Fire and Dust

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window.

Ryden froze when he saw the light flickering in the cabin window. He passed the cabin nearly every day. He knew it was empty. No one had lived there since long before he had first found the place.

He glanced down at the brace of coneys in his hand. Supper was going to have to wait.

Ryden slung the coneys over a branch, readied his bow, and cautiously approached the cabin. He would have preferred to approach from the rear of the building, but he already knew from exploring it when he first found it that there was no other door. There weren't even any other windows, just the one where the candle now flickered.

There was no porch, just two steps up to the door. The old wood creaked even under his light step. He slowly pushed the door open with one hand, the other hand still holding his bow.

A gust of wind caught the door and slammed it wide open. Ryden's hand flew to the string of his bow and had the arrow half drawn before he realised no one was there.

He inched forward, peering into the cabin. It was empty, just as it had been when he had found it. Several inches of dust covered the floor. Cobwebs hung thick in the corners, full of dead flies and abandoned spider skins.

One footprint displaced the dust in the center of the cabin.

What in the world...

Ryden knew he would regret this even as he stepped through the door.

He turned to look at the window. The tallow candle sat in a small circle that had been cleared in the thick dust on the windowsill.

He turned back to the single footprint in the dust.

The door slammed shut behind him, making him jump. The gust of air sent the candle flame dancing like a pixie, but didn't blow it out.

A giggle echoed through the cabin. Ryden spun around with a curse.

Nothing.

The giggle came again. Ryden's shadow on the dusty floor suddenly doubled in size. Ryden spun toward the candle.

The flame rose from the candle wick and hung in the air, growing larger and larger. Already it was the size of a squirrel.

Ryden stumbled back with another curse, his feet slipping in the dust. His arrow fell from his fingers and landed useless on the floor.

The flame continued growing. And continued giggling. About the size of a fox now, it took on a vaguely humanoid shape. One foot dangled from its hovering shape and rested on his fallen arrow. The fletching caught fire.

If the dust on the floor caught fire, the entire cabin would burn down around him. Ryden turned to flee.

Another humanoid figure hovered in the air between him and the closed door. This one was comprised of dust. And it grew as well, absorbing the dust from the floor and the walls.

It giggled too.

“By the Raven,” Ryden cursed. He half turned so he could see both the dust figure and the flame. “What do you want with me?”

The giggling grew louder. The flame and the dust figure, now each the size of a Human child, circled him in a slow dance.

His bow was useless against the flame. It would likely be so against the dust figure as well. Ryden slung the weapon on his back and drew his dagger. It might not be of any use either, but he felt better with a weapon in his hand.

The flame picked up the still-burning arrow and swung it toward Ryden as if trying to stab him with it. Ryden dodged it, parrying with his dagger. The arrow struck the dagger with surprising force. Ryden stumbled backward, tripped on something, and fell to the floor.

The dust figure had tripped him. It stood over him now, its giggles slow and distorted, as though he was hearing them from under water.

The dust figure threw itself at Ryden. Ryden rolled out of the way and up into a crouch in a single motion. The dust figure landed on the floor and dissolved into a shapeless pile, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

He couldn't fight these things. He needed to get out.

His thoughts were confirmed when the dust in the air drifted too close to the flame and caught fire. Ryden leapt to his feet and darted to the door.

Behind him, the rest of the dust caught fire with an audible whoomph. For a moment, the entire cabin was filled with light, and a wave of heat hit Ryden's back.

Ryden grabbed for the latch of the door. The door didn't budge.

With a wordless prayer to the Raven, Ryden flung himself against the door. As he hoped, the old wood around the hinges splintered and the door burst open. Ryden stumbled down the steps before whirling to look back at the cabin.

The inside of the cabin had caught fire. The giggling had stopped, only to be replaced by high-pitched maniacal laughter that almost sounded like screaming.

Ryden took a step back. There was nothing he could do to stop the fire. There was a stream nearby, but the fire had already taken hold. He wouldn't make a difference even if he tried.

And he didn't want to be anywhere near the cabin if the fire released whatever magic had been animating the flame and dust figure.

Ryden grabbed his brace of coneys from the tree, glanced back once more at the burning cabin, then turned and ran.

~End~