Oh What a Night!

Aurora awoke when it was still dark. The songstresses had stopped, and the wind was whipping against her tent with a meaningful force. The moon was gone and the sky through the tent's canvas was dark. A storm was rolling in, just as Phoca had predicted. The Empress wondered how long she had been asleep. Her mind was groggy, so she was not able to think clearly.

She felt a light tickle on her arm. Aurora initially dismissed it as a piece of stray hair brushing against her skin. But then she felt a similar tickle on her leg and face also. Something was wrong, very wrong. A streak of lightning lit the sky like day, and Aurora could see that the interior of her tent was completely covered in ants. They were crawling on her body, tickling her skin and getting tangled in her hair. The Empress froze, panic taking full hold of her body.

Another crack of lightning galvanized the Empress into action. She fled her tent and shook her body vigorously. The wind helped clear her hair and after a dance that looked like a floundering fish on land, Aurora freed her body of the insects. The whole process took some time, and by the end, she was winded. The Empress looked back at her tent. In the light that streaked the sky, she could see the small reddish ants engulfing her sleeping space. Part of her wanted to leave the tent as a lost cause, but the first drop of rain convinced her to act.

The Empress leapt at the tent's stakes and yanked them from the ground. Dragging the tent onto the beach, Aurora brushed at it feverishly, trying to remove the small creatures that plagued it. When the outer canvas was clear, she plunged inside and swept as many of the little insects out as she could. It was maddening. Each time she cleared a swath, more would come out from some unknown recess in the fabric. Aurora wanted to scream, but she channeled her frustration into action. Finally, the tent seemed to be clear. The wind outside was raging now, and the rain had begun to fall in full force.

Bedraggled, Aurora laid back down on her bed roll. She looked up at the ridge in the canvas along the long triangular prism's ceiling and sighed. She was damp and exhausted, but at least she was free of the annoying little bugs. Or so she thought…One lone ant crawled across her finger; Aurora yelled in fury as the thunder roared. She crawled to the edge of her tent and flung the poor creature out of the opening and into the storm.

At that moment Aurora realized that she hadn't re-staked her tent. It was free from the ground and not weighed down. The wind whipped up under the far end of her tent and the whole thing lifted off the ground like a kite. Acting quickly, Aurora lay prostrate across the bottom of the tent and spread her arms and legs wide. The base of the tent settled into the ground momentarily, but a loud ripping sound could be heard over her head. Aurora's heart sank. Water came in from above, trickled on her head, and found its way into the hood of the Guardian's cloak fastened around her neck. "You have got to be joking!" she screamed.

Aurora removed her arm from the corner of the tent and reached up to pull the hood onto her head. It was a grave mistake. At just that moment, another gust of wind made its way under the tent and threw her to one side. The sudden shift in weight was all it took. The long triangular prism began to roll.

Down the wet, hard-packed beach the tent tumbled with Aurora inside. The howling wind and fierce rain hid her wild screams. It was a ride that even the most daring would have been hesitant to take. Her bed roll wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her side. Her small bag, which she usually carried at her side, hit her across the head and made her vision blur slightly. When her mind cleared a little, she realized where she was heading: towards the outcrop of rocks. There was nothing she could do to stop it.

The tent rammed into the boulders, throwing Aurora mercilessly against them. A corner of the tent lodged in a crevice, bringing the whole thing to a sudden stop. Aurora heaved a sigh of relief. The nightmare ride had stopped. She unwrapped herself from the bedroll and looked around. The few things in her tent were strewn about and the tent itself was laying awkwardly on one of its long sides. With great effort, the Empress heaved her body to a crawl and made her way out of the tent. The wind and rain had finally slowed as she poked her head out. 'Too little, too late…' Aurora thought bitterly.

"That was spectacular!" A voice said as it clapped. Aurora turned toward the sound and could make out a vague black shape. "Wait, are you alright?" In fact, Aurora was not well. Blood from her head dripped down her face. The world, which was already dim, blurred and faded completely.

——————-

The sound of birds woke the Empress. She squinted against the sunlight. "Aurora?" Devrim's voice called from outside her tent. The dark-eyed girl turned her head right and left. She was laying inside her tent. Shooting pain from her head and neck plagued her. She reached up and found her head was neatly bandaged. 'What happened?' She wondered. Above her, the tear in the tent was patched over with a dark green cloth. It looked familiar, but Aurora couldn't figure out why. She blinked a few times, trying to collect her thoughts.

"Aurora? Are you in there? We need to get going." Devrim called gently. The Empress groaned. She felt queasy, though from her head wound or from hunger, she could not say.

Forcing herself to sit up, Aurora crawled out the end of the tent. The sun had risen and the sky was clear as if the storm had never happened. Aurora's tent was on the beach firmly staked and upright. When she had passed out, it had been in shambles on the rocks. Devrim saw the movement in the girl's tent and came to greet her.

"Good morning! How did you sleep…. WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Devrim saw her bandaged head.

The loud words rang in her head and the Empress winced. Aurora touched her bandage and looked at him dazed. "Oh, what a night!"