Chapter 10: The Celestial Guardians

Two hundred years had passed since the day fear shook the primordial world. Time, like a patient breeze, softened the memories of that moment. Life, resilient, flourished. The cycle of life, once dreaded by Inar, revealed its purpose. Death nourished the earth, and new forms of existence emerged. The world, now full of diversity, thrived in an almost instinctive harmony.

Inar and Lior had not been idle during these years.

Inar discovered a new fascination: structures. Creating solid forms, building edifices, giving structure to chaos—this brought her an unexpected satisfaction. She spent centuries playing with matter, learning to shape it with delicacy. At the heart of this discovery, the Lunar Temple was born.

The temple rose on the silver surface of the greater moon, with translucent pillars that seemed made of liquid crystal. Statues adorned the main courtyard, telling the story of creation: a glass-like Inar extending her hand to the void, then light, earth, wind, and water. Another statue depicted her and Lior playing with colors on the blank planet. Further ahead, the imposing figures of the dragon and the gryphon soared side by side. The ceiling, crafted from a substance akin to stellar glass, reflected the primordial world below and the infinite sky above.

Inar loved to sit on the temple steps, watching the planet spin.

Lior, in turn, built his own dwelling on the smaller moon, which orbited like a younger sister. His temple was less imposing but filled with enchanted mirrors that reflected the world in motion. He loved observing changes, trying to predict the whims of randomness.

Thus, the siblings became celestial neighbors, orbiting the primordial world as two eternal sentinels.

The world had fully recovered from the event of fear. Creatures roamed, flew, swam, and hunted again. The cycle of life held firm, and as the decades passed, new forms emerged.

The greatest surprise came from two beings: the dragon and the gryphon.

They grew closer and closer. At first, they flew together across the sky. Then, they began to hunt, rest, and even play alongside each other. Over time, their bond proved to be more than mere friendship. The dragon, immense and powerful, and the gryphon, agile and intelligent, formed an unlikely union.

And from this union, something new was born.

The first Dragriffon.

The creature had the imposing stature of a dragon, but its wings were feathered and agile, like those of an eagle. Its body was covered in scales that alternated in patterns resembling metallic feathers. Its tail ended in a thin fin, perfect for water, and instead of breathing fire, it exhaled a hot mist that could suffocate predators.

The birth of this hybrid was witnessed by the siblings, who hovered among the clouds as the small being emerged from its egg.

— "Look at that, sister," Lior pointed. "A perfect blend of both species."

Inar smiled, moved.

— "The cycle of life… always surprising us."

The Dragriffons did not stop there. The union of the dragon and the gryphon led to more offspring. Some were born as pure dragons, others as gryphons, but many bore the perfect fusion of both.

The Dragriffons developed curious, playful, and majestic personalities. It didn't take long for them to become revered figures in the primordial world.

The planet's inhabitants, still guided by instinct, looked upon the Dragriffons with fear and respect. To them, these creatures were direct heirs of the creators. Some even began carving their forms into stone, mimicking what they saw in the sky.

From their lunar temples, Inar and Lior noticed something unusual.

— "The world is changing," Lior said one night, his voice crossing the void to reach his sister.

— "It has always been changing," Inar replied, seated on the temple's edge, her feet swinging in the air.

— "Not like this," he insisted. "Have you noticed how some creatures have started gathering in larger groups? They're learning to build more elaborate nests, to communicate with different sounds."

Inar narrowed her eyes and, with a gesture, expanded her vision. Below, small groups of creatures gathered in clearings. They were not merely living, but seemed to be planning.

— "They're starting to think," she said, surprised. "They are moving beyond pure instinct."

— "I think intelligence is emerging," Lior murmured, amazed.

Inar rested her head in her hands, thoughtful.

— "Intelligence…" she repeated. "This will change everything."

— "What should we do?" Lior asked.

She remained silent for a moment. Then, she looked around at the statues, especially the ones depicting water and wind, sculpted as dancing siblings.

— "Life has already begun to differentiate creatures," she said slowly. "It created male and female, spontaneously. But… for intelligence to grow, we need something more."

— "What?"

— "We need to give names to these distinctions. To give them meaning." Inar sighed. "If these creatures' minds are awakening, we need to give them the tools to understand themselves."

She stood, raised a finger, and traced a luminous arc across the sky.

— "I will create two concepts," she declared. "The first will be the concept of Man. It will be associated with the active principle, with the impulse to explore, build, protect."

From the arc she drew, golden threads descended toward the planet, subtly weaving into the minds of the beings developing intelligence. Their once neutral forms began to recognize and differentiate traits. Thus arose the understanding that some creatures embodied this specific energy, which they would call Man.

— "And the second concept," she continued, "will be Woman. Associated with intuition, creation, care, and the wisdom of change."

Another thread descended, this time silver, following the same path. The planet absorbed the concept, and the creatures, without realizing it, began to comprehend this duality.

— "Now they have the first pillars to understanding themselves," Inar said, exhausted but satisfied.

Lior approached, his eyes shimmering.

— "Do you think that, over time, they will understand all of this?"

— "They will," she replied. "It will take millennia, but one day they will look to the sky, see the moons, and wonder who we are."

— "And what will we do when they discover us?"

Inar smiled.

— "We will be what we have always been, brother. We will be the creators. We will be the storytellers."

And from the heights of their lunar temples, the siblings watched over the primordial world. Life continued its course, but now something new pulsed in the hearts of creatures: the seed of intelligence, curiosity, the desire to understand.

And it all began with two simple concepts: Man and Woman.