Aenurin

Ænurin

Brandon M. Dennis

Talitar's Meddling

The Kalani's glimmering presence wafted throughout Hru and filled all of creation with joy. None of the Lesser-Worlds had any desire but to shine for eternity, for that was what they were made to do. But one of the Kalani, Talitar the Red, began to have other desires. He rested in the void and looked down upon Ænurin. She was beautiful and green and with every passing moment, life moved and wriggled upon her surface. At first this brought Talitar great joy, and he delighted in her beauty and in her bond with Nurin. But after a while he began to be dissatisfied. Why should Ænurin belong to Nurin alone? Why should the Kalani be doomed to forever admire their love, but have no love for themselves? Talitar glanced at his brothers and sister in the void and wondered if they too were having such thoughts. If the other Kalani did, they made no sign of it.

            As Time went on, Talitar became increasingly frustrated. His very existence used to be one of pleasure, but as of late he had begun to desire Ænurin for himself. He could not admire the union between Nurin and Ænurin without throwing himself into a fit of jealous rage. Nurin was wrong to keep Ænurin from him, thought Talitar. Nurin should share his love, for then Ænurin would be able to see how great Taltiar was and she would love him. Talitar formed a plan to approach Ænurin and take her for his own. He would impress her with his might and power, and then he, not Nurin, would own Ænurin. After uncounted years of dazzling brilliance, Talitar the Red grew dim.

            This change was like a resounding gong that rang throughout Hru. The other Kalani turned their gaze toward their brother in confusion, for his light had never been dimmed before and they did not know what to make of it. Worried that his siblings might make designs of their own for Ænurin, Talitar quickly focused their attention on something else.

            "Have any of you ever wondered why we sit here glowing?" he asked. Jarnok the Gray, the eldest and wisest of the Kalani, frowned.

            "Because it is what we were made to do," he said. "It is what makes us happy. I can't imagine myself not gleaming, sending my rays into the very depths of the void, for that would be painful."

            "True, but have you ever thought of what else we could be doing if we weren't placed here to shine?" asked Talitar. "Ænurin has been busy these many years and has new clothes. Imagine what we could look like if we too clothed ourselves."

            "I do not think we are able to," said Sarvest the Blue, their only sister. "We are Kalani, gifted in beauty and brilliance, but not in creation. Our greatest joy is in lighting and admiring things made, not in the making."

            "You think so simply," said Talitar in disgust. "We Kalani are the fairest of everything in the Outer World. We shimmer in beautiful hues and next to Yalis and Halis we are the brightest things in all of Hru. Surely we are equal to Ænurin herself, and therefore we should be clothed too."

            At this the Kalani all became confused. What if Talitar was right? What if glowing was not the greatest joy they could ever have? What if they could form something and bring it to life, just like Ænurin could? Would not that be a greater joy? After hearing Talitar's words, the Kalani ceased their glimmering, grew dim and tried to create life. While they were thus occupied, Talitar whispered to Ænurin.

            "O Ænurin, who has the loveliest form and the fairest crown. Who do you love most of all?"

            "I love Nurin the most," said Ænurin, "for he is my maker and my husband. Next to him I love the creatures that dwell upon me, for they are a gift of joy to me."

            "Yes, Nurin is indeed a powerful being. He has made everything that is, and marks of his craftsmanship are reflected in your own works. But have you ever considered the possibility that you might be happier loving another?"

            "No, I haven't.  Nurin told me not to love another, and I am happy now."

            "Aha! You see, Nurin betrays himself. He forbids you to love another because he knows you will find greater joy in doing so! Listen to me, Ænurin. I desire you above all things, and wish that you would desire me. Forget about Nurin! If he really loved you he would let you choose. Choose me and be my bride, and together we can create the most curious things!"

