The bird fell into the ground below, and somewhat willingly, Spire followed.
(
Frost's pace slowed, and his lungs shouted for breath. Lightheaded, his vision swam before him, but he knew he must walk on. Something terrible was aught to happen any moment now.
The Spectrum loomed ahead. The first row of trees flashed their sashes of scarlet leaves against the dark backdrop of the horizon, which somehow embodied both night and day at once.
Frost bounded past the forest line, through the groves of purely red, then orange, then yellow deciduous trees, until he had to catch his breath again. The river ran throughout, coloring the roots of the trees, and in turn, their trunks and limbs and leaves. When Frost bent his head and drank, he noticed—
The current was flowing in the wrong direction. Northward.
He spat, wishing he'd never touched such tainted waters. It was bitter on his tongue. Suddenly, ahead he heard a shout.
(
Ravine let out a cry of joy. She'd walked for miles along the river, through the ever-changing color, and now before her stood a tall frail tree whose branches thrashed in the smallest winds—and whose leaves resembled blossoms, fragile and pale pink.
She plucked a cluster of leaves off a low limb and hugged it to her chest.
My beauty! she sang. My very own, my happiness!
Ravine sat among the tree's roots, her back against the trunk. She pulled the leaves apart into individual petals and tossed them in the air. As they fluttered down, she tried to catch them but couldn't. When they hit the ground, she gathered them into a pile and put a leaf into her mouth.
It tasted like sunrays and dirt and old hearts still beating. She swallowed and ate another, then took up handfuls and rubbed the smooth petals on her bloody arms. It felt like a calming massage that her mother used to give her. Oh, how she missed her mother.
Well, that's where she was going now. To her mother underground.
Ravine stood, tossed the leaves up again, and twirled through the falling pink. She sang an improvised song of bliss to herself and laughed.
She stopped when she saw a creature slinking towards her through the brush. She'd never seen such a thing before. It had long gray fur and strange stick-thin legs, and she didn't like its eyes. Too curious of eyes, those.
Away! she said.
The creature stayed, ears flattened. No, it told her.
Away! she insisted. She felt tears forming in her eyes. Get away!
You know me, the thing said. You're Ravine and I'm Frost, and in the real world I'm your friend. Can we still be friends, Ravine?
The woman felt a wild disgust and pity for the slinking creature. No! she screamed. No!
She tore all the leaves in reach off the tree and started to eat them. The taste and texture soothed her. When she turned back, the creature was staring at her, its curious eyes open wide.
They are not yours! she said, and she ran north to her mother, crying.
(
Frost pursued.
YOU ARE READING
Aeolia
General FictionA woman runs from everything. A songbird joins her from nowhere, singing colors and images. A whisperer finds the pair among a field of poplars and graves. A dark and vicious viper stalks them from deep in the earth. They must flee from the Viper...
