by JLN

Created on: June 07, 2009   Last Updated: June 15, 2009

Atop an imposing cliff, whose sheer walls lorded over the thick jungle below, stood the figure of a tall, slender woman. A long green cloak hung from her shoulders rendering her all but invisible against the starry black sky. One of the planet's small moons tried desperately to illuminate the scene, casting a feeble silver light over the thousands of knotted trees that vied with each other for space, spreading out below in every direction like a green cancer. Occasionally the call of some alien creature would pierce the eerie calm of the night, but for the most part it was deafly silent. Not even a slight breeze could be felt, it was as if even the wind was holding its breath, waiting in anticipation for what was to come. The woman seemed transfixed by a single, unremarkable, point on the horizon, her stony face peered into the distance, watching, waiting. To the casual observer she might have appeared quite hansom, but her high cheek bones and delicate features housed a pair of jet black eyes that burned with a self-righteous malice. These were eyes that no longer knew innocence, eyes that had been witness to all manner of suffering and pain, those of a lady that was very old indeed. For the moment they starred impassively at the sky with quiet disdain, as if it was unworthy of her wrath. There was something strangely hopeless about her demeanour. Not hopeless in any emotional sense of the word, for she was far beyond that now, it was more a kind of begrudging acceptance of fate, a fate which had been sealed a long time ago.

Without warning a tiny speck of light blinked into existence on the horizon in the exact spot that had been holding the woman's attention, this was no coincidence of course, this was what she had been waiting for. Even so she remained impassive, totally motionless, and absolutely silent, her eyes fixed on the small speck of light as it grew, changing as it did so from white to orange, then red, and finally becoming a dark black shape that began to displace some of the stars. It soon became obvious that this dark shadow was in fact a ship, a ship that was slowing down. As it approached it brought with it a deep rumble and a determined wind, both of which quickly grew in strength until the surrounding trees had been whipped up into a frenzy. The tall figure stood unmoved, her cloak billowing all around her, a solid pillar upon which this sudden onslaught vainly broke. From her vantage point the woman watched as the vessel came to gentle

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