Lis, Star of Day

I originally wrote this for a project I'm doing - one character per day through January.

I knew from the second I stepped onto the field that today wasn't going to be a normal day. I knew it from even before that; when I got an invitation from the mysterious 'Lis'. The piece of paper sat in my pocket, burning a hole through the fabric, singeing my skin beneath it.

 

I didn't know what the hell I was doing here. I had received an invitation from a person I had never met before. This 'Lis' asked me to meet them... here? There was nothing here... wherever 'here' was.

 

Here was an empty field in the middle of nowhere, the grass overgrown and tickling the back of my knees, the sun blazing down on the back of my neck. I sure wished I had brought a hat. But it had been raining back home when I left; how was I supposed to know it was gonna be like this?

 

My car was parked about fifty metres away. I had left the old piece of junk when the ground started getting soft - I didn’t want my only hope of getting home getting stuck in the stinking mud. It was strange; the ground was soft, like it had rained recently, but the grass was yellow and dying.

 

Nobody was around. I had left civilization behind a few k’s ago when the roads disappeared and I was driving over what appeared at first to be carefully tended lawns. That soon changed though, as I could see now. Obviously it was just too big a job for anyone - the empty land stretched as far as the eye could see, not a tree in sight. Or a cloud, for that matter, and out in the clear country air you could see a lot farther than back in the city.

 

I sighed, and sat down, the long grass and flowers making quite a comfortable seat - even if the petals crunched worryingly under my weight. A light breeze came up out of nowhere, ruffling my bottle blonde hair, and I brushed the strands away from my face.

 

The minutes passed and nothing happened. I was beginning to worry that I had been stood up, and it being done by someone I didn’t even know made the situation somehow worse. My ego was being bruised, and as many men know, that can seem like the final straw. But I decided to try being patient. I brushed my hair out of my face once more and closed my eyes, adjusting my position until I was lying down in the grass, almost hidden by the long stems.

 

A bright light seared my eyes, even beneath closed lids. I sat up instantly, my eyes stinging slightly, though the original pain was almost gone. To be honest, I was a bit scared to open them considering the bright flash that had been like staring into the sun. I can’t help wondering if I had gone blind if my eyes had been open.

 

But despite my fears, I opened my eyes anyway.

 

Nothing could’ve prepared me for what I saw.

 

It was like a mirage. I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I had actually gone blind and was just imagining things. But no, the bright light I saw didn’t disappear with the pressure. And said light was emanating from what appeared to be… a woman. She was tall, taller than any normal human, and far more beautiful. Not sparkling vampire beautiful, but more natural looking.

 

Her hair was blonde, lighter than mine. It was like the light that radiated from her body. And her hair flowed down her back, ending around her hips from what I could see. She was wearing a long white dress that hugged her slim figure, and was slit down one leg. The material spread out more at the bottom, covering her feet… which appeared to be hovering just above the tallest blades of grass. The woman’s eyes were like a wolf’s - the iris covered the white of the eye, and was an entrancing gold.

 

It was pretty obvious from the sight of her - and the people surrounding her, all just as astoundingly beautiful, but none as radiant - that she wasn’t human. And said fact became even more obvious when she spoke.

 

“Thank you for coming,” the woman said with a smile, her voice smooth and sweet. “And thank you for waiting. We were… held up. It was nothing we couldn’t handle,” she added, laughing. Her followers laughed too, and it was like a chorus of bells, pure and clear. The sound made me want to smile as well.

 

“I am Lis,” she murmured, but her voice was as clear as if she was right beside my head, instead of in front of me and a little bit to the side. Which seems strange. A person as perfect as her should at least be able to be straight in front of me.

 

“Care to explain why you’re glowing?” I said jokingly, but my voice was shaking a bit. To be honest, I was downright scared at that point. I’d never been taught what to do about someone who’s glowing.

 

Lis laughed again. “I’m not sure you’d like the answer, Hunter.”

 

She remembered my name. Figures; she did put it on the invitation. That had worried me at first, but then I thought Lis had just learned my name from a friend. I was starting to think differently now.

 

“I wanna know, Lis,” I pressed. She rolled her eyes, just like a normal teenager, and some of the other glowing people laughed. Looking at them, I began to notice some familiar faces, which was strange. One in particular stood out for me. It was my girlfriend, Sofi, except a lot more beautiful.

 

She had died three months ago.

 

Things were most certainly getting weird now. Lis still had her lips sealed, like she didn’t want to tell me. I stuck the most determined expression I could muster on my face - with one last, longing glance at Sofi. She smiled sadly as if she knew what I was trying to say.

 

“Lis, I want to know what’s going on. I want to know who you are, and I want to know why you brought me here.”

 

The determined expression was starting to slide off my face after just a few seconds, and I let it go when Lis sighed resignedly.

 

“My name is Lis,” she began, her words seeming rushed. “And I am… I am a goddess. The goddess of the sun.”

 

I could feel my jaw hanging open, but not much else. I was simply stunned. A goddess? A goddess invited me to meet her? Why the hell would she want to meet me?

 

“Okay… I see now,” I muttered. “But that doesn’t explain why you’d wanna meet me, of all people.”

 

Lis closed her eyes in thought. “To be honest, Hunter, I have no idea. It was Merisi’s suggestion that I - we - meet you.”

 

I was just about to ask who ‘Merisi’ was, when Sofi stepped forward. “Merisi… That’s me. It means ‘sun’s prophet’. I’m Lis’… fortuneteller. Or oracle. Whatever you want to call it. Lis is normally against meeting people still living on Earth, but I missed you. I managed to convince her.” Sofi hung her head as if she was ashamed.

 

“But I am glad I have met you now, Hunter,” Lis said smoothly. “And now that we are acquainted… it is time to tell you about my brother.”

 

Sofi looked up again. Her eyes were sad, and I only just noticed the thin red lines that decorated her face and arms. Looking closer, I saw the same wounds on all of the other glowing people.

 

Sofi’s voice was soft when she spoke. “Lun… Lis’ brother. The god of the moon. Her mortal enemy.”

Reviews

[WriterMe]

Wow, definitely hit my interest button. This was a very interesting write. I must say the first few paragraphs indeed took my breath away. I'm a sucker for beautiful description and this was just it. Are you going to make a book of this project? You seem to have a very promising beginning.
And you're just 13. Very impressive =]

[Matthew Ian Herrawood W]

hmmm. ok im going to be honest wih you. I dont like the refrence to Twilight. now fans may say im only saying it needs to be changed because i dont like it but thats there problem you need to remember that not everyone will see or read Twilight. there is a hype now but when that dies out people are going to forget about the dimond skin so that refrence wont make sense. all that aside for somone your age i find this very good intriging a couple of things i didnt see as being a real reaction but we all write like that and besisdes that is the great thing about Fantasy. no rules (just very good guidelines) this is cool