Kite - Chapter 3: Creatures of the Dark

One day, about twelve years ago, under the star-spangled sky, I was waiting under the tree for the Aurora, but that night I sensed that something was amiss. I recoiled in shock as instead of the normal beauty of the aurora, I heard a nearly inaudible shriek pierce the eerie silence. The aurora bloomed and the creak of the tree signaled the start of the wondrous melody. The stream of light that touched it was thin and feeble. The light of the aurora was dim.

A yellow bar of light penetrated the darkness. The Mother Tree shrieked once and was still. The Aurora popped out of existence as the night, once again, fell deafeningly silent. I could not help but twist and turn in the hollow in the roots, I could not put a finger on the reason for my unease, but a despicable fear gripped me. The only word to describe it was unnatural.

The silence was maddening and frighteningly so. The milky yellow beam of light grew larger and brighter as it crept towards me. It was beautifully captivating but it was pulsating in a sinister manner. I wanted to avert my gaze from it, but my eyes were glued onto it, as though some invisible force compelled me to. It approached ever so slowly, so surely that the pace was unnerving. I found myself shivering from head to toe, and at that moment, I set my sight upon THEM; from that instant, I knew we were in peril. I then realized why the silence was so unnerving, it was because even the rustling of the leaves in the softly blowing wind was absent.

"I am the moon..." whispered a soft voice. I sought to discern its source but I could not. In a heartbeat, the shivering stopped as wave after wave of relief crashed into my body, the source as mysterious as that of the voice. To this day I could not explain the elation it brought. I smiled and turned my gaze upward, hoping to see a benevolent spirit sitting amongst the leafy boughs of the tree, but all I saw was the creepy stillness of the mother tree.

"I am the child of the moon you see in the sky. I was birthed when magic began to flow in this world..." The voice was beautiful. It was like the thrill of a thousand birds of paradise, the song of hordes of nightingales and the twitter of a myriad other birds. It was stunning, yet it seemed soft and fragile. Nevertheless, I could do nothing but listen.

The leaves of the tree rustled for but a heartbeat as a wind stirred the silver flowers that grew around its base. They bloomed only at night and their sweet nectar was a grand treat for me. Again, the voice spoke "I am the mother of the Fae... You loved my brother so much, that you forgot who you really were..." Then, it hit me, I could practically TASTE the voice. Every syllable brought the sweet flavor of moonflowers' honey-golden nectar into my tongue.

"I... do not understand..." I managed to stammer. As though reassuringly, the tree creaked and again the mysterious voice spoke.

"Your kith and kin fancy themselves beings of the light, dwelling in only the brightest of daylight's rays. They cannot bear to fathom how millenia have changed their minds. Dear child, you and all the Fae are creatures of the dark, as I, your mother, am..."