Festival of Light

A red-headed, golden-skinned girl sat at a table in the Clearwater School Library poring over a book called Ancient Holidays and Customs. It was the last day of term and the library was quite empty. A few students were scattered about sitting at tables reading like she was. Some were checking in books at the front desk. 2

She looked down at the page she was reading. Her eyes fell upon the next entry entitled Festival of Light. Festival of Light is a three day celebration starting at the beginning of the cold season. This holiday involves feasting, gift giving and decorating of green trees. It is a time for gathering of families and sharing the spirit of good will towards others. This holiday was celebrated before the time of the Avalonian pantheon but research has found it is still celebrated in far away kingdoms today. 3

-Perhaps I should revive this one. I sounds like fun.- The entry also gave a list of Festival of Light activities. Festival of Light activities include decorating a tree, baking cookies, a party on the third night with presents, singing Festival of Light songs. It also gave recipes for the Festival of Light treats. 4

“Excuse me dear. The library is closing now.” she heard a female voice behind her. The girl turned around to see the librarian standing there. 5

“I am sorry Mrs. Foster. Time must have gotten away from me. May I check this book out for a few days. I will return it later.” 6

The elderly, white haired woman smiled. “Of course dear. You can return it at the beginning of the new term.” 7

The girl smiled. “Thank you Mrs. Foster.” Ten minutes later, Altheia walked out of the library and headed towards the headmaster’s office. She knocked on the door. The voice behind the door acknowledged her knock. 8

The elven man who sat behind the desk had brown hair which started to go gray at the temples. He wore a gray woolen robe. He had his head bent over some paperwork. He looked up when Altheia entered. ‘Ah Altheia. What can I do for you?” 9

“Hello headmaster. I stopped by because I sent a request in about a week ago to stay over the term break. I wanted to know if that was okay.” 10

“Ah yes, I remember. That is fine. I am sorry you have to stay in this musty old place during your break. You might be interested to know Tristan, Mithrull and Stephanie are staying as well.” he smiled at her. 11

“At least I won’t be here alone. Thank you.” The next place she went was the boys’ dormitory to visit Mithrull and Tristan and to tell them about her idea. She reached Tristan’s room and knocked at the door. It was opened a moment later by a man with the same golden skin as her with brown curling hair and eyes. “Altheia, what are you doing here?” he said with some surprise. “Hi Tristan. May I come in? I have a wonderful idea.” He moved to the side and let her pass into the room. The room looked much like hers with a bed in the corner, a wardrobe, a desk and chair. A lit candle sat on the table for lamination. A tall man with straight brown hair dressed in purple wizard robes sat at the table. “Hi Mithrull. I am glad you are here too. I can tell you both about my idea at the same time.” she greeted him. Tristan helped Altheia with her cloak and hung it on the peg. “So what’s this idea of yours?” he asked with interest. Altheia took out the book she rented from the library and showed them the page on Festival of Light. “It’s called Festival of Light where it lasts three days. You do activities like decorate a tree, make treats and on the last day you have a feast and exchange gifts. I thought since we will be here and couldn’t go home for the break we could try this. What do you think?” 12

“I think it is an excellent idea. Can I see the book?” asked Tristan. She handed him the book. He looked at the entry and found a passage about suggested decorations. One was a plant with three berries tied by three stems. It was called mistletoe. Whenever where someone stood under it, they got a kiss. The bard looked over at the female mage. He had loved her ever since she freed him from slavery. He decided he was going to tell her on the third day of Festival of Light. He would buy this mistletoe and hang it in the room. If he was lucky, he would get a kiss. 13

“I thought we could get some of the things we need in the city at the market like the presents, some material and wiring to hang it on. I know a tree we can use to decorate and I am sure we can use the kitchens to bake the Festival treats. We can have a little party in the dorms.” he heard her explain. 14

