The Helm of Seven (Part 1)

A Story for Children

So I have a new thing I’m trying. Lately, as a father of four, I’ve been looking for ways to share my writing with my family. Given that the genres I write in are pretty strongly geared toward adults, I don’t have a lot of stories suitable for small children. So I’ve undertaken a side project to rectify that. I’ll be sharing the following story periodically as I continue to work on Timefront and Revenant Point. I have no outline aside from a few scattered notes, so this is all mostly free-written. Hope you enjoy, and those who are parents can feel free to share with your kids :) 

Long ago, on the farthest edge of the universe, there were seven stars, which had circled each other from the dawn of time. Each of these stars had planets, with as many moons and more. There were people on these planets. Some lived on the moons. Many of these people looked just like you and me. Others were quite different, some with one eye, others with three or six, some with more limbs or fewer. Others looked like talking animals on two legs. Some were beautiful, others terrifying to see. But there were good and evil ones of every sort, just like people everywhere.

On one of these planets, there ruled an ancient line of kings, whose crown the stars themselves had gifted. For many ages they reigned in peace and justice, and the worlds were plentiful and prosperous. People traveled them freely through gates in the sky, riding the backs of great winged dragons. Every man lived beneath his own roof, ate the fruit of his own field, and no one took it from him. 

Our story begins with the very last of these kings, who was the greatest, wisest and mightiest of them all. His name was Sar, the builder of cities. Great towers he raised on all the worlds, so that his people no longer required dragons to reach the sky-gates. It is said that from that time the race of dragons diminished, for there were none who kept them. And they departed into the hidden places of the worlds, where only a few remain–wild and fierce–unto this day.

And when the king saw that his works prospered, and his people rejoiced, his heart was lifted up within him, and he sought to perform yet greater deeds than these. Yet he found no work to surpass the towers he had built. And so his spirit fell, and he wept bitterly. Then his counselors and wise men gathered to him, asking “Why do you weep, O King? Is not your reign and your realm more glorious than all who came before you? Do not your people rejoice? Be content, Great One, and possess the crown of your fathers in peace.” 

And so for a time, the king took heed of his counselors’ words and put away his tears. But he knew not that among his wise men was a traitor. And he had seen his master’s weakness. Therefore, he whispered evil words into the king’s ears in secret, saying: 

“You know, O King, that in the Beginning of Ages, the Seven Stars were appointed over the worlds as overseers and as teachers, to order the day and the night, the seasons and times, and to guide the living in the ways of wisdom. And they raised up the line of your fathers to reign over the worlds, that they might abide in the ways of peace. For this cause, they forged the Great Crown and set within it Seven Stones of Fire. Know, my Master, that those same stones now lay upon your brow, and carry the power of the Stars within them. Your fathers obeyed that power. But you, O Great One, can wield it.” 

And when the King heard these words, his heart was changed, and he demanded to know more. And the evil counselor, whose name was Akharon, caused him to build a great forge, the molding and shaping of all manner of metal and stone. And the King took the Crown from his brow—which none other could touch and live—and broke it in pieces which he cast into the fires of the forge. Many days he labored there, and took neither food nor drink, for his desire drove him. 

And in the flames he shaped the pieces of his shattered Crown, so that they formed a Crown no longer, but a fearsome helmet, dark and terrible. This the King placed upon his head and covered his face. Few there were who could bear its countenance and many became as dead men for fear. 

READ PART 2