Immortal Darkness: Shadow Across the Land

by Alex Rey

  The homes appeared hollow—as if they were hollow trees—but these seemed much more advanced than any owl home Pesstian had ever seen. Orange lights stretched through the hollow’s openings and flaws. Every last one of them looked as if they were made from light-brown logs. Where’d they get those? Pesstian pondered.

  “You should go down there,” Leyai acknowledged. It was as if she was pushing Pesstian with her voice.

  “You really think so?” Pesstian remarked. Barely even waiting for a response, he continued, “Okay.”

  With this one word, he allowed his feet to leave the cliff’s edge. Upon doing so, he attempted to flap his wings—but the sight in front of him stopped him from doing so.

  Taking sight of this collection of homes, Pesstian fell as the lights from within the nests glistened against his eyes. They were even more majestic up close! Flurries of wind continued brushing up against his ears as the young owl fell further and further from the enormous cliff’s edge.

  This dumbfounded feeling suddenly went away; that was when Pesstian shook his head and spread his wings out by his sides. His falling speed now at a great decrease, it didn’t take long for him to find himself gliding—no less parachuting—toward the humans’ nests.

  From then on did Pesstian push himself further and further toward the homes. It was while doing so when he focused on the largest nest in the group—which seemed to stand in the center of the colony, glowing brighter than the rest. That’s gotta be it!

  Although surrounded by a cluster of human nests, Pesstian found himself alone, without a single human in sight. For a few heartbeats had Pesstian believed he was all alone—only to be proven wrong when the sound of human voices filled his ears.

  Hopping in the voices’ direction, he quickly found himself coming face-to-face with the central nest. Are they in there? As he took a peak through one of the nest’s windows, Pesstian caught sight of a crowd of humans—each of which seemed to be having a conversation.

  There they are! thought Pesstian, feeling relieved and nervous all at the same time. But where are they keeping the coats? Barely any time had come to pass when one of the humans turned their head toward Pesstian.

  Fearing for his life, the young owl ducked out of the way, hoping he was not spotted. It was after moving from their eyeshot when Pesstian took a look to his right.

  Before his eyes rested a container similar to the one he’d seen so long ago. It’s one of those—containers. Fortunately for the little owl, an odorless scent came into play—which quickly brought forth relief.

  There’s none of those ocean creatures in there? Desiring to test his hypothesis, Pesstian gave a great flap of his wings and lifted himself up to the container’s rim. To his surprise and much-needed relief, not a single living—or formally living—thing dwelled within the cylindrical capsule.

  Rather than dead animals, the human-crafted coats took up the container’s space. There they are! he exclaimed, a grin on his face. Hoping he was not hallucinating, Pesstian placed his feet on the pile of coats, grabbed a hold of one of them, and began to flap his way out of there.

  Upon swooping out of the capsule, Pesstian’s heart gave a great leap—only to sink as a heavy cloud rolled its way beneath the sky. An enormous sea of snow started falling toward Pesstian as a result. With it came bone-chilling gusts of wind.

  Luckily I just got this coat, Pesstian thought while shivering. Surprisingly for the little owl, the temperate clothing did not feel as heavy as he had first anticipated. But that was probably thanks to the surrounding wind.

  --

  Leyai waited for her friend, tiredness forming in her eyelids.

  This is ridiculous! As he had feared, flying up the cliff was a hundred times more difficult than merely falling from it. Such a factor to his journey held strong and true—especially when a fur coat dangled from his legs.

  I have to keep going, a tiny voice urged within his head. Deciding to listen to this voice, Pesstian fought against many diverse wisps of blowing snow—almost praying for the required strength to topple over the cliff and find Leyai.

  How does she do this? Pesstian asked himself. Did she use some kind of technique to climb up this thing? Not a single answer seemed to come to him. He merely stood by—in the snow and ice—as the newly-formed series of snowy wisps blew the coat right out of his talons.