“Sounds good to me.” the bard agreed. 15

“I don’t want to go.” the wizard replied. 16

“Mithrull, why not? Stephanie will be there. Don’t you want to see her?” 17

He paused as if to think it over. “I love to see Stephanie but I am not much into celebrating Altheia. I’m sorry.” He got up and left the room without any further goodbye. 18

“I wonder what got into him?” asked the Skypath Knight. The bard just shrugged. “Well, would you like to go into town and get the supplies?” 19

“Sure.” This was his chance to get something really nice for Altheia. 20

The market was buzzing as usual. People were coming and going, buying and selling. The merchants called out to the people to buy. The first stall they went to had little snowflake and star crystals. “Oh these are pretty, don’t you think Tristan? I think they will be perfect for our tree.” 21

He nodded in agreement. “It looks like you can hang them too. See the little holes on top.” 22

The merchant heard them and interjected “Ah yes, miss. These little beauties will brighten any room. I will give you a dozen of them for two gold.” 23

“It sounds fair. I like two dozen please.” She handed him 4 gold pieces and put the crystals in her bag. 24

“Altheia, I have some shopping to do on my own. I will meet you in half an hour.” replied Tristan. 25

“Okay..” Before she could finish replying, he had taken off. She shrugged and continued with her shopping. The stalls were crowded with people. She found a stall that had an odd assortment of things. A book and wand caught her eye. “Excuse me. May I see that wand and book.” she asked the merchant. He went over and got down the things she asked for. She looked at the book. It was old and worn. The pages were blank but through her abilities she was able to determine that this was a spellbook. The spellbook neither had good nor evil auras. 26

The next item was a wand. it was long, thin, and the color of obsidian. It had a symbol of a red flame on it. She again used her abilities to detect the aura of the item. This too was magical. Again the aura was neutral. “I like these two items please.” 27

“That will be twenty gold pieces.” answered the merchant. She paid him the twenty pieces and left the stall. She had Stephanie’s and Mithrull’s present. Now she had to get Tristan’s. 28

Her last stop was the stall with the musical instruments. She knew that a lute was for sale and that Tristan would love it. Tristan was learning to play the lute this last term and now he have one to practice on. She walked up to the merchant. There were no other customers at the moment because the market was closing. She could see stalls being packed up for the evening. “Excuse me sir. I know you are packing up so I will be quick. Do you still have that golden lute for sale?” 29

The merchant turned around and looked at her. “Yes, miss I still have it.” 30

“Oh good. I want to buy it. How much?” 31

“The merchant did the calculating in his head. “For you, fifteen gold pieces.” 32

“Done!” She handed him the money and he handed her the merchandise. It was time to get home and she had no idea where Tristan had gone. She got to the gate of the school and saw Tristan there. “There you are. Where did you go?” she asked. 33

“I had my own shopping to do for the gift-giving day.” he smiled at her. “That included your present and I wanted it to be a surprise.” 34

“Okay, well let’s get back before curfew.” 35

“Allie, the term is over. There is no curfew.” 36

“Sorry, I forgot.” 37

“You forgot about end of term break? You have been working too hard.” he teased her. 38

“I want to stop by Stephanie’s room too. You want to come along and say hi?” 39

“Sure!” 40

The girls’ dormitory was across from the boys. Allie opened the door to her dormitory and instead of heading left down the hall, she headed right towards Stephanie’s room. Her room was the second door on the left. The Nino Oro knocked on the well charred door. Allie and Tristan looked at each other in a bit of confusion. They could hear two voices behind the door. One was Stephanie’s and the other definitely male. There was some shuffling and something being dragged against the wooden floor. Then the door opened to reveal an elf, if you could call her an elf. She had long red hair and ruby skin. She had cinder and soot on her cheeks. Her once red mage uniform had turned black and matched the soot on her face. “Altheia? Is that you?” 41

“Steph? What happened to you?” She tried to peer into the room but couldn’t see anything. That was the problem. The room was totally in smoke. What little furniture remained was in cinders. “What happened to the room?” 42

“Oh that. I been training.” She smiled a sarcastic smile. “Is Mithrull with you?” she asked instead. 43

