Wandering Light

Small flickering flames light the path before her, just enough that she can see the next few steps. Her footfalls crunch into the autumn leaves, a noise that often brings her a sense of comfort-for the season of the harvest is her most favorite, where the spirits come to play within the realm of the physical world.

A mixture of pine, aspen, and oak enclose around her, bringing with them a canopy of mystery-magic of the Ancient Road so many have forgotten. Above her, stars cascade in a canvas vast and infinite, a guidance for those who know how to read them. The moon tonight is half, just enough light to add to the storm lantern in her hand.

Her favorite woods have a sinister feel this evening, secrets curtained in darkness for even with light, her path feels much darker than it normally would be, her sense of urgency becoming an overbearing instinct. Even as urgency threatens to consume, she remains calm, stoic in the midst of what is lurking around her.

She ignores the growls and hisses, gravelly whispers of the shadows that move through the trees as she walks forward-straying from the light but still speaking. Voices of specters that hunted, not of the physical no, for the star essence of every living creature that held a heartbeat was far more a commodity to possess than that of a shell that would become dust.

“You won't find him. Why are you even looking for him? He is ours, his name-his soul-all of it.”

She dare not look through the trees, to the eyes she knew would be watching her every step. To look is to grant power, and engaging would only be a waste of time. She may not know what lay ahead, yet her spirit does. so for this quest, she allowed a release of control so the blueprint could be followed.

The sound of wings rustling in the branches above her had her halting her mission-since the night held a stillness unbecoming of the forest, this noise of life besides her own was something for her to pause at. She looks up, cocking her head to the side. The creature in the trees mimics her, head slanted to the side as well. Eyes dark as an abyss, with a beak meant for hunting.

“Hello.” She says softly, unwilling to startle her now night time companion. She did not point the light towards him, for he was born unto the night and there he is where he should remain. She knows he is listening-can feel it resting inside her bones.

“Can you help me? I need to find him.” her voice goes quieter as she glances towards the throng of trees-for the first time acknowledging what rests there. She hears the branch snap from above her. She stifles a gasp, arm coming up automatically.

He flies towards her, landing on her arm as he hisses. The talons sink into her skin, tearing holes into the green dress she is wearing. She feels blood begin to run down her arm, yet she neither flinches nor cries out. Instead, she meets the eyes of a barn owl, allowing him to see into her. He studies for her a moment, before taking off of her arm.

He screeches, before flying further down the route she was heading. With no hesitation she follows him, running, trees seemingly trying to claw at her. He lands from branch to branch, waiting for her to catch up, before hissing and flying off again. His sounds silence the whispers of darkness, her focus becoming only where he is taking her, instead of on the phantoms she knows are following.

He leads her to a clearing, where a meadow sprawls out before her-moon flowers opening to the night sky like an offering, complemented by fireflies that dance through the blades of grass and flowers. She can hear the sound of rushing water, a river that is ahead, flowing in a direction she does not know. She stops as he flies forward, landing on a wooden cabin, its age showing in the cracked windows and pieces of siding that are falling in. The front door is hanging off one hinge, a gaping dark hole her welcome.

She can hear the growls behind her, inhuman-a warning that time was running out. She knows the path she just came from, but now-it's time to find out what's before her. She holds out her bleeding arm to the owl, asking “Will you join me inside?” He screeches once, before flying to her arm, more gently than at first-as if he understood he had hurt her. He gently moves up her arm, until He is resting on her shoulder. His talons dig into the muscles above her collarbone, stabling himself as she begins to move forward.

She toes the door open, her storm lantern still flickering, giving her small light into the room her feet will place her into. A stone fireplace is the first thing she sees, unlit and cold-a beckoning that this had once been home. The owl leaves her shoulder, landing on the mantel above the fireplace, made of river rock and wood. He hisses one more time, before settling into his feathers. His head tilts towards one corner of the room, and there huddled into the wall as if it would absorb him, hands covering his face-is the person she has been searching for.

“There you are.” she says gently, alerting him to her presence without scaring him. His hands drop to his sides, slowly he looks over at her. He is shaking as he rises to his feet, eyes fixating on the light in her hand.

“I didn’t think anyone would find me, or that anyone really knew-”

She reaches out her hand. “What is it that you have wandered into?”

He looks at her hand and than at her. “I don’t know. Something dark, cold, hunting. It wants my soul. I didn't mean-"

His fingertips grasp hers and she pulls him to her side. “What does light do?”

He shrugs. “Illuminates.”

She giggles before nodding towards the barn owl, who turns his head to watch them. “He is a creature of the night. Resting in shadows, dancing through trees as he hunts. Wandering.”

“I didn’t even know he was here.” He says.

“We don’t know what shadows lurk until we are made aware of it. As within so without. You found shadows, and you ran."

“And you did not run, why?”

“Because light, Beloved-transmutes what is dark.”

He glances down at the beacon her hands, drawn to it as on autopilot.

“Let me show you.” she says.

She grasps his hand, noting that it was cold, and tugs him towards the broken door. The owl flies out into the wilderness, going before her.

They are standing in the meadow now, with fireflies swirling around them-moon flowers still tilted towards space, into beyond. The trees that she ran through are much darker than before, stilted with shadow figures, now surrounding their escape.

“We have two choices when it comes to the shadows-Face them or run from them.”

“But I have no light.”

She turns to him then, resting her hand upon his cheek, thumb grazing over the scratches along his face-his story written into the scars they would become.

“You are light. That is why shadows want you, why darkness seeks you. Your core is that of starlight. You darling are light.”

It's a screech from above that has her hand slipping off his cheek, attention turning to the owl now circling them. She laughs as he begins to fly, towards the sound of the rushing river, hissing as if to say “Get moving.”

She sees the figures have moved away from the shelter of thickened forest, have entered her meadow, inching closer and closer to them. She does not fear them, only she senses he is not ready-still trying to understand the world he accidentally stepped into.

So she takes his hand and gestures towards the direction the owl flew.

“Come, our wandering light has more for us to see.”

She begins to lead him out of the meadow, but is pulled back by his body weight. Afraid, hesitant he argues: “We’ll get lost.”

She spins to look at him, defiance in her face. “I am not lost, nor are you. We are Wandering, learning. There is so much for you to know, please let me show you."

Unable to deny her, he places her hand back into his, entwining their figures, more of an assurance than romantic. Together with the owl and a storm lantern, they meander into the night-unaware that her lantern swinging in her hand is beginning to flicker brighter-for where one lights up from within, others are sure to follow.