Immortal Darkness: Shadow Across the Land

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Immortal Darkness: Shadow Across the Land Page 20

by Alex Rey


  It was then when the little owls moved themselves away from their sleeping areas. Only moments had come to pass when they took notice of the outdoor temperature.

  Out of all the owls, Pesstian was most surprised by the coolness. Feeling as a freezing-cold breeze swept across his face, a spark of surprise lit up inside him when he silently exclaimed, It’s even colder now than it was earlier!

  Taking a glance through the hole in the ceiling, Pesstian suddenly noticed how it was almost as dark on the outside of the room as it was on the inside. At this realization, the curious owl flew out through the opened trapdoor—quickly finding himself stranded in a pool of darkness. With one single look up at the night sky, he took notice of a swarm of dark-gray clouds covering up the moon’s heavenly stare.

  Each of the clouds were puffy and black as the wool from a black sheep should have been. The only exception—at least when it had come to color—was a small cluster of clouds.

  This little cluster seemed to glow with a light-gray color. The moon must behind those clouds, Pesstian concluded while staring up at the bright clouds. Such a sight allowed a sense of peace to fill his mind.

  I may not be able to see the stars or the full moon, but at least I can see the light that the moon’s giving off. I think I might take a while to gaze at it.

  These words echoing inside of the walls of his head, Pesstian lifted his wings into the air in an attempt to take flight. After giving a strong flap of his two wings, the little owl travelled a small journey over to one of the ledges of the human vessel.

  Upon making his way toward the ledge, Pesstian brought an end to his flapping and almost immediately took a seat upon it. A feeling of comfort lit up within Pesstian’s heart as his eyes locked onto the cluster of the shining clouds above. Such a sight make Pesstian feel as if he were staring into a portal—a portal to the heavens.

  If only I could fly through it! he silently exclaimed. If only the humans would let me do that. They would probably shoot me down into the ocean just like they did to the last owl that had tried to fly up into the sky. Releasing a sigh, he forlornly asked himself, Why do they have to be so strict?

  Pesstian’s turned his gaze up toward the nebulous clouds, releasing a small sigh all the while. It was at that moment when he realized the clouds were causing him to feel the urge to break the rules the humans had set up for the owls.

  I don’t think I should keep looking up at those clouds, he suggested to himself. But what else am I supposed to do?

  It was while caught up in the midst of his thoughts when the sound of yawning made Pesstian’s ears twitch slightly. Curious to know the source of this yawning, he gave a sharp twist of his neck—only to catch sight of Leyai.

  From what Pesstian could tell, Leyai stood directly in front of the trapdoors’ exit. It seemed obvious to him how Leyai had just withdrawn herself from the room. Watching as she let out another yawn, Pesstian called out to her, “Hi Leyai!”

  Feeling as a shiver crawled through her skin, Leyai gave a wave of her wing in response to Pesstian’s voice. She had felt as if her bones were falling apart when she hollered over to Pesstian, “Why is it so cold out here?”

  “If only I knew!” Pesstian replied through a chuckle. “The only thing I’m sure of is that it’s been like this since we were all still asleep. What confuses me more is why the humans are only letting us out of our room.

  “Why do they give us the option to freeze to death while forcing all of the animals to remain in the warmth? It’s so weird.” Feeling as these words escaped from his beak, Pesstian turned his gaze back toward the cluster of bright clouds just before letting out a sigh.

  “What are you looking at?” Leyai wondered, turning her head at the same angle as Pesstian’s. At that moment, a wave of surprise swept around her small heart as the light from the clouds reflected unto her yellow eyes.

  Almost forgetting all about the bone-chilling temperatures surrounding her, Leyai stood in awe at the clouds’ beauty. A gasp formed at the back of her throat just before she exclaimed, “That’s probably the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!” Turning her gaze over to Pesstian, she continued, “It’s even more beautiful than the night I saw the moon turn red.”

