Firefly Glen "Through the Refiner’s Fire" (Malachi 3:3)

The night is dark of full of terrors. Her mother used to scare her each night before bed, and the sand-woman had come to believe it. Cold breeze brushed her soft fur, strolling the canopy. Her sand-painted veil shone bright under the moonlight, reminding her of sunlight; the lovely sunlight.

Quiet steps approached suddenly a pale figure pressed on the ground, quiet and still. Hemera did not dare disturb her praying; she kept a safe distance from the woman, seated beside a trunk, tail over her paws. The sandwoman kept her head high, dark gaze fixed on the heavens. It would soon be time for her cleansing; she has sinned. The water will cleanse her body, the sun her soul.

A few moments passed when the woman finally broke the silence: „I greet you,” her voice pleasant and gentle, foreign accent clearly present.