The Light in Aquala

Lena suddenly whirled around and started scrambling through her over-stuffed backpack, throwing things out haphazardly, oblivious to the noise she was making.

A water flask, her extra pair of folded clothes, assorted camping gear and a food pouch tumbled onto the ground around her. The flask struck a stone with a sharp metallic clank that seemed ridiculously loud considering its size, and a few loose pieces of camping equipment rolled through the damp vegetation.

Mara kept watching the mysterious light out of the corner of her eye, reluctant to take her eyes off it, while trying to figure out what Lena was up to.

The light continued to shimmer beyond the waterfall, so beautiful and exquisitely unique that Mara could not decide whether she was looking at something magnificent or something she should be running away from. Her scientific mind wanted to understand it, to measure it, to categorize it.

But something deeper was telling her to be cautious.

"Quiet down," Mara whispered, her voice urgent. "We don’t want whatever was making that sound to know we are here! What if it's dangerous?!"

"There is only one way to find out," Lena challenged, triumphantly pulling out a long coil of rope from her bag. Lena's expression immediately told Mara that her sister had already made up her mind. Her eyes held that familiar spark, the one that appeared whenever she was about to do something reckless and exciting.

"Mara, I know you think I am being reckless. And maybe I am. But do you remember what we used to talk about when we were young? All those nights on the beach, watching the stars and wondering what was out there?"

Mara nodded slowly. "We said we wanted to see something no one had ever seen before."

"And now we have." Lena's voice was filled with hope now as she pointed towards Aquala. "That light is not like anything we have ever encountered. This Season is completely different. The Neon effects and colors have been completely unique."

She met Mara's eyes. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering what would have happened if we had been brave enough to figure it out what this light is. Or what those sounds are. I am not saying we charge in without thinking, but I am saying this is important. I just know it!”

Mara considered the question. She had been trying to analyze the light, to categorize it, to fit it into the frameworks she had learned at the Academy.

But Lena was right, this Season is completely different and the light in the waterfall defied explanation. She had never heard of anything like this happening.

The air had started cooling now that the sun was setting, and the sounds of the jungle seemed to grow louder with the approaching darkness.

"I agree with you, but you know we can’t scale the cliffs to get to that light, let alone risk encountering whatever made those unknown noises? It is almost dark and we don’t even know what made the sounds."

As if knowing they were talking about it, the strange sound started building in intensity, beginning deep and low then growing louder, stranger, and more insistent.

The sound seemed to vibrate through the rocks beneath their feet. It suddenly stopped and then once again started, sounding like something questioning and confused.

Lena paused, rethinking her plan. Perhaps Mara was right. Maybe a little caution was needed after all. She held the rope loosely in her hands, her expression shifting from determination to uncertainty. The deep howling sound had a quality to it that was unsettling, something that made her usual confidence waver.

Neon colors swirled around them rapidly and brighter, forming new shapes in the twilight, and then slowing down again as the sound drifted off.

The twisting and swirling Neon on their faces were responding to the sound and their own nervousness, brighter and moving more rapidly than ever before. Mara's blue-green glow had brightened to an almost electric intensity, while Lena's orange hues had deepened to a rich, fire-like amber.

For a moment, neither sister spoke.

Both sisters looked at each other, then back at the thunderous waterfall, realizing the strange new light was changing.

It kept growing smaller and finally became so tiny that only a mesmerizing, crystallized ring of gold, blue and silver remained. The ring hovered behind the curtain of water, spinning slowly, its colors shifting and blending in patterns that seemed almost hypnotic.

They squinted, straining to see, when suddenly it expanded exponentially and a vibrant blue electric spark exploded from its center, shattering the ring into a million little pieces, which were immediately carried off by a sudden blast of cold wind.

The wind hit them with such force that Lena instinctively reached for Mara, her fingers gripping her sister's arm with surprising strength as they fell to the ground. Cold air whipped their hair across their faces and sent leaves and small bits of debris skittering across the ground.

The sudden chill seemed to pass straight through their clothing, raising goosebumps on their skin. Mara felt the temperature drop so sharply that her breath came out in a faint mist.

Then silence.