“No, you mean he hasn’t visited you since we got back from Darkshire?” 44

The ruby elf shook her head. “Should he have? That was only a week ago Allie.” 45

Tristan piped up. “A week ago, nothing. Stephanie, that was four moons ago!” 46

“What?” the elf looked confused. “It couldn’t be. I been here this entire time?” The elf looked back into the room at the mysterious stranger that neither one at the door could see. He shook his head. The flame-thrower looked at her friends. 47

“Steph, it’s the end of the term. Everyone else went home except for me, Tristan and Mithrull.” 48

“Everyone went home? Mithrull is still here? I don’t understand.” 49

“Steph, while you have been training, four moons have passed and it is the end of term. I came to see if you would like to spend the next three days with us.” The Skypath Knight explained her plans and what Festival of Light was about. 50

“I see. It sounds fun.” She turned to her teacher and their were more muffled voices. Master Shinato nodded his head. “Master Shinato says I can take a break from my studies for a two weeks. “He says it is important to keep in contact with friends and since I been doing so well, I can take a break.” 51

She opened the door wider to let herself through it. Allie and Tristan could now see into the room more clearly. Not only was the furniture in shambles but the bed was gone. In its place was a black sleeping pallet on the floor. 52

“Stephanie, what happened to the bed?” 53

“It blew up.” she stated rather matter of factly. 54

“I see.” was the only reply. “What language was your teacher speaking?” 55

“Oh that? It’s an old, ancient tongue. Everyone speaks it where he comes from. I can teach it to you guys if you want.” 56

“Um, okay. Is it hard to learn?” asked the bard. 57

“No, not at all. Now what is this I hear about Mithrull not participating in this celebration?” Her hair turned bright red and flared from the anger in her voice. “If the amount of time has passed as you said it has, I’m going to hug him and then I am going to kill him.” 58

“It’s nice to have you back Steph. I missed you.” 59

“It missed you too, hun. The girls and guy linked arm in arm with Allie in the middle as they walked back to Allie’s room. “Hey Allie, do you mind if I stay with you for this holiday? My room is a little indisposed at the moment.” 60

Mithrull poured over a book. He looked at the pages but the words were not sinking into his comprehension. Holidays were not his favorite thing. Holidays were for people who believed in some sort of religion. He was never one to believe in that sort of stuff. 61

A knock at the door broke him of his thoughts. “Come in.” he called. 62

The door opened and a red-haired, red skinned elf stood in his doorway. “What is this I hear about you not coming to Altheia’s parties?” 63

“Stephanie?” 64

“Yes.” 65

“What happened to you?” 66

“I been training since we got back to the school and not once have you come to visit me. Do you not like me anymore?” 67

The human wizard blushed. “Of course I like you. I been busy too.” 68

The elven girl stepped into the room. “Hmmm, I see you have been pining away in this room. At least I had an excuse to be in mine? What’s yours?” 69

“I am not big on holidays. I hate being alone.” 70

“So what? I don’t have a family either and I am going. I guess if you really don’t want to go, I will return your present.” 71

The wizard looked startled. “You got me a present?” 72

“Yeah, if you want to know what it is, you will just have to show up for whatever Altheia has planned for all three days. Otherwise, I will just have to throw fireballs at your head until you agree to come.” A red-orange fireball appeared in her hand. It was about the size of a baseball. She threw it up in the air and caught it. She continued to do this a few more times. Then threw it at his head. Mithrull dodged out of the way. The fireball hit the wall but instead of catching fire, it bounced back and she caught it. “So what is it going to be? Come with me to the activities or I torch your room.” 73

“Okay, okay, you win. I will go. Gee you drive a hard bargain.” 74

“I know, I do, don’t I? Now, moving on to other matters.” The red-haired elven girl moved up to the wizard. “I didn’t get any kiss.” She leaned in and kissed him fully on the lips for several minutes. It is safe to say there were sparks in that kiss. 75

The human wizard warmed his hands and jumped up and down. “Where is it we are going exactly, Allie?” 76

