"The Lights of Nature" by Emma-Jane C. Smith

The wind whistled heartily through the cracks in the large stonework of the ancient shrine. It was coming on winter and the tree leaves had already turned their amber hues. Struggling through the forest surrounding the Forgotten Place was a young girl. Her hair hung lank around her small dirty face. Her clothes soaked in rain that had fallen not long ago in a burst of enthusiasm from the heavens. The hem of her heavy skirt was covered in thick and mossy mud. If only mother were here. She thought, wishing it were so as she walked. She remembered with a slight shudder how she had come to be there…

Adie had come to the town of Nana’thu with her tribe during hard times. The war against the Vapors was coming further inland and soon more countries would be swarming with refugees wanting to escape them. The people of Nana’thu had not liked Adie’s small tribe of Aw’hati, an ancient race of nomads who worshipped the Mother of Nature, also known as the Mother of the Elements. The community of the township called her tribe magicks and spellcasters and spat on them as they walked the streets. But in truth, only Adie had any special powers.

Adie could see something nobody else seemed capable of noticing: tiny glowing lights flittered in the air, darting to and fro. They were much like glowflies except they were all the beautiful colours of the rainbow. Adie often talked to them and they always kept her company. They were her only true friends, the only ones who always listened. When she spoke, they would hover around her, as if awaiting instructions. And when she went to sleep every night, they would be there, illuminating the room for her so she was not in the dark. Only the women of the Aw’hati tribe knew of her special gift and they regarded her as sacred and special. They all were mothers to her, and hid her secret from all others.

It had been only a day or so ago when the harsh and prejudiced people of the town had found out about her gift. Instantly the news spread like a hurtling wind, reaching all ears. They feared her ability believing anything unique was evil like the powers of the Vapors. The Vapors were a darkness that had descended over the land. They were creatures that only killed for the sake of ending life, all life. No one knew where they had come from, or what dark purpose lay behind them. Great plumes of acrid smoke were the only warning that the Vapors were coming. They burned everything in their path without using fire. The Vapors were unnatural, something to be feared.

Now, as night descended in cautious footsteps, Adie traipsed through the tangled webs of the forest. Footsore and weary, she wandered into the ruins of an old stone building. Only a few walls remained standing, but she was able to locate a small enclave to shelter herself in. Browned leaves swirled around in the air, the wind transforming them into miniature tornadoes.

Adie sniffed sadly. She had been petrified when the women of her tribe urged her to run quickly into the forest. At their warning, she fled, their terrified voices spurring her flight. The men of the town were searching for her- and they were armed.

It was chilling to think of what would happen to her, and her thoughts and actions had been paralysed when she heard their movements through the dense forest. She lost her way, not caring where her running feet took her. Adie had not stopped until a sudden gush of rain obliterated her tracks, leaving a light mist to cloak her presence.

Darkness fell, enveloping her world, and she felt the chill in the night air. The wind whipped up, howling as it passed through the cracked mortar and ancient stones.

“I wish the wind did not howl; it frightens me.” She told the Lights as they hummed merrily around her hideaway in the ruins.

She had never heard them hum before and wondered what had caused it. But Adie was surprised when the wind suddenly died down, leaving a lonely silence in its wake. Gradually, she drifted off to sleep. Firelights of red, orange, and yellow hummed as they hovered around her, warming her small form.

When sunlight flooded the morning in brilliance, the increased purring of the glowlights woke Adie from her restful slumber. The Lights seemed agitated and excited as Adie stretched to throw off the last tendrils of sleepiness.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Adie asked worriedly. Then she heard the voices.

“She must have come this way,” one said as she searched through the underbrush.

“Yes, the little magick maker,” a man spat cruelly.

“Don’t be so unkind S’tern, she’s only a little child,” the voice of the woman replied.

“A little child or not, she is evil. Just like the Vapors she must be dealt with.”

The woman laughed.

“Oh? And how do you propose to ‘deal’ with her, S’tern?”

Adie didn’t hear the man’s reply, since they were moving rapidly through the forest. Quickly, she looked to the Lights for help.

“Will you show me the way to a safe place?” she asked them, her voice small and scared.

The Lights bobbed up and down in assent and then flew off quickly. Adie had a little trouble keeping up with them, but a few always slowed down to guide her. Adie was led to a room deep in the maze of ancient ruins, its remaining three walls covered with vines. There she found a stain glass window, the vibrant rays of the sun shining through its stunning depiction of the Mother of Nature. All four elements, fire, wind, water and earth surrounded her powerful feminine figure.

