Astra

At last! My years of work had finally paid off. Hours and hours I had spent, poring over tomes covered with dust, reading tiny, almost illegible script to increase my knowledge.

My plans had been laid for some time and the time of their execution merely depended upon the occurence of favourable conditions. The tiny vials of liquid and dishes of powders sat waiting, waiting to be mixed under the rays of a full moon.

Time had never passed so slowly as it did in the days leading up to the appointed night. The sunlight hours dragged past, mocking me with their glimmer. Every second spent awake was torture, every night that passed with a sliver of moon still covered was poison to my soul.

Finally, it was the evening of the full moon. As the shadows began to close in around my boudoir I poured, with trembling hands, the powder and liquids into a crystal-cut flask. As each drop of amber hit the white dust, a cloud of ethereal green light drifted into the emptiness of the bottle until the whole flask glowed gently.

Working quickly, for I knew that time was now of the essence, I light a candle and placed it atop a wrought-metal stand. Beside that was my star-chart, with this night's moon shining brighter than all others. Tonight was the night of nights.

The final object was a crystal dish on a wooden stand. I manouvered it precisely into the spot where the moonlight spilled onto the uncovered floorboards. As the light hit the dish the room began to hum, almost imperceptibly.

I lay on my chaise-longue, pulling the silken sheet over my body. I was clad in a cream negligée, trimmed with finely-woven lace. It had been bought for this night and this alone: it was worth every penny.

My head touched the velvet of the seat and I fell immediately into a deep sleep, hastened by the hum of the moonlight and crystal. The candle smoke mingled with the green glow of the flask...

And at once I was adrift, freed from earthly binds. I flailed violently, all command of my movement lost in the shock. Then, just as suddenly, I felt myself drifting higher, moving at will around the darkened room.

Below me, I could see the glimmer of the candle and the sparkle of the star-chart. Beside them, illuminated in green and gold, was... Was my body, sleeping as peacefully as on any other night.

I reached out a hand, expecting paleness and transparency. To my shock, I saw that the skin was creamier, the limb more real, than that of the figure below. How could it be that spirit seemed more solid than flesh? Was it perhaps true that one's real self could not be destroyed?

Every nerve in my spirit form tingled with delight. All my years of preparation, of diligent application of theory and of tiresome, wearisome failure, were finally paid off in one incredible instant. I knew, beyond a doubt, that I had earned my name.

I was truely, now, Astra: child of the stars.