The Child of Feiradyr Series Complete Collection

Note **By popular demand, I’ve chosen to release the entire “Child of Feiradyr” series as one post now that it’s complete, so that anyone who wants to read the whole thing doesn’t have to click around the blog. I’ll likely do this for most of my completed series in future, so yes, this is a repeat post. Feel free to skip it if you aren’t interested in reading the whole saga from start to finish 🙂

I’ve always been fascinated by stories about the otherworldly strength of mothers. While I have no current interest in being one myself, tales of mothers lifting vehicles off of their children, or fighting off wild animals, or all other manner of impossible strength are as incredible as they are surreal.

Hysterical strength, they call it.

Whatever you personally believe is the cause, whether God or universe or adrenaline, I call it magic.

“The Incredible Hulk,” a TV show that ran from 1977 to 1982 depicted a woman explaining to Banner that through a burst of hysterical strength, she was able to lift her car off of her son after an accident, saving his life. I can still hear her voice, and I remember being a little girl staring wide-eyed at the screen every time my dad rewatched the series, which was a lot, because he is a habitual rewatcher of all media he enjoys.

I suppose I never knew on a conscious level how big of a role this type of thing would play in the creation of my world. The hysterical strength of a mother pushed to the brink. And yet the concept pervades the entirety of it, rippling like a disturbance far out in the sea, and crashing to land with all the power and force of a hurricane.

In this series you will read the tale of my world’s creation. I’m finally ready to share, and I can only hope to craft words into a tapestry on the page you can understand and see the way I do when I close my eyes.

So settle in, newborn child of Feiradyr, with your newest lungful of oxygen still fresh and flowing through your body, and hear a tale of the true power of a mother’s love.

Chapter 1: The Awakening

In the beginning, there was only a vast blanket of cold darkness, floating as a singular mass in the void.

A flash, like the blink of a great eye, lit up the inky black.

The Stallarins, great beings, fields of stars and planets and chunks of rock, awoke, as if from a great sleep.

Stallarins are beings of light and darkness, opposite ends of the great spectrum of life.

The Stallarins disagreed on their purpose for awakening, and split themselves into two distinct groups. The first were the Sun Stallarins. The other, Moon Stallarins.

While both groups were in agreement they were meant to somehow usher life into their quiet universe that was holding its breath around them, they could not agree on their methods.

The Sun Stallarins were brash and loud, and believed order, logic, and strict control were the key to life. Their desire for a direct approach in dealing with their future children, and control over their actions ruled their belief system.

The Moon Stallarins, quiet pacifists who were firm in their ideologies, believed allowing life to flourish and flow in its own unique way without interference was the key to its success.

The two groups held a great negotiation to discuss their views and reach a mutual understanding.

But disaster ensued.

During the debate, chaos erupted, and the mighty Stallarins entered an all out war, propelled by their polarizing ideals.

At this tragic battle’s end, only five Sun Stallarins survived, and a single Moon Stallarin.

A Sun Stallarin who had abstained from the battle and convinced his other four companions to do the same named Draxu was able to save the Moon Stallarin. Her name was Freigeye. Draxu’s companions were named Cormag, Feg, Rangor, and Algor.

Lady Freigeye watched Draxu from afar, and his protection and treatment of her caused her to feel something entirely new.

It was then the Stallarins discovered that only through love, and the merging of darkness and light, could life be created.

Draxu and Lady Freigeye fell in love, and welcomed their first child. This was the planet Draknass; a quaint, spherical blank canvas onto which the first ever Mother Stallarin could paint life.

She placed her ethereal fingers in the crust of the planet, and made great craters in its surface which she filled with her blood. She called it “the Living Liquid” and created streams and rivers to hold it. She molded hills and mountains and valleys like a potter with clay, and with a kiss they flooded with green grass and thick forests of trees. As she worked, she salted some of the water with her perspiration. She worked for days without speaking, and when she finally did, she said

“Behold Draknass, a fitting home for my future children to live.”

Welcome back, child of Feiradyr. You’re breathing now, on your own. Breathing in my world. What you’ve learned is merely the tip of an enormous iceberg. Did you think the Mother Titan, Mother Universe, Lady Freigeye herself would stop at her very own planet?

You have much to learn, my child.

And so Lady Freigeye looked upon Draknass. He had towering mountains, rolling hills of green grass, forests of vast thick trees, rivers and oceans and lush tropical woodlands brimming with fruit. But what of keeping him in order?

