Achromata

by Richie Sauls
based on an idea by Nik Koniwzski

Grauer Wald
In the heart of an ashen forest, in a world pallid and grey, a boy in the midst of a glade met
a bird with a splendid tail. Its feathers were silvery white, upon its head was a crest and
within the quills of its feathery train, seven eyes were set. “What do you seek?” asked the
bird. “Adventure,” answered the boy. “Then listen closely,” the bird announced, “I shall tell
you a story: There once were many colours, wonderful hues to see, the stars were Scarlet,
the sun was Gold and the seas an Emerald green! I was a bird of Sapphire blue and I
guarded the hues of the world, but many, many years ago, a terrible thing occurred. A
Darkness drew the colour from the earth and skies, the Sapphire blue from my feathers and
cursed my very eyes! So the world was made to be colourless and grey and I was doomed
never to see a single hue again!” “I know not of Sapphire blue,” said the boy to the bird, “of
Scarlet, Gold or Emerald green I have not seen or heard!”

“Here is Sapphire,” said the bird and showed to him a plume, a quill within its wing of a
deep and lustrous blue. “Wondrous—” whispered the boy as the colour delighted his eyes
and his heart flooded with joy at the unbelievable sight! “The last of the hues I have
hidden,” said the bird to the boy, “far from the reach of the Darkness, never to be
destroyed.” “I am brave,” said the boy, “and much I wish to discover! Tell me, where must
I go the last of the hues to recover?” “This feather will show you”, said the bird, “where the
last of the colours lie, gather them all and we shall restore the hues to the earth and sky.
The Darkness from me has hidden for more than a hundred years, but when it sees the
colours, to you it will appear; and once you draw it out, we shall face the foe together and
lift the curse and break the spell and banish it forever!” The boy took the quill from the
beak of the bird. “Wish me well!” he shouted as it swept him off the earth.

Filis Aureis
Onto the feather he hung, a hand here and there, it made an arc of Sapphire blue and bore
him through the air. Weightlessly he drifted up into the sky till at last, he saw the disc of
the sun that shone in the aether on high. “Look!” he exclaimed, enraptured, caught in a
moment sublime—so splendid it was, so pure on his face that a tear spilt from his eye; and
where it ran . . . down his cheek . . . it turned into something new: a fine and precious
woven thread of a gleaming yellow hue. “Gold—” whispered the boy as the colour
delighted his eyes and his heart flooded with joy at the unbelievable sight!

Marea
Then, to the ocean the feather flew and set him down in the sea where icy waters lapped at
the boy and suddenly swallowed him in. The current pulled him under, he struggled
against the waves, but before he succumbed to the waters, by a giant fish he was saved!
“What do you seek?” asked the fish. “A treasure,” answered the boy. “Then listen closely,”
the fish announced, “I shall tell you a story: There once were many colours, wonderful hues
to see, I dwelt in the heart of the ocean, a creature of Emerald green; but when the colours
were lost, the last green of the world was brought to me in the beak of a most magnificent
bird. I vowed to guard the colour deep in the seas where I swim for as long as the bird
required, hidden beneath my fin.”

“I know not of Emerald green,” said the boy to the fish, “but I do of Gold and Sapphire
blue for they have been given to me. I come upon a quest to gather all the hues and ask of
you the Emerald green the bird entrusted to you.” “You speak the truth,” answered the fish
as it lifted up its fin and there revealed a single scale of a deep and lustrous green.
“Emerald—” whispered the boy as the colour delighted his eyes and his heart flooded with
joy at the unbelievable sight! “How shall I repay you,” asked the boy of the fish, “from the
seas you have saved me and now this gift you give?” “A vow I made,” said the fish, “and
vows may not be broken. Thank not me but the colours that shone in the depths of the
ocean.” The boy took the scale and tied it to his chest, he bid the fish farewell and
continued upon his quest.
 Himmelbarn
Soon, he saw an island in the waters far below where in the midst of a forest stood an
enormous dome. In the apex of its roof was set an oculus eye wherethrough the feather
lowered the boy in a glowing column of light. He alighted upon a slab of stone foul with
the stain of slaughter where a hooded figure from the shadows came and pinned him to the
altar! “What do you seek?” asked the figure. “A treasure,” stammered the boy. “Then listen
closely,” the figure announced, “I shall tell you a story: Once the stars were Scarlet, their
colour we adored, they shone within the heavens, they were our blessed gods. Many, many
years ago, they lost their hue and light, and though our blood we spill, they still ignore our
plight. Long have we awaited the answer to our call and now you have been sent—your
blood will save us all!”

