The Night Creatures' Song Prologue

Something was wrong.
The man's face remained carefully impassive among his fellows, although his thoughts were in a turmoil. How could this have happened? When did it happen? But, most importantly, what had happened? He could feel it, feel the change in the air, feel the balance of life tip one way.
But which way was that?
So many unanswered questions were left inside of him as he crushed the report in his hand, looking to his colleagues that were seated around the grand table.
What would their reactions be once they knew?
"It seems that we have neglected our duties."
The quiet announcement left all side conversations hanging in the air, stunned faces freezing in mid-motion to turn to look at him, chins dropping in silent shock.
After a moment, a brave soul cleared her throat nervously. "Master Yuare, are you implying that...?"
"Yes, Nyar," he stonily interrupted. "I'm sure that I am not the only one who can feel the shift in the very core of the balance of the universe."
Murmurs erupted in the grand hall, echoing off the high marble ceiling. Large windows let in the light of the setting sun over the very small planet of Urion, casting light oranges across the room as many inside spoke hurriedly over the new problem that was arising.
Sighing, Yuare pushed his lean frame away from the circular, white table, chair making a small screeching noise as it was dragged across the tile shortly. He rose, tall stature towering over the others, and walked to one of the grand windows, looking out across the cloud-like land with his dark red eyes. His hand reached out and pressed against the opposite side of the glass where an insect had landed, wondering what would happen if the council failed, of what would happen to Urion, the selected members of the council, and of the universe.
The wrinkles in his face creased slightly as he looked over his homeland, causing his slightly pointed ears to twitch and his bald head to become more prominent.
If his senses were in proper order, he would've said that the tear caused in the universe by the mysterious unbalance was nearly upon them.
A chortle nearly bubbled up in his throat at the thought. Here, on the greatest land of the known Confederation? What unbalance could possibly-

His thoughts were cut short suddenly by a new chain of musings. What if it truly was? He considered, watching as what he assumed to be a storm brewed about the fluffy ground. Soon enough, however, the land began to break apart from itself, pieces flying heavenward, and his eyes followed them only to see a sight that caused his breath to stop.
The Urionian's eyes widened significantly in recognition, and he pivoted swiftly on his heel, yelling desperately, "Everybody out!" he bellowed. "Get out, now! Plan A!" No one moved. "Didn't you hear me?! I said we had to go!" But...the report had said...Curse it all!
For a moment, the varied faces of the council members-some Urionians, some from the planet of Yur, and some from other, less widely-known planets- stared stupidly at him, before they registered what he was saying. It was then a mad scramble towards the various, carefully hidden buttons that lay across the expansive walls.
The entire building seemed to move, and Yuare stared in horror out the window. "The tear and the unbalance has reached Urion!"
Panic set in. He had to warn them, his people, everyone-he had to somehow get there! His feet stumbled as he felt it pulling at him. Failure, his mind whispered, failure! Fearfully, he made the mistake of looking behind him, and what he saw made him stop dead.
"Master Yuare! Master Yuare!" the younger Nyar shouted, tugging at his arm. "You must move! Come! It's waiting for us!"
Her innocence protected her from the unbalance, he thought as she dragged him away. It kept her from seeing the true evil that lurked inside of the rip in the universe caused by the unbalance, shielded her from the horrors that it truly contained.
With a deep rumble, the bottom of the floor in the middle of the table shook and began rising, taking the table with it. Underneath the table was a hole, containing a liquid of a mixture of colors; greens, blues, reds, all swirling together in a beautiful way, nearly looking like thousands of tiny, liquid-clear diamonds sifting about.
A tug on his arm told him it was time, a voice calling distantly said that he had to jump else he be taken in the rip.
As he jumped downwards into it, clearing his mind, only one thing kept him doubting...
The portal had never been tested.

* * * Years later...

