Moon
“That’s her?” The child’s voice was hushed, as though even he could tell that here in the chorus of crickets his voice might disturb them.
They sat in the quiet dark of the night at their campsite, the young Sin’dorei pointing up through the gentle sway of trees above. Through ancient branches shone the moon’s pale light, and it was a full moon over their camp tonight. The other two children had already fallen asleep in the tent, but Rydanis and his son stayed up to stargaze.
“According to legend, yes.” Ry’s thoughtful gaze was broken with a smile as a firefly flitted overhead. The forest was alight with them.
Kasien, the little redhead beside him, lowered his hand and continued gazing upward as the dappled light shifted with the leaves that obscured it. “Ann’da, is it really Elune?”
This was not an easy question for a Sin’dorei to answer. It wasn’t his belief, and yet he couldn’t deny the depths of the connection the Kaldorei had with their mother moon. He took a moment longer to look before his gaze turned down toward the boy, golden eyes meeting teal. “She’s real, to them and to those who seek her out I believe.”
“Have you met her?”
Rydanis smiled. “I have met her as much as you have. Look, we might hold her in our hands.” He held his out, palm upward, and showed the boy the light that he could fleetingly catch there from the moon above.
Kasien copied the motion, mouth agape in concentration. The wonder at this moment they shared lasted mere seconds before one of the fireflies landed on the boy’s open hand, and he squealed with a jump. “Da! Ann’da there was Elune!”
“Maybe she was introducing herself, hm?”
The child jumped up to chase the firefly through their camp as it flew off, its lazy pace followed along by the scrambling boy trying to catch it. Try as he might though, it flew too high for him to reach. “Da where’s she going!”
Rydanis watched with amusement. “Ah, I’m sure you’ll meet her again someday. For now though, come have a rest. It’s getting late for you little moon-chaser.”
The boy was reluctant, but eventually he relented as he realized that firefly wasn’t going to come back down. So Kasien returned to the blanket they’d spread out to sit on, and he curled up next to his father and gazed up at the moon once more.
