Chapter 3:51 Forever Night

It's been so long that no one can truly remember what happened. Or maybe it was recently. Hard to tell these days.

Either way, the story goes: King Horyx VII was a brutal warrior, infamous for his skill with a golden dagger. On a campaign he travelled through a small town and met Somna, the innkeeper's daughter. He saw her and was smitten. It was love at first sight.

Forbidden to court her, he ignored the royal decree and asked her to marry him. But she saw him as arrogant and refused. Undeterred, he pursued her until eventually winning her affections by climbing the tallest mountain, above the clouds to pick the rarest flower in the land, the Kixi flower— a blue lotus that grows in the farthest reaches of Nod. Thought to be a myth, they say say its pollen is the stuff that dreams are made of. He had the grand gardeners breed the flower and planted fields of it.

Her gentleness convinced him that the way to rule was not by the sword but through love and respect. So for her he melted down his golden dagger which had been in his family since King Nox the Wicked.

He hired the best jeweler in the land to fashion a necklace from the metal. The jeweler crafted a necklace so beautiful it was the envy of all who set eyes on it. And Horyx gave it to his beloved wife.

She wore it proudly and everything was right in the world. It became a time of great peace and prosperity. A renaissance with creation in science and art. And the people proclaimed him Horyx the Heart.

However, in time he became complacent, docile and slothful— drinking mead and gambling his days away. Somna tried to command the people but she felt they didn't respect her. And she too began to change. Some say it was the angry souls trapped inside the gold of the murderous dagger.

She implemented stricter rules and laws to ensure lasting peace for everyone. It was rumored that the Kixi flower would stop people from aging. She decides that if she lives forever she'll be able to sustain endless peace. So she harvested all the flowers and taxed the townspeople for them. If they couldn't provide or if they refused, they were punished.

Then the darkness began to fall. It seemed the flowers gave light to the sky and the sky gave light to the flowers and all was in balance. When balance was tipped it was detrimental to both.

The townspeople claimed that the royal family was angry with them so they sent the Sky Thief to steal the sky and Dora with her box of ills that let out famine and sickness and lying and greed.

Without the sky it was impossible to grow the flowers. Somna used harsher methods to push them. She assigns knights to collect the flowers; rewarding those who provide for her and punishments for those who cannot. Creating sides and factions in the town. Creating enemies of neighbors. And people suffered.

Needing a change, Somna decides to build a new castle. She has the old castle buried under a mound of dirt and rock and built a new castle on top— so high it's above the clouds. A Crystal Castle made of ice that never melts— even when it's warm.

However the Kixi flower begins to go extinct, making Somna very paranoid. She summons the mad fortune teller who tells her that a child will come that will bring light back to the people and become the most beloved person in the land.

"Who?!" she demanded to know.

"Only time will tell." he replied.

Somna broke time and had the timekeeper forgotten.

She let the Typho out of the dungeon and lifted the ban on the forbidden song that lures children from their homes. The Typho plays a lute and if he whispers in their ear they follow him into the darkness. He kidnaps all the children and has them forgotten. Some say they're locked in the dungeon of the old castle. Others say the Typho drowns them in the River of Tears and the bones float down creating the Chasm of Bones.

No one truly knows where they go. All they know is that all the children are gone.

Nowadays no one dares to speak against the crown. And only a few left that still remember the light.