(Content warning: injury/death)
“Curse his stupid head. I should have known. Should have. Borf…” Luna’s bedraggled
hair sprang from her bun, as she half ran, half dragged Willow along. Already Willow’s skin
was tinged with gray, and she was much heavier than she should have been.
“Come on,” she breathed in Willow’s ear. “You can make it.” Luna stopped running,
holding her side. The wound she had received from the basilisk was turning a ugly color, and Luna sucked in a breath when she saw it. Curse Borf’s name.
Dancing lights in the distance gave Luna hope. Supporting Willow, she started to run
again. “Don’t give up now,” she muttered. “Don’t you dare.”
She tried to nod, but her neck refused to move, and Luna saw with horror that one of
her arms was already stone. She cried out in frustration. “No. Willow! I’ll save you. Just wait.” Her voice cracked on the last word. “Please.”
Taking her staff from her side, she stomped it on the ground twice, creating a small
flash of light before it went away.
What she saw didn’t give her much hope. The dark and barren landscape was so unlike
the village, and Luna had no idea where she’d taken Willow in her haste to get away.
She focused her gaze on the horizon, and saw the same bunch of dancing lights she had
before. Her heart skipped a beat. They must have been from the village, sent out to look for them. They’d heal Willow if she could get to them fast enough.
Taking off her cloak, she wrapped it around her sister, before beginning to drag her in
the direction of the lights. She kept talking, doing anything to avoid looking at Willow and how petrified she was. “That’s the lights over there. We’ve just got to get that far.”
Willow didn’t respond – she couldn’t – but Luna knew that she was still listening and
could hear her.
The lights got closer. Luna’s breath got shallower. Willow’s skin got grayer. Luna cursed
his name.
Eventually, by some miracle, Luna got close enough to touch the lights.
They were beautiful. Green, purple, white, blue, red, orange, yellow, pink, they swirled
around her head in a cascade of wonder and light. One of them got closer to Willow. She swore her gray tinged lips turned up at the corners. Luna let go of her arm, and Willow painstakingly lowered herself to the ground.
Luna slowly brought her hand up near the lights. They were so beautiful. Her fingers
grazed the edge of the purple one, and she brought it closer to her face, relishing the light.
The smell of charred metal was what reached her nose first. She yanked her fingers off
the light, staring at the scorch mark on her ring, and the burn that enveloped it.
Her first thought was of Willow. Turning around, she saw that she was sitting under the
tree, and four of the lights had now enveloped her face.
Luna swept her staff in an arch, a flame emitting from the crystal at the top that now
glowed with an unnatural light. The lights didn’t seem affected. One even got closer to Luna, but she stomped her staff on the ground and it receded into the background. Her heartbeat thrummed in her ears – she thought she knew what these things were, and they were not the healing lights.
She ran next to Willow, crouching down. She pressed her hand against Willow’s chest.
How could she have been so stupid as to leave her alone? Her legs were now fully turned to rock, and the gray had crept up to her face, and you couldn’t even tell that she had once been an elf full of color and light.
Luna looked into her eyes, praying she wasn’t too late. The petrification hadn’t reached
them yet, but the more Luna looked, the more she knew something was wrong. The eyes
weren’t moving. The light was gone.
With that Luna knew what had happened. She had gotten tricked. These were
Will-o’-Wisp’s, and they had stolen Willow’s soul.
She cried out in rage. Tears mixed with the dirt on her face, and she swung her staff
around, hitting all the Will-o’-Wisp’s. They did not deserve to live after what they’d done to Willow.
Eerie shrieks came from the light as Luna tore into them, feeling no satisfaction as they
disintegrated into ash. She stomped on the piles, spreading them out to ensure they wouldn’t come back.
She felt the energy leave her. Sinking to the ground, she held Willow’s stony and
lifeless hand, salty tears falling onto Willow as she did so. “I’m sorry, Willow. I’m so sorry.” She stomped her foot against the ground. “I didn’t think. You paid the price. I’m so sorry.” She screamed the last words to the universe, looking for someone to hear her cries.
Her heart felt like someone had torn it out of her chest and taken it with Willow. She
couldn’t breathe. Why hadn’t she been taken? No one would miss her.
She slowly got up, the sticks scraping at her already ruined clothes. She could hardly
muster the energy to hoist Willow up, but she made herself do it anyway. She deserved a
burial. The gash in her side made her stumble, but she kept moving. Tears flew freely down her face as she tried to navigate the dark, this time with no one to guide her.
She cried out to the universe one last time. “Bring her back! Please.”