Chapter 4 - The Meridian Guard

Having crawled through the Forged, BeeSheep found himself in the Land of Iron Sands. Dunes and desert as far as the eye can see. 

And scattered throughout the blackened sands are pieces of broken stars of every shape and color glowing like crystals.

BeeSheep followed the golden thread, buzzing along the way. Because he was beyond the firmament, and there was no sun nor moon to guide him, he knew not when it was day, nor when it was night. He flew, and flew, and flew, not knowing how long it had been.

And it was as BeeSheep flew along that the golden thread began to fade, and falter, until it was no more. BeeSheep floated there, confused, for he had not made it anywhere. He was in the middle of the Land of Iron Sands with nothing around him.

No sooner had BeeSheep reached the end of the golden thread than a great white light burst forth in the distance, and the sounds of a great battle could be heard across the dunes. BeeSheep zoomed forth, as quickly as he could, to see what was going on.

Cresting a large dune, he found himself looking over a battlefield. Tens of thousands of men wearing silver armor, and purple capes, fought against a great number of monsters. The creatures were tall, their bones made of black opalescent glass. Their limbs were longer than any man's, and while some had two arms and two legs, there were others with far more. 

They had no flesh, only great cloaks that draped from their heads to their knees, and eyes made of broken stars.

They bore long iron weapons, which are never straight. Their swords are jagged like lightning, their axes wavy like dunes. They cannot have straight weapons for they forge them from the sands with falling star light.

The creatures slaughtered the men below, and BeeSheep, compelled to help those in need, flew down into the battle. Men were slain to his right, and to his left, the cloaken creatures howled from beneath their fabric, and when they howled, it was like wind coming out and blowing the cloaks. They sounded like shrieking trumpets.

As BeeSheep flew amidst the battle, he saw a man, his silver armor battered, his purple cloak shredded, but on his lapels was a golden shield. The man slew the creatures at a far greater rate than any of the men around him. When he swung his sword he cut through the cloaks, and they trumpeted and died by his hand.

BeeSheep flew towards the man, and when he did, the man saw him and greeted him in the midst of the battle with a bow.

“Hail, BeeSheep,” said the man. “My name is Abner, son of Hudon, son of Terresh. I am the captain of the Meridian Guard, and we are fighting the Iron Trumpets, they seek to invade the earth from the heavens.”

BeeSheep buzzed to him a greeting in return.

“I see,” Abner said, turning and slaying a creature. “You are searching for your goddess, but you wish to assist us in this battle. Good on you sir, I have a task for you, if you will.”

And Abner, son of Hudon reached into his pouch, and held forth a folded letter. He offered it to BeeSheep, who took it.

“Take this, small friend, for it is a message from me. Go now, beyond the dunes to the West, follow the star flares, and there you will find the Evergreen Guard, and his men. Give them this letter, and they will know to come to our aid.”

BeeSheep saluted, and he began to fly.

“Take care BeeSheep,” Abner called, charging into the fray once more. “The path is perilous, but you are brave.”

BeeSheep flew as fast and as hard as he could, gripping the letter tight. However, as he crossed the great dunes, an iron trumpet appeared before him. One with four arms, and it carried with him, two iron swords shaped in a spiral.

It trumped, and BeeSheep’s ears rang with the sound of it. He set forth the letter in the sand and drew his star shard with which he had chiseled through the dome.

The iron trump attacked, swinging violently and fast. 

BeeSheep barely had time to raise his star shard and deflect the blows, each one causing him to stumble backwards in the sand. 

With each hit, sparks flew, but BeeSheep determined himself.

He flew upward, dodging the attack, and then dropping out of the sky, he stabbed his star shard into the cloak of the trump, and slid down its length, cutting all the way down. It trumped in great anger, and with a violent kick sent BeeSheep tumbling, the star shard falling from his grasp.

The trump stabbed at him with both of its swords, but BeeSheep rolled out of the way, and the iron swords became embedded deeply into the sands. This gave him just enough time to grab his star shard, and he leaped, flying toward the eyes of the iron creature.

Swinging his shard, he cracked the stars that were the trumps eyes and with a resounding scream, the creature fell to its knees, and stilled.

Whether BeeSheep had slain the creature he did not know, but he did not have time to check either. He flew down, biting the letter with his teeth and he began to fly once more.

Just as Abner had said, there before him were flares, burning with a glowing smoke. He followed them and there across the dunes was another army. BeeSheep surveyed the army, and there amidst them, he recognized a golden gleam, that of the captain’s badge.

And flying straight towards the captain, BeeSheep fell at their feet, the letter now delivered. The captain of the Evergreen Guard reached down and retrieved both he and the letter.

“Grab for me some water,” said the woman wearing the captain’s badge. She had pale skin, bright red hair, and freckles across her face. “The little one has delivered unto us a message, that the Lavender Guard needs reinforcements, we must go to them at once, for Abner has called for aid.”

And so it was that the Evergreen Guard rallied their troops, and marched across the dunes, and they clashed with the iron trumpets, driving them back. And they chased the iron trumpets beyond the Diamond Bones, and even as far as the Rubicon itself.

“You have done for us a great service, dear BeeSheep,” spoke Abner. “We owe you a great debt, for we were attacked by surprise, and the iron trumpets put to the sword all the messengers whom I sent to retrieve aid. You alone were able to pass by them and deliver unto the Evergreen my message.”

“Not only that,” spoke Yanta, the female captain of the Evergreen Guard, “but in so doing you allowed us to push back the trumps all the way back to the Rubicon itself, a feat not seen in a generation.”

And that day the Meridian Guard, and all of its colors, celebrated with great bonfires and feasting for their rescue and their victory. And so it was also that Abner, son of Hudon, made a covenant with BeeSheep saying:

“I swear to you this oath, and will swear to Livadi, the Digyr of Far Meadows, that in your time of great need we will come to your aid, as you have come to ours. And Livadi and her meadows will be our goddess, and our army her army.”

BeeSheep thanked him profusely, but he buzzed that he had not yet found out where his goddess was.

For he had followed the golden thread until it was no more, and it seemed to BeeSheep as though his destiny was lost to him.

“Fear not, little one,” said Abner. “You will find her yet, of this I am certain. And while I know not where Livadi is to be found, I would offer you this boon. Here, I give unto you a compass. A special compass for it does not point to the North, but to the place of all knowledge. The Library of Xassan. If there was ever a place for you to find out where your goddess is, then that would be the place.”

And Abner took the compass, and he took a scarlet thread, and he tied it to BeeSheep so that he might have it. He also fashioned a small pouch for BeeSheep to keep his star shard within.

Having rested, eaten his fill, and bid his farewells, BeeSheep followed the direction that the compass led him.

Translator’s Note – One of the difficulties of translating ancient documents is always that one cannot simply change one word to another. No, translation is an effort of culture and context. In the narrative of BeeSheep travelling about the Beyond, we see that there are stories and myths told amongst the ancients that were so prevalent, the authors simply expected us to know them, and therefore did not feel the need to expand upon the details. What we can figure with the information that we have, is that there are soldiers atop the Forged, or the Firmament, as it is sometimes called. These soldiers, known as the Meridian Guard, are separated into different factions, and given areas which they are to guard. Their task, it seems, is to protect the created order from what are essentially “aliens,”  beings from beyond the cosmos who seek to cause chaos.