Firepeople and Rockpeople: The Truce

(PRONUNCIATIONS: Hagen “Hay-Gin”)

(PRONUNCIATIONS: Raedion “Ray-dee-an”)

(PRONUNCIATIONS: Aroe “Uh-row”)

(PRONUNCIATIONS: Iyden “Eye-din”)

 Five billion years ago, and still today, there are Firepeople up in the sun. They are tall with head spines, sharp chins, and white glowing eyes. They have no mouths, though they speak to each other through their minds. And they have to keep the sun going so the Earth won’t freeze. The Moon-Rockpeople look the same and want the world to be dark.

***

“Children, you may sit…” I say, and fire children sit before me. “You want to know how we made peace with the Moon-Rockpeople?” I ask. They giggle and jump up and down. I chuckle and begin. “So it all started on the hottest day of the year…”

***

My Father, King Hagen, grabbed his fire staff, channeled the sun’s flame, and shot at the eggs bathed in fire. 

The eggs explode, and tiny fire creatures crawl out. Many cry out an ‘aww.’ And then my father slaps my back playfully.

“Ya’ did well, son… The ceremony looks perfect!” Hagen says telepathically. I look at him and smile.

“Thank you, Dad! I did some extra work and told the messengers to see if there was any danger. Telling by how long they’re taking, it doesn’t sound well… But let’s not let that get in the way!” I say.

“Thank you, Raedion! I like your thinki-” A large horn blares, and Hagen’s eyes widen. “That’s not good! Raedion, get the people and the newborn children back to their homes!” Hagen starts running, but I grab his hand.

“Dad, what’s happening?” I ask.

“I think the messengers just found something…” And then he continues running. I start running but in the opposite direction, yelling.

“Everyone! Get back to your houses! Danger!” The ones that the babies imprinted on start to grab the newborns and run to their cottages.

“Son…” a voice whispers behind me. It’s my father, Hagen, and he sighs. “The Rockpeople have gained more magic and are making the eclipse… The world will be dark and frozen!” He whispers in my ear. I shiver.

“What do we do?” I ask. Hagen shakes his head.

“We fight… For earth!” And then he walks away and starts barking orders. I place a hand on my forehead and close my eyes.

“No, no, no…” A high-pitched cry comes to my senses, and I open my eyes. A baby fire is crying helplessly on the floor. I ran over to her and saw that her hand was gone entirely, and her wrist was sizzling. “Dad! Dad! I need you!” I call. He quickly runs to me.

“What’s wrong?” He asks.

“This baby! Somethings wrong! Almost like water hit her…” I say. My father leans down and grabs her arm.

“That’s because it did… Someone here gave her to the Rockpeople! And they have water power… I need to talk to my superiors.” Hagen grabbed the baby and started running, but it cried harder.

“What’s wrong?” I ask. Hagen tried shushing her, but it didn’t work. 

“I think… I think she imprinted on you…”Another horn blares though louder. “Okay, they need me! You’re her father now! But don’t worry, once this is all over, I’ll give you Dad advice!” He gave her to me. “Good luck!” and then he ran away. 

She did stop crying, and I smiled at her. “Well, first things first! I need to name you! How about… Ember?” She starts to laugh, and then I chuckle. “Ember it is!” And just then, another horn blared, and then I saw two of the superiors holding one of our kind; he struggled in their arms, and they threw him to the ground. And then my Father spoke.

“You, Iyden, are accused of almost killing my son’s daughter!” He says. Iyden looks up at him.

“I did nothing of the sort!” He yells back. My father looks at him.

“We have evidence… Your son says you have been sneaking out and crossing the barrier!” He hissed. Iyden’s eyes widened.

“Nobody was supposed to know that!” He says.

“You probably threw her into the endless void!” Hagen pointed his staff at him. 

I gasp and then look down at Ember’s hand. Iyden must have done it. Anger boils in me,

“Well, you can go into the fire chamber, and when the rock people attack, you can stay in there waiting for them to come down and kill you!” He declares. The superiors grab his arms and drag him to the dungeons.

“No! No! Please, No! You don’t understand!” Iyden screams as they drag him away. 

Hagen walks toward me. “Makes sense why the Rockpeople know how to get here…” Hagen says. I sigh and then look up at him.

“What will the Rockpeople do once they reach us?” I ask. He sits down next to me.

“Horrible things, the sun will go dark, and the world will suffer…” Hagen gives me a side hug.

“Well, we need to stop them!” I nearly yell. My father sighs.

“Not much to do but wait until they are close. I will try to talk them out of it, and if that doesn’t work, they will land the moon next to the sun… And slowly, the moon will be joining it. This is called the eclipse; according to the seniors, this will happen every eighteen years, but if we don’t stop them now, there will be no waiting for them to come.”

***

The Firepeople grab the fire spears and prepare for a fight just in case they disagree, and I grab one of the bows and arrows reinforced with molten rock. Slowly, the moon moves toward us. Before this, I gave Ember to one of the elders, and now, as I held the bow, my hands shook with fear. How will this end? I wonder, and then a horn blared, though not from our land, the Rockpeople’s land. They waited with the same weapons; their leader held one giant sword, and our leader held one giant staff. 

“Leader Hagen…” The Queen of the Rockpeople calls out. “I have come here not to fight but for a talk…” She says.

“Leader Aroe, I wanted the same, for I need to ask you not to attack the sun! Earth will freeze.” He stomps his staff up and down. Aroe’s eyes widen, and she chuckles.

“Leader Hagen, you got it all wrong! I’ve come here to make the night! The earth won’t live without it.” She says. “Humans need to sleep. So we have made the eclipse for this truce.” She says. King Hagen sighs.

“I understand. Though, why did you spray my son’s daughter’s hand.” He asks. Aroe tilted her head.

“Who?” She asks.

“My son’s daughter. Bring her out.” Hagen ordered, and one of the elders slipped out of their hut, and Ember lay in his hands. Aroe growls.

“One of my people did it. She went to the barrier and was sent to us. She landed on the moon, but we knew she would die here. I tried to send her back, but Azure thought she should die and sprayed her hand, though I threw her through the barrier first, and thankfully she survived.” The Queen walked to where the moon ended. “Back to the truce thing… Will you agree with making night? Don’t worry, it won’t freeze earth as long as you are there.” She placed a hand on the barrier.

“I agree… But first things first, we need to take Iyden out of the dungeons.” Hagen clapped his hands, and two guards walked away. “A Truce!” Hagen yells.

“A Truce!” Aroe yells back.

***

“And then we made friends with the people… But shortly after, my father died of age, and now I’m King!” I say to the children, finishing my story. The kids clap and laugh.

“Long Live the King!” The children yell back and forth. I smile.

“Thank you! But soon it’s going to be Long Live the Queen.”