Chapter Seven
A silence fell.
Then Barmaak stepped forth, resolute and unshaken—the first to embrace the charge.
After her came Athengriel, whose presence was steady as the axis of the world itself. Then Malkuhma, whose strength did not waver. Then El Gorimiel, radiant with purpose. And lastly, Darmosieph, whose resolve burned quietly, yet without end.
Five had chosen.
And Terfelial beheld them with great favor.
To the two who remained, she spoke once more:
“You shall stay in Araboth at my side. You will guide those yet to be born, and lead the Arucana in the ages to come.”
Then, with a gesture of divine will, she led the chosen five to behold the places of their dominion.
High above the world, upon the greatest mountain peaks, she revealed the sites where their strongholds would stand—places where heaven would touch the earth. And with but a word, she spoke them into being.
The mountains trembled.
Stone rose.
Temples of impossible grandeur formed from the bones of the world itself, carved by no hand, but summoned by the voice of the Queen.
And she assigned them their watch.
Barmaak was set in the southwest, keeper of that distant horizon.
Darmosieph took the southeast, where dawn and shadow would meet.
Malkuhma was placed in the northwest, steadfast against the unknown.
El Gorimiel stood in the northeast, a beacon against the rising dark.
And at the center of the world stood Athengriel.
His temple, greater than all others, was consecrated as the holiest of sanctuaries—for it was there that Terfelial herself would descend in centuries to come, to hold counsel with her chosen and to watch over the turning of creation.
Then, before their descent, she gave them their final charge:
“Go now,” she said, “and make yourselves known to the leaders of the tribes. Let them understand your purpose—not as rulers, but as guardians of what has been entrusted to them.”
And with that, the five turned from Araboth.
They passed through the Gateway and descended into the world below.
And so Luth’ Meriel and Holindiel remained in Araboth, returning at the side of the Great Mother Hen. Yet as the echoes of their siblings’ descent faded, a question stirred within them—one born not of doubt, but of purpose unfulfilled.
They came before Terfelial and spoke.
“What is to become of us,” they asked, “and when shall the Arucana we are to lead be brought forth?”
And Terfelial, who sees beyond the turning of ages, answered them with quiet certainty:
“Until that appointed hour, you shall learn the ways of war.”
Her words fell like distant thunder.
“You shall come to know the strength required to stand against the unmaking of all things. You shall be forged not only in wisdom, but in battle—until you are the mightiest warriors Araboth has ever known.”
At this, Luth’ Meriel and Holindiel were troubled, for such a calling spoke not of peace, but of a storm yet to come.
“Why must we prepare for war,” they asked, “if the darkness has already been cast down and bound?”
Then Terfelial spoke, and her voice carried the weight of inevitability:
“Though it is contained, evil is not undone.”
“It will press against its prison without cease—like the slow, relentless fall of rain upon stone. Each drop alone is nothing… yet in time, even the unyielding is worn away. The seals will weaken. The cracks will form. And through them… it will return.”
The words lingered in the air like a coming storm.
“And when that hour arrives,” she continued, “I shall raise an army to stand against it.”
Her gaze fell upon them—unwavering, resolute.
“And you… will lead it.”
In that moment, their path was made clear.
And though the weight of it was great, Luth’ Meriel and Holindiel did not turn away.
They bowed before the will of their creator.
And thus began their forging.
In the halls of Araboth, beneath the watchful gaze of the Gods, they trained without rest—tempered in strength, sharpened in purpose, and prepared for a war that had not yet come… but was certain to rise.
And for ten millennia, the world of the eggles endured in a harmony unbroken. Blissfully ignorant of the darkness beyond.
Under the watchful care of the Five, the lands flourished as Terfelial had willed. The Arucana guided, protected, and nurtured the peoples of the world, and in return, they were loved beyond measure. Songs were sung in their honor. Great feasts were held in their names and the seasons turned in peace.
All was as it was meant to be.
For a time.
But even the strongest walls cannot forever hold what was never meant to rest.
And so, from the depths below creation… something stirred.
Through a fracture unseen, a sliver of the abyss slipped into the world.
It came quietly.
It came unseen.
And it came hungry.