Ch 6
It was quite a storm indeed. The wind was in a frenzy, howling like a pack of wolf demons around the village, forcing even the most curious of the little ones inside. The wind beat against the thatch roof of the hut, threatening to spill through the cracks. The so called 'visitors' house was little more than a mud hole in the ground. Even with Aki's assurance that I wouldn't get wet, I still wasn't comfortable in Aki's playground.
I don't know why I was still awake. Perhaps I was waiting for her. I watched the skies intently, hoping that she was alright, but trusting that she knew her way in the heavens. The lightning would play tricks on my eyes. When a bright light flashed, I thought I could see the faint outline of a slim figure, dancing
My senses told me it was midnight. The late hour seemed to laugh at me. Mocking me for staying up late to try and see when the driving torrents would end. There was no end to the laughter of the night. It seemed to find amusement in my silent vigil for the storm riding girl.
My senses perked up. The howling wind seems to have calmed down a little, smoothed over by an unseen hand. Now the rain just washed over the village like a silent servant washing the clothes of its mistress.
Another flash drew my eyes to the heavens. What I saw caught me and held me spell bound. Aki, in her element, swayed and moved to a music unnoticed by me. Like a graceful swan she rode the gale, rising on one cloud to meet the beckoning hand of a lightning bolt to suddenly dive and be caught in the waiting arms
of the clouds
Though I wasn't sure, I thought I saw a cloud smaller and lighter in color than the rest weave in and out of Aki's movements. The resulting dance looked as if it had been rehearsed. I watched in amazement at this fluid dance that was performed so effortlessly above such a daring height. I blessed my demon eyesight, or I would not have been able to see this wondrous sight.
I had not even noticed that I had left the cover of the hut to stand in the open, straining my neck back for another glimpse of this strange creature. The slight figure had danced into the folds of the clouds and was lost from sight momentarily.
Another flash of lightning split the sky and I spotted Aki dancing still higher in the heavens. I tried calling her name, but the crash of the thunder drowned out my voice. A fear gripped my heart that the heavens wouldn't to give up their precious angel. The crashing clouds now seemed to me jealous lovers who would lock their love up rather than share her with the world. The lightning was the zealous guards that would shoot out of the sky to warn the passersby not to mess with their ammunition.
My hair stood on its end. As if it recognized me as a foe, the lightning sped down faster than the wind to strike me down. I blocked my face with my arms, not that they would help me much.
In the split second that I thought it was over, I realized the lightning hadn't struck me. I peeked over the edge of my crossed arms to see Aki floating back into the heavens on Cume. I imagined I thought I saw a blush spread over her face. Had she seen me gazing at her as she danced her spell in the clouds?
'Weather witch' was the true title for her. She worked her spells until the lightning painted a picture in the sky that only trained eyes could see. They spread out in pedals to make flowers, they grew to heights and spread out and became full grown trees that suddenly blossomed into thousands of buds that floated down from the sky to incinerate before my eyes. Waterfalls and rivers they created. Mountains they scaled and giant waves in the ocean they rode
And I, I stood entranced, staring dumbly up at the sky, watching for the next glance of the spell castor. But she did not show herself.
The wind died down even more and the rain slackened its pace. The lightening grew to faint glimmers in the distant. The thunder moved on to terrorize some child who was still awake in its bed. I realized I was soaked through. My hair was plastered to my neck and my blue bow was ruined. I would just get another in the next trading town we come to. I tried swishing my tail and I could barely move it. It was weighed down with too much water. It would take hours to dry.
I shook the loose water from my eyes and sat down on the soaked ground. The night wind would dry me faster than the damp hut. Although it was cold, I lay down on my back and watched the skies, hoping for the smallest glimpse of the storm dancer. I was not so lucky this time. I waited for her to show up, but eventually, I fell asleep, sung to sleep by the wind's gentle lullaby
