The Five Keepers [main plot]

[R.andom]

The Five Keepers

There was nothing...
No time. No life nor death, no light nor darkness. Nothing existed but the blank and vast emptiness of our world, and it's Keepers. The Keepers were spirits, divine entities you may say, granted with powers beyond imagination.

The Keepers of our world...
They were five in number, one for each of the four winds...
Kenna, the Keeper of fire. Hinto, the Keeper of water. Maka, the Keeper of earth, and Kwahu, the Keeper of air. These four ruled over each corner of our world. The seasons, weather, and landscape was theirs to control as they wished. Maka laid soil across the land, pulling grasses and trees and foliage from it's depths. Hinto carved great craters and sliced the earth, filling them with pure, clean water. Kenna warmed the belly of our planet and heated his lands, deserts scorching mud into dust. Kwahu pulled the rocks skywards, forging towering mountain ranges and low valleys.

And where the four winds met...
Achak, the Keeper of aether, ruled. He made light, throwing the sun into the skies. He made darkness, blanketing the heavens with stars and a moon. He made sound, letting the wind whistle through the trees for the first time. He made silence, allowing the globe to sleep and lie still.

But most importantly...
Achak made life. Maka formed their bodies, Hinto filled their veins, Kenna warmed their hearts and Kwahu gave them breath. Birds and fish and wolves and deer. They all roamed the world, spreading and multiplying and growing. But with life must come death, and Achak made this too. And so the animals lay down, dissolving into the land they lived on.

The horse was made last...
It was made in the image of the Keepers, and granted powers like those they held. It was hoped the equines could help them care for the world and all in it, but the equines became greedy for power. They neglected the land the Keepers strived to maintain for them. War broke out amongst the horses from every corner of the globe, and blood was spilt that lay like a blanket across snow and grass, desert and water. They fought to extinction as the Keepers looked on.

After many days the lands quieted...
The blood of the fallen had seeped into the soils, and the world seemed good again. The Keepers decided to create horses once again, but leave them defenceless like the other animals. They had no powers. After seeing their new creations, the Keepers agreed they had finally finished their work. They separated, one to the north, south, east and west they ran, Achak delving into the centre of the land.

And to this day they sleep...
Confident in the stability of their creation. But they left one factor forgotten. The blood of the first equines still lies in the soil, feeding the plants and grasses, the magic contained within it seeping into everything. Horses are being born with small remnants of the power their ancestors held, and they are worried. No-one wants a repeat of the Great Battle, but it's only a matter of time until another war begins.

The one question is
Where will you be when it does?


' e q u u s e n t i a l