The Beasts of Rainfall

Chapter 6- A Bigger Story

Clio set up their camp on a tall hill covered in little wildflowers that strained against their binding roots as the wind whipped them back and forth.

She picked the hill because she could see everything from it’s tall slope, and nothing could sneak up on her. Except for maybe the Beast she sat next to.

His name was Griffin Shepherd, he had told her as she set up camp. He then said that he liked dancing, and proceeded to eat as much of her food as she would allow.

She found she had a slight headache coming on, and the gentle throbbing made her squeeze her eyes shut as waves of vertigo pushed her back until she was leaning against the trunk of a massive old ginkgo tree.

The hill had a small grove of them, and they made Clio feel safe. She cracked her eyes open and watched as Griffin licked each of his fingers in turn before reaching for a third sandwich. Clio leaned forwards and moved his hand away from the food.

“That is more than enough for you, even if you’re half starved, you're going to throw up if you eat any more. And besides, it’s getting late, and you still owe me a story.”

He smiled slightly, his blue eyes framed by the deep shadows underneath them, and he slowly leaned back against a rock. “Actually, this isn’t my story. This story is much bigger than you and me. Now get comfortable.”

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Once Upon a time, there was a beautiful kingdom that went by the name of Rialee. It was a large and prosperous kingdom, though it lay in the cold, far north, and had forests of snowy trees, fields of fluffy sheep, and villages of laughing children. Until the Sun came. The sun used to be a sign of light and happiness, but one day, the sun grew closer, and stole the rain and snow away from the people. The snow melted, the water evaporated, the animals died, the trees began shriveled up with thirst. And slowly, the people followed. I would say that they were dark days, but that would be a lie. Those days were so bright that the people would tie thin swathes of cloth that they could see through if they squinted around their eyes.

If they squinted.

Eventually, the people realized that they had to leave, or there would be no hope for them. So they left, and began a long and dangerous journey, in which there were deaths and births, hopes and despair... but that is not the story I tell today.

The poor people of Rialee fled from the sun, and watched as it ate up the land around them, and they tried to stay one step ahead as it spread it’s reign of burning, sizzling terror across all of Windscape. And eventually, they reached a small collection of scattered villages and homes in a land that the sun had not yet claimed.

Even with legs heavy their resources limited, the once proud people instantly claimed the land, believing that the small civilization would allow them to take over and share the land.

But the people who lived there already felt threatened by the people of Rialee, and would not help them.

The unorganized villagers banded together, to protect their families, resources, and land from what all of Rainfall call the Rians.

And so a war began, as the sun began to slowly make it’s way towards the fertile land, and it was so long and bloody that eventually, a young farm girl stood up and decided that something must be done.

Her name was Finn, and she was as bold as they come. She and her best friend, whose name was lost through the many tellings of the story, had heard rumor of a mystical man who lived to the East, across the Rambling River, in a fortress of stone at the edge of the Grey Sea. He was called simply “The Warlock,” and it was said that if you brought him something close to your heart as a gift, he would grant you a wish.

Finn had thought long and hard about this, and eventually brought a little brown basket which held all the memories of her mother. Pictures, notes, a doll she had sewn for her little girl... it was the dearer than any other object that she possessed.

Now, the two set off on another journey, which I am sure was just as mystical and magical as any, but no one truly knows what happened in those months they were gone, only that when Finn returned, she returned alone, her basket still clasped in her hands.

Few knew of her absence, and few know what happened next. Finn braved the woods in the middle of a battle, and requested entrance into the tent of the Rians leader.

The bemused man allowed her to enter, and as the original story goes, Finn spoke to the man alone for five minutes, the Rians were gone the next day, and Finn was crowned the first Queen of Rainfall for her bravery... But this is not so. The Warlock had given her a scroll, a scroll that contained a spell of the most powerful kind.

Finn walked into the tent with a flute concealed in her cloak, and the spell she played upon it grasped at the darkness inside the hearts of every Rian and coaxed it out. No one is perfect, and the spell brought out all of those little flaws and dark secrets. The Rians turned on each other, and when they did, they were transformed into Beasts.

Because the truth is, everyone has the potential to become a Beast. Finn simply took that truth, and with the help of The Warlock, literalized it.

And so, the Rians were ‘vanquished...’ it was months later that the ‘Beasts’ were discovered, and by then, Finn already had her throne, and no one suspected a thing.

But remember, there is one aspect of the story that had temporarily faded into the background, as if it was watching from a distance... but now, as things began to calm down, the sun came, it came brighter and hotter than even before, and slowly, the same fate that had befallen the people of Rialee’s beloved homeland claimed the people of Rainfall’s.

The young Queen realized that her people were growing panicked and parched, and against her better judgement, returned to The Warlock. Already being broken and alone, Finn brought once more the little basket to The Warlock, and returned without it, looking drained and tired, but with a grim smile on her face, for she brandished an object of magic and beauty-- the Rain Orb.

And so the land rejoiced, for their Queen had saved them once more, and decided on the name Rainfall for their blossoming civilization.

“And so, forty years after the Rians first came to Rainfall, the war rages on... a war between men... and Beasts.” Griffin let his last words hang in the night air before the wind whisked them away and filled the silence and Clio let out a long breath and said “Good night.”