The red-haired flame-thrower looked at the wizard. “Mithrull, what the hell are you doing.” The red-haired elven girl watched the wizard’s antics. 77

“I’m cold, Stephanie. I am not used to this weather. It doesn’t get this cold in Anverness.” 78

“Well, if you want to warm up, I am do that.” She lowered her hand palm up as if she was holding something and then a fireball appeared glowing a red-orange. She threw it up and caught it several times in her hand. 79

Altheia pretended an annoyed expression. “If you two are done fooling around, I like to get going.” 80

“Where are we going?” spoke up the bard, Tristan. 81

“We’re going into the forest to decorate a tree.” She held up a bag of the things she bought to decorate the tree. “Let’s go.” She headed towards the direction of the forest. Right behind her, Tristan, Stephanie and Mithrull followed. 82

The group of friends went into the woods looking for the perfect tree. However, this one was too small and this one too big. The woods had a certain serenity with the white snow covering the tops of the trees. Altheia drank in all the beauty of the season. She felt a sense of calming whenever she entered the woods of her homeland. She thought it was just due to the fact she so closely worshipped Lyndra, the Goddess of Nature. Lately, she has felt the calling of nature more strongly than ever before. 83

Finally, they reached the center of the forest. There standing all alone was a great gigantic pine tree. “It’s perfect!” Altheia exclaimed. 84

Mithrull brought an ax to chop it down. He stepped forward and took a swing. Before the ax hit the trunk, the golden-skinned girl heard a voice. -Stop! Don’t let him kill me!- 85

The golden-skinned girl became startled and she could feel from somewhere very close a feeling of heartaching pain. She grabbed the ax out of Mithrull’s hands. 86

“What the...? Allie, what are you doing?” The wizard looked at her perplexed. 87

“Don’t chop down the tree. It doesn’t want to die. I could feel its pain.” 88

“You could feel its pain? Are you feeling all right Allie?” Her friend, a girl with long red hair and red skin asked. 89

“I am not crazy Stephanie. I heard what I heard.” 90

As this conversation was going on, Altheia heard the voice again. The voice sounded feminine and musical. -Thank you Lady Druid. You saved my life.- 91

Altheia looked around but saw no one. “Where are you? Come out so I can see you.” 92

-I am standing in plain sight.- 93

Altheia looked around but all she saw was the tree. “Where are you? All I can see is the tree.” 94

-I am the tree.- the voice said in a quiet voice. 95

Altheia stared in shock. She wasn’t sure what was going on. She wondered if she was going crazy. 96

-Please Lady Druid. Don’t chop me down. I am a living thing. If you chop me down, the nymph that lives here will die too.- 97

Altheia thought about what the tree had said. “Are you a nymph? Are you speaking now?” 98

- No, I am the tree. Please Lady Druid, let me live.- 99

“You will live. No one is going to cut you down. What is your name? Do you have one?” 100

-You may call me Willow.- 101

Altheia had not noticed it but the tree she was staring at was indeed a willow tree. It stood fifteen feet tall. The dark brown branches reached out to all four directions. The deep green leaves covered the tree like a springtime wedding veil. It brought a hope of spring to the barren white of winter. “My name is Altheia Summers.” 102

-I know who you are Lady Druid. I was told of your arrival.- 103

-In time you will understand.- Altheia looked at the willow tree and for a brief second, the tree looked humanoid. She was a beautiful human female. She stood 5’5 with a slender build. She had long, flowing, forest green hair. It was the same color as the leaves on the branches. Her eyes were a deeper green than her hair. Her skin color was tanned to a golden brown. Her outfit was a simple peasant dress in spring time colors that became one color and each an individual color simultaneously. The young woman’s feet were bare. Her legs and feet as tan as the rest of her skin. Then in another brief second, the woman disappeared and in her place stood the tree. 104

“I think we should leave now.” The golden-skinned magess told her compatriots. 105

