The Cinders of Dezu

2nd: A Walk in the Night (3)

It was true. Raina was quite small and petite, even for her age. It was hard to imagine how waking her at this point would cause any problem, even if she thrashed around.

"She'll lay down in a second, " Cairo said, nodding his head toward the end of the paved walkway, "It's just up here."

There at the end, the path split and circled a large stone slab. Palm trees were lined around it, arcing their shadows over the spot. It was a smooth flat boulder with something white and grey laid out over the top of it. He could see it was a small blanket. The boulder had an engraved inscription plate attached to the front of it. Julian squinted but couldn't make out what it said in the dark.

"Man, your uncle went all out didn't he?"

Cairo sighed.

"Yeah, he did."

Raina reached her destination. She crawled over the inscription and onto the soft white and gray surface. The boulder had a bit of a concave in the middle where the blanket was, like it was made exactly for her to curl herself up atop the soft surface of the smooth stone slab. The young girl looked as peaceful as could be as the two stared at her.

"That's somethin' else, " said Julian.

"Isn't it?" said Cairo, "Happens every night she's here."

"Does she sleepwalk at home too?"

"Sometimes."

"Does she go anywhere else?"

"Nope, it's weird. Uncle Dev says she just wanders the house at home. Never leaves it. But here... every single time, she comes to this spot and lays right here."

"And that's why he had the path built for her..."

"Right. Before it was just the inscription. But then he wanted her to have a place to walk and then planted the trees around it..."

Julian shook his head.

"Rich people."

"For real."

The two headed to her resting place and Cairo stood over her.

"Okie doke, Little Lady," he said as he leaned down to lift her.

Julian was staring at the small cover that blanketed the stone. He couldn't tell what fixed it in place but it looked natural, like it was just laying there with nothing to hold it. Even in the dark, you could see it was a bright white color with curved, silver-gray stripes that accented it vertically.

"Huh," he said, "It really is fluffy."

Cairo nodded as he readjusted the young girl in his arms to carry her back. He suddenly stopped and was staring at something.

"What?" said Julian.

"Umm... she... it looks like she carried the stone with her."

"What?!"

Julian got closer to look. There, clutched tightly in her right hand and glowing faintly, was the red crystal.

"I can't believe she didn't drop it!" said Cairo
"Why did she even pick it up?"

The stones glow was a bit brighter now. Cairo moved her so they could get a closer look at it. Raina's hand clutched the stone tighter. As he held her in his arms, she pulled it close to her chest. Julian felt a swell of pride. He was happy he had gotten her something she loved so much that she was trying to keep it safe in her sleep.

They turned to head back when the glow of the stone grew even brighter. Bright enough for both of the boys to turn and look at. The red light lit up Raina's face and then both of their own. They're eyes were wide while Raina still slept peacefully. The light got so bright it became hard to look at. Cairo began to squint and Julian started to shield his view. Before either could react, something that looked like an arcing ray of light, followed nearly instantly by a web of identical structures, erupted from the stones light. It passed through them and surrounded them in a kind of spherical cage. What followed was something like a static mist that replaced the light. It dissipated quickly. In all, the event lasted about two seconds. Just long enough for Cairo and Julian's minds to register what their eyes were seeing and not a moment more.