The Empty

Sea Breeze

The Empty

By James R. Wilson

This place is strange. Cold with a warm sun. Relaxing. Wouldn't be hard to get used to this... with maybe a drink or two. What could be better than an early morning on the beach?

But upon awakening, everything I knew to be true seemed off somehow. Different. I was struggling with how things felt different. It was almost like when you start something new. You have that feeling of venturing into the unknown. Are you excited? Are you scared? You just don't know yet. The irony is that I was on the same beach I always came to. Nothing here had changed. I certainly hadn't changed. So, I guess it was going to remain a mystery.

The sand and pebbles on my feet felt warm. Compared to the cold air, it was almost like having them in front of a fireplace. The sun warmed the whole beach, and you could see that shimmer in the air where the heat of the pebbles fought with the chill.

"I should make my way back," I said to myself. It's not as warm when you get off the beach and, let's be honest, I was feeling a little too comfortable. The fire had gone out long before the sun came up, so no need to tend to that. I'd be back soon enough and would just build another on top of it.

Standing, I make my way over, away from the shoreline, and into the wilderness surrounding the beach. The trees that made up the dense forest were covered in a light layer of frost that made quite evident how early in the morning it was. Despite the bright sun, the rest of the forest had quite the talent for holding in the cold air. Not like the beach – so warm under that under the early sun but it fluctuated as the shadow of the forest took over even that.

I rather like the cold weather the season brought. The warm sand can be a welcome change of pace, but the forest felt like home. Dark trees with lush, thick branches of bright green leaves, bushes, and ferns, and every hollow filled with fauna of all kinds. As I left the beach, I found the path I'd cut on my way to the shore. I trimmed down some twigs and leaves that were encroaching on my path. Best to keep things tidy because you never know when you'll need to make a quick exit.

But it seems I wasn't the only one using this path. I spotted light prints left from a feline of some sort. As the soil turned richer, the prints grew deeper. Much deeper. Not just any feline, a big cat. They weren't exactly fresh, and it struck me I'd been lying exposed on the beach most of the night. I hated the thought of giving up this guilty pleasure, but one of the forest cats watching me sleeping was not a welcome one. I said a quick blessing to the gods who'd sent a meal to the cat before it happened upon me and made my way deeper into the wood down my path.

That feeling I'd had. That things were different? It wasn't just the cat that was going to make things interesting today.

Nearing my destination, I readied my bow. It was time to go to work. Food won't hunt for itself. I'd been seeing animal signs in the woods along some of the older paths.

"Come on. I know you're around here somewhere," I whisper, knocking an arrow in the process. Rustling from behind causes me to instinctively shift to my left, crouching as I did so and scanning for the next sign of movement. A shifting branch catches my eye and I loose two arrows in rapid succession. The first inciting a squeal and then a vertical jump from the creature. It was in my direct line of sight for a moment and just out of range of the latter arrow. After it hit the ground, it took off running through the bushes and disappeared.

"Damn," I yelled, slinging the bow back over my shoulder. Nothing to show for the effort but two lost arrows. And no chance of catching it now. I'd found a young boar; at this age more afraid of me because it hadn't grown into that adult aggressiveness that would rather fight than flee. It would have been a good prize to return home with. But they're notoriously fast and hunters are extremely lucky if they can feel one at that age. Cursing my luck and wishing I hadn't left the beach, I stepped through the bushes looking for the lost arrows. The first shot dug into the earth nearest to where the creature had been hiding. The second was nowhere in sight. Wonderful.

"Now where have you gone?"

I moved further off the path and deeper into the woods where I was sure the arrow flew. I pushed through the branches into a snow-covered clearing where I found it stuck in one of the trees. Brushing the twigs and leaves from my trousers, I wished I'd been able to pass through that sea of branches so effortlessly. Normally I'd been overjoyed to have found my arrows so easily, but I was unable to react.

I'd spent a lot of time in the woods. These days it was more of a home to me than anything standard. But that's what's supposed to happen when you're one of the Empty. Basically, find yourself a second home because you're only welcome when you can master a manual task that benefits the community. So, I hunted, and I earned my right to stay, but I made the forest my new home. I knew these woods – knew them – but what I was seeing now was keeping me from even breathing. Hadn't I been here before? Obviously not. THIS is what I remembered. And avoided.

Drawing my shock was a stone monolith, easily as tall as many of the larger trees, and inscribed with runes from some ancient past. Approaching the stone with caution, I carefully examine the glowing symbols engraved upon it. Certainly runes of some sort, but not any language I'd ever seen. And not something I should be investigating. Better to let one of the Elite know about this instead.

Remembering the arrow, I walked back and pulled it free. "Hmm," I mumble with annoyance. The hand-crafted flint tip was chipped from the impact with the tree's bark. "I'll need to make more soon." Examining the rest of the clearing doesn't take long. A few bushes and shrubs occupy the area, except for the circle around the monolith which is barren of everything save for some frost-ridden grass. With effort, I try and make my way further from the monolith, but I keep staring at the glowing stone and feeling a growing connection that I hadn't thought was there.

I now stand in front of the stone, not having realized my own movements toward it. The closer I get the more the longing for it takes over my body until I drop the arrow and both my hands are pressed against the glowing runes. I'm pushing on it so hard I feel as if it might fall over. I feel that glowing light within me. The glow flowing out from the runes and down through my body, pulsing through my fingertips, traveling through my arms, until the ebb and flow have consumed my entire body. Most of the light and power condensing itself where I believe my heart to be.

Breaking away from the monolith, I now stare at it having lost all its old glow save a subtle light filling a single rune. I look at my hands; they now have a faint blue aura that gradually turns white. Almost pale compared to the radiant blue that had been shining from the monolith. I reapproach the monolith, this time of my own volition, and inspect the only glowing rune left on the pillar. It seems almost powerless now; an incredible change from the once ominous pillar I'd touched just moments before. The rune's little light slowly flickers as I reach out to it with a finger, the silver-blue glow building in my hand as it got closer.

Making contact felt odd as nothing happened on its own, like before. Instead, while I was touching it, I felt compelled to put my new energy back into the glowing rune.

"My instincts haven't been wrong. So far." I say with a mix of hesitation and confidence attempting to open the flow of energy. With strenuous effort, I push the flow of light through my body, into and then out of my palm which covered the rune. A wave of release surged, and I stood helpless as I poured power into the rune creating a spectacular glow many times brighter than the entire monolith had been minutes before. A cold feeling flowed in tandem with the light as it made its way through my body.

The glow continued to brighten and burn ice cold against my hand, but I couldn't bring myself to move my hand away. The monolith started to shake, as more and more power flowed into the rune, weakening my body. It wasn't possible for me to close off the flow and I started to worry I would be damaged by it or killed. As the last bits of my energy were poured into the rune, I felt a sharp pain in my hand and then fell unconscious.