Echoes of a birdsong

Lark stretched her arms wide and high as she sat upright on a bed of feathers and straw. The previous day's travel had been long and cold, rain soaking her hooded coat as she rode atop the grey Stallion that had been her one companion during the past year.

She yawned and shook her yellow locks loose, smiling as feathers escaped their embrace.

"It is 1385," Lark whispered aloud as she dressed, grounding herself in the here-and-now to bid another goodbye to the dreams that dared linger through the morning haze. "He is not with me."

She rested her thoughts on him and wondered if they would meet one more time. Breaking her fast with hot tea, Lark faced the morning sun and breathed in the warmth of a brand new day. Her smile hid the pain of Loneliness that again had become her comfort during the night. The familiarity of his touch caressed her soul as she wriggled involuntarily to free herself of his seduction. Loneliness was not her friend. But he was not her enemy either.

Her Stallion companion bore no name... a choice Lark had made as she believed a title often had its ties. She did not want this majestic creature enslaved to a master as she knew all to well how this felt. She was bound to the morning embrace of Sun... her rays of light humming throughout Lark's body so that she began each day in delight to the sound of a youthful tune. But as Sun adjusted her rays with the passing of Time, so did Lark's energy and by nightfall, she would retire to slumber again with Loneliness, wrapped in the echo of his simple lullaby.

The barn where she found refuge from the night's torrent of rain was simple enough. It was warm and had kept her dry, serving a purpose Lark knew it could with ease. As she finished her tea, she heard a noise and turned towards it, her keen vision meeting the gaze of one like her.

The neck of the barn owl bent so that it's heart-shaped face rested almost horizontally on its side. Lark took a step forward and it snapped its head upright, alert to her approach. Pale feathers were streaked with black tears, markings that told of a story she heard long ago.

"You have been touched by Time as well, sister," Lark said sadly and watched as the barn owl stretched her wings then take flight from the nook to fly silently over the open fields outside.

Lark packed her steed with the little supplies she had, then embarked on what she knew would be the final leg of her long journey. Just like Loneliness, Time was her unwelcome companion. Past, Present and Future visited her often and she felt the burdens of their conversations deafen her soul and quieten her spirit.

"Time is not on my side," Lark whispered as she cued the stallion to pick up his pace from a trot and run the distance to the next village. She knew she needed to be in its walls by nightfall as this village would become her sanctuary... a safe haven from what was following her steps from the beginning.

Lark thought about this beginning... her mother and father, her three sisters and their home nestled in the hills of Portus so far away. It seemed to be a dream now yet she could hear their laughter on the wind and smiled for the first time in a long time. She did not know, but tears threatened to break free and stain her face with a blink so that when she did, Lark stopped abruptly and frantically wiped her face in hope of concealing the curse.

She dismounted and reached in the bag for the polished convex disk of silver that her mother once used as a mirror, and moved it about until she could see her face. Lark grimaced then wiped her cheekbone under her left eye but the two black tear drop marks did not smudge. They tattooed her face and as she fought back the despair and the tears that followed, she thought about the owl she had seen in the barn earlier and wondered whose sister she really was.

Time tormented Lark once more as Past overpowered Present into submission while Lark laid still on grass so green readying her thoughts and steeling her resolve to face the challenge ahead. She knew to do this she needed to be disciplined. She could not let her emotions get away from her again as every time they did, the curse that overpowered her sisters would surely overpower her. So she inhaled deeply then exhaled slowly and as she did, Time loosened his grip and Future turned her face and finally smiled at Lark.

"You got this," Future whispered on the wind and so Lark heard the echoes of a new birdsong.

Hope strengthened her resolve and nature's Wisdom grounded her with a vision of what could be. Intuition danced deep within her soul and she rubbed her belly and felt the movement of this set her into motion.

"I got this," Lark said with a smile and although she knew many would think she'd be soft and kind because of the tear-drop tattoos that now stained her face, she knew she was this and more as she felt strength and a focus unlike she had ever felt before.

Lark and the Stallion arrived at the village before sunset and as she saw him to the stable where she knew he would rest, the eyes of the one she sought rested on her from a prison of his own making. Desire and Obsession licked the mans' wounds then the flame of Lust compelled him to action.

"I must have her," he growled as he turned from the window and ran long fingers through his dark hair.

