Immortal Darkness: Shadow Across the Land (36 page)

“Roseti?” he whispered in question, drawing
his beak over to the sleeping owlet. “Are you awake?”

The curious owl came close to poking his beak
into the downy fluff and feathers of his friend’s stomach when
Roseti flicked her eyelids open. A sudden jerk shook up her entire
body all the while. Such a phenomenon caused Leyoht to flinch away
from her in surprise.

Although it had taken him a moment to realize
it, Leyoht noticed as a cold, emotionless stare showed in Roseti’s
eyes. “Roseti, why are you looking at me like that?” he asked
through a shaky voice. Taking a step away from his friend, he
watched as Roseti picked herself up of her nest.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,”
Roseti replied, a bland tone to her voice. It was after uttering
these words when she brushed her way past her friend—moving toward
what appeared to be the sun.

Completely and utterly confused, Leyoht
quietly followed Roseti to the sun. It was at that moment when
noticed how every single one of his friends and family head in the
same direction as Roseti. This sight caused a shock of fear and
disbelief to spark within Leyoht’s heart.

It was while following his acquaintances when
Leyoht noticed everybody seemed to wield the exact same stare as
Roseti. An unblinking look of evil and gluttony showed in their
eyes; it was a look which dared to be challenged by Leyoht’s
eyes.

Leyoht quickly came to notice that every
single one of his friends and family members were slowly dying as
they made their way closer to the sun. The deterioration of their
skin and feathers took place as they neared the light. Feathers
listlessly fell toward the ground. Once their feathers were gone,
their skin slowly started charring away.

The sight of this deterioration caused the
young owl to shudder in fear and—at the same time—make a stop in
his tracks. Eerie silhouettes stood before him, breaking apart all
the while. Fearing for the worst, the barely conscious owlet
hurriedly crawled up the snowy hill and toward the people he knew
and loved.

It was while at the midpoint of the snowy
hill when Leyoht tripped over his own feet. Keeping his beak buried
in a sheet of snow, he silently asked himself,
Who are they? Are
they fakers?

Before any real answer could have shown in
front of his face, Leyoht suddenly realized how the snow
surrounding him was starting to melt at a strangely rapid pace.
Right when he should have been drenched by the melting snow, Leyoht
took sensation of something sticky within the ice.

Taking sensation of the sticky snow, Leyoht
pulled his beak out of the ground. After wiping some of the slush
out of his face, he almost immediately let out a horrified
gasp.

Gray goop seemed to steam from his friends’
and family’s feet. Mystified and disgusted, he peered down into the
strange material—examining it all the while. And then it hit him:
this material was made from his acquaintances’ deteriorating
organs.

They’re—melting?
the owl asked
himself. This question silently echoing within the walls of his
head, he released a yelp of pain upon touching the goop with his
wing—realizing it was searing hot. He angrily cried out,
“Ow—
ow
!” while picking himself up on his feet.

After fighting the burning pain, Leyoht
continued on his run up to the top of the hill.
I have to save
them!
a worried voice echoed in his head. In response to such a
voice, he began to crawl at an even faster pace than before.

By the time Leyoht had reached the top of the
hill, a series of panting escaped from his beak. After giving
himself a moment to breathe, he took a sight at what lay before
him.

Their skin and feathers were no more; their
bodies consisted of nothing more than white, fragile sticks.
Everybody Leyoht had come to know—as well as those he loved—were
now skeletons. The hollow fragility of their bodies made Leyoht
realize just how weak he was.

Despite having been made of nothing but
bones, Leyoht couldn’t help but wonder,
Are they still
alive?
The simple movement of their heads toward the sun
affirmed his suspicions.

The terrified owl looked to his left—and then
to his right. All around him were the skeletons of his
acquaintances, each of which pointed toward the sun. Before Leyoht
could have asked what was going on, something within the sun’s disc
caught his eye.

Utter confusion crossed Leyoht’s mind when he
took sight of a quickly-setting sun. Its orange light shining in
his eyes, the sun came to a sudden stop in its ascent. This sight
caused Leyoht to place a confused look on his face.

