The Vigil

We purge the land of those seeking to destroy,

Our weapons beside us, ready to deploy.

The darkness pulls, ever trying to entice,

But we stand firm; faith through sacrifice.

We will muster to war and defeat the last,

And we await The One to emerge from the past.

Out of the darkness and into the light,

Give us the strength to sit vigil tonight.

Moxi raised her head from the pommel of her sword and looked up at the stone façade of the ancient ruins from her position on a single, bent knee. She felt warm, despite the darkness. Moxi turned toward Fionn as they both rose to their feet. She had lost count of the number of times the two of them had recited the prayer before each watch.

“This will be the day. I can feel it!”

“You say that every time, Mox.”

“True,” Moxi conceded, “but today feels different. It is as if I am surrounded by warmth. The One is coming.”

“Surrounded by warmth?” Fionn said incredulously. “It’s barely above freezing. We’re surrounded by snow. As a matter of fact, if we don’t get a fire going, there is a good chance we’ll lose a finger or two to the frost on this watch.”

Moxi entered the ruins and went straight to the fire pit, stirring the debris. There were some hot coals left behind by the last pair to sit vigil, but the previous team had selfishly let the fire burn dangerously low. Moxi quickly added some parchment and blew on it gently to encourage it to ignite. Once she had a flame, she added part of an old chair to the small fire.

“I suppose we should be happy there is still wood in the stack, though it looks as if it will only last a few hours,” said Fionn. “You know where I’ll be.”

Fionn grabbed the ax from where it leaned near the open archway and walked back out into the night. The sounds of splintering wood followed a few minutes later. Moxi stretched out beside the fire and stared through the large opening in the crumbling ceiling as she listened to the sounds of Fionn chopping fuel to feed the fire.

Moxi and Fionn had joined the Children of the Light at about the same time. Their parents were members of the order as well and it had never been a question that Moxi and Fionn would be initiated. Training had started for Moxi and Fionn once they were old enough to hold a knife. As they grew and became stronger, Moxi and Fionn had learned to use a bow and then a sword. These weapons accompanied all Children of the Light from the time they learned to use them until death. Members of the order were prepared to dispatch the faithless wherever they might be encountered.

Fionn re-entered the ruins carrying a bundle of wood planks. He dumped the armload onto the remnants of the pile from the watch that came before them. He sat on the stone floor and commenced stacking the wood more neatly.

Moxi smiled and shook her head. “You just couldn’t leave it, could you?”

Fionn ignored her comment. “Do you think we’ll ever emerge from the darkness? The elders speak of The One as if He was an ever-present being in the sky, but it just doesn’t make any sense to me. If He is as powerful as the writings tell us, then wouldn’t the whole world catch fire under His heat?”

“Don’t you pay attention during the readings, Fionn? The One won’t actually be here on the Earth. He only needs to be near enough to be seen. The One was never actually here among the people. He remains in the sky, watching over us. My grandmother used to tell me stories about it. The One was ever-present for over two hundred days of the year. He watched over the people and provided warmth. The plants grew above ground, out in the open. Some of them grew tens of feet into the sky and had stalks wider than our arms could hold. Those boards you just chopped for the fire came from those giant plants.”

“The only plants I’ve ever seen are green and squishy. I’ve been down to the grow rooms a few times with Petra. Her mom is a farmer. Regardless, I just don’t understand why anyone thinks things will change. Do you really think our prayers will convince the One to return?” asked Fionn.

“Hold up! What were you doing down in the grow rooms with Petra?”

“That’s not something I’ll be discussing with you. I’m a gentleman. Stop changing the subject.”

Fionn’s eyes twinkled in the firelight as he spoke. His features looked softer for a moment, and Moxi felt a stir of jealousy within her. She didn’t like Fionn in that way, but she did long to know what it felt like to have someone to feel that way with.

“Anyway, The One used to leave all the time. It disappeared from the sky completely for ninety days each year. Imagine how our ancestors felt when one year The One did not return!” Moxi said, becoming more animated as she grew more passionate about the subject.

“Calm down. I am aware of all of that. I passed my studies, you know. I guess I’m just trying to say that I’m losing hope that things will ever be any different. Thousands have been sacrificed as faithless and The One has not returned. Would it even be so bad if He didn’t? Our parents have nearly lived a lifetime in darkness and they’re doing ok.”

Moxi sat up and turned to look at Fionn. “The key word is ‘ok’. The return of The One will usher us all into better times, not just ‘ok’ times.”

“You sound as if you wrote the scripture. You don’t really know anything, though. All you know is what others have told you, and what they were told by those who came before them! We sit here, hour after hour, waiting for a glimpse of light from The One. I don’t think it’s coming back.”

Moxi felt a swell of protectiveness for a power she had never even encountered. She rose to her feet and drew her sword on the boy who had been her friend since they were only crawling. She narrowed her eyes at him and turned the blade in her hands, angled to strike.

“It’s people like you who prevent His return. It is written that The One shall not bring light to this land while the faithless still roam. It took years for those who walked the Earth to turn their backs on Him and His rule over nature. The false prophets, the destruction of the land, the pollution of the waters; it all took hundreds of years. It only makes sense that it would take time to prove we are, once again, worthy of His light!”

Fionn remained sitting. He did not appear to be angered by Moxi’s words. He was not even unnerved by the sword she brandished.

Fionn spoke calmly. “I think we’ve proven our dedication to The One. Our parents scoured the land of all those who would further its destruction. Our people pray three times a day for Him to return. All who come of age sit vigil among this rubble, hoping to be the lucky pair to first glimpse the light when it returns. We’re strapped with weapons, as if anyone still walked among us who would stand against nature. There is no one left to defeat. We are fools.”

Moxi swung her blade. She recited a passage from The Book of Light.

“The One shall return when the last of the faithless has been defeated. This will come at a cost. The Children of the Light shall make the greatest sacrifice.”

As Fionn’s head came to rest at Moxi’s feet, a tear trickled down her cheek. Something caught her eye to the left of Fionn’s body. The stone glowed slightly more than the surrounding area. It did not flicker in the way objects lit by firelight did. The bright spot grew slowly as Moxi watched. She could now see dust particles and ashes floating in the air. With her eyes, she followed the shaft of light beyond the ruins and up to the sky.

Moxi ran through the doorway and out into the darkness, but the darkness was more of a pinkish gray. The horizon was on fire. The inferno lit up the sky in pink and orange. It was beautiful. Moxi stood, transfixed, as she witnessed The One rising into the sky for the first time in hundreds of years.