Jewels from the Dark

Laoise moved about her small cabin, thinking back on the years she had spent wandering in the Shadowlands. She had always found a hollow for shelter or a bundle at just the right time. Once, not long after she had gotten lost, she had found a small pack leaning against a tree. Inside, she had found a little wooden box with a metal lining, full of still smoldering embers. She had been so grateful – not only for the warmth emanating from the small array, but also for the soft, steady glow of light it somehow cast around her. The Light had danced again that night, reminding her of who she had once been and filling her with courage.

She smiled at that memory as she loaded supplies back into that same small pack. She reached for the wooden box and lightly touched the owl she had carved into the side so long ago. Laoise did not really want to part with this special vessel, but she knew it could bring another hope, like it had once brought her. She had no more of those strange ever-burning embers she had found in the pack, but she carefully laid some tinder in the box along with a small piece of steel and a flint she had found many years back.

“May these tools bring and guard life, out here in the Wilding Wood,” she whispered, as her hand deftly chose the other items for this particular bundle. She felt the warm glow inside her chest, guiding her hands. Everyday, she would create a bundle of found items, putting the most important things in the places where people needed them to survive. She knew others found the bundles, like she had, as she sometimes came upon the empty packs in her walks and recovered them to fill again. This pack had come back to her over and over again, like it was always meant to find her.

Often, as she made these bundles, she would find her mind trying to make sense of her life. There was so much that she did not understand. Why had she always been drawn to the dark? Why had she taken the dare and wandered into the Woods that day? What had truly happened that moment in the Waste, when her last ember was snuffed out by the Waste Wind and then a deeper ever-burning flame had ignited inside her chest? Would this be the only life she ever knew – one where she was ever alone yet ever helping others find their way home to their family and friends?

Laoise worked to silence the noise in her mind and finished putting the bundle together. She stacked it with the others by the door and moved to her stove. She placed another log on the fire and settled the kettle onto the center hook, filling it with dried leaves. Soon, a delicious aroma filled the room. While she waited for the drink to steep, she moved deftly around the kitchen, gathering food and flask. She cleaned as she went, preparing to be away again. She knew that the cabin presented itself to those in dire need and she wanted to have it ready in case someone needed to take refuge here while she was away. It was a harbor in the dark, drawing others in with the warm glow that only some could see – only those in true need. That is how she had found it, stumbling out of the Waste, exhausted and unable to move any further.

A short time later, she arranged the logs on the fire so that they would burn for many more hours. Laoise picked up the bundles, tucking them into her cloak. She then slipped out the front door, turning to place her forehead briefly in the center.

“Go bhfaighidh an té atá i ngátar tearmann sábháilte sa stoirm.”
May the one in need find safe refuge from the storm.

She took several steps into the darkening Wood around the cabin and looked back – the image of her home shrouded in shadows the farther she walked. It had taken her years to learn the rhythm of the dark. It had always danced and shimmered, Light and Shadow together, but now she could constantly see the beauty.

When she had faced the Waste Wind and her heart had shattered, bits of the sharp slivers had been whipped up and into her eyes, turning them a moon-silver grey. She had emerged from that moment different – no longer able to see in the full light of the day, yet with a deeper ability to see shimmers and glimmers of the old dance that had captivated her as a child. It brought her comfort as she walked on, resting in the knowledge that she had learned how to truly see in the dark.