Lumina Nightglow's Arc

Chapter 12 of 34

The night before the march, Lumina couldn't sleep. She sat at the base of the great tree while her starlit host rested around her. Their bodies glowed like scattered pieces of the sky. Beside her lay her guard creature, its fur streaked with stars. Lumina reached out and touched its neck. She wished, without meaning to, that it could tell her if it was afraid. I wish I could talk to them all, she thought. I wish I could hear them. The wish opened something inside her. Warmth spread from her chest, an emblem of loving starlight that pulsed like a small sun. Her merged heart answered the longing. Suddenly a voice reached her mind, low and steady. We are not afraid, the guard creature said. We follow you. Lumina gasped and pulled back her hand. The words had come without sound. Around her, more voices rose. The starlit creatures lifted their heads. She heard them all at once, a soft chorus in her thoughts. We feel the cold ahead. It is old. It is deep. Lumina pressed her hands to her ears, but that changed nothing. The speech lived in her mind, not the air. Heart Solia woke and knelt beside her, leaves and yellow flowers trailing from her hair. She had been born from the heart when Lumina merged with it. She read Lumina's wide eyes at once. "You hear them," she said. "The bond runs both ways now." "They're telling me the cold is stronger than we know," Lumina said. "They say light alone won't break it. They say we need heat to walk the last path." Celsius Heartwood came through the trees, white flowers trembling in her green hair. She had guided Lumina since the first days at the heart. "Then listen to them," Celsius said. "They have crossed the dark. They know what you don't." Lumina closed her eyes and asked the host what they meant. The answer rose together, one clear word passed mind to mind. Summon the fire. Call the one made of flame. She will light the map where your starlight fails. Lumina opened her eyes. "They want a fire fairy. One who burns bright enough to guide us through." Celsius nodded slowly. "Ember Flameheart. A fairy made of living fire, hair like flame to the ground. She has helped travelers in this forest before." She looked at Lumina. "But you must call her yourself." Lumina stood. The loving light in her chest still glowed. She raised her hands and let it pour out through her bond with the forest, a call carried on love instead of air. "Ember Flameheart," she said. "We need your fire." The dark answered. A spark bloomed in the distance and grew. Fire took the shape of a fairy, hair streaming to the ground, skin see-through and burning gold. Ember stepped into the clearing. "You called," she said, smiling. "Then let's light your way."