A Dance of Light & Shadow

Virga... This place reminds you of someone. You hate it — that anything in the Rift should remind you of her. But you can't raise yourself to anger as you enter the trees. They glow softly back at you: a forest of stars, a night sky brought low. And even if it is only a trick, even if it's just the Rift, it reaches somewhere deep into your heart and grips you tight. Your gait is long and languid as you move, your thoughts shifting back through years and seasons to the sound of a voice you haven't heard in far too long. The memory of being safe. Protected. Loved. It's a cruel thing almost, but it draws you in and you are deep between the trees when the sound of song drifts to your ears: soft and haunting, like a dream. In a different place, you might hear a trap in it and bristle. But here you feel heavy, your body a dense weight. Here you can only prick your ears and turn your wandering in that direction. Maybe whoever it is opens her mouth and swallows you. There would be worse things. She is also a piece of the night sky, and the first glimpse of her stops you cold. Stars — reflected in your eyes. She is a ghost, or something like a ghost. She isn't real. You've never met her before, but you feel you know her. Breath pushes audibly from your lungs. You don't notice the trembling in your legs. In your wings. You don't have a language for what you want to say. So you don't. light shines brighter in the dark

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