Phoenix

Oroton Story

Eli left the island with Freia. Ash knew this because she saw them walking down the beach towards the limestone cliffs together, then saw one of Shorty's boats sail away. She watched until the boat disappeared against the horizon, forgetting to blink so that next thing she knew, tears were rolling down her cheeks and wetting her collar.

Oroton entered her room while she was still staring out to sea, eyes damp. He was dressed in his usual royal blue robes and floated with the same weightlessness he'd displayed during their first meeting. She hadn't seen him since then, and his presence hadn't lost its potency.

She waited for him to speak first, but as the seconds drew on, it became clear he wasn't ready to talk. Instead, he merely sat down on the rocking chair beside her bed, folded his royal blue robes over his lap and began to rock. After a few minutes, he withdrew a small, hand-held mirror from his robe, crossed the room and handed it to her. She waited for an explanation and when none came, let her gaze drop to the object in question. Oroton returned to his chair and continued rocking, a haunting melody slipping from between his lips, low and off-key.

She studied the mirror, saw her reflection as expected, the shell necklace, her amber cat eyes glowing between raven hair. But there was something else too. When she moved the mirror from left to right, a distortion came to her face, a lag in the image as though it was trying to catch up with her reflection.

She touched the mirror where her cheek should've been, startling when the surface rippled and her finger came away wet. She gasped. The mirror was a carefully bound layer of water, kept in place by an invisible force. She glanced at Oroton, who was still rocking and humming gently, and knew he must have something to do with it.

"What do you see?" Oroton said, breaking the long held silence. Ash found herself shivering at his tone, halfway between speaking and singing.

She looked at the mirror again and saw the surface change ever so slightly, warp almost indistinctly at first, before shivering and rising up into mountain peaks and troughs, cut by waterfalls and rivers, lakes and snow.

"I see mountains," she exclaimed, almost dropping the mirror in shock.

Oroton's rocking chair stilled. "Ah. So it wants me to start at the beginning. Interesting. Very interesting..."

The water sustained its form, as though waiting for Oroton to continue. Heaving a sigh, he obliged, though his words were strained. "There was once a time when the forces of nature existed in perfect balance," he said. "The wind stirred the water, which stirred the earth and fire in perfect symbiosis. For a great time, all living things found equilibrium through the forces."

The mirror changed, the mountains melted and remerged as buildings. Oroton's voice rose and fell in cascades. Ash clung to his every word in case it was the first and last time she'd hear it.

"When the great Industrial Era began, humans began tipping the scales. There were too many people, using too much of nature, and trying to control too many of the forces."

The buildings began to disintegrate, falling down in large chunks. Steam rose from these chunks, dark in colour, resembling smoke. Dark specks of water broke away from the smoking buildings and took the form of a flock of migrating birds drifting away from the scene before evaporating into thin air.

Oroton continued his story. "Nature fought back with terrific storms, raging fires, earthquakes, but humans were able to predict these occurrences, and they lessened their impact so that equilibrium could not be achieved. There was a period when some humans tried to find balance. But the Environmental Era was short-lived and was soon swallowed by a second Industrial Era. The one we are in now. Where the choice was made to use up what's left of natures resources, no matter what the consequences. It's the beginning of the end, I'm afraid."