Beyond the Glow

Chapter 28

When I wake, the fire has dwindled down to the coals, and Leila is fast asleep, still leaning on the tree across from me. I stand, feeling rested if not refreshed, before tapping my lamp; watching it grow to it's full size. I miss my room, the carpets and the luxury. Numbly, I go inside, watching at the scenery changes in front of my eyes, and a bath appears in front of my still roaring fire in the room.

Except for a few things knocked to the ground, nothings changed. And for that, I'm relieved.

I sink into the warm water, wondering why Leila decided to sleep outside instead of in her lamp and scratching the new scab on my cheek absentmindedly. I would have gone in my lamp if I'd had the energy to do so. But flying for your life as a 100-something pound bird woman is exhausting. Leila was a regular robin, she didn't have nearly as much trouble as me.

 I wonder what it looks like. I muse as I comb through my hair. Does her lamp look like mine, with all the colors, or something completely different? I'm tempted to go in while she's still asleep, but first of all, it's rude, and second, I wouldn't be able to anyways. Nobody can get into a genie's home without full cooperation of the owner. In fact, without magic, you can't go in at all without help. Even if you do have permission.

Finished now, I climb out of the tub, a pile of warm towels appearing on the bed. Alongside them, a pair of pants and a well worn, but still nice, dark green shirt. It's an outfit I used to wear before I was enslaved, but with a few tweaks. The styles have changed, but not so much for peasants. I should be able to fit in much better with this than with wings, flying over peoples heads.

I get dressed, before hearing shuffling outside the lamp. Leila must have woken up. With one last longing look at the inside of my lamp, I push my way through the tissue barrier, and head outside, the lamp automatically appearing in necklace form around my throat.

Leila hasn't stirred, and the woods around the campsite seem deserted, making me tense up, looking for some sort of noise. Normal forests weren't so deathly silent, were they?

A bird chirps, and my stance relaxes, the dwindling fire drawing my gaze. Some of the weaker wood on the bottom has shifted, and weak licks of flames were popping up now. That must have been what I heard.

I sit, watching the flames myself before they dwindled back to embers. The soft amount of heat was comforting in the now dark forest. Now that I think about it, we must have stopped about sunset last night. I guess I didn't even sleep all that much. It explains why I'm still tired though. My mind drifts back to my feather soft bed in my lamp, and I let out a sigh, standing instead.

I might as well go get some firewood before I disappear into the lamp I suppose. It's the least I can do for Leila, since she apparently doesn't want to sleep inside; like me. I turn towards the woods, trekking into the darkness. There must be some sort of broken branches here somewhere, I'm in a forest after all.

It doesn't take long for me to find a few branches, enough that my already sore arms complain under the new pressure. I throw them in the air one by one, an idea taking form in my mind. Each one is caught before I let them touch the ground, but not with my hands. Each branch enveloped with a slight golden glow, accompanied by a tiny shine from me and my lamp glowing brightly on my collarbone.

Unburdened now, I trek deeper away from the campsite, curious about the forest. Picking up branches as I walk. The land seems familiar somehow, yet different. After a few minutes, I hesitate. It really can't be that good of an idea to be this far away without telling Leila anything. She could wake up, and panic. And besides, what if something happens to me? How will I warn her?

I shake off the feeling, I'll be fine by myself, I've survived so long alone. And so has she. We can spare a few minutes apart. I continue forwards, until the campfire can't be seen or heard anymore. It was like a dream, the silent forest is dark around me, other than the light from my magic. The branches glow, soon becoming my only source of light other than the moon.