“Beautiful,” Adie whispered, forgetting for a moment the predicament she was in.

But this room was not the hideaway the Lights had chosen. In the middle of the room was a large circular hole cut into the leaf-littered marble floor. The Lights hovered, waiting expectantly for Adie. She peered curiously down into the dark. She felt sure that the Lights wanted her to climb down and hoped that it would not be too arduous. Adie was hungry, and sore from her flight through the forest the evening before.

Stepping cautiously down onto the faint outline of a step, Adie examined her surroundings. The glowflies zoomed down after her, lighting the way with an eagerness she had never witnessed before. At the bottom of the long staircase was a room with a low ceiling, its only decoration being a circular pattern made out of varying colours of marble. Adie stepped towards it, eyeing the strange design on the floor. It was identical to the stain glass picture of the Mother of Nature except all the elements had become tiny coloured lights that swirled around her. The Mother of Elements was smiling, tenderness plainly painted on her angelic face.

S’tern walked further to his left. He was sure the sound of bees humming was getting louder, too loud to be bees in fact.

“This way,” he motioned to his partner, a woman named Ra’tha.

She regarded him with distaste but followed him slowly, the rope in her hands at the ready. She carried a knife but did not think it would be necessary. They hunted a young child, after all. She should be easy to deal with. Ra’tha watched S’tern bend forward over a large hole in the stone floor.

“Do you think she’s down there?” He asked.

“The leaves in this room are disturbed a little, but it could have been an animal.” She replied, wishing she had brought her lightsticks with her.

The humming of the Lights grew louder as she drew closer to the circle. When Adie reached the centre of the marble design, the humming stopped. Lights in every colour of the rainbow meshed together to form a blinding white flame that encompassed her.

Then Adie heard a woman’s voice.

“My child, my own dear Adie,” she said. “I am the Mother of Nature, the Mother of the Elements.”

“Goddess!” Adie exclaimed bowing her head in reverence to the voice.

“I have given you a special bond with me and with the world around you, child. You will need it in coming times. Listen to what the Lights tell you, for you will need their guidance to rid my world of the Vapors. They will be my undoing if you, Adie, do not intervene.”

“Yes Goddess! I shall do your will. The Aw’hati have always done your will.”

The flame receded, and Adie could see the individual Lights flittering around the room. They lit the torches that lined the walls so they now burned brightly. Some of the Lights hovered about their flames, as if playing happily. She could understand the Lights now, and their whisperings tickled her ears as they fluttered about her head gaily. They were as fascinated as she was of her transformation.

Now Adie understood her purpose, the purpose of her gift from Nature’s own Mother. The Vapors were a disease that coveted its ability to infect and kill everything living. They were undoing nature, and it was up to Adie to destroy them. Her newfound knowledge and power were the only things able to combat them. She only hoped it would be enough.

S’tern and Ra’tha crept silently down into the darkness. They could hear the child’s lonely footsteps ahead of them, somewhere in the black recesses. Ra’tha swallowed, unnerved for some reason she could not explain, her skin turning to gooseflesh as they made it to the bottom of the staircase.

Suddenly, a bright light encompassed the child, although Ra’tha could not tell where its source was coming from. Very quietly, she whispered to S’tern.

“We should leave now. She must be communicating with the Vapors. We should have brought more people with us.”

“Quiet, Truth Finder,” he spat back at her, whispering just as soundlessly as Ra’tha had. “We must catch this spellcaster or we will all die. You were the one who refused to let anyone else come with us.”

Ra’tha swallowed again but did not answer. The child seemed to be standing still within the brilliant flame that enveloped her, unaware of their presence. Ra’tha motioned to her companion. S’tern stayed to block the child’s escape to the surface while Ra’tha crept up behind her. Ra’tha wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt, and then returned them to the rope. Suddenly, the light vanished and they all stood in darkness.

In the next moment, the previously unseen torches around the room burst into flame. Both S’tern and Ra’tha stopped in shock, thinking this to be more of the child’s evil powers. It was a miracle the girl had not seen them. S’tern now stood at the base of the steps as Ra’tha slipped behind the girl. Gathering her courage, she dropped the rope quickly over the child’s head, strapping her small arms to her body.

“Wha-!” was all the young girl managed to get out before a handkerchief was stuffed into her protesting mouth.

