Static Shores - Short Story Part 3

Each time a cloud shifted, I hoped to glimpse Meadow and the terrible Static Elderkaw that took her. Each time, only another cloud appeared—and hope thinned. Yet the faintest tingle of her Aura against my own still pulled at me.

I ran my fingers through the sand, each granule scraping at my fingertips. The sticky grains clung to my palms as I patted them together, trying to shake the grit away. I hated the feeling of sand.

Hoisting myself off the ground, I faced the sea. I wanted to save Meadow—that, I knew without doubt. But what could I do? Walk on water? Fly over the waves?

I turned back toward the Rolling Hills. Was it worth leaving—crawling back to whatever scraps of my old life still remained?

“What do you want me to do?” I whispered to the sky…to the Light.

Memories of my grandmother praying to the Great Light and teaching me the same lessons tormented me. Any joy I once had vanished the moment the Officers attacked our small tribe in the northern hills. They killed everyone. Not a life was spared.

My own life would have been taken too, if not for Meadow.

A gust of wind struck my face, forcing me to turn once more toward the sea. Meadow saved me. Now it was my turn to save her.

Reaching deep within my core, I pulled at my Aura and forced it forward. Like air ripped from my lungs, the invisible energy surged ahead. The clouds parted under its pressure. I reached further, until the strain overtook me and I gasped, the last sparks fading from my fingertips. The dense clouds closed again, swallowing the light. Hopelessness returned.

“What do you want me to do?” I pleaded again to the Great Light, eyes shut.

Then came the strangest sound—a rhythmic clicking from ahead. I opened my eyes. Only waves lapped the shore in a soft melody. Scanning left, then right—nothing.

A sharper click broke the silence. I spun toward the sound as a purple-and-pink beast erupted from the sea, spinning in a storm of fins and glittering droplets. The Spirfin landed before me—the largest I had ever seen—and clicked its long snout. Its Aura slammed against mine.

I tilted my head, pushing my Aura toward the creature. “What are you trying to tell me?”

The Spirfin bobbed its head. Water peeled away beside it, revealing a strip of dry ground leading up to where it waited.

Heart racing, I felt its Aura press against mine again—steady, calming, as if to soothe the storm inside me.

“Do you want me to get on?”

The beast slapped its belly against the water, chirping in high squeals that grew louder the closer I stepped. When I hesitated, a familiar pulse brushed my mind—Meadow’s Aura.

In one swift stride, I climbed onto the Spirfin’s back. It turned to face the open sea, fins swirling in breathtaking pink and indigo hues. Then the beast launched itself forward—and with it, my hope. My hope for Meadow.

To be continued...