  “Oh no,” he mumbled through a pang of irritation. Before his eyes did he catch sight of his coat—watching as it tumbled down a hill. Pesstian attempted to chase it before he could have possibly lost sight of it. However, the first step he took would cause him to trip and fall face-first into a blanket of snow. Oh come on!

  Once picking himself up on his feet, Pesstian flapped his wings—only to realize the coat was completely out of sight. Feeling almost as if it would respond to his voice, he cried out, “Where is it?” The answer to such a question would come to Pesstian when he noticed the silhouette of his tumbling coat. As a result, he started flapping his wings in a desperate attempt to capture the toasty treasure.

  Millions of snowflakes rushed past Pesstian’s eyes as he glided over to the tumbling coat. Taking clear sight of the dark-brown that covered the entire coat, he stretched his talons out in front of him in an attempt to capture it. Come on, now, Pesstian silently urged himself.

  Closing his eyes, he hoped—with every gram of faith I his body—he would find his talons capturing the coat. A moment of silence came into play just before amazement showed itself in Pesstian’s mind. I got it!

  A sense of accomplishment filled his head as more weight was added to his talons. He placed a smile on his face as he allowed a series of wing-strokes to pull his body up to Leyai. Barely any time had come to pass when Pesstian placed the coat in his beak.

  Okay; here I go!

  The little owl’s heart raced with adrenaline and hope. His face stung against the biting winds he found himself fighting against. His legs limped behind the rest of his body as a result of weariness. His beak ached from being burdened of having to hold the coat.

  These sensations and many more caused Pesstian to, once again, ask himself, What’s Leyai’s technique?

  Once asking himself this question, a flash of snow stung his eyes. Completely blinded, he fought the urge to yelp in pain while shifting over to his right while in the sky. The result of shifting caused him to land on some type of platform. He was blinking rapidly in order to remove the icy crystals from his eyes when Pesstian allowed the coat to fall onto the platform’s ground.

  After struggling to stand his ground, he opened his eyes and realized he was standing on a smaller cliff within the original cliff’s slope. What is this?

  Utter confusion slipped into his head—only to be replaced with what he quickly came to believe what was a brilliant idea. So that’s how she did it! With these few words, Pesstian began to pull together the pieces of his plan.

  Many similar platforms to the one Pesstian stood on were scattered across the enormous cliff, he realized while looking up. I know; I’ll hop from platform to platform. Maybe that’ll work. Before any more snow could have clung to his coat, Pesstian bent down and picked it up off the ground.

  The weight of the coat proved inferior compared to the strength he now held in his freezing body. Such a fact came as an unexplained surprise to Pesstian. At the same time, he quickly noticed how much easier it was for him to simply hop from one platform to the next.

  I can’t believe it’s this easy! Pesstian boasted. No wonder Leyai had it so easy.

  A breeze of joy slipped through Pesstian’s feathers until he ran into a problem with one of the new platforms. The sixth platform he’d come in contact with came as a surprise to him, as it broke under his weight almost immediately after Pesstian touched it. Fortunately for him, he proved stealthy enough to listlessly hop from his sixth platform to his second.

  I must be better at this than I thought.

  Almost nothing in the world could have stopped Pesstian at this point. Much un
like the problems the blowing snow had given him earlier, it instead gave a comfortable sensation to his face at this point. Such a sea of white allowed hope to spill into his mind with ease.

  With every leap the little owl took, warmth seeped into his blood. As a result of this fact, every leap he took brought him further into a pleasantly hyper state. This hyper state caused him to give no care as to whether or not he tripped. As a result, his platform leaping grew easier within time.

  Slight disappointment entered Pesstian’s mind when he came to realize one fact: his leaping had come to an end. Once this fact seeped into his mind, he began to realize how much his beak strained from the effort he put into carrying it up the cliff.

  In clear sight of his friend, he exclaimed through a clattering beak, “That was—amazing! I want to do that again!”

  Just when he’d felt this amazing rush of excitement spring in his feet, a blanket of disappointment covered Pesstian’s mind when he realized Leyai was already asleep. Such a sight caused frustration and sadness to envelop his mind.

