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All These Things

Once upon a time, the forces of good and evil saturated the world with their eternal battle, piercing the curtain which hangs between reality and dreams…

Flora gripped her staff with whitened knuckles and faced the cold wind blowing like a knife's edge across the rocky hilltop. The view was bleak, though awe-inspiring: a sweeping, purplish, foggy moor, with craggy outcroppings of stone and, away on the horizon, a distinctive circular arrangement half-hidden in the gloom of nightfall.

She pulled a fragile, crumpled sheet of paper from the folds of her green tunic and read again the words written on it:

"My Beloved,

Meet me at the Monolithic Circle under the Solstice Moon. This is where we will defeat the forces of darkness which have enshrouded the land. I have gathered the necessary herbs for a sacred ritual to seal off the rift between our realm and that of the demons.

Your healing fire power is the one element left to complete the magic. Please make haste. I will be waiting. The safety of our world depends on your timely arrival.

Yours forever,
Aaron"

Flora folded up the letter, pressed it to her heart for a moment and tucked it back in its place. Four long years I've waited for your word. Everyone said you were lost, that your quest for the rare herbs was a fool's errand. And now I will finally get to see you again. Once the evil has been eliminated we will be able to have our wedding.

She proceeded with slow and steady caution down the crumbling slope, using her staff for balance. Once on level ground she strode more easily with legs accustomed to long distances. A ground nesting bird, startled, rose up in front of her with a cry.

The full Moon had not yet risen, but the glow of sunset was being replaced by a cool glimmer reflected in the clouds. About an hour should get me to the Circle. By then the sky will clear and we'll have exactly enough time for the ritual.

She reflected on how wonderful it would be to see the joyful sparkle in Aaron's blue eyes and run her hand playfully through his shaggy brown hair.

Suddenly, a diminutive shadow leaped before her feet, as if it were a cat. But she knew it was no animal. The black deepened beyond any earthly shade, and red eyes flashed as it rose into the air towards her shoulder.

Flora stepped back and raised her staff. She caught the creature on the end of it and hurled it away from her. It gave out a wild shriek. With a wave of her hands she surrounded herself with a ring of golden flames about two feet high. They warded off the demons, hugging her path as she continued moving forward.

She could see more shadows now, swarming around her, eyes catching the warm glow from her protective fire. They will get more forceful as I draw closer to my destination. My power should be strong enough to hold them off until I can step within the Circle to meet Aaron. He will have everything prepared for me.

Faster now she ran across the land treacherously carpeted with heather, several times briefly outrunning her ring of fire and once nearly tripping into it. Demons flitted just out of reach of her staff. Something went flying towards her racing heart like an arrow; she swung aside and watched as a creature roughly approximating a bird hurtled past with an earsplitting howl.

Her protective flames were beginning to grow shorter. She knew it wouldn't be long now. Her breathing came in ragged bursts as her energy waned. A feather brushed her cheek tauntingly, leaving a stench of sulfur and death.

Finally, her stumbling feet came to a weedy cobbled path, and as she made her way along, the shadows fell back. She tripped over a misplaced cobblestone and went flying to her knees in the grass. Her flames faded out, and she lay breathless for some moments, half-expecting to be pounced upon by a gang of demons.

Nothing happened. Flora gathered her breath and sat up. Twelve rectangular granite slabs towered silently around her. Towards the top of one there was a round hole, where the light of the full Moon of the Summer Solstice would spill through as it arose. In front of her, three smaller slabs formed an altar. This is the Circle. I'm safe. But where is Aaron?

She grabbed her staff and pulled herself upright.

"Aaron? Are you here?" The shout seemed to bounce off the stones twelve different ways and reconverge inside her head.

A tall, cloaked figure stepped within the Circle and approached her. Flora touched the end of her staff and set it aglow with enough of a flame to cast some light on the scene. She jumped back when she saw the man's long hair, black as the shadows she had just escaped, his sharp features and piercing orange eyes.

"Volkore! What are you doing here?"

He laughed with a harshness which sent a chill through her weary bones.

"We meet again, my friend. So many years since we parted."

"I'm not your friend," she snapped. "You showed your true colors when you took the side of Darkness in the Great War. How dare you show yourself in this sacred Circle? And where is Aaron?"

"Aaron is on our side now. We have convinced him to join our ranks."

"Never!" Flora drew back and raised her staff in front of her. "You lie."

"Truth is hard to bear, indeed." Volkore edged closer. "Your fire power is the one thing he and I lack. With it, we can take over the world."

"It's almost time for the ceremony…" Flora glanced around the Circle.

"There is no ceremony," Volkore cackled. "Aaron's beautifully written letter was a complete ruse. The full Summer Solstice Moon is the point at which your power can be obtained from you by one who knows the right methods."

