Once Upon A Child

In the Dark of the Night

(Author's Note/Warning - this chapter gets quite dark and as the name hints: a nightmare will occur. Be prepared for some creepy details, but hopefully it's nothing you can't handle & of course, Snowing fluffiness will also occur.)

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Ellion was now settled in amongst the Charming/Nolan family. He was thriving and there wasn't a day that went past where he didn't shine at least once.

One day, Ellion was scouring the bookshelves for something new to read when he came across Once Upon A Time. The book was familiar, and he considered trying to find the others in the series as this was marked Volume VII. Alas, he was unsuccessful.

It was a good book. Ellion spent the afternoon reading it, with a watchful Wilby at the foot of his bed. When he got to page 70, he was astonished. He recognised some names in this tale. Stormhold, the name sent shivers through his body. Unsure whether to read on, Ellion decided that was enough for now. He retreated to the kitchen to help prepare the evening meal.

After eating and cleaning up, curiosity had gotten the better of him. He returned to the story and began reading. To any other person, this story may have seemed a bit dark in its fantasy, with many things simply being brushed off as imagination, but not to Ellion. The story was not of a wondrous kingdom involving lightning pirates, magical candles and cruel sorcerers, it was a horrifying memory of prowling witches on the hunt for fallen stars and a past that was now, thankfully, no longer a reality.

Yet the memories were stirred. The story mentioned that of a woman, falling from the stars, then falling prey to the wickedness of the three witching sisters. The memories of running for his life, of being separated from his mother and a warning to guard himself from witchcraft, came crashing back inside his head. The memories as damaging as his crash into the earth.

Though terror coursed through his body, Ellion told himself he had to read on. He already knew of the ending, a happy ending with celebratory lights in the palace at the top of the mountain, therefore his mind may be put at rest... if he can only make it to the end of the story.

The tale followed a star, Yvaine, and a human, Tristan, on their adventure. Ellion thought it was a rather good story in fact, until it came to the part of the witches and their previous doings.

Within the story, the sisters of Yvaine manage to communicate with Tristan and convey a message of urgency: Yvaine's precarious situation. They speak of other stars, why it was so dangerous for them to fall among humans and other, crueler, creatures, and that he was now to help save their sister.

Stars are peaceful bearers of the wishes of others, looking down upon the earth from above and not always understanding the actions of those they sooth. Many live beautiful long lives, however, there have been those misfortunate enough to fall. The first showed naivety in the cruelness of the grounded world. She was young and unsuspecting.

Whilst Ellion thought the story to have captured the innocence and purity of stars rather perfectly, he also despised the fact they depicted his family as unwise and unwitting. He read on nonetheless, determined to finish the story.

Trickery and deception reigned amongst the mortals of Stormhold when the last star crashed. Three sisters, witches: Lamia, Empusa and Mormo, discovered her, their wickedness notorious. So how was it that another sister was to succumb to death on their behalf? Not without a fight. Many were aware of the desire of these three: the heart of a star, and many knew of the benefits received should they possess it engulfed in star shine, when they ripped it from their chest.
"The heart of a shining star is unequaled, yet a miserable one will still provide prolonged life." Spoke the dominant witch, satisfied with the capture of such an elusive star. Not all had perished on that day however: before she was devoured, there was one to be saved, though lost to another world entirely.