A heartbeat of stillness appeared as the
large, orange sun came to a permanent halt. Now stopped, the ball
of flame became the home of what looked like a black hole. This
black center literally sucked away the light from the sun. At the
same time, the wind seemed to come to a complete stop.

The sight of the destroyed light caused
Leyoht to fall backwards in a sudden shock of fear.
What is that
black thing?
He wasn’t sure if finding out would have helped
him in the long run or not.

With all the light sucked away within
heartbeats, nothing was to be seen—until a violet light with a
black center took place of the sun. Picking himself up on his feet,
Leyoht notice how this light seemed to be expanding—or was it
drawing closer to him?

Such a question, however, would leave
Leyoht’s mind when the sight of flying creatures caught in his eye.
Said creatures appeared skeletal—like his friends and family—with
an aura of darkness surrounding them. In addition to their skeletal
shape, they held human-like figures. Every single one of them
seemed to emanate from what Leyoht believed to be the sun’s
replacement.

In addition to the humans, bird-like
four-legged animals sprouted from the purple sphere. The most
noticeable similarity between Leyoht and the flying creatures were
the beaks upon their faces. Then there were, of course, the
creatures’ wings—which allowed them to fly. However, the wings
seemed to add two extra limbs to the creatures’ bodies, giving them
their four legs.

Before the confused owlet could have examined
these foreign creatures further, Leyoht noticed as they started
forming what appeared to be a ring in the sky. Once the ring had
come within moments after its completion, the strange birds made
their way down to the frozen skeletal owls one by one. It was while
on their way down to the small valley of Leyoht’s somewhat deceased
friends and family when the creatures grabbed the owl skeletons
with their enormous beaks.

Seeing as one of his bony friends was about
to be taken up into the sky by one of the creatures, Leyoht
objectively wrapped his talons onto one of the bones of the foreign
creature and gave a tight closing of his eyes while crying out,
“No! What are you doing?”

Irritatingly enough, no words escaped from
any one of the creatures’ beaks. Instead of responding, they
continued to take Leyoht and his friend into what he believed was
the dark ball in the sky.

Still holding onto his unknown friend, Leyoht
opened his eyes and realized the creature he was encountering was
nearly three times his size. Added to this was the creature’s
immense, bone-snapping beak and a set of four intimidating
claws.

His mind ruptured by the creature’s
horrifying appearance, Leyoht’s entire bloodstream came to a
freezing stop. The first result of this freezing of his blood
caused him to release his grip on his friend’s bones. As the
creature had already been on its path to gaining altitude, Leyoht
fell back.

It was upon releasing his grip on his
skeletal friend when Leyoht found himself plummeting toward the
ground. Everything seemed to freeze in place—even when he moved at
what felt like the speed of sound.

That was when his death suddenly dawned on
him. Upon witnessing his descent into death, a bolt of fear
shredded its way into his blood.
Oh no! Not this again!

An immense wave of pain formed in Leyoht’s
chest upon making impact with the icy ground. This sensation
enveloping his entire body, he began to cough up a small stream of
blood.

Although he hadn’t any idea of it at first,
two of the enormous bird-like creatures were bringing what seemed
to be a robed, male human down to the ground. Coughing a small spot
of the snow into a pink color, Leyoht’s ears twitched as the
human’s feet made contact with the ground.

Strangely enough, however, the sound of the
human’s feet touching the snow wasn’t that of a crunch. Rather than
crunching, the snow released what seemed to represent a blowing
noise.

Such a sound vibrating in Leyoht’s ears, the
young owlet gave a slight struggle in picking himself up to take a
look at the human. As a small series of blood still dripped from
his beak, Leyoht placed a dumbfounded expression on his face upon
letting the human’s figure sting his eyes.

Instead of being made of skin and blood, this
human was composed entirely of what seemed to be smoke and ash.
Another type of human?
Leyoht silently screeched. An
enormous sense of fear overwhelming his mind, he allowed his blood
to freeze once again. Unable to see the human’s face, as it was
covered by a part of his clothing, Leyoht decided to listen to
whatever it had to tell him.

