Immortal Darkness: Shadow Across the Land

by Alex Rey

  A sigh sprouting from his beak, he walked into a forest untouched by the humans. Sounds of smaller birds, burrowing mammals, and singing insects vibrated in his ears—and he was almost relieved not a word from Leyai’s voice came into the mix. He didn’t want anything to spoil this peaceful moment, whether it was by catastrophe or by a familiar voice out of nowhere.

  Nothing could have stopped Pesstian’s positive attitude from sprouting out into his veins. I think Leyai is more worried about this whole human situation than I am. But then the silent utterance of her name started bringing him down.

  Pesstian continued to walk through the deciduous landscape surrounding him. All of the sounds of nature once surrounding him gradually disappeared from Pesstian’s ears—as if the animals of the forest wanted to give him a moment to himself.

  Lighter and lighter his steps became—and it was at that moment when he took notice of the two halves within himself. But which part does Leyai want? The very thought made his head spin around and about. As a result, his footsteps gradually drew to a stop.

  “Which part—does Leyai want?” he repeated through a murmur. Tears nearly came to his eyes upon uttering these words.

  Only then was he able to take in the fact that there was a whole side of his being Leyai resented. It wasn’t an ugly side; it wasn’t a rude side; it was an immature side. Pesstian had never really seen it as immature—just optimistic—but he knew others felt different about it. Because of this, he wouldn’t fight for this side’s defense until somebody would come up and start to fight for it.

  Even with these thoughts in mind, he knew he could never give up on either side of his personality. With a grunt, he continued his walking through the dense forest. Almost all his strength gone—wiped from existence—he eventually found himself walking out from under the forest’s fingers. It was then when he stopped once again and took a look at the thick clouds above.

  Even now out of the reaches of the forest, the sounds of its inhabitants rang once again in his ears. Even now with the sight of clouds flashing in his eyes, he still felt as if he were trapped within the forest. Just what was happening to his surroundings?

  Something called out to him at that moment; he was not sure what or where from, but something wanted him. The sky seemed to move much toward his liking, but whistled much to his dismay. Leyai, he realized, Something’s wrong. I have to find her!

  A quick burst of wind beneath his wings sent Pesstian blazing up higher and higher toward the sky. All the while did the sun gradually inch its way over the horizon and shed some of its light on the thick clouds.

  Although he was unsure of his chances of actually finding his friend in the midst of a blanket of fluff, Pesstian pushed on. Twitching at every slight sound, his ears led the way to Leyai. I know she’s here, he constantly reminded himself.

  The tiniest speck of gray led him to believe he was looking at Leyai. But that’s not her. I have to listen to her!

  --

  Leyai sighed, “Is it really necessary for me to be yelling at nothing?” she wondering, feeling stupid at herself. Since departing from Pesstian, all she’d done was complain about his very existence. She’d even gone as far as screaming.

  Now—with all her anger almost completely vanquished—she quickly found herself fighting against wind and a bout of dizziness. I don’t feel—feel so good. Such an unsettling notion tipped off Leyai’s ability to remain on one subject at a time. My wings hurt, even though she had no need to flap her wings while so high up in the sky.

  With time she literally came to a point where she lost her ability to fly straight. As a result, Leyai swerved all about the clouds without her intention or notice—thus removing all challenge of somebody from the outside trying to spot her. Leyai, however, took no notice to the obvious distortion.

  Coincidentally was Pesstian flying idly by. There she is! exclaimed Pesstian, easing his way in. A scream told him for sure he’d made his target. It was at that moment when Pesstian took notice of just how much altitude he and Leyai were covering.

  Clouds below his feet, the temperature in this area dipped below freezing. Surprisingly, however, no signs of hypothermia or a cold of any kind plagued his frost-bitten body. Besides temperature, another major downside to being so high up was the lack of oxygen—which only stifled his progress toward Leyai.

  Travelling at an upward angle, he strained harder and harder in flapping his way against the large gusts of approaching wind. For a split-second he closed his eyes—a split-second too long—after which Leyai disappeared from his sight.

