"What happened?" the potential Guide spoke up again, her curiosity getting the better of her as she broke the awed silence.      "Because Life had enjoyed so much without Death, there was nothing to stop it's sudden power as it suddenly appeared. The balance shifted. Once, it was in favor of Light and Life, but then, Darkness appeared. It couldn't be stopped, and it wouldn't turn from it's gleeful destructiveness." She paused there, and looked at the hatchlings. They didn't quite understand.      "Do you remember when we watched the big storm outside during the summer?" When the gathered hatchlings all nodded, Oracle continued. "You remember the dragon~flys that had just hatched from their crystals? They were everywhere, remember? It looked like someone had thrown multicolored confetti all over the valley, remember?" They did remember. "That was life. They were enjoying the sun and the nectar from the blossoms, and nothing could go wrong for them. But then the storm came in off the sea, and swept almost all of them away. For all of their numbers, they couldn't change the weather. They were gone, remember? And then what happened?"      The first little one to speak up was the tiny girl that had spoken so rarely. She reminded Oracle of only one other youngling she'd helped raise. "There was only a little bit left," she said, "Issinis, almost no at all."      With a nod, Oracle asked "And then?"      "And then, ure jme'arr. Lots more oku shiyovi." The little one finished.      "They wouldn't have had anything to eat if that storm hadn't swept away the ones that hatched first, would they?" She knew then that they understood. "Just so. Without balance, without that evil, we wouldn't be here today."      The hatchlings were silent, all of them trying to make peace with that. They couldn't.      "But liisji-Oracl'," one whined, looking distressed.      She smiled and soothed them with a gentle purr. "There, there, younglings. I know. If the evil is a part of life, why must we resist it so fiercely? Why am I teaching you to battle evil in all it's forms? Or if the Darkness is so strong, how is there balance at all?" Her kindly, motherly smile calmed their anguished conciences, and they waited for her to continue. "The simple answer is that Darkness also cannot exist without light. Or death without birth, destruction without creation. If everything disappeared, there would be nothing left. There would be nothing left to destroy, no light to contrast the darkness." The little hatchlings looked less and less distressed as she spoke. "That is why we are here." The Oracle said, and nodded. "That is why we must fight the evil. It would destroy everything and take itself down without realizing it. It is more powerful than the beings on this world, because most of them were created with a touch of the evil. They were tainted without their creator ever realizing it." Oracle watched the pile of hatchlings, a faint smile touching her eyes, keeping her voice low and soothing. "Now that we can help them, now that there is something to stand up against the evil, there is finally balance."      The first yawn sparked others, and Oracle nuzzled the tiny hatchlings between her forepaws.      "And now, now is the time for balance. Other places need it, too. So we help where we may, and maybe... someday in the future... there will be stability as well."      They were all asleep. One of them was already twitching in his sleep. Oracle smiled and lowered her head to her folded forepaws, effectively protecting the next generation beneath the arc of her neck. She would give anything to let these little ones live without fear of 'the evil.' They would grow strong and brave and gentle. She wished they could live without having to worry about that precious balance. Her last thoughts before she, too, drifted off into a light sleep were filled with love and hope for these younglings. Perhaps wherever they ended up, they wouldn't need such a solid foundation, but she wasn't about to trust to even her own foresight and not train them as well as she possibly could.