“Join us once more!” the human commanded
through a familiar voice.

“I-it’s—y-you?” Leyoht asked through a series
of stammering. “And—h-how do you know my name?” But no words made
their way through the human’s mouth—causing Leyoht’s fear to grow
even more.

The snowy owl watched as the strange human
made a small rotation of his own two hands.

Taking notice of such a gesture, the large,
skeletal creatures in the sky took off toward the black ball,
Leyoht’s bony acquaintances resting within their beaks.

Was it all a dream? Was any of this really
happening? Were the images of giant, skeletal creatures orbiting
around a purple hue all faked? Were they mere pictures his mind
made up for him?

At first Leyoht thought the black sphere was
a solid—but then the skeletons passed right through it—as if it was
a portal. Swept off his feet, the human’s weak exterior was sucked
up by the dark light.
Where are they going?
wondered
Leyoht.

For a split-second, silence split the snowy
owl’s ears. Was it all over? Were these skeletons to leave him here
on the empty land of white sheets and crystal clouds?

But no—it wasn’t over. Leyoht it all too well
at this point: once somebody started attacking him, they wouldn’t
stop until they were finished. Feeling an enormous gust of wind
pull him toward the void in the sky, Leyoht clutched onto the
ground with his two talons.

Bits and pieces of earth started falling out
of the ground—one of which had Leyoht’s claws stuck in it. Without
warning, the mound of dirt flew toward the black void.

Making his unintended ascent toward the black
core, Leyoht gained realized as an open feeling sprouted within his
mind while the rest of his body was being pulled by the wind. It
was a feeling which caused him to believe he could fly to every
single corner on Earth.

However, this mental sensation came to its
end when Leyoht suddenly realized he was slowly dying from lack of
oxygen.
Why can’t I breathe?
the confused owlet asked
himself.
What’s going on?

It wasn’t long when Leyoht’s entire body was
ripped apart by the strange, black void in the sky. Once taken
apart, however, his particles were drawn to the void—and sucked
into its interior. Fortunately for him, the sensation of being
disintegrated was totally painless.

--

Leyoht woke up and found himself in an
unfamiliar tree.
What’s going on?
he asked himself. Rather
than being held high up at the midpoint of the trunk, the hollow
sat low to the ground. At that point it was obvious; he was no
longer home.

Letting the sight of the hollow sink into his
mind, Leyoht took realization of his body temperature. As he had
quickly come to realize, his feathers gave the sensation that they
were about to break off if the temperature were to drop down any
lower.

“So—you’re finally awake?” a female’s voice
asked.

Such a sound caused Leyoht to flinch out of
his sleep. A shock of fear and surprise bolting in his heart, he
twisted his injured neck in an attempt to find out where the voice
was coming from. It hadn’t taken long for him to find a stranger
sitting beside him.

“Wha-what happened?” Leyoht wondered, picking
himself up on his feet. “Ah—ow!” he yelled in pain.

Barely noticing Leyoht’s struggle, the
stranger continued, “I’m not sure
exactly
what happened, but
when I first saw you through my hollow, I noticed you were almost
completely buried in snow. I was completely shocked by seeing you
there, so I took you in. Oh—and try not to move too much; I found
you very cold and badly injured.”

A pause befell the two before she asked,
“What’s your name, anyway?”

“L-Leyoht,” the young owl croaked in
response. Putting a slight change to the subject, he croaked, “I’ll
never learn how to fly!”

“When are you going to start flying?” the owl
replied.

“I
probably
should’ve started flying
by now. But—now I can’t—I’ll never learn how to fly when I’m this
hurt!”

“You’ll just need to lie down for today,
Leyoht.” Another pause slipped in before the female owl hooted, “My
name is Aphost, by the way.”

Acting as if Aphost hadn’t uttered a word,
Leyoht muttered, “My parents—my parents are—they’re dead.”

Hearing as such horrible words rampaged
through her ears, Aphost’s eyes widened as her heart pumped with
sympathy for the young child. “Dead?” she murmured. “What happened
to them?”