Super Rite of Spring by Shnabubula

Artwork by Francis Coulombe: http://www.twitter.com/FrancisCoulombe

For many years, the Immortal Emus of Paradise oversaw the preservation of the greatest stories in the multiverse. High atop the tallest mountain, these ancient birds lived in a lush garden, filled with a tapestry of vibrant colors. In any realm of existence, any time a story was being told, a new blossom would spring to life in this alpine paradise.

Gradually the greenery which sustained the emus and their noble stewardship began to die out. Many of the multiverse's greatest legends were being forgotten. These important stories were no longer being told to fresh ears. If this were to continue, eventually all of the plant-life in their paradise would wither and die.

The wisest and eldest of the all the Emus revealed to her flock that a great evil had come to power in the multiverse, known only in hushed whispers as "The Holder of Rights". Their only hope lay in a nearly forgotten ritual, one that had not been performed since the very first emus set foot in the clifftop paradise.

With a renewed sense of purpose, they descended from what was now a raging Volcano, their once radiant plumage all but entirely molted away. Adorned in the remains of their recently perished brethren , they marched resolutely towards the ancestral gateway

It was here that they would open a portal to the twelve realms under siege by the holder of rights. They would warn the inhabitants of each realm about the approaching evil, and try against all odds to save to their dying paradise.

Based the Ballet by Igor Stravinsky