Stood there basking in
the warmth, Luciana closed her eyes for a moment. If only this could
last, the ocean waves breaking on the soft sandy shore, the gentle
breeze, the smell of salt in the air. It was not to be, the chaos
swirled back as she opened her eyes once more. With the chaos came
the throbbing at her Temples.
Looking around at the
expectant faces, she raised her hands for silence. Slowly the noise
faded down to a dull murmur and then silence. Not sure how to begin,
she started to talk anyway. She talked of calmness, of order and
peace. Luciana wove magic through her words, and the people
responded. It was only the matter of minutes but they forgot their
worries and concerns and were soon going about their business.
Turning to look back
into the ocean she could see the object of concern, it was monstrous.
It seemed to be able to magnify the light from the sun, so much so,
that it was blinding to gaze upon. Only the clouds in the sky
provided relief, fleeting as it was. When it was not blinding her, it
was dark and scary. Nothing like this had ever happened in her
lifetime and Luciana had lived a very long time.
The job of leading this
community was normally a delight, Luciana was not sure what this was
or how it would change life, for her, or her people. She knew that
she would have to go and see for she herself what this thing was.
Fear held her back, not fear for herself but fear for her people. She
worried for them, their innocence. Determined now, she WOULD protect
them.
She walked towards the
waters, ignoring the boats. Luciana dove into the oncoming wave, and
swam towards the monster. Steady strokes, her breathing steady and
even as she closed the distance. There was no need to swim but the
added time to think was needed. The throbbing in her temples was
gone. Now she was taking action it had faded away. Luciana held her
pace steady, as the distance closed.
It was huge this
monster, so very big, but also dead. She had guessed it had died when
she heard it's roar the previous night. Luciana had not been the only
witness, as the ocean had quenched it's life’s flame. The roar had
caused her to shudder in horror but had sent her people, scurrying
for safety. She was nearly there now, it loomed out of the mighty
ocean.
Luciana had given
thought to what to do during the swim, but now in the shadow of the
beast she was not sure. From the shore, blinded as she was, there had
been no way to fully grasp the nature of this thing. Close now, she
had no concept of what it was. She reached out to touch it, it's
flesh cold and hard. She tried to sense its soul, and recoiled in
horror.
In her fear she reached
deep into her well of magic, she found herself floating high in the
air looking down. Shaken to her core, she felt tears streaming down
her face. Such pain, so much anguish, she could still feel it, the
icy touch of death. Her people must be protected from this, they must
never learn the secrets here.
Calling on her magic’s
she spoke to the ocean. It bubbled and roiled at her request, drawing
this thing down into it's depths. Power flooded her, fuelled by her
fear and despair, slowly it was devoured, drawn to deeper waters. The
waves slowly closing over it, as it journeyed to the depths. Luciana
mourned it's passing, taking note of the strange markings. The last
marking she saw before the ocean took it into its embrace, was
“Boeing”, she had no idea of it's meaning, but felt she should
honour its memory....