And so Lady Freigeye went to Draxu, and asked him to help her make some shepherds for their son to lead and guide him.

And thus the Worldkeepers were made. Enormous creatures tasked with keeping the planet of Draknass balanced.

A shaggy, four-legged beast the size of a mountain with the head of a Persian cat, the body of a shepherd dog, and the tail of a wolverine. The Shepherd of the Land and Seasons. He is often depicted sleeping, his fur rippling with the soft breeze through the trees as he listens to the rhythm of the planet beneath his hulking body. He is said to bring about the change of seasons, and change his appearance alongside them.

A massive rock golem with long hanging arms of moss covered stone and huge, lumbering feet moving slowly over the planet. The Shepherd of the Mountains and Rain. He is often depicted at the base of the mountains, gazing up at them in adoration. He is said to stand atop the mountains and call down rain and snow when needed.

A sea-dragon that spans all of the world’s oceans in length, who’s mighty green and turquoise and blue scales are the size of ships, and who carries all the flowing waters in his bejeweled eyes. The Shepherd of the Seas and Tides. He is often depicted raised up out of the water, covered in an entire ecosystem of ocean life. He is said to raise and lower the tides of the oceans by raising and lowering his great body.

A great firebird, who’s wingtips span the sky, with a curved black beak and plumage the color of blue and white and green in the spring months, but go red and orange and brilliant yellow in Autumn. The Shepherd of the Sky and Fire. She is often depicted flying above a blazing forest fire, heralding in new life beneath. She is said to grip the sun and moon and tow them to their highest points before they fall back down.

Next, the Lady Freigeye created a race of peoples known simply as “Velve’s People” at this time in history. Later, the first V would be dropped and this race would become the Elves. Lady Freigeye loved Velve deeply, and he followed her as his leader for all of his people.

Upon crafting the Elves, Lady Freigeye asked Draxu to help her create a humanoid form for Draknass to inhabit.

The result was an Elf-sized humanoid with skin that varies from rock, clay, and dirt. Grass grew as hair upon his head, and a crown of flowers adorned his brow. His eyes were molten like the core of the planet, and veins of this same lava flow across his body in meridians. A pair of rocky horns came from his head, and his every emotion was linked to the planet that was his soul. When their son was happy, sunshine and clear skies dominated. His sadness could create rain, while his anger brought torrential storms, earthquakes, or volcanoes.

Lady Freigeye favored Velve’s People, and she wished to create Guardians for them.

The Guardian of All Living- The first Guardian created was the Guardian of All Living. She is depicted as a glowing Valkyrie with flowing brown hair, white wings, a golden tunic, and a huge golden hammer with sparkling emerald gemstones. She is tasked with protecting and guarding life on Draknass, specifically the Elves.

The Guardian of All Dead- The second Guardian created was the Guardian of All Dead. He is depicted as a pale skinned Elf with long, straight black hair and deep green eyes. He is often dressed in dark ceremonial robes. He is tasked with escorting fallen Elves to his Realm and watching over them when they die.

The Guardian of All Seeing- The third and final Guardian created was the Guardian of All Seeing. He is depicted as an older humanoid male with a long white beard and shaved head. He is often dressed humbly in plain brown robes with a deep green cord. He is tasked with overseeing “The Book of Life,” and watching all the happenings of the world, recording them in his own books and records.

And so Lady Freigeye looked upon their creations and was pleased.

Welcome back, child of Feiradyr. Your eyes are opening. You are witnessing life all around you. Wake up to it! Swiftly now, before it all goes down in flames…

The Mother Stallarin granted each of her 3 Guardians a realm to watch over her beloved Elves.

The Guardian of All Living was given the planet of Draknass and all the land upon him.

The Elves were hers to look after in life, and she blessed them with long years and fertility.

The Guardian of All Living represented the physical body, and all things tangible.

The Guardian of All Dead was given the spiritual realm above Draknass, a place for all Elves who leave their physical bodies.

He was given the task of leading them, guiding them through the velvet, starry skies next to him to this realm, and to watch over them upon arrival.

He blessed the Elves with his own ethereal beauty and an affinity for magic.

The Guardian of All Dead represented matters of the spirit, and all things outside of worldly concerns.

The Guardian of All Seeing was given the realm between, to watch over the future of all the Mother Stallarin’s creatures. It was there the fabric of reality met the immaterial of the spiritual realm.

With the Lady Freigeye’s blessing, he granted the Elves the unique ability to create new forms of life.