From its robe, the figure drew a dagger keen and sharp, and with a deft and awful motion
stabbed at his heart! In that gruesome moment, a wondrous thing occurred: the scale he
bore upon his chest protected him from hurt—it shattered hilt and steel and shone a
brilliant green that brought the cruel attacker grovelling to its knees! “Forgive us,” begged
the figure, “the sign we have misread; take this sacred vial, for this you have been sent!
Behold, within the glass, the ancient light of heaven, we offer to the gods our holiest
possession!” The figure took with trembling hands a vial from its neck that flashed within
the dome—a jewel of dazzling red! “Scarlet—” whispered the boy as he took the radiant
glass and with the thread of Gold about him made it fast. He lifted then the feather and it
took him from the isle to bring to the Darkness the thread, the scale and the vial.

Melanocardia
Across the sea he flew to a desert wrapped in gloom where deep within the shadows he saw
the Darkness loom. “What do you seek?” asked the Darkness. “A treasure,” whispered the
boy. “Then listen closely,” the Darkness announced, “I shall tell you a story: The Spirit of
Colour am I but colour I cannot see, here I dwell in darkness for my sight was taken from
me. I once had seven eyes that cast upon the world the light of seven hues that painted
heaven and earth. Many, many years ago, a bird jealous and vain took from me my eyes to
adorn its feathery tail! Without my eyes, all colour began to fade away as the bird painted
its feathers and made a swift escape; but through my eyes I still could see and follow where
it fled and I took the colours from every plume till only one was left! Before I took the
colour from the last Sapphire plume, it blinded my eyes upon its tail and by darkness was I
consumed! I cast a radiant rainbow with the last of the colours I saved to divert my
monstrous foe and fly to this place. Enshrouded here in shadows I remain to this day,
growing ever weaker and withering away.”
“O Spirit,” said the boy, “I am saddened by your tale. Tell me of the bird, what of it
became?” “A curse it bears,” the Spirit said, “upon that final plume: when it looks upon the
colours, grey shall be their hue!” “I know this bird,” said the boy, “the fowl has sent me
here to bring to you the colours and strike when you appear!” “To all eyes but yours I am
hidden,” said the Spirit, “safely you may show me the hues you have been given.” The boy
revealed the colours and they turned to streams of light—Sapphire, Gold, Emerald,
Scarlet—shining pure and bright! “Four I sense,” the Spirit said, “but three more hues there
are—Violet, Indigo, Amber—taken by the fowl.” “I shall go,” announced the boy, “and
find the final three and pray the bird return your eyes that you again may see! When all the
colours I have brought to you, I pray you paint the world again with the seven hues!” “You
are brave,” the Spirit said, “your courage I commend; I offer you a gift to aid you in the
quest.” From the four colours, there formed the fairest plume, it shone within the shadows
with a thousand hues! He caught it in his hands and the Spirit disappeared, the gloom
upon the desert, in an instant it was cleared.

Sapatha
There, upon the crest of a pallid winding dune, he stood with the feather when the bird
came into view. “What have you found?” it enquired. “A treasure,” answered the child. The
fowl looked on the plume and its beauty greatly admired. “For this feather,” said the bird,
“I shall make an offer: three more hues that hidden lie; but three things I desire: the first
shall be to lift the spell, the curse upon my sight, pray the Darkness let me see colour
through my eyes; the second is the plume, the opalescent feather, to take the place of the
Sapphire quill lost to me forever; the third shall be your sight that colour I may see, the use
of your eyes till the spell is lifted from me.” “Very well,” said the boy, “but three things too
I ask for you have not been faithful in the present or the past: the first shall be the seven
eyes that decorate your tail, return them to the Darkness and lift the blinding spell; the
second is your sight that yet I may see—though cursed be your eyes, they are of use to me;
the third shall be a vow: swear upon this plume that cursed you will remain should you not
be true!” “I swear it,” said the bird and sweeping with its wing switched eyes with the boy
so colour it could see; and now it saw the feather, the beauty of the plume, but dared not
touch the treasure for the vow that it took.

