Immortal Darkness: Shadow Across the Land (24 page)

These words sending a shock of anger to
rocket its way through her spine, Leyai struggled to keep her anger
under control. Blood boiling hotter than Pesstian could even
imagine, she picked herself up on her feet and retorted, “Do you
want
me
to cause you some physical and emotional pain?”
After a pause of silence filled the air, she continued, “Because I
can cause you pain any time I want!”

Shaking his head, Pesstian removed his gaze
from the floor and boldly met Leyai’s angered stare. After only a
heartbeat of staring into her gaze did he shut his eyes and mutter,
“If you want to add another scar to my collection, than do it.”

Allowing her boiling blood to travel up her
leg, Leyai raised her right claw into the air. It was then when her
claw made its way above her head—causing a bolt of hesitation to
spring through Leyai’s blood.

Such a shock locked her claw where it was.
What’s going on?
She found herself unable to move her claw
any closer to him. Upon making this realization did she allow a
sigh to escape from her beak as she placed her talon against the
floor once again.

Her gaze pointing down toward the floor,
Leyai explained through a sigh, “I can’t do it; I couldn’t possibly
hurt
you
!” Pesstian’s words seemed to reenter back into her
mind as a small pang of both sympathy and guilt sprang out into her
blood. It was this pang which caused her to apologize, “I’m sorry
for snapping.”

In response to her confession, Pesstian gave
his head a curt nod and turned his gaze over to Leyai. “There’s no
need for saying sorry.”

These slightly unbelievable words clashing
into her ears, Leyai raised her voice once again when she argued in
response, “Of course there is! I nearly—oh, never mind.” After
expelling these words from her beak, Leyai reset herself onto the
ledge, watching as Pesstian followed her lead.

It was after sensing his soft feathers press
up against her body when Leyai spoke once more. “I just—don’t know
how you could have borne to go through so much pain in your life.
And I find it hard to believe that the people around here—including
some of my friends—were responsible for your pain as a child.”

Allowing a small moment of thought to pass
by, Pesstian gave a sudden turn in his seating; such an action
allowed his legs to hang out from outside of the human vessel. All
the while did his beak point down toward the ocean.

Once in this position, he focused his gaze on
the sea of royal blue when he softly explained to Leyai, “You
know—when I was still a very young child, my father used to always
tell me that the truths in life will sometimes hurt to know.”

Pondering on the words of wisdom, Leyai
exchanged a quick glance with Pesstian when a small grin appeared
at the back of her beak. After giving a nod of acceptance, she
decided to turn herself in Pesstian’s position—when the sight of a
rising sun caught her eye.

Completely flabbergasted by the sudden sight
of the sun, Leyai exclaimed through a grasp, “Oh! Just look at the
sun tonight! It’s not too often when you get to see something so
beautiful without hurting your eyes.”

In response to the presence of these words in
his ears, a short bellow of laughter crawled its way through
Pesstian’s beak. Leyai laughed along with him.

The short moment of laughter coming to pass,
Pesstian shook of clump of ruffled feathers sticking to his head
before purring, “I don’t think I can even remember the last time
I’d ever even stopped to look at the sunrise. I always thought it
was pointless to do that.”

“I’ve always felt the same way until now,”
Leyai admitted through a murmur. “I’ve never understood why my—why
my family always looked at the sun whenever it came up over the
horizon.” A smile showing on her face, she drew her gaze over to
Pesstian’s tired stare when she continued, “Until now.”

Taking notice of a small change in Leyai’s
tone, a sense of nervousness began to prick at Pesstian’s mind when
he asked himself,
What’s she trying to do?
This thought in
mind, a bead of sweat rolled against the side of his head. Luckily
for him, such a little drop of liquid remain hidden by his
feathers.

A strong sense of tiredness spreading over
him, Pesstian allowed a yawn to escape from his beak. His eyes
fluttering with the urge to stop tears from sprouting out of his
eyes, Pesstian stretched his talons out toward the ocean when he
explained, “I’d like to see the rest of this sunrise, but I’ll
probably fall over into the ocean once I fall asleep.”