  A blow of confusion struck Pesstian’s head as the sound of Leyai’s words blasted his eardrum. In complete disbelief, he slowly cocked his head directly in front of Leyai’s vision while placing a confused look upon his face. “Since when does the moon turn red?”

  Understanding his confusion, Leyai took a seat next to Pesstian and released a small chuckle before explaining, “From what I’ve heard since I was young, the moon sometimes turns different colors. I didn’t really believe it either—until I saw it turn red one night.”

  “How does it even get red?”

  “I don’t know,” sighed Leyai, shrugging slightly. Her beak pointing down toward the lumber beneath her feet, she suggested, “Maybe it has something to do with the sun. I just don’t know.”

  Pulling his eyes off of Leyai, Pesstian took a look down into the ocean below him. All the while did he wonder, Why haven’t I ever seen the moon turn red before? What seemed even more unbelievable about a reddened moon was how he had never even heard anybody—except for Leyai—tell him of such an occurrence.

  A small chuckle began to form in Pesstian’s lungs when he wished through a whisper, “If only the moon were red right now.” His gaze meeting up with Leyai’s stare, he continued, “Imagine how weird that would look!”

  “It would look like the sky was on fire!” Leyai laughed in response to the thought. “Everybody on this huge thing would go insane!”

  “And what would happen if the sky actually was on fire?” Pesstian challenged his friend.

  In response to the question, Leyai turned around in her seat and took a look down toward the ocean just before giving a blunt shrug of her two shoulders.

  Before another word could slip from Pesstian’s beak, the slightly enthusiastic spirit leaned backward in his seat, his gaze pointing skyward. While in this position, he began to explain what he thought would have happened if his scenario had actually come true.

  “I’m not sure whether or not we would be able to survive without a sky anyway,” he mumbled while turning his head over toward Leyai. “I mean—it goes on forever, doesn’t it?”

  Leyai repeated her shoulder motion once again—as she hadn’t known how to even being answering such a question.

  A sigh escaped from Pesstian’s beak just before he shared an idea with Leyai: “Something that goes on forever can’t be destroyed—I’m pretty sure. Unless that thing that goes on forever wants to destroy itself.”

  With the sound of these words funneling into her head, a spark of sympathy for Pesstian flashed within Leyai’s heart. Taking of this spark, she slowly removed her gaze from the salty water—tilting it more and more until it met up with the sight of her mysterious friend.

  Blinking rapidly, Leyai exclaimed through a series of stutters, “I-is that even possible? That’s a smart idea, but—but I’m not entirely sure if it’s possible.”

  In response to Leyai’s slight fear, Pesstian placed himself back into a sitting position while releasing a small huff of laughter. “I’m pretty sure that you have to be alive in order to destroy yourself.” His beak pointing over toward Leyai’s direction, he explained through a small grin, “I don’t think it’s possible at all.”

  Only a moment had come to pass when Pesstian noticed a sense of boredom crawling its way into his mind. Feeling as this boredom dug deeper and deeper into his brain, he stifled a yawn while giving a rapid series of blinks—as to keep himself from shedding tears over this matter. What am I supposed to do now?

  Feeling the need to swipe a sharp talon at his tedium, the young owl picked himself up from his seat. Now on his feet, he allowed his talons to clutch around the ledge in which he had just been sitting upon.

  Unfortunately for the little owl, the presence of a cool breeze caused Pesstian�
��s balance to shift. It was then when he realized his feet were in an unbalanced position. A small sigh of relief escaped from Pesstian’s beak at the realization of how lucky he had been to have not been toppled off by the breeze. Now to get off of this thing before that does happen.

  Keeping this thought in mind, Pesstian carefully crept his way along the ledge. Although he was well-aware of how he could have simply hopped off of the ledge, the curious owl felt much more obliged to discover where the its end lie. Something in the back of his head had told him the humans may have been hiding something back there.

  Noticing as Pesstian travelled down this path, a sense of confusion began to fill Leyai’s mind. Part of her felt like asking her friend what he was up to—but instead she decided to hold her tongue. Maybe I should just leave him alone, she suggested to herself. He might be up to something private.

