A Kingdom on a Hill

Once Upon a Time. Those four words can start the most magical of stories. They have begun thousands of tales, much like the one I am telling you now. You may wonder, children, why this particular tale is taking so long to begin. This is because all good stories, all good tales, begin with the words Once Upon a Time. And so shall this one. But I must tell you, this is not a happy story. No, children. This is a tale of sorrow. The tale of the Kingdom on the Hill and the People Down Below.

Once Upon a Time, there was a kingdom. Its true name was lost to time, but it is now forever known as The Kingdom on the Hill. This kingdom was given many gifts. There were the gifts of bravery, of wisdom, of compassion, and knowledge of the Unknown. All these gifts were given to assist the Kingdom on the Hill in the protection of a treasure hidden there. A secret treasure. One that no one else knew anything about.

In the beginning, the Kingdom on the Hill would send people out to travel to other lands to help them in any way they could. For in the Kingdom on the Hill, there were four factions. The Brave, the Wise, The Compassionate, and the Unknown. Each group would work together to better the lands they traveled to, using only their particular skills.

This worked for many years until word spread of a secret treasure possessed by the Kingdom on the Hill. The Kingdom's emissaries stopped coming back from the lands they traveled too. Not all at once, but gradually. They would be hunted down, imprisoned, and tortured by their hosts for their secret treasure. And one group, one specific group, wanted the treasure more than any other.

They were the People Down Below.

They lived at the foot of the hill that the Kingdom on the Hill resided on. The Brave, the Wise, the Compassionate, and the Unknown did visit the People Down Below, but they were met with only scorn. For the People Down Below wanted the treasure, not help. For neighbors should share, should they not?

So the People Down Below tried to send a message up to the Kingdom on the Hill. They asked for the buried treasure. For tons of gold, and of rubies, of diamonds and of sapphires. Treasure, for which they would kill.

The Kingdom on the Hill sent a message back. Now this message, children, was not what you may think. It was not a message of hate or of scorn. It was not a message of refusal or of denial. It was a message of bravery and heart, of wisdom and friendship, of compassion and peace.

The Kingdom on the Hill said to the People Down Below that with their brothers they would gladly share all the treasure on their hill and all the secrets and riches buried there. With their message, they sent the Brave, the Wise, the Compassionate, and the Unknown to help and aid the People Down Below. However, none sent ever returned. And this was the beginning of the end.

The end of the era of the Kingdom on the Hill and the dawn of the world of the People Down Below.

This was when the Kingdom on the Hill began to close its borders. To stop sending their emissaries out to other lands. When the same lands that had been helped and saved by the Kingdom on the Hill began to hunt and kill everyone they could find, overcome with greed for the treasure.

The People Down Below raised all the lands up against the Kingdom on the Hill. They drove the lands into a frenzy, saying that the Kingdom on the Hill had lied and tricked and hurt and hid. That they were not brave, not wise, not compassionate. That they had tons of gold, and of rubies, of diamonds and of sapphires. Treasure, for which they should kill.

The Unknown bowed their heads in the Kingdom on the Hill, for they knew what was to come.

The People Down Below came marching, marching up the hill. They brought with them men and weapons and fire and death.

They called out, "Draw your weapons! Light your flames! Mount your horses, bring your men!"

And yes. They slaughtered the Kingdom on the Hill. They murdered every man, every woman, every child, every animal. They slaughtered hundreds of thousands of people who had only ever helped them. Who had raised them up so high, only for them to fall so far.

The era of the kingdom on the hill was over. It ended in blood and death and pain. In broken people, in broken land.

Now I suppose you will want to know what the treasure the People Down Below found. What they murdered so many for. And if it all was worth it?

Deep in the chambers of the once great kingdom on the hill was the treasure room. It was plain and unadorned. Inside it was a stone table, engraved with the following words:

The Treasure of this kingdom lies not in gems. It lies in people. In peace and bravery and wisdom and compassion. In the unknown. The treasure of this land is the power to spread the peace here to all others. To help and heal and fix. To save and to forgo all bloodshed. To have peace on Earth.

I'll leave it up to you to decide if it was worth it.