He was a man of noble birth in this land... a knight who had inherited not only his fathers' kingdom, but also his innate need to dominate and take with force all that he felt he was entitled. This included Lark and when she denied him what was his birth right, he called on darkness and the witch answered.

But even to the hag's surprise, the Loneliness she sent to destroy Lark had become her companion and somehow this peasant girl survived the same curse that afflicted her family. The very act of her doing so was the end of the witch. The knight saw to that himself.

He had become a warrior without discipline, a noble man without wisdom who sought only to take or destroy. He grinned for Lark had come to him. In his arrogance he stood, and with Wrath and Pride as his armour, he descended from the lofty room to taste the deliciousness of her submission.

Lark was beginning to tire. She could feel herself fade as the evening darkened the sky and beckoned the moon to come out and play. She yawned then shook her head to inflame the wisps of energy that wafted through her sleepy mind.

"Not much longer," she told herself as she began the ascent to him. "You're almost there."

"You have arrived," he said as he stood before her in one of the empty rooms near the climbing stairs.

Lark stopped and lifted her head and eyes to look directly at him, surprised then relieved that Time now stood still beside her.

"You are a beauty to behold," the dark knight spoke as he took a step closer to her.

He could smell her fragility, a softness and delicacy he wanted to consume. But then he saw it... a bold flash of courage that flared within her eyes and played with her mouth so that her full lips looked amused. He watched as she glided silently back and forth before him, like an owl soaring across an open field looking for her prey.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he stepped back into the shadows. "Speak."

But Lark didn't utter a single word. Intuition told her to dance instead so she moved to the echoes of a birdsong that only she could hear. The sounds of her kind... the sisters who turned and the parents he destroyed all answered the call of her heart and fortified her spirit so that she connected to the part of her that she had ignored. Strength.

"You think you can ignore me," he asked with wide eyes and panic in his voice. "I always get what I want."

"No," Lark finally spoke. "But you will always get what you deserve."

"And what is that?"

Lark stopped and deeply inhaled. "You deserve to see this."

She opened her arms wide and rays of moonlight caressed her hands. She had not seen the moon in a long time, the curse of the witch draining her of the energy to stay awake beyond dusk. Loneliness and every tear shed from his painful touch had turned her sisters into birds of prey... owls that hunted and played at night but slept during the day. This same curse threatened to turn her as well but Lark found a way around it.

"How are you doing this?" the knight asked as although he had killed the witch, he knew the curse had lived on.

"The end of one is the start for the other. Day becomes night and then night becomes day," Lark sang. "I no longer fight this... I have accepted it and ever since, I am what you thought was impossible."

The knight frowned.

Lark continued. "I am both dark and light... good and evil. I am balance and the harmony of this is my new song. This is what I move to now... I beat to the rhythm of my own drum and I am happy."

The knight felt the sting of something new. What was it? Defeat?

"The energy of the Divine has touched my very soul through the echoes of those you destroyed... my sisters... my ancestors... both feminine and not. For you see I am both too. I am not just the early bird who walks in the morning sun and sings the songs of my namesake. No, I am also the owl who hunts by night and preys on the offerings revealed by the moon."

The knight sat on the ground and leant against the wall. There was a truth Lark spoke to that he had ignored for far too long. The idea of balance evaded him as he revelled in darkness and evil. This was all he knew. It was how his father had raised him to behave yet he knew the toxicity of such would hurt him in-the-end. But the knight was too scared. After all, vulnerability was only for the weak.

Lark turned and left the knight in his thoughts. His threats no longer scared her and she felt liberated, free from the curse of the witch that the knight had slain in anger.

"The night owl has returned," Lark whispered as she smiled and looked at the bright red moon. She inhaled and breathed in the coolness of the night air, recalling the story she heard from a sage all those months ago.

In this story she was told that a blood-red moon was a harbinger of change where Time would stand still and reset intentions. This was the occasion curses could be broken, where if the victim forgave the accuser then the power to move on would be theirs and they would find the strength to let go of that which harmed them.

Lark began to walk through this gateway of unfamiliar energy. She did not know where she would go but tonight it did not bother her. She knew she would return to the stable in the morning to get Stallion and this gave her courage.

She knew together they would start on a new journey... one that would soon begin as this one had just ended.

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