There in the shadows, look quickly and you'll see them.
Don't shiver, don't look away. Not everything of the dark is your enemy. There are Guardians in the late of night, those who hold back the tide of evil, who stand between humanity and the abyss. They guard against man's destruction, allies that we cannot see, except that we look long into the dark and not fear it.
Let me tell you an ancient tale of glory, sacrifice and honor.
Once upon a time, before man built more than crude mud huts along untamed rivers, other beings who walked the world. They were not human, but rather creatures more of light than substance. They took joy in dancing on the wind and sleeping among the flowers.
They loved all that was beautiful on the earth, but they didn't care for the humans. The humans lived in mud, killed for food, stank of sweat and work. To the Davin, the humans were little more than animals themselves.
The humans and the Davins were not alone. There were also the Mayel, who stayed to the dark, and loved the cool nights, the bright stars, and the peace of the world at sleep. They roamed the world at night, content with the beauty others ignored.
And so the world might have stayed for eons had not a group of Davin decided the humans were ruining the world and vowed to destroy them. They had powers of light that burnt away the ground, destroyed the homes, and killed the helpless humans.
That night the Mayel came from their sleeping places in the caves to find people dead and children left to starve. Appalled at what the Davin had done, they vowed to stop them from any more destruction. But in order to do sp, they would have to leave their beloved dark and walk in the world of light. The first morning the sunlight blinded them and they shrank from the task. That night the destruction was even worse. More humans were dead, and this time the children as well. There were only a handful left, and they cried such bitter tears it tore at the very heart of the Mayel. The darkness lost all beauty for the Mayel, and they knew that they could never hide from doing what was right again.
And so the next morning they stood between the Davin and the humans, shielding them in the shadows where the Davin could not see them since they despised the dark. At first they thought all the humans were destroyed, and they danced for joy among the ruins of the buildings.
But then a child cried, and they knew that the world was still cursed with humans. They went insane with anger, knowing the Mayel helped the humans.
The Davin and the Mayel were evenly matched and neither side could win over the other. However, the Mayel had the humans as their allies, and with their help they finally pushed the Davin away.
"Why," the Mayel cried out, one thought, one reason. "Why kill the children of the world. You haven't the right. You have not made the world better. You have filled it with blood and death."
"No," the Davin cried out, but it was not with one voice. There was a whisper of dissent upon the air, and here and there the light flickered. "No. They were evil."
The light grew so bright for a moment that it seemed even the Mayel would fade before it. The Davin screamed their righteousness into the world, burning away whatever displeased them. The Mayel did not speak again. They did not need to. They had spoken the truth. Some Davin already din't dance the fiery death of their brethren. They looked around the ruins and cried out in colors that bled across the world. And then they left, not to be seen again, though some thought there were more stars in the sky afterwards. The Mayel stood, dark and impenetrable, a barrier between the unreasoning light and mankind. And for an eon the Davin raged, but the humans remained safe behind the darkness, thriving and growing.
The Davin tired finally. And when they looked around, there were no flowers left, no life -- only the starkness of destruction. Some wept and faded away, but a few remained. The Mayel drove them deep into the caves and the dark. They could not stand it, and created light that was fueled by their anger and loss.
And sometimes even still their anger boils up out of the good earth and burns the ground with their fire and light. But even still they cannot destroy all of humanity, who has grown wise in ways of the Davin, and mostly stay out of their each.
Sometimes Davin escape into the world and attack with fire, but the Mayel counter the fire with rain, bringing dark clouds across the world, crying their cleansing tears upon the parched earth, and saving much that the Davin would destroy.
There are some Davin, repentant of their earlier wrongs, who have joined the Mayel. Together they roam the world, setting things to right. And where the Mayel's rain and the Davin's light are joined is the greatest beauty in all the world. There, in that moment of joining, rainbows glitter with the promise of life and light, beauty and release.
And at night, sometimes in the darkest corners, you might see a Mayel, guarding the world from evil, and like a shield of precious onyx, glittering with its own beauty. Don't look away. Not everything in the darkness is your enemy.
Nor is all the light good.
The End
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