The Guardian of All Seeing represented matters of the mind, where logic met imagination.

In this realm of in between, the Guardian of All Seeing could hear Lady Freigeye when she spoke to him. He became the envoy of her desires.

A Spark

The Guardian of All Seeing’s siblings grew jealous of their brother’s gifts. They feared their beloved Elves would favor his unique blessing, and neither of them could hear the Mother Stallarin when she spoke.

And so the Guardian of All Dead proposed a solution, that they strike down their brother and take his place as their mother’s envoys.

The siblings found their way to their brother’s realm, and when they looked upon the realm, they saw their brother meditating at its center, in front of a great book.

Before the siblings could move, his voice boomed out over the realm.

“I can see upon the pages of my book that I will not convince you to spare my life. But trust that neither will Lady Freigeye spare your punishment.”

The Guardian of All Living cried out,

“He sees the future!”

And she fled from the realm.

But the Guardian of All Dead was not swayed nor convinced, and he stabbed his brother in the back with a jagged knife as he meditated.

A scream, like a great roaring storm, split through the realm.

Lady Freigeye was furious at her children for murdering one of their own. Their own brother.

In her wrath, she banished the Guardian of All Dead from his own realm, and he was only permitted to leave to walk Elves to the very realm he was unable to himself enter. He had only minutes with each of them, before his spirit was ripped back to his new prison.

His brother’s old realm.

A place now filled with his mother’s cries of grief, and the torture of his murdered brother in his dreams, the knife still stuck in his back.

The Guardian of All Living, for her cowardly retreat from her brother and her failure to aid him, was chained by a curse to a single temple where she was expected to remain for all of eternity. Denied from watching over her beloved people.

The Ordering of the Story Keepers

Lady Freigeye gathered up all of the life essence of the Guardian of All Seeing, for that essence never leaves, only dissipates. And so she spread his magic out amongst her Elves.

These Elves blessed with this essence are known as Story Keepers. Beings gifted with unique knowledge of the future that would pass onto their heirs or spread to a new host upon death.

They were then given the same books the Guardian of All Seeing meditated in front of at the time of his death. These enormous, nigh indestructible books appear blank to all but Story Keepers. They hold the future of all creatures, folk, and people they meet. The book tells them the destiny of every one of these living things, including their own. However, they are physically unable to divulge these outcomes to anyone. They are only permitted to guide the seeker upon their path to their destiny, and this is their role in life.

And so, death heralds in new life on Draknass. A mother’s grief births something new.

Across the vast starry universe, the fitful nightmares of Draxu flash through the cosmos…

Welcome back, child of Feiradyr. There is much to do and we must hurry. You are only just learning to crawl? Then allow me to carry you. I’ve seen blood and death. Our time is fast approaching. Hold your breath…

Lady Freigeye’s creations left her glowing with pride, power, and exultation. But it was not so for Draxu…

The creation of Draknass had left him inexplicably exhausted and weak. He sensed his time was growing short, and in this time he’d realized the key to life required both sun and moon Stallarins working in tandem. His anger at his fellow suns for lashing out against the moon Stallarins had begun haunting his dreams, leaving him unable to rest, unable to cease his charge through the stars.

He began a mighty trek through the cosmos, searching for answers, a way to bring the moon Stallarins back to continue their quest for life, their quest to end their unquenchable thirst for creation.

He passed by vast swaths of brilliant twinkling stars, swirling blasts of galaxies, countless planets devoid of life, fields of rock drifting through the dark abundance of space for countless days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, millennia? There was no way for him to be sure. His strength was waning. Only his anger kept him plowing doggedly onward, drifting swiftly through the vast unrelenting reaches of space.

Finally, just as Draxu was certain his quest had been in vain, he was visited by a great power. A dark flow of mystical force. A great cloud of blackness so deep and so vast Draxu was certain he’d be lost in it forever if he stared too long. It was shapeless wisps of magic dissipating and reappearing across the macrocosm in front of him.

Draxu felt suddenly strong. The outer reaches of the power flickered and seeped over him, leaving him full of vigor. The great power gave him the answer. It told him the only way to save the Stallarins, to grant them their power and souls back, was to reset the cosmos to their original form. To black void and nothingness. The power showed him the suffering Stallarins in the folds of its great layered mass. Draxu heard their screams, their pleas for his aid.

He was blasted through the stars at unfathomable speed, the instructions of the great power reverberating through his being.

