• “The Creator. She was the first. From her womb, she gave birth to the planet. She created earth and everything on it. From her breath she created the winds; her tears created the oceans; her blood became the fiery burning rivers. To everything she gave a spirit: the mountains, the rocks, the forests, the winds, the waters, and the fire; from the highest peak to the deepest depth. Each received an essence that lives deep within them. The Goddess then created the living: creatures to roam the watery depths; to fly amongst the mountain peaks; to explore the dense green earth. But the greatest of all mortal creation that she brought to being was the intelligent ones. She called them humans. She enabled them to talk; to communicate with each other. She gave them the needed ability to evolve and adapt. Other species would die out, but not them. She taught them about life and they learned how to survive in harmony with nature. All she asked in return for this was that she be known to them. She showed them what she called the moon. It became her symbol and to the humans she became known as The Creator; the Moon Goddess, Aura.
    “Aura was satisfied with what she had done. She was tired, so she rested.
    “Years went by and many more passed. Aura grew lonely; so she decided to create once more. From her essence she created two more immortal beings. She called them Xyrin and Niix. They were twins, but no two could be more different.
    “For them, Aura created day and night, giving each a kingdom. To Xyrin she gave day; to Niix she gave night. For many thousands of years they were content and Aura was happy. She lived in twilight when the moon could be seen in the fading light, but it was not yet dark. The three often met there at the boundaries between dark and light. These meetings were pleasant for all three of them.
    “But this was not to last.
    “Once, Niix was curious. What was his brother’s kingdom like? So at twilight, he snuck back after his brother to take a look. It was bright there; painfully so. There was a big glowing ball in the sky. It hurt his eyes to look at. Xyrin’s power was strong here; so strong that Niix was reduced to dark smudges where the fiery ball of light could not shine directly.
    “Niix was angry. Not because of the ball of light in the sky. Xyrin could keep that. No, it was something else.
    “It was the subjects. Xyrin had intelligent beings that worshipped him and the fiery ball of light.
    “Humans.
    “Niix was jealous. The jealousy ran through his veins like hot fire. He went back to his kingdom to sulk. He had nothing like that. He wanted what his brother had. These feeling ate away at him. His jealousy and anger turned to hatred. He hated his brother and Niix boiled in that hatred. It corrupted him and changed him. Years went by. Though Aura and Xyrin noticed these changes in Niix, nothing was ever said.
    “One evening at twilight, Niix finally did something. He wanted his brother’s lands so badly, he lashed out a Xyrin and got the darkness to swallow the sun.
    “He would have succeeded…If Aura hadn’t intervened. She bound him to the night, but as she was doing so some of his essence was caught in his brother’s lands. They created dark smudges where the sun wasn’t able to reach. Aura moved the moon from twilight into the night so that she could watch over Niix. Xyrin hardly ever saw her again. She had to stay with Niix and make sure he did not rebel. Xyrin did the only thing he could. He took a fraction of light from the sun and gave it to Aura. She instilled it in the moon as a reminder of her other son who ruled in the day. It was also a guiding light to help travelers find their way through Niix’s territory. But to Niix it was a constant reminder that his brother was still out there.
    “And his hatred grew.
    “Xyrin did everything he could to get rid of the shadows, but they seemed to move with the sun. The only good thing was that they did not do anything to harm anyone. The problem was that it was a reminder that his brother was still out there growing more corrupted, day by day.
    “But centuries passed. There was peace, if just for now.” The woman stopped speaking. She listened for the sound of quiet even breathing. Getting up from the bed and walking towards the door, she heard a rustling.
    “Mama?” a child’s voice called out. The mother sighed.
    “Mama?” The child called again. “I wanna hear the Elemental story.”
    “Not now, dear one.” The mother replied, “Another night.”
    “Please Mama?” Another voice chimed in. Two pairs of cat-slanted lavender eyes peered out of the darkness. Their pale hair shimmered in the faint moonlight coming from the window. The mother walked back over to the bed.
    “Tomorrow night, my children.” She kissed the twins on their heads and tucked them underneath the covers. “This one is too long for tonight. Sleep well, little ones.”
    She could already hear the sound of slow even breathing when she walked out the door.