"Hello, young lady..."
"How may I be of help?"
The voice was unlike anything Emma had ever heard before... soft, yet vast, as if the very night sky had whispered directly into her ears. It was soothing, carrying a warmth that seeped into her bones, yet there was something unfathomable beneath it. Like a melody only the moon itself could compose.
Her breath heaved slightly.
Her fingers twitched at her sides as she took a cautious step back, her silver-white eyes narrowing slightly as she glanced up at the radiant sphere of moonflies that hovered above her.
"Are...", she hesitated, her voice catching in her throat before she steadied herself.. "Are you talking to me?"
The question felt absurd the moment it left her lips. Of course, it was talking to her. There was no one else here. Yet, the sheer impossibility of it left her momentarily uncertain.
Then, as if realization struck her all at once, her posture straightened.
She hadn’t even introduced herself.
A brief flicker of embarrassment surfaced. She had been so caught up in the strangeness of it all that she had forgotten the simplest courtesy.
Clearing her throat slightly, she clasped her hands together, fingers tightening for a brief second before relaxing.
"Pardon my impoliteness," she said, her voice even but respectful. "My name is Emma."
The ball of moonflies pulsed gently, their glow shifting in a slow, rhythmic wave. Then, the voice chuckled... light, unhurried, carrying the same calming cadence as before.
"Don't worry about it," it said, its tone carrying an amused warmth. "Just talk to me however you see fit. No need for formalities."
Emma blinked, then let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. A small, almost reluctant smile tugged at her lips.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Alright then," she replied, rolling her shoulders slightly, as if shedding the last remnants of tension. Her eyes softened, though they remained sharp with curiosity. "If that’s the case, I’d like to ask... are there any races of people around here?"
She waited, her body instinctively stilling as the moonflies above her swirled lazily, their gentle glow casting elongated shadows across the grass.
Then, another soft chuckle.
"Well, I do know where people are," the voice admitted, a slight lilt of amusement threading through its tone. "If you’d like, I could lead you there... That is, if you wish."
Emma’s expression flickered.
For a moment, she considered it. But almost immediately, she shook her head lightly.
"No, no... Don’t worry about that," she said, her voice gentle but firm. "I appreciate your kindness, but I’d rather you just tell me the location. That’s all."
The voice did not answer immediately.
A brief silence followed, not uncomfortable, but thoughtful. As if it were considering her words, measuring them carefully before responding.
Then, at last, it spoke.
"If you think it would be a bother for me, don’t."
The voice was warm.
"It wouldn’t be a bother at all. In fact, I would be glad to help."
A faint pause.
"Besides," it added, a hint of lightheartedness creeping into its tone, "I don’t have anything else to do, anyway."
Emma’s lips parted slightly, her gaze flickering up toward the radiant sphere.
She found herself staring, really staring at the mass of glowing moonflies. Their shimmering bodies shifted like a slow tide, gathering, dispersing, coming together again. The way they hovered in the sky, so eerily identical to the moon itself, made them feel almost... omniscient.
A strange weight settled in her chest.
She didn’t know what to say.
She didn’t know whether to refuse again or to accept.
But deep down, beneath the uncertainty, beneath the logical part of her that wanted to handle this journey alone.. she knew.
She didn’t know a single soul in this place.
She had no one.
And perhaps, just perhaps, this was where her fate was leading her.
A slow breath.
A small, quiet smile.
"Alright," she murmured, her voice barely louder than the wind. "I accept."
The voice chuckled again, though this time, it carried something... different. A quiet knowing.
And then...
The moonflies moved.
One by one, their soft, golden glows pulsed in unison before they began to unravel.. separating into individual lights that flickered and danced in the night air.
Emma’s breath hitched slightly as the luminescent creatures drifted apart, their tiny wings shimmering like delicate fragments of starlight. Then, all at once, their glow intensified.
Bright.
Brighter.
So bright that Emma had to instinctively raise a hand, shielding her eyes as the radiance consumed everything.
A soft hum filled the air.
A shift.
A ripple.
And then..
Descending from where the moonflies once hovered, emerging from the very fabric of light itself...
A figure.
A silhouette.
Human.