What Light Remains

"There was a time when we were free. No chains bound us to this land. We could do as we pleased and horror was only a thing of fancy, of imagination."

The wide-eyed auburn haired boy's eyes grew wider as he wiggled in her lap. "Honestly, Mummy?"

"It's the truth. I will always tell you the truth. Lies lead only to despair and we have enough of it here."

The woman paused and tucked a lock of her long hair behind her ears. "I would like to tell you a story; it is a part of who you are."

She reached into her voluminous robes and pulled out a crystal globe from one of the pockets and handed it to the boy. He took it with infinite care, as if he knew it was something of great importance. He knew it not for the treasure it represented--for it was made in the most previous of gold and gems. He knew it as a part of himself and knew no harm should come to it. His brown eyes gleamed with the promise it represented: it may be harsh now but there will come a day when goodness prevails.

"Look into it's depths and tell me what you see, son."

The boy scrunched his eyes and peered into the globe, his pink tongue poking out a corner of his mouth in concentration. He gasped.

"Mummy, it moved! Mummy, I saw this black swan and this red haired lady and then the swan turned into a man! The lady seemed so sad but when the swan turned into a man she was happy!" The boy was bursting with excitement at having seen the scene within the orb.

His mother smiled indulgently at him. "That is the story I need to tell you. It is a story of sadness and love lost; but mostly it is a story of hope. You see there once was this man all people revered. He did not want this reverence. He feared that it would shield people from the truth. This man had defeated an enemy of the people but it came with a price. You see, the enemy had returned and used the life-blood of this man to regain the life he lost.

"The people were blind to this even though the man pleaded to be believed. But no, the world was fair and perfect, how could one such as the enemy possibly have returned? Surely the sky would've been blackened on that very day.

"The man had friends and a love he knew could be counted on and when the day came for battle they were ready. Sadly one by one, his friend fell under the shadow of the enemy and perished. Until all who were left were his love and the black-haired man himself. The enemy smiled coldly with malice and took them to the edge of a magical lake turned bitter by the fight. The sun was shining brightly--mockingly-- that day and it fell on a scorched and darkened land and turned his love's hair into fire. She tried to strike out in vengeance for some of those that had fallen were her kin, but the enemy was too strong.

"The man held her tight in his arms and let her rail at the icy man holding them prisoner. He was beyond sadness. He had failed. He was utterly, utterly defeated. He looked into the eyes of the enemy and saw no mercy there. He begged for death to be quick but only a cruel laugh was his answer. And a curse. He felt his body begin to shrink; his arms and legs felt as if a thousand pins of fire were being pricked into them. He tried to cry out but a noise so foreign came out of his throat.

"His love cried out and tried to stop the cold one but she was thrown back and imprisoned in a chamber if glass along the shore. The man was a man no longer but a black swan, cruel in its beauty for it could not offer comfort and it only felt regret. The woman, his love, cried in bitterness as he tears fell to the ground. She could only see one aspect of her love in this animal and that was the crooked scar that marred the perfect darkness of the swan's feathers.

"The enemy sneered and them and disappeared into a growing darkness. A night and a day passed. The swan went to the enclosure and stared with alien eyes at the woman he so adored. He did not recognize his feelings in this form but he knew he wanted to be with the one beyond his reach more than anything.

"The woman saw the swan and wanted to cry anew but she knew it would be useless. She pounded and pounded and pounded at the prison until, by some miracle, it cracked. With all her might, she threw herself at this crack until it shattered and then vanished.

"She rushed over to her love but he shied away and returned to the lake, paddling into its pungent depths.

"The swan was drawn to her but how could two creatures so different be with one another? He belonged in the water; she was of the earth. She haunted the shoreline for years; her gaze never wavered from the black swan.

"When she would fall asleep by the marshes, the swan would always swim to the shore and settle down next to her. He did not know why he needed her warmth, only that it filled an empty hollow within him for a few hours. Occasionally, he would see liquid tracks running from her eyes as she slept and they would fill him with such a sense of wrongness he had to return to the lake or live with that feeling forever.

"The woman would sometimes talk to him and laugh, as if to share a joke. The swan did not understand her noises, so he would swim away, indifferent. He never saw the sadness that never left her eyes.

"One night, five years and three months into this tortuous existence, in the middle of a horrific storm, she railed at the gods. It had become too much for her. The swan, which had left the caustic and rough waters of the lake, huddled with his head under a wing. He did not hear the woman approach. She entreated him with all her soul to remember what they once had. She begged and beseeched him to know what he really was. He wanted to return to the lake but knew he would surely drown. He remained and a strange feeling overcame him. Lightning flashed and the wind whipped her hair onto a flame cloud around her head. As she began to sob, rain began to fall. She saw a white feather emerge amidst the ebony ones of the swan. Another and another appeared. Was he becoming even more of an animal? She turned her back on the swan, refusing to look at what was once her love.

"A deafening clap of thunder resounded and knocked her to the ground. Strong arms caught her. She looked up into a familiar face. 'Didn't I always say I would catch you?' he said.

"Surprise took her breath away. He rose from the ground with her and they ran for shelter in the nearby forest. They lived there for many happy years and together raised three children . . ."

The woman's voice faded into a whisper.

The boy tugged on her sleeve. "What happened then, Mummy? Didn't stories used to end with 'Happy After'? Is this one of those?"

She looked at her child, eyes luminous in the firelight. She hugged him to her and kissed the top of his head.

"Well, the man and his love did live 'Happily Ever After'. They died together of age. By then their own children had children and were living in a forbidden community in the forest. They were raided by minions of the dark one and brought here, never to know light again. But what they didn't know was that the light resided in each of them, so it couldn't be hidden or snuffed out no matter what they did."

"Is that why when the others see this," he scratched at a crooked marking on his hand, "They always smile at me and wish me good tidings?"

"Mmmhmm," She picked him up and laid him on a bed on a straw pallet by the fireside--not the safest place but the warmest--and covered him with a thin blanket.

His eyes dropped shut and he began to dream of a beautiful lady and her handsome champion of light.

"We will know the light again, little one," his mother said softly to his still form.

END