//------------------------------// // Awakening // Story: The Break of Day // by Blackbird182 //------------------------------// All it took was a flickering of lights, and her eyes opened. She was in a cave. Dim sunlight shined through gaps in the ceiling, reflecting off a pool of water, casting strange shadows. Some corners were dark as pitch, but others were bright, and she could see clearly. Life that thrived in the underground creeped everywhere, some dangling vines, some large mushrooms, some creeping moss. Why am I in a cave? She was on a little subterranean island. The pool encircled a pile of rocks, roots, deadfall and moss, and she stood atop it. Her first step was shaky and uncomfortable, as if she had forgotten how to walk. She stopped by the water’s edge, and she realized she was parched. The water was too murky to see her reflection in, and she resisted the urge to take a drink. Where am I? She wasn’t trapped, though; one small tunnel appeared to sloped upwards to her left, while a larger tunnel sloped downwards to her right. Beyond maybe a few steps, whatever was beyond both was obscured by darkness and undergrowth. From the gaps in the ceiling of the cave, she wasn’t far below the surface, so taking the upward tunnel should lead her out, so she could find out where she was and what was going on. On the other side of the coin… she turned and gazed at the downward path. There’s something there. She didn’t know what, or how she knew that. She didn’t think anything was calling out to her, but maybe there was. The path back out wasn’t going anywhere – she could take a quick look, confirm or disprove her feelings, then leave. The pool was not deep, barely reaching half way up her legs at the deepest, and not unpleasantly cool. A natural wall of rock and packed earth prevented the water from running down the tunnel. Once pass the thin curtain of vines and moss, the tunnel sloped sharply, but not enough for her to lose her balance. Soft earth made it easy to maintain balance. The tunnel wasn’t long, and there was a glow at the end. She descended. The next chamber was a cavern, far larger in every dimension than the first. It was arranged like a garden, beautiful and wild. A large, placid pool sat at the center of the chamber. There was a large gap in the ceiling, cutting through earth and stone, allowing sunlight in, giving an unobstructed view of the sky. All of it, even the light of the Sun, was secondary to the massive tree that dominated the center of the chamber. It shimmered like a crystal of a million colors, illuminating the entire cave brighter than any light streaming from the opening above. She recognized it immediately, although it wasn’t as large before. A million iridescent branches reached out, leaves shimmering like stars in the night sky. It rose out of the pool, casting light across its unmoving surface. Brighter than the rest, brilliant colors seemed to swirl at the very heart of the tree, close to where the trunk split off into the branches. She approached the edge of the pool, slowly looking down into the water. The tree reached deep into the water, which was far deeper than she imagined, roots branching off in streams of radiance, creating a swirling, almost disorienting sight. The water by the edge was clear enough, and the light bright enough, for her to see her reflection. A coat of white. A long mane of light green. Pink eyes. A short horn extending from her forehead, and a pair of white wings on her back. I do not look much like myself. The thought was idle and listless, as if she was noting the color of the sky. She should have been surprised or shocked, but everything was so surreal that she could only stare. She took note of the differences. The hair, of course. And her body itself – she wasn’t as tall as she remembered, and her horn wasn’t as long as she remembered, and her wings weren’t as large as she remembered. Overall, she was… normal. In fact, comparing the image in the water to what she could remember, she thought she was kind of small. She smiled and shook away her thoughts, and her thirst returned. She dipped down and sipped the water. This was safe, she knew. As long as it was here, the water could not harm her. Her thirst quenched, she returned her gaze to the tree. Unless it had migrated, she knew where she was. And while a migrating tree wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility, she suspected that this was not the case. “What have I been doing, to wake up under your care?” She said to the tree, trying her voice at last. That, at least, hadn’t changed, as far as she could tell. The tree, of course, didn’t respond. Her voice seemed to be absorbed by the harmony of the tree itself. After what seemed hours, she finally turned her gaze away, turning back toward where she came from. The journey back up the tunnel, back through the little cave, and up, out from underground passed by in a moment. Her mined churned with questions and thoughts like a sea of fire, yet she forced them down, not dwelling on anything. There will be time for questions later. - The tree must have been a ward, because the moment she left the confines of the cave, darkness and corruption was like thick humidity. This place, this forest, was always charged with power, but never like this. This was something wicked. A thick fog obscured her vision beyond a stone’s toss. A dragon be there and she wouldn’t see it until it was right above her. An ill feeling ran down her spine, and she tensed, wings flared, ready to spring into action at the slightest warning. A few moments passed, and she allowed herself to relax, ever so slightly. Standing there would get her attacked, eventually. She’d have to get out of there, and soon. With an expression of will, a golden orb of light formed. Uttering some simple instructions to it, the ball swirled around her for a moment before streaking off through the mists, leaving a golden trail behind it. It was a risk, as the spell could be seen by others, but it would lead her out and she was reasonably sure she