The Light of Night

• Fiction
• Short story
• Fantasy

								
   “Go, my children,” commanded the Sun King, “and fight the soldiers of the Moon Goddess. Fear not, your power and glory is much greater than theirs.” 

   The sun warriors gathered up their weapons and placed armor crafted from diamond upon their bodies. They saluted their scintillating leader one last time before marching toward the Moon Goddess’s kingdom.

    A moon warrior cast his eyes beyond the Great Hill and saw the mighty foe approaching. His heart pounding, he ran to his master. 

   “Great Moon Goddess,” he greeted the leader with a wavering voice, bowing low to the ground. “The enemy is nigh. They are mightier than we. We are sure to die even if we pick up our swords and our spears and fight.”

   The Moon Goddess stood from her ivory throne with a great struggle and looked down at the young soldier. Worn from age, her voice cracked as she spoke. The soldier trembled at her wise words.

   “You are but a fool, my son. You doubt your leader in this moment of overbearing crisis. You say that the enemy is more powerful than we. Nay, my son, they only shine more brightly than we and their hearts are filled with pride. I command you, go down and pacify them. Invite them to our harvest feast and be not destroyed by pride as they have been.”

   The soldier obeyed and ran to where the sun soldiers lay in wait. The number of them was so great that they had gathered in the thousands. The chief soldier in command snarled as he approached the weary moon soldier.

   The moon soldier threw himself at the feet of the chief soldier in command and begged for mercy. “Kill our people not. Go peacefully to your homeland. If you will not go, our merciful leader has invited you all to feast with us.”

   Laughing, the chief soldier in command kicked the moon soldier’s ribs. He then yanked him off the ground by the hair and turned to face the others.

   “This, my fellow sun soldiers, is an example of what we are not. We are not a feeble people ruled by an old senile dog. We shine the brightest and we have the most power!” The other sun soldiers cheered in agreement.

   “We are the most beautiful people!” boasted another sun soldier.

   “You are ugly in your hearts,” said the moon soldier weakly. “You shine so brightly that you have been blinded. You are unable to see your blemishes. You fail to see that among you are ill, deaf, and dumb. Among you are evil-doers. Among you are traitors. Pride has its claws embedded in your necks and it desires to lead you to your destruction.” 

   “You dare speak of our destruction?”

   The chief soldier in command thrusted a spear through the moon soldier’s belly. He tossed the limp body aside and urged the other soldiers forward, not bothering to retrieve his weapon. 

   “The Moon Goddess has invited us to a feast. Feast we shall when all of her people are dead.” 

   As they marched on, the moon soldier’s corpse was trampled by thousands of feet. They joked and laughed the entire trip to the Moon Goddess’s kingdom. They fantasized of becoming kings in their turn and splitting the Goddess’s kingdom between them, betraying their own leader, the Sun King.

   The sun soldiers began slaughtering the moon soldiers immediately upon arriving at the kingdom. The moon soldiers raised up their weapons and
 shields but were quickly overcome. All that remained in the end was the Moon Goddess. A greedy soldier lunged at her with a knife aimed at her throat. 

   The chief soldier in command grabbed the other soldier by the shoulder. “Let her live so that she can see the disaster that has befallen her. We will grant her one last mercy. We will dine with you, Moon Goddess.”

   Weeping, the Moon Goddess led the soldiers to the dining area. The sight of her dead children filled her with grief. She could not bring herself to say a word to any of the murderous soldiers.

   With a grin conjured up from the darkest void, the chief soldier in command clinked a spoon against an ornate chalice. He drank deeply of the wine inside.

   “We shall feast on the fruits of our victory!” he roared. 

   The sun soldiers greedily wolfed down the food, fighting each other over the tastiest morsels. One by one they dropped dead after merrily consuming the harvest belonging to the Moon Goddess’s people. Unbeknownst to them, the Moon Goddess had ordered her soldiers to taint the food and drink with poison. 

   The Sun King had sorely underestimated the cunning of the Moon Goddess. She was much older and wiser, for there was darkness before there was light, and before there was the sun there was the moon alone to rule the sky. She was the beginning and she knew she would be the end: when the sun comes of age it will meet the same fate as any other star and exit the world as a supernova. The moon would remain steadfast in the sky until the end of time. 

   The Moon Goddess sunk down in her throne and felt herself becoming what she loathed. The same pride she condemned manifested itself as a serpent and slithered its way into her heart. Her heart hardened, and she knew she could never be the same ruler she once was ever again. 

   Surrounded by the dead soldiers that she considered her own children, and the dead soldiers of her enemy, she smiled.She knew that her people would not win the physical battle. She knew, however, that they would win the war. 
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