Lalna's Guardian

The room was dark. The pentacles glowed eerily in the candlelight. Two people stood in the larger pentacle: a brown-haired, emerald-eyed man and a blonde-haired, hazel- eyed woman. The woman held a tiny, blonde tyke of two. Glancing at the barricaded doorway, the woman started muttering an incantation, while the man gazed down at the tyke, tears running down his face as he placed his pilot's goggles on the child's chest.

A rift in space formed in the smaller pentacle, looking like the air had been torn. The scents of a forest wafted from the rift, and the dim light of dusk shone through. A shadow slipped out of the rift, darting around the inside of the pentacle before stilling in the center. The shadow suddenly morphed into a tall woman, with waist-long, platinum-blonde hair, sapphire eyes and a pale complexion. She wore dark-blue jeans, and a shirt as deep as the night sky. She wore no shoes. A firefly perched lazily on the shoulder, and a few leaves were tangled in her hair. She gazed at the three in the larger pentacle with mild interest. "Hello, cousin," the demoness said in a voice that reminds one of a breeze through rustling leaves, of a burbling stream. "Listen, Lilalna," the woman cried desperately. "Israphel is coming to kill us." She tearfully glanced at the sleeping boy in her arms. "You're our last chance. You must take Lalna away, raise him until he is twelve, wipe his mind of every memory of you, and find him a family. Even after you wipe his memory clean, watch after him without him knowing you're there." A sudden bang on the door made Lalna's mother jump. She forced the child into Lilalna's arms. "But... but what about you?" Lilalna asked, cradling Lalna and stashing the goggles in her pocket. "No time!" Lalna's father shouted as the door started cracking. "Go!" Lalna's mother screamed as mobs burst into the room.

Lilalna dove into the rift, and closed the tear in the dimensions just as an explosion tore through the air, waking Lalna, who started crying. Lilalna adjusted her hold on the tyke, and quietly cooed at him, gently stroking his soft, blonde hair. Lalna quickly calmed down, and gazed up at Lilalna, his emerald-green eyes almost seeming to gaze into the depths of her mind. The firefly on Lilalna's shoulder flew over to Lalna, hovering curiously over the child. Lalna stared at the tiny creature before smiling at it. The firefly then nestled down in Lalna's hair, and Lalna quickly fell asleep again. Lilalna glanced down at the tyke with a sad sigh. She slowly started walking, and soon both demoness and orphan vanished into the Twilight Forest.