A guiding light, a breathless flight, a powerful omen of time’s passing dance. Once, long ago, Vanessa had a rare glimpse of Dawnstar Deer. They filled her with wonder and joy, though she couldn’t quite remember the event as clearly as she’d like. It felt like a dream, their hooves stammered against the ground in rhythmic beats as they pranced off straight into the rising sun. Glimmering permutations of the stars themselves. It was said that day that Dawnstar deer were an omen of things to come. That they only appeared once on every tenth equinox. Perhaps, a reminder of one’s own purpose. A guide to those who might find themselves lost. Vanessa didn’t feel lost at the time, but maybe she was. Maybe she had always been lost. Maybe the deer were meant to show her something. To put her on some divine path not even they knew the meaning of. Or perhaps the deer were just that, deer; and in time, people, had given them a meaning.
* * *
Her brother, Westin, her only guardian, never helped much in the life skills department. He was always too busy front running; aether hunting. So perhaps the deer came to her that day for a reason. To show her something. Or perhaps not. She tried hard to remember them. Their emanating light, powerful muscles, vigorous breathes. But she couldn’t quite picture their existence true. Their memory had morphed into a symphony of noise in her mind, she could only capture glimpses of what she had once known well. They were an enigma. But that was typical for residents of Stella. Everyday something new and wonderful happened in the city. Everyday some new magical technology was invented, some wild spirit discovered, or some powerful entity slain. This wonderful event, life changing even, had been morphed into myriad tales Vanessa heard and experienced day in and day out. She wondered if that was wrong, to forget, to become lost in a sea of global events.
* * *
She laughed and looked up at the moon outside her apartment window. Her brother was gone for the week, off on some mission to find some artifact for some worldly organization. There were no deer tonight… No, only the light of Stella city in the distance. However, Vanessa couldn’t quite shake the feeling that the bright yellow moon hung high above the smoggy warped sky was similar, if only superficially, to her guiding light so many years ago. She wondered if perhaps the Dawnstar deer were always with her. If perhaps they truly were her guides on this earth. She blinked, and a cloud quickly covered the moon. For a brief moment, in its absence, Vanessa saw them again in their full glory.
She was sure of it.
The deer were true beacons of purpose.
* * *