  While on his journey down along the ledge of the human vessel, a sense of luck swept through Pesstian’s mind when he realized hardly anybody had even seen him cross along the ledge. With this thought in mind, he was able to swiftly pace his way toward the end of the ledge.

  In order to ensure nobody had caught so much as a single glimpse of him sneaking away, Pesstian took one last look around the corner of the vessel’s hull—just to be sure. A sense of self-security filled his mind when he discovered not a single eye had drawn down upon him.

  Now with the owls’ voices shrouded by the sounds of the sea, Pesstian moved further and further down the ledge. Now with a sense of peace and assurance building up within his head, Pesstian noticed as the sound of deep voices called to him from above his head. Afraid for his safety, he tilted his head upwards.

  In an attempt to discover from whom these voices were coming from, the little owl poked his head over the hull of the humans’ vessel. A shock of surprise bolted its way through his blood at that moment. Humans! Pesstian silently shouted. Hundreds of them!

  As the sight of the humans bled into his eyes, Pesstian felt as almost every one of his muscles tightened altogether. He felt as his lungs constricted themselves, cutting off the breath he had so desired.

  Over and over again did Pesstian silently command of himself, Please—don’t let them see you! The fear of being shot and killed by the humans caused his heart to nearly leap up into his throat. Such a sensation distracted him from coming up with a plan for escape.

  If I try to poke my head above that upper floor, the humans might kill me! a desperate thought asserted. My only choice is to somehow sneak my way through without even taking a peak toward the humans.

  The fear contained within Pesstian’s heart caused a great difficulty in thinking to spread into his mind. Surrendering to his mental numbness, Pesstian allowed a blanket of weariness to envelop his thoughts. Thankfully for him, such a blanket was destroyed with just a little time.

  Taking a look at his surroundings, Pesstian hoped for an idea to pop up. Although he was well aware of how he could have simply turned back in the other direction, Pesstian’s sense of curiosity begged him to move forward.

  A spark of surprise lit up within Pesstian’s stomach when the sound of a small clank caused his ears to twitch. Almost forgetting about the threat the humans had mentally imposed on him, he took a look down.

  Once in this position, a sense of amazement filled Pesstian’s head. He took notice of a large hole in the side of the human device. From the look of it, Pesstian guessed, the humans put this here on purpose. Barely even a single heartbeat had passed before he asked himself, Why?

  Almost as if he were a bat, the curious owl held on tight as he placed his talons along the upper ledge of the hole. It was then when he literally swung himself into a dark room—much like a pendulum. Doing so had nearly caused his swinging body to crash into a wooden wall.

  But then—like a bat—he was still hanging on the ledge, hanging upside-down. Pesstian began to swing his wings in an attempt to regain his balance while in midair. He let go and flapped, flapped for his balance.

  Now feeling as balance befell his wings, Pesstian found himself with enough patience to gently rest his feet upon the floor. A small series of panting escaped from his beak shortly thereafter.

  While attempting to relieve himself of his weariness, Pesstian noticed as a bright-orange light pierced into his vision. It was only just after attempting to focus upon this light when a large, wooden block obscured his sight. It was his own sense of interest which drew Pesstian to find the source of the light.

  Feeling as if this room would shield him from the humans, he slowly took a peak around the edge of the wooden block. It was then when he began to stare into the orange light’s radiance—noticing as it spilled out from the creak in a nearly-closed door. That must have been where the clank came from, Pesstian noted.

  The humans must be in there! But what are they going to do? For once in his life—or so it had seemed—Pesstian decided not to bother the mysterious humans. Instead of meddling in their affairs, he remained in the dark, mysterious room—hoping to take a gander at whatever wonders it held.

  Trusting the silent feathers within his wings, Pesstian quietly flapped his way up to the top of the wooden block. A sense of surprise lit up in his mind when he realized the top of the block wasn’t made out of wood.