Ra’tha took no more chances and blindfolded the child with heavy cloth. They shoved the girl unceremoniously from the depths of the room, back up into the bright rays of the sun. Neither S’tern nor Ra’tha spoke as they led her through the tangled obstacles of the forest. They knew they had been very lucky.

Adie admonished herself for not calling out to the Lights for their aid. But she could still feel their presence about her, and their constant companionable chatter, helped to relax her. Strangely, they were not overly worried about her capture...

The gentle breeze caressed Adie’s face, and she recognized familiar scents. So I am back at the town. She thought to herself. I wonder what they plan for me. Adie felt no real fear as she was jostled forward, for she knew her Goddess would protect her.

When her blindfold was removed, Adie stood in the main square, surrounded by the entire town. Even her tribe was there, standing fearfully in the background. Many flashed her people threatening looks, which demanded that they stay back and not interfere.

“We saw this magick transform. We saw this girl using her dark powers in the ancient ruins! I am a Truth Finder, and so you know that what I have seen is true.” Ra’tha announced to the gathered crowd.

“She is one of the Vapors.” She continued. “Do you know why they never miss a town or village? They are following her! They sent her ahead to scout the way, to make sure we would be here when the others came!”

“She’s an innocent child!” one tribal man yelled out from the back of the crowd.

“No!’ Ra’tha responded angrily. “She appears to be a helpless, innocent child only to trick us. Do not be fooled by her weak appearance for she is evil.”

Suddenly, a towns woman screamed, pointing to dark clouds of brooding smoke that rose into the sky not far from the town. They rose higher and higher, threatening to block out the sun.

“Let us kill her now!” S’tern yelled. “Before they come to reclaim her!”

The people of her tribe started pushing aside the townsfolk to try to get to Adie. They did not believe that one of their own, an Aw’hati, would be capable of betrayal.

The situation raged out of control. Adie had to take action.

“Will you make it rain for me, little one?” Adie whispered to a lovely blue Light that flew sedately beside her. Acknowledging her instruction enthusiastically, it flew to the heavens, joined by its other blue Light friends.

A deluge of rain fell, as dark storm clouds filled to overflowing with rain, appeared in the heavens from nowhere. The crowd stopped, startled. Great heavy sheets of rain fell, leaving none dry. Then the wind picked up, pushing the torrent of the sky’s teardrops towards the coming threat of the Vapors.

“Firelight, will you light me a fire?” Adie asked, whispering to one tiny, red glow that hovered just off to her left.

It jumped up and down in the air as if saying yes. Adie smiled as it darted off, its fellows following as well. A wall of fire surrounded the people gathered in the square. Panicked shouts rang out. The circle of flame turned from yellow to clear, so that now it could only be seen by the distortion of the air. The fire spiralled outward, its circumference ever increasing. As it touched the wooden buildings of the town, it left them unmarked.

The wide-eyed towns folk watched as the Vapors appeared, their black bodies hovering in the air, as they made their way, slithering forward. They came from the blackened and dead forests only to be destroyed into nothingness. Fire crashed like waves against them, the rain buried them beneath its fury. The wind howled its threats as it claimed its victory, and the earth pitched, grappling to hold the Vapors in its steady grasp.

When all was done, and the elements of nature had calmed, each person turned to the small girl in their midst. She stood unbound, with a mischievous smile on her small freckled face.

Ra’tha made her way through the crowd and crouched to look the girl in the eyes.

“I ask for forgiveness, child.” Ra’tha opened her mouth to say more but Adie forestalled her. She put her arms around the guilt ridden Ra’tha, bringing tears to the woman’s eyes.

“All is forgiven.” She whispered in her ear, and let the thankful woman stand.

“The Goddess be praised.” Adie stated, trying not to giggle. The Aw’hati took up the chant, and finally the townsfolk joined in. The noise rang out loudly in defiance of death that had come for them. They danced their victory around great roaring bonfires, drinking in the cool sweetness of the air and earth, and quenching their thirst with the pure clean rainwater.

The Vapors had come and gone, and Adie realised she still had much work to do. The Vapors were still on the rampage in other parts of the land and only she had the ability to wield the vast power that could destroy them. Leaving the town to its peaceful celebration, Adie walked off alone. She needed no protection in her travels for she had the Goddess’ protection and she had no needed of a companion, for she had, like she had always had, the friendship of the Lights.