Uri groaned and rolled his eyes as his father lectured him. "No, not that way Uri, you're supposed to hold your sword like this!"
Sighing in agitation mentally, he dislodged the tip of his sword and brought it up in front of his body, spreading his legs and bending as his father was doing, holding the sword at an angle in front of him.
"But Father, this is so...so...boring," he groaned again. "What I was doing before was much more fun."
"No, it was dangerous," the older man scolded him. "You shouldn't tamper with forces you can't control as of now. Remember, you're not of Age yet; you're only 14 cycles through, and you still have another three to go."
"I could read the runes on my sword, though! That should count for something, shouldn't it?"
Sighing, his father lowered his sword. "Coming of Age is not about reading the ancient runes inscribed on your sword. It is about being old enough to control the power that those runes hold."
"But Father-"
"No buts, Uri. Just do as I say, so you'll be properly trained."
"But-"
His father, Hrare, sent him a look, his green eyes flashing dangerously down at the dark-haired boy. Grumbling about how there really wasn't any threat anyway, Uri reluctantly followed the, to him, rather basic attack pattern his father made him do.
Hours later, the boy collapsed in the grass, not tired because of his training, but because he'd been up since sunrise and it was well past sunset. His father was already asleep, having made his way back to the camp long before his son had.
A sigh passed through Uri's lips. What Hrare didn't know was that the boy was far past the training he was being put through at the moment.
The stars glinted above him. A small smile tugged at his lips. Stars had always made him feel home, even though he hadn't had a true home since his mother passed away and his father took him traveling around the small planet of Earth.
Truthfully, he mused, rolling onto his side, he didn't know what planet he was from, as his parents never told him. They only told him that when he was an infant, they took a ship to Earth and stayed there. The thin boy had asked once, but they had merely sat in an almost depressed silence, any happy expression they'd had before melting off their faces. Thus, he hadn't asked since, not wanting to ever see that expression again.
He could tell it wasn't Earth, though, because the customs were different and they also didn't have his people's, whoever they were, powers.
After his mother's death, his father had lapsed into becoming a teacher more than a father. This bothered Uri, and a small bitterness had welled up within him.
Shaking his head, he pushed himself into a sitting position, knowing that his thinking was destroying what chance he had of sleep. He carefully got up, moving silently through the grass as though he had been floating above it. The 14-cycle boy paused by a sack of items, grabbed his sheathed sword and then dashed off again.
He stopped after running for a while, barely even winded, and stretched his hearing and eyesight out to make sure no one had followed or was around, for what he was about to do was strictly against all Earthling laws and the traditions of his people.
Slowly, he unsheathed his sword, holding it up to the moon. It wasn't the brightest light he could have, but it would do for now.
The light seemed to pass through the metal, causing the ancient runes that were engraved on it to glow. Hrare had once told him that swords chose their owners, and the runes shifted and created themselves to fit the owner's potential.
No one was supposed to be able to read the runes, according to tradition, before coming of Age at 17 cycles (and cycles were based off of how many rotations of the planet you're on around a star you have witnessed). If they were able to before then, they had to undergo even more severe training than normal to make sure they knew the power the runes held and what they could truly do.
His father, however, rejected all of this with a shake of his brown- haired head as he spoke of it, saying that it was better to have traditional training and a few lectures to make sure he was properly trained. Although he acted as if he didn't quite care that his son was able to read the runes 3 cycles too early, Uri could see that his father was a bit disturbed when he had first found out.
A low humming noise brought him back to reality and he grasped the curved hilt, allowing the just as gently curved sword to illuminate fully. Cautiously, he ran his free fingers over the runes, murmuring their meanings as he felt them.
"Yere nehr kunli fura," he chanted, "tryu iu onfe."
He chanted the phrase again, a third time, and a fourth time, until he felt the changes. Only he would ever know the true meaning of those words, and only he would be able to speak them to his sword and have it react.
It began to hum louder, seemingly absorbing all the light. The boy knew then that it was time.
"Come forth!" He screamed into the night air.
Nothing happened for a while, and, for the briefest of moments, he believed that he had failed once again. A small amount of expected disappointment spread within him as the night continued its silence.
All of a sudden, a twig snapped in the distance. Uri's head turned swiftly to the direction from which it came. In truth, he only knew the meaning of those words, not what they actually did. The only thing he knew was that the words called on something; he had no idea what it was.
A twig snapped from the opposite direction, then leaves crunching under more than one pair of feet.
But who owned the pairs of feet?
Rustling of a bush caught his attention, and he brought his sword up defensively. A silhouetted figure against the moonlight stepped out, and Uri didn't waste a second thought on lunging towards it.
It gave a startled sound and dodged at the last second, catching the boy's wrist in a surprisingly strong grip.
"Now, there, boy, I would appreciate it if you didn't attack me," an amused voice remarked.
Stepping out of the shadows, the figure revealed himself to be a tall, thin man with slightly pointed ears, a bald head, and dark red eyes.
Uri frowned at the odd characteristics, then looked at his sword, noticing that the runes had yet to stop glowing, meaning that whatever he summoned had yet to show. His frown deepened and he wrenched his wrist from the stranger's grasp, scowling darkly.
"And who are you supposed to be?" he said in agitation, lowering his sword.
"Forgive me," the stranger said, bowing slightly. "My name is Ner Yuare of the Council of Urion."
A gasp flew out of his mouth before he could stop it. "Ner Yuare of the Council of Urion?! Didn't you die before I was born?!" He said, shocked, and stumbled backwards, tripping over a root. He fell roughly on his backside.
Shaking his head, Yuare leaned closer and said lowly, "No one officially proclaimed us all dead. We merely disappeared." A dark look appeared on his face. "We were being threatened by an unknown force and had to use the portal, which I'm sure you know of," at this point he paused and waited for the other to nod, "hastily without testing it. For a while, we were floating around in, well, nothing before we found ourselves on this planet. A significant amount of us were missing, I'm afraid, and I have been looking for the lost ones since." The man's eyes had a distant look in them as he reminisced. "I got into a bit of trouble...I didn't know that magic was outlawed on this planet."
Uri mumbled something that sounded vaguely like an agreement and got up, dusting himself off before observing the man before him. Well, he most definitely was from Urion, from what his father had told him, and he did carry an aura of power about him...
"I merely felt a large escalation of power here and followed it, thinking it was one of my colleagues. Instead I found you, strangely enough."
Scowling once again, the boy looked him in the eye, having enough of the rambling. "If you excuse me, I was attempting to do something."
He threw one last annoyed glance before pausing. A frown tugged downwards at the corners of his mouth. "A disturbance! Finally, I think it's working." Rather than sounding joyous, he sounded more petulant that it took so long.
The tall man looked at him strangely, but he ignored him, knowing that he would have to concentrate now or loose all of his previous work..
Picking up his sword, closing his eyes, and blatantly not acknowledging the older man's presence, he concentrated. The glow about the sword became tinted with darkness, and soon narrowed eyes of prowling creatures of the night began gathering around the small clearing.
Noises and scrapings of a distant world filled the empty silence from before, and shadows moved along the grass.
Yuare gasped in recognition as a wind picked up, blowing harshly, and screamed over the noise, "Boy! Stop it! You know not of what you're doing!" His hand reached out to grasp the boy, but a sudden pain shredded through him as he briefly touched the fabric of the boy's clothing.
With a sharp cry of agony, he fell to his knees and clutched his head. Uri remained oblivious to the other's turmoil, still in deep concentration.
The shadows began to detach themselves from the ground, becoming crouched creatures shrouded by darkness, four legs bent like coiled springs, ready to attack. More and more became true creatures, some bent more than others, and some with almost human-like appearances.
Grunting, the Council member stood, swaying slightly, and attempted to call on his own magic to stop it. It was strange, using it after leaving it dormant for so long, but he managed to encase his body in a shield that shimmered on his skin, then became invisible.
Moving forward, against the wind, he struggled to reach out his arm, but managed to grasp the boy's shoulder.
He got no response.
Yuare grunted in annoyance and took his hand, chopping the boy hard at the base of his skull.
After he fell forward lifelessly, all the creatures gave out shrieks and howls, retreating back into shadows and melting back into their world with a large amount of protest.
Exhaustion racked the Urionian, and he fell down to the ground next to the unconscious boy and fell into a much needed rest.