He rubbed his hands together, orange eyes gleaming like possessed gemstones.

"Do you realize what will become of you once your fire power is drained away? A meal for the creatures playing out on the moor…"

Flora spun around as if to run.

"Don't waste the effort. You barely made it here, do you really think you can get past the demons a second time?"

Thoughts whirled in her mind. She wove a fire circle around herself. The flames were hardly more than a few inches high.

"Nice try," Volkore jeered.

Flora turned away. She could afford to ignore him as long as her energy lasted. When the Solstice Moon rose and shone through the hole in the granite, it would be a pivotal moment. Volkore might be bluffing. Aaron could be on his way. I don't believe he crossed sides.

"Look." Volkore pointed down the cobbled path. "Your man arrives."

Flora hardly recognized the man who walked unsteadily forward to enter the Circle. His tunic was ragged, his face gaunt and scarred, and his eyes avoided hers, darting rapidly around the Circle.

"Aaron. Is it really you?" She reached out to him.

"Yes, I'm afraid so." He stepped back from her, a slight quiver in his hands.

"What happened? Why are we here?"

"I'm on the Dark Side now. I made you come here to face the rising moon, because at the moment the light touches you within this Circle, you must transfer your fire power to one of us."

"Oh, indeed?" Flora's furrowed brow belied her skeptical tone. "Or else what?"

"If you determine to cling to your power against the decree of the constellations, it will unleash great havoc."

"And I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Yes."

"So you lured me here to steal my power and use it for evil?" Her stomach heaved at the thought.

"Yes." Still Aaron did not meet her eyes.

"Aaron." Flora stepped up to him and placed a hand under his chin. "Look at me."

Finally their eyes met. His blue ones were crackled with anguish, eyelids holding back a well of tears. Flora's faltering ring of fire held between them, preventing a closer contact.

"This is not of your doing, Aaron!" She spun to face Volkore. "What trap have you set for us?"

"Us?" Volkore repeated sharply. "You have no reason to trust this man. He has done you wrong, that much is obvious or none of us would be here now. If you transfer the power to me, I will guarantee you safe passage out of the demon haunted moor."

"And you, Aaron?"

He shook his head.

"I… can make no such promises. Your trust would be misplaced. I—I'm sorry."

Flora scowled.

"The decision is yours." Volkore's voice was grim and quiet. "Choose which of us to present with the last of your fire power."

Flora set her jaw and turned to face the hole in the monolith. Silence fell as they waited for the first edge of the full moon to peek over the edge. Her legs were wobbly. She leaned on her staff, watching the flame on its end flickering and waning. The fire encircling her feet lowered.

It seemed like an eternity until the moon's white top edge slipped upwards into the space. The beam of light landed squarely on Flora's upturned face as she stood in the shadow cast by the monolith. Her heart skipped several beats and her whole body shook with an irresistible tremor. The time had come.

Flora turned to the two men standing beside her. She held her flame-tipped staff out to Aaron.

"I hereby entrust you with the power which once belonged to me. My life is in your hands. Do not betray me."

Aaron's hands shook as he reached out and grasped her staff. The moment Flora let go, it was as if something deep inside had been torn away. She collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. What will he do? Can I survive this?

The staff, now in Aaron's hands, flashed with a brilliant blue flame. He held it up to the monolith opening to charge it with sacred moonlight.

"All right, hand it over as we agreed on!" Volkore growled.

Aaron stood staring into the blue torchlight, transfixed. He turned his back on Volkore and approached Flora. She lay helpless, pale as the ghost she was fast becoming.

"Aaron," she whispered, reaching up.

"I'm here." Aaron stood beside her; with one rapid swoop he drew a circle of fire around the two of them. The flames leaped tall and strong, until Flora could no longer see Volkore glaring at them.

He got down on his knees and gathered her in his arms. He touched her heart with a finger alit with a tiny flame. The power warmed her body and sent a rosy glow up into her cheeks. Aaron helped her to her feet.

When she arose, Volkore was standing just beyond the ring of fire. His face was twisted with fury.

"You traitor! You swore allegiance to the Dark Side!"

Aaron laughed in his face.

"You really believed me, you old warlock? I did what I had to do. Time was short. I had to intercept your plot to kidnap Flora and bring her here as a human sacrifice to extract her power. And what better way to do that than by participating in the act myself?"

"You won't get away with this—that fire is mine!" Volkore lunged towards them, shoving himself straight into the flames with a bloodcurdling yell. A fleeting stench of brimstone and a cloud of black smoke wafting up to the sky were the last signs of his villainy.

The full, pure white Summer Solstice Moon looked down from on high as Aaron and Flora made their way safely across the moor. Their encircling wall of protective fire sent the demons fleeing to hide once more behind the torn curtain of reality.

Word Count: 1,996.

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