On the second day of the Festival of Lights, according to the book, it was baking day. However, Altheia wasn’t very good at baking. She tried to bake once and the pastry came out like charcoal. She hoped the others were better cooks. 106

She walked over to her friend, Stephanie’s dorm across the way. Altheia looked out at the scenery. It was a cold, crisp day in the first month of winter. The snow laid like a blanket on the sleeping grass. The snow as white and crisp as the first time it fell two weeks ago. 107

Altheia looked at the evergreens of the forest surrounding the campus. The white snow on the evergreens gave them a new winter coat of white fur. The image of the trees brought back the thoughts of the day before. -Was that tree really talking to me? She called me Lady Druid. None of this makes any sense. Did I see what I really saw? The tree turned into a woman and who was she?- All of these things did not add up in her mind. She was so deep in thought that she almost ran into her friend’s front door. She knocked and waited for an answer. Moments later, the door opened, revealing a slender, red-skinned, red-haired elf behind it. 108

“Hey Allie. Come on in.” The girl stepped back to let her friend in. 109

Altheia looked inside from the doorway. Her bed was nothing but a pile of ash. The blackened mat still laid on the floor. The desk and chairs showed signs of burnt marks. One dresser set stood halfway burnt in a corner. “Still haven’t blown up your room yet huh?” 110

“Nope, but I am getting there. I hope this school has fire insurance.” replied the elven girl. She walked over to the small cupboard, took out a charred fireproof glass and a bottle of ale. She poured the ale into the glass. The elven flame-thrower pointed over the glass and the ale ignited into flames. “You want one Allie?” 111

Altheia eyed the liquid suspiciously. “What is it?” 112

“It’s a flaming ale. I kinda invented it. It’s delicious.” 113

“I guess so.” The elven girl handed her the glass of flaming ale while the elven girl made one for herself. 114

She raised the glass into the air. “Cheers.” She downed the glass of ale in about a minute. Altheia tasted it and the flame went down her throat. It had a bit of a sharp taste. She felt like one of those fair people that swallow flaming sticks. Yet, it had a kick to it and she was still standing afterwards so she guessed that was a good sign. “So how do you like it?” 115

“It was tangy with a bit of a kick, yet satisfying.” replied the golden-skinned elf. 116

“So I take it you aren’t here to talk over fine ales. What can I do for you?” 117

The young magess smiled. “How are you at baking?” She took another sip of the flaming ale. 118

Stephanie nearly spit out her drink. “Cooking? Are you kidding me?! You want me to cook?” 119

“Yes, would you help me for the Festival?” “120

Well.......all right. What are we going to make?” >121

“We are making cookies. Come on let’s get to the kitchen.” 122

The girls quietly snuck into the kitchen. They looked around to see if anyone was there. “I think the coast is clear.” whispered Altheia. 123

The flame-thrower opened the door a little wider to let herself pass. 124

The golden skinned elf got out a mixing bowl, flour, eggs and milk out and started mixing them into the bowl. “Hey Steph could you turn the oven on?” 125

“Sure.” She opened the oven door where wood sat and ignited it so a nice flame roared onto the wood. The flame-thrower glanced the shelf and came across a bottle of ale. She then had a mischievous idea. While her friend was looking for a metal pan to put the cookies on , the red-skinned elf took the bottle of ale and poured it into the cookie batter mixing the ale with fire then magically got rid of the bottle. 126

Altheia found the pan proceeded to roll the mixture into balls and put them on the pan. Stephanie just smiled at her friend as she too made little balls from the cookie dough. They continued making cookies until there wasn’t any batter left. Altogether, the batter made two batches of cookies. Altheia slipped the pans into the oven. “Well, that’s done. Now we just have to wait for them to bake for fifteen minutes.” 127

“I am sure the boys will get a big bang out of our cookies.” the red-skinned elf smiled slyly. 128

