Page 85 of Synodic

I walked to the beach along the flagstone path that could have easily been mistaken for trailing pools of moonlight. My feet gently padded across each stone as if I were a water pixie skipping across a pond.

The waft of the breeze tousled my hair and the flowing bits of my dress, and I wished Pia and Xala were with me. But the girls needed to get ready themselves and promised to join the festivities soon.

I made my way to the large group of villagers gathered where ocean, shore, and forest converged. By now, the sun was only a blazoning scarlet line between sea and sky—a trail of lit gunpowder on the horizon, coating the stars in drops of molten sunset.

The scenery was a beautiful reminder of the Light inside me, yet as I looked at the ethereal Wyn people, I felt like such an unworthy vessel for their praise and protection. With their silver-sleek hair glinting in the fiery starlight, they were the bright points of a living, breathing constellation, each one of them a star I couldn’t let down.

They were dressed in their handwoven garments, varying in all shades from warm to cool sand. Some carried wooden flutes, drums, or other rhythmic instruments, while others held flowers, fronds, or what looked like carved wooden hoops and Cyr wheels for dancing.

The anticipation of what was to come was killing me, but everyone seemed content to simply stare at the last few rays of the sun before they seeped into space. Which was marvelous, but it happened every night.

I got scrubbed raw for this?

My nerves were taking over, and I began to wring my hands in anxiety.

Suddenly, Driskell’s voice rang through the crowd. “The Alcreon Light has returned to us!” he shouted, and seemingly all at once, the entire village turned their warm faces to me. They began cheering and singing while tossing tiny dried petals around me like confetti. Driskell made no mention of the false prophecy or the fact that I’d been missing for over twenty years. Like a true politician, he only stuck to the positive points, but I didn’t mind. The joy around me was contagious.

I was lost in the celebratory sea of faces when Rowen drew my gaze like my own personal beacon. He walked toward me with a deliberate, magnetized gait that echoed across the sand and pulled my steps in his direction. He looked much better than he did earlier today. He must have finally been able to get some rest.

He wore stone-grey pants and a low-opened shirt that provided a peek at his two necklaces. His dark wavy hair fell around the nape of his neck in a perfectly coiffed halo, a few loose strands falling into his evergreen eyes. And to my delight, the scruff remained.

He stopped in front of me as the crowd melted away. “Copeland, you look…” He swallowed, accentuating the divots in his temples.

“Clean?” I offered.

He threw his head back and laughed a rare laugh. “Yes, that’s exactly what I was going to say.” His hand raised towards my face, and my heart picked up speed as he gently tugged a stray petal from my hair. His fingers seemed to linger as my brown curls slowly cascaded over his knuckles, and our eyes locked. I sipped in the tiniest breath of air, immersed in his gaze dancing with the reflection of the stars.

Back in the bathing suite, when I gazed into the mirror, I’d never looked more beautiful. But it wasn’t until this moment, where Rowen stared at me as if galaxies were colliding before his very eyes, that I truly felt beautiful. Every part of me. Even the ugly parts. The parts that were raw and scarred and the parts that were still healing or coming into their own.

Every part of me was staring back at Rowen, but looking at him left an excruciating ache deep down in my stomach. I knew he was beyond emotionally unavailable, but that wouldn’t stop me from admiring him while I had the chance. This look in his eye might never come again.

“You look…” I paused, grasping for the words.

“Rested?”

It was my turn to laugh. “Exactly.”

With the last traces of the sun vanishing, the only light beamed from the stars. Not a single fire or luminorb in sight for tonight’s festivities. Even the village lights were extinguished behind us.

Sheeted entirely in night, everyone on the beach talked excitedly with their faces turned toward the ever-battered shore. I glanced out to the open sea before turning back to Rowen. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” I asked impatiently.

“Shhh,” he murmured as he placed his hands on my chin and directed my gaze back to the ocean. “Look.”

Slowly, just beyond the horizon, curtains of rippling light rolled through the sky like millions of phosphorescent galloping horses. Vast waves of color water-painted the night in vibrant hues of violet, fuchsia, cerulean, and pale green.

The celestial lights danced and swept across the sky, illuminating everything in an auroral display of undulating swirls. The spectacle had me breathless. It was so magical that I wanted to cry and laugh all at once. I could already feel tears welling in my lower lash line, threatening to spill over at the sight.

I couldn’t look away as Rowen’s breath danced across my cheek. “These are the lights of Celenova.”

It was the most miraculous thing I had ever seen. It reminded me of the Aurora Borealis back on Earth, only instead of remaining in place, it soared through the air like a giant cloud of monarch butterflies. It mirrored across the sea, reflecting its other-worldly image back at itself like a Rorschach inkblot.

The ethereal waves were almost upon the beach, and I heard Takoda yell, “The Alcreon Light has returned,” followed by a quick vocalization pattern that the entire village echoed back as one. Then, as if on cue, the Wyn villagers erupted into song and dance.

Drums, flutes, chimes, and joyous voices erupted in a festive allegro. The upbeat melody filled the space between the lights and the dancing bodies gracefully flowed through it all.

Celenova was a grand conductor, orchestrating a performance of light, sound, and movement.

The first wave of light passed over my body, alighting my skin in a kaleidoscopic map of shapes, colors, and patterns—ever-shifting and ever-changing. I lifted my hand in front of me and watched as the colorful ripples played across my skin, marveling at the light leaping and pirouetting around my fingers.

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