  An eye-twitch forming in his right eye, he placed the coat on his shoulders before any more snow could have fallen on it. So much for hoping something good would come out of this, he silently muttered, completely forgetting about the pleasure he endured while climbing up the cliff.

  Why did she have to fall asleep so suddenly? Pesstian resented. Why can’t I just tell her?

  Fighting back tears, he walked up to the pole and fell asleep under his friend. For the remainder of the day did he rest his head on the pole in which Leyai rested.

  --

  Disappointed that Leyai had fallen asleep before he could have mentioned anything to her, Pesstian allowed his mind to create fantasies about the good time they could have had if Leyai hadn’t fallen asleep.

  Feeling of remorse caused dreams about Leyai and himself to form in Pesstian’s mind. Of all the dreams he was to create that day, one dream he would later like to call the Flower Effect would prove to be the most memorable.

  The Flower Effect began with the two owls sitting in a grassy landscape. This grassland gave a negative impression to the snowy wasteland they now slept with.

  Pesstian’s visions allowed a sense of vitality to come between him and Leyai. At the same time, not a single worry slipped into this vitality.

  The Flower Effect started with the two young owls sitting atop a thick blanket of weeds. For a heartbeat had nothing happened between the two; for a heartbeat did Pesstian feel confusion envelop his mind. Once this heartbeat had come to pass, he took at his surroundings—quickly coming to realize how he sat back-to-back with his friend.

  Pesstian allowed utter silence to penetrate his ears. Such silence, however, became unknown when he took sight of a blue cluster of petals and murmured to himself, “A flower?”

  At the sight of this flower, the young owl began to think about the white gem Leyai had earlier lost while in the ocean. As a result, he felt as if he could have used the flower as a substitute for the missing gem.

  Incognito turned the flower into a gem. However, Pesstian couldn’t seem to get a grip of the flower’s stem. As a result, he could not pull it out of the ground. Rather than allowing him to pull it out of the ground, the flower seemed to push Pesstian’s talon away the more he attempted to draw his claw closer to its petals.

  A short pause came into the situation just after Pesstian pulled his talon away from the flower. I can’t do it, he desperately told himself.

  “Can’t do what?” a voice murmured into his ear. The sound of this voice caused an enormous leap to shake Pesstian’s heart.

  “Leyai!” Pesstian gasped while switching his gaze over to his friend. “Um—what’s up?” And how did she hear that?

  Without a single word, Leyai bent over Pesstian’s shoulder and took a look at the flower. “Aw—” Leyai sighed while a smile on her face.

  What was once a frostbitten land now held a cluster of petals within a field of green. As a result, both Pesstian and Leyai allowed the sight of this pollinated plant to stain their eyes.

  For a while did complete and utter silence break between them. Such silence became unknown, however, when Pesstian wondered, “How’d this get even get here?”

  “I still can’t believe that we are in this new land,” Leyai added with a change to their subject. It was almost immediately after uttering these words when she picked the flower from the ground.

  What? Pesstian asked himself. How’d she do that?

  “You mean pick the flower off the ground?” Leyai responded.

  Utter confusion struck Pesstian’s mind at the hearing of these words. Instead of silently wondering how she could have heard him, however, Pesstian released a sigh and watched as Leyai clipped the flower just above her ear.

  At the sight of the flower clipping into Leyai’s feathers, Pesstian found himself falling into a trance. As a result, he found himself almost unwillingly pulling himself toward Leyai. His beak having nearly poked a hole into a petal of the blue feather clipped onto Leyai’s head, he let Leyai know, “I love you, Leyai.”

  “I love you too, Pesstian,” Leyai replied with a slight whisper in her voice. “And now that I think about it, I may have loved you since the moment I first saw you.” She rested her head on Pesstian’s shoulder—and both she and Pesstian took a slumber under the night sky.

  --

  A dark night sky accompanied Leyoht as he slept in Aphost’s home. Near emptiness filled his mind; only a hazy cloud filled his thoughts.

