The One The Eclipse Kept

No child born beneath the Umbral Eclipse had ever survived. 

For centuries, the darkened sky above has been an omen feared by all kingdoms, villages and the souls who knew the stories. Whenever the glow of the golden sun is swallowed by the moon, death follows. The harvest fails, rivers run black and storms ravage the land.

However, sometimes a child is born. These children are known as Vaelith. No one knew why they were different. The only known fact is that they possess something unnatural within them: something dangerous.

Tonight was no different.

Or so they thought.

The Village of Elaris lay silent beneath a sky consumed by darkness. The sun had vanished behind a black black celestial curtain leaving a pale ring burning around the edges. The Umbral Eclipse hung above the world like an open wound in the heavens.

Birds did not sing. Insects did not buzz or chirp. Even the winds seem to disappear. The world fell into an uncomfortable silence that felt all too wrong. The doors and windows were bolted shut. Prayers pass through trembling lips like a whisper. No one dared look to the sky above.

Inside a small cottage on the edge of the village, a woman screams. Another contraction tore through her body as she gripped the sweat soaked sheets beneath her.

“Almost there” the midwife surged.

The woman barely heard her but nodded. Pain consumed all her senses. Outside of the room several villages waited in silence. The village elder stood near the doorway, his weathered hands wrapped around a silver talisman. His jaw clenched.

“If this child survives…” one of the men whispered.

The elder silenced the man with a glance. Not another word was said at that moment. No words were needed because everyone already knew. Thunder roared across the sky and the cottage trembled under the force. Another scream echoed through the room. Then another. The darkness seems to darken further. Creeping closer. Something felt wrong. As if the word itself was holding its breath in waiting.

A final cry escapes the mother. The midwife reached forward and the child was born. Silence washes over the room. The infant lay motionless in the midwife’s arms. Lips blue. No cry. No movement. No breath. The midwife lowered her head. The mother cried and the villagers outside released the breaths they were holding.

A sigh of relief.

The mother’s head drops in defeat, a silent tear streaming down her cheek. “No…”

“I’m sorry”, the midwife whispered.

Then every candle in the cottage went out. Darkness swallowed the room and the temperature dropped instantly. Gasps erupted from around the room. Frost crept across the wooden floorboards and breaths released an icy smoke. The eclipse pulsed overhead.

Once.

Twice.

Like the beating of a colossal heart. The mother’s eyes widened. The child had moved. Her tiny hand twitched and curled. A breath filled her small lungs. Then- She cried. Her voice pierced the darkness with a sharp tone.

The midwife and the others looked over in the directions of the mother. Hope flooded the mother’s face. The infant cried again and then the shadows answered. Subtle at first. The darkness beneath the bed stretched farther than it should. The light of the umbral eclipses glowing brightly through the cabin windows.

Black tendrils slithered across the floor. Screams erupted from the villagers and midwife. The elder held onto his talisman holding it out, muttered a prayer in the process. The shadows twisted together like a living creature. The baby’s eyes opened revealing eyes far too ancient for her age. Eyes swirling in shades of gold and silver. Pupils take the shape of the very eclipse it’s born under. Swirling with an ominous ring like Saturn.

The shadows surged towards her. Not with violence but with reverence. The mother wrapped her body around her baby shielding her. The shadows growled in response. The darkness struck the mother with an otherworldly power sending her crashing into the wall. Wood splintering breaths the impact. The room shook as the world outside trembled.

The eclipse blazed brighter. Its silver ring ignited the sky. The shadows once more swirl around the infant protectively. The cries of the child continue as the shadows swirl taking the unfamiliar shape of a man.

The mother stared at the creature of darkness and her baby.

“Kept”

A voice echoed from all corners of the cottage. A sound older than time itself. Then the shadows swallowed her whole. Disappearing. Gone as if never there. For a single moment nobody moved. Nobody spoke. The apparition stands in the same spot. It’s head turning to face everyone in the cottage.

“Erase”

The shadows erupted as screams filled the collage. The darkness consumed everything it touched. The walls collapsed and the windows shattered. The villagers ran but did not make it far. The shadows poured through the streets of Elaris like a living tide.

It swallowed homes, roads, and people. One by one, everyone vanished into the darkness. The midwife, the elder, the villagers, and even the child’s mother were not spared. No bodies remained. No graves. No evidence of a village. Only silence remained.

When dawn arrived, the Village of Elaris was gone. Once a thriving village only to be torn to ruins. The earth where its center had been scorched black. A perfect circle marked into the ground. A symbol of death.

Travelers who discover the ruins would speak of the earth being unlivable. The ground, once full of life, can not bear anymore. Animals steer clear of the land. Stories would spread across the kingdoms. Stories to be dismissed by legends. Others treated them as warnings, but none knew the truth.

Far beyond the reach of mortal eyes, hidden within a realm untouched by light, a silver and gold eyed child opened her eyes once more.

Alive.

Waiting.

And somewhere in the darkness, something ancient smiled.

Because after centuries of waiting, the Eclipse had finally kept one.

A/N: (This chapter is unedited so please be nice)