We danced and cheered, on the autumn eve of soulsfaring festival.

I strolled amidst the booths with sweets, occasionally giving in to a friendly encouragement of vendors, my very neighbors.

Pink cotton candy melted in my mouth with an intense strawberry taste as I watched the fireworks fly as high as If they were almost touching the stars, where the fiery tails of rockets would fade mere seconds before the flowers of rainbow light would bloom in the sky.

We danced and cheered, on the autumn eve of soulsfaring festival.

I picked the copper coins scattered around the granite statue of a roaring, crimson-mane lion. My bare feet waded in a cold shallow pond, cautiously, since it was foretold that one who would graze the lilypads would end up in a hermit's marriage.

A couple of little kids ran around with gleaming faces, holding their masks and feathery wands. With their little hands, they dipped the tips of makeshift scepters in the fountain, then sprinkled my neck with the frigid water, for good luck.

We danced and cheered... it was the autumn eve of soulsfaring festival.

As the black clouds gathered above us, ominous thunder struck somewhere afar and the rain began to pour down.

Drops of thick and warm fluid sprinted down my cheeks and lips, a hint of metallic aroma touched my tongue. The crowd would gather under large umbrellas, in a manner unusual to my beloved town. Hastily and without a second look at their colleagues, who only by chance avoided the fate of being trampled.

What could be the reasoning behind all that? I asked myself as I stood in the rain. Undisturbed and ignorant, until my own arms were in my sight.

Drenched in blood.

In front of us, was marching a silhouette in a pristine, white robe, or rather a dress or a gown. Her shining outline made her appear like a personification of light and evaporated the rain upon touch. Yet, although brown and rosy, the woman's skin appeared as soft as ours. Only her eyes and lips were alien, as If masterfully crafted out of black opal.

Behind her, followed a procession of shadowy figures, each different, some were wild like animals, others resembled us, but with elongated limbs, necks and heads.

The main street was empty, tightly compressed townsfolk was squeezing even harder to the walls of brick buildings as the parade of demons walked across.

Only I, dumbly, stood in their way.

She stopped, right in front of me. I could stare directly into her eyes, which were like filled with thousands of stars. All the shadows looked at me, a cold shiver ran through my spine.

The eldritch lady lifted her arm, pointing a finger at me. It felt like a bolt of lightning pierced my chest, then a heavy cocoon of invisible force wrapped around me. My body was tossed with enormous speed into the crowd to the left, and smashed against the group of unprepared men, knocking them down and leaving them crawling in the bloody mud.

I was freed, but not without a dozen of bruised bones.

The procession continued, undisturbed and while shadows sluggishly dragged their legs, I could hear the cries of children and the prayers of grownups.

Yet, there was nobody to pray to.

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We wouldn't make it through the night.

Dark skies, pale full moon. We knew the time has come.

"It's alright." - An old man spoke. - "Kingdom of men has come to an end. Nothing will stop it. Don't despair, it's the soulsfaring night. Our spirits will join our long-gone families in another journey."

He stepped into the shadows, nobody dared to interrupt it, and all trace of him was gone.

Men after women, some sobbing, others holding their children, made their way out of the mass paralyzed by fear. A few stepped into the shadows, a few continued along the procession.

Anxious, horrified, yet captivated. These feelings broke my stasis and I marched forth with them.

We walked until it was almost dawn. Through the alleys of lamenting families, through the dark fields of white wheat, up the hill with a lone tree.

There it was, an unnamed grave.

As she knelt, her shadows followed the suit. She laid her pearls on an overgrown slab of cold stone and uncorked a wine, then whispered a prayer in a language known to no men.

Pearls cracked and broke off a necklace one after another, until it all turned to dust.

The pears, the shadows, the people, the city behind us, the moon, and the stars.

There was only me, the grave, the queen, and the tree.

I looked at my hands, they crumbled.

My legs crumbled.

My torso dropped, shattering to pieces, only my head, with one and a half eyes remained.

The wine trickled down the hill, from the nurtured grave.

These would be my last moments.

"Don't forget, I'm always with you."

It was a soft, familiar voice, enough to keep my fading consciousness focused, only for a just few moments longer.

"Don't close your eyes."

Was it the grieving lady?

No...

I saw her clearly now, her face hidden in her hands, diamond tears dropping down from her chin and shattering against the stone.

"Speak now, it's your only chance."

The voice guided me, but what would I say? I was nobody, a lowly farmer. What could I say to equal her dignity and power? Nothing.

All that dwelled inside me were wormly desires to continue existence.

"That person, would that person want it?" - My crumbling lips uttered as I was withering away.

Her cries stopped. She lifted herself and wiped her tears, her bright outline turned red, surrounding her with immense heat and raging flames.

"Don't you dare to ruin it." - She yelled with passion. - "Not today... insubordinate peasant."

It sounded as If she was speaking to me, but... I wasn't sure of it.

Scorched to pieces... it should've had hurt, but my eyes only focused on a chirping bird that landed on a branch of a tree. As the sun rays penetrated the clouds, I've realized, it was almost dawn.

I would live to see the dawn, just one more time.

"Perish!" - She screamed and stepped on my skull, turning it into a cloud of dust.

But my soul was no longer there, I realized as I was sitting on the tree, flapping my wings.

"Thank you." - The unknown voice giggled with cheer. - "Let's bring the colors back to the world!"

Little green buds formed on the tree and soon started blooming with yellow petals.

Yet, the queen was still mournful. She could not see that miracle, her face was hidden, eyes blind to the world.

"I promised... promised to keep you from all harm... and I failed, I promised to watch over you... and I averted my gaze when you most needed my help." - She lamented. - "Without you... it is like a night without a day. Every passing second is torture, the world should never go on like that."

"That's why... I will sacrifice it." - She added.

Her clenched hands, determined. Eyes, opened. As stunning as the first time I saw them.

How could I forget?

How... how did I?

All my friends, gone, because I forgot.

"Chirp!" - What was her name? I... I couldn't recall it... why did I forget?

What did I forget?

"You both forgot." - Who was this voice, again? What did it know? - "Don't forget again."

"Chirp! Chirp!" - No, it was too soon.

The ashen world was still silent, by the time I realized I was in the cage.

Again.