A Saving Light

                                                                                                  Prologue
         For years the country of Nočí Anděl had been at peace. The crops were always bountiful and children were never afraid to roam about their towns. When night came about no thieves lurked and shadows weren’t unnaturally dark. Invasions weren’t feared since Nočí Anděl was an island with no countries nearby. Even in the few ports there was no need for guards because travelers were always pleasant. Peace was all around and the people had nothing to be afraid of and lived happy lives. Things had always been this way and no one thought that it would ever change. Even if someone tried to invade the Andělians thought that their Anděl Nočí, Angel of the Night, would release a shield of protection around the island that could not be penetrated by anything, just like the legends said he had before.
         Legends said that onceand a country far to the north tried to invade Nočí Anděl, but before the invaders came close enough to invade a man stepped forward saying he could protect the island. All the people had to do was ask him to. That night the people prayed for stranger to protect them, to keep them all safe, and afterwords waited to see what would happen. The man who had stepped forward had heard his country’s pleas for help and his town’s plea for his help, so during the night he set about constructing an invisable shield that kept evil out. Those that saw what he did said he grew wings as white as a virginal bride’s gown and flew so fast he appeared as a streak. They have no idea who the man was nor what he really did, but when dawn came the invaders were stopped by an invisable barrier and were unable to land in what was then called Země Slunce. Since then the island was renamed Nočí Anděl, Night Angel, in memory of the angel that saved them in the night.
         After that night the man who saved Nočí Anděl was never seen again, but the Andělians thought he was just waiting until a great time of peril to reappear. Little did they know that their angel was not going to return and the northern invaders of legend were planning to invade once more.
         The country of Zlo Plamen was struggling more than ever and the king, Azazel, had planned an invasion of Nočí Anděl. Azazel had envied how Nočí Anděl had prospered year after year while his own country barely clung to life. He didn’t have the forces that would be needed for an invasion so he spent a year gathering the extra forces he knew he would need. And every time his army received a new recruit Azazel made sure that the soldier knew the plan by heart. Azazel planned to land the ships on the north side of the island where there were few towns and was sparsely populated. Then, from there his soldiers would take deserted paths through the forests to the center of the island and the castle. The soldiers would capture the castle and the royal family. The next day the royal family would be executed publicly by Azazel himself. He would be the king of Nočí Anděl then and Zlo Plamen would finally prosper.
         As the invasion got closer the Andělians could feel change coming. Children stayed closer to home instead of wondering about their towns, no one went out after dark, and the air became heavy with doom. Every night prayers were shouted out for help from the Anděl Nočí, with no reply. Many began to lose faith as the sense of doom grew and most resigned themselves to whatever fate would deal to them but still prayed.
         But the Andělian queen never lost faith. She could not see with her eyes, but in her mind she could see the future. Many years before, when Nočí Anděl was still at peace, the queen had had a vision that on the night before an invasion she would give birth to a baby girl and the Zlo Plamen queen would give birth to a baby boy. Once both children had grown up their fates would intertwine and together they would bring peace and joy back to Nočí Anděl as well as to Zlo Plamen.
         On the night before the invasion the Andělian queen gave birth her baby girl, Arora, and had one of her trusted servants take Arora to a small dea(1) village that would not be touched by the invasion. Since no one but her, the king, and her maids knew of her pregnancy her baby girl would be safe from the foul hands of Azazel. The queen knew she would never see her daughter again but knew it was a small sacrifice since it meant the salvation of her country,
         The very same night the fair queen of Zlo Plamen gave birth to her son, whose fate would intertwine with the Andělian princess’s. The Zlo Plamen queen could not see the future, but hoped that with the conquest of Nočí Anděl her son would not become a black hearted King like his father and have a better life. She named him Baru Dimulai, New Beginning. He would be the new beginning for his family and country.
         Both countries’ fates rested upon both children’s shoulders. Without one, both would fail, peace would never return to Nočí Anděl, and Zlo Plamen would never prosper.


1. Fishing