After letting out a small yawn, Leyai nodded
in response when she chuckled, “I agree—maybe getting some sleep
will put an end to this boring day.” She yawned once again. “Let’s
go.”

Nodding in agreement, Pesstian picked himself
off his seat; after which did he make his way toward the trapdoor,
one hop after another. As Leyai dragged along behind him, a swarm
of questions swarmed throughout Pesstian’s head. Even with these
questions, however, Pesstian had no intention or ability to answer
any of the wonders flowing within his mind.

Trying his best to ignore the mental pain
throbbing in his head, Pesstian noticed as his eyes drew over to
the small, dark room once again.
At least I’ll be able to get
some peace and quiet in here.

Keeping this thought in mind, he floated his
way down into the small room after giving a small flap of his
wings. A small sense of negligence pricking through his mind,
Pesstian found himself with little enough energy to adhere the
sound of Leyai’s footsteps. It was when his feet had kissed the
ground when Pesstian sensed a shock spike its way through his
veins.

Making a quick decision to take advantage of
this sudden burst of energy, Pesstian flapped his way over to the
same spot in which he had earlier experienced his short-lived sleep
by Leyai’s side.

Only a heartbeat later, he came to a pause in
his short journey, feeling as his talons came in contact with the
floor once again. It was a relief to find this spot without anybody
else blocking the way.

It was after only a heartbeat of taking sight
of
his
personal spot when Pesstian made his way toward it on
foot. All the while did the hopes to obtain a peaceful sleep for
the day. The picture of his sleeping self drifting in his head
caused his shock of energy to give a slight growth as he quickened
his walking pace.

Taking only a small amount of steps to come
up to it, he soon found himself in what he viewed as an individual,
unique spot. Feeling as if he had just surpassed a difficult
journey, another wave of sleep began to sweep over him—this one
proving stronger than all the others.

Once he had found himself standing in the
spot he’d yearned for, Pesstian noticed as the energy he had once
held on to finally vanished without warning. It was at the
sensation of this drainage when Pesstian released a large yawn.

Finally at his place of rest, a small spark
of surprise lit up in his head when he sensed somebody’s feathers
brush across his foot.
It’s probably just Leyai.
Ignoring
the tickle on his talons, Pesstian stood in wait as a large blanket
of sleep slowly covered him up from head to toe.

While his eyes came to a close, Pesstian felt
himself grow somewhat lighter as the sounds emanating from the
other owls seemed to grow fainter with every passing heartbeat.

Just when he had thought he was sure to drift
into a deep sleep, Pesstian found himself being pushed by somebody
else in the room. At the same time, an irritable female voice
demanded through a small growl, “Move!”

This one word pressing up against his ears,
Pesstian’s eyes flicked open as he felt the left side of his head
making a slightly violent collision against the wooden floor.

Feeling as if his head had just been pelted
with a small rock, Pesstian lifted his dizzy head from the floor
and gave a small struggle to pick himself up from the ground.
Although it had proved to be a difficult task at first, he lifted
his gaze off the ground and realized who it was who had pushed
him.

Blinking some of the tiredness from his eyes,
an angry—yet fearful—look showed itself upon Pesstian’s face when
he asked through a grunt, “What do you want, Katiy?”

Katiy—a little owl of only a slightly smaller
stature than Pesstian—had proven herself as a despicable hindrance
in Pesstian’s life. Knowing Pesstian for a longer time than almost
any other owl on the human vessel, Katiy was the cause of almost
half the scars on his body. Thanks to what seemed to be her
violent nature
, Katiy had been able to strike fear and anger
into Pesstian’s heart again and again.

“Nothing,” Katiy responded, a strong sense of
innocence sprouting from her voice.

Wondering what was happening to Pesstian,
Leyai turned her head over to where she had earlier taken sight of
Pesstian—only to notice as Katiy stood in his place. At this
confusing sight, Leyai removed herself from her sleep position as
she took a step toward her struggling friend. One single step,
however, would leave Leyai to stop in her tracks as the sound of
Pesstian’s shrieking voice pierced her ears.

