I'm delighted to collaborate with the fantastic and, as always, super-friendly artist  jadan on this next commission idea.
It's always a pleasure to develop ideas like this with Jadan.

As a fan of medieval markets and historical events, I have been able to attend many night-time fire shows. They are often the highlight of such events...

The dangerous and destructive nature of fire has been used in many cultures in the form of rites and traditions to show the courage and skill of those who can handle it.
From religious rites and initiation rituals, the fascination for the fearless handling of fire later migrated to artistry and circus arts...
From fire jugglers, fire breathers and fire eaters, fire shows developed into a modern art form in which dances with burning pois, torches, spark sticks and fire hoops are combined with music.

With the right ambience in a nocturnal forest clearing... in the courtyard of an old castle or at the foot of old ruins... it is not difficult to imagine that our ancestors might have been fascinated by such performances as well ...

In this picture, the character Elodie (Front, character from my dearest  ortaon) carries a fire fan consisting of two deer antlers, the tips of which have been wrapped in ribbons soaked in oil to burn for a long time.
On the left in the background, the she-wolf Vash (OC) dances with a spark stick - the impressive flying sparks are caused by burning steel wool.
On the right, hind Anwyn (OC) dances with two torches, which she juggles masterfully during the dance

My Friesian stallion Charakter is a quiet but interested spectator of this nightly show, which is accompanied by tribal music...


~~֍~~~♫~~~֍~~~

On a mild summer night, when the sky was lit up by countless twinkling stars, Steppenfire, a black stallion of strong, wild appearance, sat on a moss-covered rock. The dense forest around him was swallowed up in darkness, but the clearing in front of him was bathed in the flickering glow of torches that had been set up along the edges to form the stage for a spectacle that was to take place far from the nearest settlements...
Other young males from the region had also gathered at the edge of the circle... foxes, wolves, deer and bears... With the exception of occasional trading, this annual rite was one of the few occasions when representatives of so many tribes came together. Now, at midsummer, it was not they who could court the favour of the females - on this night, it was them who would choose whether one of those present seemed worthy enough to gain their attention in the ritual fire dance... Those who were not lucky enough to feel the fire on their fur when the dancers approached them, should not expect any further chances...

The soft rustling of the forest mixed with the rhythmic sound of drums and flutes played by the musicians, whose driving sounds filled the night air.

~֍~

In the clearing, three female dancers moved in the light of the torches, lighting up the night with the fire dance ritual. In an almost mystical way, their movements merged with the increasingly driving sounds of the music and the glow of the fire, which they artfully led around their dancing bodies.

Steppenfire couldn't take his eyes off the dancers, but one in particular captivated him: Elodie... a female dog from one of the neighbouring tribes. The fire shimmered on her brownish-white fur and the beauty of her body, wrapped only in little fabric and soft leather, was enhanced by the wild, artistic dance...

Elodie held a pair of deer antlers in her hands, the tips of which were covered with cloth soaked in oil and set alight. She skilfully used the antlers like two large fans in her sensual dance, imitating the courtship dance of birds.

An aura of flaming light and shadow enveloped her as she moved in time to the drums, which, like a heartbeat, made the ground vibrate. Her blue eyes sparkled defiantly and curiously into the darkness of the night – and occasionally their eyes met with those of Steppenfire.

He could feel the rhythmic pulse of the music as the females spun with fire in their dance. Yet time and again – whenever the fire became a flickering curtain between them and the rest of the world – Steppenfire found Elodie's eyes, and their gazes met in a silent but meaningful connection.

Elodie, sensing the stallion's gaze following her, began to turn to him more and more often. Her movements became more daring, more seductive... and the burning antlers swirled skilfully in a circle, as if she wanted to ignite the flames exactly where he was sitting.
Soon the music picked up speed... the drums started a deeper, more urgent rhythm, and Vash... the white-greyish she-wolf fascinated the other spectators with her spark stick just as Anwyn of the deer tribe did, who masterfully knew how to juggle her two torches in her dance. The flames in her hands danced wildly and yet she seemed to move through the air with a certain elegance and control...

But for Steppenfire, the world around him had blurred – all he saw was Elodie, moving towards him in the dance with an almost hypnotic allure.

And then – at a moment when the dance had reached a height where the flying sparks from Vash and the sea of flames from Elodie created an almost unreal atmosphere – Elodie stepped directly towards Steppenfire once more...

"Do you feel the fire?" she breathed towards him. Her eyes seemed to challenge him, her lips formed a smile that promised more than words ever could.

Steppenfire nodded, a small smile on his lips, and before he could reply, she stepped even closer. The hot air, the smoke, the whirring of the burning antlers and the dance of the flames around them – everything became a single, intense moment that seemed to flow into the depths of the night.

The music picked up pace and the flames flickered higher, and Steppenfire felt the urge to dance with her... but he held back...

It was the beginning of something that manifested itself in the wild night, in the midst of the dance and the fire, between the two... a connection of attraction and mystery that became a flickering, unspoken promise...

(by Steppenfire)
~~֍~~~♫~~~֍~~~

Mood: Filip Lackovic - Forest Dance