As the rays of the sun grew increasingly bold, peeking through the clouds tentatively at first with temperatures beginning to increase... there would eventually come the rising dawn that would herald the end of Winter's reign. Austere Murchadh would put aside his scythe and retreat into the vanishing darkness. Knowing that one cycle had reached its end and another was ready to begin.

With prancing steps Rosewater would begin his dance. Swift and agile, he would wave his rapier around as though it were the baton of a conductor. Wherever he pointed the tip of the blade; snow would erupt upwards and rapidly melt, exposing vibrant patches of green new growth as sleeping plants and seedlings were stirred from their long slumber by his music. The wildflowers would burst awake with such energy and enthusiasm that their petals would be scattered into the air. Swirling around him and matching his twirling motions, a storm of new life flitting between the shafts of morning sunlight that shone down upon him as though he were a performer on stage.

The rhythms of Spring itself would flow through him. Electricity crackling in the air high above as thick grey clouds once heavy with snow began to part, scattering into spring rainfall punctuated by bright ribbons of lightning that broke the stillness in the air and relieved the pressure, allowing the land to breathe easy again.

Beneath this atmospheric spectacle of thunderstorms and sunbeams, scattering the light into rainbows of colour, the tiny patch of greenery that began where his toes first met the snow would spread rapidly across the whole landscape. Animals emerging from their burrows having survived the long darkness of another year in safety.

When at last his dance was finished, often he'd simply flop down upon the nearest grassy hill. Grass turf cushioning his seat and springy under his soles as he'd catch his breath. Looking around and marvelling at the transformed landscape. Even if his season was temporary, the thrill of awakening the land requiring that it would eventually fall back into cold and darkness once more... he still took great solace in being the one chosen to bring it about. Beauty was ephemeral by design. Flowers bloomed and then faded, lightning existed only for one quick flash, and each day would give way to nightfall. It was important to appreciate each one in the moment, because those moments would never come again.

He was so lost in his reverie that he almost didn't notice a familiar shadow approaching, doing its best to avoid the beams of sunlight breaking through the canopy of the forest trees. But it was so conspiciously out of place that he eventually caught a glimpse of it headed directly towards him.

His brother Felfrond? But why now? It wasn't yet his time to take the stage...

*****

He really has a spring in his step.

Madness_demon blew me away once again with this! The second in a sequence of images highlighting the transition from one season to the next...