Eclipse of the Blood Moon
The sun rose over the valley not with the violent crimson of the eclipse, but with a quiet, breathtaking cascade of amber and gold. It bathed the mist of the lower basin in a warm, honeyed light, melting the thin layers of frost on the weeping willows and turning the surface of the Crimson River into a glittering ribbon of diamonds.
The storm had passed. The empires above were in a state of mourning, locked in a truce of shame, completely convinced that their sovereigns were nothing more than ghosts carried away by the rapids.