“Okay, what did you put in the batter?” 129

“Nothing, just my famous flaming ale.” 130

Altheia sighed. “Well, tomorrow night will make one interesting party then.” 131

The third day of Festival marked the day of feasting. The cookies made the day before came out excellent despite the secret ingredient. Altheia woke up that morning with a sense of happiness. If you can’t spend the holiday with family, at least you can spend it with friends. She sifted through her closet to find something special to wear for the occasion. She found a pine, green silk dress with long flowing sleeves with a knee length hem. She dressed and fixed her hair in a French twist. Everyone would arrive in an hour. 132

She got out a plastic fern tree she found yesterday at the market and unfolded its branches so that it looked like a real tree. She placed it in an empty corner of the room. Afterwards, she unwrapped the little star ornaments and set them out on the table. She took out the wand, spellbook and flute and wrapped them in a silver wrapping paper. These she also set under the tree. 133

There was a knock at the door. The Skypath knight opened it to find Mithrull, Stephanie, and Tristan standing there. Tristan and Stephanie had wrapped packages with them. “Welcome guys, come on in.” The golden-skinned girl stepped back to let them in. 134

“You did a marvelous job setting things up Allie.” replied the bard as he held tight to his present for Allie. 135

“Thank you. I tried to make it nice.” She started to put the ornaments on the tree. “Come on guys, help me with the tree.” Afterwards, the tree looked beautiful with all the crystal ornaments. The young people sat on the floor in a circle. “Now comes the best part, the gift giving.” replied the Skypath Knight as she handed the presents to friends. “Open them.” Stephanie opened hers to find the beautiful wand with the red flame carved on it. Mithrull opened his to find the spellbook and Tristan opened his to find the beautiful golden lute. She looked at their stunned happy faces. “You’re welcome.” 136

Stephanie’s presents were a emerald pendant to Altheia and a ruby pendant to Mithrull. Mithrull’s had an engraving on the back which read: Forever Mine. Tristan’s present was ruby earrings for Stephanie and for Altheia he took out a ring box. Inside sat a beautiful ruby set in a gold band with ivy leaves etched in the band. Altheia looked surprised and speechless. “Tristan...” 137

He held his hand up to her lips. “Don’t speak just yet. Allie, I love you. I always loved you. It would do me a great honor if you would be my girlfriend.” 138

Altheia’s mouth dropped open. “Tristan, I don’t know what to say. I......” 139

Before she could reply, there was a knock on the door. “Hold that thought.” 140

The young girl opened the door to see a young Nino Oro man standing there. His brown hair looked dirty. His clothes all tattered and torn. His hands looked rough and worn, hands of hard labor. His voice, his voice was just the opposite of his appearance. He spoke so gently and melodically. “Excuse me, I am looking for Altheia Summers. I was told she was here.” 141

The man looked a little familiar to Altheia but it was the voice that clinched it. “Grai Star??” 142

“Alheia? Is that you?” 143

Altheia opened the door wider so that the man could step all the way in. “Where have you been? I have been worried. No one could give me a straight answer.” Star instead of answering the questions, leaned forward and gave Altheia a long passionate kiss as if that kiss meant the essence of life and death. After what felt like hours, he gently broke the embrace. “I have been wanting to do that for months. I have been in jail. Then I was moved to the work camp in Darkshire. The young elven clasped her hands over her mouth in shock. Darkshire had the worst reputation when it came to work camps. “Oh Star, how did you ever escape?” She had led him to the floor and sat him down gently. “Finally I was let go. The Queen had pardoned me after many grueling months. Some of it is so terrible, I don’t want to think or speak about it.” She held him close and didn’t want to ever let go. “I missed you so much.” “I thought of you many times, my love.” He ran his fingers through her thick, red hair. Hair that looked and felt like sunset. Someone coughed loudly around them. Mithrull had cleared his throat. “Do you two need to be alone?” Star and Altheia both blushed. “Umm...err....no. That’s all right. Star, these are my friends Mithrull, Stephanie and Tristan.” Star shook hands with each and every one. Tristan sat silently. He put the ring away in his pocket. -I can’t give her that ring now. What crummy timing. I haven’t given up yet. Altheia Summers, you will be mine.-