The Gift

Note: I mostly write, or hope to write, sci-fi or plain-old humour. However, as a challenge, I wrote a fantasy flash-fiction based on an image prompt. I hope this fits in with the brief of this challenge!

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The tribe would never be the same again.

Kagura fell back from the crowd that watched Lephiane emerge from the top of the mountain. Lephiane’s lithe figure was shimmering with an aura around her. It glimmered in colours she had not seen before.

Not long ago, the two witch sisters had had one of their arguments when Lephiane was venturing across the Barren Rift.

“Lephy, please don’t go!” she had pleaded, “I don’t want an evil eye to befall you!”

“Sister, you know we are the chosen ones of the tribe,” Lephiane had argued, “We must venture for the tribe’s survival. They say the land of the Infinite People has a magical gift that has helped them survive for aeons and aeons.”

“But … but we have everything we need, don’t we? What’s more, we can now conjure up new things for the tribe. Things they never knew existed!”

“Be that as it may, it doesn’t change the fact that we are all dying. Fast!”

“I am working on it …” Kagura had been hurt.

Lephiane had then held her sister close and comforted her.

“I know. I know. You are smart, brave and skillful. I am sure you will soon be able to save the tribe from extinction, one way or another. But my destiny lies in seeking wonders that exist across the lands, the waters and the mountains.”

“When will you leave?” Kagura had conceded after a pause.

Lephiane had smiled as she wiped Kagura’s tears with her sash. “At the first sign of dew tomorrow. You can send me away with your new creation that always brings us home.”

“The Pathfinder!” Kagura had exclaimed.

Now, as she watched her sister making way back slowly, she was filled with dread about the new dangers that would follow. What if the Infinite People were not friendly and the tribe faced an onslaught like the last time the long night had come? Hadn’t they been happy for so many ages just being black or white?

The land was white and people were black. It worked very well. The Radiant One in the sky never burned them with her wrath. They saw her walking by, watching over them serenely, where the lands, the waters and the mountains met the sky. There were no shadows to scare the little ones. There were no harsh bright surprises either.

The soft cushions that covered most of the sky were white too. Occasionally they cried along with the tribe when someone went back to The Invisible One. The laments lasted weeks sometimes. They usually buried themselves deeper into the white earth until the crying ceased. It gave them a chance to get closer to those who were resting below for eternity.

Lephiane was clearly visible now. Kagura retreated a step as if not wanting to meet her sister, not wanting to accept that she was back – and what gift she bore this time. She was happy with the way things were. Simple is always better. Two is better than many.

“I love this black and white world of ours!” she almost said aloud.

The shimmering aura around Lephiane made her appear ethereal, demonic even, and Kagura’s heartbeat sped up. What was about the shimmer that she could not fathom? She had never seen anything like it before. She wondered if her sister had turned evil from a sorcerer’s spell in the land of the Infinite People. She began chanting her secret hymn to face the imminent danger.

All around her, the tribe watched Lephiane. Each of her sisters stood motionless, like they always did to receive travellers. It was a show of strength. No weapons, no spells. Just silence and a resolve to stand their ground. Then, it happened.

A faint restlessness rippled through the watching sisters. A step here, a twitch there. Soon, they were all retreating, slowly. This had never happened before, thought Kagura. Lephiane was already bringing fear with her. The tribe that had lived without distress, doubt or phobia of any kind were moved. She prepared for the inevitable and made her decision.

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“Kagura! Kagura! My dear sister!” Lephiane broke into a run and then stopped abruptly. “What’s wrong, sis? Why is everyone retreating?”

“It’s the … the aura around you!” stammered Kagura.

“Oh this? No, don’t be afraid, dear sisters” assured Lephiane, “It’s only an illusion; a mirage if you will. The gift I bring will free us from eternal perish. It will provide us with the magical powers to live forever!”

“How?” demanded Kagura, “All we have ever got from these gifts is destruction and pain.”

“I will teach you how to use it! I have met wizards all over the land of the Infinite People. I know why they are called the Infinite People!”

Kagura frowned but did not retreat any further. Lephiane was now within a few hands from her. Kagura mustered up her courage and met her sister. As they held hands, as she felt her sister’s fingers curl around her palm, Kagura felt something she hadn’t ever before. It was as if she was slowly thawing.

“What’s happening to me, Lephy?” she asked.

“This is the gift I bring” smiled Lephiane, “We will never pass away cold and frozen. We can survive the long white days and nights.

The Infinite People keep this gift everywhere. Their homes, pathways, mountains. They even carry it with them over water. Their nights are not black anymore. They can keep away all creatures with this gift. That is how they have survived for many many aeons.”

“How does the gift help them do that?” demanded Kagura, not convinced.

“It keeps them less frozen, or warm, as they say. They offered it to me … a warm welcome, they exclaimed. I was as fearful as I sense you are now, sister. Then, I began enjoying its fruits, which are countless. Do you know that we can keep this gift going forever? You can share it and it grows. Oh Kagura! We can finally see in the black nights. We can drive all the demons away that terrify the tribe!”

“Does this … this gift have a name?”

“Fire!” said Lephiane and Kagura knew:

The tribe would never be the same again.