Meira doesn’t know what is happening, she only knows that the day has been hectic, people are preparing a big bonfire in the centre of the town, with no time to spar or spare, adults busy and children excited. And Lífdagar is currently painting on her face with her hands.

“Remind me what is the occasion?” Meira asks. The paint on Lífdagar’s fingers is cold against her face. Meira has her eyes closed.

“Today is the beginning of the dark season, the nights are three fourths of the day, and they will only get longer until there’s no daylight anymore.”

“And you are painting my face for...?”

“For the ceremony. I don’t want to spoil it, but you can have an important role if you want.”

“Well, you know me, I love important roles.” she smiles.

“That’s what I thought.” Meira can’t see her, but she knows she is smiling too. “Now give me your arm.” Meira opens her eyes and extends her arm. Lífdagar puts it on her lap. She dips her fingertips in the paint again and starts drawing on Meira’s hand.

“Since when do you make runes?” Meira asks.

“They are not runes just decorative painting for the ceremony, but you will be asked to get a temporary rune later.”

The door opens before Meira can say something. The two girls turn to see Rakan coming through the door, a big smile on his face, shirtless, and with paintings all over his body.

“Liv! Look who is here!” he shouts.

Behind him enters a man that Lífdagar recognises immediately. He is smiling and extends his arms in an open gesture.

“Dad!” Lífadgar exclaims, she leaves the bowl with the paint and shoots up, running to her father’s arms, she gets drowned in his hug until they finally come apart. Lífdagar hears Meira and Rakan commenting on each other’s body paint at her back, so she turns and catches Meira’s attention, signalling to her with her hands “Dad, this is Meira, the Kyusei of Light. Meira, this is my father, Odvarr.”

Meira leaves Rakan and approaches them. She moves to clasp arms but stops herself before they touch, turning it into a polite bow so her arm’s paint doesn’t get ruined. “Good to finally meet you” the man says to Meira.

“You were in the plains, right?” Rakan asks, curious. He has moved to stand behind Meira.

“Yes, my wife sent me a crow telling me you were on your way, so I went north to get some people we want you to meet.”

“Oh, are they around here?”

“They are, but it is better to wait until the celebrations have finished, maybe tomorrow you could meet.”

“Sure” Rakan answers.

“They live in the plains?” Lífdagar asks.

“Yes”

“If you go back north with them to escort them back, can we go with you?”

“I can’t see why not, but why do you want to come?”

“Kylem wants to see paintings of the old gods and I thought there may be some there.” Lífadagar says. Her father looks confused at her.

“Why does he want to see-” he pauses “We can talk after the ceremony, we should go outside now, the sun is about to set.”

Outside, the bonfire is already lit. It is as tall as the houses, and they can feel its heat from a good distance away.

The whole town is around it, young and old, all have paint on their bodies, but Meira notices that most people’s is black, only her and a few others have white paint on them.

Lífdagar leads her to where the others with white paint are, with the seidr in the middle. She is weird woman, she looks old but young at the same time, ancient but joyful. Her whole body is covered with runes, like you would image an elif’s body being. She has feathers on her hair, and bones hanging from her clothes. Her voice is strong, and she is the one to lead the ceremony.

Meira doesn’t really understand what happens, Lífdagar translates through Kylem in the mental link and there is a lot of talk about the gods and the dark. There is a prayer to the god of death, so he lets them survive the winter. And they kill a goat. Meira looks shocked towards Lífdagar but she doesn’t look faced, probably used to it.

The seidr drinks some of the goat’s blood and Meira feels very lucky when she doesn’t pass the bowl to the rest. The sun continues to set, the darkness rapidly settling, the air turning colder. A group of people does a dance around the fire, torches on their hands, perfectly synchronized to the beat of the drums, the paint of their body reflecting the light from the fire.

The music and dance stop without notice, and everyone turns towards the seidr, and the ones that are standing with Meira.

“Make a light sphere” Lífdagar says in Meira’s mind. She obliges, the golden light illuminating her face. The ones to her sides start making their own spheres and Meira realises who they are. The marked that can control the light from the town.

Meira is facing the bonfire, and she feels the seidr coming close to her from the back, a few seconds later her hands are around Meira, grabbing her arms and guiding them up- Meira takes the hint and guides the sphere up and forward, the others doing the same, their spheres getting closer to Meira’s.

She tries not to react when the spheres finally touch.

She feels the energy of the others mixing with hers.

The sphere gets bigger, Meira pushes it higher, until it looks like the town’s private sun.

The seidr is no longer behind her, but Meira doesn’t have time to think about where she may be before she appears in front of her with a bowl of paint in her hands. She dips a finger in it and approaches Meira while chanting something, everyone is slient, observing.

Meira expected the paint to be cold, but it feels almost warm against her skin. The seidr continues chanting while drawing on her chest, above her Kyusei Mark. When she finishes, she moves to the boy to her right, starting her chant again.

Meira feels the moment the rune on the boy is done, she feels his energy, linked to her through the sphere above them. More energy is added as the seidr advances and finishes the runes of the other light Marked. When she is done with everyone, she says a prayer to the gods and there is a cheer, the musicians start playing, and people start moving around. The others are in front of Meira in no time.

“That was so cool! Does it feel weird?” Rakan asks, excited.

“It feels weird, I can feel the energy the sphere is taking from me and from the others. Do I have to keep it up all the time?” Meira asks Lífdagar.

“Only while people are awake and there is no natural light, if you are tired you can stop and someone else will keep the sphere shining” Lífdagar answers.

Meira snorts “tired? I can keep it up alone if I want to”

“Even when you want to sleep in?” Lífdagar asks teasingly.

“Okay maybe it’s good to have a backup.”

“What is this paint? Looks weird.” Gabriel asks his face close to Meira’s chest to see the paint better.

“It is a paste that will tint her skin and stay even if she washes, but it has to be reapplied every three weeks”

Gabriel starts reaching forward with his hand to touch it, but Meira slaps his hand before he can get close. “Don’t touch my rune and go get me some alcohol, this is a celebration, right? Let's celebrate.”