WORLD BEYOND ORIGINS: Winter Legend

Winter has descended upon the Earth like a white bird, spreading its giant wings to shield the soil from freezing winds. She sang softly, her breath casting a thick layer of ice over lakes and rivers. Trees and animals succumbed to the drowsy embrace of the season.

Listen to Winter Legend by World Beyond

In the bottomless depths of the celestial ocean, shimmering with a sprinkling of stars, dreams came to life once again. They quietly descended to earth, stealthily slipping under the covers of sleeping people. Strange creatures, masters of illusions, in whose deception you believe until the very end - only when they dissolve in the rays of the morning sun do you leave the world woven of dreams from your most intimate thoughts, feelings, and experiences. And as long as the tiny starlights dance in the sky, the valley remains entirely under the control of the children of the night.

On one of these silent winter nights, two massive glowing stones plummeted from the sky. Many years later, craters where they landed transformed into two lakes, which gave birth to two rivers. Owing to the abundance of underground water springs, even during the coldest spells, the rivers remained unfrozen, as if a mighty force from within the earth kept it warm.

They say the people who inhabited these lands in the days of old worshiped the spirits of stone and forest. These spirits taught them how to shape the world in unimaginable ways for they possessed a rare gift - the power to make stones sing which were carried ashore by the current of the river. 

They say that the symbols etched upon these stones held sway over comets, celestial wanderers, and by weaving a melody with their magical voices, the people could even tame the ancient force that had receded into the depths of the earth at the dawn of time. The whisper of this force can still be heard on the misty swamps surrounding the ancient lakes, and one can discern the echoes of strange music in the babbling of the waters to this very day.

Villages and hamlets were asleep, birds and animals dozed off in the forests, and only in the snow-covered fields, where golden wheat once swayed in the breeze, there was a deafening rhythmic rumble and the clanging of metal.

Black as night, massive as a boulder, the colossus slowly strode along the riverbank, dragging thick chains behind it. Its head and face were carved out of stone, its arms bulged with muscles, and its legs resembled the trunks of mighty trees. The Unknown One was grim and silent, with thick steam pouring from its mouth, and its eyes were like wells in which tongues of blue flame danced.

It followed its path to where, under the starry sky in the midst of dense forests, runes gleamed on guiding stones, the meaning of which was known only to the Creature because these runes came to Earth from distant worlds that were once its home. Did it seek a way back, fleeing from captivity, or was existence itself involuntary for it? Perhaps it too was looking for answers to these questions in the valley of the never-freezing river.

Not long after, the forest awoke from a powerful roar. Where flashes of light were illuminating impenetrable clouds and century old trees were falling to the ground with a loud crash, ancient forces were clashing. The resistance of celestial and earthly beings, unbreakable stone and living power. 

A low rumble echoed throughout the earth, and waves of energy raced over the smooth surface of the river in blue sparks. This energy flowed through the ground along the trunks of spruce and pine trees, electrifying the air around them. And then a sudden thaw started the season of melting signifying big changes in the world.

The fight between the cold of the stone and the heat of the living hearts was over and a sudden warm wind brought sunny weather causing the snow to melt. Flocks of birds were rushing back home, forest creatures came out of their lairs to let the young radiant sun warm them. Winter finally came to an end, along with the legend of the people that once roamed these lands.

The world always takes back what is owed. A long time ago they tried to stop a cataclysm from happening and became nothing more than a legend. But when history repeats, a legend comes alive.