The last Storm Dancer
Hello again true believers on Minds, Animeman73 here. I’ve got another installment of Inessa Burnell’s #IBASwordtember challenge.
This time it’s day 7 of the challenge, the word/subject: Storm.
This is a tale that will be a doozy. Enjoy this little vignette.
“Confounded storms haven’t stopped for days!” Constable Jeremiah Greeley complained.
The howling maelstrom from the ocean whipped and battered the seaport town of Mariner’s Port. Overhead, dark clouds went out towards the sea and forever. Thunder bellowed and lightning crackled as rain pounded down on the town.
“If this keeps up the townsfolk will have to flee. No way we survive this one." Greeley surmised.
His clothes and chain mail were sodden by the buffeting rains. Discomfort and cold reigned over the thirty-year-old man. Yet he carried on with his patrol route.
Then he looked up at the top of Whale Gazer’s peak. There stood a robed figure unfazed by the tempest. Then the figure threw back their hood and cloak.
Jeremiah gaped. “What the Hells is that woman doing on the Peak?” He thought out loud.
He headed in the direction of the woman. His purpose to try and warn her away from the peak's edge. But then the constable got a surprise
The woman drew out a sword. The blade crackled with electrical energy. The woman then began to move in strange patterns with the sword that were… Dance like! Even as her body began to glow with green energy.
All the stories Jeremiah's mother and grandmother had told came back to him. "Storm Dancer!" He whispered in reverence, despite the pounding rain and winds smothering his words.
The woman in baggy trousers and a sleeveless shirt twirled and swayed in the wind.
Jeremiah looked overhead and saw, as much as felt, what happened.
Energy beams shot forth into the sky from the woman's aura, and touched the clouds.
As if of their own volition, the rains slowed to a trickle and halted. The brutal winds calmed to a light ocean breeze.
The clouds tore open like a tattered curtain. The late afternoon sun showed through like a welcome friend.
The woman leaped off the peak. Jeremiah yelped before the woman vanished like a phantom.
The mysterious woman reappeared in front of him a second later.
"Yah," Jeremiah yelped, as he fell backwards.
The constable landed on his rear.
The constable approached her as she fell to one knee panting and sweaty from her exertions. “Are you all right Storm Dancer?” he asked in genuine concern.
It took her a few moments to catch her breath before she spoke. “I’ll be fine Jeremiah Greeley.”
That took the constable by surprise. “Wait? What? How do you know my name?”
The woman looked up. “Your paternal grandmother Jesrina Ayn Greeley is still remembered with great fondness. At least by what’s left of us.”
The Constable felt his blood run cold. “All that’s left of us? What do you mean by that lass?”
The chestnut-haired woman’s face took on a pained expression. “I mean I’m the last of the Storm Dancers.”
The Constable felt his heart sink. “That can’t be right lass. You Storm Dancers can't be gone! You’re too well-respected and loved by the people.”
“Most of the people yes, but someone or something has changed.” She whispered in a shaky tone before the sob burst forth from her.
Greeley took the young woman into his arms. “Easy there lass, easy, Ryan’s Tavern will be open. I'll get you some food there, tell me your story when you're ready."
“That would be welcome. My mind… Isn't balanced at the moment.” She said, her tone still shaky.
The constable, dismissing his own discomfort, escorted her to Ryan’s Tavern.
What is going on here, what kind of madness is this? The Constable thought on the way.
He had the strangest feeling his life was about to change in ways he could never have fathomed.