The Eclipse

They ran up the stairs as fast as they could. Nobody cared about the guards any more — the guards themselves were running upwards too, towards the palace's great balcony.

When they got there, they saw a sight they would never forget.

The balcony was as wide as a square and looked out over the whole kingdom. Below it, on the wide plain, thousands of shadows had gathered. Millions. Shadows of people, shadows of animals, shadows of trees and houses, all standing in silence, looking up.

In the middle of the balcony stood King Dusk at his full height, holding the glass globe high above his head towards the black sun. The little shadows inside the globe were swirling round and round, faster and faster.

And the golden rim around the black sun was changing. It was growing thinner, and thinner, as if the darkness were eating it.

"When the golden rim disappears," said Noon in terror, "the dusk will last for ever in your world."