“Don’t play your
innocent
act on me!”
Pesstian demanded of Katiy as he picked himself up back on his
feet. Just as Pesstian uttered these words, Leyai let out a gasp.
All the while did she witness as Katiy’s talon slashed down
Pesstian’s chest.

Fighting the urge to let out a yelp of pain,
Pesstian slowly backed away from Katiy as he covered his open wound
with a wing. At the same time, he let out a series of grunts and
moans while he moved away from his antagonist. All the while did
thoughts of dread and vengeance toward Katiy float throughout his
head

As Leyai stood and watched in complete awe,
she thought to herself,
How could she have simply taken
Pesstian’s spot and pretend to have done nothing? And then
attack
him for claiming that he was using it?

These thoughts drifting through her mind,
Leyai fought the urge to retaliate toward Katiy when she beckoned
over to Pesstian. “Hey—Pesstian! Over here!” Leyai hissed in his
direction.

“Oh—hi Leyai!” responded Pesstian through a
hoarse throat.

“Pesstian—that was just ridiculous! Here;
I’ll let you sleep here for the day.”

In a slight shock of surprise, Pesstian
thanked through a stammer, “Oh—th-thanks Leyai!”

As these words slipped through Pesstian’s
beak, he weakly marched up to Leyai’s side. Just after doing so, a
strange thought spread into his head.
Oh, my gosh!
he
thought.
Am I falling in love with Leyai?

Chapter IX

Illusions and Realities

Ready for the next night, Pesstian sensed a
hint of delight spark up in his stomach as a creaking sound split
his ears.
Is it time for us to get out?
he thought
hopefully.
Cause if I stay in here any longer, I’m going to lose
my mind!

In addition to the creek of the door, the
moon’s rays of light became ever-present within the little owls’
room. Noticing as all the other owls seemed to wake up in a frenzy,
he gradually backed away from Leyai as she remain encased in a deep
slumber.

Dragging one lightly-placed foot after
another, the patient little owl made sure each step was light as a
feather. He couldn’t do that; such a mishap would surely wake Leyai
up; such a mishap would surely bring her lovely snoring to an end.
How he loved the nasally sound of her snores. How it calmed him
down during the day.

While pondering on how he felt about the
sounds of his sleeping friend, Pesstian found himself walking under
the arms of the moon’s heavenly light. It was then when he raised
his wings into the air and gave a great flap—along with half the
other awakened owls in the room. As Pesstian and the others flew
their way through the hole in the ceiling, the light from a
half-moon in the sky shined its white light into their eyes.

It was a sight which had nearly caused tears
to stream from Pesstian’s tired eyes. Only a heartbeat passed after
taking a glance at the bright moon when he turned his gaze over
toward the spot in which he had sat in. Such was the area he had
sat with Leyai the night before.

A small smile forming at the back of
Pesstian’s beak, the cheerful owl thought to himself,
I really
wish Leyai were awake right now.
As this thought silently
repeated over and over again in his head, he let out a sigh, a
sense of impatience settling into his bloodstream.

A sigh escaping from his beak, Pesstian
tersely asked himself while still flapping his wings,
I wonder
what tonight will bring.
It was the thought of such a topic
which caused a spark of doubt and grief to light up in his stomach.
Such a feeling caused a large yawn to escape from his beak.
I
just hope tonight won’t be nearly as dull as yesterday.

--

Resting in his home at an almost unimaginably
long distance away from the little owls, Leyoht slept in peace, the
back of his head resting upon his mother’s breast. Feeling
Sahemawia’s feathers brush up against his dream-filled head, Leyoht
gave a slight shift in his sleep.

Although Sahemawia remained completely
unaware, flooding her son’s mind were many confusing and
questionable images. It hadn’t taken long for Leyoht’s confusion to
find itself replaced with fear. Image upon image started to squeeze
their way into his skull, causing him to shift even more in his
sleep.

Opening his eyes, Leyoht was perplexed. He
was not home; he was not outside. He asked himself,
Where am I?
Where did I go?
—only to realize he had been set just outside of
his home at the brink of dawn. All the while did he stand near a
group of humans.