Songbirds
Original Work (The Strange Life of One August Glass)
WC: 1,014 words
It’s been a while since I’ve managed to see a prompt and write in time for @flashfictionfridayofficial. This was exactly the prompt I needed to tie my sketching of Important Plot Points up!
This does reference other bits I’ve written for August and haven’t posted, but I think it works well as a standalone excerpt.
It felt like both long weeks and mere moments had passed in this strange forest. Two trials gone, one to go. August led the way through the underbrush, unsure of his destination but confident in the journey through this domain.
Benjamine’s hand in his was a tether, grounding him to his task and the world outside of the Forest Guardian’s domain. Without it, he knew he would succumb to the magic here — become something beautiful and alien all at once, like the Enchanter and Hunter Phoenixes.
After moments or hours of walking, August’s ears felt like they were straining to hear… something. He paused in step, tilting his head. Benjamine stayed quiet, looking around for any dangers.
It was a murmur at first, like a small brook running over smoothed stones. He leaned forward, trying to hear more, to discern a pattern or words in the undulating thrum. He couldn’t, not from this distance.
He took a step forward, then another, gripping Benjamine’s hand to reassure himself that he was still there. He hadn’t yet faced a trial with Benjamine at his side — for this he was thankful — but knew that this third trial was for both of them.
Together, they would face the final challenge. Together, they would overcome it. August held this in his heart, hoping that Benjamine could feel it — hoping that he felt the same convictions. A squeeze of his hand told him all he needed to know.
They walked forward, towards the sound. It clarified into a choir of voices, singing in a language August could almost understand. The chorus rose and fell, crashing like the waves against the rocks of his birthplace. It was a slow and languid undulation, unhurried in tempo. The soprano melody soared above the treetops and the bass foundation thrummed through each step the two took. The alto and tenor harmonies interwove around them both, settling on their shoulders like a hearth-warmed blanket on a winter’s day.
They entered into a clearing, or what should have been one. Instead they were greeted by a large ballroom, chandeliers sparkling and dancers as far as they could see, all whirling about to the legato chorus of voices.
No. The dancers were the chorus.
August felt Benjamine go very still. He looked at him, and saw trepidation. This setting was his, then. August gave a squeeze to Benjamine’s hand, causing him to look down. Benjamine’s eyes were wide, disbelieving. He looked close to panic, chest starting to rise and fall faster and faster.
August smiled and wordlessly placed one hand on Benjamine’s shoulder, the other brought their entwined hands up. Benjamine’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly before that steel resolve flashed in his eyes, just as it did when he found a new challenge in a research topic for a manuscript. His hand came to rest on August’s waist, and together they melded into the chorus.
The chorus picked up tempo, and into a waltz they went.
August could feel the chorus reverberating in his chest, in his throat, begging him to join the song. Oh, it was tempting. It had been years since he’d sung for himself — since he’d felt comfortable enough in his own self to do so.
Benjamine’s grip tightened minutely, pulled him a hair’s breadth closer. August looked up into those grey eyes, questioning.
Benjamine shook his head, lips firmly clamped.
All at once, August could understand the siren song of the chorus as well — its promises of safety and a gentle rest and an unburdened forever.
He looked at the chorus of dancers, saw the tears on their faces and heard the mourning in their song. And August knew.
Once, they had been like August and Benjamine, beseechers of the Forest Guardian. Once, they had been people who were rejected for their differences, who sought out sanctuary and acceptance and love in this place. Once, they had been full of hope and despair and love and hate just like him.
Now, these were but songbirds, captured in a gilded cage — crying out a warning and a plea all at once.
The chorus rose into a crescendo as August realized this, the moderate tempo sliding effortlessly up into allegro as the chorus sang their grief and prayer in unison.
He looked at Benjamine, whose eyes were steeled like that of the Hunter Phoenix. They promised protection and accompaniment until the end of all this.
August remembered the refrain of the Enchanter Phoenix, that gentle call and response they had exchanged. It rang now, in his head. It thrummed now, in his chest, coaxing his embers to flame.
Together, they opened their mouths and hearts. Together, they soared.
We are not yours.
We are not caged.
We have known pain.
We have known love.
We are not things.
We will be free.
The trapped souls of the Forest Guardian were drowned out by the sheer power of their song — a diminuendo into silence. They stood in awe.
August and Benjamine continued to sing, alto and tenor interplaying, as they made their way to the other side of the gilded ballroom. The silent chorus, the littered souls, parted around them.
August’s melody thanked the souls, conveyed his regrets that he could not save them all and that he could not give them a home. Benjamine’s harmony comforted the souls, praising their strength for making it this far and for surviving in what way they could.
Together, their voices joined in the refrain. Together, they stepped out of the crowd, out of the ballroom.
They held fast to each other, gazes held firm. Slowly, their song decreased in volume and tempo until the last notes where but whispers on the breeze.
August choked on a relieved laugh as Benjamine held him close. They had passed the last trial. Together, they had done it.
They were stood in front of a squat cottage, vines trailing up the sides. The door opened, spilling light and warmth onto the moss and grass.
Together, they entered the abode of the Forest Guardian.
