Stella

Chapter I

Where the night has no beginning or end, where fears take shape, where whatever it is that disturbs sleep has its abode, the one who is all the more wicked and powerful has long ridden through endless desolate valleys. The wind hissing and the scraping of heavy hooves were all that the king heard for many miles. In the dark beyond the narrow slit of the helmet, his scarred, fierce and impassive eyes glittered at one time, like those of the beast that is about to tear apart the captured prey.

He galloped until he reached the shores of a lake with brown water, at the entrance to the land of the dark fairies. He slid out of his saddle, took off his helmet, releasing his thick gray hair, his face was carved with strong, sharp lines. Numerous and deep scars raked his ash colored skin.

He stood still for a long time, waiting. Then a dense fog wrapped the lake before him; from those impenetrable vapors a sinuous female figure appeared, suspended on the water, covered with the finest of black veils like a mournful bride who went to meet him.

"What is the king of the Nightmares doing in this land so far from his fortress?" the fairy asked with a thin voice and a veiled smile.

"An answer to the question I am about to ask you, Neremana," the king replied firmly.

"I already know your question," said the fairy with deference," and the response your Majesty requires. That which many yearn to resolve is the following puzzle: can the reign of the Nightmares ever obliterate the Realm of Dreams?"

The king agreed with a nod, and Neremana continued,

"What you are asking is not easy, my king. There is only one way, one chance to satisfy your request and I will show you the way. But what can you offer in return?"

"Is not it not perhaps true that dark beings appreciate the terror of the children of the Waking World more than anything else," said the King. Neremana's eyes gleamed like rubies, while a thin thread of foam spilled from the corners of her mouth.

"You will have the sleep of all the children you want if I achieve my intention! You will be able to feed your people for centuries with the fear of helpless creatures, trapped in their worst sleep for eternity," said the king.

"Then listen," said the fairy, persuaded by the benefit of the exchange, "Only one being can help you achieve your purpose; a creature having greater power than any magician, greater than that of the King of Dreams, and even of yours, my Lord, the Supreme Being."

"What are you saying? There is no such creature!"

"It does not exist yet, but it will if you follow my suggestions; it will enclose within itself the shining and dark soul, the real Blood of Dreams, and that of the Nightmares in a single offspring. Your daughter will give birth to her, and Amon, successor to the realm of dreams, will be the father."

"How dare you?" thundered the king. "I would never allow such a thing!" "Think about it, Majesty. If you act as I say a being will soon be born whom, once she is eleven years old will have enough power to break the eternal balance in your favor! It would be enough to sip this potion," the Fairy insisted, opening her gray and tapered hand and showing a small ampule, "and your daughter's skin would become clear, her eyes blue, and she would look like the most irresistible woman to the Prince Amon in the realm of Dreams. Your daughter cannot cross the Labyrinth, but she must wait for Amon to go out for one of his usual excursions: as soon as he sees her he will fall madly in love. When you see her coming back to the fortress showing her true aspect, you will know that the Supreme Being has been conceived. Your Majesty will only have to wait for your daughter to give birth to the creature, but ... the fairy stopped for an instant," when she has been born you will have to make sure of one thing."

"Tell me, Neremana," said the king who seemed increasingly interested in the proposal. "If the newborn creature has her mother's scarlet eyes, then she will grow to your side for ten years and will help you complete all of your plans. But if she has the emerald green eyes of her father you will have to kill her immediately!" The king studied the fairy for a long time and understood she was not lying. The dark fairies had the ability to see into the future, and Neremana was the most powerful.

"And this creature will have enough power to cross the Labyrinth?" asked the king.

"Not only will she cancel the spell of the Labyrinth, she will obliterate the whole realm of Dreams forever."

The king could not hide a grimace of astonishment. "It is so, Majesty: in my vision I saw a little girl, a red-eyed little girl who will guide your army beyond the Labyrinth against King Dream, and into the Waking World itself. Your enemies will be annihilated and you will have a whole universe of defenseless creatures all for you!" The king closed his eyes thoughtfully for a moment. When he opened them again, the small ampoule was in his hand and the fairy had vanished.