Enchantyon, Enter The Arcane: The Jörd In The Ice

Chapter Five: The Muses

It was Bandle's mother that shook him out of the shock that had set in. "Bandle, listen to me! Bandle! Snap out of it! Go to the temple! Pray to the Faun. Ask for help, ask for weapons, anything! No, go to his alter and beg him to send his muses! Go! Now!"

And so, Bandle ran. He ran, and he ran, and he ran as fast as his legs could take him. All the while, the shadows followed him like some sort of stalking beast in the night. And by the time he had reached the safety of the village's temple, he had almost all but forgotten about both his friends and his family whom he had left in harm's way.

Bandle grabbed the thick plank of wood standing next to the door and used it to barricade the door shut. He then proceeded to pull hard at his own hair. "I left them. I left them all. I left Kroff! What do I do? Think, Bandle, think! The whole village is going to be eaten alive by that thing, and it's all your fault!"

Bandle quickly looked around his surroundings as the screams and shouting from outside went on and on. The temple was a large wooden building with several benches placed inside of it. At the front of the temple was an altar. The centrepiece of that alter was a stone carving of the God that the village called their own: Lorraullion, The White Faun. The Prince of Peace. The Emperor of Enchantion. The First Among Lambs. The Lord of All Creation. If there was any help to come for them, it would be from Him and His army of muses.

"Lord Faun." Said Bandle, getting on his knees once he had approached the altar. He was trying not to be distracted by the screaming from outside. "Please...I've made a mistake." Then Bandle winced and added, "Again. I've screwed up again and now the whole village is paying for it again! I don't deserve your grace, and I don't deserve your forgiveness, but please, help them. Help my people! Save my family!"

"Oh, Bandle." The voice of the shadow man came booming through the walls. "That temple can't keep you safe forever. The White Faun has abandoned you."

A series of loud cracking sounds filled the air as the wooden walls of the temple tore apart. The entire top half of the temple was ripped off the building and in its place was not a star-lit sky, but instead, an ominous black void.

"I, the Black Broker," continued the shadow man. "Will begin the reclamation of this world for the Fell. I, along with my brethren, will usher in the promised Dark Age. I will roam these lands, make contracts that will bound your people to me, and in doing so gain unlimited powers of the like that the world has not seen in so many millennia."

Then the wind swirled and howled, wrenching the furniture and decor of the temple up into the void, threatening to do the same to Bandle. He cowered on the ground, praying beyond hope that he would be saved.

A loud boom sounded overhead which caused Bandle to grimace.

"No..." Said the Black Broker. "You can't be here. I won't let you-NO! Agh!"

Bandle looked up and in the sky, a flash of dim light came through from somewhere behind the shadowy void. This happened several times as if the darkness was being bombarded by some kind of cannon fire. Then music filled the air-a heavenly choir of voices that were in sync with the light show that was taking place in the void. It was as if the darkness wasn't being assaulted by light at all, but rather music was being manifested as a weapon.

Finally, the light broke through the dark, and as the voice of the Black Broker roared in pain, the beam of light came down with such a force that it burned through the stone floor of the temple, leaving a large hole in its wake. Only then did the darkness in the sky finally give way to the full white moon and shimmering stars filling the clear sky that night. That was when the Muses made their presence known.

Still singing their melody, the rescuers touched down on the temple in front of Bandle around the White Faun's alter; they were donning armour of silver and white, decorated with ornate designs of heavenly imagery including the Faun Himself. The room itself was now lit by the blinding light of their glowing, metal halos, and it pained Bandle to try and look at their faces. There are about thirteen of them in total, and despite none of them having any wings, they all hovered in mid-air as they each beamed an unearthly glow. The one in the center of them did land on the ground, though. When she took off her ornate helmet, what was revealed was a flawless face with silver eyes and ahead of raven black hair that fell out and past her shoulders.

"Bandle of Froljörow...do you know what I am?" the silver-eyed woman asked Bandle.

"Yes...yes, I do. You are a muse. You must be...all of you are muses." Said Bandle.

"That is correct. The White Faun has heard your prayers and has sent us to your people's aid. I am Lady Annadawnis, the Principality Muse and Spirit Princess for this village, appointed by the Faun Himself. And as such, this village is under my protection. You have a lot to answer for the darkness that you have brought back into this world, Bandle. No, do not apologize to me. The time for that will come later. Now we must hurry, Bandle. The Black Broker will not be wounded by our attack for long. He will heal."

"Tell me then." Said Bandle. "What should I do. What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing."

"What? Nothing?"

"Nothing at all. You will stay here and help tend to the villagers that we rescue and bring here."

"But this isn't a safe place. Just look at what happened to the roof-" Bandle didn't know when or how it had happened, but the roof had already been fixed. Where there was clearly a missing top to the temple seconds ago, a brand new roof had been reestablished onto the building, with no sign of the previous destruction.

"Stay here, Bandle. Do not disobey us." Said Lady Annadawnis, as she began to rise back up into the air. "We will return."

With not a single word more, the Principality Muse and her small army of subordinate muses disappeared in a blink of an eye. And almost instantly, Bandle found himself cowering on the floor once more with his hands over his head as a new cacophony of warfare thundered from both above and around the temple.