Lyra's father combed his hair back from his eyes and gave her a sidelong smile. "Your cooking smelled delicious as always, and caused quite a stir as you can see."

Underneath the glow of the bottle-lights, a crowd of translucent beings wandered about the field surrounding her home. Some were taller and wider with slow, bumbling gaits while others were nimble and small, quicker to scurry underfoot whilst chitter to one another in play. Lyra gasped happily when a pair whisked around in circles at her feet, making her dance with the flow of their movements to avoid accidentally stepping on their pellucid limbs. Her father had little trouble wading through them, bowing his head and muttering soft words in turns as he climbed the steps to their porch then disappeared behind the oaken door.

"Pa—" Lyra choked out, before drawing in a sharp breath through her nose when a low rumbling growl echoed close to her ear. A heavy presence slipped up and over her back enveloping her body with warmth as glassy eyes fixed upon her face.

"Who has brought you to tears, Mweziyah?"

Lyra's eyes widened, and her hand fled to rest against her chest as though her heart would leap from her skin. One of the specters at her feet scampered up the length of her leg, thin sharp pricks against her exposed skin telling of its path until it settled upon her shoulder with a weight not unlike a bird. She felt another set of eyes examining her closely before a reedier voice hissed, "Do you weep for the guardian?"

"Of course I do," Lyra said, almost feeling sheepish under the knowing stares from the apparitions. Her delight in seeing them dwindled as she lowered her hands to her sides, and shook her head.  "Forgive me for gathering you all, I thought if I communed with the Crystal a solution to Aethelu's illness could be found. But it was my own mistake."

The largest apparition swept their heaping form around her, blanketing her in its warmth. In the glimmer of the bottle-light, she caught brief glimpses of rippling feathers in its translucent form. Winking, gimlet silver flowers beneath thick azure plumes rippling like water as they faded into colorless masses once more. But she felt the spirit's head lie upon her own, and a wing drape itself around her like a shield from the night's chill.

"It is we who have failed you, Mweziyah," the winged apparition replied, their voice overlapping with several others. "We did not prepare you against the complacency of time, and so now you must suffer to bring balance."

Lyra's eyes softened. She shook her head, petting their wing with light strokes of her fingertips from the fullness of the plume to the thin tips. "I do not understand," she said, not bothering to hide her loss as she looked toward the numerous apparitions scattered about the grounds. "How could you all not be saddened by Aethelu's ruin?"

With slight fatigue, the spirit settled on her shoulders chittered then said slowly, "You will learn with time; sadness must be upheld but time will not wait for grief." 

Beneath the words, Lyra could hear the familiar tutting. They were attempting to tell her she was far too young to understand. Such things might have been beyond her, and thus she would need time and experience to know them well. Yet, how long would she endure this sadness trapping her within the pit of her stomach.  

"At least allow me to treat you all before you return," Lyra offered, gently pushing the wing from her with the back of her arm. She then offered her hand to the spirit upon her shoulder, holding back a wince when they stepped onto her finger with their talons sinking into her flesh for purchase. She knelt down and waited until they stepped off from her hand before rising to her feet, adding with a sweep of her eyes around the grounds. 

"You've waited patiently. You should leave with some good tidings for your troubles."

She didn't wait for a response, walking up to the porch steps without a backward glance. Her lips fallen into a frown as an etheric current rippled against her back whilst dozens of voices called all at once, "We thank you, Mweziyah."