  Creeping outside Aphost’s tree was a carmahn—creeping outside was Bearneomal. At last, the anxious carmahn silently exclaimed. I have found him! This thought in mind, he kept low to the ground in an attempt to keep Leyoht asleep for the time being.

  While aware of how urgent his current mission was, Bearneomal couldn’t help but allow a small series of jitters to form beneath his legs. As a result, he nervously lied down against the snow just before he could have made his way into the tree.

  A small growl escaping from his lips, Bearneomal silently cursed while on his knees, What’s going on with me? I must have done this hundreds of times before!

  A sense of agony began to clutch around the carmahn’s stomach with this thought in mind. Such a meta occurrence caused him to struggle for stealth.

  Hoping his legs had stopped their shaking, Bearneomal stood himself straight up and attempted to make his way into Aphost’s tree.

  How Bearneomal could have had any trouble sneaking his way into somebody’s house was beyond his understanding. He had done the task of keeping stealthy so many times before; it should have been an almost monotonous task for him. In the carmahn’s mind, his feet seemed to contradict him at this moment. Let’s try this again.

  This thought in mind, Bearneomal furtively swept into Aphost’s tree. As a result, an enormous sense of relief and accomplishment overwhelmed his mind. He almost let out a sigh—but quickly realized that doing so could have placed his mission in jeopardy.

  The sound of Leyoht’s breathing hummed in Bearneomal’s ears as soon as he was sure he’d successfully made it into the tree. At the same time, Bearneomal was slightly thrown off from his task as his interior cranial buzzing made a sudden impact against the walls of his head.

  Slightly annoyed for a split-second, Bearneomal locked his eyes on the sleeping owl. It was at this point when only one thing remained on his mind: his mission to bring Leyoht to Mocrano. It was at this point when he sat down on his hind-legs—patiently waiting for the right moment.

  What Bearneomal was waiting for, however, was not for Leyoht to wake up. He was not waiting for the element of surprise, either. What could he possibly be doing?

  Before the sun’s breath could have sat upon Leyoht’s closed eyes, Bearneomal allowed his body to slowly dissolve into a gaseous form. Unafraid and fully sure of himself, he made no attempt to stop the dissolving.

  The disintegration of Bearneomal’s body continued until nothing was left of him but gas
.

  Chapter XIII

  A Time of Many Experiences

  The morning had come at last. A sense of clarity seemed to grip onto the fabric of nature itself. The barren landscape Leyoht had earlier met up with now seemed to hide itself from him.

  Leyoht had awoken up from his strangely painless sleep. How he could have not felt pain after all the chaos of the previous night was a mystifying fact for him to wrap his head around. While confused, he still picked himself up from his sleep—feeling almost as if nothing had happened.

  A strange, slightly dizzy feeling overwhelmed him as he stretched his legs out as far as he possibly could. Releasing a small yawn, Leyoht took hearing of somebody’s footsteps. These steps only grew louder with every passing heartbeat. Such noises would come to an end when Leyoht caught sight of another owl he first believed to be Aphost.

  While a little dizzy, he could see this owl’s face almost perfectly. As a result, he was able to discover just how wrong he was with the thought of Aphost approaching him. Instead of Aphost, who he saw in front of him was a young female snowy owl—probably the same age he was.

  “Who are you?” the young owl asked through an eager, yet curious voice.

  “My name is Leyoht,” Leyoht replied.

  “I’m Biaulae: Aphost’s daughter.” A small pause came into the owls’ conversation just before the eager owl continued, “What kind of owl are you?”

  “I’m a snowy owl.”

  “But you’re almost entirely black,” Biaulae replied.

  “I am?” Leyoht asked.

  “Your eyes are red too.”

  It was at this moment when Leyoht found himself completely baffled by this girl’s words. “What?”

  Full of energy, Leyoht took a small step away from Biaulae and took a look down at his chest. He noticed how his feathers were almost completely black with red, barely noticeable, curvy stripes. At the same time, an enormous shine showed itself on his feathers—as if they had just been cleansed in a purified lake.