            Talitar's prospect bewildered Ænurin. She had never had any thought other than being Nurin's bride, but now she had another option. Talitar had always been a color to her, one of the many colorful Kalani who sparkled on the horizon. But now he was approaching her as if he were Nurin himself, and this confused Ænurin immensely. She gazed upon Talitar and saw that he was beautiful. He glowed the purest red, and she realized that, like all of Nurin's creations, he was lovely. Ænurin felt a love for him, and seeing this, Talitar grinned.

            All at once Ænurin became disgusted with Talitar. The beauty she had seen vanished and he became to her ugly and vile. She had not known horror until this moment, for it had not existed until now, and she averted her gaze from the fiery Lesser-World in dismay.

            "I thought I might have loved you," said Ænurin in pain, "but I realize now that what I loved was the reflection of Nurin in you. I love you in that you are simply an extension of my husband, but I now see something else within you, something hideous. You are trying to be apart from Nurin, this I see plainly, and there is nothing beautiful apart from Nurin. Depart, and never speak to me again!"

            Ænurin hid her face from Talitar. Talitar the Red shook in a jealous rage. His surface bubbled and boiled and volcanoes erupted on his being. Channels of liquid flame cut across his face, and he was disfigured. He howled in anger and cursed Nurin. He gazed down upon Ænurin, desiring to possess her even more, but she was veiled from his sight and her verdant beauty was shadowed to his eyes only.

            All at once, wailing filled Hru. The Kalani cried out in dismay. The sound was thrilling to Talitar, and he asked his brethren what it was about.

            "We have failed in creating life," said Goondagk the Silver, "and now we have forgotten how to shine!"

            "We have strayed from our purpose and can no longer reach the very depths of Hr with our light," said Justarn the Gold in dismay.

            "If only we had never listened to you Talitar, we would still be dazzling, and we would be happy," said Kerast the Green. "But now we have lost all joy in pursuit of a greater joy, and can do nothing but wail!"

            The Kalani continued to cry out in sadness, but Talitar the Red laughed.

            "Yes, wail for me, my brothers and sister, wail! Sing new songs that glorify me, for I am Talitar, and I have created sorrow!"

            Ænurin heard the wailing of the Lesser-Worlds and she shuddered in dismay. Their brilliance had at one time brought her energy and rest, but now they were dim shades of what they had once been. Her only solace was Nurin himself, who she communed with and loved.

            But Talitar's words never left her mind. Now that she had the idea of loving someone besides Nurin, it would not leave her. She loved Nurin and was completely fulfilled by him, but she couldn't help wondering what it would be like to love someone else.

            She knew she could never love any of the Kalani. Talitar was revolting and the other Kalani wailed incessantly. Next to Nurin she loved the creatures that dwelled within her, and she turned her attention to them. They had all been perfect in her mind until now, but as she considered them one by one, they all seemed wretched compared to Nurin. Perhaps she could make something else, something completely new to be her mate. After all, Nurin made her to be his bride, so surely she could make something to be hers.

            She kept all these thoughts from Nurin as she schemed within herself, but Nurin became increasingly quiet, as if he were waiting for a storm to strike. The thought that he might know her secret desires terrified her, but Nurin made no sign that he had any inkling of what she considered doing. Still, the thought of her own treachery riddled her with fear, and though she was the most comfortable when in Nurin's company, she was also restless.

            At last she could not keep her curiosity hidden any longer, and she attempted to make a spouse; one that was better than Nurin. She stretched her consciousness over the whole of her being and strained her mind. She groaned and creaked and twisted her very soul. Soon she felt herself moving, bloating outward, and the feeling terrified her. She clung to the surface of the world, and for the first time realized that she was separating from it. The soul that was Ænurin was ripped from the world that was Ænurin, and as she was torn free she shrieked in pain. Nurin watched his bride in sadness, but he did not lift his hand. He knew what she was doing and he knew the ultimate outcome of her decision, but still he did not intervene.

            Ænurin grasped the dark soil of the world and clung to it desperately, but she twisted violently. At last her soul spun and mixed with the soil and the sea. The blood of some creatures that crept upon the surface was caught up and the mess congealed into a new body. With a terrible scream Ænurin was ripped into twelve pieces, and the mixture of blood, soil, water and spirit was flung to all parts of the world.

