As Ashen Tears Fall from Above

When the people of Ancient Eldondi had to hide...

The dining hall was as silent as a grave, the thick quiet only broken by the occasional scrape of cutlery against plates or the sound of rustling clothes as someone shifted in place.

Queen Perkanitta refrained from glancing towards her husband's spot at the table for the umpteenth time, instead forcing herself to gaze down upon the simple meal on her plate. She had lost count of how many times she had glanced up at the plush, velvet-upholstered chair, a habit that had refused to quit even though her husband had been gone for over five years. Light filtered through the grand stained-glass window behind the chair, casting dancing blues, greens, and golds across it and the table. A pang of nostalgia, a mournful yearning for the time before the world was upended by the forces of evil, stabbed at her heart.

Her son cleared his throat, pulling her out of her mind and her gaze away from the chair. "Mother," Kelévir said as their eyes met. "Fret not. We would have received word if something had happened." There was a firm look of understanding in his light brown eyes, an expression she had only seen in his father's eyes in their most intimate of moments.

A small thrum of pride hummed inside her chest and she gave him a small, hope-filled smile. "I know, my son." He had matured in Tuu'noth's absence, and at 19 years of age, he was well on the way to becoming the crown prince and future king she had hoped he would become.

"I wish he would come home," Rynfë half-whined before she shoved a spoonful of mashed beans into her mouth.

Binavaer rolled her eyes at her sister's words but pointedly ignored them. Turning to Perkanitta, she asked, "Mother, have there been any word from the front? Has Father sent us any letters?"

Her thoughts shot over to the letters her husband sent every four months, like clockwork. He wrote a letter for every one of them, an endeavor of love that showed how important he found showing them individual attention was. But as she thought about it, she realized that this quarter's letters were late. Late. They had never been late before...

"Not yet, Rosebud," she said softly. "Perhaps... he has been unable to find time lately."

Rynfë let out another whine at this, but other than a slight slump to her shoulders Binavaer said nothing. Perkanitta watched as she looked down at her food and pushed it about with her spoon. The queen swallowed back a sigh as she wished that Rynfë would just understand. Her father had not forgotten about them. But he could not drop everything in order to respond to her whims.

Her youngest daughter needed to grow up. She was now too old to whine and try to throw tantrums to try and get her way, and whining everything she uttered was not going to summon her father from the war.

Perkanitta reached up and rubbed at her forehead and did her best to not dwell on the distance between her and her beloved.

The loud blast of a familiar horn reverberated from outside, and Perkanitta's heart leaped to her throat. The tall, red double doors of the hall swung open, their hinges squealing as the captain of the guard marched inside, followed by two other guards. She stood and stepped away from the table, her stomach beginning to churn as she took on the captain's face. "Captain Mekagg—what is the matter?"

Mekagg thumped his right fist to his left breast in a salute. "Your Majesty, something is happening," he reported. His expression faltered slightly, a sight she had never seen once since he had risen to his current rank. "...The sky. Something is happening to the sky."

A chill ran through her and she rushed over to the stained glass doors to the balcony. Throwing them open, she didn't flinch as they slammed against the outside walls, her attention immediately seized by the sight in the sky above. Her breath caught in her throat as it all registered in her mind.

The evening sky, usually stained a wonderful ombre of navy to violet to stunning bright gold, was a muted purply-periwinkle that faded into a dark, inky tone that seemed to unfurl the sky like a massive scroll, revealing the stars and the familiar constellation of the Guard, which seemed to hold its breath along with the world in anticipation.

A star flickered into being, joining the Guard's left shoulder like a fluttering butterfly. Perkanitta found her gaze rivetted by the sight of it—a gasp building inside her chest as the star grew brighter and stronger, not remaining stagnant as a star should have. It quickly began to drift eastwards, swelling to the size of one of the moons in the sky before it grew too bright to look at. Flames danced upon it as Perkanitta's eyes began to burn and fear pulled her stomach down towards the ground.