* * *

With a groan, Uri opened his eyes and squinted against the sunlight, and winced as a headache pounded in the back of his head. What happened...?
He sat up and blinked away a head rush, looking about him. As he spotted the sleeping Council member beside him, he began remembering exactly what had happened the night before.
Angrily, the black-haired boy shook the man next to him until he awakened, dark red eyes peering up in a sleepily confused way before realization sparked in his eyes.
Yuare mumbled something and stood up, stretching as he yawned. "I suppose you're wondering why I knocked you out," he said through the yawn.
Uri just gave him an annoyed look.
Sighing, he said, "Look, you were tampering with forces that you don't know how to control yet. I'm fairly sure you aren't of Age yet, judging by how you carelessly did it without knowing exactly what your runes did."
Throwing up his hands in exasperation, the boy stood up and said angrily, "Not this again, the whole 'you don't know what you're doing' bit."
"Well, quite frankly, you don't. And, judging by the style of runes," he spared a glance at the sword lying discarded on the ground, "You're from Iyo."
The other opened his mouth to retort, before he realized what the man had said, and blinked. "Iyo...?"
Nodding, Yuare remarked, "Yes, I'm positive of it now. Especially the arrogance at a young age."
Dazed, Uri didn't recognize what would have been an insult to him. "Iyo? That's where I'm from...?"
"You mean you didn't know?"
He sent him a sharp look, snapping out of his daze and regaining his usual disposition. "I'd like to know more of this 'Iyo.'"
Shaking his bald head, the other replied, "Later. First I need to fill you in on what your master or parent didn't explain to you." He bent over and picked up the sword, laying the blade flat in his palms. "Your runes summon what are called Night Creatures. They can be evil, or they can be good; it depends entirely on the summoner. Generally, they can do various things for the summoner, since they hate their world and are grateful to be out of it for even a short amount of time. However, they're more intelligent than they seem and try to find ways to twist your words.
"It's very common for a summoner to become caught up in the power, or to not word his order correctly. You have to have careful training to resist temptations and careful training in grammar to make sure you don't mix up your words and such."
Uri rolled his eyes and grabbed his sword back, sheathing it with an annoyed sound in his throat.
"Well, it's not like I could have any of that training, with my father being the way he is," he grumbled, more to himself than to Yuare.
"Well," the Council member said thoughtfully, turning his eyes to the horizon, "You have great potential and I do need someone to help me fight this unknown enemy, and I have the materials you need for proper training to control these Night Creatures..."
He left his sentence hanging in the air, shifting his glance to the boy meaningfully. Uri hesitated.
This was what he truly wanted, wasn't it, he thought, green eyes moving about the landscape. Could he, however, leave his father? Yes, he disliked his father, disliked the fact that all his father did was train him and remind him of his mother, that his father didn't love him and he didn't love Hrare.
But could he leave, just abandon his father in spite?
Yes, he could.
He turned his eyes towards the man, then began walking away. "Where to next?"
Smiling slightly, the Urionian shook his head and walked after the other one.
Neither knew what would truly become of them in the years to come.