Autumn's Fire

Autumn's Fire: Chapter 18

It was the dead of night when I woke up to a light scratching at my arm. As soon as I felt it, I woke with a start and froze, knowing exactly what it was before my eyes even saw it; a Golden Eagle. It sat perched close to me, its yellow eye staring at me, unblinking. I stared back at it, not knowing what to do, when it lifted its foot as though to show me what it had clutched in its talons. I couldn't quite see it in the dark, but that didn't matter, as soon, the Golden Eagle placed it on my stomach. It then stared at me once more, tilting its head, and flew off, disappearing into the night. I sighed heavily and struggled to steady my breathing as I had been barely doing so while the animal was in front of me.

As soon as my breathing reached a normal pace, I looked down at the stone on my stomach and touched it gently. It was a translucent gold with flecks of red and orange inside of it, and as I touched it, it began to glow gently. Intrigued, I picked it up and sat up straight to get a better look at it. Now sitting in both my hands, it glowed even brighter. As I sat with the orb of light, an idea occurred to me, and I decided to test it. So, unsure of what I was doing, but curious to try none the less, I put some mana into it. This caused the stone to glow brighter and brighter, until finally, I was surrounded in the glow, unable to see anything but the burning light around me.

I squinted my eyes trying to see, and the stone seemingly reacted to this by making the light vanish. As the light vanished, though, I quickly panicked, as I was not in the tree, but rather in a well-lit, lavishly decorated room. I stood from an immaculately white couch that was decorated with gold embroidery and looked around the otherwise empty room. There were no windows or doors, and after walking the length of the room, I sat on the cool golden tile, shocked.

"I'm dead. I died." I whispered to myself incredulously.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. You're not dead. Or at least, not yet." A silky-smooth voice responded behind me. Startled, I quickly stood and spun around to face the voice, only to find a beautiful woman sitting on the couch, her legs crossed, and her hands folded neatly in her lap. She wore beautiful silk robes of white with accents of gold, red, and orange that were only outshined by her luscious, flowing blonde hair that lay in waves down to the couch where it spiraled out across it. Her golden hair also perfectly framed her face, more beautiful than any I had ever seen before with shining red eyes.

I stared at her in disbelief, mouth slightly agape, and she smiled, making my heart threaten to melt. Eventually, though, I cleared my throat and ran a hand over my hair in an attempt to compose myself. "Okay, right. So, who are you?" I asked, my voice going slightly shrill.

The woman smiled calmly and spoke once more, her voice ringing out like a gentle song. "I have had many names, but the one I am particularly fond of is Theia," she said the words with an air of expectation, as though I should know who she was, but I stared at her blankly. Seeing my lack of recognition, she sighed, though still smiling, and continued, "I am the bringer of light, the warmth of the world, the fire in the darkness, or more commonly, the Sun Goddess. But again, I prefer Theia if you don't mind."

"Hahaha, you're joking right?" I laughed nervously in disbelief.

"I assure you I am not joking. Though if you require proof, I am happy to provide," she offered, holding up an empty hand. I furrowed my brow, looking at her suspiciously, but nodded, curious what "proof" she'd have.

The next moment, the entirety of my surroundings changed to an unending void, and I became aware that I was floating. Panicking, I scrambled to grab towards the ground, but there wasn't any ground to be found, just more void. "P-Put it b-b-back p-please!!" I called out in terror, and squeezed my eyes shut. Thankfully, the next second, I was on my hands and knees back in the room. I scrambled to my feet, and backed against the far wall, trying to get as far away from her as possible. "W-what do you w-want from me?" I asked between labored breaths as I struggled to keep the impending panic attack at bay.