Night Dance
They danced "sky clad," leaping from one fluid motion to another,
with never a moments pause. The pale ice blue flames of their ceremonial bon
fire, added luminous highlights to the paints that decorated their otherwise
dark skins. They were four in number, two males and two females, each moving at
his or her own pace. Each possessed long dark hair, that had been braided with
strands of gold and silver, causing it to shimmer in the enchanted light. Their
eyes were as dark as the trees of the forest in which they danced, and their
skins, as rich as the soil beneath their bare feet.
They danced to the
accompaniment of an unseen orchestra of water drums, tambours, and flutes with
voices reminiscent of whispers and the birdsong of evening. Their shadows raced
along the circle of standing stones that surrounded them, the throbbing source
of phantasmal music. Fragile sparkling lights seeped from the rune etched
surfaces of the ancient marble blocks. They posed in shapes that suggested an
arrested or perhaps still continuing motion, performing an elegantly slow dance
of their own. Each elusive sparkle drew the eye, as the spidery lines of ancient
script enticed the mind; and then the gentle and subtle curves, gradually coaxed
the sight to the next stone in the formation.
One of the women danced to the
east, her arms out spread and slowly drifting as she spun and twisted like a
wind caught leaf. She leapt away from the flames, airborne, her continued
motions almost defying the pull of gravity. She landed smoothly upon her toes,
spun again, and began to sing softy. Her voice sounded like a whispering wind on
a still night, and her words drifted from her mouth like silvered clouds,
framing themselves upon the air.
To the north another woman danced, slowly,
ever so casually stepping and turning. Her pleasantly plump hips swayed back and
forth, leading her shoulders on a merry chase, as she languidly shuffled to a
steady beat. She tilted her head to the heavens, but closed her eyes, glorifying
in the least of her motions. Her slow gradual motion never quickened, never
slowed, and never paused. She began to hum softly, and the ground beneath her
feet hummed an answer, as the circle of stones ignited with a pale
phosphorescence to rival the fire light.
To the west a man moved, with never
a sharp angle to his actions. He spun, and stepped, and jumped to the drum
beats. He moved slowly and broadly, and gradually increased the speed and
intensity of his motion; then slowed again. He bent his knees, then arched his
back, then flung his head and arms forward. His body was a wave, upon a sea of
music peaking and ebbing in time. Sweat glistened from his freely flowing body,
catching and shining within, from the light around him. As he danced tears of
joy virtually leapt from his eyes, and he began to sing in a deep baritone; a
fine mist trailed wherever he moved.
One of them breathed more heavily than
the others, dancing frantically in a circle and punctuating his movements with
great leaps and twists. His furious steps were erratic one moment, and just as
patterned and purposeful the next. His arms spiraled together in complicated
gestures, moving inward, then upward, then out. As his chest heaved, and his
pulse raced, he smiled broadly. He faced south and began to sing softly to the
rhythm of the fire, and it’s twin within his soul. The great bonfire danced and
pulsed higher and brighter as he added strength to his voice.
East stopped
dancing , her archaic words tumbled from the air and dispersed like bursting
bubbles, when they neared the ground. She stopped singing, then took a calming
breath, facing the radiant flames. She stood again, spread her arms wide, and
gestured broadly at the open sky. "I call upon you, powers of air, to witness
this rite and to guard this circle!" Her words were spoken boldly, with the
confidence of one long used to being heeded. The sounds echoed and re-echoed.
The air in a broad circle around the dancers, shimmered as if it had been
struck.
South spun to a halt, still smiling as his voice trailed off, and
the fire returned to normal proportions. He knelt down before the now gentle
flames, and without hesitation, grabbed a still burning ember and tossed it over
his shoulder. "I call upon you, powers of air, to witness this rite and to guard
this circle!" His voice was a high tenor hiss, sounding like flames under glass.
A shower of sparks fountained from the fire, creating a vague dome shape,
extending as far as the ancient rune stones.
West flowed to a halt, flipping
a few stray braids over his shoulders. He walked to the edge of the
semi-transparent dome and paused, a deep calm spreading across his features. "I
call upon you, powers of water, to witness this rite and to guard this circle!"
He casually licked the forefinger of his left hand, and then snapped it forward,
stopping just short of the ephemeral wall. Blue green flashes of light blossomed
and spread throughout the dome. The dome darkened to an intense lavender,
blocking out sight of the outside world with roiling mist.
In mid stride,
North stopped moving, her hair swaying to a standstill. She firmly planted her
feet, crossed her arms over her ample chest, and bowed her head. The rune stones
flickered and guttered like a torch in a stiff wind, but did not go out. She
took a deep breath and then spoke, her words deep and husky. "I call upon you,
powers of air, to witness this rite and to guard this circle." From her lips it
sounded like a mother making a request of a child, a request that would never be
denied. A peel of sound resounded from the circle of stones, so deep that it
could not be heard, but felt nonetheless.
They began to chant in unison,
their voices meshing seamlessly into one melodic genderless chord. As the chorus
of voices and rune stones swelled and mingled, a mist of fine star-like
particles drifted toward the eldrich flame. The mist swirled and thickened above
the heads of the dancers, as intangible shapes formed and reformed within it’s
ever increasing depths. With mounting speed, the mist became a cloud, and the
cloud embraced the dancers. Words without voices, emblazoned themselves upon the
receptive minds of the dancers, "We come, we will provide in good faith."
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