From: GrayCougar <GrayCougar@aol.com>
Subject: "BC: Concerning the Fall of Darkness"
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 13:57:19 EST

The Babylonian Cycle: Concerning the Fall of Darkness


And the Blessed Sheridan, who walked among the stars, rode a white 
star across the heavens until he came to the very heart of the Darkness, 
Za'ha'dum. He was brought to this place by the sorceress Anna, 
enchanted and trapped by her spells. And thus ensorcelled the Blessed 
Sheridan descended from the sky to walk among the Shadows and their 
servants. In this time he was sorely tested. For three days and three 
nights he was tempted by the servants of the Darkness and by the 
sorceress Anna, who was herself a minion of the Shadow. 

The Darkness tempted the Blessed Sheridan, offering him wealth, power,
knowledge--the rulership of the universe itself. Anything he might have 
ever dreamed or wished or thought the Darkness offered him. But the 
Blessed Sheridan remained unmoved. He resisted all of their temptations, 
stood firm in his certainty and light, and the Shadows could not touch him.

And as dawn broke on the third night of his temptation, the Blessed 
Sheridan knew he could no longer stay among the Shadows. So throwing 
off the ensorcellement that had held him, he fled. And the Shadows 
followed.

Long and long he ran through the dark paths buried in this Realm of 
Darkness, for the way of Shadows is always that off a maze, that would 
cause the unwary heart to become lost without realizing it. But the Blessed
Sheridan knew Shadows, and their tricks, and he continued to search for 
the light rather than attempting to hide in the darkness. Onward he ran, 
seeking, until he saw ahead of him a light. Thus the Blessed Sheridan came 
into the light--and stopped. 

For before him was a chasm, reaching down into the depths of Za'ha'dum. 
Behind him were the cries of the Shadow servants who hunted him, drawing 
ever closer. And so the Blessed Sheridan, knowing that once recaptured, 
he would never again find his way out of the darkness, and knowing that he 
could not allow the Shadows to continue unchecked, called destruction 
down from the heavens, though he knew it would claim his life as well.

The Blessed Sheridan called his star out of the heavens, to burn the 
Shadow's world, and it came. Falling, with a cry like angels weeping, it came.
And the Blessed Sheridan watched it come. But in the seconds before the 
falling star reached the Shadow world the Blessed Sheridan heard a voice, 
urging him to jump, if he would live. The voice was that of the wizard Kosh, 
who had taught the Blessed Sheridan. Who had died at the hands of the 
Shadows and yet had always been there. And with the determination of one 
who is yet unfinished with life the Blessed Sheridan leapt into the chasm.

And the Shadows burned.
And the Blessed Sheridan fell.
And Darkness Fell.


Fin.
Gray

"It was the beginning of an age, and an age of beginnings. A time when the 
human race walked among the stars like gods, yet were as children to what
awaited them, and learned it as all children must. By taking giant leaps 
forward, and giant falls. It was a time of light, and a time of darkness. A
golden 
age, and a shadowed one."
--The Babylonian Cycle, Book I, 1:1