Embers of Magic

Rainbows And Bronze Swords

The layer of sand over the cobblestone pathway shifted and crackled under my feet as I stepped out of the car in awe. The car rumbled to a standstill as Josh stepped out with the same dumbstruck expression as he stared at the town in front of us, hidden in the center of a forest of blackthorn and dark yew, between two roads that couldn’t possibly have existed. I stepped forward to the entrance as the sand continued to crackle. The sign that hung over the entrance was so huge that it became harder to read the closer I got – Metamorph, it read.

“It has been a while, Zarah.” A girl said as she stood on the other side of the sign – her hair dyed in streaks of electric blue, bright toxic green and yellow, red, purple, and orange – wearing a plain black T-shirt and shorts with a Blue Angels peak cap attached to the belt loop of her pants. Zarah moved towards her while smiling. “It really has.”

“Uhm, I’m Josh.” He snapped out of his awe and introduced himself. The girl smiled as she scratched the back of her head, “I’m sorry, it was  rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Ash, daughter of the rainbow goddess, Iris. But, everyone calls me Rain.” She said pointing at her hair.

“Ember.” I muttered, trying to see the village behind her.

“I know. We’ve been expecting you.” She said as I snapped out of my daze. “Why?” Her smile faded. “Because, we don’t have any other choice. You’re our only hope of saving this place.”

“You don’t really know me. How can I be your only hope? And from what?”

Her expression became even more grave as she looked down at her shoes and dusted off her blue angels cap. “Follow me.” She said as she turned around and walked toward the village, we followed. The cobblestone pathway lead towards a big building in the center and tied together everything else from the market place to the battle arena at the far end. Blackthorn lined the sides of the streets and dozens of night blooming flowers creeped up through the cracks in the cobblestone. Some glowing in a gentle blue hue. Laughter and cheering to the performance of vanilla twilight on the amphitheater filled the air along with the sweet scent of honey and cinnamon.

A river cut through the outskirts of the town to the left as a giant willow stood by its side, surrounded in more glowing flowers. We continued walking until we reached the big room in the center. The first floor had no walls yet that somehow it added to its beauty as creepers crawled up the support beams and eventually weaving itself into the canopy above us, helping to hold it up, somehow. More glowing flowers wrapped around the creepers and into the canopy, giving a soft blue lighting to the dining area that left a resonating feeling of serenity.

Rain slipped into the room and walked past the rows of dining tablets towards the fire place and stairway next to it and walked up with a spring in each step. She was no older then sixteen, yet held a certain level of authority that couldn’t be missed. We followed up the steps until we reached the floor above. The room was a two story library with a set of couches in front of a second fireplace and a. Spiral staircase lead to the next room. Rain walked towards the fire place and adjusted the photograph set on the mantel as she signed for us to take a seat. Zarah was the first to sit down, followed by Josh and I.

“So, what did you see?” She asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked. She smiled as the fire crackled. “I don’t know if you noticed but, this place is magical.” She continued as Zarah nodded. “Remember the signs on the roads?” Zarah spoke, “You both saw different places written on them.”

“Yeah. We both saw where we wanted to be.” Josh answered.

“So, what did you see?” I explained to her what I saw and she smiled again when I was done. Josh went after me as he spoke about the smell of the ocean that spilled over the place and the constant cascading and crashing of waves. To him, it looked like a fishing village, yet the willow stayed the same. He described the willow and river exactly as I had. Rain smiled as we told her then looked back at the photograph on the mantel.

“I’m sorry that we had to start out the way we had. It’s just, we are desperate.” She continued while looking at Zarah. “There’s a war coming, isn’t there?” I said grimly as I thought about the dream I had. Rain’s eyes widened for a second but quickly dropped it. “Please, don’t say that to anyone.” I nodded. From what I’ve seen so far, the town wasn’t ready for battle. Even with people like Zarah, they weren’t ready for a war. Speaking about it would just bring across panic.

“Wait, how do you know that there’s a war coming?” Josh asked. Looking at him now, I could see Felix’s face. His eyebrows tucked downloads in the same way, like he was about to make some snide remark. He even sat the same way Felix would have – at the edge of his seat, ready to leap into action. My boots suddenly became more interesting as guilt weighed me down.

Josh sighed. “It’s about Felix, isn’t it?” I nodded and began telling the story. Rain and Zarah shifted uncomfortably at my descriptions of who I saw in the vision and I could swear Zarah had cussed a towards herself a few times. When I got to Felix, I stressed how distraught he looked, for his brothers sake. However, Josh remained emotionless. It was almost as if he knew his brother had been in some kind of trouble.

“This people seem powerful.” Josh broke the silence after I finished and we all looked towards him. “Look. I’m new to all of this. I’m no demigod like you and I honestly know nothing about magic or visions or all that but, I know my brother. I know why he’s doing this.” His knuckles paled out as he tightened his fist. “I know I can bring him back.”  Rain nodded. “You guys should get some rest.”