Dreams of Polluted Rain

It was a dark night in the Noct. The gardens and forests were decorated with lanterns, huts and platforms that were built into the tall, strong trees, lighting the path for those that chose to wander the night. Within each home were the elven residents that resided in the Noct, preparing to rest. Just outside of the solemn, mystic woods, there was a single elven guard, watching over the edge of their sacred, small world. They walked along the edge, keeping watch over the spell that kept them safe from the outside world; a dome made of magic that kept out the vicious rain. The elven guards would often shift out throughout the day, but take longer shifts at night, as that is when the polluted rain is most common. It's easy to seal, as all beings within their world are attuned to magic and there is rarely ever a breach, so there is almost no reason for a guard to roam. Just in case, however, the sentinels are still present.

The forest and garden covered world of the Noct was sealed off from the outside world thousands of years ago when the rain began to grow more polluted. All elven beings retreated to this place and supposedly other small pockets of existence amidst the world of poison. They all had to watch from within their protective gates as the world outside continued to decay, unknown why the world became this way, and became it so horrifically fast. Nevertheless, their own little world remains safe, safe for eternity from the horrors beyond the veil. As they grew more prosperous, their connection and contact to the outside world became forever severed. The only contact they could ever have to the outside was through the barrier, though almost nothing ever comes near it.

The guard of the Noct walked along the path, taking their time and admiring the dark gardens, dotted with blue fireflies that lit the gardens like stars. An azure firefly landed on the shoulder of the elven guard. It was as large as a quarter, and the light in its tail was different from that of a normal firefly. It had a slight drag of light like a tail behind it, leaving an eerie spectral glow in its lax drifting. They reached up their hand to let it crawl into their palm, admiring its beautiful light before it took off. They watched as it caught up with the other fireflies. The creatures in the Noct were descendants of the creatures that used to exist before the rain. As the years progressed they began to adapt to the enchanted world they were in. All creatures within had a little bit of magic rub off on them. Like the fireflies, everything had a sprinkle of bioluminescence within them.certain quality of Magic was everywhere, engraved in every living organism within the security by blood and bone like a woven thread in a sheet of fabric.

The guard walked along the path, eventually seeing the droplets of polluted rain against the unbreaking dome. It was almost pitch black outside the dome, with a brownish and midnight blue hue from the rain that slid down the screen. The guard stopped and turned to walk around the edge of the dome, checking if there was any kind of leakage. It would normally take around three hours to get all the way around the dome of the Noct, so this would be a long shift just from walking around the perimeter, but thankfully on the other side of the little world was someone traveling the other way, so it would only take about half the time circling. The rest of the shift is usually spent on a post, monitoring one side of the dome. The sentinel watched over the dome in leisure as their shift began.

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The guard yawned in boredom as they sat at their post, seated in the center of the giant garden of fireflies. They rubbed their eyes, then continued looking into the great big force field surrounding their home. As they looked across it, they began to hear a noise. Their pointed ears rose as they began to hone in on the source of the noise. No one should be out here except the sentinels. Perhaps it was just a rowdy kid with the bright idea of sneaking out of their home in the dead of night, or perhaps some rabbits playing outside their dens.