Above the Falls, beyond the trees,
A young bull watched from where he stood.
He lived among the quiet leaves,
And kept his thoughts as best he could.
Crack… fizzle… pop… breathe
Each night the fire began to sing,
Its sparks would leap and curl and sway.
The bull would watch the glowing ring,
And wonder who had taught the flame.
Flick… fizzle… hiss… fring
He didn’t speak, he didn’t stray,
He only watched from branch and stone.
The fire would burn, then fade to grey,
Its rhythm steady, soft and known.
Snap… crackle… hush… fray
The firekeeper came with morning dew,
With footsteps soft on moss and stone.
He fed the flames like flowers grew,
With hands that knew the fire alone.
Crack… whisper… spit… pew
He carried logs in woven rope,
And knelt before the sleeping flame.
His work was slow, his shape like smoke,
The fire knew him, called his name.
Flick… crackle… hiss… stoke
The bull crept nearer, day by day,
Yet still he stayed beyond the trees.
He didn’t know what he would say,
Just listened to the fire’s pleas.
Snap… whisper… pop… sway
But one grey dawn, he did not come,
No footsteps fell on moss or stone.
The tower stood in silence, numb,
Its mouth of ash now cold, alone.
The bull stood still beneath the trees,
He watched the tower, bare and black.
No fire rose, no curling breeze,
No figure with his woven pack.
He waited once, he waited twice,
But still no smoke, no warming glow.
The fire slept beneath its ice,
And no one came to make it grow.
Then through the hush, a whisper came,
So faint it might have been the wind.
A quiet cry without a name,
A sound that slipped beneath his skin.
He climbed the stones with careful tread,
Drawn upward by the trembling sound.
Above, the firepit cold and dead,
But softer still, from deep and down,
He found a roof of painted glass,
Its broken stars all dulled by night.
The cry rose up from dark and past,
A shadow hid beneath the light.
He turned and traced the stones back down,
The cries now stronger, sharp and clear.
He stood before the door gone brown,
And dared not cross, too full of fear.
He poked his head through shadows deep,
And blinked into the breathless dark.
Then soft and slow, not meant to creep…
A voice like starlight made a spark:
“Oh… someone’s here,” the shadow said,
“I thought I was alone tonight.
I waited long beside his bed…
But now the fire has lost its light.”
She sat within the tower’s spine,
A shadow stitched with curling spikes.
Her hair poured down like oil and brine,
But still her voice was sweet and light.
Her limbs were long and bent like smoke,
With claws that clicked on stone and glass.
Her eyes were hollows, black and broke,
And every breath let darkness pass.
“I do not know what I should do,”
She whispered low and drew her knees.
“The fire’s gone. He always knew…
But now there’s only me to breathe.”
“My name,” she said, “is Dark Ness, though
He never called me that aloud.
He kept me small. He kept me slow.
But now I’m rising, like a cloud…”
The walls began to bend and groan,
The tower swelled beneath her cry.
She filled the glass, the brick, the stone
Creep… stretch… crack… sigh.
“I think I’m bigger than I was…
My hands don’t fit, my breath is tight.
He said the fire kept me small…
But now I stretch and swallow light.”
Creep… stretch… crack… sprawl
Her voice began to change and shake,
It snapped like twigs and echoed wide.
“I miss the warmth he used to make…
I miss the way he said goodbye.”
Creep… stretch… crack… ache
“I should have asked him where he’d gone.
I should have known this day would come.
But I was quiet for too long…
And now the dark beats like a drum.”
Thump… hiss… spread… song
She filled the walls with curling shade,
Her spikes scraped high, her breath ran wild.
But though the bull was sore afraid,
He saw not a beast — he saw a child.
Shudder… echo… sway… hade
Her tears had drenched the stone below,
Her voice was storm, her shadow deep.
Yet in her dark, a soft light glowed…
A girl beneath, who could not sleep.
Pause… tremble… hush… foe
He saw the steps, he knew the way
The logs, the flint, the kindling bed.
He traced the firekeeper’s way,
Each move remembered in his head.
Step… breath… strike… decay
The glass around the firepit groaned,
It shivered sharp with every sound.
The tower cried in breaking tones
The light was lost, the dark unbound.
Crack… creak… slip… stones
He stacked the logs, his hooves unsure,
He struck the flint but missed the mark.
He blew too soft, the spark too poor…
The night leaned in, the world stayed dark.
Clink… breath… fail… endure
Again he tried. Again he blew.
The flint gave way, the ember stirred.
A thread of gold came slipping through…
The silence broke. The firebird purred.
Snap… flicker… glow… renew
He raced back down the winding stair,
The fire’s warmth now chasing cold.
It touched the walls, the dark, the air.
And found her in its gentle hold.
Glow… hush… warm… flare
Her spikes had slipped to curling strands,
Her breath came soft, her shoulders small.
The bull reached out with steady hands,
And curled beside her in the hall.
Crackle… shimmer… hum… expand
She lay beneath the fire’s soft thread,
Her golden curls like morning light.
No claws, no smoke, no glass to dread
Just quiet hands in gentle night.
Glow… hush… hum… spread
She leaned into the rising glow,
Then blinked to see the bull was near.
“I thought I’d never feel it so…
But you’re not him. He’s not here.”
Flicker… echo… hush… grow
She touched the warmth and closed her eyes,
Then whispered softly through the flame.
“My father kept me safe at night…
His name was Light.
I loved him more than words can name.”
Warmth… stillness… strength… flame
The bull climbed the tower stone by stone,
Where once he watched, now he would stand.
He stacked the logs the way he’d known,
Then struck the flint with steady hand.
Scratch… breath… spark… alone
He knew then the fire must be kept,
That warmth and shadow both must grow.
He’d guard the path where Light once stepped,
And teach Dark all she’d need to know.
Crack… whisper… rise… leapt
Above the Falls, where fire is fed,
A young bull walks the tower stone.
The girl below still sleeps in bed,
And now the fire is not alone.
Light… crackle… love… spread