You have all heard of The Long Night, but what history has hidden for most of us is the night it began, “Oíche an Lobhadh”, The Rotten Night.
Though we do not know what triggered it, the Ether portals all blew open at midnight. Their usual gentle hum was now a piercing scream as if the maidens in all the Order’s bastions were put to the flame at the same time. The first things that came through seemed to be the misshapen bodies of travelers that were in the Ether realm when everything went to shit. They died almost instantly as they passed through the gates. It has been hypothesized that whatever happened caused them to be incompatible with the worlds outside of the Ether realm.”
He paused and got up to get more wood. Then, as he tossed it on the fire and watched the embers explode, Harden continued his story.
“The second wave that came through the gates was ugly but bearable. All kinds of beasts that seemed…. distorted somehow. They immediately attacked each other and all that was in sight. Everything in a straight line of the Ether portals was obliterated by these creatures. The citizens of the Countless Worlds stood no chance as the beasts demolished everything in their wake before dying out, ceasing to exist as fast as they appeared. Having used up their full life energy, they shriveled up and became dust on the winds.
What came next was worse. The thresholds of the Ether Gate usually do not have a color, but as the screaming sound intensified and most assuredly was heard all across the worlds, they turned bright red, and through it came sentient horrors. They commanded their hordes of savage monsters to go out and bring them young mortals. For days on end, they feasted on millions and enslaved many more. Unbeknownst to them, the surges of power emanating from the Ether Gates awakened something in the mortals. Something raw, something divine. As if a trigger was switched, little groups of mortals started to fight back and tried to reclaim what was theirs.”
The novices, but children, were hanging on Harden’s lips, some clutching their white robes, others holding their knees.
“The bloodthirsty Overlords disbanded the hordes after they realized that ruling the mortals would become difficult as they grew into their powers. But they did not go back to where they came from. Every year on Oíche an Lobhadh, this very night, they roam the wilds in search of their glory of old, thirsting for the blood of young mortals of all races. Only by keeping a fire lit can they be fooled to think that you are gifted, and they will go on and find another to sustain them.”
As Harden’s voice died out, so did the fire. The group scrambled to relight it, blowing on the embers and piling on more and more wood. Instead of sleeping in their tents, they all slept holding hands as close to the fire as they could, taking turns to keep it lit.
Nodding to himself in pride that he succeeded in teaching the first-year novices about how important it was to work together in an organization, Harden sauntered off to his tent and wrote a report for the Duranian Commander of the Essence Hunters.
It was not until late the next morning that they realized…
One of the novices had disappeared during the night.