  “Leyai?” he panicked. “Leyai? Where are you?” Not a speck of thought coming to mind, he blindly dove back down through the clouds. Even with the wind brushing about in his ears, the small sounds of Leyai’s screams resided in his mind as sounds he neither would nor could never forget.

  Within a matter of heartbeats, Pesstian found himself below the clouds at last. His body heat and oxygen source returning, Pesstian took no time in hesitation. In a time of such desperation and hopelessness, how could he?

  Where is she? Where is she? Pesstian panicked, hurriedly swinging his head two and fro.

  Upon casting his sight on Leyai once again, he swooped his way down to her aid. Everything happened at once; the possible demise of his friend, the rapidly-changing climates, the revolution against humans. All of this led to chaos and nothing else but chaos. A hope to reverse the tides of his current situation ached in Pesstian’s mind.

  For another split-second did he close his eyes—opening them to find what appeared to be a newly-formed pond sitting in the ground. Such a pond was large, shaped like a perfect circle—and Leyai was about to splash in it! The resulting impact would have killed her for sure.

  I have to make this count! Without flapping his wings, Pesstian sped down—every bone in his body locked for the sake of speed.

  I’m not going to make it! he wept, his scar glowing suddenly. He closed his eyes and surrendered. It was then when he brought himself up in an upwards arc—only to find an unexpected surprise in front of his face.

  “Leyai!” he cried upon catching sigh of her. Never before had such joy and elation and relief evenly bottled up inside him. However, these emotions were soon to spell their end—as Pesstian lost control of his flight and prepared for a belly-landing.

  With only heartbeats to perform this perfectly, he ended up failing in coming out unscathed. Sticks and stones scraped his body in the process of landing—added to him losing a grip of Leyai.

  Bouncing about a grassy landscape, the two owls found themselves brutally bludgeoned by their environment. Using all the strength left in his blood, Pesstian pushed himself up off the ground with his bashed wings. It was t hen when he took notice of a gash at the side of Leyai’s torso. “Leyai,” he murmured, coming up on his feet.

  The length of a thousand trees stood between the two injured owls. Such was a length Pesstian found himself willing to triumph over. Against the notion to hold his energy, he hollered at the top of his lungs, “Leyai! Wake up!”

  As if magic had struck her thoughts, Leyai flicked her eyes open and stretched her neck toward the source of the sound. With an inaudible, “Pesstian,” she clutched at the grass with her flimsy wings, pulling herself toward him.

  After killing too many blades of grass to count, she stopped dead in her tracks and rested her weary head upon a muddy ground—just placed properly enough for her to be taken aback by the emerging pond. How did that get here?

  Without any warning, Pesstian hurriedly gasped, “Look out!” while pointing to the sky.

  “What?” whispered Leyai. “What’s going on?” Leyai’s heart raced without the knowledge of what Pesstian was so afraid of. She could only imagine what kind of horror he was going through. It wasn’t until the ground around her body shook when she realized what Pesstian was speaking of.

  Taking a glance over toward where she believed the vibration to come from, the sight of a familiar blue object sticking fro
m the ground flashed in her eyes. A spark of fear lit up in her heart when she noticed it was leaning toward her.

  Acting as quickly as her bruised body would allow, Leyai held up one of her talons against the stone before it could have caused her any serious damage. Unfortunately for her, the mere weight of the stone easing in on her talon was enough to cause yet another cut on her body.

  Leyai’s energy literally drained from her body after being cut—causing her to yelp out a futile, “Help!” into the air.

  Taking no heed to this one word, Pesstian rushed over to his life-drained friend and used all his strength to pull the stone away from her. Such a sensation made him feel as if he truly was strong; never before had he used his own power to save somebody’s life.

  A loud grunt escaped from Pesstian’s beak as the stone hit the ground on a side opposite of Leyai. “Leyai?” he murmured, grabbing a hold of her talon. His heart raced with fear and anxiety when he asked of her, “Are you okay?”

