The Dark Crystal-Along the Silver Sea

Chapter Two- Secrets Revealed

The other three Gelflings joined them then, the small house was crowded as the two UrRu, and the two Skeksis shared the two-storey cottage and the Gelfling shared the one next door.
UrIon made tea for them all as Tarf had retired for the night and the four Gelflings looked at the two UrRu and the two Skeksis Lords sensing something was up.
"Is this something to do with the Dreametching?" Shadai asked.
Master UrAzshar nodded "yes" as Shadai joined Chiena, they were half-sisters, but it seemed that the 'half' never came into it.
Jaran said "I think I remember seeing Kylan..." he paused and sat down and said, "what's up?" Jaran was Spriton, but he had been orphaned and bought up by the more reclusive Drenchen, he was a warrior, bold and proud and he loved Taya the Huntress.
Shadai was a Healer, Taya was the other warrior although she was more of a Huntress, and Chiena was the Songteller.
The Gelfling looked nervously around, suddenly nervous around their four friends for some reason and then settled, as they had turned the lights off.
Even Az, normally so approachable seemed different at the moment, ancient, mysterious and wise, much like the legends of he and his kin, UrIon too, and the two Skeksis just seemed downright frightening in the darkened room especially as the lightning cracked lighting up the room eerily in its light, catching SkekDurn's light coloured eyes.
"I hate the dark" Jaran grunted.
"Sorry," said UrIon "but we need the lights off".
"What we are about to reveal might help you understand both the Skeksis and us better, you already know some of it, but we have decided to expand that knowledge you already have...you may need it" Master UrAzshar said, " and we have the lights off for a reason".
"Alright," said Jaran " it's just that my earliest memories are of the darkness and the strange and frightening shape that killed my parents...the shadowy being we called the Hunter".
"His name is SkekMal and he was probably one of my oldest friends until he suddenly just cut it off with no explanation," SkekTael said, " he taught me everything I know...trouble is he was always a little wild and was probably one of the first who started to fall into the darkness our fellow Skeksis seem to be...".
"UrVa's other" Az supplied " whom you saw in the Dreametch, at least we now know what happened to him, we were worried, UrVa, he's a good friend of Ion's and I's".
"Yeah" added UrIon " one of the few who didn't find Az and I distracting, who do you think taught me the Bow? And Az how to survive in the woods?"
Az nodded "we were worried about him, I think we were afraid that maybe Mal had him as a prisoner in the castle or something like SkekTek tried to do with me".
"Given how some of our fellows had fallen it wouldn't have surprised me at all," said SkekDurn still thinking of SkekTek.
Az nodded knowing what his counterpart was thinking and continued "this is why the lights are out" and he and SkekDurn linked hands and suddenly the whole room looked like a galaxy.
"Wow!" said Shadai.
"Our galaxy," said UrAzshar " and this is where our song and our story began. First, there was silence and then the song began" he hummed along with UrIon.
SkekTael groaned "you two aren't going to sing, are you?"
Durn chuckled "No Az is just using his magic to enhance things, he's UrRu what else did you expect?"
"We are the UrRu and our power is our voices," UrIon said with a chuckle " I'm just helping him out," he said.
"Do you realise how dangerous your voices can be?" SkekTael groaned "I was there when the Makrak's invaded!"
"Oughta see him when he's happy!" SkekDurn said with a chuckle "nothing is more dangerous than a UrRu song, especially when sung by a happy UrRu!"
"Durn!!" Azshar groaned.
Durn said "well it's true! I was there too! Skeksil dragged me along".
Az said "as we were saying, first there was silence and then the song began, over a thousand Trine ago in another age, our people they came to this world, from the stars, through the Crystal, Thra is a young world compared to some other worlds out there...and our people, they had been to many".
"The Star-beings...you mean you are related to the legendary Starbeings?" Jaran asked.
"There is an old legend," Shadai said then "of the Starbeings who built the castle, of how they raised the crystal from the mountain it was held within, I remember you mentioning it to Chiena....".
"No...we were the Starbeings...well sort of," said Az.
"They said that they were ancient godlike beings," said Jaran remembering the tales he had grown up with...that they glowed like the stars or the suns and that they showed the Gelfling much!".