If you travel past the sun and light-years back in time
through whispers of a past so haunting it chills you, you will meet a
queen. She was a great beauty, tall enough
to look upon many worlds, yet not so large that she could not understand the
hearts of those she lead and served. Her
eyes glowed like soft bright moons and she radiated quietly like a sky filled
with sparkling stars. Hers was a
universe filled with beauty and light.
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| Photo by Toy Elephant Photography. Dress by Elisabeth Donaldson of Monarch |
The Darkness sees light as a thing to be smothered and it
sought to destroy the Queen and her kind- if only to sustain its own existence.
It was silent of course and not noticed by a soul, but the Darkness, crept into
this world like a slight insidious wind. It whispered into ears like a distempered
dream and bred the first tiny seeds of doubt and fear.
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| Photo by Toy Elephant Photography. Dress by Elisabeth Donaldson of Monarch |
In spite of the Queen’s grand love and reassurance, her kind
began to tremble and shake. The Darkness
shadowed over them, cloaked in sleep, and filled them with memories of sadness
and regret. They were simple, so simple,
too peaceful and untouched, and soon, lead by a force they could not
understand, their fear swelled up.
Stabbing at shadows they could not see- they began to know the taste of
blood.
The queen stumbled upon this in her travels and felt her
heart- wretched and squeezed and choked and emptied- rise into her throat like
a stifled scream. Weakened by the dismantling of a peace that she never
predicted would break- she knew she must find the strength to learn to fight. She painted her face with stardust in the
traditional design of the ancient protectors, and put upon her back a robe
comprised of the lost souls that she could not defend. This remembrance kept her safe. Cloaked
in the lost- she fought.
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| Photo by Toy Elephant Photography. Dress by Elisabeth Donaldson of Monarch |
For eons to come she was known as the most beautiful warrior
on the south side of the galaxy.
Fiercely radiant, she flew through space – particles of energy and light
exploding in her every move- her weapon was her passion and her desire to
protect the light ones from becoming the very thing that had come to destroy
them
She fought until she could barely move- she fought until her
face lost its glow and became filled with dust and skin that was stretched and
torn. The darkness crept- it slaughtered
her children and burned her worlds, turned stars into stones and still, she
fought. Her kind turned against her,
charged forth to steal and destroy the little light she had left but she
carried forth to protect them. Although
it drained her to stand tall and shine bright enough for them to still see
their own decency- she did so. And when
she had looked in their eyes long enough to bring forth the tears of truth and
redemption- She went forth and
fought. Each breath became heavy, each
step more human, each war cry more fragile and strained. The keepers of light had long since left her as
the sole protector of her universe and the weight of her own lonely integrity rushed
upon her like the ocean upon a sinking ship.
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| Photo by Toy Elephant Photography. Dress by Elisabeth Donaldson of Monarch |
The darkness finally became too much the universe too hard
and the people too sad and weak and the queen, using every last ounce of
strength rose high into the sky overlooking her ravaged lands and began to
weep. You could feel the sound of her
despair- it was empty and hollow and
paralyzing and deep- deep into the inside of all existence. Her chest heaved one last labored cry and
then down from the sky she fell, body torn and heavy crashing down into the
dust and ash that remained of all that once lived. She lay in the middle of all she had fought
for and lost- small and mortal, clutching to her own body as if it was the
last possible thing left to save. The minions of darkness- with the pathetic
victory of overtaking one who is already broken on their breath, seized upon
her and squeezed her sad emptied soul into a stone which was thrown far far
away into a long forgotten corner of a word that had long since burned. There she was left. To sleep and to die.
Now darkness is darkness and, being the insane thing that it
is, forgets
Eternities passed.
Suns were born and suns would burn until they exploded into Supernovas
and then faded. Even the darkness faded
(as darkness often will- as his has not the integrity and strength of light)
turning into dust until a new evil comes along to replace it.
And the darkness forgot
Even the queen forgot.
Sleeping can be like dying if you’re afraid to face all you have left
behind. Now a soul is a soul and it is a power that cannot be killed; and the
queen’s was a soul that could not be broken
The frivolous pressures of the aimless chaos of time wore
away at the rock, small cracks and splits seeping into its shell once every
million or so years. It was forever and an instant all happening at once- but
eventually the queen was released, drifting in sadness like a dream among the
stars
The lords of darkness, small minded as they were- unaware
and unsure of their own power, could never have known that this warrior queen-
released into the universe as she had become-
would come back to find them and to rid the world once again of the
darkness that had killed her kind
Until one day
The Queen came back…and this is where the story begins.
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Photo by Toy Elephant Photography. Dress by Elisabeth Donaldson of Monarch
For Lauren on her BirthdayWritten by Elisabeth Donaldson. All Rights Reserved 2013
Photography by Toy Elephant Photography
Clothing by Monarch
Monarch. Clothing by Elisabeth Donaldson. All Rights Reserved 2013 |