  The only response Pesstian could have heard was that of a barely-audible mumble. Not even Pesstian’s sensitive owl ears were able to make sense of his friend’s words.

  Leyai’s head spun around and around, growing worse with time. It was while in such a trance when she silently mumbled, Pesstian—where are you going? On the contrary, Pesstian was actually pulling Leyai to the circular pool.

  Pesstian thought maybe some water to the face would perk her up. All he hoped for was that she wouldn’t drown while underwater.

  As Pesstian came closer and closer to the pool, he realized just how crystal-clear it really was. Not a speck of muck, algae, or anything of the likeness chocked the water; it was truly the purest liquid he had ever seen.

  Upon finally making his way to the pool, Pesstian’s legs ached with the burden of having to drag Leyai all around. After giving himself some time to relax his weary legs, he gulped down a mouthful of the pool’s water, snatched Leyai’s sagging head, and placed it in the water.

  Silently did he count, One, two, three— just for as safe an approach as possible. All the while did he keep his eye on Leyai’s head—watching as a series of minor bubbles floated up to the water’s lining.

  With only one look up, however, Pesstian found himself dumbfounded to find the blue stone sitting in the pool’s center. Such a sight made him forget about Leyai entirely. How is that thing floating?

  How could something the two owls both struggled to lift be easily carried by water? Pesstian was truly entranced by such a thought. However, such entrancement came to a halt when something beneath his talons started fighting back.

  Slightly infuriated, he grunted and took a look down at the water below—only for his infuriation toward the fighting to turn into infuriation toward himself. How long have I kept Leyai down here? Guilt-ridden and ashamed, he yanked Leyai’s drenched face from the pool.

  In response to her salvation, Leyai gasped for air as water dripped from her feathers and beak. At first she felt absolutely elated to find herself free from a prison where only fish abound. Such elation, however, was soon to be replaced by pure and utter rage—anger on a level Pesstian had never before seen from her.

  Weakly pulling herself away from Pesstian, Leyai’s eyes turned blue when she snapped, “What were you doing—trying to drown me?” With a hoarse throat, “Why would you try to kill me? I hate you, Pesstian!”

  She’s gone nuts! Pesstian scolded. These few silent words were enough to drive Leyai to even greater heights of insanity.

  “What did you just say to me?”

  Hoping to fly away from his problems, Pesstian took a look to his right—only to see the stone sitting atop the pool was now glowing with the very same effect as the two owls’ scars. “Leyai! Stop!”

  “Oh—you want me to stop? Well I want you to stop acting like a childish owlet and stop trying to kill me!” Leyai was truly angry now—even more-so than what Pesstian had seen in his own family. Before she could have continued, however, a blast from the glowing gem quieted the two owls.

  The force of such a blast caused Leyai to topple backwards—nearly losing her breath in the process. Pesstian, however, saw the stone’s show of power as a beckoning call to all who thought they could take up the challenge.

  A flap of his wings assured Pesstian’s acceptance toward this trial. Despite all the countless attempts he’d undergone trying to pick up the stone, something urged Pesstian to go for one last try. I can do this, he constantly reminded himself while still on the path to the treasure.

  While part of him felt as if he would be jerked back by the sheer lack of density in this peculiar object, the little owl instead swiped it clean off from its resting place. Feelings of enveloping power, generosity, anger, and light and dark churned about in his stomach upon gripping this stone’s handle. Such a blend of emotions respired up into his wings—which he was now given more control over.

  After moving around and about in multiple revolutions, Pesstian drew his flight to a close. Floating down to the ground brought his overwhelming swarm of rage to a standstill. Now with his thoughts under control, Pesstian could observe the object in his talons as it grew ever so lighter.

  It was then when he took notice of its peculiar shape. Rather than a stone, Pesstian suddenly viewed his object as a weapon. More than a weapon—he viewed it as a tool only to be used in the direst of situations. But even more than a tool: This looks like something the humans would use!