  This thing feels like it’s made out of a smooth stone, Pesstian thought. From the feel of it, the stone held a hint of ice upon its surface. No! Pesstian realized while shaking his head. That’s impossible.

  In the course of his thoughts, Pesstian drew his gaze slightly ahead of his feet and took notice of a thin sheet of tan. The very sight of it caused the words, What is that? to buzz through against the corners of his head.

  This question continued to ring through his mind as picked the sheet up from the ground. Now with this strange object in his grasp, Pesstian took a close look at the sheet—only to realize a series of scribbles had been painted onto the sheet. Are these—are these supposed to be—pictures?

  While carefully holding the sheet under the grip of two fingers, Pesstian noticed as it began to tilt to the left. A small sense of panic coursing through his veins, he attempted to squeeze the sheet in hopes of stopping it from slipping. To his disappointment and failure, he had only stabbed a hole through it.

  A bead of sweat began to roll its way along Pesstian’s head when the sight of the hole slipped into his eyes. At the same time, he began to wonder why the humans would ever use this fragile material for anything. It doesn’t look like you’re supposed to use it for fighting, Pesstian pondered to himself. Maybe—

  With this one word still buzzing in the back of his head, the young owl swallowed a small his confusion. Upon doing so, he gave his head a full spin—hoping to insure the room was completely empty of passersby. Noticing the coast was clear, Pesstian re-twisted his head back to its original position.

  Slowly and awkwardly did Pesstian lean his head toward the sheet of human fabric. At the very same time, his beak began to open—opening more and more with every passing heartbeat. With his beak barely any distance from the sheet, he soon found his mouth taking hold of the human fabric.

  Before he could have damaged the human’s sheet any further, Pesstian nervously dragged his tongue across the sheet’s skin. Only a few moments had passed when he carefully took the sheet out of his beak and claimed, I guess it’s not food.

  The little owl backed away from the sheet, made his way to the edge of the wooden block, and carefully jumped down to the floor. With the feel of wood now coming underneath his feet, a sense of slight mischievousness began to rush up to his head.

  But even that could not remove his feelings of despair.

  Well—I guess I just wasted my time, he thought, releasing a sigh. While expecting many of the humans’ treasure to have simply rested in the room, all he had found so far was a useless sheet of fabric.

  It was then when Pesstian began to feel the need to turn back toward the other owls. That was when a foreign stench began to fill the air
around him. Such an aroma made him feel as if he were going to vomit. In response to this malodorous presence, Pesstian covered the top of his beak with his two wings.

  What can that possibly be? he wondered, his wings still covering his beak. In this state did Pesstian begin to think back to a specific day—the day when this kind of rankness was first introduced to him.

  This brings me back—but back to what? What was once a minor drizzle of confusion converted into a mental rainstorm of questions at that moment. I know that I’ve smelled something like this before. But what—that’s it!

  Rushing back to the physical world, Pesstian removed his wings from his beak. Feeling as the surrounding odor choked him by his lungs, he sauntered over to where he believed this smell odor had originated

  I knew this smelled familiar! The last time I’d smelled something so bad was when I was near a whole colony of these human devices. And what I found were—

  No matter how much he may have wanted to, Pesstian proved unable to finish his silent sentence. Instead, he felt compelled to exclaim through his beak, “Ocean creatures!”

  --

  The images of the first day he had seen these ocean creatures began to take shape in Pesstian’s mind. Standing next to him was his mother, he remembered; she was a lovely little owl named Metea. Both owls stood atop one of the humans’ large monuments.

  From what he could recall, a large group of humans—the likes of which remain far below the little owls—were loading up wooden cans and boxes into what appeared to be one of their homes. But what are those supposed to be? his curious mind asked itself.

  As if Metea had stared straight into her son’s mind, she glanced down at him and explained, “Those wooden shapes that they’re carrying are supposed to hold—well—they basically hold whatever stuff that the humans want.”

  It wasn’t necessarily what he had asked, but he was satisfied nevertheless. The young Pesstian took a confused look up at his mother just before wondering, “What kind of stuff?”

 

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