False Lights-chapter 2

Corrections and advice would be greatly appreciated, as I am taking this to an interview for a summer arts school tomorrow.



Chapter 2

"Father, Ne-zhoni is gone."

"Gone? Gone you say? Well thank all that is mighty, I thought the little faerie demon would never leave!" replied Chindi's father, the King of the Ignis Fatuus with a slur in his voice from the strong draught that had been saved for the feast.

Chindi bowed and walked away smiling to herself.

Chindi flew a short disstance from the feasting to the marsh and sat up in one of the weaping willows that grew there. It was the largest one that she liked most, the oldest, bent and broken with age, she felt a kinship to it. Chindi sat there many a time thinking over difficult, stressful, and impossible situations, or as she did now, simply to ponder. Chindi recalled the times she had sat there talking to Ne-zhoni, one of the only two she allowed up in her tree. Just then Chindi felt a warm hand on her shoulder, it was the other person welcome to her tree.

"You know...if you did not dress in the browns and greens of the oak fay, people would not speak so badly of you." Chindi's friend spoke in a comforting manner, he new her thoughts and feelings were most delecate when she was in the weeping willow thinking.

"Oh, hello Moasi, I didn't expect you would follow me here. Haven't you anything better to do than to keep track of me? I really do wish you wouldn't live up to your name quite so much, I can never tell when you are going to pop up."

"Moasi...yes, well, my name doesn't meen cat for nothing, I've earned that one, just as everyone earns their name. A shame you're called Chindi, but then again it is better than Bi-so-dih, don't you think?" Moasi laughed hystericly at his own joke.

Chindi smiled appearing to be a bit amused. "Pig? Oh, you think you're so clever don't you Moasi? You know you'd really be a lot funnier if you didn't laugh at your own jokes, you make them sound twice as rediculous with that crazy laugh of yours."

"Lighten up Chindi. I did get you to smile though, that must count for something. So...why are you up here anyway?"

"Oh...Ne-zhoni...she-she left." Chindi spoke slowly, sounding worried. "You know, of course I was expecting her to althought I hadn't said anything to her, it's all part of the prophesy I was told by the crow at the well last year when I was reading signs in the stars. It's just so hard now that she's acctually left, do you think she'll be alright?" A tear rolled down Chindi's face.

Moasi looked down at the ground then into Chindi's eyes appearing very confused. "Chindi I know she'll be alright, on the outside she may look like one of our people, but she's faerie down to the very core. She'll find the faerie village before night-fall no doubt. Don't worry yourself about it so much, she is part of the prophecy, the gods are with her, what more protection could you want for her? You of all people should know better than to worry about her."

"I know...I shouldn't, but it's hard not to. I suppose it's really just me being selfish, you and her, you're the only people in this village that don't whisper when I pass...that don't sneer when I look at them. At least you're not going to run off on me to fulfill some important prophecy...am I right?"

"Chindi this isn't like you, where is the strong priestess that I know and love? Truely the world must be ending when even you have lost strength."

"Moasi, even the gods change, why the great Mother does with every season. I'm sensitive as well as strong. However, I also know more about fay than you do. Ne-zhoni's being half Ignis Fatuus will be much more significant to them than her being half faerie. The crow was a special messenger, most likely it told only one faerie the prophecy, just as it only told one of the Ignis Fatuus. There's no telling what they will do to her when she reaches the faerie village, and find out of her heritage, which will happen no doubt about it, Ne-zhoni can't keap her mouth shut. If only the faerie that knows of the prophecy could see her and recognize her as the one who will fulfill it as soon as she enters the village, it would save a lot of trouble and so many problems will arise even without the faeries imprisoning her."

"It'll be fine Chindi, and...even if it won't be, it's out of your hands for now, it's better that you don't think about it. I have to go back to my father's work shop, he never takes holidays, I'm already a bit late, he'll beat me for sure." Moasi laughed. "I'm sure he'd find a reason to beat me even if I didn't show up late, that old man needs to learn his rickity old bones don't have the strenght to inflict pain on a mouse."

Chindi giggled. "That silly ass, well at least it makes the life of a cobbler's son more interesting any way."

"Yeah, it does. Meet you at the well tonight." Moasi flue off towards the shops in the town market where his father's store was at.

Chindi closed her eyes, to clear her mind, and drifted off to the place between awake and asleep, she visited the place of dreams, where truth is revealed, and visions seen. Chindi saw Ne-zhoni flying through the forest. Chindi's vision shifted miles into the forest and saw the place of the faeries. Ne-zhoni is going to reach the faeries, she is close, and if she does not reach them by nightfall she will be found and led there. Chindi's vision subsided, her mind was clear again, darkness was all she could see and silence all that she heard. A vision entered her trance-like state again suddenly, with a bright flash of light. She saw herself deep in the forest; it was dark except for the small pinholes of light that peeped through the leaves like stars in the sky. A lady stepped through the trees, a tall lady, not as tall as the people that lived away from the mists and the forest in their cold stone houses, but tall compared to Chindi, at least a foot taller. She was dressed like the faeries in leaves and flowers, her hair was a rich earth-brown, and her eyes as green as grass. Chindi noticed nothing else about the lady in her vision, she was both detailed and vague all at once, and they spoke not a word to each other, but Chindi felt every fear and worry leave her when she looked into her eyes. The vision faded, and Chindi's mind was clear. She brought herself up out of her trance slowly and carefully, and opened her eyes.

