It might have been a better time to shut up and stay in petrified silence, but I forgot all notion of respect and quite blatantly asked the disembodied voice "We're creatures of the dark?"
"Yes my dear Kite, you are creatures of the dark. Just like my brother once was, but he turned to the light. For you loved him so, you turned as well." An invisible wind swept across the isles. The branches of the tree creaked and groaned and the leaves rustled in the breeze. One look around, and I realized that time had come to a standstill.
As though it noticed the wonder in my face, the voice said "Yes my child, I have kept time at bay, but my power wanes with each passing moment. I can only do so much before father notices my actions. My Brother is approaching, his hunger for the light has shattered what sanity he had left after he turned. He devoured all the light of the old world, but, born mortal, with only an immortal spirit, could not contain it. His mortal body was torn to shreds, I gave mine up to save him, but I left behind a part of me, a small part that has, over the ages, grown ancient and large---" The voice had grown strained and ancient, yet its beauty not in the least diminished. I never thought that it was in pain, but somehow, I knew that that would be the last time I would converse with it. Perhaps in that body, but I know not if it holds true with my new one.
"The field we fought over was devastated, and the raw magic seeped into the soil. The very magic that holds up these isles is the same magic that penetrated the earth those thousands of years ago, the very magic that allowed me to flourish once more. Now, you lie in between my roots, as though some brilliant turn of destiny, but I cannot reveal your purpose right now, perhaps if we meet again someday." It had shocked me, her revelation, but it did not bother me, somehow, I had always known. I looked up into her boughs, and sure enough, there, the silver ghost of a woman flickered in and out of existence.
"My roots sank into these soils, and on that day I began my lament. On that day, the thousand waterfalls were born. The tendrils of my roots still reach the crater over which we fought, and it is almost full. The moment it fills, I shall cease to exist from this world and I would only be able to commune with it on nights when the moon is full" said the spirit. "That moment... is now."
From the distance, a mad, cracked voice erupted. "Little sister, I am coming for you..." I was petrified, shivers ran down my spine and only the voice of the tree was able to revive my muscles.
"Run my child, the sun arrives"
Today, I know that my decision on that night was correct. I turned tail and ran for my life. When morning came, the twelve years of perpetual sunlight began to chip away at my identity.
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