100 Theme Challenge #75

75. Sparkle

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Eldan asked his brother, his horse sniffing quietly beside him.

"You worry too much little brother," Nadle replied as he stepped back on the road, fastening his slacks. They'd been traveling in this forest for a few hours now when they   took a break to relieve themselves. Nadle was in charge of the map, but Eldan wasn't so sure anymore of that decision.

"You've always let your men set up the direction before; after all, I'd understand if you'd prefer to give me the map."

Nadle scoffed. "In your dreams, perhaps. Hop back on your pony so we can continue, now."

Eldan rolled his eyes but did so. His horse was as big as his twin's, but Nadle seemed to have a size complex.

A few hours later, Nadle admitted he had no clue where they were. Eldan sighed and stroked his forehead. Their horses were exhausted, it was dark, and there was no point in trying to find their way now.

"All right, let's set camp here for the night, we'll find our way back home tomorrow morning."

Nadle grunted his agreement, and they found a small clearing. After attaching their horses, they battled around to know who would do what, and they finally decided Eldan would get some wood for a fire while Nadle would install the tent. He set off quickly, eager to get warm since it was getting rather cold. He had his wool cape on, but it probably wouldn't be enough soon.

He had his arms full of twigs when he saw something from the corner of his eye. He turned his head, and there it was again. A sparkle in the depths of the night, not that far from him. A few seconds later, it happened again, and Eldan frowned. He'd never seen it before, what kind of creature was able to create light in the darkness? He approached out of curiosity, eager to see the light source, but as he was much closer, it seemed to vanish. He turned around in hope of seeing it again, and he smiled when it was only a few feet away. He realized the sparkle was tiny in reality, and whatever was doing it possibly was flying, for it moved around in gentle waves. He gasped when he saw the light had wings, and a small human-looking body attached to it.

"What are you?" He asked in awe, eying the small river of golden hair which was emitting the light every so often.

The tiny creature flied closer, and Eldan couldn't clearly see what it was doing, his eyes didn't have time to focus in the light or the dark. When it got too close for his comfort, he carefully took a step back, but it didn't appear dangerous. It kept tending an arm to his right in an urgent way, pointing something. Eldan turned his head but didn't see anything else than trees.

"I don't-" Screams stopped whatever he was going to say. They were coming from the direction of the clearing, at his right. Eldan understood in a second and, dropping the twigs at his feet, ran back to his brother. The screams kept coming, stopping his blood cold in his veins and fear almost overwhelming him. They might argue all the time, but Nadle was his twin, his other half, and he'd do anything to protect him.

Alas, a huge beast was already on him, its teeth sunk deep in his throat, shaking his body like a rag doll. A sob bubbled up in his throat, but instead Eldan roared and jumped on the beast, sword in hand. It didn't have time to defend itself; he swiftly brought his sword straight in its ugly head and killed it. He promptly got on his feet when he realized Nadle was under them. He kicked the beast out of the way to get to his brother, whose eyes looked blank, devoid of any life.

"Nadle…" Tears ran freely down his cheeks as he knelt, bringing trembling fingers to his twin's eyes to close them. He felt a gentle pressure on his shoulder, and a sparkle illuminated the night. The tiny fairy had followed him. 

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