The Darkened World

The Awakening

A/N: The following chapter is where things begin to get crazy. I got the idea for this scene from an absolutely amazing book called the Star-Touched Queen and if you have not read it than I pity you because it was very well written and the concept truly unique. Also, I took a few names from Irish and Celtic mythology but that is about the only thing. I borrowed some ideas but most of it I made up. Also, I just want to point out that I had very few plot points planned and most of this story has just been me bumbling my way through it so thank you if you have stayed with me! What follows I have actually had planned for a while and it will not make sense, yet.

Sarah awoke, refreshed and terrified, to find that she was not where she had fallen asleep. Instead of being in the little cot in Hoggle's home, she lay in a field of lights. Sarah could not help but look in awe at the little will-of-whisps floated in the air around her.

Each one was a different color, each a different shade, and she was mesmerized by them. She had the urge to follow after them, but there were too many to follow. Instead, she stayed where she sat and watched them. They were beautiful. It was as if the night sky (when had it become night?) was lit with thousands of colored candles that each burned at a different intensity.

Sarah stood and began to wander through the field, she did not watch where she walked, but she became aware that her shoes were missing. Had she taken them off before she fell asleep? She knew that she should be alarmed, but all she could feel was awe for the little creatures that surrounded her.

She felt as if she moved in a dream and yet something, maybe instinct, told her that she was awake. Sarah walked until she came to the only other thing in the field, a large oak tree that was decorated with candles. For a moment, she was seized with panic at the thought of the tree being burned, but she quickly dismissed that fear. If it was willed, then it would be and the tree would be fine.

Sarah had the sudden urge to climb the sturdy tree, to find the secrets it hid, and so she did.

Though the tree was tall and she normally avoided heights, Sarah climbed until she no longer had branches to climb. The candles provided light as she found her holds and settled onto a large branch. She knew that a great amount of time must have passed and that she needed to do something, but Sarah could not summon the will power to move. She was comfortable and found the sight around her to be enjoyable.

The whisps floated around her, giving her more gentle light, and she felt the urge to touch one. Yet her instincts warned against doing so and she trusted them. Instead, she sat on her branch with her back to the trunk and watched the lights.

Sarah looked at the candles that the tree held home to and decided that it would be alright to hold one, to place it in her hands.

She stretched out and took one of the candles that rested in the nook of two branches. It was warm in her hand and yet she knew that it would not burn her. As she brought it closer to her face, she caught the scent of what she could only describe as sunshine and warmth. She wrapped the scent around her like a favorite blanket and watched the candle's flame flicker.

Within the flame images began to appear and they clarified as she looked closer.

Three girls rode horses under a moonlit sky. They laughed as they raced but the two could not beat the third, no matter how they tried.

Fenne, Grainne. The two names appeared in her mind without being summoned and the emotion that followed caught her off guard. It was a love which she felt for Toby and a sorrow which she had never before felt.

"Aine, this is unfair!" The youngest , Fenne, called as she raced to catch her sister. Where Fenne was fire and starlight, Aine was sun and shadow. Fenne was the form of a child where Aine was that of a woman. Despite the differences in age, Aine loved her you get sister and would always fight for her protection.