Hints of a Shadow Giant
Beyond the edge of a spinning cloud, transending symmetry,
Softly forested hills string the middle ridge,
Between the towns and lakes of the twin valleys,
On top the great cliff,
Under the tallest mountain,
Above the widest ocean,
Three great minds to guide,
Where souls of light come life,
Pinched in Moons abound in Shadow,
Black Flowers burn blue,
A pit of Gold seeded,
Flightless in Gravities webs,
Weightless, on the edge of the world.
Prologue - Eurpherion Heights
Chapter 2- section 2- Waterfalls and Fairies
Waterfalls rumbled and echoed throughout the valley as the combine light from the moon and Eurpherion filled the mist with a sparkling glow. These little flicks of light didn't dissipate as they emerged, but wandered in all directions. Little collections would form around trees, rocks, pools of water. Till could see they were interacting with each other and the environment through small flashes and vibrations. Little wandering creatures that seemed to be made out of light.
She watched a single light creature floating along by the rippling lake shore, it could have been a clear bubble folded in on itself with bright dust flecks moving along its form, glittering pure white. It came across a small rock and burst out in curious strands, strings, and ribbons of color. Some were full of rainbows outstretched and seeking, others pure blue and violet, orange and gold, growing and vibrating gently. Concentric rings would form, point a direction, vibrate and light the air in a calm hum, then change direction and vibrate again, like curious eyes or ears with sonar. To Till's ears, this sounded like little bird chirps mixed with the purrs of a cat. The light creature extended out a complicated bowl of lines that shone a vibrant, soft glow shifting through shades of yellow and orange. The creature stretched the bowl out into the environment, lighting the dark areas as though to see it better. A little manifested lantern.
It did not seem to have noticed Till as it shone its lantern toward her. It piped and exasperated noise, turning violet-red, while quickly extinguishing its light and backing away. It hesitated and shifted to a pure-violet. It then slowly extended a single strand toward her. Without realizing, a light strand had extended from her finger tip and was reaching for the creature. The two strands touched in a spark of light that rippled back to each. Till felt a wave of fizzing warmth travel across her body from fingertip to fingertip. The matching wave of light traveled across the creature causing it to shiver with delightful shades of blue-violet-green coursing through its form. She could feel amusement from the main creature inside her. This little lantern creature was like a child finding its lost mother in surprise and joy.
She called it Chibi.
This little one now follows Till everywhere like a pet, helps look for dangers, and even helps defend them later in the story.
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Other descriptions of the light creatures from the story:
-In the city before Till is transported to the waterfall valleys:
“Some people call them fairies, some call them spirits.” The cashier of the FF&P, Mark, leaned out of pickup window, “Some even call them demons, though I have never heard of one harming anyone or anything. Suffice to say, they are none of those things. If they must be compared to something a human is familiar with, a curious animal would fit much better. Like a squirrel, a toad, or a tame feline.”
Christopher the cat gave a darting look, scowling in offense, though Till wasn’t sure at which part.
“Through all the varieties there are many different personalities, just as you see in the diversity of animals.”
Light Creatures R&D
The Shadow Giant
Chapter 37- section 1- Allueasia and The Northern Cities
The hero tried to move, but could only feel hints of pain masked by numbness. He tried to open his eyes, blurry blackness filling his vision. He could feel that he was on soft grass and could hear a gentile stream running and babbling. The scent of a deep forest hung thick in the air. Sensation returned to his hand a bit as he could feel the cold of the stream running over his fingers. Unable to move any further, memories flooded his mind. Where was Img? Her parachute had opened, but he never saw her land.
Till… his last memory of her falling into the trees, pulling his own parachute so low it didn’t open fully and hitting the ground hard.
He tried opening his eyes again, but it was so dark, he could barely tell the difference between open and closed. The running creek made it hard to pinpoint anything in the darkness, the babbles turning to whispers and footsteps echoing from all directions. The hero told himself it was just his imagination, his mind finding familiar patterns the water splashes and trickles. He he needed to move and make a shelter, there was bound to be something out there that was not his imagination.
As he struggled to move his hand and arm from the water, he caught a glimmer out of the corner of his eye and managed to move his head in that direction. There was a soft light emerging from around the river bend, the wet rocks glistening as it got closer. Though it didn’t feel like a threat, the hero tried with all his might to move away from the stream, managing a one armed crawl up the grassy bank.
The source of the light came around the corner nearly blinding the hero with rays of shimmer. The hero managed to settle behind a large root, peering over at the bright light. As his eyes slowly adjusted, a figure resolved in his vision, a human figure standing in the stream, but seemly made out of light. It was the silhouette of a slender female slowly raising one hand in the air, then back down toward the ground. She did this in rhythm with her steps, her head tilted sideways as though listening.
She stopped with her arm raised, her palm facing up, then stood perfectly still. The hero didn’t think she could her him over the stream crackles, but he found himself holding his breath anyway.
She crooked her head slightly facing the hero, then turned her head strait up while raising her other hand toward the forest canopy, toward the sky. The glow emanating from the girl intensified. For a brief moment, the hero thought he had seen Tills face before she got so bright, he had to look away. As he did he saw something crawling next to him and almost jumped causing him to nearly cry out at the pain of his injuries, but in the light saw that it was a plant growing so fast it seemed to be an animal. He realized all the plants were doing it. The tree above the girl of light, which before had looked near dead was emitting it’s own soft light as it grew fresh branches and sprouts quickly turning to blossom hues of pink, red, and violet.
As the flower peddles fell, the girl of light lowered her arms, once again pushing toward the ground, her light dissipating to a dim glow. She slowly looked toward the hero.
“Till!” He shouted in relief of seeing her face. He tried to get up to run to her, but fell to his side.
She smiled at him as her eyes seemed to lose focus and she too started to fall as the rest of her glow went out returning the forest to the night.
The hero heard a splash and knew he had to get to her. He started to crawl with his good arm toward the last place he heard her. His eyes adjusted to the dark only now there were faint glows from some of the plants and even out of the ground in soft bulges. He was able to make his way to Till and pull her out of the shallow water. She was back to her normal, non glowing self, though now the hero wondered if the glowing version was more the real Till.
Allueasia, the city farthest to the north. Because of the planets tilt, it never sees the sun. There are instead constant celestial lights, auroras that fill the sky. The city is build on a rock cliff running into the bay. With a tall, castle like layout and and enormous entrance than ran right into the water. Most travelers approached the city from across the sea, docking in its soft orangey light. Glowing lanterns were everywhere, it seemed everyone had their own glow lantern or glow jar as well, though the colors seemed to very from person to person. It amounted to a wandering light show from afar.
The celestial lights had timed patterns that the locals called light tides and used them to tell day from night. It did not seem to coincide with the same day and night hours the hero, Img, and Till were used to, but the people that grew up there seemed rested enough.
