Another one of the stories I wrote for my writing program. It had to be less than 1000 words. Hate those word limits, but I did it.

Enjoy!

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Well, this was certainly strange; she had not been expecting any visitors. She never did, though they came fairly often. Nevertheless, it was always peculiar to see someone else in her solitary realm of darkness.

Five candles levitated in a palatial circle around her, its dim illumination hardly a comfort as the tiny flames twisted from side to side. Even in the flickering light, she could see the features of the approaching adolescent boy vividly. The stranger, who looked her age, fifteen or sixteen, was a mage. With the mane of Apollo falling onto his shoulders, he wore dark blue robes embroidered with the ancient rune characters. At his waist was a belt containing small pouches and a long, silver sword. A countenance of confusion distorted the shape of his mouth, but his cerulean eyes held no fear or apprehension. When he finally caught sight of the raven haired girl, she could see the uncertainty proliferating, causing him to scan the ominous atmosphere around him.

“Am I dead?” His words continued to stumble one after another. “Are you the Goddess?”

“Hardly,” her voice remained monotonous, scarcely above a whisper. She did not wish to reveal the alarm of the astonishing question.

“Who are you, then?” The candle continued to sputter, compressing against the blackened wick.

She sighed. “Ciara.”

“Just Ciara?”

She nodded and turned away.

“My name is Jalen of Naolin, warrior mage to Lord Mysay,” His tone was professional, almost as if rehearsed, but still very charming. Too bad she hadn’t asked.

“How did you get here?” The flares began to weary.

“I leapt across a small opening in the ground where a thin stream ran below. I must have lost my balance and slipped… and then I found myself here.”

“A common story,” her stoic gaze had no effect on him as it had on the others before. “People have jumped across and the fallen in the same stream many times before.”

“Would you know how we might get out, my lady?” The motion of the red glow came to a standstill, and with that, so did the beating of her heart.

“You,” she started with much emphasis, pushing pestering emotions to the back, “can get out of here by falling up.”

“Falling up?”

“You fell down,” she explained emotionlessly, “now you must fall up.”

“Do you mean fly?”

“No,” she retorted. “Falling up.”

“My lady, although I cannot completely grasp the understanding of this concept… could you tell me how I might be able to accomplish this?” his friendly, imploring tone was the first brush of cold air that had chilled her in a long time.

“It’s a mental process,” she began, trailing her gaze to the side. “If you want to get out, you must let your heart find flight. You must find buoyancy in your soul and the will to overcome all the weight life has placed on your shoulders…”

Jalen continued to shock her as he simply closed his eyes and rose above the ground. Some had protested before trying with many questions while the others had taken a bit longer to figure it out. Ciara had a hard time harboring the disbelief in her composure as she watched the mage fall up with confidence and ease.

“You are extraordinary, mage,” she crossed her arms, tilting her head to the side.

“You flatter me.” He flew towards her, his movements as light as a feather in the air. “Would you like to come with me, Ciara?” The sound of her name on his lips melted her barriers like fire on ice. At the same time, the radiance of candles began to increase in size.

“I can’t,” she said at once.

“Why not?” he questioned, placing his feet back onto the ground. “How long have you been here?”

“There is not time to keep track of when you’re not alive.”

“I’d gladly help you get out.” His smile destroyed her.

“No!” she threw an arm to the side. “I will not go with you!”

“Could you please answer why, then?”

“Why should I tell you? This isn’t any of your concern,” she scowled. The light of the candles retracted from their faces.

“You shouldn’t be here all alone in the darkness if you don’t have to,” he walked up to her. “You helped me and I want to help you. I want to help you get out of here.”

“I told you, I don’t want to,” she shuddered. “This is the only place I’ve ever felt consistency… and even if this consistency is the darkness, I’d rather have that then falling up and down continuously. This is the only place… I could ever feel safe…” As her breath deepened, the illumination from the candles almost vanished completely.

“I could believe that... if I didn’t know already that you don’t belong here,” he shrugged with a smile. “And it’s my duty to get you out.”

“I don’t know how to fall up anyway,” she glowered.

“Well, then I’ll just have to carry you.” His manner had jocular but she hadn’t realized that he was serious until he swept her off her feet and lifted her into the air. Before she could yell or scream to object, five bursts of white light ignited from the candles, overwhelming her vision.

The whiteness dissolved into a forest setting before their eyes. Jalen stood with Ciara in his arms on the opposite side of the opening the two of them had jumped over once before. The woods were teeming with the chatter of forest creatures and birds conversing. It had been a long time since she’d seen the bark of a tree or the green leaves that clothed them. A comfortable shade covered their heads but a beam of sunlight trickled through the treetops and onto their faces.

“This isn’t so bad now, is it?” he grinned, letting her stand on the ground.

For the first time, she smiled but she could not answer. She was still floating.