The Legend of the Sunbird

The Legend of the Sunbird is a myth concerning how the folk of the world discovered or were given fire by the deities. This myth varies from culture to culture but the general story remains the same. No one is quite sure whether sunbirds actually exist or not as no one in recorded history has seen one, but the myth remains, passed down through an oral history across the world.

Long ago, when the world had just taken shape, when monsters roamed freely, the folk of the world had only just begun to carve a living for themselves. They lived as nomads, never settling anywhere and keeping only to small familial clans. In these days, they feared the evil that lurked around every corner. They had nothing with which to chase away the darkness and cold, and each night was long and terrible, and many vanished into the shadows never to be seen again. In the winters, many folk starved and froze to death.

The deities at this time were too busy battling their own divine war with one another, the forces of evil and the never-ending hunger of the void against Althea and her children. They had no time for the plight of the mortals below them.

Their prayers did not fall on deaf ears, however, and the twin deities Vytos and Vitalis began to pity the folk of the world. They saw their fear turn into despair as the years continued to pass with no answer from the gods they called upon for help. The twins, children of Elena, wanted to help the mortals somehow. But they could not find an answer at first.

Then, Vitalis noticed how the mortals loved the day that their mother brought. She saw them reveling in the warmth and safety brought by the sun, flourishing in the summers only to grow cold and helpless once more as winter wrapped its heavy blanket around Galactus. Vitalis decided to find a way to bring some of the sun's warmth and light to the mortals so that they could remain safe and happy year-round. But Vitalis was not sure how to do this. The sun was warm from a distance, but too close and one began to burn. So Vitalis brought the idea to Vytos, and together the two hatched a daring scheme.

The sun was carried around the world by a flock of golden birds, the sunbirds. Occasionally, these birds would lay an egg made from light and warmth that would fade into nothingness in a short period of time. The twins decided to sneak into the sunbirds' nest and steal an egg when the birds left one behind. And so they did. The egg faded before they could bring it to the mortals though, and through a series of trials and errors the twins finally discovered that the egg could be preserved by holding it with wood. Balancing a pair of eggs on branches of walnut and oak, Vytos and Vitalis travelled from the realm of the deities, through the darkening skies, and landed gently on the ground. Here, they sought a group of mortals who cowered in terror before the mighty immortals and the strange glowing eggs they brought with them. Slowly, however, they grew curious and, encouraged by the twins, learned how to care for the eggs and keep them from fading. When the eggs hatched, to the surprise of all, they held inside only a bright crackle of what would come to be known as flame. This knowledge spread across the land, and the mortals began to devise ways to keep the flames bright and hot, to create their own, and to use the fire to create weapons with which to defend themselves from monsters. No longer were nights and winters deadly. Now the folk of the world could chase it off with the gift of the sunbird's fire.