could at least fend off a forest beast. She followed the light as fast as she felt safe, spreading her wings and flying through the trees. It didn’t take long before she sensed trouble. There, blocking her path to follow the light trail, were three… creatures, standing in a dried creek bed. They had the body of baboons, with dark brown fur, but their long tails were bone lashes, and their heads were like skulls, but with eight spidery eyes. They were permeated in the same darkness that she sensed in the forest around them. They didn’t pause, or speak, or even cry out in bestial rage. They struck out, lashing out with long claws of bone. Still airborne, she dodged to the right, spinning out of the way and raising in elevation to avoid their strikes. One leaped to the top of a boulder in the way of where the light went, tensing up, waiting for her to try and get by. It would be a risk to blitz past it, and she didn’t know how far they would chase. A flung stone missed her head by inches, hitting the branches above her with enough force to shatter wood. She spread her wings and swooped, launching a stunning blast of light that would knock a bear out at the creature on the rock as she flew towards it, spiraling down out of the way as it grasped at her, catching only a few strands of hair. She flew faster, but she could hear the pursuing pace of the creatures behind her, grinding stone, snapping wood, disturbing undergrowth. She felt the moment she exited the corrupted forest. The permeating darkness abated, and the mists abated, but her pursuers kept up. And then one blindsided her. It lunged out of the trees to her right, claws extended. But it overshot, flying just above her, but it was close enough that it knocked her off course, sending her spiraling. She caught herself just before she struck a tree. They set a trap. She faced the creatures, not landing but measuring her options. They were intelligent enough to try and outmaneuver her, and nearly succeeded. They had come to a stop, but now they were slowly closing in, sure of their kill. The grass under their paws withered and died as they stepped. She reacted quick, releasing another stun blast at the nearest creature. It flinched, but the spell didn’t seem slow it all that much. The lunge of the next two caused her to dance out of their way. She circled them slowly, considering her next move. I’ll have to go for something more potent. Her next shot was a lancing beam of golden light. It struck the side of one of the creatures, cutting across its side. Darkness like black smoke leaked from the wound, but the creature stood, releasing a bone-shaking rattling sound. A second beam cut it in half widthwise, and the two ends collapsed, the creature shrieking more as it died in a cloud of darkness. Distracted by her focus on the one, she didn’t notice the others as one body checked her. She was knocked sideways and struck roughly against a tree, tumbling to the ground. The howl of another beast barely alerted her to its charge, and she loosed another beam. The strike removed its skeletal head from its shoulders, and the limb body slammed into the tree before dissipating into darkness. There’s another. She leapt up and swung around, searching for it, but it was too late. All she saw was a toothy maw and razor sharp claws. She felt them dig into the flesh of her neck, and she cried out. An erratic blast vaporized the head and shoulders of the beast, and it died in a cloud of darkness. She stumbled, trying her best to gaze at the wound. A few slim gashes at the top of her shoulders. They were barely even bleeding. She signed in relief. Her attackers were gone, not even a fragment or bone left in their place. Around where they died, the plant life was thicker and lush. Odd… corrupted beasts? She turned away, glancing around. Her seeker had likely long since faded. She briefly attempted to create another, but she was feeling exceptionally tired, too tired to even fly. But the forest around her was comfortably calm and bright, a far cry from the dark place she fled, so she decided just to walk from here. She soaked in the atmosphere. It wasn’t anything like the tree, but it was good enough, although her weariness stuck to her. It was quiet, which struck her as a bit odd, as she thought there should be plenty of animal, bird and insect calls, or even a breeze through the leaves. She panted, sweating. Why is it so warm? The bright sunlight, though, was quite beautiful through the trees. The path to her destination was clear. Where was she going again? She found she didn’t have an answer. She panted more; the heat had increased. Bright. It must have been midafternoon when she escaped the forest. The Sun would be setting, the colors growing redder, the shadows growing longer and darker. But this, it looked as if it was morning. It should… should… should be a… almost… dark… Her thoughts grew heavy and twisted, curling like grass under a wildfire. She stumbled and fell. The darkness caught her, but it was shattered like a million fairies of knives, singing sweet lullabies of torment and sorrow. They lifted her, dragging her down like a feather caught in a hurricane. All they touched burned away, leaving only mists and whispers. She landed on nothing, ground roiling like pieces of sand, as if they were ladybirds in the shape of dragons sent scattered in the aether. She took a step that lasted an eternity and traveled around the world repeating it over and over as each step brought her closer to nowhere help figures of color and the dreams of unborn children lumbered like mountains on parade carrying with them thrones and oceans and she could only be caught up in their dirge of snakes as the maggots consumed and consumed and slithered and writhed and screamed and laughed and melted in the fires of cold light and i everything shattered as he swallowed it in his endless maw and eyes like voids glared evermore into a tormented body of muted light and quenched fires please he chewed and chewed bringing ice and pain and needles with every motion please