https://www.deviantart.com/ifritnox/art/2-7-Torfall-957218091

However peaceful the days were, the eclipse was never far away.

One day Sabik, Kornephorus, and Mirfak were traveling through lightreach, when they heard a distant, ominous rumbling. Without hesitation, the three friends hurried toward it and found the remains of an avalanche, which had torn a wound into the protective ring of the Cassiopeia-Mountains.

Through the hills was a black rift behind which they knew the darkness was lingering. Now she would be able to see the light of the realm and enter.

Everybody knew they had to act. But while Mirfak and Kornephorus wanted to run toward the rift, Sabik stayed behind.

"I'll run to Lupus, so he warns everybody", Sabik arrow-star said.

"We don't have time", Mirfak disagreed. "You need to help us close the rift!"

"But I'm not strong like you. I can barely make a difference."

"We won't make it without your help."

Finally, Sabik was convinced and the three of them ran into the mountains. Kornephorus, Sabik, and Mirfak began to roll mighty stones uphill to close the rift back up. They worked as hard as they could, but the darkness was already there. Blackness invaded lightreach, dripping through the tear drop by drop. However fast the three worked, more and more darkness entered. Kornephorus took a particularly big rock and held it as a shield against the darkness, and thus he stopped her advance, while Sabik and Mirfak built up smaller stones around him.

They knew they couldn't win. Their hope lay in the scouts to notice the fight. And indeed Grus came by. The crane spotted the danger immediately.

"Hold on!", he called to them and turned away. Every moment was of importance now. Every help, no matter how small, would earn them precious minutes. Thus, Grus flew lower as he spotted some animals grazing in the plains.

It was the herd of the bull Aldeban, a mighty, ruby-red animal, who led his people to the rift without fear. As they arrived, they immediately helped to move stones. Not a moment too soon, for around the mighty rock Kornephorus was holding, a new wave of darkness was advancing. Aldeban pushed his horns into the darkness itself and thrust it back, and thus he stood.

For a long time, Aldeban and his people were fighting alongside the three heroes, while no other help arrived. Grus was flying near and far lightreach to gather supporters, making his way to Phoenix and the other scouts. But the plains were empty.

Quite a few bulls were hit by drops of darkness, which quickly went through their pelt toward the heart. Poor Aldeban was almost covered in darkness. But it was another bull who went down first. As the darkness reached his heart, he lost all hope and stood aside. When the others kept on fighting, he became angry and attacked them. He managed to hit exhausted Kornephorus and butted his horns deep into his back. The son of the bears roared in pain. Sabik came like the wind and killed the bull with one bite, freeing his soul, which could flee the body and the darkness. The shadow returned over the mountains, to search for a new host.

But now they knew their fight would become more and more dangerous. Each heart could fight only a certain amount of darkness, and as the fight went on, more and more bulls attacked. Sabik had to protect Kornephorus. Only Mirfak was left to carry stones uphill. Kornephorus lost his grip on the big rock. More bulls managed to hit him as they saw he was about to lose, and the fear, as they saw their leaders fail, made the other bulls susceptible to the darkness.

Finally, the double attack overwhelmed the three friends. Kornephorus fell, still holding the rock, and Sabik and Mirfak were fought back by the bulls. Only Aldeban stood strong. The last the three heroes saw of him was how he stomped his hooves in anger before darkness swallowed him fully.

Together, beaten and weak, the three titan children fought back the bulls and tried to get back up. They expected darkness to flood into the valley like a tsunami at any moment, but it didn't happen. A thick wall of darkness awaited them, as they finally reached the peaks. As they closed in with stones and rocks, they heard a loud call and light fell from the sky.

There came Phoenix, the scout of the Middle. The fire of his wings fought the darkness back.

Grus' Warnung had reached the center of the Andromeda-Plains! Now it wasn't long until more and more supporters came: Wolves, bears, foxes, bucks, horses, and birds. All beings that could run, ran toward the rift.

Unified they stood against their enemy, and the more ground they gained, the clearer they heard a song from the shadows.

They couldn't believe their eyes when they found Aldeban, the bull of ruby, still standing strong although he had been surrounded by darkness. Loudly he sang Virgo's song. On his own, he had stopped the darkness from entering lightreach, and had not given way.

Now all creatures of lightreach fought the darkness. They could drive it back and close up the rift again.

But there were but few cheers this day. Many warriors had fallen - especially bulls. Lupus and the titans, which of course also came to the rescue, looked worried, knowing that not much had been between them and the end of their world. And more creatures had been poisoned and needed cleansing of the darkness.

Aldeban was examined as well. But although the darkness had attacked him, he had stubbornly refused to give up. His heart was so full of hope and bravery that he hadn't budged. The memory of Virgo's gifts had given him courage, just like Pictor and Deneb had foreseen.

After this heroic deed, Aldeban got the name Ruby-Star. The admiration for his fight was endless, but now everybody knew that the eclipse could attack them at any moment. The guards were reinforced and the mood of everyone was darkened.

And unknown by them all, wolves, titans, and heroes, a piece of darkness had slipped their view. On its own, the dark crawled into Andromeda, searching for a victim.

A lot of tragedy would come from that.