“Come near children! It is time for bed!”

The old woman struggled to contain the children scattered amongst the room, their giggles and excited laughter filling the space as they raced about playing, still as full of energy as they were this morning. The elder settled into a rocking chair situated in between two beds and with an accustomed smile called once more to the children.

“Gather children, gather round and I will tell you about the tales of old.”

All play came to a stop as the words reached their ears and without any more fuss the children settled into their beds, the two girls and two boys divided in the beds and with rapt eyes waited for the woman to begin her narration. Story time was their favorite, as no one could tell a story like their granny could. As she tucked them in, pulling up the blankets and fluffing their pillows, her voice started once again, the words flowing in a well practiced rhythm. 

“When kingdoms stood with their castles large and tall,

The mighty dragons soared above us all.

They were strong and gallant, a most noble beast,

With the spoils of the whole world their reserved feast.

Yet times were changing and something new was here,

The period known as the Darkening has arrived and with it-fear.

Assisted by its army of Shades, The Darkening was strong, 

Killing all the plants and animals both old and young.” 

The children shuddered, the fear of the Darkening already well known to them. The Darkening referred to the time when sickness and death plagued the land, killing many creatures and even the land itself. Some parts of the kingdom were still nothing but deadened and black land, with wispy soot particles that seemed to never go away no matter how much time passed. Everyone was told of the Darkening as a child, and for those who used to worship it- the Shades. 

The Shades were something of a myth now, and many now believed that they were something that never truly existed and were later added in for dramatic effects and to scare children into behaving. Mothers would warn their children to behave or the Shades would get them. Even these children knew the stories of how the Shades would steal naughty children and that those children would never be seen again.