I cry out, a horrible scream.
The light- I must destroy the light, before it takes another child!
If my child passes- if my last child passes-
I am the last. There will be no more. My kind is gone.
They- they deserve to live, untouched by light!
I am blinded by the fire, and I miss the light, barely. The spirit and their light once again escape my talons.
No- there they are!
I screech once again. Red edges my vision. I dive towards them, and I may finally end this suffering-
No.
I stop, beating my massive wings.
Gone. They are gone- no, they have returned! There the light is, along with their little spirit-
I have to stop myself to avoid crashing into the tree. They are gone again.
I cannot see, and I cannot let myself burn in this fire only to kill them. I must finish my task, but I need to live.
There will be no mother for my egg if I die.
The spirit enters a tree- and does not come out the other side.
I pause. No, no, no no no! I cannot lose them! Where are they?
Squinting, I beat my wings and soar above the treeline. But looking for the speck of blue in all of this orange fire licking at the trees is like looking for a needle in a haystack-
There.
I blink once. How did I find them, in all of this? Impossible.
But this is no time to discuss what is true and what is not. I have found them. Some destiny is smiling down upon me.
I begin my dive.
The light speaks to the spirit, lilting little words I can barely hear.
The spirit leaps.
And that is when I crush it.
The spirit smashes to the ground, going limp in my talon, while the light struggles and pulses and burns in the other. I screech, triumphant. Shaking my claws, I fling the spirit off of them. I have no need for them- only the light.
I have won.
I glare down at the spirit. They can barely move- they are badly wounded.
They are the cause of all this- they! They are trying to restore this light I have in my talons- and they nearly succeeded, but they will not.
I refuse to let the light take another child.
I prepare to strike-
A small squeak- a call. From behind. I pause.
A shadow-creature, from the Black Root Burrows, plods up to the spirit.
They pay no attention to me. No, their only eyes are for the spirit.
That's when I realize the creature is a her. I remember her, if only barely. She and her father disappeared into those burrows years ago. I have not seen either since.
She picks them up, gently. Cradles them. They go limp in her embrace, barely manage to pull themselves closer to her.
She holds them, warbles out a soothing sound that is barely heard over the raging mountain.
Then she looks at me, and if I had a heart, it would stop.
I know that look. It used to be mine.
A memory from long ago resurfaces- I remember calming my own children like that. As she is doing now.
I soften my gaze. She is a mother, like I was-
My entire body goes rigid. She is a mother like I am.
My own children. In my fury- I had forgotten them. My last remaining egg.
I twist to look at my nest- my child is there, my child must be there-
No!
Fire!
There is fire licking hungrily at my nest- fire from the unbalanced Element of Warmth the spirit and their light have awoken.
My egg! I yearn to fly there, but I cannot- I hold the light under my talons- and by the time I get there the flames will have killed the egg anyways.
I look down, and the mother holds the spirit tight. Naru, they say her name was.
She expects to die here, with her child in her arms. She came expecting them both to burn- and came anyway, if only to see them once more.
And that's when I realize I cannot let that happen.
The Element of Warmth is too powerful, but I know what can balance it-
The Spirit Tree.
That is what they were trying to do all along.
Perhaps the light will kill my child, I whisper to myself.
Perhaps, I decide. But a death by light would be quicker and easier than a death by fire. I do not want that pain. Not for the last one. Not for any of them. Burning to death is a fate I would wish on no one.
I shift my talons, grasping tighter on the light. It burns, but I do not scream.
Instead, I fix the mother with a pleading look.
If my egg survives... Take care of my child. Please. If I am not there to mother it, then please take the job for me.
I do not speak aloud. I cannot speak in a language she will know.
She holds the spirit tighter, and she does not understand.
That is alright. She will in time.
There is no more time to waste- the light must be returned to the Spirit Tree. Before the flames consume all.
Ironic that I, the enemy of the spirit, would finish the task they were trying so hard to complete.
I snatch the light up for the second time. I adjust my wings. If I could cry, this is what it would be.
For the last time in my life, I raise my wings, point my eyes toward the Spirit Tree, and I fly.