With a thunderous roar, the star morphed into a raging fireball, before the fire seemed to part and revealed it to be a massive mountain of rock. It shot towards the east, as if the sky finally let go of it, and within the blink of an eye, it was gone. The horizon lit up with a blinding-white halo that threatened to blind her and all who stood on the balcony with her. Her eyes squeezed shut against her will, yet the light was so bright that it was as if they were still open.

"Mama...?" Rynfë breathed in the silence that followed the spectacle.

Perkanitta opened her mouth to utter a comforting word, but before any sound could leave her mouth, a deafening boom rocked the world. It shook the sky and the Guard almost seemed to take a step back in surprise. Her body flinched down into a half-crouch, her heart leaping to her throat and galloping away like a spooked mare.

A shriek began to build on the air, and Captain Mekagg hissed a curse that was just loud enough for her to hear. One of his large hands grasped her upper arm and began to drag her back inside. "Giddösh, Íllar, grab the princesses! Follow me, your highness!" Mekagg barked, the tone of his voice brooking no argument.

Mekagg dragged her into the dining room and across to the double doors, which had been left open. The two guards and her son followed close behind and the sound of rushed footsteps and her daughters' cries and whimpers filled her ears. The guards who had been stationed in the hall outside the dining room yanked the doors shut once they were through.

"Follow us," Mekagg ordered those guards as they continued down the hall. 

"What is happening?" Kelévir asked as they rounded a bend in the hall and neared the stairs down to the floor below. The bells of the castle temple began to ring, solemn bong... bong... bongs that seemed to foretell a coming doom along as a sharp and clear warning. Was it her imagination, or could she hear the city's temple ringing in answer?

"Sound the horns again!" Mekagg shouted to the guard running down the hall towards them, a trumpet-horn tucked under his arm. The guard slid to a stop and retreated the way he came as the captain returned his attention to the prince. "It was a falling star, I'm sure of it," he said, his words slightly breathless. "A great mountain falling from the stars. I could feel the ground cracking and shattering at the moment of impact."

"Where are we going?" her son asked, ignoring Mekagg's vague reference to his heritage.

Mekagg grunted as they began to fall down the stairs, his strong hands supporting her as he took the steps three at a time. "I'm taking you to the cellars. We have to get below ground." He didn't have to say how he knew—Perkanitta remembered the skirmishes between the Eldonine and the tiny budding kingdom of Norëthir, when the Norëthirans had desired control of both sides of the mountains and used massive explosions in hopes of gaining the upper hand. He remembered the damage the shockwaves of the explosions had during battle. She remembered the reports. "The impact—it has generated a pressure wave unlike we've ever known. I'm sure of it. We have heard the impact, it's only a matter of time before it gets here."

On and on they ran. Mekagg ran so fast that Perkanitta's strides were stretched beyond whatever reach she could ever have managed on her own. Giddösh and Íllar had taken to carrying her daughters in their arms in order to keep up. Down another set of stairs and Mekagg urged a group of maids frozen in fear to follow them. Another set of stairs and they found the castle's beloved butler, Faelit, peeking out from a little-used drawing room. Despite his more advanced age, he was dragged along.

As they reached the second-to-last staircase separating them from the safety of the cellar, the castle shook. The walls cracked and dust trickled down from above. Perkanitta cried out, no longer able to keep her composure. Crashing and banging followed them as they rushed down the last of the distance, but by some mercy from up above the walls held—leaving the source of the thunderous noise unknown. 

Mekagg took them to the deepest of the cellars, where the cheeses were stored and cured. As soon as he let go of her, Perkanitta rushed to her children and took them into her arms. Binavaer and Rynfë, as if her arms removed whatever bravery they had managed to gird themselves with like a tablecloth ripped from a table, both burst into tears and Perkanitta's front quickly grew wet. Kelévir remained silent and stone-faced.

It was hours before the world outside grew silent.

Names and Their Meanings:

• Perkanitta — "flower music"
• Kelévir — "cinder knife"
• Binavaer — "rain dance"
• Rynfë — "
• Mekagg — "autumn sanctuary"
• Giddösh — "rugged pact"
• Íllar — "sensible"

Facts:

• The constellation "The Guard" is synonymous with the real-life Orion constellation.