The Story of Midnight

Chapter 24

"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them."

― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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Someone shook me gently, coaxing me to wake up. I slowly opened my eyes letting a blurry sight come across them. After blinking a few times, I realized that I was back in Zephyr's world.

I got up and stared at the trees as their leaves swayed gently with the soft breeze. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as the whisper of the wind blew around the forest. A simple thing like that made me realize how much I missed the wilderness. I shielded my eyes from the gleaming sun that was descending, slowly darkening the sky.

Looking around, I noticed the dragon wasn't here.

I sighed, placed my hands inside my pockets and started to search for the mythical creature.

Zephyr, can you tell me where you are? I asked, as my exploration of finding him still kept on going half an hour later.

Please, Zephyr. I need to know you're here.

My feet continued to crunch against the grass with every step I took, further extending the long list of questions my curious but slightly annoyed mind had.

I began to wonder if this was another test to see if fear and irritation would take over my mind from not being able to locate someone.

The dragon really wanted to stretch the meaning of staying calm.

So I continued to look around the waterfall and the small pond where Zephyr decided to throw me in to wake me up not too long ago, but there was still no sign of him.

Night blackened this strange world, making the sounds of the forest more nerve-wracking than they were in the daytime. Even the faintest rustle of leaves made me quickly turn around only to see with the earth's waves that it was a small nocturnal animal trying to look for food. This went on for a few more minutes when I finally realized this was exactly what Zephyr is testing me on, to see if I would lose my mind to paranoia.

Leave it to the dragon to stage something this well thought out.

Taking a deep, calming breath to clear the rampant thoughts whirling in my head, I let my eyes adjust to the darkness before continuing the search for the mythical creature.

The only sounds that surrounded me were that of the wind shaking the leaves and the crunching of grass as my feet took me in an endless tread through this labyrinth.

I didn't want to stop looking, but exhaustion got the better of me.

I slumped back against a tree, my knees propped up and arms outstretched across them.

I stared blankly at the darkness just letting my thoughts wander when a small light appeared in front of me, then just as quickly, disappeared. More of these lights blinked around me when I noticed it was the fireflies that Zephyr talked about not too long ago. I tried to cherish the short time I had to see the creatures dance about, to just remember this moment when I wake up. The memory will outshine the darkness that I have to go through.

When will I be able to see them again?

A faint crackle of leaves brought my attention back and into a defensive stance quickly standing up with one dagger drawn, as I scanned my surroundings for the intruder. The waves didn't show anyone around me and neither did I see their shadow even with the help of the fireflies around.

The tension continued to grow as the forest suddenly became eerily silent. Not even the wind stirred the trees, no animals to scurry about. Only emptiness remained.