He went to Lady Freigeye and told her of what he had learned. Of the answer to their struggle. Their son, all of their creations, must be destroyed. Existence itself needed to be reset. The great power had demanded it.

The Lady Freigeye beheld all of her children. The great rolling wilds of Draknass. His mountains, oceans, swamps, great swaths of trees breathing in the rich breeze. Velve and his people dancing in the meadows, soaking up the moonlight pulled towards them by the great firebird, drinking deeply from the streams kept overflowing by her rock golem. She thought of her elation and sweat and tears and grief. She thought of the heavy weight where her heart would be if she were human at the hurt her Guardians had inflicted on each other. The pain it had caused her. The unfathomable depths of her anguish.

Well, would you… Could you destroy them all?

And so the Lady Freigeye refused Draxu’s request. She would not allow her children to be destroyed for the sake of more. More life. More creation. More Stallarins.

The Poisoning of Draknass

When Lady Freigeye took her rest after long periods of watching her children and planning her future creations, Draxu began whispering to Draknass…

He was desperate to return the galaxy to its original form. To get the days long since gone back. To have enough Stallarins to create even more life.

And so he whispered dark lies to Draknass. Planted poisonous seeds in his mind in an effort to drive him to madness. He let the great power seep into the boy. Let its presence and influence corrupt him. To get him to destroy himself and all the Lady’s other children. If they perished, surely she would reconsider resetting the world.

Draknass began to grow weak and sick.

His once fertile soil turned black and appeared scorched. The lush thick grasses that covered the plains and rolling hills died. Water began to dry up, despite the interference of the Worldkeepers. Draknass’ molten eyes grew hotter with hatred. The oceans grew nearly too warm for the plethora of sea creatures that inhabited them. The firebird hunched dejected on the branches of a great pine, picking her feathers in frustration. The sea dragon roared out his rage and pain into the deep trenches of the world. Velve cried out to Lady Freigeye, desperate to understand how he and his people could help their sickly brother.

The Mother Stallarin screamed out in grief, distraught over the state of her children. Velve and his people rushed to the aid of Draknass, trying to soothe his anger, his frustration, his distress. Volcanoes threatened to erupt. The crust of Draknass grew blistered and began heaving. Velve’s people urged the planet to stop, rushing towards his humanoid form.

The boy lashed out, slaying many of the Elves. With a wail, he snapped entirely.

Draknass roared and groaned, and grew to an enormous size. His bulk threatened to crush his planetary form underneath. The molten core flowing to his meridians oozed and blustered forth lava, spilling it onto the surface of the planet. The crown of flowers that had previously adorned his brow wilted and fell, disintegrating to ash as they fell past the magma of his body. His continued to grow, nearing the size of the Stallarins, threatening to bring about the end of days…

The great power flickered and crackled about him, flaring in a great curtain like a thunderstorm suddenly descending. Its blackness swirled and enveloped Draknass. It infiltrated his entire being, and with a sickening twist of undulating power, the boy’s eyes became the void…

Lady Freigeye screamed in horror, her power radiating through the galaxy.

“Save them, we must save them!”

Her words echoed around the cosmos, giving life to her ultimate wish, giving voice to her desire. The Mother Stallarin knew what she must do then. The gravity of her choice settled over the great expanse of space. It rocked the foundations of creation.

I would welcome you back, child of Feiradyr, but even you can hear the splintering of our reality. The sounds of the world being ripped apart. You can smell the thick acrid smoke. You can see the flames licking across the vast swaths of forest. You can hear the shifting and crumbling of Draknass as he buckles beneath the weight of the great power. You too, sense the end growing near.

But listen, child. Listen closely. Can you hear her singing? She’s here to save us…

Lady Freigeye prepared to enter Draknass’ atmosphere, to destroy her son and save her other children. Draxu grew angry and forbade her from the act, but when Cormag, Feg, Rangor, and Algor, the remaining Sun Stallarins sided with the Mother Stallarin, he was forced to relent, at least for the moment.

Lady Freigeye entered the planet, and Draxu turned his fury on his brothers.

In lashing out, he discovered the ancient truth that no power, no energy, no essence could truly disappear. He’d absorbed their life forces, growing more powerful and rejuvenating his previously waning strength.

He realized then how Lady Freigeye could create so much life without being spent. The energy of her perished siblings at the battle between the groups had gone into her, making her more powerful than any Stallarin could comprehend.

Lady Freigeye shrieked in anger at the realization of what Draxu had done. She sent her power in a great arc towards him, and sent him hurtling across the cosmos.