  This was a blade: one of the humans’ many tools he’d always come to fear as an owlet. And now he was holding one in his talon. How could one little owl hold so much power as had been given to the humans?

  Bells suddenly rang in his head at that moment—only to be interrupted by the realization of Leyai’s presence. Pesstian swept a flashing glance over at her and found himself devastated at the sight before him.

  Leyai wasn’t moving, and nor did she seem to breathe. Pesstian’s heart nearly drew to a stop at this moment, as his breath heaved in fear. Only Leyai’s salvation could have dropped his insanity. As a result, the deathly-ill little owl dove down in her direction once again.

  A million heartbeats passed between Pesstian’s dive and the time it took for him to come to Leyai’s aid. Wind blew in his ears, his eyes shed tears, he fought a thousand fears—all for the sake of his despicable friend.

  Dropping all thoughts of the blade in hand, Pesstian dropped down to Leyai at long last. All the while did he shake her by her unmoving shoulders, shouting at the same time, “Leyai! Leyai! Wake up!” but to no avail. Not even a whisper escaped from Leyai’s beak; no sign of breath drifted from her nostrils.

  It was then when Pesstian realized it was all over. Leyai was gone forever—nothing would save her now—no one could ever hope to rescue her. She was now one with the deceased. Against every urge and every will in his body, Pesstian released a tear from his eye and allowed it to drip onto her feathers.

  Leyai, he silently began. Come back. Please come back, Leyai. For an eternity did he remain in complete silence; for the time being did he remain glued to his best friend. During such a time did he recheck on how Leyai truly was. Could she still have life in her yet?

  --

  That whole night was nothing more than the peaceful sleep between Pesstian and whatever remained of Leyai’s presence. Images flashed around and about in his mind during such a night—images not of anger and torture, but of harmony in a foreign land. Such images seemed to him much like subliminal advertising, but who would want to call out to him at such a time and place?

  The images flashing in Pesstian’s mind were pictures of the dead. Even with images so gruesome and discomforting in the eyes of the living, he instead found himself feeling as if he were truly part of this army of the dead. Skeletal, devoid of skin, and jubilant all at the same time, these creatures’ image drew Pesstian closer and closer to them with every passing heartbeat.

  He was not entirely sure what was causing him to adore sights of the dead; why was this so pleasura
ble in his eyes? It was then, however, when Pesstian saw some kind of connection between these images and the tragedy Leyai had just undergone.

  While in the midst of viewing these dead creatures, something poked Pesstian in his eyes. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but it woke him up nevertheless.

  With a snort, Pesstian flicked his eyes wide open and found himself snuggled in Leyai’s body. The very sight of her—all the larvae of multiple creatures crawling in and out of her body—caused him to shudder and pull himself away from her for the last time.

  While disgusted, the little owl couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the carcass in front of him. He couldn’t just leave it there; Pesstian had to do something about the squalid mess in front of him. All hopes of finding any spark of life in Leyai ceased to exist when he pushed her body into the pool.

  Another tear sprouted from his eye as he gave his one last look at what was his friend. I’ll never forget you.

  It was while on his divergent path from Leyai when a spark lit up in Pesstian’s mind. The blade! Where is it? A surge of panic excavated through his blood as he searched and searched for his missing weapon. He sniffed the air for any possible scent of blood, scanned his background with his flexible head—but to no avail.

  Without so much as a wink in Leyai’s direction, he lifted his wings up in the air and pushed himself upwards. All the while did his scar glow with a yellow strobe effect, interfering with his sight. Why does it keep doing that?

  With time, such a light only grew more and more rapid. Such a sensation made him feel as if his scar were truly useful other than flashing random colors. Is this thing leading me to my blade? How such a thought could have entered his mind mystified Pesstian to the minutest extant. Then again, how could he decipher between what did and didn’t make sense after witnessing Leyai’s death?

  In the midst of his sorrows and confusion, Pesstian’s ears vibrated to the sound of snickering and cackling. At the same time did his scar flash a thousand times per heartbeat. At the same time did he realize somebody had stolen his precious weapon.