[Mailin] - The Spelldancer

It began in darkness. Thick, pervasive blackness that reached to the ends of the known. It trickled into the senses, worked its way into muscles and bones, loosening tension and quieting thoughts.

When light bloomed into it, the darkness retreated dignified and serenely. There was no conflict, just the natural order of the world.

The light fell on a woman sitting in a split, her upper body bowed over her outstretched leg. Along the length of it a stave rested, white and spiralled.

The first movement was subtle, a tension in the long legs, the arching of the lower back. The light reflected in the long, golden braid as the woman turned her face upwards, her eyes closed. Her head pushed up through the fading darkness followed by her torso. The world breathed and her eyes opened.

Her arms rose to form an arch above her head, the stave held between her hands vertically. She swayed with deliberate motions clockwise, once, twice, before the arch parted bringing her arms parallel to the ground, a perfect line.

The legs tensed, bringing her up to the balls of her feet. The shoulders relaxed, the arms lowering to her sides. A heartbeat passed, then two. The eyes were closed again.

Her body twisted as the strength of her legs sent her forward, spiralling around her own axis. The cadence bloomed in synch with the inner luminescence of the stave.

Each step brought more power, bringing the woman higher into the air. Faster, the bounding steps carrying her further every time. Air filled her lungs and the eyes opened. The air and the light vibrated and sang as the stave made circuits around the form, the braid a lash of gold in the middle of it.

The rhythm changed and the leaps shortened, muscles tensing and relaxing rapidly. The stave held close to her body sheathed her in brilliant light, parts of it stretching out in tendrils caressing the world. Where there had once been a woman there was only light.

The light ruptured in every direction, the woman soaring into the air, a line of immaculate motion. A sphere of radiant energy expanded from her, filling the air with glittering stars. The arc reached its apex and the form pulled in on itself as it began its descent.

Another burst of brilliant energy, brighter, and she surged once more to the heavens. She spun, the stave leaving spiralling traces of white light below her.

She spread her arms to her sides as the descent began, dove to the ground and somersaulted in midair before touching ground, a ripple in the air billowing from her.

Her feet touched the ground briefly before sending her soaring forward, a perfect line as the world flew by, her legs extended before and behind her. The world brightened.

A leap brought her high, her back arched and her arms trailing behind her. She turned in midair, the stave circled around her and from its point light erupted in a sphere that expanded to encompass the world.

Amidst the light she floated, her body revolving slowly before settling on the ground. One leg extended high in the air behind her she swirled, her arms extended vertically from her sides.

Unhurriedly she brought her foot down, her movements slowing and pulled the stave to her chest, resting her forehead against it. She spun once more and as she finished the turn she sank to the ground once more and bowed as darkness descended.

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This was an exercise to try and describe a melody, using words. A translation of sorts. Hence the the dramatic curve is a bit off and it is repetitive at places. This was the melody I used.