Editor’s Note: “The Star Protectors” by Tess Morton is one of three winning entries in this year’s PENdemic short story competition sponsored by Fivesparks. (See People on page 5.) Morton is a fifth-grade student at Hildreth Elementary School, and her story was first in the fifth- through eighth-grade category.
Even before Lumi knew what they were, they fascinated her. Tiny specks in the sky, like someone took sugar and sprinkled it on a chalkboard. She knew they were actually fiery balls that would kill her if she even got close to them, but up there, so far away, they looked like she could sweep them away with her hand.
She had heard stories of why they were there, not the scientific reasons but the stories that were passed down in whispers after dark, the ones about the morning dragon and the night dragon doing battle in the sky. Legend said the night dragon, Ori, stole a piece of the sun for his domain, and when the morning dragon, Seli, went to retrieve it, they fought over it, and their fighting shattered it. Lumi didn’t believe those anyway. Lumi was the type of person who believed what she read in a book, or what a teacher told her.
What most teachers told her, anyway. Her art teacher, Mr. Owens, told her about how the legends were true. He said he’d seen Seli, and that she’d told him she’d return when she found a bright soul. She didn’t think Seli was real, and laughed slightly whenever he told those stories. Then she would go back to her painting until class ended.
She still liked stars, though. She would have liked to believe the myths, but something in her brain wouldn’t let her.
Lumi walked along the sidewalk, shivering whenever she walked into the shadow of one of the tall buildings along her route to school. Her friend Heather walked with her, talking about the art museum she had tickets to. Lumi was reading a book.
“Lumi? Did you hear me?”
“Ymmm.”
“Are you coming?”
“Oh! Oh, uh, can you repeat what you said?”
“I have an extra ticket for a friend, after school tomorrow. Can you come?”
“Sure, sounds cool.” Lumi took out two pieces of gum from her pocket and handed one to Heather. “I’ve been there once before, but I can’t remember it. My mom says I acted really weird.”
“Hm,” Heather said, just as they arrived at the school. Lumi grabbed the handles of the big metal doors and pulled.
“Come on, let’s head to class,” Heather said. Lumi nodded and ran off in the direction of her teacher’s room.
Tuesday afternoon, Lumi left the school and saw Heather standing in front of a crosswalk, waving. Lumi ran over to her.
“Hey! Ready to go?” Heather asked, trying to hide her impatience. “Yeah!” Lumi nodded, running ahead. Heather ran after.
Soon, they were at the doors to the museum. Heather pushed on the door, and it opened with a creak.
The museum was brightly lit inside, which, when Lumi looked up, she realized was because of the skylights in the roof. There was a large tile mosaic from long ago, which was adorned with animals and knights riding horses. More mosaics were on the wall. Heather was dragging Lumi toward one of them.
Then Lumi heard a voice, like a small whisper in her ear. “Girl …”
She looked around, and noticed, behind her, a dragon statue, carved from black stone.
“Heather, can we go … over there?” Lumi asked cautiously.
“Uh … sure … I guess?” Heather said.
“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” Lumi shouted.
Heather looked confused. “Why are you so excited about going over there all of a sudden?”
“Because,” Lumi said.
She stood in front of the dragon statue now. Its eyes were made of green crystal, and its scales were carved in great detail, with some blue crystals on some of them. There were some small statues in cases near the wall, but other than that, this was the only thing there. No other people were in this room either.
The dragon’s tail swished out to the side. Somehow Lumi was not surprised. “Heather, do you see … ?”
Heather was in the next display room, looking at some swords and armor. The dragon swished its tail again, and picked up its claws. Then it took a step towards Lumi.
“Thank you, girl.”
“Who are you?”
“I am Seli.” The dragon said. “Thank you for freeing me.”
“Why did you call me?”
“I have a favor to ask of you.”
Lumi shook. Here she was talking to a dragon god, and he wanted her to help him? Why? What did he need?
“Tell me.”
“I need you to help me steal back the stars, girl. Now.”
“How?”
The black dragon grinned. His green eyes stared into Lumi’s, and his blue scale patches shone in the light from the skylight. “See that mirror?”
“The one in the case?”
“Yes. Walk through it.”
“But won’t the museum … ”
“They won’t care. Go.”
Lumi was not considered by anyone likely to commit any sort of mean thing without reason, but the tone of the black dragon’s voice made her feel like she had no choice. She sighed, and stepped towards the glass case.
One step later, she was inside the fully intact case. Huh, she thought. Weird. “In the mirror, girl.”
Lumi nodded and stepped through the mirror.
It was black inside the mirror. Not a nothingness void black, but a black that was so much more than black. Everywhere she looked it seemed like the shadows were only a thin surface covering so much more than darkness. She felt like if she touched it, it would shatter.
The stars here, which she knew were her stars, were different. They came in every color imaginable, and varied greatly in size.
“Take one,” said Seli in her head.
Lumi reached out to grab one of the crystals of night. Her palms felt the warmth of it soon before she took hold of it.
When she was holding it in her hand, it didn’t burn. It felt warm, like sitting by a campfire, and this feeling was all over her. She smiled. Then the black world crashed. One second, all had been like it was when she came in. The next, it cracked and filled with light. A white dragon, with red scale patterns and golden eyes, turned to her. “Lumi?”
“You … you’re Ori! Get away!”
“What? No, I’m Seli. Ori is trapped on Earth. He can’t ever be released unless …” Seli’s voice trailed off. “You set him free. You took a star.”
“Don’t you want the stars back?” Lumi asked.
“They aren’t mine, child. They aren’t Ori’s either. The sun fell into his domain. They aren’t still the sun, so I don’t have any ownership over them. But all Ori has is darkness, so they aren’t his. They are stuck here, and if one is touched or moved, reality falls in on itself. Light is dark and dark is light.”
“How do I fix it?!” Lumi was frantic.
“Shatter it,” Seli said.
“Shatter it?”
“Yes. Now.” Seli seemed like she was bracing herself.
Lumi threw the star on the black, cracked ground. It broke into pieces. Out of the darkness, Ori emerged. His foot was dragging.
“You shattered a star.”
“You tricked me!” Lumi yelled, squeezing her eyes shut.
“You broke the universe. And now the dragons will fade.”
“No.” Seli stopped Ori with her talon. “Lumi. You have a star in you.” “Really?” Lumi half-smiled.
“Yes. We can fade it.”
“Will … will that kill me?”
“No. But it will erase any magic in you. You will never visit the stars again and this trip will be erased from your memory. You will not have any connection, and will not be able to hear us.”
“I’ll do it.” Lumi said quickly.
“Okay.” Seli said. She and Ori surrounded her, and did something with their talons. Then her vision faded to black.
Lumi was asleep. She had had a strange dream about … about what? She felt something hard under her pillow. She reached her hand down and grabbed it. It was smooth. She pulled it out.
It was a small jar, filled with what looked a bit like seaglass, but it still shone. It was on a chain, and was clearly a necklace. Instead of putting it on, Lumi found a small box and put it there. Something made her think it was important.
A small, almost inaudible voice in her head whispered, “Seli, why did you give her a star?”