Distracted, she was slashed across the chest by the great power invading her son. Blood in the form of water flowed freely from her wound, flooding the oceans and rivers and lakes. She cried out to her Worldkeepers, and they sprung into action. The great serpent in a swell and whoosh and gurgle of the oceans launched himself from the bottom of the sea, lowering the water as it threatened to drown out the continents on Draknass’ surface. The firebird’s flames burned white hot and bright, evaporating layers of liquid from the oceans in great plumes of steam. The rock golem stood atop the mountains of Draknass, roaring with power as he forced the rock to expand and shift and grow free from the water. The shaggy four legged beast shook its great head, yowling and forcing the seasons to change to winter, freezing the oceans solid, stopping them from expanding. They groaned and quaked in their frigid prison.

But the blood poured still from the Mother Stallarin’s wound. The Worldkeepers willed their strength to hold. The serpent wound its way around Draknass’ gigantic leg, sinking its fangs into his thigh and clutching him with its great muscled coils. The firebird scorched across the surface of his eyes, blinding him. The rock golem threw great chunks of earth and mountaintops, breaking off pieces of the monster. The great shaggy beast leapt at his throat, biting and scratching in fury.

But their power was not enough. The ice broke free from the oceans. They swelled to quell the firebird’s flames. The waves crashed over the mountain tops. Velve’s people screamed and wailed as the water swept them from their villages. It swirled and sucked them down as if it were angry. The Mother Stallarin reached out with her power, using some of her vast strength to bind those taken by the water with sea life.

Their bodies twisted and undulated and formed into sea creatures. Tails, fins, sleek bodies and scales covered them. They thrashed for a moment, then obeyed their Mother telling them to dive deep, take cover in the dark, cold water at the very bottom of the oceans.

The shaggy beast clawed through Draknass’ hard exterior until the pounding, molten core of his heart was exposed. He leapt from Draknass, gathering up all of Velve’s people he could fit on his back and charging for the highest peak he could reach. He cleared the bulk of it in one jump, then sunk his dagger-like claws into the rock and earth, climbing doggedly towards the top and hanging on with a grip like graphene.

With her children out of the way, Lady Freigeye struck out at her son, knocking him to his knees with a monumental blow to his head. The planet quaked with the power of it. Great shockwaves billowed across the land, across the water. The planet threatened to be torn asunder. A sound like a mighty explosion rent the air.

The rock golem jumped towards the shaggy beast, and called the other Worldkeepers into his embrace. The sea serpent released its grip on Draknass and sank into the depths, swirling and coiling his body around the newly born merfolk. The rock golem expanded and grew, forming a wall of impenetrable force around the other Worldkeepers and the people they’d managed to save. A few still clung to the planet, crying out, but it was too late. The Mother Stallarin’s eyes were dimming.

She raised up into a mighty power, and sent herself soaring through the heart of her son’s core.

A great vibrating hum cascaded over the planet. It grew to a cacophony as it slammed into the continents again and again, grinding all in its path to rubble. Great chunks of land flew into the air, hovering for a moment, the screeches of their inhabitants buried beneath the sounds of a world ending. But as the Mother Stallarin wheeled around, she stretched out her power, willing it to hold the sky islands in place. Draknass crashed to the ground with an earth shattering scream. His planetary body threatened to implode around him.

But Lady Freigeye was still there, and with a cavernous yell, she stitched the planet back together as it broke with her very essence. Each quaking continent settled. The ocean calmed. The mountains seemed to sigh with relief. And with her work complete, she collapsed onto the surface of the planet, her new body revealed, facing her son as they both gasped their last shuddering breaths.

The Aftermath

Velve and his people emerged onto a wasteland. Dark volcanic rock replaced what was once lush forests and rolling grasslands. More of the planet was covered in deep blue water that stretched on for miles. Before them was Freigeye, most of her body obscured by ocean due to her sheer size. Her remaining children ran to her. Her great star-filled eyes studied them, and a smile filled her lips.

“This new body will be of great use to you, my children. It can be used to bring this planet back to life, to its full fruition. Be free, and fill this planet with life and beauty.”

And with a final sigh, the Mother Stallarin faded away, and in place of her head, an oasis formed. Her life essence spread through the planet, willing rich soil and green grass and flowers onto it. Velve and his people would survive in the oasis, and soon, the Mother Stallarin would make herself known in other ways. But of course, so would Draknass. For no power, no energy, no essence can truly disappear…