“Come then,” said the bird, “I am eager for my prize, I shall bear you on my back to where
the Violet lies.” They flew across the desert and far across the seas till they came to a world
of ice with glaciers vast and steep. Through the entrance to a cavern in a treacherous ravine,
they went by winding tunnels the colour to retrieve. In the heart of the glacier, they found
a mighty hall—its floor a pool of water, its roof a frozen vault—and in the very midst,
stood a crystal bright and tall—it filled the cave with beams of light that danced upon the
walls. From the crystal tip, the bird chipped a shard that in the colourless chamber the
purest purple cast. “Violet!” exclaimed the bird with a cry of delight, but the boy saw only
grey for the spell upon his sight.

Apogeion
“Come then,” said the bird, “I am eager for my prize, I shall bear you on my back where
Indigo lies.” They flew into the heavens where a host of stars was strewn till weightlessly
they drifted to the surface of the moon. In every direction, were fields of silver blooms that
bathed the lunar landscape in an opalescent hue. Deep within a valley—without flowers,
without light—the bird brought forth the crystal to shine into the night. It cast a ray of
Violet in the midst of the gloom and where it hit the soil, a silver seedling grew. Amongst
the leaves, there formed a bud that opened to a bloom—a single fruit it yielded that bore a
seed of blue. “Indigo!” exclaimed the bird with a cry of delight, but the boy saw only grey
for the spell upon his sight.

Eosfyllon
“Come then,” said the bird, “I am eager for my prize, I shall bear you on my back to where
the Amber lies.” They descended through the heavens to the edge of the world where six
colossal rocks loomed above the earth. Hewn by wind and time from a long lost plateau,
the monolith formations pierced the clouds below. On the greatest of the rocks, the bird set
them down and laid the seed of Indigo deep within the ground. Rapidly it grew into a
silvery tree with leaves that quickly as they formed, withered in the wind. When the first
leaf fell, it was captured by the fowl and it flashed the deepest yellow with a warm and
lustrous glow. “Amber!” said the bird with a cry of delight, but the boy saw only grey for
the spell upon his sight.

“Come then,” said the bird, “I am eager for my prize, I shall bear you on my back to where
the Darkness lies.” They flew from the plateau down through the sky where a violent storm
was raging with gusts from every side. The boy held on with all his might, the feather in his
grip, but the wind with force unparalleled tore him from the bird! In that dire moment,
without a second thought, the bird forsook the boy and instead the feather caught. When it
touched the plume, it instantly was cursed for in the faithless act it broke its solemn word.
The colours of the feather turned an ashen grey and lo, the plume within its claw changed
its very shape! The once enchanted feather became a cloud of mist from which there came
the Darkness, terrible and swift. “O, Spirit!” called the bird, “lift from me the curse!” “I
cannot,” said the Spirit, “thou art doomed by thine own words.” From the fowl, the Spirit
took its colours and its eyes and faster than the lightning sped to save the child! There he
was, the hurtling boy grasping at the gale—quick the Spirit swept him up and carried him
away.

Epilogue
In the ashen forest where his journey first began, the Spirit in the glade gently set him
down. The boy looked about him with eyes no longer cursed and slowly there appeared a
mystifying world where streams of light were flowing from sheer mountainsides and colours
spilt from boulders that floated in the skies! “My enemy is conquered,” said the Spirit to
the boy, “the colours I restore will never be destroyed.” Then the Spirit vanished and the
vision was no more, he saw again the forest but different than before: a thousand hues were
covering the heavens and the earth and everything made new in a colourful rebirth—the
glade was green, the sky was blue, the sun a wondrous gold—he gazed upon a world that
now with colour glowed!