The full moon shone in the sky. Lady Moon…my dearest Mother, how could the Fulsa Lux have possibly abandoned you? Chindi left for the well on the hill on the outskirts of the village. Once it had been a sacred well, dedicated to the Goddess, but the Fulsa Lux had long since left the old gods, consumed by their arrogance and believing that they themselves were gods. Chindi and Moasi were the only two in the village that still followed the Lord and Lady. Chindi came to the well, where Moasi was waiting.

"Here early, Moasi?"

"My father left for the feast, and I stayed at the shop to finish up today's work, he came home drunk and is fast asleep. He won't wake until long after the sun rises tomorrow, so I left. I'll have plenty of time to finish things up and get tomorrow's work ready, and when he does wake up, even if he is not pleased with my work he will be too sick to do anything about it.

"Ha, ha! If not for you, he would be a beggar on the streets!"

Chindi and Moasi sat down at the well and looked up at the moon. They both sat there very quietly running over the day's events there beneath the clear moonlit night. Neither of them felt that anything more need be said, they were much too comfortable with each other to be bothered by things like awkward silence. A shooting star was the only thing to bring them out of their thoughts.

"The Sky seems aware of the changes happening beneath it." Moasi stated thoughtfully.

"Aware? Oh…the Sky is more than aware, it sees the world from a much different perspective than ourselves, it knew of this ahead of time. The Sky only moves the stars about in anticipation of what we will do about the changes."

Moasi kept his gaze set on the stars and smiled. Chindi moved her fingers through the grass and earth as a mother would through the hair of her new born babe, she continued to do so, and turned towards Moasi. "This next full moon, will see the mending of thousands of years of stubbornness, and pride begin."

"We can only hope that, that prophecy will be fulfilled…the Fulsa Lux have neglected our Great Mother for too long. The sacred well of the village has spent too many years of loneliness upon this hill. Well…I must be going now; Father will want work to have been done when he awakes from his drunken slumber."

"Yes, good-night Moasi."

"Good-night, Ah-nah.", Moasi kissed her on the cheek and flew off to his father's shop.

Chindi smiled, Moasi had used her real name and she lit up every time it was spoken. Chindi was angered by the name she had been given, because of her following of the old religion which the Fulsa Lux had abandoned long ago. Devil, her name meant, and she despised it. It was Ne-zhoni who had called her Ah-nah…the name means eye, Ne-zhoni had given it to her because of her gift of the sight.

Chindi flew home to her father the King's castle, which to any human's eyes was nothing more than a small hill. She had no trouble sneaking in straight through the front gate; everyone was drunk from the feasting. She stepped softly through the throne-room, past the King and Queen's chamber, her brother the Prince's chamber, and on to her tiny room at the back of the castle. Chindi walked across the soft moss floor of her room and directed a look of disapproval towards the two stone beads each covered with a mattress of straw, Chindi and Ne-zhoni both had shared the room. They were very uncomfortable things to sleep on, Chindi laid down in the center of the room on the comfortable moss, she'd always preferred the soft floor to her bed, and slept on it every night. She drifted off to sleep, dreaming of the moon and the oak groves of the fay.

* * * *

Chindi was awakened in the morning by her stomach, which pleaded for food, Chindi had not eaten the day before, she had been too worried about the fate of Ne-zhoni. Chindi walked to the throne room and out to the Dining hall, where breakfast was waiting as it was every morning. Her family had begun to eat without her, so they always did. Chindi sat down next to her brother whose name was Atsah, but whom Chindi called Wol-la-chee to Moasi. Chindi put a piece of wheat cake on her plate spread with honey, and poured herself a small cup pf wine. She fixed her eyes on the chair that Ne-zhoni usually sat in as she ate. I will not tell them were she has gone…they will suspect me of some "devil work" as they call it if I point out that she has run away to the kingdom of the faeries, and they will suppose that I know because I helped her in her running away. No, they must use there brains and figure things out for themselves. Oh the looks on their faces when they do discover where she is, no doubt it will be a messenger from the faerie kingdom that tells them, they're too dense to think she would go there, and too conceited to believe she would prefer the company of Faeries to the Fulsa Lux. Everything is playing out so perfectly now that I think about it…so perfectly. Everything may be alright after all. Chindi excused herself from the table, her stomach grateful for the meal, and left the little castle in the hill to wander the dull town surrounding it.