            When at last the dust and water settled, Ænurin the being was no more. In an attempt to create that which she could not, she divided herself into twelve bodies which became known as mankind. Six races of men were born, male and female of each, and they were spread over the face of the world so that they did not know each other. The new beings stared at their hands and at each other in awe, and cried out in pain, knowing that something was horribly wrong.

            Nurin came to the world then and gazed at what was once Ænurin sorrowfully. He saw the six races of man and named them each; Rostic, Hress, Peepkin, Favish, Glaski and Trellic, and then spoke to them all:

"You are still my bride, though you are no longer Ænurin. You are now the races of mankind, and though you betrayed me, I love you. One day we will be united again, but for now we must be separated, for you must learn that there is nothing other than myself that can bring you happiness. There is nothing you can create, nothing you can love, and nothing you can believe in that will bring you more joy than me, and once you realize this we will again be united. Until that time you will find death, disease, war, poverty, famine and sorrow in your search for happiness, and the only things that will bring you true joy in this world are those that reflect a part of me. Live now in the bodies you have created for yourselves and remember me, for forgetting will only prolong your journey."

With that, Nurin never spoke to his bride again, until the day arrived when she had learned that Nurin was the only joy that was. Nurin then turned his gaze to the Kalani and his eyes smoldered.

"You forsook your role in search of something greater. But did you not realize that I had made you to be as happy as you could be?"

"We now know," said the Kalani as they wailed. "We now know that the greatest joy we can ever attain is to fulfill the role you molded for us. Forgive us and let us remember how to shine!"

"The days of shining are over," said Nurin. "You listened to your brother's bad council and must now suffer that decision. But do not lose heart for I will give you new tasks to accomplish. You will guide the men of the world with my wisdom and my council. Do not stray from my will, lest you lead mankind away from the truth and prolong their years of suffering. Just as they must now learn where to find joy, so you must also learn that to do what you were made to do is the only way you will be happy. Go to Ænurin and lead the races of men well."

Nurin crafted for each of the Kalani a shell that took on the shape of one of the races of men. Each Kalani was given a choice of which race he would guide, and then their shells were sent to the world. But turning to Talitar, Nurin scowled. Thunder came from his voice and his eyes blazed like fire. Talitar trembled in fear and shrieked in terror.

"It is you who are responsible for this sundering that has taken place," said Nurin, and his voice rattled throughout Hru. "You strove to have what it was not yours to have, and you tried to be me. But you are not me. You are my creation; everything that is good about you I made. You have no right to be proud."

"That may be," said Talitar with a shaky voice. "But I managed to make something new, something that did not exist before! I made sadness, I made death. I made sorrow, I made disease. I have created! I am more than Kalani!"

"You are nothing," said Nurin. "You did not create. You merely twisted that which already was. There is nothing original in your entire being, only fraudulent facsimiles of the good I have made. You have only the ability to distort that which is already created. Sorrow is merely a distortion of joy, ugliness a distortion of beauty."

"I will go to the world," said Talitar, "and I will twist it all, to spite you!"

"I will send you to the world," said Nurin, "and I will use you to mold mankind. You are nothing but a tool. With you, I will teach my bride what pain is, so that she might choose comfort. With you, I will teach my bride what sorrow is, so that she might choose joy. With you, I will teach my bride what death is, so that she might choose life. But you will have no such choice. No matter what you do, you will always be a miserable wretch. You will always be filled with hate, envy and spite. No matter what you do, even if you think it will bring you joy, it won't. Your remaining existence will be one of misery."

"Then do away with me!" cried Talitar in fear. "Do not let me be tortured!"

"That which is made cannot be unmade," said Nurin. He formed a shell for Talitar and flung the Kalani towards the world, and as he fell he screamed in terror. Thus began the history of mankind.