Nocturne

☾ Chapter Eleven ~ Diurne ☽

As one, the fae fluttered into the air, gliding towards the circle over the lake. Raven glanced back, smiled shyly, and beckoned for her to follow. Sylphs emerged from shadowed crannies and dark corners of the grove and flew towards the circle.

Coriander rushed over to Diurne and placed a round blue fruit on the ground just inside the circle. He flew up to her and gestured with his hand. "Come on- it's midnight already. You don't want to miss your own celebration!"

He flew off without an explanation.

Diurne approached the circle of sylphs with wariness and confusion. Raven and Coriander made room for her to stand between them, Coriander offering a grin. He moved to hover by her ear, and whispered in her ear when Frost began to speak.

Frost looked different as they floated near the centre of the circle. They looked feminine somehow, as if they'd added a layer of makeup, though their face was as natural as it had been before. It was as if she'd become a girl since Diurne had last seen the fae queen. In a way, it made sense. After all, the sylph was made of magic. 

Frost spoke in the same sing-song language she'd spoken in when Diurne had arrived. Diurne still couldn't understand, but this time Coriander whispered a translation in her ear.

"Thginot ew emoclew dna rounoh rou Ydal fo Laweneral, eht esiw rethguad fo ruo niadraug Neeuqnoom, eht nigriv rehtom, Anul!"

Tonight we welcome and honour our Lady of Renewal, the wise daughter of our guardian Moonqueen, the virgin mother, Luna!

"Thginot ehs semoc fo ega, dna thginot eht edalb ew evah devas rof reh rof a drednuh sraey setinuer htiw sti lufthgir redleiw.

Tonight she comes of age, and tonight the blade we have saved for her for a hundred years reunites with its rightful wielder.

"Emoc htrof, dlihc fo eht kradnoom, dna mialc rouy thgirhtrib!

Come forth, child of the moondark, and claim your birthright!

Frost looked directly at Diurne. Her eyes seemed to glow as she held out a hand, and a silverblue light seemed to gather and swirl around her palm.

Diurne stood still. Her breath fled her, racing towards that silver glow, but she could not follow it. The call- it must be someone else, some mighty spirit they called, not her. But Diurne knew, deep in her soul, that she was the mighty spirit summoned.

Coriander's tiny hands pushed her forwards, lighter than feathers even with all his strength behind them. They were surprisingly warm, but when Diurne stepped to the very edge of the water and held out her own hand, Frost's burned in comparison.

The sylphs surrounding them began to sing, softly at first, growing louder in a gentle crescendo. Something clicked inside of her, and suddenly everything made sense.

"Silver moon and shining stars, open minds and open hearts

Breathe deep, and breathe long, need not the air for song

All we are, all we were, came together here with love

Blessed our grove and with darklight- Dove!"

Frost sang the last word with the rest of the assembled sylphs and the song wove itself into Diurne's heart.

She stepped forwards, pulled by the threads of song. She fought it, knowing it was foolish and dangerous and impossible, but she was tugged forwards anyway, called by the siren faesong. She strode forwards, and dove.

The water swirled around her like silk, hot as a winter bath, as clear as a cloudless night. Shimmering stones of every shape and colour lined the steep walls and floor, where a circle of silver seaweed grew in the freshwater.

She gasped, and water flowed through her like air, the song still echoing in her heart.

She swam deeper, the glint of silver and blue in the center of the circle calling her.

She reached out, and the sword seemed to hum in her hands as she curled her fingers around it.

The warm water pulsing with power was frozen in comparison to the energy radiating in the blade, flowing into her in waves. She smiled, darkness and light rippling around her in an adagio nocturne.

She pushed upwards and broke the surface, the moonlight dripping off her wet hair.

She collapsed upon the shone, gasping. She clasped the blade to her chest and her eyes rolled back in her head as she fainted. the world around her began to blur and fade to black.

She thought she saw movement in the trees. A hand- a human hand, though paler and greener than any she had ever seen before- reached out through the mist of concerned sylphs and pushed a strand of hair away from the girl's face.

A voice as ancient as the lofty silver trees spoke, but she was already too far gone to hear.