Rhythm of Sky and Light
By Xial Lunashine


In the dark, silence isn't even a word. The fireflies shed their soft glow in the barely moonlit sky as they flitter about, oblivious as to the world that surrounds them. The glade was washed in a wave of silence, save for the crickets, chirping their summertime love songs. Two icy blue orbs slink forward from the shadows, bobbing slightly, occasionally flickering.

The light of the fireflies and of the heavens casts itself over a dark figure, low to the ground as it slinks through the grasses, as if stalking someone. The insects swing closer to earth as they buzz and flutter about, oblivious to all, with their carefree nature. The dark body moves ever closer to the cloud of droning insects with calculated skill and grace.

Without warning, the slinking coil of energy leaps up into the cloud of insects, its blackened shape revealed in the calm eye of the moonlit sky. Happy yips and barks of pleasure echo in the quiet night, the dark animal form hopping about in the glade as it bounded, hopped, and jumped through the cloud of fluttering, flickering lights that dangled free from the heavens.

The free-floating cloud of insects fluttered and flitted about the joyous, yet dark creature hidden by the night, illuminating the form bounding through the grass. They swirled in shimmering patterns, in a perfected imitation of the night sky above as they blinked, some with a slow and lazy rhythm, and yet others somewhat faster. The cloud grew denser as it flashed and flickered, filling the glade with its eerie greenish yellow light.

As the glowing, fluttering cloud grew brighter, the hum of the beating wings became louder, filling the glade with its almost unified, but monotonous droning. The light shed by the insects illuminated the dark form, making it much more visible in the darkness. The ice eyed, black furred canine form was illuminated much more clearly as it hopped about, yapping happily as it tried to pounce the cloud of glowing bugs, occasionally rolling in the grass from a missed pounce.

Slowly, the cloud began to fly in a few directions at once, leaving the canine form alone in the glade. As the cloud separated, an anxious whine was heard from the land-bound form as it laid down in the grass, looking wistfully at the scattering insects.

The glade began to fill once again with the silence of a quiet summer night, with only the sound of crickets chirping, and an occasional sneeze from the now inert form. The wind blew gently through the quiet glade, rustling the bushes and causing the grass to sway.

As the night progressed, the fireflies returned to their peaceful glade, their bodies glowing with their own inner energy. They darted and flitted about in strange patterns, as if to say something to the being on the ground below them. The nearly invisible creature on the ground sat up, sitting on its rear, front paws pushing the upper body off the ground whilst the tail wagged rapidly, slashing back and forth in the grass. It looked quizzically at the patterns, as if they had some meaning.

The coalescing cloud of fireflies began to form odd shapes in front of the black form, which in turn, cocked its head rather questionably as if to ask what was going on. Slowly, the fireflies made their first shape - a circle, with a cross shape attached to the bottom. This shaped cloud moved closer to the form, as if to indicate that this shape belonged somehow to the land-bound form.

The canine barked shortly, its eyes fixed on the glowing circle and cross formation in front, as if unsure what was going on. The fireflies moved closer in formation, until they surrounded it, their droning reaching a crescendo, then suddenly stopping. The glade became quiet, yet still illuminated by the glowing ring as the black furred form looked about.

Breaking the quiet of the glade was a single, feminine voice. The tone was almost motherly in nature as it spoke, "My dear lady of the dark, know yourself, and know all who surround you on this eve. You are special, even though you have not seen your potential, nor your future."

She blinked, and made a curious sound as she cocked her head again, standing and looking around, trying to pinpoint the noise surrounding her. She looked a little confused as she yapped once, softly.

"Yes, my child, it is you I speak of. My dear lupine, I refer to your inner self that you do not know of, or understand. You shall come to face it one day, and when you do, you will understand the words of the world, and what I intend for you to know. Time is like that of a river, ever flowing, ever changing. What you understand today is not what you understand tomorrow," the voice continued. It seemed to coalesce at a point directly in front of her, as the fireflies regrouped, forming into a ball that glowed in an intricate pattern.

Some of the insects would glow together, then fade as others flashed a few times. Then, they would glow again, as if highlighting a shaped. She did not know it as of yet, but the firefly pattern was a simulacrum of the world itself as it revolved slowly, ever glowing.

She barked and growled softly, as if asking a question, her eyes fixed on the glowing shape in front of her. She sat again, just staring at the mysterious bugs, as if she was not sure what was going on tonight in the glade she so often frequented.

"Yes, Maiden, you will come to understand your whole world, and hopefully even the worlds of others. I understand that this is a bit much to you at the moment, and you will have trouble understanding this for a while. All I ask of you, my child, is to sleep. Rest on this for a day or two, but never forget this," spoke the feminine voice. As it spoke, the glade began to fill with light from the overhead sky. The sun had begun to rise, almost catching the wolf off guard.

"Dear, it is time. Return to your home. You have many worried about you right now. Go now, and remember the voice of your world... of our world."

She nodded, and turned for the edge of the glade, disappearing into its foliage.

- Fin -